My GAMING & EDITING BUILD! NEEED HELP!

[Griffin832]

Hello everyone. For the last 3 weeks I have been spending 8+ hours on the computer almost everyday, intently researching all about computers. I know probably twenty times more about computers than I did before thanks to different trusted websites, as well as this one. Now, I have put together a build that I need YOUR help with. This build is going to be primarily for gaming and multimedia, but occasionally I will be doing photo editing, video editing and rendering, as well as programming and developing applications. I will be using 2 monitors (One for gaming, the other for multitasking purposes) at 1080p. For gaming, I would like this PC to take almost any game (INCLUDING CRISIS! ME WANT CRISIS!) and be able to play it at 60+ FPS with MAX (Or at least Ultra) settings. Please review this build, if there is anything you think I should change, PLEASE let me know. If you don't like the entire thing, put together your own config, and tell me why you didn't like it. I NEED HELP selecting 2 GPU's (SLI/CROSSFIRE), a GOOD case that I will possibly do watercooling with in the future, and the best case upgrade fans and THERMAL PASTE!

Thanks so much!!!!!!!!

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1kuXP

 

[luckiest charm]

You still have to learn a lot about computers. I am not kidding here.

Biggest change - Add a video card. Without that, it doesn't matter what CPU you have got, you would not be able to game properly. It would all go waste.

Let me change the build and adjust stuff (In other words tone down super expensive motherboard, etc) -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($5.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($209.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Desktop HDD 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($171.97 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.74 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($250.52 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($250.52 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch Speakers ($89.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $3018.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-25 10:58 EDT-0400)

This is a much much much better build.
I added Dual SLI of GTX 770 which would give you more power than a GTX 690 (Video Card King) and would literally max out all the games you would ever want to play (Alright, not Crysis 3 on Ultra, but on Very high, that game can not be maxed out even on the most expensive PC money can buy).

I toned down your super expensive motherboard, PSU, etc which were definitely not needed for any reason at all along with a few big changes. You do not need a sound card by the way unless you are an audio enthusiast or have anything related to studio quality sound. You would not even be able to distinguish the difference with a sound card or without it.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

That's just overkill. No point in your second screen being anything special, except good colour reproduction. Little point above 8GB, 4670K, or pretty much everything else in your build.

A 770 could probably max everything out at 1080p, and a 780 will trash most stuff at 2560x1440.

You should be spending a grand on screens before you resort to that kind of overkill.

Back soon with build at 1/2 the price.

 

[Griffin832]

You still have to learn a lot about computers. I am not kidding here.

Biggest change - Add a video card. Without that, it doesn't matter what CPU you have got, you would not be able to game properly. It would all go waste.

Let me change the build and adjust stuff (In other words tone down super expensive motherboard, etc) -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($5.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($209.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Desktop HDD 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($171.97 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.74 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($250.52 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($250.52 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch Speakers ($89.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $3018.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-25 10:58 EDT-0400)

This is a much much much better build.
I added Dual SLI of GTX 770 which would give you more power than a GTX 690 (Video Card King) and would literally max out all the games you would ever want to play (Alright, not Crysis 3 on Ultra, but on Very high).

I toned down your super expensive motherboard, PSU, etc which were definitely not needed for any reason at all along with a few big changes. You do not need a sound card by the way unless you are an audio enthusiast or have anything related to studio quality sound. You would not even be able to distinguish the difference with a sound card or without it.

Thank you very much! I don't know if you saw it, but lately I've been getting very mixed reviews about different video cards, so I just needed an opinion on which one to get. This helped a lot, and you saved me a lot of money!

 

[luckiest charm]

That's just overkill. No point in your second screen being anything special, except good colour reproduction. Little point above 8GB, 4670K, or pretty much everything else in your build.

A 770 could probably max everything out at 1080p, and a 780 will trash most stuff at 2560x1440.

You should be spending a grand on screens before you resort to that kind of overkill.

Back soon with build at 1/2 the price.

His monitor has 144 Hz refresh rate so he can surely take advantage of higher frame rates. You have to double the 'Max Out' thing here to see full smoothness in games which is monitors are capable of offering.

@Griffin - Anytime mate. This card combo is one of the very best and can give you almost 120+ FPS in all games with no troubles.

 

[Jonathan Sifleet]

Hello everyone. For the last 3 weeks I have been spending 8+ hours on the computer almost everyday, intently researching all about computers. I know probably twenty times more about computers than I did before thanks to different trusted websites, as well as this one. Now, I have put together a build that I need YOUR help with. This build is going to be primarily for gaming and multimedia, but occasionally I will be doing photo editing, video editing and rendering, as well as programming and developing applications. I will be using 2 monitors (One for gaming, the other for multitasking purposes) at 1080p. For gaming, I would like this PC to take almost any game (INCLUDING CRISIS! ME WANT CRISIS!) and be able to play it at 60+ FPS with MAX (Or at least Ultra) settings. Please review this build, if there is anything you think I should change, PLEASE let me know. If you don't like the entire thing, put together your own config, and tell me why you didn't like it. I NEED HELP selecting 2 GPU's (SLI/CROSSFIRE), a GOOD case that I will possibly do watercooling with in the future, and the best case upgrade fans and THERMAL PASTE!

Thanks so much!!!!!!!!

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1kuXP

That build, its hmm, "icky".

