New Computah!

[Zarth]

Greetings everyone~

I am Zarth. New to these forums so please, be gentle.

I have a new computer in the works. I have most of what i want set but alas, as many others have found the graphics card is hard to choose.

Kinda sorta need help. Ill list my entire build, If you disagree and think it should be changed for roughly the same monetary value then please share. and give reason why it is or is not a good piece.

CASE:NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case

MB:ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

POWER SUPPLY:CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...
PROCESSOR:Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

RAM:CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

HARDDRIVE:Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CDDrive:ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

That's the most of it. Now for the graphics card. I really wanted to get a HD 6950. One that would Unlock to a 6970, specifically. Now, on newegg, i see there is only 1-3 reference cards(or cards that can still be unlocked) up there. I wanted to see if people had some user experience in what does and does not unlock.

And also, if needed, i was going to purchase a second card if my frames were too low. Which is why i went with AMD instead of a GTX570 or something. The crossfire right now is far superior to SLI. crossfire is 90%+ efficient or so now with the 6900 cards? I like that, hence the me wanting a 6950. So, if anyone please has some expert advice on where to attain one that unlocks, that would be very, very helpful .

So finally, Is it worth it? i understand as a standalone card the 570 beats the 6950, but in crossfire the 6950's would outperform the 570's by a good margin. and if unlocked, forget about it.
(IF LINKS DON'T WORK, LEMME KNOW!)
Thanks to all that respond(if any!)
~Zarth.

 

[Roark]

Personally I'd go for the best single GPU you can afford, usually draws less power and produces less heat.
That being said, 2x HD6950s cost about the same as a GTX580, yet trounce it in benchmarks.
I can't suggest a specific card, but I would look at XFX (lifetime warranty) or MSI (awesome coolers) and do some research on the cards in your price range to see if they are flashable.

Everything else looks good (don't forget to get an OS!), though I would probably get this G.Skill RAM, same specs and price just shorter heatsinks incase you get an aftermarket CPU cooler.

*Edit - Forgot to add, best aspect of buying best single GPU you can afford is when it comes time to upgrade you can just buy a second one instead of yanking out and replacing the two you have.

 

[Slaymate]

I would buy the low profile Corsair Vengeance memory. The kit you picked with the tall heatspreaders have clearance issues with some heatsinks.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

Crossfire is not 90%+ efficient. It maybe in some games, very few, but it's not in others.

I recommend buying the best single card solution you can afford, either AMD or Nvidia.

 

[Sean W.]

remember... there is NO guarantee that a 6950 can be unlocked to a 6970, i am in the same boat as you right now, i have everything planned out except for my graphics card, i am either going to do Crossfire 6970 or SLI 570, the 2 of the cards are very closely priced and their performance is also very close to each other... with that said, i agree completely with Slaymate, go with the fastest single card you can afford. in my research, i made this graph... hope it helps.... i didnt include crossfire 6970 in my graph, but it scores 9737 in 3dmark11, and its about the same price as SLI 570s

 

[Zarth]

Well hrm. From the graph's and benchmarks i've seen it comes nothing close to your graph there, Sean. Almost anything i've seen has the 6950 below the 570 a bit, but in crossfire compared to sli, it's matching or beating it in several categories. which is outstanding for it's price range, which is why i wanted it. I can afford a 570 if there is a general consensus here that it would be best. I Do plan on getting a second card if need be. and i've read that crossfire is superior right now. but lets thinkk, Will there be much need for anything other than two 6950's in the future? and again from what i've SEEN, the 6950's and 6970's together trump the 570 in sli. so would the better option be 6970's? that 350$ price range is perfectly fine for me whereas the 400-500 is a bit much for a 580. so, final answers, should i just get a 6970 and if need be, a second? or a 570 with the option to sli later?


Thank you for the advice on the Ram Slay! I will take that to heart =).

Sorry for playing the antagonist here, and thanks for the replies! =)

~Zarth

ALSO. Should i get better ram? I know i had 1600 posted up but with that mobo i think it can go higher, what would y'all suggest?



Thanks everyone!
~Zarth

 

[Roark]

http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/graphics-performance-list-212331/
Not sure what games you are looking to play (assuming this is for gaming), but since you're looking at cards in the top 7 spots any single card should work just fine. BF3, coming out in the fall, recommends a single GTX460 or HD6850 (#19/#15 on the list).
All I can do is reiterate reasons why its better to get the best single card you can afford, then in the future if it isn't cutting it for you anymore add a second one instead of having to replace two.

Assuming you're overclocking your CPU you will probably want to stick with 1600MHz.

The Memory Controller is built into the CPU so the harder it works the hotter your CPU will get. You will get better performance at 5Ghz/1600MHz than you will at 4.8GHz/2133MHz.

If you want to put more money into the RAM get the 1600MHz and a lower CAS latency.
$70 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600 CAS 8.
$55 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600 CAS 7 ($110 for 8GB).
$60 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600 CAS 6 ($120 for 8GB).

 

[Slaymate]

@ Zarth, please don't double post, if you have something else to add to the conversation and no one has posted a reply since your last post (within a 24 hr. period), please use the edit button (looks like a pencil) to add it to your previous post.