Hi All,

I'll be using this system to run rfactor off 2 or 3 HD projectors, with possible edge blend software. Can anyone point out any short comings...
Computer Case : 1 x Cooler Master Elite 330
CPU : 1 x Intel Core i7 950 (4 x 3.06GHz) 8 MB
CPU Heatsink : 1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 - Silent
Memory : 1 x Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) XMS3 1333MHz - Lifetime Warranty (DDR3)
Graphics Card : 1 x ATI Radeon HD 6950 - 2 GB - DVI/DP/HDMI (XFX)
Motherboard : 1 x Asus P6X58D-E/USB3 (Intel X58)
Sound Card : 1 x Motherboard Integrated 7.1 Sound
Networking : 1 x Motherboard Integrated Ethernet Lan (Broadband Ready)
USB Ports : 1 x 6 x USB 2.0 Ports & 2 x USB 3.0 Ports
Firewire Ports : 1 x 1 Port Firewire IEEE 1394 (Built In)
Power Supply : 1 x Corsair Gaming Series 600W PSU - Low Noise
Case Wiring : 1 x Professional Standard
Hard Drive #1 : 1 x 1 TB (1000 GB) SATA-II HDD UDMA 300 7200 32MB
Optical Drive #1 : 1 x Samsung (SH-S223L) 24x DVD Re-Writer/Reader +/- RW - Black - Lightscribe (SATA)
Operating System #1 : 1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 BIT (Genuine DVD & COA Included)

Worth noting that I haven't bought it yet, so feel free to recommend anything else!

Cheers

Julian

Julian, nice build, I would get maybe a 120gb SSD drive for your programs and the 1TB for your storage??also your PSU is low, get the corsair 1000wPSU, you will have room to work, should you want more later. Cheers, Jim

A 600W PSU is enough if you stick with the system you spec. If you ever decide to Crossfire to enhance multi-monitor (and it does enhance it in my experience), 600W will "probably work" -- but be marginal. Thus, 750W+ if you think you may be Crossfiring in the future. FWIW I am Crossfiring with 650W and having no issues. So, this is merely a caution as 600W to 650W is the bare minimum for Crossfire of higher end GPUs. Normally, one wants to run PSUs at a fraction of their rated power.

Otherwise, looks good

FWIW, if you get a current HD6950 you will probably be able to unlock and OC it to a HD6970 (not guaranteed) -- that's good because running 3 screens takes GPU horsepower for most games -- as I notice from Eyefinity (I don't have rfactor so don't know about that one in particular). On the other hand, if you run 3 screens at a lower total resolution, the GPU requirement diminishes -- this might be the case with projectors (although you do say HD). Future HD6950 may not be unlockable. Thus, getting the GPU sooner might (not guaranteed) be a bonus.

If you are planning to or at least haven't ruled out the possibility of getting a second video card or a higher power video card, then you might want to invest in a bigger power supply now. If not, you should be fine. In fact, getting a 1000W power supply when you will only use ~200W idle and 450W at load will result in lower efficiency than with a 600W power supply. FWIW, my Phenom II 965 slightly overclocked and HD6970 pull just over 450W under load, and ~120W idle.

I've seen many 1TB drives that use a 64MB cache, so you might investigate that if you haven't already. The SSD would be icing on the cake, though you will have to make considerations for keeping write-intensive files on the other drive. I've thought about getting one just to house my game installs.

Have you considered the Sandy Bridge platform? The i7-2600 is at about the same price point as the i7-950. It uses less power and has a higher stock clock speed. The dual channel memory controller means you would be looking at 4GB or 8GB; I would recommend the latter in 2x4GB if you can afford it, or 4x2GB which will run slightly more than the kit that you've selected. Actually, I think I'm trying to sell myself on these...

Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean when you refer to crossfiring (I should have mentioned that computers are not exactly my strong point)? Hmmm so basically if I upgrade my power supply system and stay with the current spec it will actually make it less efficient??

So to sum up the advice, I should look into changing from 32MB cache to 64MB, and go for a Sandy Bridge platform?

Btw this spec was quoted to me by computerplanet.co.uk.

Thanks for all the advice!


Julian

Crossfire is when you have two video cards connected together for more graphics power. "Crossfire" is the ATI/AMD term, "SLI" is the nVidia term, IIRC.

As -Ice says, Crossfire and SLI are terms used by ATI and Nvidia that refer to two or more graphics cards side-by-side in the same computer. The cards work together to render the frames. This helps at very high resolutions. For example, I went from a single monitor at 1920x1200 to 3 monitors (like your 3 projectors) at 5760x1200. ATI is designed from scratch to be used with 3 or more monitors -- so ATI is a good GPU choice for your system.

I did not have the "highest end" graphics card when I first set up 3 monitor Eyefinity, so a couple games became "stuttery" at times. Crossfire solved that for me.

