Building a PC for more than Gaming

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t8DVHx

For GPU get a 295x2 from newegg its about 700-800$ but thats a very good build to suite your need
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202108&cm_re=295x2-_-14-202-108-_-Product

$3000 is a bit of overkill. you can go VERY high end for a bunch less. to give you an idea this would do all you want and some. would even do 4k gaming if you wish to spend the left over cash on the monitor for it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($136.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($123.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($334.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($334.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($93.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1826.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 17:52 EST-0500

this is pretty much best of the best without going stupid about it. i'm sure someone will come along with the x99, dual 980 build so i'll let them do it. i just grabbed a case to get the price in there. you can switch it up to whatever. just grabbed the antec since i have had one and know it is a good cse

the left over money in your budget can go to a dual or triple monitor set-up or a nice 4k screen. whatever you feel like. the dual 970's will do triple 1080p or 4k pretty easily. and of course there is money to be saved if you wish. could easily drop it a couple hundred by changing the cpu ,less ram, cheaper or no ssd.....

1500 dollars is enough for your needs

With $3000 you can do so much stuff. Go with Math geeks build however change the Power Supply to something with around 800-1000W, due to 970 SLI, and have it at least 80+ GOLD. That 750W Bronze is not going to cut it. And yes your going to be perfectly fine with 2 monitors.

errr.... a 750 will cut it

With two 970s and space for upgrade? He is willing to spend up to 3,000, and getting a 750 bronze would be a total cheap out.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/geforce-gtx-970-sli-review,4.html
a sli 970 stock uses 326W inc the system, even if we add an extra 100w for each card ( If OP gets high end 970's) , it's only use 526, just because he can afford spending that much doesn't mean he has to, the efficiency won't affect his computer in any way a solid bronze psu with 600w or 500w will be fine really

Might not affect his computer but it will affect his electricity bill....

Yeh, a gold rated psu will save like 10 dollars a year, don't quote me

Don't know why everyone is suggesting so many high priced rigs, get a i7 4790k with board, that'd be $500-$600? sli a 970, it'll all add up to $1200 maybe, $300 left for 2 monitors, job done, and ofc $300-$400 for pc components

not sure what you mean. that is exactly what i did. i7, sli 970's and some extras just cause. i did say there was money to be saved by dropping the ssd and other such things (such as 8 gb ram instead of 16 gb and other thigns). my build also included windows, case etc feel free to post this $1500 dual monitor, 970 sli, complete build you feel is out there as i would like to see it. be sure to include windows, the case and all the fixings. should be some nice cheap parts out there for this. with a $3000 budget i did not think he would mind some bells and whistles with it still being only $1800.

as for the difference with the newer x99 i7's. they are 6 and 8 core cpu's finally. the i7-4790k is only quad core but with hyper threading it has 8 threads. this and the fact they are the newest latest greatest is why they cost so much. you can spend the money if you wish but really there does not seem to be the need in your case. you'll be gaming and streaming at max settings no problem with the 4790k.


there is no reason to go with 1000w psu for this. a couple of 175w gpu's and a cpu couldn't get to 750w if it tried. you can oc this same system with 1 970 on 500w. 250 more for another 175w card is more than enough with room to spare.

the extra cores will get you added performance in applications that can use the extra cores. a program has to be written to handle spreading it's tasks out over multiple cores and many are just now being written to handle more than 4 cores. video/audio production and editing, rendering and other assorted programs are the main ones i know of that a regularly written for more than 4 cores and these are high end and very expensive programs. something like ripping a cd to mp3 only uses one core so having 20 cores won't make it any faster. here you would want single core performance over more cores. it just depends on the program and what it can handle.

i don't do those types of things so i can't give specific programs. if you really want to, look for benchmarks of the fx-8*** series vs i5's. the intel cpu has much better single core performance and 4 cores but the fx with it's 8 cores will beat out the i5 on any program that can use all 8 cores. these are the programs that are optimized for this many cores or more. the 8 less efficient cores can do more work than the 4 better intel cores and therefore outperform the i5 on these specific applications.

