I haven't decided yet on the main system but that's the easy part. I'm a veteran PC builder so I know how to chose my parts, but this time I need help :D
I'm looking to build a gaming PC for a client of mine that wants to run The Witcher 3 on highest settings on an 1920x1080 screen... possibly 2 screen if its possible (well he those own 3, but I don't think he has the money to power all of those at highest settings)
So, i've been scouring the internet for specs that I might need, apparently it will run smooth on windows 8.1 but they aren't going to use DX 11.2 as I understand (which is best for pricing purposes).
I'm not biased as to AMD or nVidia so please, suggest away. Do you think I would need crossfire or sli for just 1 monitor? if you can, please suggest a 3 tier set. one for 1 monitor, a second one for 2, and a third tier for 3 monitors running on highest settings.
Most likely the CPU WILL be i7 but not the extreme series (unless proven to be needed).
Thank you all so much for your help, to see other PCs i've built go to my site www.gobanditech.com/creations
... there's a hefty budget, my client wants to leave it under $2000. but if you present a compelling deal, he's willing to go over i'm sure. That's with labor included, so assume we have about $1500-$1600 for parts
I cant really say how much horsepower hed need since i lost my tarot cards and the damn crystal ball rolled of the table and cracked. Witcher 2 came out early 2011 but even with two 780s there will be drops under 60 on ultra with supersampling enabled, so id guess Witcher 3 will need some serious gpu power for the absolute max with 60 fps. I dont think youll need a high end i7 though, few settings have a considerable impact on the cpu stress and a doubt CD Project only wants their games to be played by people who have the latest high end cpu when people are shifting away from desktops in general.
I'd go ahead and pick up an 8350 and a 7970 or 7990. I am assuming the game will be properly coded, so the more cores on the cpu would give an advantage. If you're thinking of going Intel, I'd suggest maybe a 3770 or so. If you wanna go nVidya, a 770 or 780 would do well also.
If he needs it now: get two 7970's for one monitor. This will prove its worth for quite a while in terms of 1080p capabilities. For more, so tier two and three, go for two 780s, granted you'll pay twice as much as two 7970s and only get about 15% boost on most games, but getting better performance at this range comes at a price, eh?
If he can wait, pre-order the r9-290x for single monitor. For multiple monitors get two of them. Plus, he gets BF4 (if he plays those games) when it comes out.
Honestly, I'd recommend getting a 1440p monitor over multiple screens, but to each his own. Check out the Shimian QH2700 or the x-star that everyone on this site raves about. Maybe even just inform him of these monitors.
Also, a lot of people may tell me, "well crossfire isn't as good as SLI". Go to PC Perspective and check out the new driver's frame ratings. You may change your idea of crossfire. Granted, I don't think it yet supports mulit-monitor or DX9 games, but it will happen. Probably when the new cards are released for purchase, but that is just speculation. Either way you get more performance for what you pay going AMD.
For the GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202036&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814202036&gclid=CLuCuv-26bkCFWpp7Aod0BEA1g
For the CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284
I'd pick up a Gigabyte 990fx (UD3 or something in the name) board, I have one in my build and it's rock solid, and not too expensive either.
Thank you guys for the quick replies. I was looking into all the parts all you recommended me. I think I like this configuration that I found on newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1434527 it has the GPU twRage96 pointed out, and the chipset tw..oh look... he recommended both so thanks.
I also looked into the r9-290x ... when is this released? i can't find a date on the internet. and about that monitor... i think i'm gonna get it myself hahahaa. I'll tell him too, but I think he has 3 identical monitors so I strongly think he won't change, but that's a lot for that i'll show it to other customers.
So what do you guys think of the parts I chose (i usually don't pick bundles, but this time, I can :D ) ... BTW, has anyone been able to change the tubes on the corsair water cooling system to put the colored ones with the colored water? We want to do a red PC build, so that would be awesome ;)
Try to get a 4770k/3770k build. You are at a budget range where you should be able to do a build that doesn't sacrifice much. If you cant pull that off then it is 4670k/3570k or fx 8350 and that will be decided on the basis of whether you think per core performance or multi threaded performance is more important for the user you a building for.
If you want to start changing parts in the loop go for the Swiftech h220. More expensive than the corsair, but better performance and you can go all out for water cooling using it, including changing the tubes.
LOL, this build will probably surpass $2000... just with the newegg combo i posted, if I go with the intel counterpart... its more expensive :(
When do you guys think we'll be able to the system requirements for this game or is there a comparable game to which we can hunt parts for?
Anyways, i guess we can't go wrong with a GTX Titan or a HD 7990, i7 or fx 9590 respectively, agreed? I'm assuming this will work great for a single monitor, maybe I could add a second gpu for the second monitor if needed later, sounds like a plan?
I would strongly advise you to wait for the new AMD GPUs to come out before finalizing this build. If the rumored pricing of AMD's new flagship GPU is correct, you should be able to create a build including both it, and an i7, without going over $2000. Also, I would advise you to steer clear of the 7990, Titan, and AMD 9 series CPUs, they are definitely bragging rights components, the price to performance ratio is terrible. You will loose a negligible amount of performance if you go with lower end components like the 8350 and 780, none at all if you overclock them.
I would recommend that you go with this build, adding in one of the new AMD GPUs when they come out.
What, do you expect him to be putting something like a 965 in a $2000 build? Of course GPU is top priority, but some games like Planetside, Arma, and to some extent Skyrim do put a lot of demand on the CPU. In addition, though I can't say anything for sure since the game is still in development, TW3 will most likely put a lot more strain on the CPU than previous titles in that series due to it's large open world. Also, what if the client wants to stream, or edit footage? If I had a $2000 PC, I can say for sure I would be using it for more than just gaming.
Do NOT get the AMD 9590 OR 9370. NO NO NO NO NO. Intel i7 or i5 is faster, more efficient, cooler, and uses less cores for it all. (Most programs, including games, have terrible support for more than two cores and in single-core performance Intel wins hands down.)
Thanks for the build link anarmypig, btw, i never knew of the existence or pcpartbuilder.com THANKS FOR THE TOOL! on his defense, he suggest a real good build, though I'd change the 128GB SSD to a 256GB, i've stopped installing 128GB main drives in PC last year since people keep installing games on them and more stuff... then their sys gets bogged down... to us in my company, 256GB is the new minimum main storage space.
Anyways, I might still get the same combo... we do LAN parties so bragging rights are also on the build list here hahaha, also, I live in puerto rico and only amazon and newegg offer REAL free shipping, i'll have to see if those companies mentioned do offer free shipping or their total costs amounts to less, then i'll order, but experience has taught me otherwise so I don't even take the time to quote them anymore.