new build for crossfire

[Dan3345]

Ok so in the coming month I will be building my first rig for crossfire. Here is what I have planned.

 

GPU

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity (Crossfire, so x2 of these)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127562

 

MOBO

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514

 

Case

NZXT Phantom White Steel

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146067

 

RAM

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196 (There will actually another 2GB's of this RAM as well)

 

PSU

PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028

 

CPU

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo Socket AM3 125W Six-Core

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103913 (note on this CPU:I am using this now, but when I have the money will be buying this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103960 )

 

EDIT: I am not missing the harddrive or CD drive, I have those.

 

I would like to get some opinions of this rig. Will there be serious bottlenecks anywhere? Do you see any problems with the brands? Have anything you think will be better? See any issues? My first gaming rig was a mess. I got things right eventually but I ended up wasting a lot of money because I bought the wrong parts the first time. This time around I would like to get it right and make sure that does not happen again. I would just like to point out also that this rig is not a gaming rig per say but more an enthusiast hobby. I am not building this to get huge amounts of power (not entirely at least) I am doing this for the fun, and the enjoyment of building such a powerful machine. FYI: Intel is not an option.

 

A little background info. I am using the same GPU no matter what because I already have one and this cuts down the cost of buying two brand new GPU's. Plus the MSI Frozr series is pretty beastly on its own so I am not worried about the performance of two. The PSU I am not too sure about. It not the brand, I am actually just not sure how much power I really need. A few calculators came back with 847 watts for everything, but these calculators are not super accurate. I am not planning on overclocking. I am very aware of how easy it is to destroy an entire rig by shorting a CPU or the mobo, and I am too inexperienced and ignorant on the matter to even want to try it. So with that out of the way, I do not think cooling will be an issue, except for maybe the cards themselves. They might be fine though. The case has very good cooling and with everything at stock clocks I don't see an issue there. And so that's it. I appreciate any suggestions, feedback, input. So please lay it on me.

Edited November 25, 2011 by Dan3345

[dorkSIDES]

The build sounds great man please keeps us updated in the future about it. This should play any of the top games out at a respectable-to-flawless frame rate.

 

One thing I must say, I can not let you buy it in good conscience, is look for a different case than the Phantom.

 

I am not just hating on the case or anything like that, I don't pick up any brand loyalties. I had just changed back from that case(red version) Th Phantom is a very good looking case and spacious to boot, however the space does not work to an advantage. Between to Motherboard and bays it has a huge space and this space acts almost like a tunnel and the cool air seems to gather in that region of the case.

 

I used the Phantom for about a month before I switched back to the Antec 300-thats right I switched back from a full tower to a midi for better cooling. This case caused my computer to overheat twice after only minimal hours play(2-3) Which has not changed in the Antec. I would recommend looking around for a taller, rather than wider case for an SLI/Xfire set up.

Also the case bevel is made from very flimsy(almost cheap) plastic and after only about a week of ownership the door had come loose(eventually falling off) To boot one of the hollow plastic feet was cracked under the weight of the PSU.

 

I hope you have not already bought this case(if you have I hope you have more luck than me with it) It is a shame because the performance does not do justice to the way this case looks.

[Dan3345]

thanks for the reply!

 

I have not purchased the case yet and am still debating it myself. The case is one aspect that I would like to save money on but not compromise on space and air flow. I would prefer to keep a full tower so things aren't crowded, but I am not sure about the phantom myself. It does look good, but even the pictures i can tell that it is in fact made of flimsy plastic, and I am a bit worried about my CPU liquid cooling fitting into it. Looks like the 200mm fan at the top may bar me from using the liquid cooling however I think that may be an irrational fear. Seems to me NZXT would be really foolish to overlook something like liquid cooling fitting properly...

[Beriallord]

Those are really good for keeping the GPUs cool, but the fans exhaust into the inside of the tower, which might create some issues in other things heating up as a result.

[dorkSIDES]

thanks for the reply!

 

I have not purchased the case yet and am still debating it myself. The case is one aspect that I would like to save money on but not compromise on space and air flow. I would prefer to keep a full tower so things aren't crowded, but I am not sure about the phantom myself. It does look good, but even the pictures i can tell that it is in fact made of flimsy plastic, and I am a bit worried about my CPU liquid cooling fitting into it. Looks like the 200mm fan at the top may bar me from using the liquid cooling however I think that may be an irrational fear. Seems to me NZXT would be really foolish to overlook something like liquid cooling fitting properly...

 

No their is no real fear over the liquid cooling aspect as I used self contained water cooling for the cpu, it was mainly in the air cooled gpu where I had my problems-other than the low end plastic you will not have any cooling/space issues if you go full water. Just beware of how tricky it is to get descent air flow to the gpu in this case.

[hoofhearted4]

honestly, there is no need to switch from the 1100T to the Bulldozer (Zambezi) CPU. the price is just too high and you wont be getting much better performance. in fact in some area, the 1100T does better, and uses a lot less power. i would say just keep the 1100T until the next line comes out (piledriver) and see how those hold up.

 

and on the case, take the saved money from the CPU and get the HAF 932. full tower case, great airflow. looks good and solidly made. its more expensive then the Phantom, though its on sale or something (id guess black friday lol, dunno how long its lasts) right now cause its much cheaper then normal (normally ~$150, but its $120 right now, plus a $25 rebate)

 

other then that, its a pretty solid build.....not sure how much power youll need. the Newegg PSU Calculator says around 800W. i usually suggest this PSU cause of its high wattage, 80 Plus Gold, modular and its a trusted PSU name brand, but with only a 50W clearance, not sure....never realized how much power AMD GPUs use....the calc says two 560Ti's with the same build only use 750W!

 

but ya. its a nice build, just my opinion on the CPU and Case

[Beriallord]

If you get 2 of those GPUs I would recommend you get a couple more case fans to push the hot air out.

 

Couple of these inside of your case.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-185-060&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

[Dan3345]

Yeah I am definitely considering that case as viable option. It's very nice, but I am still leaning towards the NZXT. It is made of plastic, but the computer itself will be in the corner of a room and as always the cords will be tucked away neatly, and so I do not expect it to move around much or get dings. Even with that said though, I am still unconvinced. More important that style is function. I must have space. If I have cords bunching up around components I am am going to have a problem.

 

My buddy has the HAF 932. I like it a lot, but I just don't know. I don't plan on buying the Zambezi 8-core for several months, and if my 6-core does indeed perform better than I will stick to it. Haven't heard of this piledriver so I will wait and see what comes with that.

 

Cost is a big thing on the case. I need to keep that aspect down. even twenty dollars can make a difference. But thanks for the help everyone! I look forward to sharing my experiences with you in the coming month.

[Beriallord]

From the benchmarks I've seen Intel Sandy bridge I5 and I7 are still better for gaming over the bulldozer. Considering games aren't using more than 4 cores, and some still only use 2, like Skyrim. People have OC'd the I5 2500k to like 5 GHZ also.

[Dan3345]

From the benchmarks I've seen Intel Sandy bridge I5 and I7 are still better for gaming over the bulldozer. Considering games aren't using more than 4 cores, and some still only use 2, like Skyrim. People have OC'd the I5 2500k to like 5 GHZ also.

as stated above I am not even going to consider using intel. Too much money, period. I understand how much power they have in only four cores, thats all fine but I don't need it.