$3000+ gaming build hardware advice please!

[extremefreak17]

Hey guys. Looking to build a higher end gaming/all-purpose computer that will last me for a few years with minimal upgrades. Planning to game on a 1080p screen and will be using Windows 7 Professional. Occasional video editing might come into to play later on down the road as well. Any and all advice is welcome. Here is what I have worked out.

CPU- Intel Core i7-3930K $590

CPU Cooler- Zalman CNPS12x $89

Mobo- Asus P9X79 Deluxe $360

RAM- Corsair 16 GB (4x4) Vengeance Blue Low Profile 1600mhz $98

Video Cards- EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW x2 in SLI $840

Storage- Sandisk extreme 240 GB x2 in raid 0 $360
Seagate ST2000DM001 Barracuda 2 TB for back-up and non-critical data $115

Optical- LG Black Blu-Ray rewriter WH12LS39K $85

Case- Cooler Master HAF X $170

PSU- KingWin Lazer Platinum Modular Power Supply 1000 Watts, 80 PLUS Platinum LZP-1000 $217


Total : ~$2924

Still need advice on a decent fan controller. Again, any and all help is welcome.

 

[extremefreak17]

Didn't see the format instructions until now, sorry.


Approximate Purchase Date: This week if possible

Budget Range: $3000+

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, multitasking, video editing

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, speakers, screen

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: whatever is cheaper

Country: North Carolina, USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: none

Overclocking: Yes, in the future

SLI or Crossfire: Yes, SLI

Monitor Resolution: highest possible

Additional Comments: see above

 

[TheBigTroll]

your build sounds good. i would get the cooler master tpc 812 or the thermalright siler arrow for a CPU cooler. they cool a lot better and quieter. Dont get the deluxe, the PRO is good enough and has all the needed features. Final thing is that the seasonic 1000w platinum power supply is much better.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

^I agree except for the last comment about the PSU. The Kingwin LZP is a great PSU for the money and they pretty much match performance wise. Just check out its review @ jonnyguru.

 

[TheBigTroll]

well the seasonic does have hybrid fan technology and a great sanyo denki ace fan

 

[g-unit1111]

You don't really need to spend $3K on a gaming PC when you can buy one for half that and it will last you just as long. Use the rest and buy a nice 55" LED or go on a vacation. On a gaming build the i7-3930K is wasted, you only need that if you're running CS5 or anything of that nature.

Try this:

Case: Corsair Carbide 500R - $139.99
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MKII 950W - $149.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H - $189.99
CPU: 3.4GHz Intel Core i5-3570K - $249.99
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 - $89.99
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $69.99
SSD: 128GB OCZ Vertex 4 - $179.99
HD: 2TB Samsung Ecogreen F4 - $119.99
Optical: LG Black Super Multi - $79.99
Video Card: EVGA Geforce GTX 680 - $499.99

Total: $1,864.89

If you're going to be editing video upgrade the CPU to an i7-3770K and RAM to 16GB and that will be an extra $150 and you'll still come out ahead.

 

[jacknhut]

G-unit actually has a good point, there is no need for that 3000 dollars pc when your primary purpose is gaming and only some occasional video editting. The 3930k is for heavy video editting or other professional studio works.

Only thing I would change from G-unit list is the CPU and SSD and video card.

CPU: Get i7 3770k since you will be doing some video editting and the extra 4 threads will definitely help.
SSD: Get a 240 GB Kingston Hyperx 3k for 200 bucks after 20 MIR at newegg
Video card: Get the ASUS TOP GTX 670 preoverclocked which already exceeds the performance of stock GTX 680. If you still want more performance, there is still plenty of room to overclock the ASUS TOP GTX 670 further since ASUS binned only the highest overclockable GPU on this card.

 

[TheBigTroll]

on the plus side, the 670 from asus isnt the triple slot beast

 

[cranked]

+1 to g-unit1111's comments.

Just because your budget is $3000, you don't need to spend it to get a top of the line gaming pc.