with intel adding the extra cores and hyper threading to the new x99 cpu's, this advantage will be wiped out completely. now you can get 6 or 8 of these much better cores and hyperthreading to make it 12 or 16 threads vs the fx's 8 threads. the i7 already had 8 threads and would beat the fx series easily (though for a lot more money). so unless you have a program that can use more than 8 threads or you run a massive amount of apps at a time that might need the extra muscle to do a bunch of things concurrently, then the 12-16 x99 threads is massive overkill and not worth the very high premium at this time. games rarely take advantage of more than 4 cores and the few that do won't use more than the 8 the i7 offers.

the second thing it brings is a lot more pcie lanes that the cpu can handle. it is really not an advantage right now since nothing uses the 16 lanes already available to the current gen cpu's. once we start using the pcie lanes for a lot more things and need these extra lanes, then this will become an advantage as well. i think the 2011-3 cpu's have 32-40 lanes depending on the model (at least i believe this is what they have).

hopefully this has shed some light on the new cpu's for you it's a lot to take in but for now, it is not really worth that massive cost unless you are into some hgh end professional creation or just have a massive bank account and want to just cause you can

i myself love AMD processor there great for gaming and they fit the budget, intel are good to better most of time but are over priced.

the fx series was the last high end cpu's they put out and that was a while ago. they have focused on the apu's lately which are good for their purpose but not for gaming pc's. the 9000 series refresh this year was simply some super oc'ed 8000 series chips. when they first hit they were great performers but now they are showing their age. they are cheap enough that they have become the budget cpu of choice if the price is right. you will still get good performance from them just not what you can with intel. the i5's have dropped in price enough that to me the 83**'s too expensive. for little more, you can move up to an i5. an fx-8350 at $160+ on a $125 mobo (needed for a decent oc), is too close to an i5-4460 or better on a $100 mobo. the i5 is enough of an improvement to skip the 8350 to me at these prices. when the i5 was $100+ more the 8350 was an awesome deal but not anymore.

i do like the 6300 at $100 though. this to me is a much better buy than the dual core pentium everyone loves to suggest. 6 cores over 2 is better in my book even if those 2 cores are strong. dual core is dead to me and should not have any part in a conversation about "gaming" pc's. office pc sure, htpc why not, but gaming NEVER AGAIN!! this is just my opinion of course and folks WILL disagree but i think we are going to see a new generation of games that will neglect the dual core like a red headed step child.

i don't see any dual 1440p benchmarks, but single 1440p shows the 980's in sli producing 120+ fps on everything at the highest possible settings. 970's in sli seem to be around 100+ fps in most everything. in no way am i saying this is the norm across the board but some quick reading shows similar games at around 20-30 fps difference on a single 1440p on the low end and much higher on less gpu taxing games.

if you're considering this, search for some benchmarks and compare specific games you would be playing. i have no idea how it will translate to dual monitors vs 1 but at least single monitor numbers can be a good starting point.

i adjusted the ram to a 4x 8gb kit which was a lot cheaper, cas 7 even. also adjusted the psu to a much better and cheaper one. and adjusted the mobo as well. you chose a z87 board which is the last version. for this money you should have the newest chipset it has a digital optical audio output so you should not need an extra sound card for the good headphones. saved a bit of cash for you but not much. you can save some with less ram if you want and go with 16 gb. you could also put some back by getting the newer maximus hero vii. great board but it is $200

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($316.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($137.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($322.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($151.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($338.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($338.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($114.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($127.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.75 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer K272HULbmiidp 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($349.99 @ Micro Center)
Keyboard: Logitech G710 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $2619.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-29 11:26 EST-0500

unfortunately i am not the one to ask about monitors and water cooling. i have a 23" 60hx 1080p monitor that does me fine but then i'm not running dual 970's!!