Price range $2500. Need CPU between core i-7 940 or i-7 965 extreme edition. Best video card or second best video card so they could last for at a couple of years. Things to ask as always: Well not most parts are compatible with one another. How do you know which one works with which. For example, certain motherboard won't work with certain video cards or CPU, and the question is how I know this(which motherboard does not compatible with the video card or such) Or certain power supply doesn't work with some other component or the power supply is not strong enough. Besides after you build your own PC, how do make it a stable one?
Hope u guys could really help me out. Want a powerful PC that last for at least 5 years. Gamer and Multi-task application so SLI or Crossfire is what I want for my PC. Thanks in advance.
Sorry to tell you this, but there hasn't been a PC built in the last 17 years that will "technologically" last 5 years. It may continue to operate, so if that's what you mean you should be safe. Google "moore's law definition" for a high level overview of why. For a practical example, 5 years ago AMD's latest processor was a Athlon 64 2800+ and Intel's was 3GHz Pentium 4 (single core). Get the picture?
Start with the CPU you want (I7 probably)...then search for mainboards that will support that socket. From that list of mainboards, eliminate all boards that do not have at least two PCIe x16 slots (thats x16 electrical; not just physical. Many mainboards have 4 x16 slots, but only one of them is actualy x16). From the remaining list of mainboards, divide them into boards that support SLI and boards that support crossfire (some board support both, put those in a third group). Next, select your video cards...if they are ATI you eliminate the SLI boards, if they are nVidia, you eliminate the crossfire boards. Now, just about everything else will match up as long as you have the correct size slots/plugs to support it. As for keeping current 5 years in advance, it is not possible. Even if you used four server processors and 4 top-of-the-line video cards (note: there is no mainboard that will support all of this as far as I know), you would still be outdated within five years.
If you're looking for great performance you'll also want to look into getting an aftermarket CPU cooler. As far as the i7's go the 965 seems like a complete waste of money. You can pick up an 920 and easily overclock it past 965 performance. Naturally the 965 will also overclock to a higher degree but the performance difference doesn't justify the price difference in my eyes. You'd be better off spending your money on SSD's than going with the i7 965. Some things you may want to look at for compatibility: Motherboard: 1) Has the correct socket for the CPU of your choice 2) Has enough PCI x16 lanes for your graphic card(s) 3) If you are going multi-GPU you want to make sure it supports the GPU maker of your choice (SLI - nvidia, crossfire - ati) GPU: 1) You have enough current coming from the PSU for all your GPU's 2) You have enough PCI-E power connectors on your PSU RAM: 1) If you're using an i7 chip you'll need DDR3 memory Most other specs are features that don't affect compatibility such as RAID support, RAM slots, Audio processing, overclocking ability etc... As far as future proof you'll probably only feel like you've wasted money if you go for top of the line parts on everything. I prefer to get parts a bit below the 'latest and greatest' as you usually pay much less for only slightly less performance. You can create a 3 or 4-GPU system but you're wasting most of your money as each additional card gives you less and less benefit For 2500$ I'd personally pick up a i7 920, buy some good cooling and crank it as far as I could get it to go, put a single top-end GPU in there (4890x2 or GTX 295), pick up a nice SSD, and possible a 30" monitor. And for the other less important components go with high quality components but wouldn't bother going overboard on them. The PSU is very much worth investing good money into as a bad PSU can mean a completely destroyed machine.
I don't go for core-1 965 but 940. Now I want a 940 CPU and two top graphic cards, and then could you guys help me to pick some other components, I have decided to use 940 and two top video cards but if you guys could help me figure out and pick other components I really appreciate it. Not last 5 but at least 2 - 3 years, if not, at least I could use it to edit my videos and other stuff or is good for me to do my programming stuff.
Graphics: Twin 4870x2 cards, possibly with aftermarket coolers to allow overclocking Mainboard: DFI LP UT X58-T3eH8 RAM: 3 of these kits: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227293 ...You should be able to figure the rest out on your own.
What if I wanna 6 - 12 RAM for my PC...And what do you suggest? Which brand and what should I choose?
Well...Thanks for your instruction of the mainboard selection and the compatibility thing. But when you referred to: "From the remaining list of mainboards, divide them into boards that support SLI and boards that support crossfire (some board support both, put those in a third group). Next, select your video cards...if they are ATI you eliminate the SLI boards, if they are nVidia, you eliminate the crossfire boards." I don't really understand. Could you be more a bit specific about it. I have a look at the board you chose for me, this is what the description is: 3 x PCI Express (Gen 2) x16 slots a. 2-way CrossFire at x16/x16 transfer rate lanes; or b. 3-way SLI at x16/x8/x8 transfer rate lanes It does say SLI but the graphic card you provided is ATI, so should I use this board or no? Maybe I am confused...Anyway, I don't get it.
3 x PCI Express (Gen 2) x16 slots a. 2-way CrossFire at x16/x16 transfer rate lanes; or b. 3-way SLI at x16/x8/x8 transfer rate lanes means that the mobo supports crossfire and sli crossfire ONLY with 2 cards in 16x mode for both SLI with the ability to use 3 cards 16x for the first card and 8x for the other two cards. Ram depends on what the mobo supports and how mcuh u wanna spend on the ram. the OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 he posted a link to is great ram.
Well...I would like to have at least 6GB ram to 12GB ram to maximize its temporary memory. Well the reason I don't understand is what killerbug said here since I am learning. "From the remaining list of mainboards, divide them into boards that support SLI and boards that support crossfire (some board support both, put those in a third group). Next, select your video cards...if they are ATI you eliminate the SLI boards, if they are nVidia, you eliminate the crossfire boards." He stated "if your video card is ATI, you eliminate the SLI board, things as such"
I guess I should have been a little more clear on the third group...they don't get eliminated at all since they work with both.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115201 x2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102831 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835702007 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137. you might want to add a fan controller thats all about 2,350 with a 180$ blu-ray player that you may or may not even need. 2 4890s in crossfire
