First Rig Ever, total noob, help needed

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

Hello!
As you may know from the title I'm looking at building my first rig ever (I know im excited too). However I must admit an embarrassing fact, despite all my research I'm still completely clueless... please give me any tips!!! tell me what I need to change, what to scrap, what to keep, what to upgrade. This is my current set that I've been looking at, I'm mainly focusing on the actual rig and not peripherals and my budget is max around that number, $2000. Here it is ladies and laddies.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/20j7N

I should make a note that appart from the usual school stuff and MAYBE some occassional editing (I'd rather not base any reccommendations on that) that its going to be used for gaming and solely for gaming.
Thanks a ton in advance!

sora · Nov 10, 2013

I don't think you need 16GB of RAM unless you are doing some heavy video editing. You'd be fine with 8GB RAM.

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

8GB RAM will put up with the most demanding games? If so, anything I should improve or any two items that don't go together?
thanks for the quick response

Pete_the_Puma · Nov 10, 2013

Hello Saspicoll! Good luck with the build.

A few comments:

1. I would recommend "downgrading" to an i5-4670K if this is mostly a gaming PC, really no benefit (maybe 1-2FPS) from the i7 and you can spend that 100$ somewhere else.
2. You do not need a sound card, a PCI LAN card or a wireless card. Every modern motherboard has on board sound and LAN that is just as good. If you want a wifi card check out some motherboards that come with it.
3. For 2000$ total and with the money you save from the steps above I would recommend TWO gtx770 cards in SLI.
4. If you DO go for 2 cards you should get a better PSU, I would say 850 watts to be on the safe side.
5. If you do NOT go with SLI now I would still recommend a 850 watts PSU for when you do decide to go SLI in the future hehehe.
6. At this price point and especially if you SLI two gtx 770's you should be looking to game at 2560x1440 resolution, not 1920x1080. Check out this 350$ 2560x1440 monitor that can be overclocked to 120Hz.

http://www.amazon.com/QNIX-QX2710-Evolution-LED-Monitor/dp/B00BUI44US/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384132077&sr=8-1&keywords=qnix

7. Water cooling is nice but it can needlessly complicate your build. Air coolers are decent unless you are looking to OC to somewhere past 4.4GHz. On a first build I would recommend sticking with air.
8. On modern PC's an SSD is a MUST!! It will speed everything up especially boot times and programs you use the most. In fact I ditched the old school hard drive in my system and just have two SSDs. A 128GB system drive and a 256GB Data/Gaming drive.

Thats all I could think of now.

Good luck!

Tradesman1 · Nov 10, 2013

Do you or will you have need of Hyper threading? That will help determine a lot of things, primarily the CPU, which in turn can affect mobo - DRAM etc?

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

Pete_the_Puma :

Heya pete! wow thanks a ton! such a friendly forum, so here's what ive edited:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/20raT
I see what you mean about the motherboard (damn am I clueless), any recommendations for which I should replace it for? Also the cooling system, the case does seem to come with fans, do I need more? I do plan on overclocking maybe not past 4.4 like you said but yeah. thanks!

Pete_the_Puma · Nov 10, 2013

Just wanted to see what I would do with 2000$ these days:

CPU: i5-4670K 219$
MOBO: Whatever floats your boat, Z87 chipset 160$
GPU: GTX 770 x 2 660$
RAM: 16GB (4x4gb) whatever you want 140$ (8gb enough but why not16)
SSD: SAMSUNG 840 PRO x2 128GB +256GB 360$
CASE: Whatever you have 119$
PSU: SEASONIC 850 W 150$
DVD DRIVE: yours is fine 55$
MONITOR: Qnix 2560x1440 oc to 120Hz 350$
Windows: 100$
COOLER: Coolesrmaster EVO 212 30$ (cant be beat for 30$)

TOTAL: 2343$
Ok so i guess buy a single 770 for now and add a second one when u save up some money...

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

Tradesman1 :

I understood nothing

hahaha. In all honesty I've done my fair share of research but I'm just looking for a good gaming rig.

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

Pete_the_Puma :

Do I need such a big SSD? I've read some sketchy things about them so I was thinking just putting in the OS for quick booting times.
Edit: Alright heres the final product,
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/20rvy
it's $300 cheaper, but with the monitor it should bring it up to 2000. Anything else?