Since a high end GPU can use over 200W at the peak, Crossfire (or SLI) can push the PSU requirement up by a couple hundred watts per GPU card added (usually people only add one card to an existing card). So, if one is building a 3 projector system, its worth it to plan ahead and buy a PSU that can handle Crossfire (or SLI). In your case, that would be 750W or slightly higher. 1000W would set you up for Triple or Quad Crossfire (three cards or two cards with 2 GPU each -- like 4 cards). However, most folks don't go that far as there are diminishing returns and driver issues with so many cards in one computer.

Crossfire can be used as a cheap upgrade in a year -- when GPUs become cheaper. Essentially, almost double FPS in some GPU heavy games or multi-monitor systems -- simply by buying a then cheap last year's model GPU (should be the same model e.g. HD6950 but need not be the same manufacturer) and plugging it in.

Very interesting, thanks for that! Do you think my graphics card is capable of handling my application or should I play it save and opt for two of them? Would it make sense for me to buy another HD6950?

I'm far from decided on spec so I am more than open to suggestions From what has been said it is clear that I'll be upgrading the power supply, now it's just a question of crossfiring or not. Also to perform this crossfire, do I require some sort of program to 'link' the two together or would it be some sort of physical wire bridging them together?

Thanks

Julian

A single HD6950 or HD6970 should handle ATI Eyefinity (3 monitor or 3 projector) as they come from the box. Two of them also handle Crossfire as they come from the box. There is a "Crossfire Bridge" connector that goes between the cards in each box (only need one connector). The "stock" ATI driver (updated monthly to work with newer games) automatically identifies that you have 3 monitors and/or two cards in Crossfire. You open the ATI driver Catalyst Control Center application (that comes "stock" with the driver each month) and set your monitor or monitors up how you want. You also choose to use Crossfire (two cards) or disable Crossfire (use one card -- a few games, not many, work better with one card).

I don't have rfactor, but I seem to remember reading that rfactor supports multi-monitor (ATI Eyefinity) better than most (maybe an rfactor player could comment).

You do NOT have to go Crossfire right at the start. Try out the single card system. If it does not run fast enough for you, wait for a sale and buy another card of the same type (not necessarily same manufacturer). Also, some games are more dependent on the CPU -- then, Crossfire and SLI may not work much better than a single card. Don't know about rfactor dependence on CPU. Anyhow, potential CPU dependence is another reason to start with a single strong card and see how it goes.

If you buy an HD6950 now and an HD6970 later for Crossfire, you will NOT get the benefit of the HD6970 -- your system will run like two HD6950. So, if you are contemplating Crossfire (and that's not dumb -- since you are going with a high pixel count 3 projector setup), you may want to pay the extra $50 and buy an HD6970 right at the start. It has a better chance of doing the job all by itself. It also gives you the chance to add an another HD6970 and have what may turn out to be the most powerful graphics available anywhere during the next year -- certainly for the price (of course, because of competition, the similarly priced Nvidia SLI may do nearly as well or a slight bit better -- but, don't support triple monitor to the same extent).

Do get graphics cards with 2GB of memory (2GB is standard on HD6950 and HD6970) because your high resolution (3 projectors) will need that to do AA well at high resolutions. Also, to hook up 3 monitors or projectors, you will need a single Displayport to DVI active-adapter ($30) -- unless at least one of your monitors or projectors use "displayport" connectors (usually 3 monitor Eyefinity is done with 2 DVI connectors plus 1 displayport found on most HD6970/6950).

FWIW

Good advice Allen, Also if you do crossfire? is you MOBO 2 or 3 card slots? if three, space your cards for better cooling, then use extended MSI crossfire bridges, 2 of them..still crossfire but cards are not next to each other which makes them run cooler, Cheers, Jim

You are better off getting at least a 750W PSU. A 600 should run all that, but there would be no SLI or Crossfire with a 600W PSU. Even a 800W would be money well spent. Other than that, it looks good.

The cooler will do if you are not planning on OC, but if you are not planning on OC, then just use the factory HS/fan. To see the top coolers, go here.

Frosty Tech

Get a really good cooler to start so you you don't have to fiddle with removing the mobo as all the really good coolers for that CPU use a bracket on the back of the mobo. Some cases have a cutout so you can get to the back of the mobo to install a cooler later and a lot or most don't have a cutout.

I'd recommend getting a drive with a 64MB cache as opposed to a 32MB cache, if the price difference doesn't bother you.

As for Sandy Bridge, I wasn't sure if you had considered that yet since it is so new. Just something to look into if you are interested. The 950 is a good/proven choice.

Regarding my efficiency comment, I just found this in the info for that power supply:



I would think that as long as the power supply can do this, then you won't have to worry about it so much. If you're concerned about it you can look for the "80 PLUS" certification on any power supply that you might be considering. It appears to be fairly common.

If you are going for a 64Mb cache drive, make sure you get a 7200RPM drive and not a 5400 or 5900 RPM drives as the lower RPM drives are low power drives and not performance oriented.

Thanks everyone, I m absorbing like a spounge! Will speak to computerplanet again and see how much they ll charge me for the higher spec

Mostly because AFAIK they supported Matrox TripleHead early and looked at how they could improve the view for the screens on the sides:

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+1 for 750W, but a reputable manufacturer or brand.
+1 for trying one 6950 first.
+1 for seriously considering going SandyBridge. More future-proofing in that.

