First PC build, any suggestions?

Mitchell Aldridge

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Mar 3, 2014
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I'm looking to make a dream PC to last me for a while. I want it to be a great all-around computer and do some mid-high range gaming. I plan on this computer lasting for a quite a few years, thus why I went with the large case for expandability and a 770 GPU for CAD work in the future and the i7-4770k for it's hyperthreading capabilities. I also plan on overclocking and possibly running another 770 in SLI in the future if need be. If there are any changes I can make performance wise that would be cheaper and better, or anything that's overpowered for the system let me know. Any feedback is appreciated! http://pcpartpicker.com/p/35hqS
 
CPU Cooler: cheaper, but still performs like a beast and a lot quieter than than H100i
RAM: you might need more RAM considering you are interested in production/CAD
HDD: I personally don't think it's worth the extra $30 for WD Black, you already have a SSD and the regular HDD isn't that slow anyway
GPU: I stick with the same one, but you could get GTX 780 for another $200 if you want
Case: Still full tower, good looking, and nice interior, but cheaper
PSU: Cheaper and still very high quality plus full modular

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($269.99)
CPU Cooler: Zalman LQ-310 Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($157.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill N900PCE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($32.99 @ Staples)
Case: Antec Eleven Hundred ATX Full Tower Case ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($116.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($0.00)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Rosewill RGM-300 Wired Optical Mouse ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch Speakers (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $1561.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 17:01 EST-0500)
 


I don't think the amount of VRAM will affect SLI performance. The main purpose of VRAM is for high resolution set up, like triple or quad monitor. In addition, VRAM doesn't affect performance either.
 
the 770 is capable of pushing close to 2gb VRAM at 1080p currently in high demand games. If your graphic needs are more than 1 770 can handle, then 2 770s will push past 2gb and will be throttled by their VRAM if you only have 2gb. On a single card it does not matter, but in SLI 4gb will help.
 

Sayken

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Jul 8, 2013
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well taking into account the 4gb gtx 770 runs on a 256bit bus the performance improvement will be almost none up to a resolution of 2560x1440 that is not worth the extra 60$.

the g65 mainboard is simply overpriced and does not perform any better than a g45 version. tested for 10 days.

that harddisk is simply overpriced.

as for the liquid cooler just as geofelt said on another post:
"4. I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler can do the job.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100 leak"

I would use a noctua or Phanteks air cooler with 140mm fans.
You will cool equally well, and be quieter in the process."

a thermalright hr-02 macho will do pretty much the same.

here my edit:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/35jV3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/35jV3/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/35jV3/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($269.99)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill N900PCE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($32.99 @ Staples)
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 ATX Full Tower Case ($120.99 @ Staples)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($116.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($0.00)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Rosewill RGM-300 Wired Optical Mouse ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch Speakers (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $1538.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 17:37 EST-0500)

have you checked the keyboard trust gxt 280? is just as comfortable as the "corsair" one and comes a lot cheaper.
edit: I did write logitech one although I don't know why
 

Sayken

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can you get some proof on that about the 770?

 

Sayken

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and where does it mention that the 256 bit bus gtx 770 is able to utilize the 4 gb vram and performs better than the 2 gb version which gets bottlenecked by the vram?
btw nice link. very well made review.
note that r9 280x owns 384 bit bus to justify the 3 gb vram.
 

Sayken

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for medium oc a hyper 212 evo is effective and small.
for higher oc i find the thermalright hr-02 quite decent sized given that it performs similar to nh-d14 at lower price.
true spirit 120 performs well for the price as well.
 


a 4gb 770 by itself does not perform better, my point is that in SLI, 2gb will be a problem, and in SLI you need 2 4gb cards to have 4gb of VRAM.
 

Sayken

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but if the cards themselves can't utilize the 4 gb vram correctly due to the low bus how does that help in sli. only way to see it more helpful will be in resolutions higher than 1440. and before we run in vram bottleneck we will first run in gpu performance bottleneck with the 770.
 

Sayken

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here a clue: when there were 512mb vram cards they were using 256 bit bus.
later the 1gb vram cards came and they were still using 256 bit bus.
now there are 2gb vram cards and they are still on 256 bit bus.
is it normal to expect 256 bit bus to last a fricking eternity?

even gtx 260 was running on 448 bit bus which of course was an shopping gimmick but oh well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

we could see that the gtx 660 which was running on 192bit bus had the unability to offer the 3gb vram it promised which was an high advertising point at that time. had as well a few problems (well extreme small ones) due to the 192 bit bus being separated in 96 bit bus for each gb. If you don't believe me you have google or just test the cards.

if 256 bit bus is enough for 4gb vram then why is gtx 780 utilizing 384 bit bus for 3gb?

as for gaming, benchmarking and high resolutions here is the performance difference between 2gb and 4gb gtx 770 in sli:
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/gtx-770-4gb-vs-2gb-tested/3/

"Pros – 4GB over 2GB

The EVGA GTX 770 4GB SC provides excellent performance for a 4GB $459 card even when clocked to the reference card’s clocks and it provides marginal improvements at super-widescreen resolutions.
SLIing two or more 4GB cards has more room for better performance at "5760×1080" over SLI’ing 2GB cards.

Cons

Cost. 4GB-equipped GTX 770s cost about $40 to $50 more than their 2GB counterparts.
4GB is generally unnecessary for 1920×1080 or even for 2560×1600. Only marginal benefits are found at 5760×1080 for a single card.

The Verdict:

We would not recommend buying a single GTX 770 4GB card over the 2GB version if there is a significant price difference. We might recommend choosing 4GB GTX 770 SLI over 2GB GTX 770 SLI, but only if the gamer plays at super-widescreen resolutions or requires extreme anti-aliasing."