New Gaming PC for iRacing, etc

[DougOtt]

My Dell XPS PC is over 6 years old and I need a new PC for general use plus gaming. I have read reviews and advice on many sites and am nearing the purchase decision. I want a new PC that will last 5 years before replacement. Below are my responses to the questions for New Builds plus a list of parts for a potential new PC that I am considering. I expect it to cost in the range of $4,000 -$4500 plus taxes (excluding the equipment which I already have identified below).

My questions on this build are:

1. Can this system be used for my described purpose (triple monitors, sound, games, etc.) ?
2. Can the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme MOBO hold the 2 Radeon HD 7970 cards plus the ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound card at the same time?
3. Are all of the parts compatible with this build?
4. Will the Windows 7 operating system handle the 32 GB of RAM?
5. Will the MOBO handle the 32 GB of RAM listed above or is other RAM required?
6. Will the 1200 W PSU be sufficient?
7. Do you have any suggestions for improving this build?
8. Any suggestions for gaming keyboard and mouse?


1. What YOUR PC will be used for.

Internet, email, word, excel, etc. as well as gaming (iRacing, F1, Dirt 3, Shogun 2, Civilization V, FPSs, and others). I have have been reading about sim-racing at iRacing and intend to get into that using a Gamepod GT2 EVO rig.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$4,000 -$4500 plus taxes

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

Canada

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

None, but "quality, durability and warranty" are key issues.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

I already have 3 Dell Ultrabright U2410 monitors and Denon 2112CI receiver with Energy E-Sat speakers and Sennheiser PC350 headphone. Also Gamepod GT2 EVO rig and Thrustmaster T500 wheel and pedals. :)

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Yes, I have searched and read many threads.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Default speeds would be fine and mild overclocking is OK too, but I have no experience with overclocking.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

January-February 2012

9. What resolution do you use?

My 3 Dell U2410 monitors are 1920X1200 individually. In widescreen they become 5760 X 1200.

I am considering the following build:

1 x Intel Core i7 3930K 6 Core 12MB 3.2GHZ Hyperthreading Unlocked LGA2011 Processor No HSF
1 x Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H100 Extreme Performance CPU Cooler System LGA1366 2011 1156 AM2 AM3
1 x ASUS Rampage IV EXTREME/BF3 E-ATX LGA2011 X79 DDR3 SATA3 USB3.0 5PCI-E16 SLI CrossFireX Motherboard
2 x Corsair CMZ16GX3M4X1866C9R Vengeance 16GB 4X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-10-9-27 Quad Channel Memory Kit
2 x AMD Radeon HD 7970 925MHZ 3GB 5.5GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E DVI HDMI 2 X Mini Display Port
1 x Corsair Obsidian Series 800D Full Tower Case EATX 5X5.25 4X3.5 Hotswappable 2X3.5INT No PS USB 1394
1 x Corsair Professional Series Gold CMPSU-1200AX 1200W ATX Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold Power Supply
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64BIT DVD SP1 OEM
1 x Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student English 32/64BIT Medialess Product Key Card No DVD
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 64MB Cache 7200RPM 3.5IN SATA Internal Hard Drive OEM
1 x Corsair Force 3 Series 240GB 2.5IN SATA3 6GB/S Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD Sandforce SF-2200
1 x LG GH22NS70 Super Multi 22X SATA DVD Writer Black OEM
1 x LG CH12LS28 12X Blu-Ray Reader & Lightscribe DVD Writer Combo Drive
1 x ASUS Xonar Essence STX PCI-E1 SPDIF Sound Card 124DB SNR W/ Headphone AMP

[dandelioneater]

Looks like a solid build to me. Now, I'm not sure if you plan to add more video cards later, but for a single gpu and cpu, you won't need a 1200W PSU. The 850W unit from Corsair would be more than enough for that system, and would give you plenty of headroom for a second 7970 later. But if you are planning to go Tri-Fire r something then the 1200W would be what ya need.

[GT7R]

Originally Posted by dandelioneater

Looks like a solid build to me. Now, I'm not sure if you plan to add more video cards later, but for a single gpu and cpu, you won't need a 1200W PSU. The 850W unit from Corsair would be more than enough for that system, and would give you plenty of headroom for a second 7970 later. But if you are planning to go Tri-Fire r something then the 1200W would be what ya need.

The OP has specified 2 7970s

[DougOtt]

Originally Posted by dandelioneater

Looks like a solid build to me. Now, I'm not sure if you plan to add more video cards later, but for a single gpu and cpu, you won't need a 1200W PSU. The 850W unit from Corsair would be more than enough for that system, and would give you plenty of headroom for a second 7970 later. But if you are planning to go Tri-Fire r something then the 1200W would be what ya need.

Thanks for your comments. I do plan to use two GPUs from the start to ensure I can run 3 monitors at very good quality, so I believe the 1200W PSU may be useful and possibly a little more than required but somewhat future-proof the system if I add a third GPU sometime in the future (perhaps at a great price in a year or two). I am not sure if I would ever need a third GPU though. :)

[Technokat]

just so you know iracing doesnt support sli/crossfire.

[DougOtt]

Originally Posted by Technokat

just so you know iracing doesnt support sli/crossfire.

Thanks Technocrat. I was not aware of that! I am now researching some more. I wonder if it ever will. Nevertheless other games that I am interested in will hopefully support sli/crossfire. :)

[roybiggens]

DougOtt,

I just recently went through the same "research" regarding iracing and the SLI/Crossfire situation. The guys on the iracing site pretty much indicate that Crossfire/SLI needs to be disabled when running the sim.

I ended up going with a single 7970 for the time being since iracing is my main concern. It's paired up to an I7 2700K and 8GB RAM.

I can run triple monitor Eyefiinty at 5760x1200 with every single graphic option maxed in iracing, 4x AA, 16X AF, and easily maintain over 90+fps. I can maintain over 160+fps if I disable the high detail cockpit mirrors. In other words, one 7970 is more than enough.

If I were you, I'd go ahead and do the 7970 Crossfire though and just setup a custom app profile in the Catalyst Control Center that disables one card for iracing, and the one remaining card wont even break a sweat.

This way you can use Crossfire in the games that can take advantage of it, and still play iracing trouble free.

I can also tell you this. iRacing is addicitive

[DougOtt]

Thanks for the comments RoyBiggins. Much appreciated. I am nearing the "decision hour"! Although I have never built a PC before, I think I will give it a try. I hope iRacing is as addictive as you've indicated as this is going to cost quite a bit of $$$; otherwise I will have to try the "harder stuff" (I'm a Neil Young fan, my, my, hey hey)!

[musicman]

if your worried about crossfire issues just go for a 6990 or 590. And if you are having 32gb of RAM make sure you have windows 7 PRO or ULTIMATE, home will not support it.

[musicman]

Actually i think you should def. go one GPU and then watercool your comp. Also if the SSD is to be mainly used as a boot drive, for that price i would just get an OCZ Revodrive 3-the one that is the same price is only a 120gb but it is almost twice as fast.