back to boxing... insight into a decent build

[Sly]

Hey all,
I boxed back in TBC and am now hoping to return to it after taking a year out traveling (sold my boxing setup for extra cash :P).

im looking to buy a new computer but cant decide the best route to take... basically i use macs for programming at home.. i currently have an old 17" iMac and would ideally like to upgrade to the new bad boy 27" quad core. below are the specs:

2.66GHz Intel Core i5
2560 x 1440 resolution
4GB memory (easily upgradable)
1TB hard drive
ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics with 512MB

Although with this setup i will still run windows 7 and use keyclone as thats what i'm used to, the main downfall of the iMac is the graphics card.. now i am fully aware macs integrate their graphics cards much more efficiently than a PC and the potential is much greater than a PC with the same graphics card.. although i am worried with cataclysm on the horizon that comfortably quad boxing wont be possible with the iMac.. let me know what you guys think regarding this choice

I have found benchmark scores for the new iMacs although i don't understand what a 7000 score would represent.. (this is GeekBench if anyone does understand this??)

also to note... my bro has the baby 21.5 core 2 duo with NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics which runs 4x wow with no problems unless in dalaran where he has to drop the graphics. it is quite surprising how well these machines work with what seems to be low end graphics cards. i have read somewhere that most models are actually overclocked from standard.

As my budget is around £1500 i decided to see what i could build myself, for the same price as the iMac.. here is what i have come up with:

Processor - Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3
Hard Drives - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache
and possibly a 80GB SSD???
Memory - Corsair Dominator GT 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C7 1866MHz Triple Channel Kit
Graphics Card - XFX GeForce GTX 285 1024MB PCI-Express
a 700W PSU, an optical drive of some kind and a case (probably the NZXT silent)

All this comes to around £1100 (without SSD) but is this a bit overkill for wow? bearing in mind cataclysm may be a bit more taxing?
Is a SSD worth the £150ish? is it that much of an improvement? (this is to hold my wow folders or OS)

keyboard and mouse will be the Razor Lycosa and Naga (i would prob get these for gaming on the iMac anyway)

that leaves the screen.. the iMac boasts an led 27" display with 2560 x 1440 resolution! this hard to beat!

a similar screen is the Dell 27" which has the same resolution yet not led lit! But the cost is well over budget at £800 (best price i have found) there are of course other 27" displays for cheaper but with much lower resolution.. although i guess lower resolution wouldn't be as hard on graphics but wouldn't look as crisp! I am really quite stuck on the monitor side of things!

I would love to hear your feedback.. how you think the proposed build of mine will stack up and all or any views to help me make up my mind up or improve the build, or what build would you go for with my budget? if there are any mac boxers out there.. how do you find playability?

Thanks for reading
Byron

[Ualaa]

I'm running (5-boxing warcraft):

i7 920, stock speed.
12GB Mushkin DDR3 (3200mhz).
GTX 275, 1GB.
Patriot Torqx 64GB SSD (220mb/sec)

[kcin]

"now i am fully aware macs integrate their graphics cards much more efficiently than a PC and the potential is much greater than a PC with the same graphics card.."

Citation needed. Sounds like mac evangelist propaganda

[Sly]

I know this thread is a little mac vs pc regarding hardware.. but i dont want it to get into the mac vs pc debate.. if you want to know more on how a mac makes better use of graphics in osx whack it in the google bar.. thanks

So how is the build i proposed? would anyone buy a computer with that setup for around £1000?

Thanks again

[Sam DeathWalker]

Apple always seems to pick the best displays. Find out what PANEL they use in thier display and then find someone else who uses the same panel, no doubt they will be cheaper but the exact same quality.


Well its an S-IPS, which I use but I got the cheaper HP 2335 instead of the apple (5 of them actually)


http://www.overclockers.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-589192.html


The Dell is the same panel as the Apple I would bet if the specs are the same, probably LG makes it but Im not sure they not saying.

[Sly]

I cannot seem to find other cheaper monitors with the same panel.. as i mentioned above the dell is the only similar one at an extortionate price.

There are cheaper 27" displays like the HP one for £300 although the resolution is 1920 x 1080 as apposed to 2560 x 1440, which is considerably different.. my bros iMac 21" display has 1920 x 1080! Do you think the difference in resolution will be noticeable?

[Sam DeathWalker]

No the Dell and the Apple are the only two with that much resolution.

Im happy with 1920 X 1200, but my 6th monior is also 1920X1200 but it is 28 inch but way lower quality (very bright though) at only $300 Hannspree. Dirt Cheap.

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/195856?r=1


If you are going to use IsBoxer and tile all your guys then higher resolution is better for sure.

I play in full screen and flip between guys so all my "tiles" are 1920X1200.


