$1400 Build Final Overview

roguecatfish · May 22, 2013

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZeMf

So this is the build that I have finally decided on after months of picking through parts and reading reviews. I think I have a pretty beefy rig here but since I am fairly new to the whole computer building scene I figured it would be best to just ask you guys.

1. Will my 750w PSU be enough to crossfire the 7970's in the future or do I need a larger capacity

2. Is everything 100% compatible and will fit in case

3. Should I get extra case fans?

4. Does the i5 come with a CPU Cooler or do I have to buy one?

5. Will the graphics card handle all games maxed out at 60FPS?

6. Any parts that are low quality or have a bad reputation? Link alternate parts if so

7. Should I get one of the Hybrid SSD's (Hard drive that preforms like a SSD but with high capacity and cheaper) for 1TB or stick with the 3TB, they both cost the same. Link to Hybrid SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Solid-Hybrid-2-5-Inch-ST1000LM014/dp/B00B99JUBQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369275297&sr=1-1&keywords=1tb+ssd

8. Is it worth getting the GHz card over the normal? I'm not planning on overclocking either. Does it give a significant performance increase over the stock version?

9. How much of an improvement does it make to overclock the CPU from the default 3.4 to 4.5? Is it worth it, I've never tried overclocking and want to know how much that will bump up performance.

10. Should I get water cooling? What advantages and disadvantages do water cooling have and how much more does it allow you to overclock your parts. Also, does water cooling only hook up to the processor or do you put it on the GPU and RAM as well?

That's all the questions that I have currently. If you think I should change some parts in the rig, post a link of the new part and valid reasons why you think I should change it. Thanks.

ksham · May 22, 2013

1. I would say 850W.

2. Yes.

3. No. Use it first. If you feel that airflow is insufficient, buy new fans at that point. More fans do not always help.

4. Yes; but if you plan to overclock, stick with the aftermarket one that you have.

5. Yes and no. Depends on the resolution. At 1600x900, it can max out all games on Ultra. At 1080p, there may be a few that won't be maxed out on Ultra.

6. The SSD can be better. Get the Pro version.

7. A Hybrid SSD is not as efficient as a SSD or as big in capacity as a HDD. Keep the setup that you have now.

8. Yes; and it is under warranty. But if you don't plan to overclock the CPU either, I would suggest dropping the CPU and motherboard to something lower and removing the CPU Cooler.

9. It takes patience and a lot of trial. You should read up on it. A blind mistake on the voltage can fry your CPU, motherboard, and possibly other components or make your system unstable. As for performance increase, yes; you will notice it at 4.5GHz compared to 3.4GHz.

10. Water cooling isn't a must at your current specifications. Advantages of water cooling are: 1) it looks great; 2) superior cooling compared to air cooling. Disadvantages are: 1) expensive; 2) time-consuming; 3) requires some maintenance.

fball922 · May 22, 2013

1. Yes, so long as you don't do massive overclocking to everything in your system.
2. Appears to be. Not sure about the GPU in the case, but the case looks pretty long, I would guess it is (but check reviews)
3. Never hurts to have another case fan or two. I always over do it on the fans in my gaming systems.
4. Boxed (not OEM) CPUs come with a cooler, so yes it does.
5. Hard to say, depends on the game, but I would guess most yes (what resolution are you planning on playing at?)
6. Do not know
7. I would not get a hybrid drive. They show minimal gains, at best, and only then when it is exposed to repeated work loads (same application always loading, booting the OS from it, etc). The platter density of the 3TB will yield good performance.
8. If I remember correctly, its like getting slightly better performance in the same power envelope. If the price is the same or similar, yeah why not.
9. Depends on the workload, but with this GPU (and two down the road), I think you will see an improvement. I always overclock because, hey, free performance for a little more in the power bill. I mean that is about 33% more clock speed, so think about that.
10. I wouldn't, unless it is an all in one system, but even those are only advantageous if you want an uber-clean looking system and plan to overclock, and even then you are talking nominal gains in speed. Personally, I do not like having liquid around my electronics, and I have had friends who's resevoir dried up and they didn't realize it (not much of a problem with the all in ones, admittedly, but they also lack the liquid volume of a proper liquid setup).

Hopefully that is some help!

TheBigTroll · May 22, 2013

id get this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Zfuh

or wait another week. haswell and new GPUs are going out

fball922 · May 22, 2013

I also meant to add, I would plan on doubling up the memory. Find ways to squeeze if you have to, but to me in a $1400 gaming rig, 8GB is a little low. I mean, I have 24GB, which is overkill for sure, but I would at least go 12GB to add a little wiggle room in case you AV kicks in while you are gaming or you forget to close 30 tabs in Chrome when you fire up BF4. Also helps for those situations when you need to Alt-Tab out of a game (which I do alllllllllll the time).

ksham · May 22, 2013

Don't get AV. That should drop a lot of CPU usage.

fball922 · May 22, 2013

ksham :

Haha ya know, I have been using the MS solution for it, and I rarely notice it. Granted, I am pretty savvy (sp?) most of the time, but I still do not ever feel like it is a hindrance. Also, 6 cores, 2 SSDs, and 24GB of RAM may have something to do with it as well.

roguecatfish · May 23, 2013

TheBigTroll :

How much are the new GPU's going to cost around? Where do I find links about them?

roguecatfish · May 23, 2013

ksham :

1. I would say 850W.

2. Yes.

3. No. Use it first. If you feel that airflow is insufficient, buy new fans at that point. More fans do not always help.

4. Yes; but if you plan to overclock, stick with the aftermarket one that you have.

5. Yes and no. Depends on the resolution. At 1600x900, it can max out all games on Ultra. At 1080p, there may be a few that won't be maxed out on Ultra.

