Buying a 3d gaming rig

[graphil]

I'm looking at a high end gaming rig and got a few questions.

1. What is the difference between the P8Z68-V GEN3 and P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3?

2. If I use the SSD caching ability on the above M/B does that mean the SSD drive it not available for general use as a drive? I presume a 60gb one would be fine as a cache as it is dynamic based on file usage?

3. Build will be based on an intel I7. There is an option to overclock to 4.7ghz. Does it matter then which I7 is picked? Also will that require water cooling?

4. What sort of testing is done on the overclocking and how much is it likely to shorten the life of the CPU by?

5. I would go for 2x1536MB EVGA GTX 580 SC (unless you have the 3gb version of the GTX 580 coming). Will 850W be enough for that?

6. I'm thinking of either 3x23" or 1x27" 3d monitor. If I go for 3 do I have to buy the ones that come with the kit and the glasses? Do I need 3 kits for 3 monitors? I definitely won't need 3 sets of glasses. What are my options? If I do go for 3 I don't seem to be able to pick that many in the customize build.

7. Does the lightboost only come in 27" monitors or are there plans for 23" versions at some point?

Plus and other advice you have. Much appreciated.

[graphil]

This is possible build as it currently stands excluding monitor

Coolermaster HAF X, Black, Full Gaming Tower Case (£122.59)
Asus P8Z68-V PRO - Intel Z68 Gen 3 (£124.68)
Intel Core i7 2700K, 3.5GHz, Quad Core + Hyperthreading, 8MB Cache (£219.17)
Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro BK016 Performance CPU Cooler (£44.98)
2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Sandy Bridge CPU professionally overclocked by our 3XS engineers to 4.7Ghz (£0.00)
16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600MHz (£65.16)
2x1536MB EVGA GTX 580 SC, 797MHz GPU, 512 Cores, 2050MHz GDDR5 (£639.16)
850W Corsair HX Series V2, Modular (Dual GTX 580 & ATI 6970) (£108.85)
60GB OCZ Agility 3, SandForce SSD, Read 525MB/s, Write 475MB/s (£58.31)
2x3TB Western Digital Caviar Green, 64Mb Cache (£232.60)
LG BH10LS38 Blu-ray Writer - Retail with Software (£56.73)
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - OEM (£91.07)

[Chris P]

graphil

1. What is the difference between the P8Z68-V GEN3 and P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3?
The only difference between the two seems to be that the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 has a reset switch on the PCB, two extra 6GB SATA ports.

2. If I use the SSD caching ability on the above M/B does that mean the SSD drive it not available for general use as a drive? I presume a 60gb one would be fine as a cache as it is dynamic based on file usage?
With SSD Caching you wouldn't be able to use the SSD for the OS, you can partition drive for OS and Cache but its not recommended.


3. Build will be based on an intel I7. There is an option to overclock to 4.7ghz. Does it matter then which I7 is picked? Also will that require water cooling?
All of the available options can be OC'd to 4.7GHz

4. What sort of testing is done on the overclocking and how much is it likely to shorten the life of the CPU by?
Sandy Bridge CPU's are designed to be overclocked, even with the OC as After Market Cooler's are used the life span of the CPU should not be affected. Also remember you have a 2 Year Warranty against the System.

5. I would go for 2x1536MB EVGA GTX 580 SC (unless you have the 3gb version of the GTX 580 coming). Will 850W be enough for that?
We have the 3GB EVGA GTX 580 card's in stock, which we can use.... But we would recommend at least a Corsair 950W PSU. We also need to add these options onto the configurator, which we will do shortly.


6. I'm thinking of either 3x23" or 1x27" 3d monitor. If I go for 3 do I have to buy the ones that come with the kit and the glasses? Do I need 3 kits for 3 monitors? I definitely won't need 3 sets of glasses. What are my options? If I do go for 3 I don't seem to be able to pick that many in the customize build.
Which monitor's were you looking at as we sell most of the model's without the Glasses and IR Emitter?

7. Does the lightboost only come in 27" monitors or are there plans for 23" versions at some point?
The Lightboost Technology is only available on the 27" screens at the moment, I will find out more from the manufacturer's if this is also going to be available on 23" screens.

Best Regards

[m01ateusz]

i would suggest you to take a look into HD 7950, it is similar price range, has 3GB VRAM, in benchmarks performance is same as 580 or better, can be OC much higher and then becoming a lot faster then 580

[graphil]

I want to go with the nvidia 3d vision rather than the H3HD method.

I'm looking at either Asus VG236H or Asus G278H for monitors which I believe are the only ones you have supporting the 3d vision.

[graphil]

Any news on the questions?

[Philipp]

Hello Graphil,

The G278H bundle has unfortunately been made end of life and will be removed from our 3XS site shortly, its worth noting that you can pick any monitors from our site and are not limited to the ones on the configurator!

Best Regards

[graphil]

So what monitors are available that support the nvidia 3d vision v2?

Also any timeline on when the 950w power supply and 3gb gtx580's will be added to the configurator?