Looking for a budget

[rwest]

I'm curious to find out what it would cost to build two highend gaming systems.
I have an idea in my head, and I'm wanting to put some numbers to it.

First off, I'm in concept phase, so the machines will not actually be built. I'm just really wanting an idea of what it would cost. I could probably do it myself, but highend gaming is not my forte'.

What I'm looking for, is two machines. One Intel, and the other AMD. Both would use ATI's Eyefinity. So I'll need six monitors. These will be complete builds so I'll also need two OS. These machines will be used strictly for gaming and nothing else. Quality, durability, longetivity, and the ability to play the newest games at high settings is primary concern. Cost is a concern( but not a primary). Oh, and I am not looking to crossfire. Single card only.

The machines will not be overclocked. But cooling is an issue due to the intensity of use I'm expecting. Maximum usage is expected at about 14-16 hours a day of non-stop gaming. 7 days a week.

I have some questions:
1.. With eyefinity, is there a preference to the monitor size? I'm wanting to use large monitors, but is it possible to get too large a monitor? I am looking for 'curb appeal' out of these monitors.

2.With the hdds, I'm figuring seperate drives for the OSs, and I don't really need these machines to boot that fast or need the OS drive to be accessed hardly at all. I'm thinking a 100gig hdd is all that's needed to hold an OS. I could use an SSD but even then, that's not needed. What do you guys think for an OS hdd in this kind of machine? I'm sure I don't need a WD Black for this either.

3.Considering two gaming hdds for each system. WouldI I be right in assuming (2) 1 tb drives would be better than (1) 2 tb drive for accesing and loading times for gaming?

3. I'm considering online play also-completely at a loss of information here. would like any input.

5. Gaming keyboards and mice. Are they worth it? if so, I'd like reccomendations.

6. Case choice is almost a moot point. Aside from durabiltiy and optimum cooling, I'm open to all suggestions.

In my head just a rough guess says I should be able to do it for about $6000, but I need to know how much it's really going to cost. My ball park says apx $1500 a unit and apx 3 grand for the monitors. Keyboard and mice...? I really don't know.

[glc]

1. All 3 monitors on each system should be identical. You will need a 6990 card.

2 & 3. I'd recommend a single SATA 6.0 Black drive - whatever size you think you need. Keep it simple! Here is where you can help the budget.

4. The onboard Gigabit Ethernet is fine.

5. Beyond my expertise.

6. Id' probably use one of the Coolermaster HAF cases.

For your Intel system, I'd look at a Sabertooth P67 board and an i7-2600K processor.

[David M]

Is this an unlimited hypothetical budget?

You could easily spend over $10,000 on six 2560 x 1600 monitors. You will also need a pricey mounting rack for 6 monitors.

I can tell you already you will want two 6990's for 6 monitors if you want decent resolutions and frame rates.

This is the PSU I would use with your hypothetical build...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...014&Tpk=AX1200

With that kind of budget I would buy a large SSD as your boot drive.

Choose this board with a 2600K processor.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-714-_-Product

Choose two sticks, 8 gigs total of Corsair 1600 RAM with loose timings.

You will want a tower case in order to fit those 13 inch long cards and to dissipate the heat, half of which blows into the case. Each card can draw up to 450 watts when the cards BIOS switch is on overclock.

I'm using a G19 keyboard and an older Razer mouse which I am happy with. You may want to look into the RAT 9 gaming mouse.
http://www.cyborggaming.com/prod/rat9.htm
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboa...d/devices/4956

For sound the aging Logitec Z-5500 5.1 system is still the best thing available. Someone needs to make something that is better that does not cost over $1000.
http://reviews.logitech.com/7061/224...ws/reviews.htm

For headsets it really depends on what the individual user thinks sounds best. There are though definitely good and definitely crap headsets. The Turtle Beach HPA2's I have with three stereo jacks, a volume controller for each driver, surround sound controller and three different drivers per ear cup, sound amazing.
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/...orce-hpa2.aspx

If you want those monitors you are looking at something around $15,000. That is what my dream gaming system would be. Right now I am waiting for the next generation of CPU's and PCIe slots with more graphics lanes to become available sometime this year.

[jdeb]

Cyborg V.7 Keyboard
Cyborg V.7 Keyboard

Logitech G500
Gaming Mouse G500

[rwest]

That is what I need to know, I'm way off target.

So Roughly:
$250 FOR MB
$350 for cpu
$150 for hdd (saw a 2tb WD black for this)
$100 for ram
$300 for psu
$150 for OS
$750 for Vid card
$80 for a mouse
still waiting for a price on the keyboard.


Dave the monitors would be three for each unit. Would you still reccomend 8gig of ram? And what about power? Same psu, or one with a little less punch be acceptable? Would I still need to budget $300 for the psu?

