Upgrading MB and processor and PSU

[ebfd11]

lawndart,

Is the 500 gig 7200rpm backup an External HardDrive?  USB connect?

also, are you including the 3 LCD monitors in your calculations at newegg to find your power needed?

the 500 gig is actually one of my 1tb split in half and i am not including my 3 monitors power as part of the supply needed just the power drain on the 2 vidcards.

Why'd TD decide to stop posting in the AH forum anyway?  If it's personal, then I'll mind my own business.  Just curious.
  

it is personal but he did tell me why and I understand.

here is the wattage test off the newegg site

[MrRiplEy[H]]

See Rule #4

[guncrasher]

See Rule #4 (by association)

[BoilerDown]

Aces High doesn't utilize more than one core in an AMD multi-core processor.  So I would recommend Intel if Aces High is what you're building your computer around.

The middle i5 of the new Sandy Bridge Intel CPUs represents the best place in price / performance IMO, precisely which depends on if you want to bother with overclocking.

For example, if you don't want to OC:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131685
~ $295

There are lots of alternatives with regards to motherboard choice, I personally trust Asus, but some people will assuredly respond to this with their personal Asus horror stories.  You can of course choose whatever you prefer.  This particular combination will run you less than $300 though.  It also includes integrated (CPU) graphics, which would be interesting to see how well Aces High runs on, but I would highly recommend a separate graphics card, and not using the integrated graphics, for Aces High.  It also is a Micro-ATX board, so it'll fit in a smaller case, but should be fine in a large one too... mainly chosen because its a way to get this under $300.

And if you do want to OC:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131687
~$365

This motherboard choice is tweaked for value... there are more expensive more capable motherboards than this if you think you'll use the features, such as SLI mode.  The overclockable motherboards aren't capable of using the integrated graphics in the Sandy Bridge CPUs, so you'll definitely need a separate graphics card.


Edit:  Just saw your #12 reply where you posted your system specs.  For some reason I thought I saw a $300 budget.  I must have made that up in my own head.  Anyways, I'll leave the above listed for anyone else that wants it.

In your case forget the above MB, you DO run SLI, so get this MB or one like it instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131695

You'll also need DDR3 memory, so keep that in mind.  

I don't know if I would spend the coin on going from a ~800 to a ~900 watt power supply just because of some Newegg calculation though.  Your 800 watt is probably good enough, and the Newegg calculator is probably overly conservative in order to convince people to buy a bigger PS than they need.  If you have a lot of cash, go for it, or get one even larger, but I personally would see if my current ~800 watt PS works first.  If it doesn't, you're not screwed for a week until your new PS comes in, just remove one of the video cards for a week until it comes in.

[Spite]

Aces High doesn't utilize more than one core in an AMD multi-core processor.  So I would recommend Intel if Aces High is what you're building your computer around.

<snip>

You'll also need DDR3 memory, so keep that in mind.  

I don't know if I would spend the coin on going from a ~800 to a ~900 watt power supply just because of some Newegg calculation though.  Your 800 watt is probably good enough

So decide on your CPU first.  As mentioned Tom's Hardware has lists, and you can use this one as a rough guide.  Different benchmarking software can give different results and you certainly need to balance that out.  But this guide can get you close.

The 1090T is not anywhere near as capable as the Sandy Bridge i5-2500K.  For the exact same price it is a no brainer if you re-consider the warnings about AMD CPU's and Aces High.  For the i5 Sandy Bridges, for only a little more money you can get the 2500K over the lowest priced 2300 that BoilerDown first mentioned, overclocking or otherwise, and I personally wouldn't even look at the 2300, 2400, 2500 and move right to the 2500K for the sake or around 40 Bucks.  But that's me.

I too have always been a fan of ASUS boards, but close study of the P67 boards they have released for Sandy Bridge have a lot of complaints on both NewEgg and the ASUS support forums.  I expect it's mostly BIOS (or noob) related and this will likely get fleshed out; just be aware of a rocky road for quite a few people with these boards.  Dual boots, long POST times, picky with RAM even RAM listed on the QVL to name a few.

