New PC build for gaming/streaming after some years

lt5urge · Oct 30, 2014

Hello all,

I'll be building a new system from scratch after years of laptop usage. As you may guess I was quite out of play and have been researching a bit in the last few weeks.

I live in Istanbul, Turkey so there are not much price opportunities here compared to US for example. Good thing is I'll be in Boston, MA for the first two weeks of November and I'm planning to at least buy the core components like CPU, GPU, mobo and bring them back here. I'm not entirely sure if the parts may get damaged or not. This is the main reason I'm thinking of buying the case & the monitor here in Turkey even though I'll have to pay quite a lot for a lower quality than what I can get. Below is a draft build so to speak. Initial plan is to get a solid core with CPU, GPU, mobo, rams & storage from US.

Approx. purchase date: Next 2-3 weeks for the core parts when I'm in US. I can buy the case/monitor/psu here if I can't find a good deal & carry them back without damaging.

Budget: Up to $1.5K at most I'd say. The lesser the better obviously

Overclocking: Maybe not when I build the system directly but I want it to last and run the upcoming games in 2-3 years smoothly as well. I'll OC at some point, that's for sure.

SLI: Same as above, a probability in future.

Monitor will be a 1080p one at first. I'll add a second one in future when I get a good deal here. The system will mostly be used for gaming & daily use with occasional streaming & video recording/editing. I'll also most likely buy the monitor here in Turkey so it won't be included in the budget or the list below. Any suggestions of a good gaming monitor above 21'' is appreciated. I'll try to search for those here at least.

Last notes: I need serious feedback on mobo, psu & case as I'm not entirely sure on those picks. If you can give any advice, be it related to the build itself or how I can carry them back without damaging, it'd be much appreciated. I'm also quite interested in whether running DDR3-2400 Ripjaws will create any issues and if I'll be able to run them at their best properly or not.

Here's the list:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z43VLk
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z43VLk/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($137.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($128.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1361.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 18:44 EDT-0400

Warukyure · Oct 30, 2014

At the moment you are a bit under that $1500 mark you set for yourself and while everything does look sound, if you do not have access to part to upgrade easily/readily, I would say MAYBE try to push a little bit more and get the GTX 980. It does cost about $150 ish more but at the same time its better than the GTX 780 TI and should last you YEARS to come. (Assuming you don't play Ubisoft games, should meet the recommended specs for most games for the next 3-4 years at the very least).

Your motherboard is a good choice should you want to add another video card down the road, but if you want to add another video card your PSU might be inadequate. Maybe consider 800W or higher. (The GTX 780Ti also needs 100W more than the GTX 980 as well). Of course if you went with the GTX 980 it would be better than the GTX 780 TI and you might not need to SLI. Lastly, 16 GB is a lot of memory, if you're just playing games, maybe watching movies, I'd say 8 GB should be enough. I have 16 GB and doing both movies and games at the same time i barely go past 6.5 GB used.

DJ Barnesy · Oct 30, 2014

Very nice build for what you are after, the i7 will help with the streaming with that hyperthreading aswell as it overclocks really well to get that extra juice if needed.

The mobo is good for overclocking, (I am getting a very similar build for streaming my self).

The GPU is one of the best on the market, I am going with a GTX 970 as it is a chaper option compared to the performance it has.

All in all will be a great build or what you plan to do

lt5urge · Oct 31, 2014

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys. It seems I've done my research well ehh

I was quite torn between GTX980 & 780Ti to be honest. The reason I went with 780Ti was that the price difference doesn't look fair enough to justify the performance difference at this point. Have to say, I haven't read GTX 980 reviews yet.

Warukyure · Oct 31, 2014

Surge consider looking at this: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-review

Now at 1080p gaming the GTX 980 and the GTX 780 TI are really close with the GTX 980 above a bit but not by much, until you get to 1440p or even 4K gaming.

What it really comes down to is peak power usage. You said you wanted to leave the door open on the ability to add another card to SLI down the road. But for the 780TI its peak power consumption can get as high as 345W vs the 265W of the GTX 980, even if you ran it on the craziest load, 2x GTX 980s shouldnt be more than 530W which is cutting it close to your 650W PSU (Your CPU uses roughly 85W for its TDP i believe) . Whereas if you went with the GTX 780TI you would have to consider a 850W PSU just to be safe. Now, I'm not sure what the prices for parts over in Turkey or even how readily available it is. It all comes down to what you mentioned earlier about the possibility of upgrading just throwing points to make it easier to upgrade.

lt5urge · Oct 31, 2014

Thanks a lot again Warukyure for the review as well as your specific view. I'll most likely go with 980 at this point. Maybe they'll come up with a 980Ti in a year and I'll get to SLI with that

Any other ideas/suggestions about anything else people? Especially the case, psu & cooler. I'm not that familiar with those parts and I'm pretty much sure some of them are not even obtainable here in Turkey. If there are any good picks within these three to this build, I'd gladly try to buy them in US & bring back.

Also, what do you guys think about me carrying all this stuff back by the way? Do you think the case or any of the cards/boards can get damaged during the transport? I'm planning to get as much parts as possible in my backpack so that at least they are safer and not thrown over with the other luggages. The case has to go with the check in baggage though and I'm quite concerned that if it does get damaged there I'll have to buy another one here.

Warukyure · Nov 1, 2014

For cases, should look for 2 things, which has good cable management, and which looks best in your opinion. Also consider drive bays, I personally prefer cases with about 5+ 3.5" Drive bays because I download a lot. You have a 250 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD. With the way games are now, 1 TB might not last all that long. (Average game install now is in the ballpark of 30+ GB, damn you Shadows of Mordor.)

EVGA makes some good PSUs so you're fine with that.

As for moving things back, be careful for these things
a) Customs in your country might ding you for duties
b) For the most part I would consider putting it all together first and testing all the parts to make sure they work.
c) when you're ready to take it back with you, consider putting packing pellets into the case of the computer (maybe overkill but never too sure since a lot of the luggage handlers are bad)
d) if everything is good, pack everything into the box the case came in, those boxes usually are made with pretty strong cardboard, have lots of Styrofoam and sometimes plastic reinforced corners, AND THEN put that into a bigger box with packing pellets (again maybe overkill)
e) Might as well try but doesnt really seem to work, put a fragile sticker on the box

lt5urge · Nov 7, 2014

Thanks a lot for the help Warukyure. Here's the latest build I'm looking after at this point:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fGCrt6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fGCrt6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120M 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($203.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($128.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($515.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1696.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-07 23:24 EST-0500

CPU & Mobo are already bought. I'll most likely get the case in Turkey as I don't have a luggage to fit any case I'm planning to buy and sending them over to Turkey will cost around the same plus the customs issues.

I have two main questions at this point:

- Whether to go with a liquid cooling system or not? I'll OC, that's for sure. Liquid will have less weight on the mobo and should be more efficient than an air heat sink I believe.

- G.Skill Ripjaws 2400MHz running at 1.65V with Maximus VII & i7 4790K. I'm not entirely sure if this will cause an issue during the initial run and also in the long run. I can switch to a 1.5V memory (2133Mhz ones, either Ripjaws X or Ripjaws Z series) if needed. I'm thinking the performance shouldn't change that much.

Again, thanks a lot for your help & suggestions guys.

Warukyure · Nov 8, 2014

Really depends on how much you want to OC. If you really want to push the CPU get liquid cooling, if you're looking for just a modest bump, then a air cooler is fine.

As for the memory switching to the 2133 isn't that big of a jump. Either is fine.

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