My build for gaming, video rendering and streaming. Thoughts?

[n1ksthlm]

Hi, i'm intending to put together this build shortly which will (hopefully) be supporting mostly heavy MMO-gaming (WoW, GW2 and also SC2) at max settings, rendering of a lot of videos recorded in games and 720p/1080p streaming. Worth noting is that this will be with 2560x1440 resolution. I'm not especially experienced with overclocking and will aim for about 4.3/4.4 on the CPU initially. With the GPU i'm not sure what to aim for considering i've never tried it before.

The things i assume could be worth upgrading are perhaps the RAM and a bigger SSD. But i'm not sure if it will be necessary, any pointers on that and potentially other parts? I have about 250-300$ left on my budget to spend if i need to. Much appreciated.

MoBo: ASUS Sabertooth Z77
CPU: Intel i7 3770k
RAM: Corsair 8GB DDR3 Vengenace LP 1600mhz
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD7970 Ghz-Edition VAPOR-X 3GB
SSD: Samsung 830 128GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB
PSU: Corsair TX 750W V2 ATX12V
Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 S-1155/1156/1366/AM3

 

[blazorthon]

I'd definitely go for 16GB of DDR3 memory for the non-gaming work there and probably of a higher frequency. Rendering can utilize fast RAM pretty well, unlike most other software.

Also, although it's a great cooler, Ivy Bridge doesn't like the NH-D14 as much as some lower end coolers because Ivy likes Direct Touch heatpipe coolers and the NH-D14 does not have Direct Touch Heatpipes. Something such as a Tuniq Tower Extreme may be able to overtake the NH-D14 on Ivy CPUs while being a little cheaper.

The rest of your components are good, although I wouldn't go for the Z77 SabreTooth. It's needlessly expensive IMO. I suggest something such as the ASRock Extreme 4 Z77 as a cheaper alternative.

 

[n1ksthlm]

Interesting, is it preferred to buy higher frequency RAM or will overclocking work? Also if i would to overclock it, it's a good idea to use 2x 8GB sticks, am i right?
Thanks.

If anyone else has an opinion on the build i'd be very happy!

 

[blazorthon]

I'd just buy higher frequency, something like this kit:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl10d16gbxl
2x8GB DDR3-1866 10-11-10-30

Usually, I'd recommend a DDR3-1600 2x4GB kit, but with heavy rendering and such, a little more may go a long way.

 

[n1ksthlm]

The emphasis will definitely be on the gaming though, and what mostly worried me was the visual expectations with 2560x1440 resolution. I've heard some say there can be a horrible drop in FPS while some say it won't be an issue with good components. But taking streaming and video recording into account that's where i start to feel uncertain.

I will probably go with 16GB RAM for sure though considering how cheap it is.

 

[blazorthon]

Your graphics card should be fine at 2560x1440. With some good overclocking, I'd go as far as to call it excellent.