PC PC building & spec check

From what I understand the i7 is a little overkill. The i5 would be enough. Shop around for better prices they seem a little up there. And 1 video card would be fine. lol
PSU seems good enough.

Cheers M1K1_D - i got a good mate at work gonna better the deal - this was my first quote as i am new to all this

Go for a single Geforce GTX680 (if you can get a hold of one) or a Radeon HD7970, these are the top end single core graphics cards from nVidia and AMD, the Radeon is probably better bang for your buck right now though, just one of these cards would smash iRacing, if your running three 2560x1600 panels however, it would probably be nice to run a couple of GPU's.

Well what i want to run is 3 x 27" computer monitors not sure what brand is good to go for - was thinking Sansung or Acer also what stand would i need to hold all 3 x 27" is there a website that shows you all the stuff you need to build a decent rigg - or is it just a matter of first finding the screens and then locating the stand holders to suit.

Once TAX time arrives, i should have a budget of like $5k to build a nice setup to run... Just want to get the right first and any tips is always welcome...

Ill come back with my 2nd quote in a few days, got a computer GURU at work that has a frikin NASA system for his gaming - he too plays iRacing and from what i have heard the system can power the moon LOL

Bloody GEEKS

750W is more than adequate for a single top end GPU for sure, to be totally honest I've no idea how much graphics processing power you would need for triple screen iRacing goodness, an HD7970 or GTX680 would probably still cope pretty well, two of each would likely be massive overkill but hey, depends how much you have to spend, if you wanted to go 2 GPU's you'd probably get better value from two HD7950's tbh or even two GTX580's, now that the 680's are out the 580's can be had for a decent price.

In regards to monitor stands/holders, I'm no expert on this but I'd assume most people, for most monitor types, would just line them all up on their stock stands, if you have the desk space of course, I'm only running one screen atm with plans to pick up a 30' Dell Ultrasharp for the increased screen real estate, 16:10 ratio and the 2560x1600 res, mainly for the res though as I plan on picking up a new graphics card shortly, sorry I can't help more MADCAP.

INTEL i7 POWER MACHINE

SYS-IP2600E
INTEL i7 2600 3.40GHz
ASRock Z68 EXTREME3 GEN3
8GB DDR3 DUAL CHANNEL
120GB Kingston HyperX SSD (OS installed on this drive)
1TB HDD (Storage)
ASUS 6970 2GB
DVDRW DRIVE
GENUINE MS KB/MOUSE
WIN 7 PRO64bit

I got this made up for me at the end of last, ended up costing a bit over $1500. I recently put the 2 extra 23.5" screens on for the triple screen bliss and the system handles it fine. At first i had a massive frame drop from a constant over 120fps to around 50. Mucked around with the graphics card settings and not sure what i did but getting a constant 100fps. I had a bit of trouble setting up the triple screens but it should have been straight forward, I had a faulty Mini display port adaptor (required to run the third screen) and it would cut in and out randomly. Took a while to work out it was the problem and not some setting I had missed.
All is working well and able to run all the good stuff on full settings. 3 x 27" screens is big, you will have to have a good system to run all those pixels I think. Go to the thread on triple screens when you get ya screens there are a few things to know about setting them up.

"PC case gear" have monitors on special every now and then, worth keeping an eye on their store. I picked up 2 x 23.6" Asus screens for $150 each and got a BemQ 23.6" for the middle screen for $220. The Asus are just as good as the BenQ and got the same warranty. Quick delivery Time from these guys too, I ordered my screens on a Wednesday afternoon and had them delivered and hooked up on the Friday.

Good racing last night Frank, was good to meet up at the end of race 2 and run those laps together, was no way I was going to be able to get ya spot without that mistake of yours, I was pushing my limits and nearly lost it a few times.

Bones the size of the screen makes no difference bud, it's the resolution that matters, most 27' screens are still 1920x1080, some are 1920x1200 (16:10) but those are getting rare these days, either way, a 24' 1080p screen and a 27' 1080p screen will display the same number of pixels, it's when the res jumps to 2560x1600 (1600p) for example, that things get more intense, these monitors tend to be quite expensive though (more often than not IPS, not the best for games or video due to ghosting) and would require a pretty beasty rig to run most games maxed out across that type of display, but I dunno, maybe iRacing's engine is very efficient and you'd STILL manage to get a nice 60fps..

Hey will 3 x 27" at 1920 x 1080 be ok? there is no way i can afford 3 x 27" 2560x1600 there easy like $900 ea OUCHIES....

Basicall i like a bigger screen, my 46" Sony Bravia is doing good for now, but need to at some stage move myself to the spare room and away from the lounge room...