Only thing I would add to g-unit's build, if anything at all, and since you apparently have money to spend is, you could get a bigger SSD.

 

[extremefreak17]

First, i want to thank everyone for the input.

@TheBigTroll: I chose the deluxe over the pro for the increased flexability with Dual LAN and wifi. I do a good amount of moving around so having options is important to me. I will look into the CPU coolers you mentioned, the more i read about the zalman, the more i hate it. And as for the power supply, i liked the reviews of the Kingwin. If i am not interested in the hybrid fan technology the Kingwin should be fine right?

@g-unit1111: I agree with you. $3000 seems a bit excessive for just gaming. However, I am all about having options. I used to do a fair amount of video editing years back with my father. I have always enjoyed it and haven't had a computer that could really handle it for some time now. Having the option to get back into that is one reason why i chose the 3930k. I was looking at the 3770k as well, but i read in a number of sources that they run extremely hot when OC'ed on air cooling (not sure of the accuracy on that), and i am not sure if i am ready to make the leap to water. Also, i do like the X79 chipset. The Money is not a huge issue for me as well. Unfortunately, I am more or less unable to take vacations with my current career choice and actually already have a 55" LED. I hope to hook up this build to it.

That is my in depth explanation, but if my build still seems way off, please feel free to tell me. I am open to anything.

Also i could still use some advice on a decent fan controller and a blu-ray/dvd burning drive

 

[TheBigTroll]

after reading both reviews, you wouldnt go wrong with either power supply. its just that seasonic has been my choice and has a great history record and warranty

 

[g-unit1111]

G-unit actually has a good point, there is no need for that 3000 dollars pc when your primary purpose is gaming and only some occasional video editting. The 3930k is for heavy video editting or other professional studio works.

Only thing I would change from G-unit list is the CPU and SSD and video card.

CPU: Get i7 3770k since you will be doing some video editting and the extra 4 threads will definitely help.
SSD: Get a 240 GB Kingston Hyperx 3k for 200 bucks after 20 MIR at newegg
Video card: Get the ASUS TOP GTX 670 preoverclocked which already exceeds the performance of stock GTX 680. If you still want more performance, there is still plenty of room to overclock the ASUS TOP GTX 670 further since ASUS binned only the highest overclockable GPU on this card.

Yeah but the Hyper X drives are based on the same crap Sandforce driver that a lot of Intel, Patriot, Corsair, and so on drives run on.

@g-unit1111: I agree with you. $3000 seems a bit excessive for just gaming. However, I am all about having options. I used to do a fair amount of video editing years back with my father. I have always enjoyed it and haven't had a computer that could really handle it for some time now. Having the option to get back into that is one reason why i chose the 3930k. I was looking at the 3770k as well, but i read in a number of sources that they run extremely hot when OC'ed on air cooling (not sure of the accuracy on that), and i am not sure if i am ready to make the leap to water. Also, i do like the X79 chipset. The Money is not a huge issue for me as well. Unfortunately, I am more or less unable to take vacations with my current career choice and actually already have a 55" LED. I hope to hook up this build to it.

Well I have the 3570K and I haven't really noticed that it tends to run hot, but then again I haven't OC'd it yet and I haven't really had a chance to thoroughly put the CPU through its' paces yet. I like X79 as well and really wanted it for my system but I couldn't justify the ridiculously high cost of the 3930K or even the 3820 for that matter, if I was making a bit more money I'd go for it.

 

[azeem40]

The Kingwin is a good unit, but for 2 670s, 1/4th of the power is wasted.

 

[serialkiller]

Even if the kingwin is rated at platinum grade i don't personally trust it. seasoning is far greatest .su company. it platinum series is overkill and complete waste get a .su with 550w for single gpu and 850w above for dual gpu.

Companies i trust are seasoning corsair xfx pc power and cooling ocz And few others.

