4 Monitor system

[Uoogle]

Hi guys. I am not completely new to building a pc, but I built my last one 6 or 7 years ago, I am sure things have changed a lot since then. I have purchased a couple of pre-built refurbished pc's since. My current system is getting old and I want to invest some money in a new one that will hopefully last me ideally 4-5 years. Trying not to buy the fastest or newest necessarily, but items that are a good bang for the buck.

I plan on using my system as follows:
30% office work and research (MS Office, Adobe Acrobat etc)
20% video editing and rendering (Adobe CS6 Premier, Sony Vegas etc.)
20% photo editing (Adobe CS6, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash etc)
30% streaming media, surfing the web)
I am not a gamer, but might try some now.

I will try to buy these or similar items over a period of a few weeks as I see good deals appearing online. Let me know your thoughts please.

Operating system: (Latest)
Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 64-bit ($140)

Processor: (new, lot of bang for the dollar)
Intel Core i7-3770K ($320)

Mother board: (has some cool features)
ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE ($270)

Graphic card: (new, bang for the buck, 4 monitor support, might get a 2nd GPU in the future)
NVIDIA Geforce GTX 660 Ti ($300)

RAM: (plan on multi-tasking on 4 monitors a lot)
CORSAIR Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) CMZ32GX3M4X1600C10 ($150)

SSD: (C drive for OS and programs, D drive for media files I am working on)
(2X) SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256B/WW 2.5" 256GB ($190)

Hard drive: (E drive for completed projects, F drive for RAID back up of the other drives)
(2X) Seagate Barracuda 7200 3 TB ST3000DM001 ($140)

Case: (contains a 240mm cooling unit vent)
Corsair Carbide Series 500R ($90)

CPU Cooling: (plan on overclocking a bit)
CORSAIR Hydro Series H100 ($100)

Power supply: (Seems enough power, might need more)
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 CP-9020038-NA ($65)

Optical drive: (BlueRay, DVD and CD burners, all in one)
ASUS Black 12X BD-R BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS ($60)

Monitors: (Need lots of work space, 3X 27" parallel to eachother, 4th on top 47" for tv/streaming media purposes)
(3X) ViewSonic VX2770Smh-LED Black 27" 7ms (GTG) IPS-Panel ($300)
(1X) LG 47LV4400 47" Class LED HDTV - 1080p ($500)

Speakers: (newer with good reviews)
Logitech Speaker System Z623 ($130)

Keyboard & mouse: (more manual buttons the better)
Logitech MX 5500 ($135)

Router: (need to do some more research on this)
Linksys EA6500 ($200)

Of course starting out I did not think I would be up with a $4000 system. If I find a pre-built comparable system for significantly cheaper, I will opt for that instead. Its the monitors that are super pricey in my dream machine. lol

 

[scorpinock2]

Ok straight off the bat, you are going to game, edit a lot of HD videos, and use photoshop, AND use 4 monitors you need a better graphics card. Nvidia cards do not support more than 3 monitors even in SLI. I would go with an AMD build strictly because you can spend less on your CPU and motherboard and get more as well as spend that extra money on your graphics card. For processors I would recommend an AMD FX-8350, it's only 220, and can handle 8 threads, and has a stock speed of 4.0 Ghz. I would then go with an ASUS Sabertooth 990FX motherboard (200, usually 180 now) as it is a top of the line board built for stable overclocks, and it can handle (470).
For that price you could literally buy HD7870's(like these: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127662) and crossfire them for 4 monitors, and double the performance you were getting before. The only thing is you may need to up your power supply to 70 watts, which is about 30 bucks more, but totally worth it.

 

[Uoogle]

Ok straight off the bat, you are going to game, edit a lot of HD videos, and use photoshop, AND use 4 monitors you need a better graphics card. Nvidia cards do not support more than 3 monitors even in SLI. I would go with an AMD build strictly because you can spend less on your CPU and motherboard and get more as well as spend that extra money on your graphics card. For processors I would recommend an AMD FX-8350, it's only 220, and can handle 8 threads, and has a stock speed of 4.0 Ghz. I would then go with an ASUS Sabertooth 990FX motherboard (200, usually 180 now) as it is a top of the line board built for stable overclocks, and it can handle (470).
For that price you could literally buy HD7870's(like these: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127662) and crossfire them for 4 monitors, and double the performance you were getting before. The only thing is you may need to up your power supply to 70 watts, which is about 30 bucks more, but totally worth it.

Thank you scorpinock2, I will look into these alternatives some more now. I did not spend enough time comparing the AMD line of options. All the initial reviews touted Intel and Nvidia for video and photo. Here is one review which led me to decide on the Intel Core i7-3770K chip over the AMD FX line: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/3

 

[manofchalk]

I would say the rig you have specced out is just fine, if a bit too much RAM that likely wont be needed.
You wont be able to connect four monitors out of the box to your GPU, as it only has three non-DisplayPort connectors. You can connect the TV to integrated graphics though, or use some adapter to use the Displayport.
If you want the possibility of Crossfire/SLI later on, you will have to up the PSU to 750W.

If your concerned about the cost, I can see some ways to reduce it without compromising performance.

 

[Uoogle]

I would say the rig you have specced out is just fine, if a bit too much RAM that likely wont be needed.
You wont be able to connect four monitors out of the box to your GPU, as it only has three non-DisplayPort connectors. You can connect the TV to integrated graphics though, or use some adapter to use the Displayport.
If you want the possibility of Crossfire/SLI later on, you will have to up the PSU to 750W.

If your concerned about the cost, I can see some ways to reduce it without compromising performance.

Thank you manofchalk. I was not too familiar with the new DisplayPort connectors, I just looked into them some more. My 4th monitor will be used primarily as a tv/video viewer. I don't plan on using it much, since it will be mounted on the wall above my 3 main monitors. I have been finding some good deals because of the holiday season online now for components.

I chose the ram that was recommended by ASUS off their specs sheet for the motherboard, I wonder if I can buy any DDR3 1600 ram and it will be compatible? Is it ridiculous to have more than 16 GB ram in this system?

 

[manofchalk]

Any DDR3 RAM thats at or under 1.5v will work fine with the system. I advise this kit.
G.Skill Ares Blue 16GB (2x8GB) 1866Mhz CL10 1.5v. $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231560

If any application your using requires more than 16GB of RAM, you should probably be on the LGA2011 platform to do it.

 

[Uoogle]

Any DDR3 RAM thats at or under 1.5v will work fine with the system. I advise this kit.
G.Skill Ares Blue 16GB (2x8GB) 1866Mhz CL10 1.5v. $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231560

If any application your using requires more than 16GB of RAM, you should probably be on the LGA2011 platform to do it.

Thank you, the LGA2011 platform becomes too pricey for the performance return for me right now. Will stick with the LGA1155 with 16 GB ram.