New PC (High-End) Help

So i had this posted elsewhere to run FFXIV but in my building at Cyberpowerpc.com i decided i want to go beyond FFXIV. Not because i play anything else but because i have the money to for once in my life due to an injury settlement. So for next 2 years im house stricken and I want a beast of a machine. My price range will go anywhere up to 2000$-3000$ (preferably 200-2500$)in the spoiler below ill put what i think (with my lack of knowledge) and I'm hoping for some changes or perhaps a better build for the buck. Building a PC part-by-part isn't for me even tho it costs less, I have no knowledge of building a PC these days especially when i figure the card i chose in my build requires liquid cooling. So any advice/help from someone who knows their PC's would be immensly helpful.

This is the AMD machine:
Price 2915$ - also considering dropping th card to a ATI Radeon 6970 to save a few hundred bucks.

This is the Intel machine:
final price here was like 3200$ and im sure it cud be tweaked to be cheaper, some components made no sence to me just sounded nice so, a whack at it be good
Any thoughts/comments about either machine is nice, I have not a clue about cards and CPU's nemore. Only what i've read being that AMD 6990 is most powerful card on the market at the moment, and the CPU race goes either way between the 2 chosen (AMD FX 8core/Intel i7 2700). I also thot about using dual medium end cards but not sure how that would stack vs 1 high end card. Sorry for long post cuz i r moron. But perhaps it could be fun for someone to help me out ^^.

Unless you feel like you really like their brand for whatever god forsaken reason, avoid Cyberpower if possible.

For that 3200$ they use bottom/middle end parts and try to charge you mostly on looks and neon lights.

Do you have any preferences on Intel vs AMD or ATI vs nvidia?

Get a EVGA motherboard, I've had asrock, they are cheap. EVGA uses high quality solid state capsasitors, and more gold in the connections EVGA x58 classified  this board also has a lifetime warrenty if you register within 30 days of purchase. It also a extremely high end board made for overclocking if you don't plan on that then you can pick a lower model.

One thing that caught my eye is that you are only getting a 300GB data HDD (unless I'm reading that wrong). You may want to think about upgrading that.

Could also think about going with SSDs instead. More expensive, but much faster.

Avoid any alienware-type-*** company where you'd pay markup for a "custom" build. I've never been a fan of these type of companies simply because the prices are ridiculous. You're better off building it yourself, if you can't, try and find a nerd friend that can.

newegg ftw

GL

I dont have a prefrence per say every pc ive had was just Radeon so i selected that and reviews on the dif cards i read said that for the buck the 6990 is the best out there, then closely behind was the 580 or 590 i believe. and i dont know another site besides cyberpower and dell :(.

i'll check that out, i may not plan on over-clocking or using the full power of the machine but i want the ability to.

It is a 300GB, its just rly pricey becuz of the 10,000 RPM i guess i might try the 600GB 10,rpm. the thing about HDD vs. Solid State Drives is SSD's are completly unknown territory to me, the only reason theres a 60GB SSD in those builds is because i was told write windows to the SSD and run off the HDD or vice versa i forget.

-Random case 79.99
-Coolant for Cyberpower Xtreme Hydro Water Cooling Kit Not Needed unless your over clocking and want to void warrenty, if something goes wrong.
Really Water cooling is only good if you have to have less noise from your computer and well good fan are quite Or you aren't using top of the LINE CPU and you plan on cutting cost on CPU to get Top of line with overclocking
-CPU 379.99
-Random higher end Mobo P8Z68-V PRO w/ Dual DDR3 1600, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 139
-Vengeance LP 16GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Quad Channel Kit (4 x 4GB) 89.99 Because Quad Channel is better then dual channel.
-Random SSD SATA III 120 GB hard drive 209.99 You want more then 60 GB for OS Drive because the winsxs folder in windows 7 gets out of control.
-2x VelociRaptor 150GB 10,000rpm SATA III w/ 32MB Cache in Raid 0 for speed. 149.99x2 300
-random bluray combo 99.99
-display Any 1080p display with 2ms refresh will work 169.99
-sound card - Don't need one the mobo has a 7.1 sound system.
-Speakers 5.1 99.99
-bluetooth 39.99
-Windows 7 64 bit 129.99 OEM
-Flash card read 19.99

prices from http://www.memoryexpress.com
~ 1931.91
System build free $50

Difference between this computer and your 1100.
less then 1% preforcement difference.

Edit I missed the video card. I never buy top of the line video cards because the difference between the $250 and $600+ is normally less then 5% preforcement gains.
Still your paying a 500 price tag for the name.
or $850 for a 6% gain. For a computer that will have not be able to play the next gen games in 3 years times without another video card upgrade.