 

[serialkiller]

+1 to gunit 1111

 

[mjmjpfaff]

Even if the kingwin is rated at platinum grade i don't personally trust it. seasoning is far greatest .su company. it platinum series is overkill and complete waste get a .su with 550w for single gpu and 850w above for dual gpu.

Companies i trust are seasoning corsair xfx pc power and cooling ocz And few others.

Try reading jonnyguru's review on it it passed platinum grade even in the hot testing as did the seasonic.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

The Kingwin is a good unit, but for 2 670s, 1/4th of the power is wasted.

Yes A good 750w PSU will run 2 670's easily.

 

[jacknhut]

Definitely need to change that Zalman Cooler, too expensive for so little performance.

Either get the Nocture as Gunit suggested, or Get Silver Arrow which is slightly better in cooling performance for the same price, just a bit harder to get.

Also, you should take a look at this Scandisk Extreme SSD 240 GB which is on sale atm at Amazon for 179.99 USD, very fast Toggle NAND SSD, Tier 1 and the price is lowest I have ever seen so far. You can buy 2 of those and Raid 0 for 340 bucks and performance is blazing fast, slightly faster than that pair of Samsung 830 in raid 0 but much cheaper.
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-2-5-Inch-Drive-SDSSDX-240G-G25/dp/B006EKJ8UI/?t=slicinc-20&tag=slicinc-20

 

[azeem40]

For A LOT less, you can get the TX750 v2 for $110.

 

[extremefreak17]

@jacknhut: Wow good call on the sandisks! i will edit the post to reflect the change. Really the Zalman is bad? i read multiple reviews that placed it on par with the Noctua nh-d14

okay so i am hearing 750-840w then? or should i just keep the 1000w incase i add something that increases my power usage later on down the road?

 

[g-unit1111]

Definitely need to change that Zalman Cooler, too expensive for so little performance.

Either get the Nocture as Gunit suggested, or Get Silver Arrow which is slightly better in cooling performance for the same price, just a bit harder to get.

Also, you should take a look at this Scandisk Extreme SSD 240 GB which is on sale atm at Amazon for 179.99 USD, very fast Toggle NAND SSD, Tier 1 and the price is lowest I have ever seen so far. You can buy 2 of those and Raid 0 for 340 bucks and performance is blazing fast, slightly faster than that pair of Samsung 830 in raid 0 but much cheaper.
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-2-5-Inch-Drive-SDSSDX-240G-G25/dp/B006EKJ8UI/?t=slicinc-20&tag=slicinc-20

The Noctua is probably the best bet. The only Zalman cooler I'd recommend is the one from the recent system builder marathon but otherwise I'd agree to stay away.

I'm personally not a fan of the NAND controller - pretty much anything that isn't Marvell is likely to run into the same issues and errors that plague most Sandforce based SSDs.

 

[extremefreak17]

The zalman I chose (CNPS12X) is from the builder marathon. I am not a huge fan of sandforce either, but at $180 each, and at slight better performance than the samsung 830's (which go for $240) there is now way i can pass it up.

 

[TheBigTroll]

sanforce isnt bad. its just that it has different results with every user

 

[Flare01]

@jacknhut: Wow good call on the sandisks! i will edit the post to reflect the change. Really the Zalman is bad? i read multiple reviews that placed it on par with the Noctua nh-d14

okay so i am hearing 750-840w then? or should i just keep the 1000w incase i add something that increases my power usage later on down the road?

Unless you plan to 3 way SLI, there is simply no need for that 1000W. With that kind of budget you got, I would rather get the highest quality 750W-850W Gold rated PSU like the Seasonic X 750W series, Corsair AX 750W, or OCZ ZX 850W for now and have a peace of mind knowing the PSU would last a long time.

Now the Scandisk Extreme won't be on sale for long, buy it today before Amazon changed its price back up. If you don't like it later on, simply return it to Amazon, they have a very generous return policy. If you wait around, I'm sure that price won't be stay for another day or 2.

 

[extremefreak17]

Best answer selected by extremefreak17.