New PC Build

30 posts / 0 new
Last post
#1 Thu, 12/06/2012 - 02:55
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

New PC Build

Whats up guys... I am posting over here from the Forza forum due to being near done building a new gaming PC.

 

so my question is could I get by for a while on current SIMs on an onboard Intel HD4000 graphics? I cant afford a proper video card just yet let alone two for SLI.

 

build as it sits:

Intel Core i7 - 3770K (3.5ghz - 3.9ghz turbo)
Intel Extreme Series DZ77GAL-70K Motherboard
Intel 520 Series 180GB SSD Hard Drive
G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600mhz
Corsair HX720 PSU
NZXT Phantom 410 Storm Trooper Case.
Tuniq TX-3 Thermal Compound (6g)

 

The future add ons will be:

2x Nvidia GeForce GTX670FTW Edition 4GB

Corsair h100i water cooler and Corsair SP120/AF120 fans.

16GB more RAM for a total of 32GB.

 

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 03:01
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

Not that it pretains to my question but I will be overclocking the processor to 4.5ghz once I have the proper cooling capacity to do so.

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 03:20
kurupt's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 4 months ago
Joined: 09/10/2010 - 23:00
Nice build m8! As for graphics card to be honest and save u cash if your running a single monitor you will just need 1 680 4gb....I only say this cause iam running an I7 2600 no overclock with a gigabyte 670 2gb on triples with max settings adaptive vsync and I get a solid 60 fps with 30 cars on rfactor/race07/gtr2 no problem never dropped below, on newer games that have yet to be optimized pcars/race experience same settings 50-60 fps....so a 4gb should do?! Only time my card has dropped to 40fps is in pcars full grid at the start of a race, once the field spreads out its usually a solid 60 fps and again that's pcars in optimized beta. For an enthusiast with money to blow 2 would be awesome and good for a while.....if 2 is what u want u might wanna look at a GTX 690 4gb I've seen them for $900-1025 and would save u about $200 to put towards the liquid cooler :) I ve been thinking about a 690 cause my mobo only has 1 pci express and would add another $250 + &600 to run sli The benefit of having 1 powerful card as opposed to sli is you avoid stuttering problems that are common in sli configurations. Your best info on 670/680 4 gb cards would come from the guys at gbr f1fan or whitewolf and maybe helios I believe they have them. When they were released I know there was an issue with the 4gb memory problem which iam not sure have been fixed? But if triples are in the plans and you love eye candy and max settings with money to blow 4gb is the way to go! Single screen 660ti/670/680 will be more than enough for a while! The onboard graphics from what I hear in the new Intel should allow you to run the older Sims...might have to down some of the eyecandy. Can't wait to race with ya and good luck with the build :) Cheers
Thu, 12/06/2012 - 04:11
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

2 4gb 670s will run me 880ish if I could get a single 690 at that price I will do that. the 680 is not much better than a 4gb 670 to justify the 100 difference per card. I will also be playing high end games like BF3 etc so Im building it to handle those as well as sims.

What older sims would you reccomend... I have a full Fanatec rig already with CSR/CSPv2/CSR shifters.

edit: Triples WILL be in my future with this rig.

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 04:43
kurupt's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 4 months ago
Joined: 09/10/2010 - 23:00
Depending on your race car preference...race 07/gtr 2 I like $5 on steam cause iam a tour car fan we run a sat wtcc/btcc style race here with anywhere from 6-10 guys, but iam really starting to enjoy rfactor and racing with the guys at gbr they got a nightly series running....great guys and familar faces from 204F and very knowledgeable! It took me a bit to get over the initial setup but once I did its very enjoyable and fun to run with bigger fields. In retrospec there basically the same game, both have UPS and downs, race 07 looks a bit cleaner, online servers have a few options I enjoy for series and i liked the touring car models and feel of the fwd cars, but know that I found a touring car mod for rfactor that iam working on for a series iam really getting into it....bigger fields, more series a lot of addons, ffb and great Mods.....and honestly running with more familar faces is always better :) If you like historic...gtr2 has the power & glory mod v3 which is absolutely awesome!u would never know its older than the other too....if u have gtl and rfactor there's the historx mod which is very similar by what I hear but havent tried For other games talk to knight he has every racing sim since before the birth of Christ lol ;) Out of all of them your best bang for your buck that will get u through to the next gen of sims is rfactor hands down! There pumping out tons of Mods, big community tons of series and more people playing :)
Thu, 12/06/2012 - 12:42
KnightofRedemption's picture
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 5 months ago
Joined: 01/02/2012 - 00:00

