Need help with a ~2,000$ build.

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J

jeschulte

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Jul 4, 2013
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Approximate Purchase Date: Next week, like July 10th give or take.

Budget Range: About 2,000$ USD.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Streaming in 1080p perfectly. That's my biggest priority, I namely play League of Legends, but I want to be able to be able to stream flawlessly. So it must be able to handle as many programs and tasks necessary to be able to do so.

I intend to get pretty involved with making videos of gameplay as well. Not sure if that is worth mentioning.

I'm also interested in having excellent audio quality and loudness. I have a http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/speaker-system-z906 system for when I don't need to talk to people, and http://www.astrogaming.com/a50-wireless-system for when I do.

Does not need to be quiet.

Not opposed to liquid cooling.

Are you buying a monitor: No, I have 2 http://www.testfreaks.com/monitors/samsung-s24b350/ .



Parts to Upgrade: Literally everything for computer essentials. Also looking for high quality webcams and headset / microphone. I currently have http://www.astrogaming.com/a50-wireless-system as my headset and http://www.logitech.com/en-sg/product/quickcam-sphere-af as my webcam.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, but I won't be picky.

Location: Cape Coral / Fort Myers, Florida.

Parts Preferences: Thinking I'm going with Intel this time. i7-3770k though, Haswell doesn't seem to interest me for my needs. Valid opinion? I'm quite open to this though, I just want the best quality for what I'm looking to do.

Overclocking: No, unless I get help with doing it properly.

SLI or Crossfire: Yes.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments:

Previous build, best of my knowledge unfortunately.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU: http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R6850-Cyclone-1GD5-Power... x2 for crossfire.

MOBO: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97/

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Comes with the 60gig SSD, 1TB HDD, 8 gigs of Corsair Vengeance RAM, Windows 7, all the software that came with it. Has a disc drive too, just a dvd/cd reader, no blu ray or anything.

Also has some kind of Creative SoundBlaster Titanium Xfi sound card or something like that. I can't remember the specific name, but its a 7.1 surround sound capable sound card. Pretty nice.

Have a water cooling system in it as well, in addition to the 4 or 5 quiet fans. It stays cold. Its all properly exhausted too.

I spent about 1,400 on my previous build back in December and was overall pretty disappointed with the results. I figure it's worth asking around in addition to my own independent research on it, though, most of the google results lead back to here anyways, haha.

I recently upgraded my internet to 50mb/s download and 20 mb/s upload, getting approximately that with speedtests. So I'm really looking forward to actually being able to stream basically professionally, even if it is only a hobby with no viewers.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:

Honestly, I did my friend a favor. Got sick of playing League of Legends with his god awful load times on his laptop toaster. He was looking to buy a computer so I offered to sell him mine at a slight loss for me.

Besides, with all the new technology out, those pretty new MOBOs, its hard to stay tied to the same rigs for too long.

Thanks for looking y'all.
 
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J

jeschulte

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Jul 4, 2013
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Appreciate the quick response. I'll be sure to edit in your questions to my initial post as well.

I don't honestly care. I'll have it up on a shelf built for it. I'll either have my headset on or my system on, so sound is not an issue.

To nutshell 2 and 3, it performed just fine in game for literally everything at max settings. However whenever I would try to stream, frames would suffer, even more so if I tried to stream at higher settings, even if I lowered in game settings and tried to kill unneeded processes. Its very possible that's due to settings or things I just know nothing to little about.

Forgot I had my post saved with the information on my computer.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103960

GPU: http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R6850-Cyclone-1GD5-Power-Edition-OC.html x2 for crossfire.

MOBO: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97/

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139005

Comes with the 60gig SSD, 1TB HDD, 8 gigs of Corsair Vengeance RAM, Windows 7, all the software that came with it. Has a disc drive too, just a dvd/cd reader, no blu ray or anything.

Also has some kind of Creative SoundBlaster Titanium Xfi sound card or something like that. I can't remember the specific name, but its a 7.1 surround sound capable sound card. Pretty nice.

Have a water cooling system in it as well, in addition to the 4 or 5 quiet fans. It stays cold. Its all properly exhausted too.
 
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ingtar33

ingtar33

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Dec 17, 2012
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ah... yeah... streaming is very cpu intensive you need an 8 core AMD or an i7 to manage it without taking a significant hit on performance. shame you sold your last machine. a simple $150 video capture card would have fixed your problem (that can turn any machine into a video streaming champ, with zero hit to fps)

Ok... water under the bridge. i'll put together a build for you.
 
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J

jeschulte

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Eh I'm not too concerned like I said, I'm selling it to a friend as a favor, so its a win/win to get rid of it anyways!

