Buying a new pc/ question about crossfire and power source + OS

[Deleted]

Hello,

I've been saving up for a new pc for quite a while now and my goal was to gather like 1400-1500€ by december, but I was unfortunately forced to move the date up since my graphics card went bust on my old pc.

Now I've been thinking about solutions how to compensate for the lack of power I'm facing now that my budget is cut short (to about 1100-1200€). I came to a solution to buy a computer with intel i7 2600k,1 x GeForce GT 570, 1TB Caviar Black, SATA 3, 7200rpm, 64MB , 8GB RAM and some asus motherboard that supports 2 graphics cards and some cheap 70 € case.

Anyway my solution is to buy a bigger power source (I was thinking aobut 750 W instead of the recommended 650 W) and buying an addittional graphics card later on (another gtx 570). But the thing is that I don't really know how efficient Nvidia crossfire is and how good power source it would take to run that setup + 2 graphics cards. So the question is that is the 750 W good enough when I later on buy my second 570 GTX? And also how good is 2x GeForce 570 GTX on crossfire? How do they together compare to for example gtx 580 or gtx 590? And what other problems might occur with that?

Secondly, I was thinking I could save some money by using my old Windows for the new PC. I have a lisence that I got when I bought my first computer for vista 32bit and I later on bought a lisence for Windows 7 64BIT. I've already installed them on my broken tin can. Is it possible for me to use those OSs on my new pc and how should I proceed to get them to work on it?


Thank you in advance.

[OhpUldum]

1) Assuming this build is strictly for gaming in WoW you could save yourself some money by going to the i5 2500K since it performs close to the same, if not the same, as the i7 2600K in WoW.
2) nVidia is SLI not Crossfire, AMD Radeon utilize Crossfire. Simple confusion and nothing to worry about.
3) Depending on the brand and model of the power supply will dictate whether or not the 750W will be enough. Generally anything by Seasonic, Corsair, OCZ, and Antec will support 2xGTX570's in SLI.
4) You can reuse your Windows 7 64Bit license. Just when you go to activate it you may have to activate by phone rather than online. Easy to do the telephone prompt will walk you through the process.

[Deleted]

1) Assuming this build is strictly for gaming in WoW you could save yourself some money by going to the i5 2500K since it performs close to the same, if not the same, as the i7 2600K in WoW.
2) nVidia is SLI not Crossfire, AMD Radeon utilize Crossfire. Simple confusion and nothing to worry about.
3) Depending on the brand and model of the power supply will dictate whether or not the 750W will be enough. Generally anything by Seasonic, Corsair, OCZ, and Antec will support 2xGTX570's in SLI.
4) You can reuse your Windows 7 64Bit license. Just when you go to activate it you may have to activate by phone rather than online. Easy to do the telephone prompt will walk you through the process.

First of all thank you for your very illuminating and accurate answers.

For the first part, it's not mainly for world of warcraft gaming. I read some reviews on 2600k and some say it wipes the floor with 2500k in some games, I don't know since I'm not very knowledgeable on these matters so I apologize if I'm wrong. For other gaming should I take 2600k? Anyway, that is probably the first part I'd downgrade for saving money (it's like a hundred difference?). Thank you for the tip.

Yeah I was thinking about a corsair or Antec power source so it should be enough then I suppose?

Thanks for clearing up the win 7 64 bit part but will there be any problems with the vista 32 bit one I got when I bought the computer?


Also how does 2x gtx 570 perform compared to 580 and 590?


Anyway, thanks a lot already on the answers you gave me, you've helped me loads.

Nah, it's not for gaming in WoW.

[Deleted]

The only real difference between the 2500k and the 2600k is the HT, and it does nothing for performance in current games. There are rumors that Battlefield 3 will benefit from it, but if that game won't max out on the i5 2500k I'll be very surprised. In either case, for gaming there is no real gain by going with the 2600k over the 2500k.

Two GTX570 would perform better than the single GTX580, but probably on par with the 590 (not sure). But, the 570s would pull more power and generate more heat.

[Deleted]

The only real difference between the 2500k and the 2600k is the HT, and it does nothing for performance in current games. There are rumors that Battlefield 3 will benefit from it, but if that game won't max out on the i5 2500k I'll be very surprised. In either case, for gaming there is no real gain by going with the 2600k over the 2500k.

Two GTX570 would perform better than the single GTX580, but probably on par with the 590 (not sure). But, the 570s would pull more power and generate more heat.

Alright, thank you. I think I'll be going with the SLI possibility and possibly get a second 570 later on. How about if we think "on the long run" will I benefit from having 2600k in the future or is it just a huge moneysink, which I should just upgrade later on?

And thanks a lot guys, you probably saved me like 130 € with the OS and (perhaps 100 with the 2500k) and prevented me from making a fuckup with the power source (I actually went and found the list of SLI supported power sources after you told me about it.

Oh lol and I got another dumb question: Would the power source still hold if I plugged in a SSD after some while added to all these parts?

10 more days until I get my paycheck and the new pc then :\

[Deleted]

Alright, thank you. I think I'll be going with the SLI possibility and possibly get a second 570 later on. How about if we think "on the long run" will I benefit from having 2600k in the future or is it just a huge moneysink, which I should just upgrade later on?

I would personally get a GTX 580 before I got a 2600k. It's hard to tell what the future has in stock though, and it wouldn't surprise me if the 2600k excels in some future games if they are optimized for HT - but it is unlikely.

[skoalcandy]

Here is the scenario that you must take into account:

WoW does not support SLI
WoW (and most games) does not support Hyper Threading

If you are getting this PC primarily to play WoW and maybe some other games on the side, SLI would be a big waste of money. It also would be a big pain in the ass since you would have to deactivate it every time you want to play a game that does not support SLI.

Once again, if you are primarily playing WoW, the i7 would also be a waste of money. WoW is very out of date and does not support a lot of the new technology. In most cases, the second generation i5 will actually out perform the i7 when it comes to MMOs.

If this is not the case, and you are going to be playing say, Skyrim and Battlefield 3 (which both use brand new engines) then you will not be disappointed in your choices. But do realize this, 750w PSU may be fine, but if you plan on ever over clocking your CPU, CPU, RAM, you may want to think about a bigger one, especially if it involves SLI. Also make sure you have a sufficient cooling system. Water cooling is not completely necessary if you are intimidated by it (which also does the opposite if you plan on keeping your computer in a warm/hot area) but it is definitely something to consider.

Also, get good RAM. Though you may not need a lot (8-12GB should suffice) you want good quality and good speed.

Just remember that WoW and any other MMOs are more CPU than GPU dependent. If you are going to skimp out on anything, don't do so with the CPU

[Deleted]

Thank you all again for your informative answers. I'm considering of dropping i7 2600k for i5 2500k, but if I get that GTX 570 SLI (Second gtx 570). Will it cause a bottleneck?