Looks a good build, 32 gigs memory is overkill for sims, and unless you are looking to do some serious video editing 16 is more than enough. As it stands you should have no problem running current sims. Only must have missing from Kurupts list is rF2, yes it's still in beta, yes it has issues but it is the most likely to take over the rF1 crown for the go to sim for most online racers. FFB is in a class of it's own, real road  with rubber being laid down over time and drying lines in the wet, dynamic weather, day/night racing. No other Sim past or near future has all of these.

SLI...there are some issues with SLI setups, now time will I'm sure sort these out but a single GPU solution is at the moment the one with the least headaches. A single 670 2 gig is running everything I throw at it in triple format. A 4 gig 690 wont even break a sweat. Personally I would go for a 670 4gig and then down the line when the next gen sims get their multi GPU issues sorted, get another. If you feel it is needed.

Triples are the single best thing you can add to your rig they will increase your immersion value immensely. I spent less on my GPU in order to get mine and have never regretted it.

As for current sims Kurupt pretty much nailed it with his list, I have one or two others but 90% of my racing is done in rF1 and Race Injection (the latest Race 07 bundle)

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 17:30
Sherb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 months 4 days ago
Joined: 03/19/2011 - 23:00
Currently Playing: 

Me?  690?  59

Haha, no.  I'm a cheap bastard.  I'm "only" running SLI'd 560GTXs (1G ea) that I installed last Christmas (to support triples that I haven't gotten squared away yet).  There are a couple guys running 600 series cards though.  I think F1 may be the only one running SLI'd 4G cards...though I believe his are the 670.  Lawyer (Zero) is another that I know for sure is running a 600 series...but I think he's only running a single 4G.

 

As for sims, yeah, rFactor (rF1) & Race07 (can add GTR Evolution/Race Injection expansions) are the current core.  There are several next gens that are just on the horizon, and should be due out next year.

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 17:35
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

Nice thanks for the input. I know 32gb ram is overkill but I at some point may be doing 3d rendering for school and would want as much ram as possible. that is my last add on anyhow... GPU first then water cooler/fans then ram.

I am considering going with a single 4gb 670 or 680 for now to afford the cooling to overclock. Im sure even on high end games like BF3 and the like I could get decent frame rates at 1080p on a single.

also considering 3x 27" displays for just under $700... I just dont know how much I am willing to spend on computer shit at the moment... I do have a pretty little Mazda RX8 that could use new wheels an exhaust and ignition upgrade... I need to make more money haha

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 17:37
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

another 1000-1200 is in my budget fyi.

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 17:58
KnightofRedemption's picture
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 5 months ago
Joined: 01/02/2012 - 00:00

Ah 3d rendering, okay that make perfect sense then. The difference between 670/680 was not for me worth the extra bucks, in fact in some tests the 670 was faster than the 680...go figure. Put what you save towards those triples, and you'll thank yourself.

Oh I run Tom Clancys Future Soldier on ultra settings on triple screen smooth as silk no matter what is going on, so that gives you some idea of what the 2 gig 670 can do.

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 23:45
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

well well see in a couple months what card I go with and if tripples make their way to my desk haha. if my math is right tripples + a 680 ftw 4gb + watercooler + fans = about 1500.

I wanted to only spend 1600 total for the PC but looks like I will hit that mark on the head not factoring in the tripples. The bedroom needs a new TV according to the wife...and I happen to be using a new 42" TV as a monitor at the moment... so the wife gets her new TV I get new 27" tripples in the process (if I play my cards right haha) happy wife happy life.

Fri, 12/07/2012 - 02:19
Sherb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 months 4 days ago
Joined: 03/19/2011 - 23:00
Currently Playing: 

For monitors, keep an eye on Dell.  I've gotten my last couple from there.  They have pretty good deals periodically going straight through Dell.  I got my 24's for under $200 ea....shipped.