I own 2 computer arcades 16 computers. I get video cards every Even year and new towers every odd year. Spending over $2000 on a computer is a waste of money for a small gain. Computer pricing is a Exponential growth curve you to cost to preformence. The best place to get is just befor the price starts to double.

http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/INTC/1548882731x0x517569/A19EA566-3E97-43C9-B73C-66BBE6F438F2/Nov_14_11_Recommended_Customer_Price_List.pdf

You need to get on the CPU about 1-2 before the price just jumps from 599-999 which is i7-2700K (8M cache, 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 3.50 GHz 32nm) and all parts of a computer should be that way.

Now if you could care less about money. Spend away but know in less then 8 months I will be able to spend $2000 and have a computer faster then these.

What I guess I'm tring to say don't go all out on a computer instead spend $1500-2000 every 2 years and you will always have a computer that is mid/high range. Vs spending 3200 on a computer you want to last 4-5 years.

Not sure about that statement there. You can easily go beyond 2 years if you build your machine right and still keep it mid/high end with those small upgrades in between.

I only mentioned it because you seemed to have a large budget. I'm pretty sure the main idea is to put your OS on the SSD, then everything else goes on a separate HDD. Of course, if money is no object, you could use SSDs for everything. A 300GB data HDD will probably work fine for a while if you are not planning to store any videos. You can always add more HDDs as necessary.

Graphics Cards:
http://www.hwcompare.com/9822/geforce-gtx-590-vs-radeon-hd-6990/

If link goes right it should put you on the 590 vs 6990.
Keep in mind these are tests done with a certain edition of the models and not aftermarket or upgraded (expanded versions after initial release) models.
You can also compare older cards as well (for anyone interested).

Easy to read and understand comparison of GeForce to HD brands.

I would agree with that being true back in the day when AMD used the same socket for 5 gens of CPU. But new every new gen is new socket. Every year now intel is coming put with a new socket and AMD is every 2 years. Ram changes every 4-5 years.

I spend $1500 every year on my personal computer. I get a new CPU/RAM/MBO/HD/DVD/CASE/POWERSUPPLY. My old computer is my second one for my hubby main use and my hubbies old one goes to any family member that wants a computers, we don't have kids by my sisters do.

The only thing I don't upgrade every year is the video card. Because I do spend 350+ on my video card and that normally last 2 years before I'm starting to notice lag in video games.

I don't use my computer only for video games.

Stuff makes my head spin, I am to lazy to quote right now but I like what your saying Kewitt, about the video cards i mean. In all honesty all this machine will really do is FFXI, FFXIV, and Dazzle Pinnacle Studio 14, maybe a Hauppauge for game play, so as some1 else mentioned i wanna upgrade the SSD/HDD space. Still so much info and so many options to process in my meager mind.

On another note i heard the VelociRaptors were not worth their price.

I play on laptop. Been enjoying it for 4~ years now. Only problems that I have had were thermal and (knocks on wood) hopefully has been resolved. I've replaced the internal fan once, use an expensive cooling pad. In the last 4 years, I've upgraded the cpu and hard drive but felt no need to replace anything else.

Western Digital makes extremely good Hard Drives. I don't think you "need" a WD Raptor though.
I paid like $20 for a 7200 RPM model(SATA type6Gb/s, 16 MB Cache<- still don't know what exactly the dif between a 32 and 16 is). Hasn't let me down yet.
Of course since you got bank in your pockets you'll want 10k RPM or higher (I think some manufacturers do up to 12k at semi-decent prices, anything beyond that and well goodbye $$$).

And if you don't plan on overclocking you don't "need" the "CyberPower Xtreme Hydro Liquid Cooling Kit 360MM w/ Triple Fan(CPU & GPU Liquid Cool Capable, Extreme Overclocking Performance + Extreme Silent at 18dBA)" the fans that come with the CPU and Card will work fine.

I'd honestly put more money into the RAM than into a cooling system (for non-overclock purposes) (make sure the PC you build can handle at least 64Gb+ RAM (Motherboard RAM slots) And check the speed that your RAM can run at, I think 1666 Mhz is the current top for standard PC, anywhere from 13--~16-- is good.
AKA Bus line speeds.

i figured id go with the geforce 580 1.5gb w/e card, or w/e specs were, hows this PC gonna hold up in the gaming world, it looks like a decent one.


Edit: lemme just say this for future refrence, this PC, what im hoping for in the end, has to run FFXIV at its best, and hopefully still be able to run a fair amount of backround things like the internet and maybe my pinnacle studio...if this type of power is possible, i dunno what that takes or what PC's do these days. hell maybe i wanna play FFXIV and XI same time if its possible i dunno, but i just hate lockouts is wat im saying. the Laptop im running now, on its death bed barely runs jack, its got AMD turion 2 dual core M500 2.20 Ghz cpu, radeon hd 4250 graphics and 4 GB RAM....so needles to say it again i HATE lockouts

I would just use that solid state hard drive. If you want a storage drive, just get one of those 3 TB USB 3.0 external drives. Skip the velociraptor. Install everything(games, OS, etc) on SSD, have all your media on the external.