Hence why i need a new PC Tower ASAP - once back from from honeymoon and all that ill be getting my tower from the guys that Bones mentioned. Quote 2 was $300 higher, but there was a few things i need to look into to see if i really need... ill see if i can get Quote 2 up tomorrow from work as the quote is on my computer there.

I currently run on average rubbish 40FPS via iMac through bootcamp - yeah i am suffrring LOL

Iracing isn't exactly graphically intensive. Even with a 3 screen wide resolution I very much doubt it would degrade fps all that much. Hence there is no need to go all out on a 7970 or GTX680. That said....if you want to play something more graphically intensive like BF3 on 3 screens with the eye candy set to max, then yes, you should probably get one of those cards. Iracing doesn't use anything fancy enough to stress the higher end cards.

I wonder if this single screen is running a good card. lol
Battlefield Sim

Yeah given Chev has actually played iRacing I'd say go with his advice, he tends to know what he's on about with this sort of stuff, besides, 3x1080p screens is nowhere near as intensive as 3x1600p, I personally don't see the point of 3x1600p setups for gaming, the amount of games that are actually smooth (like 60fps smooth) when maxed out at that sort of res can be counted on 1 hand, then you end up using one screen or a lower res anyway, also the one thing (besides the $1500 price tag) keeping me from running a single 2560x1600 screen atm is the fact they tend to have ghosting issues, IPS panels have never been good for multimedia and gaming, it's unfortunate as I'd love that super high res but for shooters and racing games in particular, the ghosting can be a real .

Just say stuff it and go all out. lol. At least you won't have to upgrade for ages.

Yeah it sux Snake. The performance drop to go from 1080p up to 1600p is nowhere near as much as slapping 4 or 8x Anti Aliasing on the 1080p image (depending on the game) to end up with a similar result. But as you say, the higher res IRS monitors are for gaming. Either way, you get boned. It's a shame that the higher quality AA is so tasking on the cards.

Chev, cheers for your input mate - much appreciated, the graphics cards in my list i know are a bit over the top, however i would like to play a few other games in the future as i don't my CDMW & BF3 etc etc

Computer screen i got my eye is this: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=558_1213&products_id=16025

3 of these puppies would be ok? or plenty for iracing - plus what additional things would i need to span all 3 correctly, will my graphics car do this straight away or will i need a adapter to make it work.

Sorry for being dumb, never built a system like this before and keep to get it right first go

Cheers
Frank

First Quote - Computer Business in Adelaide (Ardill Computers)

Component Description Quoted My Price
OS Windows 7 Ultimate OEM $0.00 $0.00
Case Fractal Design Arc Mid Tower $140.91 $129.00
PSU Thermaltake ToughPower XT 875W $190.58 $159.00
CPU Intel Core i7 3770 $354.59 $339.00
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H $195.20 $185.00
Graphics Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 1280MB Overclocked V2 $415.80 $329.00
Graphics Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 1280MB Overclocked V2 $415.80 $329.00
SSD Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD $184.80 $189.00
HDD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB WD1002FAEX $154.77 $135.00
Memory Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/16GX (4x4GB) DDR3 $129.36 $178.00
Sound Onboard $0.00 $0.00

Labour $150.00 $0.00
Shipping Estimate $0.00 $105.00

Total $2,331.81 $2,077.00


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This is my second quote - done via pccasegear.com

Component Description Cost
OS Windows 7 Ultimate OEM $0.00
Case Thermaltake Black Chaser MK-I Full Tower $159.00
PSU Thermaltake ToughPower 1350W Modular $319.00
CPU Intel Core i7 3770 $339.00
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H $185.00
Graphics Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 Ultra Durable $449.00
Graphics Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 Ultra Durable $449.00
SSD Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD $189.00
HDD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB WD1002FAEX $135.00
Memory Corsair CMT8GX3M2A1866C9 16GB (4x4GB) Dominator GT $230.00
Sound Auzentech X-Fi Bravura 7.1 $134.00

Labour $0.00
Shipping Estimate $105.00

Total $2,693.00

For the triple screens you just need to use a display port for one of them. Im an expert on this stuff "Not", I just went through all this and got all the answers i need here. The one thing I had to wait for (after having bought everything i thought i needed to) was the display port adaptor, cant buy them in PC stores near me. Some of the so called experts I spoke to had no idea what I was on about, ordered mine from pc case gear, only had to wait a day or 2 to get them hooked up in the end. Just need to know what graphics card you have and what monitor plugs it has. My graphics card uses a mini display port plug for its display port, some others have just the normal display port, work out what your cards have and order a Mini or Normal ACTIVE display port to DVI adaptor. As KoastR said, take a look at the Triple screen thread most needed to know is in there, or pop up a question and someone will have the answers.

Cheers KOASTR