Fri, 12/07/2012 - 02:48
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

nice... im looking at 27" 2ms 1080p for 230 shipped each. I have a 23 right now but I think I need to go a little bigger after using this monster 42" haha. 3x27" would be ohhhhhh so nice lol. Also I am a dell hater through and through. I was very sad when they aquired AlienWare even being overpriced their machines were art.

Sun, 12/09/2012 - 03:01
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

well my intel stuff gets here on wed. cant wait lol everything else is sitting under my desk waiting lol

Sun, 12/09/2012 - 03:29
kurupt's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 4 months ago
Joined: 09/10/2010 - 23:00
Congrats man....it will all be worth it once u get set up and get racing, its a completely different experience!
Tue, 12/11/2012 - 04:38
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

ahhhhhh this thing is a money pit.

 

so my wonderfull girlfriend (I need to wife her) gave me $200 to "spend on myself" soooo I got a few more things for my build. So far this is what I have on my desk or in the mail on its way...

 

Intel Core i7 - 3770K (3.5ghz - 3.9ghz turbo)
Intel Extreme Series DZ77GAL-70K Motherboard
Intel 520 Series 180GB SSD Hard Drive
G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600mhz (blue)
Corsair HX720 PSU
NZXT Phantom 410 Case.
Tuniq TX-3 Thermal Compound (2mL)

3x Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition fans

Corsair h100i water cooler

NZXT Sentry-2 5.25" Touch Screen Fan Controller

NZXT Premium Sleeved LED Kit (2 meter) - Blue

 

The case came with 2x120mm fans and 1x140mm including the 2 on the h100i will give me a total of 8 fans. 4 will be push/pull for the radiator also acting as case exhaust plus 1 more for exhaust and 3 for case intake so cooling should be MORE than covered for solid overclocking. So I will delay my build until all the cooling bits arive. I dont plan on getting an optical drive as I dont think I really need one. So when all this arrives my build should be all sorted short of a graphics card which will need to wait because frankly I dont have the cash lol.

since I will have A LOT of cooling I will do a moderate overclock on the CPU (4 - 4.5ghz) and on the on-board graphics to get me by till I can get a dedicated graphics card.

Im such a computer nerd... so glad to be back into that hobby haha.

Tue, 12/11/2012 - 05:07
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

oh and total investment to this point = $976.25usd. I wanted to be in the $1500-1600usd range after a graphics card so if I get a gtx680FTW I will be at $1534.11usd. right on the money haha.

 

if I didnt get a hook up on the intel gear and got everything on newegg the total with the graphics card would have been $1816.32.

Tue, 12/11/2012 - 05:35
KnightofRedemption's picture
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 5 months ago
Joined: 01/02/2012 - 00:00

That should see you right for the next generation of Race sims. I was the same, been out of the PC scene for some nine years but after seeing Spaz's race vids decided I had to get back to it. It was great fun designing the new build, and that moment when you press the power button and that pile of components lives is just too cool for school. I managed to get every component for in and around half price and comparing it to pre builds I have a €3,000 machine for €1,200...that is most pleasing. I look forward to seeing you on the grid mate. :)

Tue, 12/11/2012 - 05:42
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

yeah I cant imagine what the msrp would be on a similar spec pre built pc. much more than 1550 I can assure that! lol

it may be a while before i do much sim racing online... I need looooooooaaaaaaaddddddsssssssssss of practice first.

Tue, 12/11/2012 - 06:14
KnightofRedemption's picture
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 5 months ago
Joined: 01/02/2012 - 00:00

Ah just get stuck in, you'll find the BTCC cars surprisingly easy to drive and listening to me swearing at the AI is an entertainment you should not be depriving yourself of LOL

Thu, 12/13/2012 - 00:35
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53

So I have the rig mostly built for the time being (Im typing on it now)... still need to install the water cooler, fan controller, and extra fans to start overclocking.

 

my roomate walked out of his room with an old ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB graphics card for me to use for the time being. I need to look around... im guessign this would be better than the on board Intel HD4000.

according to g3d benchmark the 4850 is twice as good as the hd4000 so tomorrow I will hook that up too.

