New System for son's 16th Birthday

[DanTheMan]

I'm ready to plan out my next build and wanted to know if he games on a single 1920x1080 27" monitor which setup would be best if I start with the following:
AMD 8350 (Hoping to OC to 4.5) - Do not suggest Intel please
High end 990FX motherboard (Suggestion appreciated)

Crossfire 7950 Boost or a single 7990 (Please do not suggest NVIDIA)
I'm thinking of the Sapphire Flex-2 7950 Boost (Roughly $250 each)
Or the 7990 would be about $650
Would the 7990 be better and if so would it be worth the extra $150 difference
The extra games that come with the 7990 would be nice but not required
I know the new GPU are coming out in Oct but I doubt it will change my decision between these two models listed above
What would the power draw be on both systems?
Since the new CCC drivers approve things a little I'm torn between this decision.
I'll have roughly $1600 to work with
Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!

 

[T4C Fantasy]

2 7950s or 2 7970s would be good

 

[DanTheMan]

2 7950s or 2 7970s would be good

It's just that my preferred budget allows roughly $500 for video .... the CF 7950 allow me to do that but the 7970 CF would put me at the same cost of the 7990 and I only want to allow the extra money for that if the performance is a lot better than the 7950's.

So if the CF 7950 is 90% to 95% of the 7990 performance then I cannot justify the difference in cost for such little gains.

I wish there was a benchmark with the 7950 CF vs 7990 running the latest drivers

 

[cheesy999]

Have you considered 2 7970's for $640

It'll be a bit cheaper and a bit faster than a 7990

 

[kenkickr]

I just couldn't see the 7990 being that much better than two 7950's. If you mess with OC'ing then the 7990 shouldn't even be a consideration considering the price/performance. I have been extremely happy with my 7950's crossfired.

 

[erocker]

1080p. Just go with a single 7950 or 7970 for now.

 

[Melvis]

Have you considered 2x7870 XT? about the same performance as a 7950 but cheaper (mine where $229 each) Close to a Titan in overall performance.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Question. Why no Intel or NVidia? Seems a little silly.

Note: HONEST QUESTION ^^^

Anyhow, get 7950. no point spending a shit ton on a video card for 1080p, unless there is a plan to upgrade to a higher resolution monitor.

 

[a_ump]

Question. Why no Intel or NVidia? Seems a little silly.

Note: HONEST QUESTION ^^^

Anyhow, get 7950. no point spending a shit ton on a video card for 1080p, unless there is a plan to upgrade to a higher resolution monitor.

well not necesarily. maybe he doesn't plan to purchase his son another PC for 2 years or something till graduation. in which case, crossfire for future proofing the next 2 years games at max settings isn't a bad idea imo and makes sense.

 

[rhino]

Mobo

ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 seems to have the best reviews.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

well not necesarily. maybe he doesn't plan to purchase his son another PC for 2 years or something till graduation. in which case, crossfire for future proofing the next 2 years games at max settings isn't a bad idea imo and makes sense.

He doesn't need 2 cards for that. A single 7970 will do that with ease.

 

[ne6togadno]

 

[basco]

M5A99X EVO R2.0 or sabertooth just lookout for the new revisions with gen3(just for the future)
plz go single card 7950 or 7970=less heat+hassle with drivers and enough to max out games on fullhd.

 

[DanTheMan]

1080p. Just go with a single 7950 or 7970 for now.

Those cards are great for current games but his last system lasted him 5 years so I want to future proof as much as possible

Have you considered 2x7870 XT? about the same performance as a 7950 but cheaper (mine where $229 each) Close to a Titan in overall performance.

I want to be able to have a card that will play well even if Crossfire does not work for say a new game so hopefully the 7950 can hold him over until CF would work

Question. Why no Intel or NVidia? Seems a little silly.

Note: HONEST QUESTION ^^^

Anyhow, get 7950. no point spending a shit ton on a video card for 1080p, unless there is a plan to upgrade to a higher resolution monitor.

And that is exactly what I was thinking - his 27" monitor is 3 years old
No Intel for me because even though I have MicroCenter near me the 8350 is $70 cheaper than the 3770k so it allows me to upgrade my GPU
As for NVIDIA - each his own but I have excellent luck with ATI/AMD cards so I will stick with them ..... I know NVIDIA may be slightly better but I've never had a AMD card go bad on me ... I can't say the same for the green team

well not necesarily. maybe he doesn't plan to purchase his son another PC for 2 years or something till graduation. in which case, crossfire for future proofing the next 2 years games at max settings isn't a bad idea imo and makes sense.

