Final Gaming Build Review

Brandon Wallace

Reputable
Apr 24, 2014
15
0
4,510
I think I've got everything lined up just the way I want it, but before I spend all that money I want to know if it looks great or could be improved any. I'm already a little bothered by the cost, but I'm sure of what I want.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.66 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($254.29 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($499.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($499.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($117.70 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($150.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($119.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $2213.54
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-27 18:49 EDT-0400)
 
Solution
Here you go, I kept the 1300W PSU because its such a great deal and will come in handy when u get another 780 ti or something better like GTX 880

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($254.29 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB...
Here the RAM nows run at Intel's recommended voltage (1.5V), 1600Mhz of RAM, and a CAS latency of 9. Since you're going with 8GB of RAM, changed to Windows 8.1 64-bit.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.66 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($254.29 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($499.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($499.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($117.70 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($150.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $2161.53
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-27 19:00 EDT-0400)
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.66 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($254.29 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($549.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($549.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($117.70 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($150.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $2248.54
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-27 19:01 EDT-0400)

I changed the RAM to a better kit, and a bit cheaper motherboard, and Win 8.1 x64. The biggest change is the 2 R9 290X cards. While the build does costy a bit more, 2 R9 290Xs beat 2 780s.

1383006603Kihh8bJAzn_7_3.gif
 

TuffLittleUnit

Distinguished
Jun 7, 2009
35
0
18,540
What monitor are you using? You sure you need two 780's? I've just upgraded to the EVGA ACX you're looking at and it eats everything I throw at it in a single card config at 1920x1080 on a 24" display. Possibly a 780 Ti ... then you can always add another later. Going SLI now leaves you with a very expensive upgrade path in future (you'd be getting rid of a grand's worth of GPUs!).
 

M0j0jojo

Honorable


In respond to ur build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.24 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($659.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($659.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 1300W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($184.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2354.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-27 19:15 EDT-0400)
 

Brandon Wallace

Reputable
Apr 24, 2014
15
0
4,510


Right now I have a 24" 1080p Asus monitor, I was going to upgrade to 1440p in the next few months. And about the 780 sli, I was trying to choose between one superclocked 780 Ti and the the two 780's. I want that power and I'm not sure if I'd ever convince myself to buy a second 780 Ti.
 

M0j0jojo

Honorable


I completely agree, 1 GTX 780 Ti is such an amazing card alone, i would trade my GTX 780s for 1 780 ti cuz sli is a pain to take care of. and even at 1440P a GTX 780 ti is not that bad.
 

Brandon Wallace

Reputable
Apr 24, 2014
15
0
4,510


Alright, guess I'll be getting 1 GTX 780 Ti. That should save me a bit of money. But one other thing, the DDR3 1600 RAM over the 2133? I thought 2133 was supposed to run a lot faster.
 

M0j0jojo

Honorable


One sec ill update everything on what u should get
 

M0j0jojo

Honorable
Here you go, I kept the 1300W PSU because its such a great deal and will come in handy when u get another 780 ti or something better like GTX 880

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($254.29 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($728.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 1300W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($184.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($57.74 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2113.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-27 20:07 EDT-0400)
 
Solution