Looking for a high-end PC build

mstrom · Jul 16, 2013

I see a lot of posts on here for budget builds, however I am wanting something a bit more expensive than most things I see. What would you guys recommend I get?

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Immediately upon deciding parts I want

Budget Range: $4000-$5000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Movies/TV, Programming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes, 2 or 3

Parts to Upgrade: Everything except for the case (have a HAF-X)

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or TigerDirect

Location: Laramie, WY (Yes, people do live here...)

Parts Preferences: Intel

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Definitely, I'm thinking 3-way (using each display separately, not 3D vision

Your Monitor Resolution: I want everything I view to look as good as possible

Additional Comments: I would like plenty of storage-- SSDs for decreased load/boot times seem appealing and then some HDDs for larger storage, most likely set up in a RAID array. Would like to have dual boot capability (thinking Linux and Win7). Need a motherboard that has enough slots for SLI and a sound card (not sure which one) as well as an InfiniTV 4 tuner cable card. I would also appreciate a good speaker recommendation, not necessarily included in the budget.

Why Are You Upgrading: Last computer I bought was in 2008 and it is beyond time for an upgrade

Appreciate all your responses, thanks a bunch.

X79 · Jul 16, 2013

While the word budget might not be inspirational, it's not entirely silly not spending a fortune on a setup.

In short: Your hardware will become old very quickly and thus you might not see the greatest benefit

in spending a huge amount of money all at once; as opposed to spending an adequate amount and then

using the remainder for future upgrades, to always stay current. Which games do you intend to play?

How does something like this look to you:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 74.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V DELUXE ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($289.99 @ Geeks.com)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.61 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.61 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($652.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($652.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor ($554.10 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor ($554.10 @ Amazon)
Total: $3685.43
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-16 20:19 EDT-0400)

Certainly expensive.

Nice monitors though. . .

mstrom · Jul 17, 2013

X79 :

First, I'd like to apologize. I didn't realize until after that the way I worded this post sounded kind of bad. Sorry if anyone took offense to that.

I like these suggestions a lot, however, after doing looking on Newegg, it says that that motherboard is outdated and suggested this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131854. I don't believe that would cause any sort of compatibility issues. I would want to run 3 displays, however, which according to Nvidia support, those cards are capable of doing.

EVE is one game I'm thinking will be awesome on this, as well as BF3, Skyrim, Bioshock Infinite, etc. Any game that catches my eye really.

EDIT: Another thing I am confused on is if I would be able to have two GTX 780s as well as a Ceton InfiniTV card AND a sound card. I was thinking I would just be able to use the bottom two PCI 3.0 slots for the GPUs and then have the above ports open, however I just noticed that there are some pins that are at the bottom of the mobo that would be covered by a GPU that look important. Would I be able to have 4 cards in there?
Thanks for the response!

X79 · Jul 18, 2013

Apology accepted, for what it's worth.

The motherboard you put forth is certainly excellent. EATX will give a little added space.

3 Displays won't be an issue. I'd recommend sticking to 1920 x 1080p though, as higher resolutions

will prove very demanding when put in conjunction with high graphic settings in games. Your choice

though. A single GTX 780 can run 3 displays I believe. I'm also certain you'll be able to have a sound

card and all. If it's PCIe, it works. I can't say for Ceton. Remember to look for non-reference GPU

designs, as you might find GPUs which are slimmer for example and better. I also do you think you

can have 3 or 4 way SLI; though it's hardly necessary at all.

Dark Lord of Tech · Jul 18, 2013

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Extreme ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($384.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($685.38 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($685.38 @ Newegg)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1050W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: AOC e2752Vh 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: AOC e2752Vh 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: AOC e2752Vh 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
TV Tuner Card [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815706001] ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $3686.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-18 00:22 EDT-0400)

mstrom · Jul 18, 2013

X79 :

[strike]As I do more research I'm leaning towards 2d surround with 3 monitors and then a fourth accessory display.[/strike] What wold be the ramifications of running all monitors at a high resolution? More stress on the GPU and as a result more heat? Less life? What would be my biggest concern with doing that? I spoke to NVIDIA support and he said that even one 780 was capable of running 4 displays, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea...

