I am in the process of researching a new gaming PC build. This is my first gaming PC that I will be constructing (and by constructing I mean choosing the parts for either ibuypower or cyberpower to build for me) and I would greatly appreciate everyone's input. I have been doing research for days and it is all a bit overwhelming to start from scratch and really try to make sense of it all. So, here it goes...
Processor: I am looking at three processors: i7 4770k, i7 4820k, and i7 4930k. I am most leaning toward the i7 4820k for the 1866 MHz native ram speed, high speed and number of PCIe slots, and potential for future upgrades (i want to have this pc for as long as possible), but I am curious on everyone's thoughts toward the i7 4770k and the i7 4930k (I have heard in the past that the six cores sometimes don't work as well as they should for gaming).
Ram: either 16 or 32 Gb DDR3 1866 MHz ram (corsair most likely). Either way I would use either 2 x 8Gb or 4 x 8Gb. My understanding though is that the i7 4820k and i7 4930k work on quad channels so it is always beneficial to have 4 sticks of ram in place, is this true?
Cooling: Asetek 550 LC CPU cooling system. Good price and effective cooling.
Power: 850 Watt corsair power supply
Storage 2 TB harddrive. I have read small bits of information that a PC should also have SSD memory built into it to install the operating system into, any advice on that? I will most likely also install a second hard drive and install them as Raid (forgot the nomenclature) where all data is backed up.
Sound: Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 channel surroud sound
Case: Thermaltake overseer full tower gaming case (2 USB 3.0, lots of cooling, and most importantly looks pretty awesome.
Motherboard: MSI X79A-GD45 Plus-- 5x PCI-E x16, and 6x SATA 6Gb/s I have little to no experience selecting motherboards but i was pointed in the direction of this motherboard. Any objections or suggestions? I know that getting high end parts are useless without the correct motherboard to allow those parts to run to there full potential, will this motherboard limit me in any way?
Videocard: This is where I am really starting to struggle.If money meant nothing obviously I would be installing GTX titans...but as we all know that is not the case. My first thought was the Radeon HD 7990..but after reading up on it a bit more (power hungry, very hot, and noisy) I have all but thrown that idea out the window (unless someone could convince me otherwise). Then there is the GTX 770 and GTX 780. I have no super strong feelings toward one over the other. The GTX 770 is a strong card for a decent price (and seems to be best value), the GTX 780 is a stronger card but a bit on the higher priced side. I have plans in the future when it becomes necessary to simply add a second video card in SLI (By then the price of the 770 or 780 will have come down a lot). In the meantime which card do I go with? My goals are to play Skyrim (loads of visual Mods), Farcry 3, Tomb Raider, and the games that will be coming out in the near future. I would naturally like to spend a little less money, but I do not want to regret my decision in the future. Any other suggestions with reasons for a video card are more than welcomed.
Any preference to ibuypower or cyberpower? I know Ibuypower has a 3 year warranty on any PC you purchase from them..
I know this was a long post...but when you are about to spend 2k - 2.5k on a PC that you have been dreaming about since you were 12 (now 25) you want to do this right, and where better to go for the best advice than Tom's Hardware?!
Processor: I am looking at three processors: i7 4770k, i7 4820k, and i7 4930k. I am most leaning toward the i7 4820k for the 1866 MHz native ram speed, high speed and number of PCIe slots, and potential for future upgrades (i want to have this pc for as long as possible), but I am curious on everyone's thoughts toward the i7 4770k and the i7 4930k (I have heard in the past that the six cores sometimes don't work as well as they should for gaming).
Ram: either 16 or 32 Gb DDR3 1866 MHz ram (corsair most likely). Either way I would use either 2 x 8Gb or 4 x 8Gb. My understanding though is that the i7 4820k and i7 4930k work on quad channels so it is always beneficial to have 4 sticks of ram in place, is this true?
Cooling: Asetek 550 LC CPU cooling system. Good price and effective cooling.
Power: 850 Watt corsair power supply
Storage 2 TB harddrive. I have read small bits of information that a PC should also have SSD memory built into it to install the operating system into, any advice on that? I will most likely also install a second hard drive and install them as Raid (forgot the nomenclature) where all data is backed up.
Sound: Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 channel surroud sound
Case: Thermaltake overseer full tower gaming case (2 USB 3.0, lots of cooling, and most importantly looks pretty awesome.
Motherboard: MSI X79A-GD45 Plus-- 5x PCI-E x16, and 6x SATA 6Gb/s I have little to no experience selecting motherboards but i was pointed in the direction of this motherboard. Any objections or suggestions? I know that getting high end parts are useless without the correct motherboard to allow those parts to run to there full potential, will this motherboard limit me in any way?
Videocard: This is where I am really starting to struggle.If money meant nothing obviously I would be installing GTX titans...but as we all know that is not the case. My first thought was the Radeon HD 7990..but after reading up on it a bit more (power hungry, very hot, and noisy) I have all but thrown that idea out the window (unless someone could convince me otherwise). Then there is the GTX 770 and GTX 780. I have no super strong feelings toward one over the other. The GTX 770 is a strong card for a decent price (and seems to be best value), the GTX 780 is a stronger card but a bit on the higher priced side. I have plans in the future when it becomes necessary to simply add a second video card in SLI (By then the price of the 770 or 780 will have come down a lot). In the meantime which card do I go with? My goals are to play Skyrim (loads of visual Mods), Farcry 3, Tomb Raider, and the games that will be coming out in the near future. I would naturally like to spend a little less money, but I do not want to regret my decision in the future. Any other suggestions with reasons for a video card are more than welcomed.
Any preference to ibuypower or cyberpower? I know Ibuypower has a 3 year warranty on any PC you purchase from them..
I know this was a long post...but when you are about to spend 2k - 2.5k on a PC that you have been dreaming about since you were 12 (now 25) you want to do this right, and where better to go for the best advice than Tom's Hardware?!