He is currently a XBOX 360 player but he is seeing the quality of the games on the PC so I want to max out what my budget allows so he doesn't have to downgrade to "console quality" ... lol

 

[RCoon]

Those cards are great for current games but his last system lasted him 5 years so I want to future proof as much as possible


I want to be able to have a card that will play well even if Crossfire does not work for say a new game so hopefully the 7950 can hold him over until CF would work


And that is exactly what I was thinking - his 27" monitor is 3 years old
No Intel for me because even though I have MicroCenter near me the 8350 is $70 cheaper than the 3770k so it allows me to upgrade my GPU
As for NVIDIA - each his own but I have excellent luck with ATI/AMD cards so I will stick with them ..... I know NVIDIA may be slightly better but I've never had a AMD card go bad on me ... I can't say the same for the green team


He is currently a XBOX 360 player but he is seeing the quality of the games on the PC so I want to max out what my budget allows so he doesn't have to downgrade to "console quality" ... lol

I wish you were my dad when I was 16. I'd love to have this PC.
I got a Star Wars LEGO clone cruiser when I was 16 xD Still have it to this day on display.

 

[ne6togadno]

Those cards are great for current games but his last system lasted him 5 years so I want to future proof as much as possible

if future proof is what you desire most then wait few mounts till amd release HD9XXX.
there isnt anything more future proof then new model

 

[RCoon]

if future proof is what you desire most then wait few mounts till amd release HD9XXX.
there isnt anything more future proof then new model

Prices will likely be largely inflated for the first few months though. the 7xxx series has matured and now the prices are rock bottom. I'd lean towards 7950 XFire.

 

[ne6togadno]

Prices will likely be largely inflated for the first few months though. the 7xxx series has matured and now the prices are rock bottom. I'd lean towards 7950 XFire.

after 9th series release prices may drop again. i see a lot of rebates in newegg atm so there is possibility for new price drops. at that time he may use $ for 2nd 7970 if new cards are too expensieve.
check config i made. 2x7950 are about 500$ which mean 100$ above 1.6k limit (and i have used 8320 not 8350). in order to get into 1.6k dan has to compromice with quality of the other parts in favor of 2x7950.

And that is exactly what I was thinking - his 27" monitor is 3 years old

if it works good why bother.
i have 5+ years old 22" dell. i like colors and picture quality and i wont change it any time soon unless it dies or dvi is discontinued.

 

[skline00]

DantheMan:
I own a 3770k rig OC'd to 4.5Ghz, a 8350 rig OC'd to 4.6 Ghz and a 8320 rig Oc'd to 4.3 Ghz With your $1600 budget you could buy either the 8350 or the 3770k. My 3770k rig IS slightly faster but the 8350 is no slouch.

I will respect your wish to stay AMD eventhough I use all Nvidia cards in my rigs ( 2 GTX670s in SLI in the 3770k rig, GTX 680 in the 8350 rig and GTX660s in CF in the 8320 rig).

I use the Asus Sabertooth 990FX mb in both the 8350 and 8320 rig. I would use the latest version 2 with the gen 3 if no extra cost. Make sure to buy a decent Cooler for the 8350 if you want to OC to 4.5Ghz. It gets hot and the stock cooler, though ok is not, in my opinion, good enough. I used high end AIO water coolers (Kraken X60, Corsair H100). If you want a solid 4.5 OC on the 8350 I would install an aftermarket AIO water cooler.

For the $$ the 7950s in CF make more sense. However, with a 27" 1920 x 1080 monitor I would buy a single 7970Ghz gpu and see if he has any problems with games. The price will drop enough in the future that you can add a second one later.

BUY a SSD for the OS and add a large Mechanical HDD for data. A ssd makes a world of difference for the operating system.

Finally buy a solid case AND a good PSU.

Good luck.

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

I use a Gigabyte 990fxa-ud3 with crossfired 7850's and it runs anything I throw at it like butter. Very smooth frame rates. I ran it with 1 7850 for a couple days and it still did great. So a single 7950 or a 7970 would hold you. And when or if you do see the need for another, hey another gift idel for a later date. I am running a fx8350 at 4.4 with stock volts on my ud3 with no problems what so ever.

 

[DanTheMan]

DantheMan:
I own a 3770k rig OC'd to 4.5Ghz, a 8350 rig OC'd to 4.6 Ghz and a 8320 rig Oc'd to 4.3 Ghz With your $1600 budget you could buy either the 8350 or the 3770k. My 3770k rig IS slightly faster but the 8350 is no slouch.

I will respect your wish to stay AMD eventhough I use all Nvidia cards in my rigs ( 2 GTX670s in SLI in the 3770k rig, GTX 680 in the 8350 rig and GTX660s in CF in the 8320 rig).

