3k future proof overkill build advice.

[Malakar]

So, the title says it all.

I'm seeking advice and parts to build a computer that will allow me to max anything on the market right now and will be able to max anything that comes out for the years to come with just so minor adjustment/overclock

1- Mainly gaming computer
2-Buying from Canada
3- I'd say I like intel and Nvidia parts the most.
4- I plan on overclocking at some point but, I'm not really use to it so I would like the PC to max anything out of the box.
5- I'm only on the planning phase but I would buy it in the coming months
6- Planning on playing on 1900-1080 resolution for now, probably will go up to 2560-1440 at some point


As of now, I was thinking of going with those parts

2x Gigabyte 670 OC: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC 980MHZ 2GB 6.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card - DirectCanada, and I'm thinking of adding 2 more in the next 2 years. (I'm pretty sure they said an update would allow 4 way sli with the gtx 670)

Have no clue what CPU to get.

asus rampage IV extreme mobo: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme E-ATX LGA2011 X79 DDR3 SATA3 USB3.0 5PCI-E16 SLI CrossFireX Motherboard - DirectCanada

16gb of ram, don't know which one to get though.

1000 watt PSU, in order to have some headroom for OC if I ever get there.

So tell me what parts you think I should add or change! Thx

[JJThomp]

Well if you plan on going 4x 670 1000w isn't going to cut it...

You are probably looking at a
Intel i7 3930k $570.80 Intel Core i7 3930K 6 Core 12MB 3.2GHZ Hyperthreading Unlocked LGA2011 Processor No HSF - DirectCanada

Pick a socket 2011 mobo of your choice it doesn't really matter which as long as you get one with the right spacing for 4-way SLI it will come down to preference. This one is nice ASUS Rampage IV Formula ATX Motherboard X79 LGA2011 DDR3 SLI CrossFireX 4PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 USB3.0 - DirectCanada $388 or you can go with the extreme

Get whatever memory kit is cheapest on the date you purchase for 1600mhz cl9 it should be around $100

For your GPU's the gtx 670 is nice but I haven't heard about that quad SLI... but either way you don't want those gigabyte cards. Those cards have very efficient coolers but they dump all the heat into your case unlike the reference version (which exhaust out the back of the case) so they will essentially strangle each other for cool air. Pick up cards with the reference coolers (especially if you ever want to water cool it will make it much easier to find blocks), Asus, MSI and EVGA all offer great service, you should purchase one with the warranty you want. Anyways 2 of them should run you around $800

PSU 1200w minimum I would probably go with 1500w just to be safe with an OC because you don't want to run you PSU at 90% all the time anyways. But here is 1200w Corsair Professional Series Gold CMPSU-1200AX 1200W ATX Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold Power Supply - DirectCanada $274

Intel 520 SSD 120gb Intel SSD 520 Series SATA III Solid State Drive, 120GB at Memory Express $170

1tb HDD (You can get more whenever) Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM - DirectCanada $110

Windows 7 Home premium is about $100

Now this adds up to about $2500 before tax and you don't have a case yet... Only leaving you with $150 for an XL-ATX case to stay under 3k

Unfortunately this leaves you without a mouse, keyboard, decent monitor (I know you said you would upgrade but really no point in having this rig with a 1920x1080 monitor).

[Overclocking.ca]

Originally Posted by JJThomp

Well if you plan on going 4x 670 1000w isn't going to cut it...

You are probably looking at a
Intel i7 3930k $570.80 Intel Core i7 3930K 6 Core 12MB 3.2GHZ Hyperthreading Unlocked LGA2011 Processor No HSF - DirectCanada

Pick a socket 2011 mobo of your choice it doesn't really matter which as long as you get one with the right spacing for 4-way SLI it will come down to preference. This one is nice ASUS Rampage IV Formula ATX Motherboard X79 LGA2011 DDR3 SLI CrossFireX 4PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 USB3.0 - DirectCanada $388 or you can go with the extreme

Get whatever memory kit is cheapest on the date you purchase for 1600mhz cl9 it should be around $100

For your GPU's the gtx 670 is nice but I haven't heard about that quad SLI... but either way you don't want those gigabyte cards. Those cards have very efficient coolers but they dump all the heat into your case unlike the reference version (which exhaust out the back of the case) so they will essentially strangle each other for cool air. Pick up cards with the reference coolers (especially if you ever want to water cool it will make it much easier to find blocks), Asus, MSI and EVGA all offer great service, you should purchase one with the warranty you want. Anyways 2 of them should run you around $800

PSU 1200w minimum I would probably go with 1500w just to be safe with an OC because you don't want to run you PSU at 90% all the time anyways. But here is 1200w Corsair Professional Series Gold CMPSU-1200AX 1200W ATX Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold Power Supply - DirectCanada $274

Intel 520 SSD 120gb Intel SSD 520 Series SATA III Solid State Drive, 120GB at Memory Express $170

1tb HDD (You can get more whenever) Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM - DirectCanada $110

Windows 7 Home premium is about $100

Now this adds up to about $2500 before tax and you don't have a case yet... Only leaving you with $150 for an XL-ATX case to stay under 3k

Unfortunately this leaves you without a mouse, keyboard, decent monitor (I know you said you would upgrade but really no point in having this rig with a 1920x1080 monitor).

