High End Gaming Multimedia Machine, HELP!!!

[InvertedAerialX]

Hello All,

First of all, I want to thank you all in advance for all of your input. I have an Idea of what I am doing, but the last pc I built was 6yrs ago. So I am completely new to all this sli and crossfire stuff. Please don't think I'm too much of a noob. But in reality, I am so....if the shoe fits...

First I will post the PC with the components I plan on building, then I will ask my questions... Here Goes....

Case:
(Thermaltake Level 10 GT E-ATX Modular Tower Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS USB3.0 Snow Edition)
Processor:
(Intel Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition 6 Core 15MB 3.3GHZ Hyperthreading Unlocked LGA2011 Processor)
Operating System:
(Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition 64BIT DVD OEM)
Motherboard:
(ASUS Rampage IV EXTREME/BF3 E-ATX LGA2011 X79 DDR3 SATA3 USB3.0 5PCI-E16 SLI CrossFireX Motherboard)
LCD Display 1:
(Samsung S24A450UW 24IN Widescreen LED LCD Monitor 1920X1200 5ms 1000:1 VGA DVI HAS)
LCD Display 2:
(Samsung S24A450UW 24IN Widescreen LED LCD Monitor 1920X1200 5ms 1000:1 VGA DVI HAS)
Memory 1:
(Kingston KHX2133C11D3K4/16GX 16GB 2133MHZ DDR3 NON-ECC CL11 DIMM (Kit of 4) XMP)
Memory 2:
(Kingston KHX2133C11D3K4/16GX 16GB 2133MHZ DDR3 NON-ECC CL11 DIMM (Kit of 4) XMP)
Hard Drive 1: Used to run Windows 7 Ultimate & MS Office (docs/pics/movies)
(Corsair Performance Pro Series 256GB 2.5IN SSD Marvell SATA3 6BPS 515MB/S Read 440MB/S Write)
Hard Drive 2: Used for Games
(Corsair Force Series GT 480GB SSD SATA3 Solid State Disk 545MB/S Read SandForce SF-2200)
STORAGE Drive:
(Western Digital WD Caviar Green 500GB SATA3 7200RPM Intellipower 32MB 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive)
Video Card 1:
(EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC SIGNATURE+ 1084MHZ 2048MB 6208MHZ GDDR5 SLI DVI DP PCI-E DX11 Video Card)
Video Card 2:
(EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC SIGNATURE+ 1084MHZ 2048MB 6208MHZ GDDR5 SLI DVI DP PCI-E DX11 Video Card)
Video Card 3:
(EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC SIGNATURE+ 1084MHZ 2048MB 6208MHZ GDDR5 SLI DVI DP PCI-E DX11 Video Card)
Video Card 4: (For monitor 3 &4 ...more on this later...)
(XFX Radeon HD 7970 OC Black Edition 1000MHZ 3GB 5.7GHZ GDDR5 DL-DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI)
Power Supply:
(Antec Truepower Quattro 1200W Power Supply ATX V2.2 EPS12V 20/24PIN Active PFC 80PLUS 2X8PIN PCI-E)
Sound Card:
(Creative Labs Sound Blaster RECON3D FATAL1TY Champion 5.1 Channel 24-BIT PCI-E Sound Card)
DVD ROM:
(ASUS 24X Internal Super Multi DVD-RW Lightscribe DVD Writer SATA Black Retail)
DVD Writer:
(LG GH24NS90 24X SATA Internal DVD Writer Burner DVDRW M-DISC Compatible Optical Drive Black OEM)
BLU-RAY Writer:
(LG WH12 Blu-Ray Writer 12X BD-R DVD-R M-DISC Compatible Lightscribe SATA Black OEM)


THE QUESTIONS!!!!

1. - Is this possible? Can I really put thhis much crap on one mother board?
2. - Will the 1200W power supply be enough? (have enough cables)
3. - Can I run 3-Way SLI (for the 2 main monitors) AND run the Radeon (for the other 2 monitors), will this work?
4, - Can I run 4 Video Cards AND have a Sound Card? Looking at how the Video Cards sit, they cover the pci slot for the Sounds Card...I think
5. - Is the RealTek Sound on the card any good?

Like I said, I know the basics, but the Details...I'm no good at...

Thank a Bunch!

Jeff. (InvertedAerialX)

[Dzzope]

1 680 will run 4 monitors.. and 2 will be plenty for 4 monitors of that resolution.
Why have 3 and a 7970?


The intel 520 is a better drive. and if you go bigger will be faster... you should have plenty of room on a single 512 GB drive for your OS and all your games.


Are you going to be like encoding tonnes video, rendering huge 3d scenes etc? doing other high end cpu stuffs? cos even an i7 2600k (or IB equivalent) will be MORE than plenty for that.. your really looking at the high end enthusiast stuff at hex core SB-E.. which will be wasted on multi-media and gaming.



While it's a drool-worth build.. it seems very OTT and pocket busting to me.. and with gaming and multi-media as the intended use.. I see very little point in it.

[InvertedAerialX]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

1 680 will run 4 monitors.. and 2 will be plenty for 4 monitors of that resolution.
Why have 3 and a 7970?


The intel 520 is a better drive. and if you go bigger will be faster... you should have plenty of room on a single 512 GB drive for your OS and all your games.


Are you going to be like encoding tonnes video, rendering huge 3d scenes etc? doing other high end cpu stuffs? cos even an i7 2600k (or IB equivalent) will be MORE than plenty for that.. your really looking at the high end enthusiast stuff at hex core SB-E.. which will be wasted on multi-media and gaming.



