Practical high end build for a monopolist

manshiny · Mar 14, 2013

Hello people of the internet.

Basically I want to get a build that is high end, but practical. I'm quite greedy and always end up configuring something to the very best, here's an example, however it's something I'd like -.-

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 DELUXE ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($357.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($133.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($177.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($186.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial M4 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card (3-Way SLI) ($569.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card (3-Way SLI) ($569.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card (3-Way SLI) ($569.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1250W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($246.82 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($310.55 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($310.55 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($310.55 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Razer RZ01-00780100-R3U1 Wired Laser Mouse ($66.89 @ Amazon)
Total: $5182.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-14 17:10 EDT-0400)

Just a quick note: Through someone (can't say who, or give details), I'm able to reduce the price to about 4k easily, however, I may be able to go even lower. I know for a fact I can get the three 680's for $250 each (in USA), still have a vague idea on other components.
Prices from HK and USA would be great also

Approximate Purchase Date: Next month or so, but I don't mind waiting for next gen CPU's.

Budget Range: up to (preferably less than) 4000 USD, including peripherals and shipping.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Programming, Microsoft office, gaming (high quality + extreme modding), movies (blu ray and HD movies/tv series), surfing the internet/everyday use, multimedia editing (sony vegas/after effects) and some modelling/photoshop (for mods).

Are you buying a monitor: Yes / No (X3, planning on going surround)

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon and Newegg. I will either buy in USA or Hong Kong

Location: Sending to Sacramento, then shipping to New Zealand (where I am located)
HOWEVER, I may also be shipping from Hong Kong directly to NZ. Depends on prices.

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, Nvidia graphics. I prefer Asus when it comes to Mobo, and EVGA for graphics.

Overclocking: Yes (not too much)

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Your Monitor Resolution: I'd like to go 2560x1440 (7680x1440) in triple monitor setup, but it depends. May just go with 1920x1200 x3
I'd like really high quality monitors for when I'm doing editing and programming. 24-27inch

Additional Comments: I'm building for me and my fiance, she's very fussy with cases. She loves the NZXT Phantom 820 or Phantom 630, Or the Corsair 600T. Both of us are very much obsessed with colorful/shiny things, so we'd like to add in accessories like the NZXT Hue. Aesthetics is a huge part of this, my girlfriend is especially fussy with it.

I'd like to add the maximum amount of fans in, I'm looking at adding Corsair SP 120mm high performance/low sound fans and a NZXT Sentry 2 fan controller (not keen on the touch screen thing, just need something nice and simple) knowing the Phantom 820 however, I'd like to utilize max cooling, so 200mm fans may be an option. LED fans would be nice, however, performance over aesthetics first.

I'd like to keep this baby quiet. As quiet as possible. Any accessories or whatever that can keep it quiet will be great.

I'm going for high end, and will spend a lot, HOWEVER I want to spend smart. (something I need help with, cause I may end up being compulsive since I have money to blow)

And finally, and probably most importantly, I want to make sure this machine doesn't consume a lot of power.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I'm upgrading from my laptop which is a Dell Latitude 630. I'm a computer Science/Mathematical Science student, and I do a lot of number crunching. I also like to game and edit videos for a website I work with, which also has a youtube channel (CHECK OUT OTAKUTECH!!)

Just a few more things. We're planning on waiting for Haswell (the i7-4770K) I've been looking at the GTX Titan, praying it drops in price by the time I'm ready to buy. SLI is something I'd love to do again (I've had multi-gpu setups before and loved it. Only had problems with AMD) I will only use Intel and nVIDIA, so don't even bother mentioning AMD products. I'd love to use SSD's, and I'm not keen for all the fancy bells and whistles (eg. Thunderbolt). I will be overclocking lightly on the odd occasion, but only to about 5ghz at max, for the odd benchmark, but I like to keep my CPU nice and cool. Water Cooling is an option, but it depends on the setup and heat/noise.

