Replacing Old Gaming Computer, Need some advice... $3000+ New Gaming Build

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I

iGlowstick

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May 28, 2013
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Approximate Purchase Date: Summer 2013
Budget Range: $3000,= possibly more, preferably less.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (BF3/BF4/Arma3/Skyrim/WoW) > Web > Rendering > Movies misc.
Are you buying a monitor: Yes, planning to buy two.
Parts to Upgrade: CPU, GPU, MoBo, RAM, SSD, Case, PSU (if needed)
*** Will re-use if applicable to new build ***
PSU: SILVERSTONE ST1500 1500W ATX 12V 2.3 & EPS 12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Storage: 2x Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM in Raid 0
*************************************
Do you need to buy OS: Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, but willing to order from wherever.
Location: Miami, FL
Parts Preferences: Intel
Overclocking: Never done OC before, but considering it for this build, any good guides are highly appreciated.
SLI or Crossfire: Yes
Your Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Additional Comments: I will be water cooling, not particularly for the cooling benefits, I just like water cooling.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I have an old build and am looking to build a more up to date one for the next few years.
Current build:
CPU: AMD Phenom 9950 Agena 2.6GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor HD995ZXAGHBOX
GPU: 2x SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
**************************************************************
So, I've been doing some reading and seen the reviews for the Haswell CPU and am still confused to heck whether or not I should get the Haswell which doesn't perform all that much better or if I should just get the 3570K, or the 3930K.
As you can see from my current build, it's really outdated. If I go with 3570, which is on an outdated socket, I won't be able to upgrade if they release a better CPU.

I'm really looking for any insight as to what to do, since I want to get a new build, but have no idea which route to go.

As far as GPU goes, it seems as if the best option is to go with 2x GTX770 since it comes out to less than 1 titan and will perform better than 1 titan, any insight on 770 vs 780 vs titan would be helpful. Although the 770 is based on older technology (GK104) compared to the 780 and titan. Also, 3x 770 would be cheaper than 2x 780.

For the monitors I was looking at 2x ASUS VG248QE Black 24" 144Hz 1ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED

I was also planning on getting 2 or three SSDs. One for the OS and programs (C-drive). And either another one, or two running in RAID for my games. I will have other SATA HDD for storage of files and media. Is this even viable or am I on a wrong path?

Also, RAM suggestions, 8gb/16gb/32gb?

Any insight, comments or feedback would be really awesome!

Thanks in advance for the help guys. I really appreciate it.

 
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I

Impmaster

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Apr 30, 2013
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With that budget, you could probably get two 780s. It would cost maybe half your budget, though. Also, RAM is dirt cheap. Splurge on however much you want, although remember that you don't really need more than 8 gigs for gaming, and maybe 16 for image editing.
 
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iGlowstick

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Would 2x 780s out perform 3x 770s? Just a thought, not sure if I'd run 3way SLI or not, but 3x 770s comes out cheaper than 2x 780s.
 
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Kamen_BG

Kamen_BG

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Jul 12, 2011
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In my opinion this is what you should buy.

Here's why.

The 3570K is a very good CPU and so is the 4770K. The 3930K is better than both of them, but it's out of your budget.
In gaming there will be no difference between the three. You'll see a difference only in heavily multithreaded applications.

Two GTX 770's are a very good choice, but the 780's will outperform them easily and by a lot.
Also the core on which the GTX 780/Titan are based isn't actually newer than the one the GTX 770/680/670/660 Ti are based.
Nvidia just kept it to the server market for quite a long time.
Just make sure every you use two of your CPU's 12V rails per graphics card, because otherwise it may not be able to handle the load.

As for the monitors, the one you chose is excellent. The one i chose is good too. There isn't really a major difference between them.

As for the SSD's in my opinion you'll be better off using a single high-capacity SSD.
This way you'll have a very fast drive and you'll also never run out of space.

For the RAM, 8 GB's are enough right now, but since you're building a beastly PC, you might as well go for 16GB's.
 
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iGlowstick

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May 28, 2013
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Hey Kamen_BG,

I'm not sure what you mean with 'this is what you should buy'
Did you maybe forget to link something? Because further in your post you also mention the monitor you chose is also good, but I don't see your choices..
I've decided to go with 1x 256 SSD for the OS and 1x 512 SSD for the games.
And do you think 2x 780s will be better than 3x 770s? Or not worth it?

Thanks a lot for the reply and input, I really appreciate it!
 
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Kamen_BG

Kamen_BG

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Umm i seem to have forgoten to link the pcpartpicker list.
Anyway here's the list.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($216.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($133.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 960GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($599.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($659.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($659.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell U2312HM 23.0" Monitor ($193.77 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell U2312HM 23.0" Monitor ($193.77 @ Amazon)
Total: $3158.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-04 13:29 EDT-0400)

And yes, two GTX 780's will almost always outperform three GTX 770 except in some synthetic benchmarks where tri-way SLI scales really well.
 
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iGlowstick

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May 28, 2013
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Thanks for the recommendations. I think I'll still just go with the 4770K because it fits better in the budget, and tbh I'll get a big step up from any of the ones I'm picking simply because of my outdated computer.
Plus, if for some reason they introduce another cpu with 1150 that is somehow really good, I can always get that instead of a dead socket from the 3570K.
I've also chosen to go with Samsun 840 pro 256 for OS and 512 for games.
Now just gonna wait and see what motherboard reviews are gonna show.
 
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I

iGlowstick

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May 28, 2013
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Yes, I was looking at that MoBo as well as the Asus one. The reviews from the MSI one wasn't all that great though, so not sure what to take from that.
It's definitely between those two MoBos. Always had great results with Asus, so I'm somewhat leaning towards ASUS, but I'll have to look at the detailed spec differences before choosing.
Thanks a lot for your responses!
 
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I

iGlowstick

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May 28, 2013
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So, I've basically put together my planned system build, any comments or suggestions?
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 12g Thermal Paste ($16.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-DELUXE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($289.10 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($124.35 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($429.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($659.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($659.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($266.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($266.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $3414.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-04 17:21 EDT-0400)

Yes, I am still missing a PSU, which is the last thing I need to figure out on which I am going to purchase.
Anyone care to evaluate my list? Recommendations/Comments?
 
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iam2thecrowe

iam2thecrowe

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Jul 4, 2010
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I use noctua nt-h1 thermal paste over artic silver now, it has no cure time and seems to be a degree cooler.everything else is pretty sweet. For a psu, an upper end Antec, Corsair or Seasonic, you cant really go wrong with those brands, just look at the prices, look for their upper end models, not the base models. You probably want 900w or more for your rig. Maybe a standard HDD for storage would be useful.
 
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