High End Gaming Build - need assistance please ($2,500 budget)

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C_Swagger

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Hi Guys, I have recently converted to PC gaming from the land of consoles and am now looking to put together my first build. I have pretty diverse tastes when it comes to gaming and would simply like enough juice to play anything I want at 1920x1200 at consistent and smooth fps. I have done quite a bit of research and have settled on the build in the link below. I would just like some people in the know (you guys) to look over it and let me know if any parts in the list are over the top or would just be excessive. My budget is relatively high but I would still prefer to not be wasteful. As far as time table to purchase goes, probably this weekend if I can solidify this list. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1uy8k

Also, I went with the 1050W PSU because I plan to SLI in the future, just not initially. But if it is still excessive please let me know.

Don't bump posts. - G
 
RazerZ

RazerZ

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Here is a build that saves you $355. There were some parts in which you over paid for so I switched those out for well known parts and came up with this final build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($188.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($215.99 @ Mac Mall)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 250GB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive ($93.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($613.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF XM (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1050W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($56.23 @ Amazon)
Total: $1932.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-22 16:14 EDT-0400)
 
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C_Swagger

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Aug 22, 2013
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Holy crap, yes you did. I think I will incorporate most of these changes. Do I lose anything performance wise by using that Velociraptor over an SSD?

Will the 1050W PSU handle two GTX 780's in SLI?

Thanks again
 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($212.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($659.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($144.49 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($56.23 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1907.60
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-22 16:04 EDT-0400)


^Similiar to Razer however I changed a few things. I stuck with your case because that was a personal choice item and if that's what you want I wont dissuade you. I also didn't change your blu ray drive reason being is LG makes lousy blu ray drives mine lasted a good year and poof gone LG makes good value oriented product but nothing you should expect to last. I was also fine with your video card choice EVGA is probably the brand to get for reliability, service, and warranty.

Things I changed:

Ram: You are fine with 8 gigabytes of memory right now. At this point in time memory isn't a huge player in terms of performance. I found this kit on sale for a really good price.

Fans/cooling: I went with the h100i much like razer. However along with that I've added 2x Noctua NF-12's you have a large budget and premium fans should be a must with that kind of budget and a closed loop water cooler. The fans that normally come with the coolers are garbage so I would advise that.

Mobo: I went with a combo deal with the GD65 from MSi. Its a very highly regarded motherboard and comes in a combo with the CPU. Beyond a GD65 you'll see that your value goes way down. A lot of the core things that a motherboard used to take care of the CPU does now.

PSU/Graphics: I went with a lower wattage unit but a high efficiency unit still nonetheless. I believe for what you are doing 1 graphics card is more then sufficient and for high end gaming a GTX780 should be all one would need on a single display. However, if you run off and purchase more displays then yes consider SLi.

Optical Drive: Not so much a change but a comment if you intend on watching blu ray content you may want to pick up playback software. The best out there is PowerDVD by far I believe v13 is the version they are on now the newest one includes 4k support blu ray 3d all sorts of crazy stuff.

OS: From a technical standpoint windows 7 is still the superior gamers OS. Its easier to deal with games work on its a little cheaper overall a better deal in my opinion but if you go with 8 I won't push you one way or the other.
 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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No matter what hard drive you are using now a good SSD will smoke it without question.
 
RazerZ

RazerZ

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Nope, infact you gain performance :D, and yes the 1050W PSU should do just fine. Also I changed my optical drive to a better one, and updated my last post :).

 
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C_Swagger

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Aug 22, 2013
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Bigshootr8, thanks for this. I was really leaning to an MSI board during my research, they seemed to get consistently great professional reviews but a lot of user reviews would just dump on MSI as a company andthis eventually scared me away for no particular reason I guess. Do you know why there is a seemingly negative opinion towards MSI?

Also, I read your opinion of the case as "I hate your case, but if it floats your boat, go for it". Is that right? I like it aesthetically and the reviews weren't bad. Do you have a suggestion in mind. I really am open.

Thanks again
 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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A SSD will destroy a 10k RPM velociraptor. I'm not the argumentative type but you are wrong with the storage solution.
 
RazerZ

RazerZ

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Hmm seems like your right, I thought it was better but couldn't find the read/write cache.
 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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mechanical drives are going to start drifting away I would say at some point. SSD's are just too fast. I would only get a hard drive for storage.
 
