Gaming Building my Christmas computer!

[Y05h1]

It's that time of the year, when it's time to treat yourself!

What, it's not? Oh well. I'm building myself a computer anyways.

Here are the components I've planned on purchasing:
CPU: Intel Core i7 950 (3.06GHz)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
Graphics card: Sapphire HD 6970
RAM: Corsair XMS3 KIT 6GB PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 CL9
PSU: Corsair TX 850W ATX 2.2
DVD drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7263S black
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA II 32MB 72000rpm
SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 Extended 60GB
CPU cooler: Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B
Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced

Questions, comments, concerns? I just want some feedback before I pull the trigger on this purchase (It's at a rather unsightly 1300 euros, I'd rather not screw this up). Oh, and if anyone knows of any good european websites that sell components, I'd much appreciate it!

 

[Joe88]

overall looks good
just a few comments

PSU is overkill
you could easily get way with 500w for that build

and do you really need a SSD?

 

[Rydian]

I'd suggest a 550W or 600W just in case you decide to add more crap later.

I suggest SSDs to users that could use them.

 

[Rasas]

http://www.jimmspc.fi/
http://www.tietokonekauppa.fi/
http://www.verkkokauppa.com/

There are some other ones but I doubt you want a seller less then local.

Eh, fail the prices seem a bit high....

SSD you probably only need 30 gb for the OS and maybe a game or app you use.
Could always go for the NVIDA GTX 570 instead of the Radeon 6970

 

[Y05h1]

The current website I'm planning to order from is a german site, they have lower taxes there on their products, so it's considerably cheaper. It's still way more than in the US, but eh, what can I do...

As for SSD's, I definitely have a use for them. I'm going to be switching between OS's quite frequently, so I want that to be fast. Plus, applications loading faster is definitely something I'm willing to invest in.

The PSU... probably overkill. But, I do use my computer under heavy loads quite often, including several USB/Firewire devices which add to the cost of power. I'm also considering overclocking it, which can also really increase the need for power, and adding better cooling (more fans). Originally I was planning on running two GPU's in crossfire as well, and having two more mechanical hard drives, but forgot to adjust the PSU when I dropped the idea. I dunno, I still think I should go for a 750W.

 

[Joe88]

adding a few fans, a hard drive or 2, and some overclocking wouldnt require 300-400w more
another gfx card would however

 

[Originality]

2W per USB device, 10W per drive, 2-5W per fan, 30-100W for overclocking, depending how far you go. There's nothing wrong in getting an overkill PSU though - it'll only draw from the wall 10-20% more power than it's actually using (e.g. 380W from the wall when the system only uses 340W).

I think it looks like a pretty good system, although I do wonder: why choose the HD6970 over the GTX 570, which is slightly cheaper (~€10-20) and performs better with 4xAA in most games?

 

[Deleted User]

I would suggest you another Cpu for example a amd phenom 2 X6 1090t, It has around the same power per core and this six times. Then you have to take 4gb dual channel ram

 

[FireGrey]

Sounds expensive o.o

 

[Daku93]

The CPU cooler is a great choice! I have that, too and it keeps the CPU really cool.

 

[Originality]

I would suggest you another Cpu for example a amd phenom 2 X6 1090t, It has around the same power per core and this six times. Then you have to take 4gb dual channel ram

The only reason to switch to an AMD PhenomII X6 1090T or even the 1100T, is if you're trying to compromise on performance to save money. The PhenomII X6, at best, are around 30% weaker than a Core i7-930. The 950 has a higher base clock than the 950, is slightly more expensive (as in, the price difference doesn't matter because they're supposed to sell at the same price), and overclocks to around the same point. Either way, it's still much stronger than any AMD chip, so there's no point switching.

Also, having 6 cores only helps in multithreaded tasks or extreme multi-tasking. Even then, it's not going to beat having 4+4 cores with hyperthreading, especially not when overclocked.

 

[Berthenk]

Originality saving the day. Again.
But yes, AMD processors generally offer more bang for the buck. If you want more power somewhere else, you can go for AMD.

 

[Satangel]

If you plan on downloading a lot of stuff, I would put in another TB, just to be sure. That's about the only vice my current PC has, only 1TB of data, it's just not enough.

 

[ThePowerOutage]

If your rig is over 500 it's better to put an Intel in there.
Judging from your specs and the fact you said that you plan on swapping OSes then I'm guessing your planning on Mac OS X, in which case you definitely want a Intel.
Though AMD processors may see to give more of a bang for the buck (and they do) they handle less iPS making any CPU heavy task better on a Intel a

 

[Y05h1]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm going to stick with an overkill PSU just to "futureproof" it (the GPU and CPU need switching every few years for the computer to remain in the high-end sector, but a PSU isn't going to become obsolete), and give me whatever configuration options I might want later. One less thing to bother with (Cheers to you Originality for clearing that up

).

As for the 6970, there are a few reasons for that. Performance-wise, yes, the 570 does have the edge in a multitude of areas, however the difference isn't exactly huge. Plus, in the future, as video game companies start to further adopt tessellation, the 6970 will be the better performer (as far as I've understood). But the real reason I'm choosing the 6970 is mostly due to it's video-out options. It's simply got better ports (and I've got a couple mini displayport adapters lying around as well), and it has eyefinity. Currently I'm using a dual monitor setup, soon gonna add a third, so I think it's the logical choice to choose the card which has better support for higher resolutions.
Not to mention I'm a fan of the Red Team

@Satangel
Yup, I can relate. I'm definitely adding more later on, not to start with though. Memory gets a lot cheaper over time, so by the time I need the next TB or two, prices should've dropped somewhat. I've also got a 1TB USB 3.0 hard drive waiting to be exploited...

@FireGrey
Oh it is... It definitely is...

@ThePowerOutage
You're good

Linux and OS X will be my primary operating systems, with Windows 7 for gaming. Although in the beginning I'm probably going to have to stick to windows because of the drivers for my graphics card. Linux support shouldn't take too long though (I hope), but as for the Mac part... well, it might take a year before they support the graphics card. Ah well. All other components have been planned with a part-hackintosh in mind...

 

[Originality]

Something to point out: the HD6970 only has 2 Tesselation Units. The GTX 580 has 16, spread throughout the GPU. On the other hand, performance in tesselation in the GTX 580 isn't all that much greater than a HD5870, which only has one TU, which seems to indicate that the GTX 580 can't currently use all their TUs at once to achieve its maximum potential. Maybe with driver updates...

Also, not that it seems to matter with you (or anybody else I know), the HD6870 only supports EyeFinite 3, not 6. Still, the DisplayPorts support daisy-chaining monitors, so you'll probably be happy with that.