[New Build] Looking to build a BEASTLY Gaming PC.

[rylant]

Hey folks, thanks for taking the time to look over my post. I have recently acheived a personal goal of mine, and have decided to reward myself with a new gaming PC purchase. I have the money to spend, so I am looking to go fairly high end. I also plan on building the PC myself. My current PC is probably 4 or 5 years old, but I put it together myself when I originally bought it, and have switched parts in and out of PCs all of my life, but that is the extent of my PC Building experience, so this will probably be a significantly more complicated build. Here are some points that should be taken into consideration.

- I do a lot of gaming.
- I prefer intel processors.
- I prefer Nvidia Graphics cards.
- I don't know anything about water cooling and I find it a little intimidating.
- I am ok with a huge case, as you can see by my potential build.
- I don't know much about SLI, but I am not opposed to the idea.
- I don't know anything about overclocking.
- I plan on buying a fairly large high quality monitor with a 2560 X 1600 resolution.
- I know that there are some compatability issues with some parts, but didn't see any conflicts with this build.
- I don't plan on buying a new PC for some time, but would rather switch out parts as needed.

Here is the build I came up with. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k4ZN

Rylant

 

[ckholt83]

First off, an LGA2011 / Sandy Bridge E build is totally bananas overkill for a gaming build, you'd be better served dropping the cash elsewhere. An i5 3570k is about the best you can do for pure gaming purposes, and these days they make it very easy to overclock. An NH-D14 cooler is pretty much the best air cooler you can get, would give you tons of thermal headroom without having to mess with water.

The video card you picked out is also completely bananas overkill for single monitor gaming, and it's actually a pair of GTX680 GPUs in SLI on a single board (normally SLI is when you take two identical video cards and slave them together). I kept it in my list just in case you decide down the road you want to add more monitors to your setup, but know that you could easily save $500 by picking up a single 670/680 and still be able to destroy any game with a single screen setup.

Also the secondary storage drive you picked is an Enterprise model, not really necessary. If you really want stability / security for that data, you'd probably be better served setting up two normal drives in a RAID1 for automatic duplication. The power supply you picked out was also massive overkill, I switched it for a model that would be more efficient and still leave you some headroom.

Here's what I came up with, using your list as a baseline:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($83.26 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Gaming Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($559.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 690 4GB Video Card ($1049.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Silverstone SST-FT02S-W-USB3.0 (Silver) ATX Mid Tower Case ($290.51 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.98 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Dell U3011 60Hz 30.0" Monitor ($1199.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($92.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $4277.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[Deemo13]

Even 32GB of RAM is overkill. 8 should do, but 16 would be nice too.

 

[ckholt83]

Yeah, I'd agree that 32GB is also extreme overkill. I just slapped it in there for futureproofing, same with the GTX 690.

 

[Deemo13]

Personally I would go with a 680 and when things get slow add another one.

 

[computernoob29]

^ good but you might aswell get an i7 3770k, and why would you buy a 60hz 1200 dollar monitor? I cant remember the name but theres that new asus monitor that is 144hz and its 500 or 700 bucks imo that would better. And ive heard people say that its less of a pain to get 2 gtx 680s instead of a 690 but i dont know, ive never looked into that high end of hardware

 

[Deemo13]

Why a 3770K? It has 0 gaming advantages.

 

[g-unit1111]

Even 32GB of RAM is overkill. 8 should do, but 16 would be nice too.

For gaming you don't really need more than 8GB.

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($83.26 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($239.99 @ Newegg)

If you read the round up this week - the Sabertooth did not fare well in a lot of the tests they put them through, I'm vetoing this choice every time it comes up.

Also the secondary storage drive you picked is an Enterprise model, not really necessary. If you really want stability / security for that data, you'd probably be better served setting up two normal drives in a RAID1 for automatic duplication. The power supply you picked out was also massive overkill, I switched it for a model that would be more efficient and still leave you some headroom.

I'm a bit iffy on RAID setups as they have a far greater tendency to fail than any thing else you could do. If you want something for backups get a BD-R burner and just copy critical files that way. No need to create an exact duplicate anymore.

Here's what I would get if I had an unlimited budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 OC Formula SSI CEB LGA1155 Motherboard ($250.01 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.36 @ NCIX US)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($197.96 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($527.55 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($527.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($299.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair 1200W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($355.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($92.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2507.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Then I would get a custom water cooling setup (add another $400) and a couple of nice monitors.

 

[Deemo13]

Lol @ the Cosmos II. Awesome case.

 

[g-unit1111]

Lol @ the Cosmos II. Awesome case.

Tough choice between that and the Silverstone RV02. :lol:

 

[g-unit1111]

Also included 32 gigs of low latency ram so youll never have to worry about that again (really 8 is enough but im thinkin WAY down the road, and when your dropping 4k+ why the hell not? its cheap as hell).

