First Build Gaming / Video Editing

[justjason]

I plan to build a new computer in the coming week. I've done some research and found that ivy bridge is just around the corner. I plan to use this system for mostly gaming, but with some video editing and general usage aswell.

Purchase Date: Soon after Ivy release

Budget Range: $2000-3000

Country: Australia

Overclocking: Probably

SLI or Crossfire: In the future

What I have decided on so far is:

Thermaltake level 10 GT Snow Edition:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=18469

EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Superclocked (Plan to get two of these in the future)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1377&products_id=19988

Samsung 830 Series 256GB SSD
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19750

Seagate Barracuda 2TB
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19554

G.Skill Trident X F3-2400C10D-16GTX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=20091

Corsair HX-850 Power Supply
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_354&products_id=12111

What I need advice on is:
Will the Asus Maximus V Gene motherboard be a good choice for this setup?
What processor should I go with?
Should i go with the Noctua NH-D14? or something else?

I am fairly new to building computers so any advice would be appreciated!

 

[ddan49]

Fancy case! If you're going to overclock, I actually recommend Sandy Bridge... IB has had problems with heat

I'll go down the list.

Case: If you want it. It's really expensive and really fancy, but it's one of the best out there. The problem is that you can't really add more fans. I don't think you'd need them, but you can only add one 140mm bottom fan. However, there are two 200mm intake fans, one 200mm exhaust fan, and one 140mm exhaust fan. If you want a high-pressure system, have your intakes either running faster than the exhaust, or just add that bottom fan (for intake). It WILL have room for the Noctua NH-D14, which I suggest buying, by the way. Really, an amazing (though extremely expensive) case. (Here's a review where they tested it with a Noctua D-14: http://circuitremix.com/?q=content/thermaltake-level-10-gt-snow-edition-full-tower-chassis&page=0,3)

GPU: Argh. The 680s are always sold out... it seems strange, but I think they're trying to keep the price inflated. I would really recommend the MSI Twin Frozr II OC version, though, since it has great cooling, is quiet, and is overclocked. The EVGA may be clocked a TINY bit higher, but the problem with the EVGA is that it only has one fan... wheras the MSI has two. This allows for much more overclocking and performance at load. Here is a review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-geforce-gtx-680-twinfrozr-iii-oc-review/1
Product: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1377&products_id=20056

SSD: If you want the extra 20mb/s speed, get the one you have. However, you can also get the Crucial M4 at $50 less: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210_902_909&products_id=17686

HDD: Not much I can say. Make sure it's reliable, but apart from that, it seems fine.

RAM: Why do you need 2400 RAM? It's pointless. The returns after DDR3-1600 are rapidly diminishing... meaning, like a 1% difference. Look it up if you don't believe me. I'd suggest getting DDR3-1600 RAM:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_538_913&products_id=19895

PSU: Looks fine. With the money I saved you from the RAM and some other stuff, I'm sure you can go with the AX-850 for a gold PSU... although it's not completely necessary.

 

[kajabla]

I think the Samsung SSD's the best choice. It's famously reliable, and money isn't much of an issue here.
1600mhz RAM for sure. It just doesn't matter.
PSU: You definitely don't need more then 750W. You can get a really nice one if you want, but you don't have to. The first choice here, the OCZ, would be fine.
Bronze, $100/$80 before/after MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341052
Silver, $140/$130: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207016
Gold, $160: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817116011

Your heatsink should be the Hyper 212 EVO, I think, which is $35, or maybe the $50 Scythe Mugen 3. You're wasting your money after that.

Depending on what we see from the 3570K, you'll probably be going 2500K. This depends on how important video editing is to you. If small differences in video editing performance really are important, go 2600K for its Hyper-Threading (8 virtual cores). The 2500K has roughly equivalent performance in gaming, though.

 

[InvalidError]

What processor should I go with?

On a 3k$ build for gaming + video editing + overclocking, the choice is down to either i7-2600k or i7-3770k.

The 2600k is easier to overclock while the 3770k is about twice as fast at video encoding if you use QuickSync, otherwise they perform almost exactly the same clock-for-clock.

If you want to shave ~$100 (although I doubt you would have set the upper limit to $3000 if you did), you could sacrifice hyperthreading and go with i5-2500k or i5-3570k. They perform about the same as i7 for gaming but depending on what sort of video editing you do, how much of it your editing software will offload to the GPU or QuickSync and how well multithreaded your most frequently used tasks/effects are, losing hyperthreading may cost you 0-40% performance for there.

The Maximus board seems fine to me if you don't plan to add any add-in boards other than 2nd graphics.

 

[kajabla]

Oh, I forgot the mobo.

The Maximus is a total waste of money. You should probably just get a $130 Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3. A more expensive board would get you more ports and a higher maximum overclock, but neither of those is really important unless you plan to push for the highest possible clocks.

 

[ddan49]

I'd go with an ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 or an ASRock Z77 Extreme4. You can go higher with the Extreme series if you wish.

 

[jsrudd]

Maybe this case instead. It looks much better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001&Tpk=corsair%20800d

Also, Ivy may be a little bit hotter, but honestly unless you're really trying to push above 4ghz this is not an issue. Also Ivy is about 10% faster at the same clock speeds.

 

[ddan49]

The aesthetics are debateable, imo. The Corsair doesn't have as many features/cooling, though. Corsair's strong point is cable management, but the ThermalTake has enough cable management for anyone.

 

[SeanBH]

justJason:

Great choice of the Case! I just got mine to start my build last week...I love it. Gobs of room! I just put all of my guts from my old FX6800-01e in it along with a 750w XFX PSU along with my new XFX HD6870 2gb video card (as of Christmas). My old FX case kept my HD6870 at 140-150*F, and now the 10GT keeps it below 120*F. i7-920 loves it too.

My MB choice is either the P8Z77V Deluxe or the Sabertooth Z77 along with a i7-3770k...I'll be interested in hearing from you about the Maximus if you decide to go with it.

Good luck!