I wouldn't go Sandy Bridge-E I would stick to a i7 2600K and overclock it.
I would go with Maximus IV Extreme-Z or Maximus V Formula for a board. Both will support Ivy Bridge if you want to go that route and both will support PCI-E 3.0

You can save some money for the SSD and go with the OCZ Vertex 4 for $129.99 @ Canada Computers

Memory if you want to save some you could go with an 8GB kit which would be around $50.00 or stick with a 16GB kit.

I would say go with the WB 2TB Green for the same price, it gives you double the space, yes the speed isn't as fast as the Black but it's a storage drive.

[JJThomp]

Originally Posted by Overclocking.ca

I wouldn't go Sandy Bridge-E I would stick to a i7 2600K and overclock it.
I would go with Maximus IV Extreme-Z or Maximus V Formula for a board. Both will support Ivy Bridge if you want to go that route and both will support PCI-E 3.0

You can save some money for the SSD and go with the OCZ Vertex 4 for $129.99 @ Canada Computers

Memory if you want to save some you could go with an 8GB kit which would be around $50.00 or stick with a 16GB kit.

I would say go with the WB 2TB Green for the same price, it gives you double the space, yes the speed isn't as fast as the Black but it's a storage drive.

If he wants to Quad SLI I'm thinking he definitely wants SB-E... Gives him an extra ~10% performance

Edit: I was also thinking with only a 120gb ssd the HDD might become more than just a storage drive.

[dandelioneater]

You will definitely need the extra PCIe lanes that X79 affords you for running 4 way sli. What about monitors though? If you have money for 4 gpu's you should really put some emphasis on 3 monitors for surround. What about 3 of those korean ips panels? the catleaps or yamakazi whatever theya re called?

[Overclocking.ca]

True if he wants Quad SLI then he would need to go to Sandy Bridge-E but is a 10% gain in performance worth the added cost of the processor, motherboard and 4th video card?

[Malakar]

Well, I'll buy a new monitor before I get my 2 extra GPU's and yeah, I was thinking about getting those korean IPS. Theyre are around 400-500$. I'm just waiting for them to be sold in Canada or at least the US. For now I'll stick with 2-sli 670 too max anything at 1920-1080, then, when I get some more cash I'll get more monitors, dunno about 3 right now but it's a possibility. I want to get parts that are gonna be able to carry my PC for the years to come without having to rebuild another one 1 year later.

I already have a 120 gb SSD, so no need for that. I have a 1gb 7200 3gb hard drive too but I don't mind upgrade it or get another one

Also already have razer mouse and keyboard.

Also I'll be looking for evga gpu's, they have a pretty good reputation and a good warranty service. Asus seems good too but I think the GPU's are too big for me to fit for on a mobo. Maybe I'm wrong though.

[JJThomp]

Originally Posted by Malakar

Well, I'll buy a new monitor before I get my 2 extra GPU's and yeah, I was thinking about getting those korean IPS. Theyre are around 400-500$. I'm just waiting for them to be sold in Canada or at least the US. For now I'll stick with 2-sli 670 too max anything at 1920-1080, then, when I get some more cash I'll get more monitors, dunno about 3 right now but it's a possibility. I want to get parts that are gonna be able to carry my PC for the years to come without having to rebuild another one 1 year later.

I already have a 120 gb SSD, so no need for that. I have a 1gb 7200 3gb hard drive too but I don't mind upgrade it or get another one

Also already have razer mouse and keyboard.

Well then pick a case you like and buy only the parts you need from the list I put up there and you are pretty much set.

[Malakar]

I really don't know anything about cases though. I also read on some forums that liquid cooling is pretty much useless if you have a good airflow. And I have air conditioning at home so It shouldn't get too hot. Is liquid cooling really that necessary?

[RobertFontaine]

Tri-sli make more sense than Quad-SLI and in most cases a single card is going to give you max settings at 1080.
nvidia sli is limited to 100hz/FPs at the sli bridge and only hacked amd video drivers w/ 7970 can do 120hz BUT with amd you need to put another $100+ into a display port adapter if you want to run a 3rd monitor.

F'ing x79 chipset can't do pci-e (3) except in special lucky circumstances so your limited on bandwidth once you hit tri-sli/fire/

"Future Proof" is keeping your money in your pocket and buying what you need to game now instead of wasting 2K on what will be outdated and end of lifed when you need it. (imo).

3570k, 7970 or 670 , 8 gigs of ram and you can play pretty much anything on the market single screen @ 2560x1440 ~100hz. Add video cards and problems as you add monitors. (again imo).

Or you can quadfire/sli 3 x 2560x1440, rive or sr-2, 3960x, 64 gigs of ram, ssd raid, caselabs case (TH), ek watercool for 6 or 7k but don't expect a huge gaming improvement. (although 3 way eyefinity would be cool).