So, you should have a good idea of what I want, and where I'm coming from. I hope this helps. Any questions, Please ask away

SHORYUKEN · Mar 14, 2013

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($100.55 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (3-Way SLI) ($348.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (3-Way SLI) ($348.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (3-Way SLI) ($348.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 1050W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($214.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer GD235HZbid 120Hz 23.6" Monitor ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Acer GD235HZbid 120Hz 23.6" Monitor ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Acer GD235HZbid 120Hz 23.6" Monitor ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $3460.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-14 17:26 EDT-0400)

I left the peripherals up to you.

manshiny · Mar 14, 2013

SHORYUKEN :

Thanks for the reply

I'm not trying to sound rude, but you haven't really taken into consideration much of what I said in regards to screen resolution and price factor. 2gb GPU's aren't enough for full surround support and I can get more powerful gpu's for a cheaper price. Need I go on?

but thank you for your response.

SHORYUKEN · Mar 14, 2013

2 GB per monitor is enough. Unless you're playing some amazingly heavy modded games, you shouldn't need more. You can go for a 4GB version, but do not get the 680. Only a small fps difference for a bigger price. I'm trying to save you money here, not make you lose it all.

manshiny · Mar 14, 2013

SHORYUKEN :

I mentioned earlier that I'm playing heavily modded games. And $250 for EVGA GTX680 4gb Vs $380 for GTX670 2gb.

Other than that. I like. Would it be safer to go with IB?

SHORYUKEN · Mar 14, 2013

I have no idea where you found a 680 for $250. That is impossible. The pricetag on the PC part picker build says $600 per card.

What is IB?

manshiny · Mar 14, 2013

SHORYUKEN :

If you read what I originally posted -.-
I can't disclose private info, I'm simply saying I have the opportunity to get them at that price. And, IB is Ivy Bridge...

SHORYUKEN · Mar 14, 2013

I don't enjoy reading an essay just to see what price you are buying things at. Why use the acronym? I've never heard Ivy Bridge referred to as IB. I don't understand why you didn't add a custom part on the PC Part Picker list saying " GTX 680 for $250 ". You could have made it easier. Go and do whatever you need.

marshallbradley · Mar 14, 2013

I think there are a couple of misconceptions here. For the resolution you're looking at yes, definitely ignore the 2gb versions. Most people don't realise that with SLI and CrossFire you don't get 3x2gb = 6gb Vram, you just get the straight up 2gb, since the information stored on each video card will be exactly the same, so go with the 4gb 680s if you can get them for that price.

Build looks good though (but I have a couple tips of course); if you want to save on the power as mentioned, wait for Haswell, as it is mainly focused on reductions in power consumption rather than pure performance.

For your price range, go for a Samsung 840 Pro SSD or two. The performance beats the M4 and the power draw is insanely low. It may be only a couple of watts, but every little helps.

Again if you're looking to minimize power draw, go with a Platinum rated PSU rather than a Gold one. This offering from Seasonic ticks all the boxes: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-platinum1000 It will have plenty of power for 3 way 680s, don't worry. The http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139039&Tpk=corsair%201200i&IsVirtualParent=1 is another (more expensive) option. Here's a review showing that 3 way 680s barely touches 650w under full load: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_680_3_way_sli_review,4.html The power efficiency on 600 series is great compared to the 500 series.

If silence is another important factor to you, I wouldn't recommend those Corsair fans (esp. as they are designed for static pressure -- water cooling performance). I swear by Noctua's fans and they have done well by me as far as silence is concerned. Some people might think their color scheme a tad off, but I take it as a sign of quality

@SHORYUKEN The idea is to read what the person's requirements are and base your suggestions off that. It takes all of 2 minutes...

All the best,

M

manshiny · Mar 15, 2013

marshallbradley :

I think there are a couple of misconceptions here. For the resolution you're looking at yes, definitely ignore the 2gb versions. Most people don't realise that with SLI and CrossFire you don't get 3x2gb = 6gb Vram, you just get the straight up 2gb, since the information stored on each video card will be exactly the same, so go with the 4gb 680s if you can get them for that price.

Build looks good though (but I have a couple tips of course); if you want to save on the power as mentioned, wait for Haswell, as it is mainly focused on reductions in power consumption rather than pure performance.

