Tax return upgrade

[cdawall]

So I am getting a healthy tax return and want to grab some parts while I am still deployed. Some suggestions vs what I am looking at would be nice.

Basic specs of what I have now
2x32GB Supertalent SSD's
1TB Samsung f3
1.5TB seagate 7200.11
Asus CHVF
4x4GB wintec ONE DDR3 (sammy based)
AMD Phenom B97@4ghz
CM V10 with a bigger tec some better fans etc.
mid tower Tt case

Now for the fun part

I am thinking

http://www.ebay.com/itm/27-Inch-iru...pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item20ce1a0670#shId

2 of these

PowerColor PCS+ AX7870 2GBD5-2DHPPV3E Radeon HD 78...

and one of these

Rosewill LIGHTNING-1300 1300W Continuous@50°C,80 P...

Is there a better set of cards/monitor/PSU I should look at?

 

[Asylum]

I would upgrade my ssd's also since the prices have dropped.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Oh yeah 1440P in da house!

 

[Irony]

Never heard of that particular brand on the monitor but I got a 1440p acheiva shimian off ebay and I love it. I can't ever go back now, lol.

I have always liked that PSU just cuz its different and colorful.

On the cards, for the same money you could get a 680.

 

[3870x2]

I would never buy from eBay, but it looks good. Why would you need a 1300w PSU? I have a 600w handling my 7950 OCed close to 40%.

 

[the54thvoid]

On the cards, for the same money you could get a 680.

Or even cheaper than the 680 (and better at 1440p resolution), he could get a 7970.

GIGABYTE GV-R797OC-3GD Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit ...

 

[Athlon2K15]

Id sell of that entire rig and build something Intel

 

[stinger608]

Don't get anything from Powercolor!!!! They have some of the worst customer service!!!

I would opt for a better quality power supply such as Corsair or Seasonic.

 

[brandonwh64]

Don't get anything from Powercolor!!!! They have some of the worst customer service!!!

I would opt for a better quality power supply such as Corsair or Seasonic.

That PSU is actually on par with those units from what the johnnyguru review showed.

 

[Irony]

Don't get anything from Powercolor!!!! They have some of the worst customer service!!!

I would opt for a better quality power supply such as Corsair or Seasonic.

With corsair your paying for the name. As for quality, my corsair 600 had wires loose from connectors when I got it brand new from newegg.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

I would never buy from eBay, but it looks good.

Well for these Korean displays that is still about your only choice as it stands today (but that is slowly changing).

I understand why you would be wary in general and their corporate policies do suck but in 11 years and almost 200 transactions I have never been ripped off once on eBay. Rarely buy used hardware and such off there as forums are better for that but it does allow me to find random things I couldn't otherwise (or at least not at such a good price in some cases). Especially stuff direct from Asia.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

With corsair your paying for the name. As for quality, my corsair 600 had wires loose from connectors when I got it brand new from newegg.

No you're not :shadedshu

Corsair has been making some of the best power supplies out there lately. Seasonic is up there too obviously. Antec has some good units too.

 

[EarthDog]

Upgrade SSD's, and LOfooknL at a 1.3KW PSU... are you smoking that afghani out there son?

 

[cdawall]

Id sell of that entire rig and build something Intel

Nope. Been to the Intel side gotten pissed and come back way to many times. For the games I play an 8350 performs better. Bar non no ifs, ands or buts.

Don't get anything from Powercolor!!!! They have some of the worst customer service!!!

I would opt for a better quality power supply such as Corsair or Seasonic.

That power supply is made by super flower it is on the super flower platinum platform which is one of the best performing platforms available. I wouldn't jump on the bandwagon for seasonic anyway Antec has a damn good delta built unit that performs better.

That PSU is actually on par with those units from what the johnnyguru review showed.

Thank you for reading the reviews.

No you're not :shadedshu

Corsair has been making some of the best power supplies out there lately. Seasonic is up there too obviously. Antec has some good units too.

Yes you are.

Upgrade SSD's, and LOfooknL at a 1.3KW PSU... are you smoking that afghani out there son?

Well lets see the plan is a single/dual card now and to swap in more later. I wouldn't upgrade at all if I needed less than that my 850w Antec can handle almost any dual card setup out there. However it cannot handle a tri card setup and FX series power hog along with all of the water cooling it will be hooked up to when I get back stateside.


Now

Out of curiosity why buy the 7970 over the Tahiti LE cards? They are cheaper and the pair together can and will outperform a single 7970/680 (I looked)

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Nope. Been to the Intel side gotten pissed and come back way to many times. For the games I play an 8350 performs better. Bar non no ifs, ands or buts.



That power supply is made by super flower it is on the super flower platinum platform which is one of the best performing platforms available. I wouldn't jump on the bandwagon for seasonic anyway Antec has a damn good delta built unit that performs better.



Thank you for reading the reviews.



Yes you are.



Well lets see the plan is a single/dual card now and to swap in more later. I wouldn't upgrade at all if I needed less than that my 850w Antec can handle almost any dual card setup out there. However it cannot handle a tri card setup and FX series power hog along with all of the water cooling it will be hooked up to when I get back stateside.