For whatever its worth, I bought a Happauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition but for the life of me could not get it to work on with my screens. I did this so long ago I can't even remember what became of it. If I recall correctly it was more trouble than what it was worth so I ended up selling it to a friend as well.

But anyways, thanks again for the quick responses!

If it isn't too much to ask for, could you please explain the different options, pros/cons for my CPU choices?
 
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ingtar33

ingtar33

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Dec 17, 2012
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($454.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-S12B FLX 59.2 CFM 120mm Fan ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-S12B FLX 59.2 CFM 120mm Fan ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-S12B FLX 59.2 CFM 120mm Fan ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-S12B FLX 59.2 CFM 120mm Fan ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($58.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Other: 1ST PC CORP. FC-FC9B 4 Channel Throttle Control Operation Fan Controller ($59.99)
Other: AVerMedia Live Gamer HD ($204.99)
Total: $2074.79
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-04 03:23 EDT-0400)

this build includes a top of the line video capture card, should make streaming a snap



yes. The i7 is a top of the line quad core cpu, with hyperthreading... which can help in some aps. Its overclockable (IBs are very simple to overclock) which can give you a nice boost in performance. An AMD 8 core 8350/8320 would be a solid alternative to the i7 if you're streaming video without a capture card, as few games can use 8 threads/cores, the result is whole cores will be dedicated to streaming (the fx 8350 can and will beat an i7 straight up if you're streaming your game, of course i added a video streaming card to the build so this is mostly a moot point)

Basically the main difference is price (the fx is over 100 cheaper) and power (the fx guzzles electricity, and generally is weaker in single threaded tasks then the i7... by a lot)
 
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Solution
ingtar33

ingtar33

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Dec 17, 2012
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very nice except for the fact OP has a single 1080p monitor; sorta more gpu power then he needs... and the op streams game videos to the net; so he'll need a capture card. otherwise i like it.
 
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J

jeschulte

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Jul 4, 2013
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A couple initial questions without looking too much into your selections yet.

Only one video card? Not a fan of SLI/Crossfire or do you believe it is unnecessary for my application? What do you think would cause me to need to upgrade to crossfire/SLI?

Video card(s) would take up the PCIE3.0 slot(s) right? And the capture card takes just a regular PCIE, not 2.0 or 3.0 just the short one?

very nice except for the fact OP has a single 1080p monitor; sorta more gpu power then he needs... and the op streams game videos to the net; so he'll need a capture card. otherwise i like it.
Click to expand...

I have 2 1920x1080 monitors. Only one to play the game but the 2nd to monitor stream, social media, Pandora, misc etc etc.

Does that answer the above question? If I have 2 monitors should I crossfire/sli?

And if I do need to, will I be able to fit that capture card in between those beast GPUs?

Also, got to say I really like that case Jina recommended.
 
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ingtar33

ingtar33

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Dec 17, 2012
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Well, you still should be fine with that single gpu even with 2 monitors since you're not playing across them both, but only playing on the one. I'm generally not a fan of SLi/xfire, i think they bring more trouble into your life then they fix. That 770 is a very strong gpu, and really will max your monitor pretty easily. (it's really overkill for 1080p game resolution.

the video capture card is a pci-e x1 (the small baby pci-e slots). That mb has 1 of them. You'd then plug the gpu into the slot under it, and away you go. and no... on that Asrock board i picked out, you're not going to be able to SLi that card, you'll need a bigger mb. You could on jinayhvora's build.

The phantom is a cool looking case. But having had my hands on one, i'm not really that much of a fan. Then again, cases are a matter of personal preference so i won't comment on taste... only say you should look into the silverstone raven series if you like that look.
 
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J

jeschulte

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Another question, more of a broad question than specifics.

In terms of priority, what would you say is most important in regards to what I want to do with my build?

CPU > Video Capture Card > GPU > Memory > then kind of everything else. Of course making sure its all compatible, properly and well cooled/ventilated, etc?

I'm not opposed to only running one card, I am just concerned about possibly wanting to crossfire/sli in the future if I inevitably pick up another game and its more demanding or whatever, then being out of space for that capture card, or an audio card.
 
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ingtar33

ingtar33

Glorious
Dec 17, 2012
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your priorities will be
1) GPU
2) video capture card
3) cpu/motherboard
4) psu
5) ram
6) case

here is a compromise design for you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($332.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($86.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.97 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($454.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Green) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($58.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Other: AVerMedia Live Gamer HD ($204.99)
Total: $1932.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-04 05:06 EDT-0400)

plenty of room to add a 2nd 770 in SLi if you need it.
 
