massive gaming pc help

Here is a build that is 600$ less.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2JpgK

Realistically, anything over a 3000$ computer will not have an increase in gaming performance whatsoever, unless you're planning on using 3 4k monitors.

With a 4.7 GHz 8-core CPU, 32 GB of RAM and 3 GPUs, I don't call this a gaming PC anymore. Otherwise, here are my comments:

- You don't need to buy thermal paste. The one that comes with the heatsink is great.

- For about the same price, pick a Samsung 840 EVO SSD. They are faster and more reliable.

- I suggest you search for a better PSU. Such big units are pretty rare but I recommend you pick one which is gold-rated and have full modular cabling. It will helps reduce the clutter inside the case and improves airflow.

- The case is a personal choice, but I think there are better quality cases out there. I generally recommend Corsair and Fractal Design. For a good full-tower enclosure, I suggest you take a look at the Obsidian 750D. The HAF X from Coolermaster would also be a good alternative. Plus, the red LED fans of this case would match the color scheme of the motherboard and GPUs.

Feel free to ask questions. Have fun building !

Hahaha I'm curious to know what he does Good luck with the build, let us know how it turns out!

Quick comments, then I may put a build out there:

1) That CPU is a total rip-off. It's basically not much different than the FX-8350 that costs $200.

2) 3xCrossfire will have issues. 2xCrossfire has less, but 2xSLI (NVidia) is much better such as 2xGTX780/780Ti.

3) Most of the R9-290X cards have overheating issues, and I suspect the Powercolor ones will for sure. Having THREE of them is going to compound the problem significantly so the THERMAL THROTTLING will kick in and reduce the performance.

In fact, since 3xCrossfire often doesn't scale well, you may actually have WORSE PERFORMANCE than with 2xCrossfire once the heat kicks down performance for games that don't scale beyond 2x.

4) Power Supply: $400. Ouch. With a different, but very powerful rig you can get by with a $150 to $200 PSU.

SUMMARY:
This build has lots of problems with value, and overheating. I'll post a build and you can ignore it or use it as a guide.

Whammy's build is pretty similar to what I would build for a high budget. I agree on the CPU, and graphics cards.

Things you MAY wish to change:
1) Motherboard - The Asus Maximus Hero VI is a great board for almost half the price. Unless you really need the features in that $380 board.

2) Memory - You can get 1866MHz CAS9 for cheaper from G. SKILL: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl9q16gbzl

3) CPU Cooler - At this price, why not get a Corsair Liquid Cooler like the H100i (or H105 if it fits)?

4) SSD - Recommend the 120GB SAMSUNG 840 EVO. The Samsung Magician software is really great (firmware updates, overprovisioning, benchmark, and profile). It's also less money and as good or better.

5) HDD - If you need a 4TB drive it's a nice one. If you don't there are good 2TB drives for cheaper.

OTHER:
You may also wish to look into the new G-SYNC monitors. Here's a VIDEO that explains how it works (and it's really, really amazing):
http://international.download.nvidia.com/geforce-com/international/videos/NVIDIA_GSYNC_Product_Video.mp4

If I was buying a monitor this year, it would be one with these specs:
- G-SYNC
- 27", 2560x1440
- IPS

Personally, I'd take the money being spent on the current monitor, and 2nd GTX780Ti and put that into the above monitor. That's just my opinion though.

ModernWarfare,
There's a point at which spending MORE on a gaming PC turns into a WORSE experience.

For example, getting a 3xCrossfire solution as I've said is problematic. That's because few people do it, and the AMD or NVidia driver teams can't spend much time optimizing drivers (and for other reasons with the game engine design).

Also, throwing in more cards generates more heat, and things get noisier. The GOAL of gaming is to have a smooth game experience (minimal stutter; high enough frame rate) and get the quality as high as possible.

How do we do this?

NVIDIA G-SYNC is the first thing you should be investigating. The first monitor isn't even out yet, but soon. ASUS has a monitor coming with a 27", 2560x1440 screen at 120Hz (120FPS capable). The only problem is it isn't an IPS so the colour and viewing angles aren't quite as good as an IPS panel.

We will see an IPS panel version but it hasn't been announced and the frame rate won't be as high (60Hz or 75Hz likely). That's actually not a big deal as G-SYNC at 60FPS is very, very smooth. It's basically only an issue if you want to do 3D gaming (60FPS requires a 120Hz 3D monitor as each eye gets a separate image thus 120frames shown is 60frames each eye thus a 60FPS experience overall).

Hardware?
The goal of "ultimate" gaming before G-SYNC is to use VSYNC at 120FPS or 144FPS, meaning the PC can output over 144FPS for example, but then we LOCK the PC and Monitor to 144x per second to update at the same time to avoid SCREEN TEARING. It sound fairly complicated. Basically the 144FPS is needed to avoid the LAG caused by using VSYNC not because we need more frames to make the image appear smoother.

144FPS monitors have to be 1920x1080 currently. I'd far rather game on a 2560x1440, 27" screen (it's better even if gaming at 1920x1080 due to more pixels). So there becomes a trade-off between less LAG (at 144FPS) but larger, higher res screen. Again, the dilemma is all solved with G-SYNC.