EDIT: Reading more it seems FPS is the biggest issue. If I understand you correctly you think 3 displays at 2560 x 1440 and high settings would be too much for two 780s? Could always run one for games at 2560 and the other 2 at 1920 (provided I'm understanding the issue correctly). This guy appears to be pulling 60 fps easily with one card at 2560x1440 and ultra settings. Add another card and I don't see 3 monitors being an issue really. Thoughts?

Guingix · Jul 18, 2013

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($107.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.ASSASSIN2 EATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($353.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($126.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ 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)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Phoebus 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($173.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1050W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $3312.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-18 05:12 EDT-0400)

Considering your budget. ITS AN OVERKILL.

X79 · Jul 18, 2013

mstrom :

Yes it adds strain the higher the resolution. So if you run very high resolutions and simultaneously

ramp up the graphical settings in a modern game then you've got a higher potential to see less

FPS. Not that 60 won't be possible (or more). It's just a consideration. Since your budget is

so big though, you'll easily be able to get more GPUs if/when needed. As an example,

you should see some of the early benchmarks of monitors running 4K resolutions. Cripples

GPU performance currently.

mstrom · Jul 18, 2013

X79 :

Well I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do:

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus V EXTREME
Memory: 16GB G.Skill Ripjaws X Series (2x8GB)
Storage: 1 x OCZ Vector 512 or 256GB SSD (haven't decided which yet)
Storage: 5 x WD Blue 1TB HDDs (4 in a RAID 10 setup that will store a large amount of HD Video and applications when SSD becomes full, 1 to have 500GB partitions for WinXP and Linux)
Storage: 1 x WD Blue 2TB HDD (to be used as secondary storage)
Power Supply: Corsair HX850 PSU
Graphics: 2 x ASUS GTX 780
Processor: Intel Core i5 3570k 3.4GHz
Sound Card: ASUS Xonar STX
TV Tuner Card: Ceton InfiniTV 4 Tuner Card
Monitors: 3 x ASUS PB287Q 27" Monitors

I think there is one question I have left... in reading the specs on the ASUS website for the motherboard, listed under storage it appears that only the 2 SATA ports that are on the Intel Z77 Chipset are able to be set up in RAID. Will drives plugged into the 4 ports on the ASMedia PCIe SATA Controller be able to be set up in RAID or will I need a RAID card? If so, do you have a RAID card that you would recommend?

Also, I owe a big thank you to everyone who has responded and helped me decide what I'm going to get, especially X79 who has been awesome about responding to me and helping me out with all of my questions. Thanks

Yours will definitely get picked as the solution, don't worry.

X79 · Jul 18, 2013

I wouldn't presently go above 256GB for SSDs. The cost is simply too high per GB.

If you can afford it however, be my guest. I'd also consider getting some Caviar Blacks

if I were you, as they're for performance-minded people like yourself. Greens try to be more

quiet, potentially more eco-friendly, slower and such. But aren't worth it. Then come Blues which try

strike a balance between Green and Black. So take your pick. As for the RAID, I'm not sure. I just know

that RAID cards are seriously expensive. Lastly, since you mentioned EVE and it's a game set in space,

I'd like to point you towards the in-development-crowd-funded space sim called Star Citizen; if you

haven't heard. Will be truly awesome and it's setups like yours that it aims to satisfy.

mstrom · Jul 19, 2013

X79 :

I wouldn't presently go above 256GB for SSDs. The cost is simply too high per GB.

If you can afford it however, be my guest. I'd also consider getting some Caviar Blacks

if I were you, as they're for performance-minded people like yourself. Greens try to be more

quiet, potentially more eco-friendly, slower and such. But aren't worth it. Then come Blues which try

strike a balance between Green and Black. So take your pick. As for the RAID, I'm not sure. I just know

that RAID cards are seriously expensive. Lastly, since you mentioned EVE and it's a game set in space,

I'd like to point you towards the in-development-crowd-funded space sim called Star Citizen; if you

haven't heard. Will be truly awesome and it's setups like yours that it aims to satisfy.

Sounds awesome, thanks

X79 · Jul 20, 2013

No worries. Have a good one.

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