RazerZ

RazerZ

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Took everyone's advice and here's the final build I came up with:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($188.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($164.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($215.99 @ Mac Mall)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($613.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF XM (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1050W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $2005.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-22 16:33 EDT-0400)

 
C

C_Swagger

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Aug 22, 2013
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Bigshootr8, thanks for your help. I was really leaning to an MSI board during my research, they seemed to get consistently great professional reviews but a lot of user reviews would just dump on MSI as a company andthis eventually scared me away for no particular reason I guess. Do you know why there is a seemingly negative opinion towards MSI?

Also, I read your opinion of the case as "I hate your case, but if it floats your boat, go for it". Is that right? I like it aesthetically and the reviews weren't bad. Do you have a suggestion in mind. I really am open.

RazerZ, thanks also. The original graphics card I had was actually the GTX 780 SuperClocked w/ ACX cooling edition. PCPart Picker does not have it labeled accurately but the SKU they list matches up. Would this make you change your mind at all? I there a big enough performance improvement to justify the price?
 
g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
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That actually isn't saving you money when you're overpaying for the hard drive, CPU, and RAM when you don't need any of these things. You also do not need 2133 for an Intel build as it will void your warranty if something goes wrong with your CPU. You only need high speed RAM if you're using onboard video. Most motherboards don't support speeds this high anyways. I would do this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($107.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($108.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($207.04 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1820.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-22 16:41 EDT-0400)

That is how you save money on a gaming rig and get a better GPU setup out of it. The i7, 16GB high speed RAM, ridiculously overpriced storage - none of these things are essential to a gaming rig. Well maybe the storage but 4TB is massive overkill.
 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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Mar 28, 2011
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Change the SSD to the samsung 840 pro. The flash in the sandisk isn't nearly as good. Also, change the brand on the graphics card PNY isn't the best manufacture company with Nvidia cards EVGA, and ASUS more so then the rest. Also, were you meaning to go with multiple screens otherwise you don't have to go as heavy on the power supply. And remember with the blu ray drive you'll need software to either burn, and or play video playback.
 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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Mar 28, 2011
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I stuck with your case because its something you are going to look at so for me it wouldn't be for me to say what to get. It's a case that is more then 20 dollars so the quality will be there most certainly would I personally get the case probably not but you like it so I didn't see the need to change it :) Just letting you do your think man.

You know I've had a few MSI boards I haven't had the same issues. But at the same time I would say that normally lower end boards probably have a higher rate of returns. And I'll also tell you with Gigabyte they deal with a lot of returns to and take a very long time on turn around. They told me with my Gigabyte 670 that it would take 4 weeks to get my card back after they received it and I've heard others have similiar stories with there motherboards thus I stay far away from them. I would either pick ASUS or MSI personally. MSI because there GD series of boards have been doing really well and ASUS because they have a pretty high grade of quality on there boards.

I think you are fine with your original choice with the EVGA card. I would get the 2 fan solution with them just strictly because its going to be the best air cooled solution with them. And as they may not be the best company for lowest temps but reliability you get a little bit of both worlds. Is there a big difference with pre overclocked cards not really. The main difference is that its spec'd to run at that speed where other cards may not be guaranteed to be there. If there latest cooler is only available with the superclocked card I would have no issue with it I'd say it's worth it.
 
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C_Swagger

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Aug 22, 2013
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Thanks. During my research, I read somewhere that future PC games will be making use of the hyperthreading technology in the i7 processors which is why I made that call. Is that just a bunch of BS or is there credence to that? I know exactly nothing so I was just going with what I read in an effort to "future proof".
 
C

C_Swagger

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Not planning to game across two screens, no, but I will have two connected. Game on one, have a browser/news, or whatever else on the other while gaming. That kind of thing.

 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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After reading a few johnny guru reviews with EVGA I would say its safe to say you can do better. And if he isn't out spanning a surround gaming setup with 3+ displays a single GTX780 is more then enough.
 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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I'd still stick with a single card and a lower watt high efficient power supply. How I approach it. I just prefer 1 card for stability and performance better value if you ask me. Essentially I'm saying get a GTX780 and by the time you will need more performance get the best single card you can buy its easier and just more convenient. 2 cards looks cool but doesn't always do as well as it looks.

Graphic cards for ultra settings
what resolution are you running at 1920x1200
single card
1 screen: 1 card
2 screen: 1 card (normally what you said you are doing one for general use other for gaming)
3+screen: 2 cards.

 
bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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some games it may help others it may not I would say its a mixed bag.
 
g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Thanks. During my research, I read somewhere that future PC games will be making use of the hyperthreading technology in the i7 processors which is why I made that call. Is that just a bunch of BS or is there credence to that? I know exactly nothing so I was just going with what I read in an effort to "future proof".
Click to expand...

They might but there's very few, if any games now that do. The software is always going to be generations behind the hardware and that's inevitable.
 
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