Of course then you'd want a USB 3.0 supporting motherboard, which you should already be looking for if you're making a "high-end" PC.

As has been said, I'd recommend buying the parts and building it yourself. You can make a godly machine for a fraction of the cost through Newegg. Spend the extra money on a good/great motherboard, then load that sucker up with lots of RAM, the best(best doesn't always mean fastest, but also most stable and tested) CPU for said motherboard, top of the line graphics card, decent power supply, and a good solid state hard drive - the rest can be whatever the cheapest is or just use the on-board stuff.

that memoryexpress.com site doesnt ship to my region, im in CA, USA, and it only ships to canada ; ;...anyone know a site like it that lets u pick parts like that and will build it for u b4 sending?

was previously mentioned btw.


edit- didn't read the "build it for you" part :( still a great site though for building.

Digital Storm isn't as cheap as the others but you're paying to get better parts and better service.

But in all honesty it's not that hard to learn to build a PC yourself. I also don't know why you'd get a 360mm rad liquid cooling loop if you have no clue how to do maintenance.

But in all honesty you can run any game easily on any system with an Intel 2600k and 1 gtx 580(3gb IMO for more ram for games with larger scale) 2 GTX 580's if you really wanna be fancy. The 6990 is to loud and not worth the money IMO. I have a 590 and the only reason I have that is because I didn't want to cards close by with the PCI config of my mother board. The 2 cards on 1 board will never be the best bang for your buck but they are convenient.

Edit: The only 2 chip in one board card that is worth it power wise would have to be the ASUS Mars II.

Double edit: Ignore what was said earlier.
Stay away from the x58 platform. It's 2 sockets behind Intels current top of the line enthusiast boards which CPU wise the 1155 and the 2011 socket demolish most of the 1366 cpu's. The ones that aren't blown away cost the same price as the new 2011 socket hex core processors which are miles better.

from another thread I posted in, you can ignore some of the parts, but it would play anything (maybe upgrade the video cards)


oh and I was going to build that for my gf.

also you won't need more than 8gb of ram, really...

asus or gigabyte are great motherboards as well, however you don't really need "gold" for your connections, maybe for your cpu/ram, but doubtful. The conductivity of copper vs gold isn't that much.

also the 1366 is an old socket, 1155 or bust (gives more options to upgrade)

some good info i am messing with a site called magicmicro.com right now and the build i keep comin up with is 2700$, i went with a 120gb ssd, and a nice 450gb hdd 10,000 rpm, decided against liquid cooling so i just got fans now. still the only thingim fighting with is this

CPU:
Intel i7-2700 Vs. AMD FX-8150 Bulldozer 3.6ghz (eight core)

and second thing i cant decide is
Video Card:
AMD crossfire radeon HD 6950 2GB x2 quad head (2 of these)
or
Geforce GTX 580 1536MB PCI express 16x dual head


the motherboard is a lil shakey to but the one my buddy keeps telling me is the ASUS Crossfire Extreme 890fx

any thoughts on those in particular?
also this site only allows me 16GB (4x4) ram dual channel, no quad channel guess id have to buy that seperate.

Edit: the card prices on this site for the pick between those 2 is a 60$ dif, and the cpu i forget price dif but didnt bother me..so thats y im fighting myself as to what of what i want on those 2 things.

don't use those sites, it's all overpriced, don't you know somebody who can build one if you order the parts for you?

also that i7 will crush that amd, from what I've read the bulldozer are laughable...

sadly i only know 1 person who cud build a PC period..and i barely trust his knowledge...im gonna look around and if i do find 1 ill go part-for-part, so atm the fight is what to use.

if you look up I posted some links, the motherboard ram and cpu are great, however I won't vouch for the other stuff since I didn't look at it extensively.

i decided to look up those processors more extensively and found a site that pretty much says the bulldozer's struggle vs even a i5-2500 in gaming, and that the 17-2700 is beaten by the i5-2500 in gaming..building a pc alot more hassle then i thot..lol

It's not hard to build a PC.. The hardest part is just finding components that work together, and even that is not hard.. Computers aren't like legos where the components can be configured in any number of ways, everything has it's own spot it goes, connector, tab, plug, w/e. You can't shove the RAM into the Expansion Slots, you can't shove the CPU in the RAM Slots, you can't plug the main power where the fans plug in, etc.

As it stands AMD FX is no where near the power that Intel is packing in the socket 2011.

I7 destroys the Bulldozer. I don't know what AMD was thinking but the bulldozer line is so bad.

If you have the money, go with an EVGA GTX 590. (I own one) It's the best on the market right now. If you can't afford that then go with the GTX 580.

I only use EVGA motherboards with lifetime warrentees. I use the EVGA 58x Classified.

such an old motherboard...