Need help building a good gaming pc ($3000 budget)

$3K and you're settling for 1080? No! Go 1440P instead, you can easily afford to do so even if you go with the third party Korean monitor route on eBay.

I would do this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($243.16 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($147.05 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($190.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($77.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($149.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($419.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($419.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($169.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.75 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2024.14
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-14 19:14 EDT-0400)

Add a nice 1440P display and whatever keyboard and mouse you want.

5ms is equivalent to 200 fps. Probably not a good selection metric.
My suggestion is to look at a NIXEUS VUE 30" 2560 x 1600 monitor. http://www.amazon.com/Nixeus-Vue-2560x1600-WQXGA-Monitor/dp/B00CHDHE0W
A GTX780 for graphics
Any Z87 motherboard.
i5-4670K for the cpu.
240gb Samsung EVO ssd.
Past that pick your parts, and you will have change left.
Do not bother with liquid coolers, they are noisy, costly, less reliable than a good air cooler, and do not cool any better anyway.

Here is my canned rant on dual cards:
-----------------------------Start of rant----------------------------------------------------
Dual graphics cards vs. a good single card.

a) How good do you really need to be?
A single GTX650/ti or 7770 can give you good performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.

A single GTX660 or 7850 will give you excellent performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.
Even 2560 x 1600 will be good with lowered detail.
A single gtx690 is about as good as it gets.

Only if you are looking at triple monitor gaming, then sli/cf will be needed.
Even that is now changing with triple monitor support on top end cards.

b) The costs for a single card are lower.
You require a less expensive motherboard; no need for sli/cf or multiple pci-e slots.
Even a ITX motherboard will do.

Your psu costs are less.
A GTX660 needs a 430w psu, even a GTX780 only needs a 575w psu.
When you add another card to the mix, plan on adding 150-200w to your psu requirements.

Even the most power hungry GTX690 only needs 620w, or a 7990 needs 700w.

Case cooling becomes more of an issue with dual cards.
That means a more expensive case with more and stronger fans.
You will also look at more noise.

c) Dual cards do not always render their half of the display in sync, causing microstuttering. It is an annoying effect.
The benefit of higher benchmark fps can be offset, particularly with lower tier cards.
Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

d) dual card support is dependent on the driver. Not all games can benefit from dual cards.

e) cf/sli up front reduces your option to get another card for an upgrade. Not that I suggest you plan for that.
It will often be the case that replacing your current card with a newer gen card will offer a better upgrade path.
The Maxwell and amd 8000 series are due next year.
-------------------------------End of rant-----------------------------------------------------------

As to overclocking a 4670K:
First of all, a 4670K at stock is a very capable gaming chip even without overclocking.
How high you can overclock haswell is almost completely determined by luck of the draw in getting a golden chip.
4.0 is reasonable, past 4.5 needs a very good chip.
The limit is voltage. Above 1.2-1.3 heat builds up very rapidly, and even the best coolers will not let you go much higher.
The Z87 motherboard makes very little difference.
The enthusiast motherboards are for those seeking record level overclocks.
Such enthusiasts will test hundreds of chips, selling the dogs on ebay and keeping the gems. Liquid nitrogen is needed to get to those very high overclocks you hear about.
My advice there is to take what your chip gives you and be happy.
It will be the graphic configuration that determines your gaming happiness.

There's a lot of variables as to whether or not you'll get the most benefit out of SLI or not. The main thing is how many monitors you plan to run, things of that nature.

If one card will do the job, that is best. Many times the extra expense that goes into planning for a sli upgrade never happens. In time, newer cards come out making the old ones less useful. It is usually better to sell the old and buy the new when needed. At retail, old cards do not drop in price because to upgrade to sli, you need a second copy of the old card and vendors know that you have nowhere else to go.
You will be stuck with trying to find a matching used card. If you have a plan for sli within say 6 months, then that is ok.
Otherwise buy what you need today, today.

Again that depends on how many monitors you plan to run and what the resolution is. If you're running at least 3, then I would definitely go for the 4GB card.