Actually considering the price two 1920 X 1200 monitors is better then the 2560X1440 but then you need two computers ... but then each computer could be a 920 easy, or even the lower i7 whatever it is.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i7_microprocessors


Bah scratch that, stay with the 920/930 plan you have. They are still best for intel price/performance ratio.

[Sajuuk]

Actually considering the price two 1920 X 1200 monitors is better then the 2560X1440 but then you need two computers ...

Sorry, what? I must have missed something because that's complete crap. I'm running three monitors at 1920x1080 on a single computer/single card.


Non-apple > apple, if only for the ability to change parts without the use of suction cups. (at least for the unibody macs)

[Sam DeathWalker]

A single card is fine, if you have to use two cards then considering the problems its just better to go with 2 computers, although of course it can be done.

[Sajuuk]

A single card is fine, if you have to use two cards then considering the problems its just better to go with 2 computers, although of course it can be done.

You're still making little sense. And no, it's not just better to go with two computers if you decided to use two cards, mainly for the overall heat, power, space, and money concerns for a build with a set budget. With the motherboard the OP has chosen it's a simple matter of getting another graphics card and plugging it in. There's no reason to get another computer.

So, why are you telling us that he needs two graphics cards/computers to drive two 2 2560 x 1440 displays?

[Seldum]

One thing is certain. Go for more than 4gb of ram. I have 12gb as Ualaa and my clients and computer in general eat a big chunk of this.

I run 30 fps in dalaran with almost zero lack.

[Sly]

thanks for everyones advice so far.. because i use a mac for programming i am leaning towards purchasing the i7 27" iMac with 6GB to start with.. i can always upgrade

I know from other posts people are 4-5 boxing with the same specs.. just a bit concerned about the graphics card..

I have recently found that the iMac display can also be used as an external display.. so if i could always buy a component here and there to build a comp simply to box on and use the iMac as the display.. then i get the sexy 2560 x 1440 resolution.

i wish i could test before i buy.. actually on that subject is anyone using an ATI Radeon HD 4850 with 512MB or similar to box with?

EDIT: I moved away from this post for a while and found the following:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

considering my bros iMac with the Geforce 9400M (which ranked 500 with a score of 137) can 4 box then i'm pretty sure the radeon HD 4850 can (rank 43 score of 1073).

i also found this if anyone is interested : http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-Intel-27-Inch/1236/1

sly

[Sam DeathWalker]

You're still making little sense. And no, it's not just better to go with two computers if you decided to use two cards, mainly for the overall heat, power, space, and money concerns for a build with a set budget. With the motherboard the OP has chosen it's a simple matter of getting another graphics card and plugging it in. There's no reason to get another computer.

So, why are you telling us that he needs two graphics cards/computers to drive two 2 2560 x 1440 displays?


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=sli+problems+wow&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=y&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=p&as_q=sli+problems+wow+&as_epq=two+monitors&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=y&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images




Its not so simple given that WoW dosn't officially support SLI, thats not to say you can't make it work but its a can of worms that better avoided imho. Generally speaking, for the same money, two computers will give you more results then one super computer. But he is going i7 920/930, wisely, so maybe he can't currently afford two computers .... With $750 each you can cobble together two 920 x58 computers if you go basic. Actually he is spending $2250 max budget; buying wholesale he can EASY make two 930 x58 computers.

Also as those very very high resolutions its not clear that you won't saturate the PCI bus, although thats really hard to do on a X58 system two high res sli cards might do it - who knows. At any rate a lot of the high end single cards have two gpus and single cards dont suffer from the problems that sli has so a single card duel gpu driving 2 monitors is fine.


I would get a 1G ram card though.

[Sajuuk]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=sli+problems+wow&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=y&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=p&as_q=sli+problems+wow+&as_epq=two+monitors&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=y&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images




Its not so simple given that WoW dosn't officially support SLI, thats not to say you can't make it work but its a can of worms that better avoided imho. Generally speaking, for the same money, two computers will give you more results then one super computer. But he is going i7 920/930, wisely, so maybe he can't currently afford two computers .... With $750 each you can cobble together two 920 x58 computers if you go basic. Actually he is spending $2250 max budget; buying wholesale he can EASY make two 930 x58 computers.

Also as those very very high resolutions its not clear that you won't saturate the PCI bus, although thats really hard to do on a X58 system two high res sli cards might do it - who knows. At any rate a lot of the high end single cards have two gpus and single cards dont suffer from the problems that sli has so a single card duel gpu driving 2 monitors is fine.


I would get a 1G ram card though.

Where in any of my posts did I mention SLI/Xfire? Right, I never did! What I meant by plugging in another card is to use it for MORE than two monitors, not SLI.

[Sam DeathWalker]

Ok if you are not doing SLI then I would think two video cards for multimonitors to be fine.