Need help with my next setup

Hey guys, me again. Haven't been too active here but that will all change quite soon :-D

Anyways I am going to be quite straightforward with what I want, and well, I need advice on where to go to buy these parts and which ones should I get.

Ok so lets get starter!

Location: Canada
Budget: $1000-$1500

I do not do too much gaming but I would be able to do Crysis on Ultra High.
I also want to have 4 LCD monitors. I don't think the Quadro FX can do Crysis on Ultra, so I am quite sure I will need an SLI/CrossfireX Motherboard. So here is where I need advice:

What motherboard should I get? I really want to have triple channel memory, 2 Videocards, and the lga1366 socket (i7).

For the buildup things like harddrive, mouse, keyboard, i already have covered, but I am still looking for a case.

Also, what 2 videocards will give me the biggest bang for the buck? I am very fond with Nvidia Cards but ATI I am 10000% clueless.

Thanks a lot guys!

 

Well there are more qualified guys here to tell you what to get than me, I know what I would get but others would know better.

But I do know WHERE to get in Canada.

http://www.newegg.ca/ Fast and reliable and good prices.

http://www.directcanada.com/ Again, fast and reliable and in a lot of cases cheaper than newegg

 

Ohhhhhh MY GOD! newegg.ca... wow holy crap... I fell so stupid right now... I was always like #^$&ing piece of #*!# at newegg.com for not shipping to canada... either way, prices are higher but still quite reasonable!

Thanks for the tip dude! I still need help on motherboard and GPU's and other advice but thanks again!!!

edit: man the prices aren't even that amazing... still better than ncix.com and microbyte

 

lol Yeah the Canada link is the one you want.
Directcanada are a bit cheaper than newegg and free ground shipping on orders over $300.

I ordered a video card from newegg a couple of weeks ago, ordered on the thursday, came on monday via UPS.

 

Ah another hardware project to sink me teeth into :-D

So a mobo for an i7 try this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131352

Both SLI & Crossfire X & triple channel what more could anyone want :-D

And for a high end GPU try this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768

This is the top ATI GPU, I have the 1GB version. This beast is my card X2 in one card. If you got 2 of these you'd be able to play anything without lag :-D

But if you wanna go nVidia you can get half the VRAM and get this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150343

Also it only has GDDR3 RAM type comared to the 4870 X2's GDDR5.

Case wise i'd definately go with this ANTEC 900: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Probably the best case you'll find, I am after one because it has awesome air cooling & it also has space for a water cooling system.

Hope this helps :cool

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

Looks like you got the makings for a great system. However, what PSU do you plan to use to power it? That is one thing I wouldn't skimp on! As for the case, well all I can say is 2-Bit-Geek has pretty good taste!! The Antec 900 is one great little case and should serve you well. Now back to the PSU. If you need any assistance with the PSU, just post back and I know we can find one that will fit your needs

 

Ouch thats still a bit pricey though. The antec 900 is a very sexy case though, I will definitely be taking that. 3 PCIEx16 ports is kinda wast though for me since at max I will be using 2 GPU's, so the extra slot is a waste of money since a board with 1 less PCIE is like half the price. I like the button thingys on that though, i saw reviews for it; looks so handy.

Anyways back to the psu is there a way to calculate how much I will need? Maybe if I go for SLI and 2xGTX 260's?

 

Okay, let me give you a few to mull over. BTW, all the ones I have listed here are Antec. There are other good brands out there also, but I have used Antec in all my builds, (all 3 of them:-o) and have never had a problem out of any of them. They are a good, solid, 'clean' powered units with at least an 80%+ effeciency rating. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371001 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371017 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371010

One of the above listed PSUs, if you buy that PSU, you can get the Antec 900 case for $100.00. Anyhow, I hope that helps!

 

The mobo is a bit pricey I know but it's an awesome mobo, as for the stuff you ask'd for it comes as standard on all i7 mobo's that I have seen :-D

Triple channel RAM & 2/3 PCI-E slots, btw I chose 3 slots in case you wanted to add another card in the future.

The only thing you need to worry about in i7 mobo's is crossfire or SLI really :-D

Can I ask why you decided to go for nVidia? The ATI 4870 X2 has double the VRAM & it's at GDDR5 not 3.

At least take a look at the specs before you decide to stick with nVidia:

nVidia GTX 260: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_260_us.html

ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2: http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=251

It did take me a while to warm to the idea of an ATI card tbf :-D

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

Well TBH I am very fond with nVidia graphic cards, since it is what I am using now (8400 gs, and yes I know you feel my pain). I am still fully considering going ATI but dang man, 500 bucks for one card? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768 I dno will one HD 4870 X2 perform better than TWO GTX 260's? If it is very close or better then sure I would take that since then I can upgrade to 2 way down the road but I mean I'm on a bit of a budget here.

Maybe I can give a little background :

I'm 14 with 350$. With the summer coming up I'm going to try to work as hard as I can to make as much money as possible. If I can come up with 1000$ I would be happy, that's what I'm aiming for. Now that plus my birthday coming up I SHOULD have around 1400$. If you look at the following budget planning, it's hard to fit everything just right.

Motherboard : 300$ (500 for the other one you listed)
RAM: 120$ (20 bucks a stick?) for 6gb in 6 sticks
GPU : 500$
PSU : 150$
i7 : 270-350$ (depends where I get it, from newegg.com would be lower but I will need to get somebody to ship it to me from the states.
Case: 110$
Monitors: No clue but hopefully no more than 70$ each

so at this rate, If I were to take the lowest price I have given for each thing (which of course isn't going to happen in the real world) we will have a grand total of....

1450 and then with 3 (not 4, which Is what I originally had planned for) : $1660.

I mean of course it's possible but once again, this is with me getting everything at the best possible price I can. Maybe prices will go down by the end of the summer but It's going to be really hard coming up with that much money.

 

What part of Canada are you in?
If you're not in BC, also check out www.ncix.com ... I've had a lot of good success with them. Best part is if you are in Ontario (as I am) they don't charge you PST.

 

I'm in Quebec. I bought my entire earlier build of NCIX.com but I find now that their prices are way... way... higher then newegg.com Maybe a little higher then newegg.ca, but I do recall they have great shipping.

 

Where is edit button...???

These results kinda prove that ATI isn't as good as nVidia...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4870-x2,2073-17.html
Thats kinda why I stick more to nVidia anyways...

Again, notice how the gtx 260 performs so much better than the HD 4870
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/chart.html

 

You need to look again at the second page & at the last test 1920x1200 8XAF very high quality, bearing in mind this is not a racing game & the catylist driver used in this test is about a year old I think. Take a look at the 9 4870 X2's at the top end of the test compared to the 2 nVidia cards (which are in SLI, so 2 of those cards vs 1 4870), so if you crossfired 2 4870 X2's they would easily beat the nVidia cards.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4870-x2,2073-18.html

They are far better cards & they are older :-D

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

That puts just the GPU's at a grand total of over 1000$... I think I will stick with 2x GTX 260's, and hope that EVGA comes out with another sweet motherboard!

Can you meet me on irc?

 

If you need to shead some money from your build, you do not need 6GB RAM. If anything you need good quality RAM, 3/4GB should be more than enough

What do you mean by irc?

:major2-Bit-Geek:major