While it's a drool-worth build.. it seems very OTT and pocket busting to me.. and with gaming and multi-media as the intended use.. I see very little point in it.

Thanks for the tip!

Primary use is web and graphic design (hence the need for 4 monitors). I also do a lot of 3D rendering for friends and my father's company.

I keep reading that the 680 will support 4 monitors, but there are only 2 DVI ports... I guess you'd use the HDMI as well, but where is the forth?

Jeff.

[Dzzope]

"The backplate features a pair of dual link DVI connectors as well as full size outputs for HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2."

As long as your monitor supports HDMI or Display-port (or get a converter, which I believe is possible) you have all 4 connections on 1 card.


On the 3d rendering:
What do you currently use?
How long does it generally take?
How often do you need to do it?

Just trying to see if the cost - benefit is like with the hex-core to the i7 2600k.

[InvertedAerialX]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

"The backplate features a pair of dual link DVI connectors as well as full size outputs for HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2."

As long as your monitor supports HDMI or Display-port (or get a converter, which I believe is possible) you have all 4 connections on 1 card.


On the 3d rendering:
What do you currently use?
How long does it generally take?
How often do you need to do it?

Just trying to see if the cost - benefit is like with the hex-core to the i7 2600k.

Wow, That's Great! 4 Monitors, 1 Card...Waahoo!!! LOL! Still think I'm going to get dual 680's, I definitely want to try this SLI stuff! But even if I get 2 680's and ditch the 3rd and the radeon, I still save over $1,000!

Rendering...

I currently use:

Core 2Duo 6600 @ 2.4 GHz
8 Gig RAM (Although according to Win 7 it only have 3.97 Available ???)
XFX Radeon HD 4890 (!GB, 850 MHZ, 3.9GHz)

Most rendering takes overnight (hangs head in shame)

I only render a couple of times per month. However I run Adobe's Master Suite (5.5) All day every day, in and out of programs constantly. Hence the 4 screens.

p.s. thank for taking the time to help me out with this!

Jeff.

[Dzzope]

No problem,

The rendering really depends on the size... if your doing it overnight and it takes all night, it's not really something that you'll be able to do as you work..


Consider... 1 box for working on... a seperate box.. maybe a xeon (or even your current rig) for just rendering?

you can then render while you work / game etc.

What you save on one you can either pocket or spend else-where.

I see you have 2 screens listed.. What are the other 2? if you have them.. if not you might be able to bump up to a nice 27" ips or the fancy samsung 27A850D, 27” PLS (2560x1440)

P.S.
This is all just opinion and option. It's your shout at the end of the day.

[InvertedAerialX]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

No problem,

The rendering really depends on the size... if your doing it overnight and it takes all night, it's not really something that you'll be able to do as you work..


Consider... 1 box for working on... a seperate box.. maybe a xeon for just rendering?

I have a feeling, that is EXACTLY what it is going to come down too. I really didn't want to be running 2 boxes (the wife is NOT going to be happy) LOL! But I guess I'll build a basic Xeon machine as well, and just use my old case.

Still going to have a killer PC to play with though. :) It isn't going to be as crazy as the one listed above, but...maybe close :)

Lastly...
You mentioned the Intel 520 Drive. Obviously an SSD, but are the drives as good as Kingston or WD or Corsair?

Jeff.

[InvertedAerialX]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

No problem,

The rendering really depends on the size... if your doing it overnight and it takes all night, it's not really something that you'll be able to do as you work..


Consider... 1 box for working on... a seperate box.. maybe a xeon (or even your current rig) for just rendering?

you can then render while you work / game etc.

What you save on one you can either pocket or spend else-where.

I see you have 2 screens listed.. What are the other 2? if you have them.. if not you might be able to bump up to a nice 27" ips or the fancy samsung 27A850D, 27” PLS (2560x1440)

P.S.
This is all just opinion and option. It's your shout at the end of the day.

LOL! You are going to get a good laugh out of this!!!

I currently have 3 Screens...only 2 of which are plugged in. LOL!

1. Samsung BX2450L (main)
2. Dell 21.5in CRT! (Yea baby!)
3. Dell 21.5in CRT! Yes, i have 2 of the 50lbs'ers! And desperately want to get rid of them. Someone told me I could sell them for $100 each! LOL! what a joke!

I'd love the run 2x Samsung 27in and 2x24in. But i think that might be a little ridiculous!

Jeff.

[Dzzope]

You just need a good stand. :D

The good quality CRT's are hard to beat. But IPS panels are damn good too

personally I find the large really high res screens bill to work on, not so great at games (pretty but a bit harder on the first person shooters to stay accurate)
2 or 3 of the samsungs would be perfect, a friend of mine has 4 27 " monitors.. (not the same res) but you get used to them pretty quick.

Other option is a 27 in the middle and 2 24" at either side.

My main point is that with the cost of the CPU ALONE you can build a decent i72600k rig.. and that will be about 66% as fast as the 3960X..
It's the difference of rendering on the Q6600 for 6 hrs on the 2600k for 2 hrs or 1.3 hrs on the 3960(very rough estimates).
For me.. the cost doesn't justify it.

Not when you can leave your old box chugging away at the rendering OR build a small xeon powered server JUST to render for less than the price difference while you can work away with NO impact to your experience.

[Dzzope]

Intel 520's are simply the best sandforce based drive available and have a rock solid warrenty.

On the point of having 2 boxes... if your not in a huge rush for the renders.. why not just keep the q6600 doing the renders and save yet more on new builds...

If your going down the 2 box route that is.