Tradesman1 · Nov 10, 2013

4670K
Asus Maximus Hero
GSkill Snipers 2x8GB 1866/9
Hyper 212 EVO
128GB SSD (EVO is good)
1TB WD platter drive
Seasonic 850 PSU
Pair Asus 770 GPUs

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

Tradesman1 :

Thanks! You've gone an entirely different direction and I appreciate it, it's always good to get different points of view. Can anyone back this up or should I stick with my loadout?

Pete_the_Puma · Nov 10, 2013

I think we all agree

CPU: i5-4670K
Cooling:Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO
SSD+Hard drives: SSD for system, whatever else you want for storage. Faster = SSD. Larger = HDD
Memory: 8gb 1866 is enough. 16GB if you really want but no benefit in games
GPU: gtx 770 x 2. Actual model is personal preference
PSU: Quality 850W PSU (I love seasonic but again personal preference as long as its not a cheapass one)
MOBO: Z87 mobo, actual model is personal preference as long as its SLI ready, most z87s are.

Let us know how your build goes!
And if you already have a 1080p monitor stick with it for now, but with 2 770's you have a ton of horsepower and should move up to 1440p

Good luck!

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

Pete_the_Puma :

It's my first desktop so I'll go for the monitor you suggested.
It will be:
CPU: Intel Core i5 4670k
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z87X
Memory: Corsair Vengeance
Storage: 2TB Western DIgital 7200 RPM + Crucial M4 64 GB SSD
Video Card: 2x Asus GeForce GTX 770 2Gb (2-Way SLI)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 850W

thanks a ton guys, your help is greately appreciated. Feel free to make more comments as I'm always willing to take new input. Im not ordering for a few days.

Tradesman1 · Nov 10, 2013

Looks good, if going to OC would still suggest the Hero, have 8 builds on it and far and away the best Z87 I've built on in 42 builds, users like it also check the reviews at the Egg best selling and 75% with 5 Egg ratings, the GB only has 37% 5 Egg rating - people like the Hero

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

Tradesman1 :

Alright! its been switched for the ASUS Maximus VI Hero! thanks

!!!!

Tradesman1 · Nov 10, 2013

No worries, think you'll be thrilled with it

Saspcioll · Nov 10, 2013

Im just having some trouble with the memory, I was looking at corsair but it's sold out and in other places its too expensive. Any other cheap recommendations for 8GB? less than $100

Tradesman1 · Nov 10, 2013

With your rig - RJ X 2133/9 $85

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231689

scifa · Nov 10, 2013

Your proposed GPU is massively underpowered relative to your other components. Consider getting the R9 290 instead once the non-reference cooler versions come out.

As others have said, no need for liquid cooling (an 212 EVO will be plenty good for all but the most extreme OCing); CPU, mobo, and RAM can all be safely downgraded with minimal performance penalties saving lots of $$$.

Tons of fat can be trimmed from the other accessories, e.g. no need for sound card at all.

Tradesman1 · Nov 10, 2013

scifa :

_____________________

So you think a 290X is better than 770s in SLI?

He has an EVO...did you even read the thread?

Pete_the_Puma · Nov 10, 2013

scifa :

LOL you must have read it wrong. GTX 770 x 2 SLI is MASSIVE power

Keira2142 · Nov 10, 2013

scifa :

Is this the same R9290 that gets beaten down by my 2g 770 using slower ram and CPU? Yeaaaah.. I thought so. I get well over 60 FPS in the most demanding areas of BF4 on ultra settings while the R9290X that TH tested here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-review-benchmark,3659-6.html Gets a pitiful 57

I've never ever ever ever ever seen AMD hardware perform to what any magazine or piece of media has said and I go to more lan parties than you can point a stick at.

Drop it back to 8 gigs of RAM, an i54670, a single 770 with 4 gigs prefereably, since they have plummeted in price now that the new 780 is out, punch teh PSU out to 750 for future proofing, drop kick the wifi/sound card and CPU cooler, you don't need to over clock for gaming. Take it back to a mid tower HAF and I strongly recommend hte RAT 5 for gaming and a razer mouse pad aswell. RAT 5 or taipan would be my picks.

First Rig Ever, total noob, help needed

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