Good reviews and excellent features on the ASRock Extreme4 with a good price.  The P67 Gigabyte boards all seem to have lesser features but no shortage of price.

- CPU of either 2500K or 1090T = same price and no contest in performance.  Advantage 2500K
- DDR3 RAM which you would need with either Sandy Bridge board or one you listed for the 1090T = same price
- The mobo you listed for the 1090T does NOT support SLI and only has a x4 second PCIe slot
- Sandy Bridge boards with SLI will begin around the price of the Extreme4 I provided = 160 bucks

There are a bunch of boards available, do your research for the features you need, put a 2500K in it with some good 1600 DDR3 RAM, keep your PSU and those rocking 2 x 470's and you'll be kickin'!

[DREDIOCK]

I've been looking at this board for a potential build for my wife

ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Core Unlocker, USB 3.0, CrossFireX, HDMI Support


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131668

[ebfd11]

Well after looking things over at different sites I am gonna try this for now,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028&cm_re=pc_power_and_cooling-_-17-703-028-_-Product

The reason why I am trying is because I am getting vid tearing in game, but still able to get 75 on tri monitor display. If I remember correctly that is caused by insufficient power going to the vid cards.

I will let you know how it all goes when i get it and hook it up. I just hope I don't get  to me.

LawnDart 

[TequilaChaser]

Well after looking things over at different sites I am gonna try this for now,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028&cm_re=pc_power_and_cooling-_-17-703-028-_-Product

The reason why I am trying is because I am getting vid tearing in game, but still able to get 75 on tri monitor display. If I remember correctly that is caused by insufficient power going to the vid cards.

I will let you know how it all goes when i get it and hook it up. I just hope I don't get  to me.

LawnDart 

heya LawnDart,
the PC Power & Cooling PSU's used to be TOP NOTCH...... although they were took over by another company, at least they kept the warrantys and now have even raised the warranty from 5 years to 7 years

as for your Antec 900 case, I also have the same case and have a PC Power & Cooling 750w siliencer in it..... I took a que from tilDeath and flipped the PSU to keep my wiring/connectors along the bottom and to the back of the case along the backside  below where the MB mounts.....

You might want to check to see if you are able to do something similar...... unless the Big Fan opening will keep you from doing it ( or you could always MOD the bottom to allow for the PSU fan to vent, just a thought )

in doing mine this way, I was able to route / hide all my wires/connectors   made for a clean /sleek appearance

you should be fine with this 950 watt PC P & C PSU you are getting...... they run quiet and are still "Single 12V rail "

I noticed just your 2 vidcards need like 76 amps???? or something like that? 38 amp draw per card right?

good luck

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Well after looking things over at different sites I am gonna try this for now,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028&cm_re=pc_power_and_cooling-_-17-703-028-_-Product

The reason why I am trying is because I am getting vid tearing in game, but still able to get 75 on tri monitor display. If I remember correctly that is caused by insufficient power going to the vid cards.

I will let you know how it all goes when i get it and hook it up. I just hope I don't get  to me.

LawnDart 

That would be very improbable. Most likely you have vsync disabled which causes your tearing. If your cards would suffer from lack of power your computer would crash at 99% certainty before you see anything else.

The power supply will not gain you any performance whatsoever.

[ebfd11]

Mr ripley
 Vsync is not checked and the tearing I see is when I turn to look in oppisite direction. That is the real reason why I am upping the power supply. I just want to keep both vid cards running at optimum preformance.

[ebfd11]

That sniley wasn't directed at you mr ripley I'm doing this from my droid and I must have hit something on the screen

[ariansworld]

See Rule #4

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Mr ripley
 Vsync is not checked

Perhaps you mean the 'disable vsync' option is not checked in AH2? What about driver level? If you get tearing there aren't much options - you don't have vsync. I read video card(s) - There is a known problem with SLI drivers disabling vsync and you most likely have hit that.

While there is a small chance your power supply is causing your problems, the first sign you're most likely to see from power problems is total system instability. So make sure you need one before you waste your money.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

See Rule #4

[ebfd11]

Well like I said I will let you know what happens when I change out PSU

Thanks