Now

Out of curiosity why buy the 7970 over the Tahiti LE cards? They are cheaper and the pair together can and will outperform a single 7970/680 (I looked)

Good reasoning bud.

And because 1 more powerful card is always better then 2 lower end cards in SLI/CF because framerates are smoother. With the 2 cards the average and max frames might be higher, but the minimums will most definitely be lower and thats what you should be paying attention to anyways if you want fluid gameplay. And obviously most games won't support crossfire as well as others

 

[adulaamin]

Now

Out of curiosity why buy the 7970 over the Tahiti LE cards? They are cheaper and the pair together can and will outperform a single 7970/680 (I looked)

Crossfire issues. I've never tried doing crossfire but I guess that would be the main reason. Single card set-ups are more hassle-free.

 

[cdawall]

Good reasoning bud.

Fine build quality, performance and price point are skewed for Corsair. Yes they are good units, but for the money there are units with the same performance and higher capacity ratings. As a whole I have like Super Flowers platform before they even released the Rosewill branded models and was planning on getting one of them anyway. The low cost Rosewill version is just a bonus.

And because 1 more powerful card is always better then 2 lower end cards in SLI/CF because framerates are smoother. With the 2 cards the average and max frames might be higher, but the minimums will most definitely be lower and thats what you should be paying attention to anyways if you want fluid gameplay. And obviously most games won't support crossfire as well as others

Internet is being slow right now, but isn't the difference between a 7870 Tahiti LE and the 7970 something like 20%? The single 7970 vs dual 7870 would make dual 7870's make a lot more sense if it was that small of a gap...Crossfire issues or not the drivers have been getting better and better...

Unless I am looking at the performance difference wrong this is off of memory so that's a possibility.

Crossfire issues. I've never tried doing crossfire but I guess that would be the main reason. Single card set-ups are more hassle-free.

I have been running dual cards since there has been a possibility the crossfire not working thing doesn't really phase me and for the most part forcing AFR fixes it enough to get a half decent boost in games that lack support. Since I don't play piss poor coded games like Skyrim I can run AMD and Crossfire and not have poor FPS.

EDIT

Hmmm the gap to the normal 7970 isn't worth the price AFAIC however the ghz model is a bit bigger, but then again both cards clock roughly the same so the difference wont be anywhere as big...I honestly don't think I will see lower min FPS running the dual 7870's, but I could be wrong and it will be game dependent.

 

[T4C Fantasy]

Fine build quality, performance and price point are skewed for Corsair. Yes they are good units, but for the money there are units with the same performance and higher capacity ratings. As a whole I have like Super Flowers platform before they even released the Rosewill branded models and was planning on getting one of them anyway. The low cost Rosewill version is just a bonus.



Internet is being slow right now, but isn't the difference between a 7870 Tahiti LE and the 7970 something like 20%? The single 7970 vs dual 7870 would make dual 7870's make a lot more sense if it was that small of a gap...Crossfire issues or not the drivers have been getting better and better...

Unless I am looking at the performance difference wrong this is off of memory so that's a possibility.



I have been running dual cards since there has been a possibility the crossfire not working thing doesn't really phase me and for the most part forcing AFR fixes it enough to get a half decent boost in games that lack support. Since I don't play piss poor coded games like Skyrim I can run AMD and Crossfire and not have poor FPS.

if u want 2 cards get 2 7970s you're wasting money on 2 7870 XTs

 

[EarthDog]

Well lets see the plan is a single/dual card now and to swap in more later. I wouldn't upgrade at all if I needed less than that my 850w Antec can handle almost any dual card setup out there. However it cannot handle a tri card setup and FX series power hog along with all of the water cooling it will be hooked up to when I get back stateside.

For your one 22" monitor? Two cards? Three? I must have missed a multimonitor setup somewhere...

EDIT: I missed a 2560x1440 monitor.. that can be run with a 7970 or a 680(what I have now). Id get 2 7950's in that case. The 3GB of ram will come in to play sooner than you think...

EDIT2: Live edits are GHEEEEEEEEEEEEEY! But with 3 27" I would FOR SURE go with a 3GB card(s). No brainer there.

 

[cdawall]

if u want 2 cards get 2 7970s you're wasting money on 2 7870 XTs

Are they worth the 20-30% price difference for a 50% price hike? $240 a card for the 7870 XT's vs $370 a card for a 7970 (more for one that actually clocks well)...Seems like a bad value...

For your one 22" monitor? Two cards? Three? I must have missed a multimonitor setup somewhere...

You missed the single 27" 2560x1440 monitor in the OP which if everything goes well this deployment will turn into 3 27" monitors.

 

[EarthDog]

Indeed, and you my edit.

 

[cdawall]

Indeed, and you my edit.

Yup it updated when I saved my post. I might grab a single 7870 XT and wait for the next series of cards. They are just around the bend correct?

 

[EarthDog]

I think end of 1H beginning of 2H '13.

 

[cdawall]

I think end of 1H beginning of 2H '13.

I might order the monitor and powersupply and wait then. Will have to grab some form of video card though I do not think my 8400GS could even drive that monitor

 

[Norton]

FYI- Sapphire sells the 7870 XT too:

SAPPHIRE 100354XTL Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB ...

Looks like a better cooler than the PowerColor version