Ok so I'm building a new rig again...

[DuckThor Evil]

Yep due to all sort of things I don't have a good PC anymore, but I'm building a new one.

I got the case and power supply already.

Case is Fractal Define XL and powersupply is Corsair AX850.
Basically I'm not in a hurry to get the rest of the components for a while. It is going to have a crossfire or SLI setup again, but I want to see what the GTX 560 is going to be like before I decide the GPUs.

The CPU motherboard compo is the biggest question mark so far. I want to have good bang for the buck there. AMD setup would be much cheaper and I'm wondering, is Intel setup faster in games to a degree that actually matters in real life with multi gpu setup? I know Sandy Bridge is coming soon and I can wait to see how it turns out and what sort of impact it might have on other options.

I'm going to hook it up to a 1080p projector, so not ultra high resolutions, but I hope to get rid of jaggies etc.

So I quess I would like to hear some input on the cpu...

PS. I know it's only slightly over 1 since I built the last one...

 

[digitalwanderer]

I'd definitely be holding off until SB comes out at this point. Even if you don't get it, it will change all the price points around I have a feeling.

 

[entity279]

The first wave of SB's AFAIK from previously announced roadmaps won't reach the high end of the market (higher members of the 9xx family). So if you're looking for that, some disappointment is in place.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I'm not in a hurry so I'll wait and see a bit. I have ordered the case already, but its delivery time is about 4 weeks, so no point in purchasing some of the critical components before that. GTX 560 atleast could shuffle things a bit. I'd say 300e is the maximum for the CPU, so Sandy Bridge models could fall into that. I don't think it will cause big price adjustments, because AMD models are already a lot cheaper.

What I'm wondering is how much the CPU matters in gaming? I feel like 200e saved in motherboard+cpu spent on GPUs will provide better overall results. That's almost the difference of 6870 crossfire and 6970 crossfire setup.

 

[green.pixel]

I think you should go with the fastest performing single-GPU from either camps, avoiding the hassle of MGPU setups.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I think you should go with the fastest performing single-GPU from either camps, avoiding the hassle of MGPU setups.

The thing is my experiences with Multi GPUs have always been positive. Some games might not have good support at launch day, but usually the profiles come pretty fast and the performance is just so much better. Scaling has gotten much better. Still all options are open for now.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I read little bit more about the case and decided to cancel my order and get another one. Ended up getting the Silverstone Fortress 2 with air penetrator fans

 

[green.pixel]

The thing is my experiences with Multi GPUs have always been positive. Some games might not have good support at launch day, but usually the profiles come pretty fast and the performance is just so much better. Scaling has gotten much better. Still all options are open for now.

What about microstuttering?

 

[DuckThor Evil]

What about microstuttering?

Perhaps I don't have enough experience, but last time I played Crysis or Dragons Age I didn't notice any issues. Certainly Crysis at 1080p, 4xAA and very high details was smoother on two GPUs than on one :smile:

I think I have to read more about this though...

edit: The problem with single GPUs is that the price/performance goes downhill really fast when you go up the ladder. Compare for example GTX 580 and 570. I couldn't really justify myself buying 580 because of that, but something like 6950 x 2 would be little more, but a lot more power as well.

Single 570 or 6970 might be ok, but I'm not sure.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I wasn't able to wait any longer. The christmas got me...Probably would have been smart to wait for Sandy Bridge, but I came up with all sort of excuses, when I was at the store today... There is probably something wrong with me.

This is what it looks like. Have to wait a bit for some of the components though, but not too long.

Case: SilverStone Fortress SST-FT02B
Power source: Corsair AX850
MB: ASUS P6X58D-E,
CPU: i7 950 (cheapest 900 series today, cheaper than 920 and 930...) Noctua NH-D14 cooler
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 SuperClocked (only one for now. Core 797mhz)
Mem: Kingston HyperX 1333mhz CL7 (Cheap, but apparently doesn't really matter)
SSD: G.Skill 60GB Phoenix Pro for OS
HDD :Samsung spinpoint F3 1TB

Also got Samsung Blu-ray combo drive.

I am pretty much all set. I need a wireless desktop still. I previously had Microsoft one, but the keyboard had very bad signal to the point where it was pretty much useless. Can someone recommed me a good setup for that. I prefer those natural curved keyboards.

 

[Arwin]

I ordered a 5570 1GB (GDDR3) Low Profile card today. With a little luck (but I'm not holding my breath, what with the season and all the snow we're having), I should have it tomorrow around noon. It's the first upgrade I've done to my PC since I got it. Since I thought it was nice to get a small quiet PC back then (I regret it a tiny bit now as I would have liked to try a more formidable GPU like the 5670 or better with GDDR5), I now have to buy a low profile card, and for this machine, there really isn't a good alternative (I don't want too much power use, and the 5570 is around 40W at full draw).

In the context of all the other cards out there, the 5570 is very slow. What pulled the trigger for me however is how much better it is versus what is in there now The 5570 scores quite a few factors better than the humble 4350. Importantly, it seems capable enough to play most multi-platform console games better than the consoles themselves. Not that I need it, because there is too much stuff to play now for me already (especially on PS3), but I like to be able to check out some of the mad deals on Steam. Hopefully it can do that without getting much louder ...

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Heck and if you limit yourself to 720p or thereabouts, that should be fine with most anything.