I use the Asus Sabertooth 990FX mb in both the 8350 and 8320 rig. I would use the latest version 2 with the gen 3 if no extra cost. Make sure to buy a decent Cooler for the 8350 if you want to OC to 4.5Ghz. It gets hot and the stock cooler, though ok is not, in my opinion, good enough. I used high end AIO water coolers (Kraken X60, Corsair H100). If you want a solid 4.5 OC on the 8350 I would install an aftermarket AIO water cooler.

For the $$ the 7950s in CF make more sense. However, with a 27" 1920 x 1080 monitor I would buy a single 7970Ghz gpu and see if he has any problems with games. The price will drop enough in the future that you can add a second one later.

BUY a SSD for the OS and add a large Mechanical HDD for data. A ssd makes a world of difference for the operating system.

Finally buy a solid case AND a good PSU.

Good luck.

Thanks
For the cooler I was going to use rather the Corsair H100 or the Noctua NH-D14
For Hard Drive the Samsung 830 or 840 SSD 240 GB w/ seperate 1TB mechanical drive
And for MB yes the Sabertooth 990FX was my top choice
Case : Rather a HAF 922 or 932 w/extra 220mm fans
Power Supply: Corsair 750 or 850 should be fine
Thanks for your input

Also do you have any comments on the keyboard / mouse I was planning on buying him
Microsoft Sidewinder x4 and Logitech G9x Laser
Are these pretty good choices?

I use a Gigabyte 990fxa-ud3 with crossfired 7850's and it runs anything I throw at it like butter. Very smooth frame rates. I ran it with 1 7850 for a couple days and it still did great. So a single 7950 or a 7970 would hold you. And when or if you do see the need for another, hey another gift idel for a later date. I am running a fx8350 at 4.4 with stock volts on my ud3 with no problems what so ever.

Thanks ... mind if I ask what framerates you get on some of the latest titles with all eyecandy turned on? On the single card suggestion .... wife doesnt like when I try and upgrade stuff so if I have the budget to allow 2 cards I'll buy and that should hold him for maybe 3-4 years.

 

[DanTheMan]

I wish you were my dad when I was 16. I'd love to have this PC.
I got a Star Wars LEGO clone cruiser when I was 16 xD Still have it to this day on display.

He had his older system for a long time and took good care of it ... it was a AMD 5600 dual core with Sapphire 4850 1 GB card. Man that thing ran hot ... anyway this is my reward to him for his patience.

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

Thanks ... mind if I ask what framerates you get on some of the latest titles with all eyecandy turned on? On the single card suggestion .... wife doesnt like when I try and upgrade stuff so if I have the budget to allow 2 cards I'll buy and that should hold him for maybe 3-4 years.

Tell you the truth I have never looked at the actual frame rate but in Tr, Bioshock Infinate, Bf3, Rage, Sniper Elite V2,and FCBD, to name a few, I have always seen great smooth gameplay, no stutters or lag at all.


I never look at actual framerates or benchmark my rigs. It always leads to one person getting 80 fps and another person is getting 120 fps so that must mean even though games are running great person "a" needs to upgrade to keep up with person "b".

 

[skline00]

DanTheMan: Excellemnt choices for the keyboard and mouse. I use Microsoft Curved Comfort USB keyboards on all 3 rigs and Logitech G500 lasers on 2 of the rigs and a Logitech G518 on the other.

On the FX 8350 I use a CM 922 case, Corsair H100 AIO water cooler, Asus Sabertooth 990FX mb, 16 gigs (2-8gig) of Gskill DDR3-1866 set to 1600 and OC the fsb. I set the mutiplier at 21 and the fsb to 219 for an effective clock rate of 4.6Ghz. I bumped my vcore to 1.46 for absolute stability but you can probably run it lower. I have an Intel 520 - 120gig ssd for the OS with a WD Black 2 TB for the data. As I mentioned, I use a single PNY GTX 680. My monitor is a new Acer 27" 1920 x 1080 LED. PSU is an ANTEC TP II 750 Watt.

On the 8320 rig I use a CM HAF 912 case modded to work with a Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme AIO water cooler. It also has an Asus Sabertooth 990 FX mb with 2 GTX 660s in SLI. It has an 80gig Intel X25M ssd for the OS with a Samsung F3 500gig Sata II HD for data. It uses an Antec Green 750Watt PSU. The 8320 is OC'd to 4.3Ghz (21.5 x 200) I'm running 16gig of DDR3 1866 ram.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

wait for AMD new cards if you want to be "future proof". But future proof and computer/technology should not be used in the same sentence to be honest.

You have $1600 budget and you aren't going Intel? Especially if you are thinking of multi GPU configurations. Intel setups are much better for that. A haswell 4670k is only $40 more or less depending where you get it from.