3D Modeling/Gaming Build

[Treason]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
*Blender Modeling
*Programming
*Photoshop/Dreamweaver
*Gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
*I'd prefer to stay under $1k but current build is close enough

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
*US, MD

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word
*Checking if RAM is compatible, if parts will meet the purposes and work well together (PCI-E 2.1, 2.0, 3.0 or SATA II SATA III compatibility stuff gets confusing after a while)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about
the power supply. List make and model.
*Nada

6) Will you be overclocking?
*Not for a long time. I'll get a fan at the point I choose to, I have experience overclocking in the past.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080, 24 inch
1024x768, 17 inch x2


8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
*Now

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
*Crossfire for the 6850

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, 64

Current build:
Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023
Mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ab=true&Keywords=cables&Page=1#scrollFullInfo
GFX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093
RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426
HD-SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226225
HD-Large http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152245
CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
WIFI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166022


Total: $1042 + Shipping

I plan on using the 6850 till the 7xxx series comes out in February-ish (according to rumor) at which point I'll gauge how I'm doing and either go crossfire or just plain upgrade. Will this build work together?

 

[Forceman]

I'd swap out the SSD for the cheaper, and historically more reliable than Sandforce, Crucial M4:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442 $199 Crucial M4 128GB

That motherboard isn't a good choice for CrossFire, since it only supports x16x4 instead of the more traditional x8x8. You can either step up to the P8Z68-V, or you can move over to the P67 if you don't need the IGP support.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729 $169 Asus P8Z68-V (or pay $20 more for the Gen 3 version for PCIe 3.0 support)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130582 $115 (not including $30 rebate) MSI P67A-G45 (B3)

Also, you might consider paying the extra $3 to get this DDR3-1600 kit instead of the 1333 - no real performance benefit, but likely better resale value down the line:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 $42.99 G.Skill Sniper 8GB DDR3-1600

 

[tiraides]

Yes, your build will "work together" as is, but I don't believe that they're the best choices available for your budget.

But since you live in Maryland, how close are you to the Rockville Micro Center?

 

[Dangman]

In addition to what Forceman said, here's additional changes I would make to that build:

That Seasonic PSU isn't a good buy considering that the larger version of it costs the same:
$90 - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W Modular PSU

At $156 shipped, the HD 6850 is not that great of a buy at $157 shipped when a faster HD 6870 from a company that has a longer warranty and better customer support is only $23 more:
$180 - XFX HD-687A-ZDFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB PCI-E Video Card

I would not go with that Rosewill case due to its lack of cable management and relative cramped space. I recommend this better case instead for $5 more:
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case

 

[Treason]

Forceman - Great suggestions! Thanks I was worried about compatibility with DDR3 1600 vs 1333 but I see that I can use both by clocking it down apparently?
Also that mobo looks pretty good, thanks for the crossfire catch - I had no idea.

tiraides - I've been to the Micro Center but it is quite far. I saw the i5-2500k is 180 there!

Danny Bui - wow great catch with the PSU! No idea how that one slipped by me, I blame techreport
The 6870 should also help a bit with the multiple monitors because of the pixel rate so I think that's definitely a better option: http://www.hwcompare.com/5999/radeon-hd-6850-vs-radeon-hd-6870/
And thanks for the alternative case suggestion, definitely appreciated and considered.

Thanks guys!

Edit: I'm also considering upgrading to 3x 24 monitors thanks to a late Christmas gift. I prefer 16:10 (My 17 inch monitors are 1280x1024 vs 1920x1080 for my 24 inch) and I'd be willing to get 2x 1920x1200 and my current 1920x1080 although 1920x1080x3 seems to be most probable right now

Considering this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236102

The problem with 1920x1200 is that they seem to be about 50% costlier than the 1920x1080's which adds up when buying multiple monitors. Another issue is mounting - does anyone have experience with multi-monitor mounting?
Other ideas?

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Why aren't you going with a Nvidia video card so some of your applications can take advantage of CUDA tech?