Need advice on building a gaming rig

[myers0819]

I'm trying to build a gaming PC which will be also be used for watching movies and what not on my television. I was wondering if someone would mind looking through and making sure all of my component parts fit and play well together and also help make sure I'm not missing something.

So far I have

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior and Four Fans-1x 230mm front RED LED, 1x 140mm rear, 1x 230mm top, and 1x 230mm side

MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming ATX Intel Motherboard

COOLER MASTER V850 RS850-AFBAG1-US 850W Intel Form Factor ATX 12V V2.31 up to 93% efficiency @ 50% load Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I72600

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel 1366/1155/775 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

MSI N660TI PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface 124 dB SNR / Headphone AMP Card

I'm pretty new to this so any help would be appreciated.

 

[DSzymborski]

I'm trying to build a gaming PC which will be also be used for watching movies and what not on my television. I was wondering if someone would mind looking through and making sure all of my component parts fit and play well together and also help make sure I'm not missing something.

So far I have

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior and Four Fans-1x 230mm front RED LED, 1x 140mm rear, 1x 230mm top, and 1x 230mm side

MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming ATX Intel Motherboard

COOLER MASTER V850 RS850-AFBAG1-US 850W Intel Form Factor ATX 12V V2.31 up to 93% efficiency @ 50% load Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I72600

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel 1366/1155/775 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

MSI N660TI PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface 124 dB SNR / Headphone AMP Card

I'm pretty new to this so any help would be appreciated.

What's your budget for this rig? Are you definitely going to SLI at some point? If not, you're overbuying a PSU and could be getting a better GPU. Do you have an audio setup and the hearing that justifies a $180 sound card? You won't get much benefit upgrading from the on-board sound unless you have high-end speakers or headphones (and the ears to match). And I'd much prefer being at least in Ivy Bridge at this point in a new build.

 

[myers0819]

I plan on having my PC double as my home theater system for music and movies so the sound card is at least semi-necessary. I will be using a klipsch 7.1 system and my ears are most likely average. If there is something more appropriate for 7.1 please feel free to let me know.

As far as SLI, I read that not all games support it and some might even glitch. I'm not positive if it is true (as i said, I'm new) so i figured best bet was just one for now and maybe two when i know more.

As far as my budget, I just want to out perform an Alien Ware for less money. My budget at the moment is less than 2k.

I've also considered liquid cooling but I'm not sure that it is necessary.

Which processor do you suggest in place of the one is have picked out? Is an i5 good enough or should i get an i7? There are a lot of ivy bridge processors to choose from and I'm not comfortable with my knowledge of the nomenclature to choose. ignorance is what got the Sandy Bridge in my list.

Also, I appreciate your input and desire to save me money.

 

[DSzymborski]

I plan on having my PC double as my home theater system for music and movies so the sound card is at least semi-necessary. If there is something more appropriate for 7.1 please feel free to let me know.

As far as SLI, I read that not all games support it and some might even glitch. I'm not positive if it is true (as i said, I'm new) so i figured best bet was just one for now and maybe two when i know more.

As far as my budget, I just want to out perform an Alien Ware for less money. My budget at the moment is less than 2k.

I've also considered liquid cooling but I'm not sure that it is necessary.

Also, I appreciate your input and desire to save me money.

I'll keep a sound card in the mix for the sake of argument. Looking at it, you do have an audio system that could take advantage of a good sound card. If you have the ears.

Do you have an OS? I'm not going to give you one as you have not specified as such. I'll also keep an SLI-friendly PSU in the mix since you're talking $2K. Also did not give you a blu-ray as you didn't list a drive of your own.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($228.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($71.20 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.58 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($659.99 @ Amazon)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($131.17 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $1888.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-17 15:29 EDT-0400)

Keeping it under $2000 with your requirements, this is about what I would do as an initial build to look at and adjust from there.

With your budget, you have a lot of room to play with and make changes due to priorities or personal preference. You can do a 4770K and 16GB RAM (I didn't recommend as it's not the place you get the most bang for your buck from a gaming standpoint). I think this is a good starting point, though.

 

[DSzymborski]

I went ahead and played with the customizer at Alienware to try to copy as much of the proposed build and was at $2500 without the sound card (I checked as you expressed a desire to stomp a mudhole in a similarly priced Alienware).

 

[myers0819]

This is fantastic. I plan on running windows 7 as my OS and I forgot to pick out a drive. I'm not sure if I need blue ray since most media is streaming or digitally delivered these days but I suppose I might need something pretty high end or at least good enough to install my OS.

I also read that I should have a both SSD and HDD. I'm just curious as to why? Ive been gaming on my laptop for a while so this info is kinda new to me.

I really appreciate the help and I will go through this list and see if i can find it cheaper or if any adjustments should be made. so far I've done all of my shopping on newegg.com. Thanks again and feel free to give me any other feedback.

 

[myers0819]

I went ahead and played with the customizer at Alienware to try to copy as much of the proposed build and was at $2500 without the sound card (I checked as you expressed a desire to stomp a mudhole in a similarly priced Alienware).

yeah i came up with about the same.

 

[DSzymborski]

This is fantastic. I plan on running windows 7 as my OS and I forgot to pick out a drive. I'm not sure if I need blue ray since most media is streaming or digitally delivered these days but I suppose I might need something pretty high end or at least good enough to install my OS.

I also read that I should have a both SSD and HDD. I'm just curious as to why? Ive been gaming on my laptop for a while so this info is kinda new to me.