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1kvIL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1kvIL/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1kvIL/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($108.98 @ Amazon)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($5.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6/ac ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($208.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Plextor M5P Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX Titan 6GB Video Card ($999.99 @ NCIX US)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($41.98 @ Outlet PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC66 802.11b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($95.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Gaming 800W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Samsung S23A700D 120Hz 23.0" Monitor ($228.05 @ TigerDirect)
Monitor: Samsung S23A700D 120Hz 23.0" Monitor ($228.05 @ TigerDirect)
Keyboard: Razer Anansi Wired Gaming Keyboard ($81.57 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Razer Naga 2012 Wired Laser Mouse ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch Speakers ($89.99 @ Best Buy)
Other: RAIDMAX Agusta ATX-605BT ($69.99)
Total: $2968.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-25 11:06 EDT-0400)

 

[Someone Somewhere]

His monitor has 144 Hz refresh rate so he can surely take advantage of higher frame rates. You have to double the 'Max Out' thing here to see full smoothness in games which is monitors are capable of offering.

Why I didn't say you can do it with a 760.

 

[luckiest charm]

His monitor has 144 Hz refresh rate so he can surely take advantage of higher frame rates. You have to double the 'Max Out' thing here to see full smoothness in games which is monitors are capable of offering.

Why I didn't say you can do it with a 760.

Ah .. Well ..

http://media.bestofmicro.com/1/B/390143/original/crysis-avg.png

One more -

http://media.bestofmicro.com/1/2/390134/original/bf3-avg.png

Another one -

http://media.bestofmicro.com/1/5/390137/original/bioshock-avg.png

With the above benchmarks, frame time variance is not even listed.

Can't see the card hitting 120+ FPS on any of the modern games, even Battlefield 3.
Not even GTX 770 is able to deliver the performance which monitor is capable of utilizing.

If OP has the budget then why not? I know he wants 60+ FPS only but I believe that is only because he has not yet seen the smoothness of 120 Hz Monitor. Gaming at 120+ FPS on a capable monitor is delight and joy to see.

It comes at a price, but if one can afford stuff, then I wonder why not. If one's budget is high then it makes sense to give the heavenly performance.

@Jonathan - GTX Titan is just to SLI. A GTX 690 costs same and easily trumps the card. Two GTX 770s trump even that. Titan is not a wise choice here.

 

[Griffin832]

His monitor has 144 Hz refresh rate so he can surely take advantage of higher frame rates. You have to double the 'Max Out' thing here to see full smoothness in games which is monitors are capable of offering.

Why I didn't say you can do it with a 760.

Ah .. Well ..

http://media.bestofmicro.com/1/B/390143/original/crysis-avg.png

One more -

http://media.bestofmicro.com/1/2/390134/original/bf3-avg.png

Another one -

http://media.bestofmicro.com/1/5/390137/original/bioshock-avg.png

With the above benchmarks, frame time variance is not even listed.

Can't see the card hitting 120+ FPS on any of the modern games, even Battlefield 3.
Not even GTX 770 is able to deliver the performance which monitor is capable of utilizing.

If OP has the budget then why not? I know he wants 60+ FPS only but I believe that is only because he has not yet seen the smoothness of 120 Hz Monitor. Gaming at 120+ FPS on a capable monitor is delight and joy to see.

It comes at a price, but if one can afford stuff, then I wonder why not. If one's budget is high then it makes sense to give the heavenly performance.

@Jonathan - GTX Titan is just to SLI. A GTX 690 costs same and easily trumps the card. Two GTX 770s trump even that. Titan is not a wise choice here.

What if I used SLI 690?

 

[luckiest charm]

You would get the power of four GTX 680 (Previous generation strongest single GPU card from nVidia).

Insanely powerful setup. But would cost you $2000 for just the video cards. That would give you ridiculously high amount of frame rates which I believe are overkill. You would not need a dual GTX 690 setup. In fact there is no use of such tremendous amount of power aside from showing off to friends and to game at three full HD displays with everything on ultra on almost all games except Crysis 3.

Even a single GTX 690 would satisfy your needs easily. Its the ultimate gaming powerhouse and is full of raw power. Two of them would definitely be overkill, even for your monitors. To be able to utilize that much power you have to game at 5760 x 1080 on Ultra.

 

[Griffin832]

You would get the power of four GTX 680 (Previous generation strongest single GPU card from nVidia).

Insanely powerful setup. But would cost you $2000 for just the video cards. That would give you ridiculously high amount of frame rates which I believe are overkill. You would not need a dual GTX 690 setup. In fact there is no use of such tremendous amount of power aside from showing off to friends and to game at three full HD displays with everything on ultra on almost all games except Crysis 3.

Even a single GTX 690 would satisfy your needs easily. Its the ultimate gaming powerhouse and is full of raw power. Two of them would definitely be overkill, even for your monitors. To be able to utilize that much power you have to game at 5760 x 1080 on Ultra.

I am still really confused because I am getting mixed emotions about different video cards. What about SLI 780? I just dont know what video card to get.. Also, if I did want to game on three monitors...how much power would I need GPU wise to run Crisis 3 at Ultra or max settings?

 

[luckiest charm]

To get 60+ Constant FPS on Ultra on Crysis 3, you need a quad SLI of a card made by scientists of 2014.

The game is not well designed and so far no setup can give you that much power even if you throw in $100000. At the moment quad titan SLI is the very best money can buy and even it is not able to max it out. But it can give you more than 60 FPS easily on very high settings. I would not lie but there is no visible difference between Very high and Ultra.

I would highly suggest you to buy two GTX 770s and SLI them. They would cost you lesser than a single GTX 690 and would be stronger than it. Since they would be two individual cards, their performance would also not be decreased in any way. Highly recommended based on your budget.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Crysis 3 is just pointless to try and run at full. Ignore it for now.