Back to G-SYNC:
When using G-SYNC, 60FPS is very, very smooth. There's also minimal LAG as V-SYNC is no longer needed so no buffer delay. Thus, we only need hardware to get our game to 60FPS, not 144FPS for "ultimate" PC gaming. (though you still need 120FPS to get a 60FPS experience in 3D.)

This also means less NOISE.

So here's my "ULTIMATE" gaming build:

1) MONITOR:
- G-SYNC
- *60Hz IPS, or 120/144Hz 3D and TN Panel (can't get IPS at 120Hz/3D etc)
- 27", 2560x1440

2) CPU: i7-4770K

3) Graphics: GTX780Ti (or 2x only if it benefits)

4) Quality motherboard etc

5) Good sound card, speakers etc.

6) 1866MHz CAS9, 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 memory (8GB really only needed for now for gaming)

7) SSD for Windows (won't matter much for Games except ones like SKYRIM that have frequent map load points. I have a 2nd STEAM folder on 2nd SSD to use ONLY for games that require this. So I have a 120GB Samsung 840 EVO for Windows/apps, 3TB Seagate HDD for main STEAM/backups/Media, and 256GB SSD for 2nd Steam folder for Skyrim and other games with frequent load points.)

8) Case with quality case fans (and learn how to properly use FAN SPEED CONTROL to reduce noise for case fans, and CPU fan)

Summary:
I hope you find this useful. Plenty of people can build "ultimate" PC's which at best waste money for no reason, and at worse introduce stutter (3xCrossfire/SLI) or more noise.

Understanding how NVidia G-Sync works is a good start. The very "best" solution is the one that has the least amount of noise and stutter, which can still get game quality to MAX and achieve at least 50FPS (with G-SYNC).

Other:
I'm also "kinda rich" myself and could spend any amount on a gaming PC. I'm still rocking my GTX680 and i7-3770K because there's few games I need better hardware for. I have a 2560x1440, 27" Dell U2711 monitor (love it except the sparkly anti-gloss screen). I game at 1920x1080 for most games as it looks almost exactly the same as 2560x1440 (With a GTX780Ti I'd run at 2560x1440 though).

Some games I do run at 2560x1440 as they look far better (Diablo 3, StarCraft 2, Civ 5 etc). Luckily the ones which benefit most can all run at 60FPS at highest settings on my rig.

There's very little I can do to have a noticeably better experience aside from swapping to a G-Sync monitor; even with my disposable income I can't justify the expense though I likely will in a year or two (earlier if mine as its Warranty is up). I will update to a new graphics card in a year or two but otherwise this rig's good for four more years.

Learning how to TWEAK QUALITY settings is usually pretty important as most people run games higher than they should and have lots of low FPS (below 20FPS) and stutter. Probably not a problem on a GTX780Ti or better, but still it's a good skill to have.

I do have to tweak a few games myself to maintain 60FPS. Dropping BELOW 60FPS causes problems with stutter but I can't turn VSYNC OFF as I hate screen tearing (any amount) so I do have to tweak a few games carefully to ensure this. (Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, BF3 etc).

I'll repost the G-SYNC links (watch the VIDEO if you haven't done so): http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/g-sync

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/64586-week-nvidias-g-sync-monitor.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-rog-swift-monitor-g-sync,25755.html
GOOD LUCK!

You guys are lucky; I'm saving for 4 months to get a ASUS GTX650 DirectCU to upgrade a 6 year old build

I'm not so lucky. I have a rare condition which cripples me due to extreme pain throughout my entire body despite the best pain management.

The reason I have disposable income is because I'm on a good medical pension from the Canadian Forces after retiring as an Electronics Technician, and forced to life with my parents thus after rent have nothing to spend money on. SIGH.

So I spend a bit of time helping others with computer problems which is mostly appreciated.

Update:
I MAY have made a mistake. The 2560x1440 G-Sync monitor in a link I provided is said to be 120Hz so it can provide 120FPS. That's with a TN panel. I'm unsure if the IPS version at 2560x1440 will achieve 120Hz or not. If so that's awesome.

It MAY turn out that I was correct however, and that 120Hz spec might be only at 1920x1080. We'll find out. It seems to be implied that it's 120Hz at 2560x1440 though.

There was also no mention if the TN panel was 3D capable in the video or online so I assume it's not. Considering the cost, I'd wait for one that is.

So, I don't know if this is POSSIBLE in 2014 but here's my ultimate monitor specs:

1) G-SYNC
2) 2560x1440 @120Hz
3) 3D capable.
4) IPS panel.
5) 27" to 32"
(I find 27" perfect at same distance away; at 32" I'd just move it farther back)

3D:
There's not much to 3D on the monitor side. It needs to be 2x the frame rate (120Hz to provide 60FPS) and synch to the NVidia glasses. Active shutter glasses exactly time the blocking of each eye so the ability of the monitor and glasses to communicate is essential so the monitor MUST be built with the technology.

Active shutter 3D doesn't work like the passive technology in movie theatres. Active tech simply blocks the RIGHT eye when displaying the image meant for the LEFT eye and vice versa. Passive technology displays BOTH at the same time with a different filter over each lens but the result isn't as sharp.

Since you poop money, go with something like 2400 or 1866 RAM instead of 1333, it will give you better performance. Other than that, looks like a great build!

For 150$ more, this RAM will be even better with your motherboard: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f33000c12q16gtxdg

Atleast 120 fps

@photonboy: I'm very sorry to hear that.
I have CP but atleast I can walk around.