6. The SSD can be better. Get the Pro version.

7. A Hybrid SSD is not as efficient as a SSD or as big in capacity as a HDD. Keep the setup that you have now.

8. Yes; and it is under warranty. But if you don't plan to overclock the CPU either, I would suggest dropping the CPU and motherboard to something lower and removing the CPU Cooler.

9. It takes patience and a lot of trial. You should read up on it. A blind mistake on the voltage can fry your CPU, motherboard, and possibly other components or make your system unstable. As for performance increase, yes; you will notice it at 4.5GHz compared to 3.4GHz.

10. Water cooling isn't a must at your current specifications. Advantages of water cooling are: 1) it looks great; 2) superior cooling compared to air cooling. Disadvantages are: 1) expensive; 2) time-consuming; 3) requires some maintenance.

Alright thanks, could you link me to the SSD and a new PSU though please?

TheBigTroll · May 23, 2013

roguecatfish :

they are to be launched tomorow starting with the 780. it is probably out of your price range, but the 770 is supposed to launch a week after that. see how it goes

roguecatfish · May 23, 2013

TheBigTroll :

I might just bite the bullet and spend the extra $200 and go with the GTX 780 because of better EVGA drivers and obviously much better performance (Similar to Titan performance). So will my build with a 780 have any bottlenecking in it? Any parts that I need to upgrade and now that I'm not planning on SLIing this card, should I bump down to a lower power supply? Also, should I wait out a month or two for the custom cards that have twin/tri fans to come out or should I just order the reference card now? Thanks.

Current Cart: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Zq69

TheBigTroll · May 23, 2013

you still havent changed the following

-low voltage ram is useless. the kit i picked out performs the same for cheaper. if you were looking for asthetics, forget it. you cant see crap under a heatsink
-840 sucks. 840 pro however is the best. get the SSD i picked out
- a xfx 550w for 54.99 will power this rig with ease

TheBigTroll · May 23, 2013

and as for the GPU, get the evga one. its cheaper for the same thing. evga doesnt make drivers nor are they better. they are just cheaper as of now

dave0510 · May 23, 2013

roguecatfish :

Also you should consider which is more important to you: performance, acoustics, temperature and value.

If you want value above everything else, then it's really hard to argue against an ATI/AMD card, especially with their "Never Settle" bundle. However, if absolute performance is important, then Nvidia has the absolute lead right now. No single GPU solution can beat either the GTX Titan or the 780 in Nvidia's camp (and nothing in the short foreseeable future, since AMD has scrapped their plans to release a new generation of cards this year). The less talked about on forums tend to be acoustics and temperatures and I find them more and more important to myself, at least, especially the former. Why build a "great gaming rig" if you're going to hear a loud fan in the background hindering your game immersion experience? I think Nvidia beats AMD in this area as well.

Also look up frame latency. It's something that will hinder your AMD card as well, especially in a Crossfire configuration. I don't want to be anti-AMD seeing as my first graphics card was an ATI card, but currently unless you put value above all else, it's hard to recommend an ATI/AMD card.

roguecatfish · May 24, 2013

TheBigTroll :

What is so bad about the 840? And what makes the MS5 better? Please give pros and cons of each.

roguecatfish · May 24, 2013

TheBigTroll :

What is so bad about the 840? And what makes the MS5 better? Please give pros and cons of each.

ksham · May 24, 2013

It's not bad. That was probably a bit harsh. It's just that MLC NAND > TLC NAND.

TheBigTroll · May 24, 2013

roguecatfish :

the 840 uses TLC nand. it has much slower write speeds and only 1000 write cycles compared to 3000

roguecatfish · May 24, 2013

TheBigTroll :

Is this one better than the MS5? I found it in a combo deal that is paired with Windows 7 that will save me around $60. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W2JL2A/?tag=pcpapi-20

ksham · May 24, 2013

The Plextor one has a bit faster reading times, but the Crucial one has much higher writing time. On average, I would get the M4.

TheBigTroll · May 24, 2013

the plextor is the same as a m4 bro. just that the plextor has some better software optimizations

ksham · May 24, 2013

More like same as the M3. Doesn't look the same as the m4 from where I'm standing.

TheBigTroll · May 25, 2013

nope. same nand, same controller. pretty much the same everything except for the software optimizations
http://www.johnnylucky.org/data-storage/ssd-database.html

$1400 Build Final Overview

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