New Build (Looking for some advice / suggestions from the community)

[eamonmcguinness]

Approximate Purchase Date: By end of June 2015.

Budget Range: USD 1800 (give or take a little for shipping etc…) don’t want to go above 1900.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: System is primarily just for Gaming, but I use PLEX for streaming, which is next priority after gaming, I do occasionally do some Photoshop/InDesign (Scribus/Gimp) these are fairly low priority and I don’t think my system will have any issues, but if you could make recommendations to help improve the streaming experience via PLEX that would be awesome.

Are you buying a monitor: No, I have an existing monitor (ASUS VW246H). I know it is in need of an upgrade and will be next after I recover from this 

Parts to Upgrade: This is a brand new build, I am coming from an ASUS G73JW Laptop so need everything. Except Mouse/Monitor/Keyboard etc..

Do you need to buy OS: Yes (And am very interested in outside opinion RE whether I should get WIN7 and take the free upgrade to WIN10 or if I should stick with WIN 8?)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I’ve only ever ordered from NEWEGG in the past, and have had good experiences, I have hit PC Part Picker and see there are many other options, but would love to stay as close to one site as possible for returns etc..

Location: City, State/Region, Country: Upstate NY, USA

Parts Preferences: I have had a great experience with my ASUS G73JW, it’s 5 years old and is still tearing it up, it even handles GTA5, so have nothing but praise for ASUS. I’ve done some shopping and have been very impressed by Corsairs Cases/PSUs/Cooling, so would like to stay with them. I like the idea of their “I-Link” Technology, but if general consensus is that this technology is pointless please let me know as I am open to all options.

Overclocking: I’d like to give it a try in a year or so, and in my PC Part Picket list I have a Water Cooler to be prepared for this.

SLI or Crossfire: After the monitor upgrade I’d like to get a second card, my preference at the moment is Nvidia as it seems like they are trailblazing with some technology that they are locking to their hardware and I’d like to stay in front of this. I am thinking the GTX980 makes the most sense and I would benefit from SLI down the line on this card, but if someone thinks a Ti as the initial card would be worth-while let me know.

Your Monitor Resolution: I have an existing monitor (ASUS VW246H), I believe it’s 1080.

Additional Comments: I have a rough idea of what I would like in this build:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zbfmhM

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zbfmhM/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($151.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.98 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card ($499.19 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 780T ATX Full Tower Case ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 OEM (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)

Total: $1776.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-15 09:31 EDT-0400

My main concerns are:
1. Where are my overkill points on this build? I’ve tried to add a beefy full tower/psu on the first build as I want to move to SLI down the line, try some OC’ing and avoid upgrading the case and power supply for as long as possible, I also feel like the cooler may be overkill but it’s only ~$50 more than an air cooler and I feel like it will harmonize well with the PSU/Case, but am open to all input on this.
If there are any other points where I am just throwing away money let me know.
2. Is the GTX980 a good buy right now? Should I just pay up the extra 250 and get a Ti? Will I get better performance with two 980’s in SLI than if I just get a Ti?
3. How should I handle the OS? With WIN10 on the horizon am I better off getting the cheapest 64 bit offering out there and just taking the upgrade?


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: As I mentioned before I’m currently running with a ASUS G73JW laptop which has been great for the last 5 years, but I am starting to feel its age. I’d like to build my first desktop, partly for the fun of building it” but also to finally have a living machine, which I can drop a new card into, or add some RAM or just throw in an extra hard drive.

I also mentioned before that I do use PLEX from my laptop. The experience is rough some times, I’d like to see if a new desktop rig will help improve

I greatly appreciate everyone's input.

 

[RafaSimpsons]

Hi, here it is:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.98 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($111.64 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.98 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 OEM (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1798.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-15 10:26 EDT-0400

So I edited some things. First you dont need a i7 even if you're going to use plex, the 4 cores are more than enough for gaming and streaming. The gaming performance is almost the same as the i7. I've picked a cheaper mobo with the same quality and performance as the one you picked. As for the case, I've replaced the 780T by the 500R which is cheaper and still provides lots of space even for a slit setup. And with all this cash cleared from the build, I've managed to fit a 980 ti, which is great for the price right now and beats the 980. Because I've picked the Ti version, I had to increase the PSU to 1000W, but still choosing a corsair unit. Overall, the build will run anything at 1080p and at this resolution, its even overkill. Even more with the sli setup you plan on doing, so I would consider upgrading to a 4k monitor to enjoy the max potential of the cards. If you dont want to upgrade to 4k cause $$$, then lower to a gtx 970 and a 650W PSU and you're good to go.

 

[eamonmcguinness]

Thanks Rafa,

Appreciate the input sincerely, and agree with your direction on the processor, doesn't sound like I am going to gain as much over the increase in the GPU.

I stuck with the Corsair 780T ATX Full Tower Case because some reviews I read said that they had some difficulty with the 600R and getting the RAD for the H100i GTX into the top of the case. I figure it's only 40 extra and since I am pretty new to building it may be better to save myself the expense of damaging my parts.

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($179.95 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.64 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($709.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 780T ATX Full Tower Case ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 OEM (64-bit)
Total: $1798.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-15 14:16 EDT-0400

Just curious about the operating system at this point, should I stick with Windows 8? or would it be better to go to Windows 7?

Also Newegg have the Superclocked EVGA in stock, but not the standard. Is it stupid to get this, or does it have some genuine gain for the extra 50?

 

[RafaSimpsons]

That's good to go, as for the OS go with windows 7 cause its cheaper and the upgrade is arriving. The extra $50 for the Superclocked are not worth it, dont worry, for such a powerful card, an increase of 100 MHz in clock speed wont make a difference.