$2500 Gaming PC advice/help

1st thing is why last generation ?

1. Case / PSU - The NZXT was a surprise as I don't see that one mentioned much. Only gets a 9.0 on benchmarkreviews site
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-caph820m1

For what it offers, Id rather see you in an Enthoo Luxe fo $150 (black) and $160 (white). The Enthoo Primo took home "Case of the Year Award" in 2013 and the Enthoo Pro took the award in 2014. The Enthoo Luxe I think is the best for the its price yet. Built in fan controller, pump and reservois mounts, best cable routing veer, PSI shroud ..... list goes on

Techpowerup gave it a 9.6 rating and a 9.4 for the 820
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Phanteks/Enthoo_Luxe/7.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NZXT/Phantom_820/6.html

PSU is just fine..... The X Series is their best with extremely rare 10.0 ratings from jonnyguru in both Build Quality and performance .... a small step down are the Corsair HX, Seasonic M12 and EVGA SuperNova 850s which garner 10.0 performance and 9.5 build quality ratings



2, GFX Cards - Again, TPU cones along and gives a 9.9 rating to the MSI 780 Ti compared to only a 9.4 for the Asus. The Asus is twice as loud as the MSI, the MSI has better performance and the MSI is far cheaper....but there's a catch. For the last 10 weeks, every other week it's been $600 on newegg....on the off weeks, it's ranged from $680 - $710.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/29.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_780_Ti_Direct_Cu_II_OC/29.html

Asus = 954 Core Clock / 30 dbA under load / 9.4 rating
MSI = 1020 Core Clock / 39 dbA under load / 9.9 rating

3. Memory - 2400 CAS 10 = $189 - $20 coupon code = $169
Mushkin has better timing sbut they hard to catch, usually sold out soon after they arrive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231589

4. Storage is fine.

5. Cooler = the loudest thing you will ever see in a computer. Listen to video here. My vacuum doesn't break 60 dbA but this cooler does.

http://martinsliquidlab.org/2013/03/12/swiftech-h220-vs-corsair-h100i-noise-testing/

If you must have an AIO, suggests one of the new Swiftechs or the H110 that ya don't mind sitting in the same room with
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181035

But as you can see here.... unless you just like having water in ya case .... the H110 performs at the same level as a Noctua DH-14 ($75) air cooler .... The Phanteks PH-TC14-PE ($65 typical) beats both by a degree or so.



6. CPU - Again, why last generation

-The 4770k is 3.5 GHz (3.9 Turbo and retails for $340)
-The 4790k is 4.0 GHz (4.4 Turbo and retails for $340)

7. You would want the Maximus VII Hero not the VI. In addition to Z97 stuff, it has PWM Chassis fan headers, a newer version of FanXpert . However, I would have to advise against the Hero ....although it is otherwise an excellent board, it has some issues:

a) It has the same components and feature list as the GD65 from MSI
b) It is $40 more expensive than the GD-65
c) The Hero rarely has any decent newegg combos; the GD65 usually has $30 combo discounts on the GD65 / Intel CPU Combos.
d) The Z87 Hero like all other Z87 boards from Asus was plagued with the BIOS Clock Freeze Bug. Both newegg user reviews and RoG postings now indicate that Z97 boards are similarly affected (3 hero posts, 1 Sabertooth and 1 Z97-A that I have seen so far). The Z97 posters on newegg and RoG Forums have returned their boards given that there has been no solution offered since it was 1st reported last August.

See 1st post http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?36676-Frozen-Time-Clock-in-UEFI-The-Fix/page33

Known triggers for the clock freeze bug are:

-Saving or loading OC profiles
-Saving BIOS profiles to USB
-Stopping stress tests like RoG Real Bench before they finish
-Overclocking Crashes while stress testing

If ya don't do any of those things you have good chance of not experiencing the bug but I have had it surface wile just sitting at the Windows logo screen w/o even logging in.

Go with the 4790K and the Maximus VII Hero, almost the same price but runs cooler and will let you upgrade to broadwell, if you ever feel the need. Get the H110, it's quieter and performs better. The seasonic is a great PSU, but I would go for the gold EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2 for this setup, it's also a tier 1 PSU: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html .

I would make a few changes:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($162.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($687.27 @ TigerDirect)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($687.27 @ TigerDirect)
Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($231.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.97 @ NCIX US)
Total: $2667.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-23 18:51 EDT-0400

The i7 4790k and Z97 are the new CPU and mobo that came out this year, supposed to be better overclockers.
The Seasonic MII12 is a great PSU (i have the 620w version) but changed it to the EVGA Supernova G2 since it is a bit better quality, gold rated, and comes with a 10 yr warranty. The EVGA G2 probably falls between the Seasonic MII12 and the Seasonic X series in terms of quality.

Edit: Basically everything Ytyoussef said

Exactly what I was saying haha, but I would also change the H100i to an H110. Oh I would also go with a 750D, you would be saving a lot too. But it comes down to personal choice for cases.

I would personally get a bigger SSD, but that comes down to what you need. Otherwise, this is one very solid build.

I would go with the Hero, but otherwise your build is great.

You're welcome Have fun building that when you do. You can probably ask again when you do build, as there could be some better options for your budget, who knows?

In a few months, the 8xx series will be here and rankings and pricing will receive quite a shakeup.

Recent rumor's put the 880 is 3rd quarter..... I don't think they wanna be later than Turkey Day (3rd week in November) as thatz when peeps start XMas shoppin and have new builds on their mind.

Some articles suggest it has been delayed to sometime in 2015

This one ( between 13rd and 17th August) seems to be generating steam but I think it may be wishful thinking.

http://videocardz.com/51078/nvidia-geforce-gtx-880-arrives-gamescom