Rate my surround gaming build.

benlro1 · Aug 11, 2011

Hey guys, It's been a few years since I've built a computer and thought I would give Nvidia Surround a shot.

Here's my current build, let me know what you think.

Monitor:3x ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor

Case:Corsair Obsidian Series 650D

Motherboard:MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) LGA 1155

Video Card: 2x EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready

CPU:Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)

RAM:CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

HDD:Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s

Drives:LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Total:$2,160.

Let me know if you guys see any glaring problems with this build or anything I could replace with something of better quality. My budget is about $2500 so I can go a little higher if need be.

I'll be using this primarily for gaming and watching videos. Do you think The GTX 560 Ti's in SLI will have enough power to run surround with high settings on most modern games? Also, would I notice any difference in gaming if I got an SSD?

Thanks.

ssjwizard · Aug 11, 2011

Yea that setup should do what you want, however with triple monitors you should really look at the 2gb 560ti instead. More pixels require more Vram.

I can tell you that adding an SSD to my laptop(hp elite book) has made it feel almost twice as fast for most tasks. For games its great on load times. Look at a sata 3 drive such as the corsair force 3, ocz vertex/agility 3, or adata S series(the sata 3 one). A 60gb drive should be plenty unless you intend to have ALOT of games installed at once. They are all around $130 for 60gb currently, 120s are just around $200 so they are a better value if you dont mind spending just s touch more.

Theocnoob · Aug 11, 2011

2 560Tis isn't going to run 3 monitors super fast. It'll run it, but you'd be happier going for a 6990 or a 6990 and a 6970 or 3 6970s. Or 3 6950s. Lowest I'd go would be 2 6970s to make sure you can max everything out. You'll still get good framerates with the 2 560s but you may not be able to run everything maxed.

Conumdrum · Aug 11, 2011

Agreed. You need MUCH more GPU horsepower. And think at least a year in advance for games.

Two 560's even the vaulted ti ones?

Too weak for surround and 3 monitors by a long shot/

Better GPUs and a Better PSU. Just need $600 more easy.

Knufire · Aug 11, 2011

Do you NEED the 2TB drive or the Bluray?

EDIT: Well, they both fit in the budget anyway.

If you don't want 3D, then AMD cards handle triple-screen gaming better then NVIDIA cards, due to more VRAM. The 6990 and 6970 are having stock issues, so here's an unlockable 6950 with a great cooler on it. Two of these should be able to take triple screen gaming, especially when unlocked and OCed.

Promo code: EMCKBKA47 takes $30 off, putting the total at $2500.45 shipped to my location, probably about the same for you.

Theocnoob · Aug 11, 2011

Knufire said:
Do you NEED the 2TB drive or the Bluray?

EDIT: Well, they both fit in the budget anyway.

If you don't want 3D, then AMD cards handle triple-screen gaming better then NVIDIA cards, due to more VRAM. The 6990 and 6970 are having stock issues, so here's an unlockable 6950 with a great cooler on it. Two of these should be able to take triple screen gaming, especially when unlocked and OCed.

Promo code: EMCKBKA47 takes $30 off, putting the total at $2500.45 shipped to my location, probably about the same for you.

View attachment 98343

It's not just more VRAM, ATI has done more work to make multi display a major selling feature and to make it run smoothly. They're just designed to do it better than Nvidia cards.

Metlcub · Aug 11, 2011

Monitors are ok, but i you can get 2ms LED monitors for the same price range, id swap to the 2ms LEDs

benlro1 · Aug 12, 2011

Swapped out the monitors for

ASUS VE247H Black 23.6" 2ms Full HD HDMI LED These actually have free shipping, the originals didn't.

I swapped the 560 ti's for

2x MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB I've heard people were having issues with unlocking the 6950's. Wondering if I should go with these or a 2gb GTX.

Switched the PSU for a modular version

CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply This might be overkill.

Also added an aftermarket heatsink

ZALMAN CNPS9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

Total comes out to $2,464 w/ shipping.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Edit: Also tacked on the SAPPHIRE Active Mini Display Port (M) to Single-Link DVI (F) Cable. I need this for eyefinity right?

Knufire · Aug 12, 2011

Ew ew ew to that cooler. There are MANY better choices.

From what I've heard, the Twin Frozr II has better chances of unlocking then the Twin Frozr III. But it's all hit or miss. Even if it doesn't unlock, AMD does triple screen better then NVIDIA.

That's not the greatest motherboard, btw. I'd go with the one I suggested, Z68 is the better chipset.

And yes, you do need that adapter for Eyefinity. :thup:

benlro1 · Aug 12, 2011

Swapped the Motherboard and Heatsink for the one's you suggested above. Do you recommend getting a second 120mm fan for the Cooler Master Hyper for push/pull? I don't plan on overclocking much but the 120mm blademasters are only $10 so it wouldn't hurt I guess.

I'm also wondering about the quality of the stock case fans with the 650D case.

Now I just need to find a new computer desk to hold 3 monitors

Knufire · Aug 12, 2011

It's fine, the 650D is an extremely well made (albeit expensive) case.
Push/Pull only improves temps by 2-3C, if it's worth it to you then go for it.

Rate my surround gaming build.

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