Just wondering here. If you have 3000$ money. You can get really good build with 2000$
So save the 1000$ or buy some stocks, have a holiday, go bahama or do what ever you like best.
You really do not need to put 3000 to gaming build. This build works really well with 1080p
SLI 760 is faster than Titan with most games. I did put in really good monitor 2560 1440 and price is just over 300$
So is that Dell really much better than this? I sure do not think so.

CPU cooler is new modell of Noctua. With this cooler you can use any memory you like. High too.

You really do not need 500GB SSD or if you need I think it is better buy two 256GB drives and make RAID 0
WD black you do not need. Get more room take bigger one. WD black is fast and makes lots of noise. Seagate barracuda is better and 3TB drive is really fast too. Reliability is good same level as the WD do have.

Seasonic is good but expensive. This rosewill is really good gold efficciency and reliability is better than corsair do have.
Seasonic is just too expensive because there is better and cheaper choice.

Asus good mobo? Mayne maybe not. Gigabyte is cheap and really good quality. It is better choice.
Fuse in every usb port, really nice fearetures. Best for OC use.

here is build:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1sWDm
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1sWDm/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1sWDm/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.26 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($263.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($263.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.88 @ Outlet PC)
Other: QNIX QX2710 LED Evolution ll 27" 27 inch 2560x1440 / Monitor ($319.46)
Total: $1961.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-17 07:01 EDT-0400)

So far as I know, there is no functional difference. It is only a performance difference, and not a big difference at that.
But, more vram seems to sell, so it is offered.
Read this: http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Video-Card-Performance-2GB-vs-4GB-Memory-154/
The GTX770 is comparable to the GTX680 in the report.
If you go with GTX780, it will come with 3gb.

While I definitely agree that you do not need to pay $3K for a gaming setup, why would you get dual 760s over 770s? Even if you get the rig I proposed you can get dual 770s, and still have $1K left for monitors and whatever else you need.

While I definitely agree that you do not need to pay $3K for a gaming setup, why would you get dual 760s over 770s? Even if you get the rig I proposed you can get dual 770s, and still have $1K left for monitors and whatever else you need.

Click to expand...

If he use 1080p monitor the he do not need 770 / 780? so why not pair of 760? If they work really well with 1080p resolution. Then if he takes that 2560 * 1440 monitor maybe better take the 770 or 780. And SLI in future if he needs that. It was just a idea. Better have one card than two but in this matter it is maybe a good idea go to sli.
Two GTX 770 is not much faster than pair of 760? So best think hard how much you really need. And how much want to pay that what the money is giving to you.


Really best save some and buy good keyboard and mouse. Good monitor is good to have. But if you can get one 500$
cheaper, why not?

Well that's really interesting that particular benchmark would show dual 760s coming close to dual 770s, but if you've got the cash, I would go with the best GPU setup you can get and a nice 1440P monitor. You can always get the good keyboard and mouse later on. Although I finally purchased my first mechanical keyboard a couple of weeks ago (bought a Cooler Master Quickfire Pro) and it's awesome, and after using it like no other keyboard even comes close. :lol:

Thats not all of it. If money is important. Then look this How well can GTX 650Ti boost do games in SLI.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/6.html
Really well. And they are really cheap cards. So why need to put so much money if you can get playable build for much less money? I know that my build was a bit mix mach. Build was more maybe 1080p resolution and monitor was 2560*1440 but If plan is make a good build then we must know what is resolution and monitor. And how many monitors OP wants to use. Two GTX 650 ti boost can do same job as the titan (bit slower) for 1080p resolution.
But it works. So maybe this is option too. Then if OP wants that 2560 *1440 monitor. Then he really needs power to video card too. But how much ? Best look tests and maybe tree games FPS what he likes most.

Sure we can do build like 1200$ and that can do the trick. How much better is 2000$ build over the 1200$ build?
Not much Well this was 1136 $ but anyway. If this works near as good as the 2000$ build why buy 2000 or 3000 build? Just wondering Not my money. Maybe some common sense.. This build + good monitor like that 350 $ QNIX or what it was? That is just 1500 $ and then upgrade if need some better parts or faster Bigger SSD or more HDD space.
I just wonder how can anyone beat this 1500$ save and same performance


Like this.
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1tiac
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1tiac/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1tiac/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($62.05 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Fractal Design Core 3000 USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1136.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-18 05:39 EDT-0400)