And Dave, this is not an unlimited budget. At ths point, it is only a hypothetical build, but the budget is what I'm after.

jdeb that's a cool keyboaerd. Would something like that stand up to heavy use?

I have to get ready for work now so I'll have to finish putting it together later.
thanks for all the input.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by rwest That is what I need to know, I'm way off target. So Roughly: $250 FOR MB $350 for cpu $150 for hdd (saw a 2tb WD black for this) $100 for ram $300 for psu $150 for OS $750 for Vid card $80 for a mouse still waiting for a price on the keyboard. Dave the monitors would be three for each unit. Would you still reccomend 8gig of ram? And what about power? Same psu, or one with a little less punch be acceptable? Would I still need to budget $300 for the psu? And Dave, this is not an unlimited budget. At ths point, it is only a hypothetical build, but the budget is what I'm after. jdeb that's a cool keyboaerd. Would something like that stand up to heavy use? I have to get ready for work now so I'll have to finish putting it together later. thanks for all the input.

yes sir, just got done packing one up for the build in my signature. I am not into them but it appears to be solid and well made. Tons of programmable features.
Cyborg Keyboard - GameShark® Store

[glc]

A single 6990 can be powered no problem with a 750TX. You don't need the WS Revolution board for only one video card - a plain P8P67 is fine. Why do you need 2 TB?

[rwest]

jdeb, so about $100 for a good solid gaming keyboard?

and then about $100- $150 for a psu?

I'd rather budget a little high for safety's sake.

and for the Mb something more like this?
Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

which puts me under the $200 range.

GLC, I'm expecting to load a lot of games and not uninstall them. Actually getting each new release. Which means I may want a Mb with more drive support.

I really don't want to go into too much detail as for the use, I know you guys really like to have intended use, but that's all I can offer at this time. I really don't want to put my idea on the net-anywhere.

What about monitors?
Since we're sticking with one build right now(which is fine) I can just double the cost for the second unit.

Anyway; I know three are needed and I want them to say "Awesome". I said it before, but 'curb appeal' is what I'm looking for.
I'm really fuzzy on this subject too.
Arn't all new Widescreen monitors 1920x1080? isn't that really max?

If a vid card has much higher resolution ratings than most new moniotrs are capable of-is that really just braggin' rights? i do understand that AA and graphical features are where all the eye candy comes from.

Anyway for comparison's sake: How would three of these strike you:
Newegg.com - NEC Display Solutions E421 Black 42" 4ms HDMI Large Format Monitor Built in TV Tuner 1920 x 1080 450 cd/m2 4000:1
Overkill or frickin' awesome?
Considering you're sitting right in front of it. Actually being almost surrounded.
or would 32" displays have a similiar effect?

[glc]

To me, 42" is overkill, but that may be what you want - have to be vague because you are being vague too!

If you want to leave the option open for Crossfire, the WS board would be the best way to go - and to Crossfire 6990's you need 1000w (1200w recommended) and four 8 pin PCI-E connectors. For one card, you need two 8 pins.

In order to run 3 monitors in Eyefinity off a 6990, you will need some adapters, depending on what monitors and which exact card you get. Example - the HIS 6990 has four mini display port jacks and one DVI jack. Those monitors only have VGA and HDMI. In this case, you would need 2 simple passive MDP to HDMI adapters, and one active MDP to HDMI - which ain't cheap. If you find monitors with DVI, then you only need two MDP to DVI active adapters, which are relatively cheap.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by glc To me, 42" is overkill, but that may be what you want - have to be vague because you are being vague too!

Undestandable


Again just an example for monitors. I'm looking for a price range to add. I kinda think 42's are overkill also, but I'm trying to look at this from a gamers point of view.

[rwest]

Got back to my budget:

$250 FOR MB (Left it here for option to crossfire)
$350 for cpu
$150 for hdd
$100 for ram
$300 for psu (possibility for crossfire)
$150 for OS
$750 for Vid card
$80 for a mouse
$100 for a keyboard
$20 for an optical Drive
$2200 for 3 monitors
$200 for a case

comnes to $4650 so far.

Anybody see something that's out of place for a highend gaming system?

Okay for sound. I looked at the speakers David posted. $500 bucks. Any aruments here?
So will onboard sound work or will there be enough improvement to go for a seperate card?
And of course, how much should be budgeted?

Oh and last thing anybody have experience with online play. Maybe dual lan? Does duo lan cards increase the gaming experience or is this just not doable yet? What would be the purpose for a MB to have two lan ports?

[glc]

I think today's onboard sound is good enough. Dual lan won't really do anything for you.

[rwest]

Hey thanks for all the input.

I now know that for two solid high-end gamers. It's gonna run about $10,500 and that's leaving room to spare.