Maximum PC

Ok so If I just stick to one card instead of two, should I go with a 680 or a 670 already overclocked or more RAM? I found this Galaxy that has 4GB of Ram and Overclocked. Also it has more CUDA cores than the 670. I'll look up some benchmarks on it as well. If I stick with the 680 then the build will look like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jL7H
The only reason I'm keeping a 750W PSU is because in case I want to run SLI in the future when new cards come out. I know it doesn't make much sense but I'd rather be more cautious.
As for the Monitor, since I already purchased the 24 inch Samsung, there's no point in buying another screen now otherwise all I just did was waste money.

Lol all I'm going to do is link to benchmarks and tell you that you have to decide, dontcha know?

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=555

Imho, on a single panel at 1920 x 1080, the GTX 670 makes more sense. Heck, buy the best GPU you can afford I say, yes, but there are always exceptions and appropriate things for specific situations. But again, you have to decide.

Some good news. I was able to catch some sweet deals on a couple of items to save some money here and there. I bought 16GB of RAM for $65 instead of the normal $80 and only around 20 bucks more than just 8GB. Also I was able to pick up this Seasonic for only $100 from a 24hr sale so it was cheaper than the bronze Seasonic we had on the part picker list.

I have the RAM already and I'm going to test them on my dads build to make sure they work fine. The PSU will be coming today and I'll most likely hook it up to my build to test it. I'd rather be safe now and if anything is wrong, then I can return it now while I have time.

One question which came up in my head after I bought the RAM(figures I wouldn't think of this before I bought it). Which Windows OS should I run to make sure all 16GB will be detected and work? My recycled 500GB HDD has Windows 7 Home 32 bit on it. I do have 7 Ultimate 64 bit on me if that helps.

After the new purchases, the list now looks like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/l94b
The two 660's are in there because I just read the bang for your buck article in the December 2012 Maximum PC issue and they got a good score and price/performance ratio and two of them benchmark wise perform like a 680 and are cheaper combined.

you need a 64bit operating system to see and use all of that memory.

Ok thanks, I just hope it won't cause any problems with games or programs although most programs nowadays have 64 bit versions.

I can't really recommend getting two 660s for SLI for three reasons:

1) You can get an OC'd GTX 670 for under $400 that will out-perform a GTX 680 and most likely your GTX 660s in SLI. (Dual 660s are $460)

2) SLI can be buggy in some games and also has a history of driver issues that aren't worth dealing with when you can get equal or greater performance, for less money, with 1 card.

3) You are going off of a MaxPC article... They also recommend that you no longer need a DVD drive on any of your computers and that SB-E is better than Ivy Bridge for a mid-range gaming builds.

A GTX 670 will definitely last you until your next build, I am still rocking an HD 5870 and I can run most new games at almost max settings @ 1080p with at least 50 FPS so I probably won't upgrade until the GTX 770/780 comes out.

Sweetness. Now that's what I'm talking about with the $100 Seasonic and deal on that RAM. Wtg


I concur and also add a number 4 - potential microstutter issues.

Imho with the GPUs out now, unless you need the raw power to push multiple monitors/extreme resolutions, a single card solution is generally more desirable.

Ok guys so if all I should get is one GPU, what was the point in buying the 750W PSU? I had bought it to originally pair up cards but now that I have it what do I do? And yes I found a sweet OC'd Galaxy 670 for less than the 660's but again what's all the extra wattage for? One card with the build would only require about 600W. The PSU does work fine BTW for now since I'm typing this on my original build again, shes alive again!!!!!

Well, you can return that Gold rated & modular, cream of the crop, badboy Seasonic PSU and just grab a 620 watts or bronze semi-modular PSU for the same price if you really want to

But seriously, you saw a great deal, acted with hesitation, and now have a sweet PSU that will probably outlast this build and go into your next one. Your PSU will not work as hard as a 600 watt PSU would, thus ensuring a good life expectancy. Besides, a 750 watt PSU for your build is only a little biit overkill

Didn't you say you got the 750W on sale for $100? Just keep it and you can maybe add another GTX 670 in a year when they are around $3xx to future-proof for another 3-4 years.

Very well I'll only get one. Do we have an idea of when the GTX 700 series comes out?

hey guys, question about SSD's. I've been looking at Samsung's 840 pro series and I like them but since it's my first SSD purchase, I don't really know what I should be looking for in terms of performance wise vs price. I've read about them a lot and know that high IOPS are good as well as the sequential read and writes, but for a gamer like me is there anything else to consider?