On a gaming rig - 32GB of RAM will be completely useless for many years. The software is always a couple of generations behind the hardware and that's part of Moore's Law. There's other areas where this money could be put to use. Just because it's "cheap as hell" doesn't mean that it can be fully functional. It'd be like buying a car and then paying money for extra spark plugs.

 

[g-unit1111]

Not the best analogy i think; however if you you can find something to spend the savings on go for it (just make sure you get sticks of 8 gigs not 4x4). What exactly would you spend the 80 dollars on? When your dropping 4k+ what the hell is 80 bucks?

Yeah that probably wasn't the best analogy but what I was getting at was you only need one, the rest will go around sitting unused.

When your dropping 4k+ what the hell is 80 bucks?

Can't really argue there. :lol:

You want a beast that not only is redonk in terms of real world performance but on paper too. He wants to rub this things specs in others faces, regardless of what difference it makes.

Well bragging rights are definitely one thing, but me personally I wouldn't pay $4K for a gaming rig when you can get a $2k one. The thing will be outdated in two years anyways unless you upgrade it incrementally, and in two years you're already thinking about your next build. I understand the concept of a Hot Rod vs. a Toyota Camry, but Hot Rods have limited shelf life where the cheaper cars will last a lot longer. But if you want to stay competitive you got to think a bit more realistically, that's all I'm saying.

 

[mastrom101]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k8eJ
i7 CPU
Water-cooling
Amazing Motherboard
16GB of 2133 RAM
256 GB SSD
1TB of 10K RPM storage
Amazing case w/ a quality PSU
3 of the fastest GPU's available (Can swap for 4GB 680/70's if you prefer)
3 120HZ 3D monitors, oriented in portrait mode

For 4k you have one of the best systems I could imagine.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k8h3
Another option

I chose AMD but 670/80/90's will also work.

 

[rylant]

Thanks fellahs for all the great replies. I really appreciate it and it is obvious that many of you really know your stuff. As far as the extra 80 bucks for the RAM, it is one of those things where I want to future proof it, I have the money to spend, and as some have suggested, for bragging rights. A friend of mine and me regularly play "My unit is bigger than your unit" with each other, and this build means that I win! At least for a while, anyway. Besides, it's "bettter to have it and not need it" than it is to "need it and not have it", right? Thanks for the suggestion about Windows Professional, Jrgong, I did not know that it was needed for 32 gigs of RAM.

As far as the MOBO goes, I see a lot of people suggesting ASRock boards. I won't bore you with the details, but the previously mentioned friend of mine had a really bad experience with his last build because of his ASRock MOBO, so I am a little leery going that direction. I have always really enjoyed Asus products (I have had Asus Monitors, my current laptop is Asus, and several MOBOs) which is why I was leaning towards them.

Lastly, about the monitor I have chosen, some people seem concerned with my choice. Personally, I want to move to 2560 X 1600 gaming and to something larger than my current 27 inch monitor. Some people seem concerned with the 60 hz and 8 ms response time on the Dell. I guess if you are going to drop 1k plus on a monitor, it needs to be amazing. Is there a better choice out there? I have heard people going with multiple monitors, but I have a feeling that the split between the monitors would annoy me. What are the thoughts on this?

Again, thanks for the insight here.

Rylant

 

[jacknhut]

I too got bad experiences with Asrock, not just you. Get the Asus Maximus V Formula for that high end rig, worth every penny.

On the contrary to what people say here, you do benefit from having 32 GB of memory if you use the space to create a Ram disc and put the most frequently used program/games on it. A 16 GB Ram Disk is best if you have a 32 GB system memory. The performance you got from Ram Disk is 10 times faster than the fastest SSD on the market.

To put things in perspective, a regular HDD will give you about 10-20 secs loading time in a game (WoW, Skyrim etc), a SSD will reduce that to about 3-5 secs, a Ram Disk will reduce that even more to a mere 1 sec or less.

 

[nstiver]

Honestly man I think if you are going hi res just go with either the 690 or a dual GPU set up. A lot of titles struggle at single GPU power at higher resolutions and while you may save some money now, the demand of modern games will begin to tax your system once they start to require better and better hardware. I would go with dual 7970s and be done with it for the next 2 years. That way you know you have enough juice to demolish any game on a beautiful screen.

 

[nstiver]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k8eJ
i7 CPU
Water-cooling
Amazing Motherboard
16GB of 2133 RAM
256 GB SSD
1TB of 10K RPM storage
Amazing case w/ a quality PSU
3 of the fastest GPU's available (Can swap for 4GB 680/70's if you prefer)
3 120HZ 3D monitors, oriented in portrait mode

For 4k you have one of the best systems I could imagine.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k8h3
Another option

I chose AMD but 670/80/90's will also work.

I can vouche for that monitor, I have one and it is beautiful. Really highly regarded in the 120hz community. If you are going to go the 120hz route over the hi res IPS, then that is a great choice.