Thu, 12/13/2012 - 03:08
kurupt's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 4 months ago
Joined: 09/10/2010 - 23:00
Nice! If your around sat we run a wtcc race on race 07...$2.99 on steam :)
Thu, 12/13/2012 - 03:17
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53
Yeah I downloaded steam after getting win7 ultimate loaded up. I downloaded race room experience since it was free. I will pick up race 07 also maybe Friday. I have finals in college so I'm strapped for time till Friday or Saturday.
Thu, 12/13/2012 - 10:44
KnightofRedemption's picture
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 5 months ago
Joined: 01/02/2012 - 00:00

Clios this week isn't it?

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 20:39
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53
So a little update on my rig... Got two Asus GTX 660 TI cards for 400 so I couldn't pass that up. Also got and returned a 27" ips panel from best buy... Have an LG on order so hopefully that will work out... Also picked up a new desk for my new place (moving tomorrow). Hopefully I can get back into Sims soon lol.
Sun, 03/03/2013 - 06:41
KnightofRedemption's picture
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 5 months ago
Joined: 01/02/2012 - 00:00

Great stuff, look forward to seeing you on track smiley

Sat, 03/09/2013 - 05:17
CProRacing's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 10 months ago
Joined: 02/06/2011 - 23:00

Sounds good fella :-) 

 

Sat, 03/09/2013 - 10:16
kurupt's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 4 months ago
Joined: 09/10/2010 - 23:00

So Iam at a crossroad at what i wanna expand on my setup.....

currently have a i7 2600 @3.9 turbo hp motherboard, gigabyte gtx 670 2gb, 10gb memory @ 1333mhz , 2.5 TB hd, blu ray optical drive and an hd tv tuner with 3x 24" dynex 1080p monitors

now heres my issue the future racing sims on triples all seem to be pretty taxing on the gpu and will hopefully become more optimized in the future.  My card gets an avg. 50+ fps with everything set to high, med AA.  Ive become very anal since moving to the pc and need everything running on ultra and crisp n clean lol

So here are my upgrade options ive been contemplating....

GPU upgrade to the GTX 690 4gb or Titan 6gb approx. $800-1100 CDN

Sli another 670 2gb, but would need to upgrade mobo and risk possible micro stuttering......approx.  gpu $450 + $200 mobo =$650 CDN

today i swang by the electronics store on my way home from work this morning and was looking at 50" led 3d tv :) $800.......dont get me wrong i love my triple screens but after seeing fantomas setup there was really no view difference other than the 3 different angles, and currently the side screens kinda looks like shit cause the image is streched.  Ive tried rendering the 3 screens seperatley in iracing but its a real time consumer and extremely taxing on the gpu.......1 big screen on the 670 i assume will run easily on max setting and pcars in 3D? :)

The other issue iam having is updating my gpu driver, ever since nov 2012 update if i try updating everything downloads fine than when i setup the triples the highes res. i can get something pittiful like 1240x 780?  which is really annoying cause i know the last few updates have had some good performance boosts

So not sure which route i wanna take?

Sat, 03/09/2013 - 11:49
KnightofRedemption's picture
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 5 months ago
Joined: 01/02/2012 - 00:00

First sort your driver issue, I am running the latest drivers with no issues so you need to sort that out, single screen will be less taxing but nothing would persuade me to give up triples I just love having stuff that should be in my peripheral vision actually being in my peripheral vision. Motherboard seems to be your bottle neck and I would update that first. Your CPU is better than mine according to benchtests, your GPU the same but I outperform your system all the time with few of your issues, triple in iRacing is flawless on mine. I run with Multi screen in all sims that support it. That has to be the MB and things like GEN 3 PCI that your GPU supports...at least that is my semi educated guess.

The fact you cannot run with separate renders to each screen is an issue you should not be having to my mind, and your problem with drivers is another thing that should not be happening. Bottom line is your not getting the best out of what you have...Given that I would start at the foundation, the MB and work up bit by bit.

Oh and if you do revert to single screen you wont need anything like the power of a titan so if you do go that route get that first and see where you are now with what you have.

 

Sat, 03/09/2013 - 20:19
mavictb's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: 06/27/2012 - 05:53
It sounds like you have some underlying issues with your rig...make sure ALL of your driver's are up to date. Including your mobo and bios. Keep up to date on the nvidia drivers also. I know there are reports of dual gpus micro stuttering but I'm yet to experience it on my dual 660 TI setup. My advice is to stick with what you have for now and consider upgrades when the new Intel and nvidia products release. Triple screens > large format TV.

Join our Universe

Connect with 2o2p