Regards,
SB

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Heck and if you limit yourself to 720p or thereabouts, that should be fine with most anything.

Regards,
SB

What sort of scaling options you have with PCs, if you set the resolution to lower than the display native and do they work as good as the X360 scaling?

Hmm it seems like the motherboard I have ordered is not really suitable for SLI after all. It doesn't leave any room between the cards and it seems I can't use the third PCI slot for dual slot card in my case...

I kinda wished that I had the option to go SLI later on
There doesn't seem to be that many motherboards around that leave plenty of room between the PCI-express slots while having other features at a modern level as well.

Takes a lot of time to figure out proper combination of case, cooler and MB combability...Well with one GPU I should be fine...

 

[Silent_Buddha]

There's two types of scaling with PC video. There's your monitor scaling and that's going to depend quite a bit on the quality of scaler used in your panel. The cheaper your monitor the worse the scaler. And the best PC monitor scalers are worse than the best TV scalers. Although there have been a few exceptions. The Gateway 30" monitor had a superb scaler for example.

And then there's scaling done by your video card. I'm not sure how the quality of that is as I haven't had to scale game content in years. I usually play games in a window. 2400x1500 for most games, and 1920x1200 for those that can't maintain a decent framerate.

Nvidia also had a problem with their drivers for a while where the scaling options were ignored or didn't work right. I'm not sure if that's been resolved, but I'd be really surprised if it was still broken.

Regards,
SB

 

[DuckThor Evil]

There's two types of scaling with PC video. There's your monitor scaling and that's going to depend quite a bit on the quality of scaler used in your panel. The cheaper your monitor the worse the scaler. And the best PC monitor scalers are worse than the best TV scalers. Although there have been a few exceptions. The Gateway 30" monitor had a superb scaler for example.

I will mostly game on a new Epson eh-tw3200 projector, no idea how good it's scaler is. In any case I shouldn't have to rely on it too often.

Some last minute changes to my rig also. I apandoned the idea to go SLI, so I changed the psu to Corsair HX650, case will be Silverstone Raven 2 due to delivery issues. I changed the SSD to a 120GB model and have now an Arctic Accelero cooler for the GPU. I shoulld have all the components tomorrow!

edit: typing with the PS3 pad is getting annoying

 

[green.pixel]

I think you've chosen well going with single GPU, since with 2-way SLI/CF you can't use tripple-buffering and that is a pretty big flaw IMO. Anand did a great article last year on TB - Triple buffering: "Why we love it".

Also, more info here:
http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_9.html
http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_10.html

 

[Arwin]

edit: typing with the PS3 pad is getting annoying

Then plug in a real keyboard. (or if you have a bluetooth one, sync it up - that's what I always do)

I just installed my new 5570 (1GB GDDR3) to replace my 4350. My windows scores for GPU went up to 6.7 - particularly the Aero score was a big improvement (up from 4.3), and the difference is indeed noticeable in day-to-day Windows use. I may upgrade my wifes desktop as well now, since she has a) an even slower card, b) hers is a proper desktop so it's much cheaper and c) she can use the extra memory (come to think of it, I may upgrade that as well).

Now let's see if a game runs properly.

EDIT: Yep, tried the Mass Effect 2 demo, and it's much better than on the consoles. Running at 1280x768 at max detail gives me very high framerates (no idea how high, but 60fps or better most of the time from the looks of things). And my oh my how much better this game controls with a mouse!

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I think you've chosen well going with single GPU, since with 2-way SLI/CF you can't use tripple-buffering and that is a pretty big flaw IMO. Anand did a great article last year on TB - Triple buffering: "Why we love it".

Also, more info here:
http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_9.html
http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_10.html

Thanks I'll check those out. Yeah decided to go with one GPU due there being so few games that would really benefit from it @1080p

Then plug in a real keyboard. (or if you have a bluetooth one, sync it up - that's what I always do)

I just installed my new 5570 (1GB GDDR3) to replace my 4350. My windows scores for GPU went up to 6.7 - particularly the Aero score was a big improvement (up from 4.3), and the difference is indeed noticeable in day-to-day Windows use. I may upgrade my wifes desktop as well now, since she has a) an even slower card, b) hers is a proper desktop so it's much cheaper and c) she can use the extra memory (come to think of it, I may upgrade that as well).

Now let's see if a game runs properly.

EDIT: Yep, tried the Mass Effect 2 demo, and it's much better than on the consoles. Running at 1280x768 at max detail gives me very high framerates (no idea how high, but 60fps or better most of the time from the looks of things). And my oh my how much better this game controls with a mouse!

I got rid of my Mac and I'm just getting the new parts in, so I didn't have keyboard, now I do, but it's still in the box.

Wow you'r getting pretty good performance out of that 5570. I personally prefer the 360 pad with that game.

 

[eastmen]

If you want a good deal on a 5850 let me know. The gtx 560 is most likely a bit faster though whenever it comes out

 

[DuckThor Evil]

If you want a good deal on a 5850 let me know. The gtx 560 is most likely a bit faster though whenever it comes out

Thanks for the offer, but I now have all the components already and will build it today. yesterday I installed the new projector already, but it was so late that I didn't bother to start building the PC.

The only thing that worries me is installing that gpu cooler as I've heard that some people have managed to break things, but it shouldn't be too hard.