I really appreciate the help and I will go through this list and see if i can find it cheaper or if any adjustments should be made. so far I've done all of my shopping on newegg.com. Thanks again and feel free to give me any other feedback.

With your budget, the SSD/HDD combo is ideal. The SSD is much faster than your hard drive. You load Windows on the SSD and you boot up in 10-15 seconds. Stick your most used applications on the SSD and you'll be floored by the improvement in startup and load times. I've never encountered a reaction from someone that got their first SSD that *wasn't* HOLY @#%#% I'M NEVER NOT USING AN SSD AGAIN. That was mine the first time.

Your hard drive is slower, but much bigger. You use that for less-often used programs and for your general storage, stashing away your pictures and music files and videos. You can obviously get a much bigger than 1 TB hard drive (I don't know your storage needs).

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Hopefully someone else will pop in and give you second opinions. I'll try to keep up on the thread, but if you aren't getting a question answered, feel free to hit me up on Twitter (same username) - I travel a lot for work and I can sometimes miss a reply.

 

[myers0819]

Well I really appreciate it. seems like I've been missing out on places to shop too. I was told that newegg was the only place to shop if you want to build a system. Most of the parts are about the same price but a few are either cheaper or more expensive than the sites you have listed.

As far as GPU's, would it be a good idea to grab two less capable ones for cheaper. my budget is 2k but if I can go cheaper for similar performance, i will.

I'm also curious about SSD's and read write processes and the need to replace the drive. I've read that they are limited in that way (at least the ones we use here at work in our thin clients are) and I'd rather not have to replace them very often.

I'm also curious about liquid cooling. I'm under the impression that they are quieter and far more efficient than traditional fans. Your two cents would be much appreciated.

And thanks again for the help. I cant believe I forgot the pick out an optical drive...

 

[CianDeely]

Your OP said you were going to buy a coolermaster PSU, stay away from them, they are very bad PSUs and very prone to dying, and when they die, they can take other PC parts with them.
Buy a decent Corsair or Seasonic, much better and safer PCUs.

 

[DSzymborski]

Your OP said you were going to buy a coolermaster PSU, stay away from them, they are very bad PSUs and very prone to dying, and when they die, they can take other PC parts with them.
Buy a decent Corsair or Seasonic, much better and safer PCUs.

That's one of the new V series, which are made by SeaSonic. Cooler Master's apparently getting their @#$% together when it comes to PSU's - the 1000W V Series had JonnyGuru drooling (got a 9.7).

 

[DSzymborski]

Well I really appreciate it. seems like I've been missing out on places to shop too. I was told that newegg was the only place to shop if you want to build a system. Most of the parts are about the same price but a few are either cheaper or more expensive than the sites you have listed.

As far as GPU's, would it be a good idea to grab two less capable ones for cheaper. my budget is 2k but if I can go cheaper for similar performance, i will.

I'm also curious about SSD's and read write processes and the need to replace the drive. I've read that they are limited in that way (at least the ones we use here at work in our thin clients are) and I'd rather not have to replace them very often.

I'm also curious about liquid cooling. I'm under the impression that they are quieter and far more efficient than traditional fans. Your two cents would be much appreciated.

And thanks again for the help. I cant believe I forgot the pick out an optical drive...

Closed loop coolers are getting better and better recommendations, but unless you're going in for some serious overlocking, a rock-solid air cooler is still an easy recommendation. Custom liquid cooling is the best, but it's also fairly tricky and I wouldn't recommend it until you have a bunch of builds under your belt. It's a tradeoff - you can get a Corsair H100i (if you want a closed loop cooler, that's a strong one) and add a better fan (H100i at max is quite loud) but by then you're talking $100-$120 for a few extra degrees and probably sacrificing a GPU elsewhere.

Generally speaking single GPU solutions are still better than multi GPU solutions. Nvidia's SLI is a bit ahead of AMD Crossfire, but even though they're much better than in the past, you still occasionally have to deal with micro-stuttering and programs that are poorly equipped to deal with multiple GPUs. The 780 is the best non-Titan available and what I recommend right now in any 2K gaming rig.

SSD's do have a limited number of writes, but the lifetime of good SSDs (and the Samsung 840 Pros are good ones) are now just as long as traditional hard drives. The difference is in this case, your SSD will monitor the writes over the years and let you know where you stand while your hard drive's possible future failure will tend to be a physical issue that'll warn you with clicks of death.

Here's an SSD lifespan article for you to read if you're curious. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6459/samsung-ssd-840-testing-the-endurance-of-tlc-nand

 

[myers0819]

Thanks. I'll give it a read. I appreciate all the help.

 

[myers0819]

I'll look into it. I make sure I do plenty of research before buying anything. Thanks for the info.

 

[myers0819]

Another question. Now that I have a good idea about what I need, I'm trying to cut back on cost. My question is: would it be more cost effective to run two good AMD cards in Crossfire with better overall performance and frame rate or just keep the top of the line Geforce card? I understand the short comings of Crossfire but it seems like i can get an AMD Radeon HD 7950 for half the price of the GeForce GTX 780. any input would be much appreciated.

 

[Axzevos]

Well, I would go for this:

Specs:
XFX ProSeries Core Edition 650W PSU
Intel® Core i7-4770 Processor
Gainward GeForce GTX 770 2GB PhysX CUDA
MSI B85M-G43, Socket-1150
Kingston DDR3 HyperX blu 1600MHz 16GB
SSD: Samsung SSD 840 Series 250GB
HDD: WD Desktop Green 1TB