Note 1: The 6950 cards I have seen all had two mini-DisplayPort, besides 1 HDMI and 2 DVI (but mix of DVI-I DL and SL)



Note 2: The current 6950 cards with 2GB have a small switch near the PCIx connector, for switching between 2 BIOS versions. You can flash one of them to a 6970 BIOS.

IMHO, consider Win7 64Bit Professional, since the price difference is minimal. The "Upgrade Media" version is an option, when wanting to save a few dollars.

Thanks for that. I had come across those pictures two displaying the two landscape possibilities, very helpful! With the 6950 only having mini Displayports, does that mean I will have to get a minidisplayport to display port adapter? (pardon my ignorance!)

What would the best way to hook all 3 projectors up be? I most likely getting the mitsubishi HC4000 which has 1 hdmi port, Component port, S-Video Port, Composite and analog RGB port. One has to be connected by displayport, but to which port in the projector? and what about the others?

I've attach a quick drawing I did last night just to have a look at the geometry side of things...

Thanks again

Julian

Eyefinity requires that at least one DP connector has to be used. Without a DP connection on the display (beamer), an active displayport-to-HDMI adapter is required. Most likely an Accell B087B-006B or a re-brand of it, like this one on Amazon.

The hook-up configuration will look like this: [card] / [adapter] / [cable] / [Beamer]

MiniDP / ActiveMiniDP-to-DVI / DVI-to-HDMI / HDMI

HDMI / - / HDMI-to-HDMI / HDMI

DVI / -* / DVI-to-HDMI* / HDMI

(* if in possession of a DVI-to-HDMI dongle, optionally another HDMI-to-HDMI cable can be used)

I hope that clarifies it a bit.

Thanks, that clarified it abit better! Is there any advantage to using the DVI to HDMI dongle and then using an HDMI to HDMI rather than DVI to HDMI?

So basically it means I ll only have three cables coming from the graphics card to each beamer, none going from one beamer to another beamer right?

Thanks

Julian

Hello Julian,I have found with Eyefinity set ups, yes you need the dispalay port, Direct or active adapter! But go DVI on others, HDMI seems to limit out put, I don't know why, but it does. It is in the signal transfer. No video card I know of transmits true Hdmi, even though the connection is there. so, if it is an option for you on your connections, stay away from HDMI, both on GPU and Monitors or Projectors? And yes, three connections, from GPU tp projectors. cant cross connect them at all, other than power cables!!

So in that case, the configuration would then look like:




No, just an option, in case you already have an HDMI-to-HDMI cable and the dongle.

Thanks JAMF!! This month has been an exponential learning curve! Are there different quality DVI to HDMI wires I should look into, or are they all of equal potential?

Julian

Thanks JAMF!! This month has been an exponential learning curve! Are there different quality DVI to HDMI wires I should look into, or are they all of equal potential?

Julian [/quote]

Julian, We learn as we go. Surly there are better cables to be had, MONSTOR CABLES, think they are the best, complete with price. Any good "sheilded" cable will do fine..You don't need the Gold Plated ones either...Just a good Sheilded cable to block any outside interference. JAMF has given you good advice and has your set up ready..For me, it was trial and error, HDMI did not do well, as I have also heard from others! Good Luck, Can't wait to see your set up!!Jim

Julian, We learn as we go. Surly there are better cables to be had, MONSTOR CABLES, think they are the best, complete with price. Any good "sheilded" cable will do fine..You don't need the Gold Plated ones either...Just a good Sheilded cable to block any outside interference. JAMF has given you good advice and has your set up ready..For me, it was trial and error, HDMI did not do well, as I have also heard from others! Good Luck, Can't wait to see your set up!!Jim [/quote]

Thankyou for your help & advice too! Yes I ll be posting some videos when its done. I've found some software to edge blend and warp for a seamless picture, so I'm looking forward to seeing the results!

If you like your purchases to be from companies that have just a modicum of ethics, don't go with products from Monster. Overpriced and evil IMHO.

Here's the source for my reasoning: Monster vs. Blue Jean Cable

At a minimum, get a cable that has a larger gauge wire and try to keep em: as short as possible / as long as they need to be. I've burned through an HDMI cable with small wires.

Don't buy Monster cables. HUGE ripoff.

Here is your source for all of your cabling needs: www.monoprice.com

Julian, We learn as we go. Surly there are better cables to be had, MONSTOR CABLES, think they are the best, complete with price. Any good "sheilded" cable will do fine..You don't need the Gold Plated ones either...Just a good Sheilded cable to block any outside interference.

IF You READ MY POST, I say Monster cables "Think they are the Best, with a price to match...I DID NEVER RECOMMEND THEM , OR WOULD I> Just so we all are clear!!!Cheers, Jim

Apologies for misreading your post. Looks like we agree.

Hey guys,

I've stumbled over afew issues! I ve just tried to run the set up and for some reason the projector running off the miniDP port shows a crystal clear picture, whilst the others both show pictures which very poor quality with lines of green across teh screen? Does this mean all projectors need to be installed via minidp??