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J

jeschulte

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Jul 4, 2013
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Thank you very much for all your suggestions and insight Ingtar, I really appreciate your help. I feel a bit more informed and have a better idea on what to shop around for now.

Going to leave this open for any more suggestions people might have. But, again, thank you very much.
 
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CommentariesAnd More

CommentariesAnd More

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Here's a rig with a capture card -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1245 V2 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 74.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.00 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77 MPOWER ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($184.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Avexir MPOWER Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.97 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($454.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Other: AVerMedia Live Gamer HD ( free logitech headset ) ($205.00)
Total: $1732.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-04 05:19 EDT-0400)

I leave you with the Headphones and Mic choice with a good budget. Why the Xeon E3 ? it was cheaper than the 3770K and had much similar performance. The HT advantage is with you as well. And since Xeon are server grade CPU , they can do your job as well. The Motherboard , RAM and GPU are of the Mpower theme , LOL I like it. I just wonder how much load the Xeon can handle. If you want something expensive and powerful , here it is -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 74.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.00 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH 990FX/GEN3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir MPOWER Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.97 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Other: AVerMedia Live Gamer HD ( free logitech headset ) ($205.00)
Total: $1892.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-04 05:25 EDT-0400)

And if you want something cheap , drop a 7970 , -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 74.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.00 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH 990FX/GEN3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir MPOWER Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.97 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Other: AVerMedia Live Gamer HD ( free logitech headset ) ($205.00)
Total: $1562.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-04 05:26 EDT-0400)

Thats the best I can suggest.
 
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J

jeschulte

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Hope y'all had a nice 4th if you're here in Murica, or just a nice thursday otherwise. :D

Should be getting in my money today, so I'm going to be looking around at everyone's builds and probably making some final decisions.

Again, thanks to everyone who bothered to help me out. Really means a lot to me.
 
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J

jeschulte

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A couple more questions now that I've looked into things a bit more.

I'm seeing most relatively affordable capture cards cap out at 30 fps streamed. Ideally, I want to be *ABLE* to stream at 1080p/60fps for if/when Twitch gives me resolution transcoding for viewers. If that is ever reached, I want to be capable of streaming at 1080p/60fps and have people be able to switch to lower resolutions/frames based on their own capabilities.

With that in mind, is it better to try to skip the capture card that has that fps cap and build for the CPU to be able to handle the higher demands of the encoding and etc?

Thoughts on http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492 ? I've heard people can stream at 1080p/60fps on their single playing/streaming computer without taking any quality hits or frame drops, anything.

If anyone is knowledgeable on the matter, I intend to use OBS as my streaming software, which I've heard is more GPU geared than say Xsplit, which is more CPU oriented.

Would a build with that in mind opt for SLI or crossfire, more RAM, or anything to help make the build capable of handling a standalone gaming/streaming setup?

I've also heard that there are cards capable of recording and streaming at 60 fps, but come with a hefty price tag, like 1,000 or something? I looked around a bit for something like that but could not find anything. Anyone have any experience or clues for me?
 
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CommentariesAnd More

CommentariesAnd More

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Look mate , here's a build with the suggested i7-3930K -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($559.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120M 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($228.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($659.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1841.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-05 23:33 EDT-0400)

You are right , the i7-3930K can handle CPU demanding stuff too. But it reduces the money for other stuff , like more RAM , better Capture card. Oh , I leave it to you to pick a software , or card or anything. TBH if 1080p wasn't the priority , I would get a Live Gamer HD. Also 720p@60FPS , has not much noticeable difference compared to 1080p@60FPS. That would also reduce the requirements of you internet , if you are looking for a new connection to stream. The dual 7970's are a great choice and are cheaper. My pick for capture card is the Live Gamer HD though I am no pro on these cards. You may prefer checking reviews and picking one satisfying your needs. If you need a better capture card or something , drop down to one 7970 or GTX 770.
 
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J

jeschulte

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Thanks for the reply man.
 
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J

jeschulte

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Aye guys. Still searching around! I've got another question to ask however.

I'm trying to build conservatively from the start, but realistically I'm expecting to expand. So I want to future proof myself. I'm expecting to go with an i7-3930k at this point, so what LG2011 board would y'all recommend to me?

I want to be ABLE to crossfire/SLI some beefy cards if need be, have room for a capture card if need be even if I end up crossfire/SLI'ing, and still have room an audio card.

I've looked around and I'm just not real sure. Even if this isn't exactly the best option available, would this suit my needs? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-157-285&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

Thanks again for any and all information!
 
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