New Gaming/Folding Build

[silverbullet99]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (Skyrim), Folding@Home (CPU/GPU), Web Browsing, MS Office
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
<$1500 w/tax and shipping.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Bakersfield,CA. I plan on purchasing through Amazon and/or Newegg. No MC or Frys within 2 hours.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Motherboard, Power Supply, Case, SSD, HSF, RAM, Video Card
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Optical Drive, Mouse, KB, Monitor, Speakers
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, CPU and Video Card
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920 x 1200, 28" Hanns-G HG281D
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This week
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.
SLI, USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I currently have a Q6600/8800GT system that I built 3-4 years ago. I haven’t done much PC gaming on it, and built it mostly to fold 24/7. I have just recently started gaming on the PC again, mostly with Skyrim and I am not really into FPS games. I plan on selling my current system complete,but will be transferring a 1Tb WD HDD and an optical drive over to the new system. I would like to able to go SLI in the future, mostly for folding, as I don’t see myself getting a higher res monitor anytime soon. I have my Q6600 running at 3.0Ghz on air, and probably don’t need the Cosair H100 in my build list, but I have always thought water cooling was cool, and even if it doesn’t get me any higher clock speeds than a Hyper 212, I am willing to spend the extra $75 just for the “cool” factor. I have put together a preliminary build list and am open to all comments/suggestions. I plan on buying from Amazon as I would have to pay CA taxes if I ordered from Newegg.

$315 - Intel Core i7 2600K
$70 - Patriot Signature DDR3 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) CL9 PC3-12800 (1600MHz) 240-Pin DDR3 Desktop Memory Kit with Heatshields PSD38G1600KH(X2)
$180 - Asus P8Z68-V/GEN 3 Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
$320 - eVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Classified 1280MB PCI-E Video Card
$180 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
$100 – Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$104 – Corsair Hydro Series H100 Liquid CPU Cooler
$100 - Corsair 750TX V2 750W PSU
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Total: $1369 shipped from Amazon, no tax.

Thanks, Mike

 

[Dangman]

Setup looks fine to me.

However, if you want to spend the leftover cash in your budget and want more performance, I recommend dropping the HSF down to the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ to free up $75. From there, swap the GTX 560 TI 448 Cores for two GTX 560 TI cards at $480 total:
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1326514857&sr=1-1

So you basically start off with SLI right off the bat.

 

[silverbullet99]

Thanks for the prompt reply and the great suggestion, Danny. That build list is basically the result of reading every one of your posts from that last 2 months, lol. I'll look into dropping the H100 and going SLI.

 

[Dangman]

Thanks for the prompt reply and the great suggestion, Danny. That build list is basically the result of reading every one of your posts from that last 2 months, lol. I'll look into dropping the H100 and going SLI.

LOL, glad to see I was of some help.

 

[silverbullet99]

I ended up going with 2 of these ASUS 560Ti DirectCUII TOP. I was reading a review from [H] on these cards and it said they are pulling 450-475W each at max load when overclocked. I plan on folding with them, so does that mean I am looking at 900-950W just for the 2 cards plus whatever the CPU and the rest of the system uses? If so, I am afraid the TX750 that I ordered isn't going to cut it.

Our thirst for more performance lead us to MSI's Afterburner program. The programs sliders go up to 1350MHz on the GPU, and 1365MHz on the memory. We wound up with a maximum GPU clock speed of 1015MHz, and memory clock speed of 1240MHz. It did not come easy though. We got 100MHz on the GPU with a 62mV increase to the Vcore. The next 15MHz cost us another 38mV, and increased temperature under load by 10 degrees Celsius, and power consumption from 447Watts under load up to 475Watts.

edit: After reading the rest of the review, the 475W was for the whole system with a single 560Ti and an i7 920. I have read that a 2600K at 4.5 only pulls about 90W, so it looks like I will be ok with the TX750.

 

[Dangman]

You'll be fine.