For your price range, go for a Samsung 840 Pro SSD or two. The performance beats the M4 and the power draw is insanely low. It may be only a couple of watts, but every little helps.

Again if you're looking to minimize power draw, go with a Platinum rated PSU rather than a Gold one. This offering from Seasonic ticks all the boxes: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-platinum1000 It will have plenty of power for 3 way 680s, don't worry. The http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139039&Tpk=corsair%201200i&IsVirtualParent=1 is another (more expensive) option. Here's a review showing that 3 way 680s barely touches 650w under full load: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_680_3_way_sli_review,4.html The power efficiency on 600 series is great compared to the 500 series.

If silence is another important factor to you, I wouldn't recommend those Corsair fans (esp. as they are designed for static pressure -- water cooling performance). I swear by Noctua's fans and they have done well by me as far as silence is concerned. Some people might think their color scheme a tad off, but I take it as a sign of quality

@SHORYUKEN The idea is to read what the person's requirements are and base your suggestions off that. It takes all of 2 minutes...

All the best,

M

Thank you so much for the reply. It actually helped a lot!
Regarding the fans. I could switch to the Corsair SP quiet edition? or have a mixture of the both?

SHORYUKEN · Mar 15, 2013

marshallbradley :

I think there are a couple of misconceptions here. For the resolution you're looking at yes, definitely ignore the 2gb versions. Most people don't realise that with SLI and CrossFire you don't get 3x2gb = 6gb Vram, you just get the straight up 2gb, since the information stored on each video card will be exactly the same, so go with the 4gb 680s if you can get them for that price.

Build looks good though (but I have a couple tips of course); if you want to save on the power as mentioned, wait for Haswell, as it is mainly focused on reductions in power consumption rather than pure performance.

For your price range, go for a Samsung 840 Pro SSD or two. The performance beats the M4 and the power draw is insanely low. It may be only a couple of watts, but every little helps.

Again if you're looking to minimize power draw, go with a Platinum rated PSU rather than a Gold one. This offering from Seasonic ticks all the boxes: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-platinum1000 It will have plenty of power for 3 way 680s, don't worry. The http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139039&Tpk=corsair%201200i&IsVirtualParent=1 is another (more expensive) option. Here's a review showing that 3 way 680s barely touches 650w under full load: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_680_3_way_sli_review,4.html The power efficiency on 600 series is great compared to the 500 series.

If silence is another important factor to you, I wouldn't recommend those Corsair fans (esp. as they are designed for static pressure -- water cooling performance). I swear by Noctua's fans and they have done well by me as far as silence is concerned. Some people might think their color scheme a tad off, but I take it as a sign of quality

@SHORYUKEN The idea is to read what the person's requirements are and base your suggestions off that. It takes all of 2 minutes...

All the best,

M

2 minutes? :lol:

marshallbradley · Mar 15, 2013

He's written maybe 650 words, and since the average reading speed is around 250 words per minute, yeah it takes 2-3 minutes. Most people skim read on the internet anyway (700+ words per minute) so I don't think it's that big of an ask...

M

SHORYUKEN · Mar 15, 2013

marshallbradley :

Considering it could have been shortened...

Most people on this site write maybe 100 words, not even, so this is an exception.

manshiny · Mar 16, 2013

SHORYUKEN :

I don't see why it's such a big ask for you. You can't read my 2-3 minute paragraph, but you can argue with members of the site without hesitation.

Also, what is wrong with me writing a large paragraph giving details of what I want in my future computer build. I'm being thorough because I know exactly what I want and need in the computer. Writing 100 words will barely cover everything I would like in this build.

Thank you for your input though. It's been helpful.

SHORYUKEN · Mar 16, 2013

Np. Enjoy whatever.

ScrewySqrl · Mar 16, 2013

IMHO the 6-core 3900-series is not worth the money compared to the 4-core i7-3700-series. Ivy bridge offers similar performance at half the price

manshiny · Mar 17, 2013

ScrewySqrl :

That is what I was thinking, but I'm waiting for Haswell.

marshallbradley · Mar 17, 2013

@manshiny I think the AF 120 Quiet Edition is better suited for your needs. They are designed for air-flow.

M

Practical high end build for a monopolist

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