Recent PC gaming convert.....first build......does this work? Please help.

[C_Swagger]

Hello all,

Long time reader, second time poster.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to purchase the build below this weekend (after much deliberation and research). I just want a confirmation on the type of performance to expect. Would I be able to play whatever I want at 1920x1200 with this setup with out any frame rate issues for the foreseeable future? If not, could you make any suggestions as to what I would need? Or let me know if I am wasting money anywhere?

My budget is $2,500 but I still don't like to waste money if it can be avoided.

I do some light video editing work also in Vegas.

I will be overclocking.

Here's the build:


CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($107.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($212.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($649.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper ATX Full Tower Case ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($215.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($56.23 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $2143.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-29 15:37 EDT-0400)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Havoc2510]

You said you do light editing in Vegas, which may make the 4770k a worth it purchase but for gaming all you need is a i5 4670k. It's up to you whether the editing you do justifies the price jump upto an i7.

In terms of compatibility, at first glance it all looks compatible and powerful, but I wouldn't get Windows 8 as it is such a new OS many programs aren't designed for W8 use. I would personally get Win 7, and that may save you a bit of money as well. The RAM is a bit overkill as well, there isn't really any reason to get RAM higher than 1600MHz, and that would also save you some money. Apart from that, looks like a solid build . Ultimately, it is your decision what you want in your build, but personally I would get 1600MHz RAM, i5 4670k and W7 and save some money

Hope this helps

EDIT: Also, I would personally not get a liquid cooler for your CPU as there is more to go wrong and wreck the system (if worst came to worst). You normally won't notice a CPU overclock at all, so I would get a CM Hyper 212 Evo (air cooler), and save some money there also. And yeah, that build is beast, with the 780 you should get infinite FPS so no issues there

 

[bigshootr8]

Okay so I've gone through and made some changes to not only cheapen your build a little bit more but also perhaps improve it for your needs.

CPU: You don't need a i7 to do hardcore gaming even a 780. A 4670k will suffice for your needs.
RAM: I went a low profile kit just in the even that you needed room for a large air cooler in the future the kit you had before left you with only one option water cooling.
Motherboard: I went with a combo with the i5 mainly because their isn't a huge difference performance wise from one motherboard to the next most of the responsibilities are on the cpu now.
Optical Drive: For 2 dollars more you get the ability to write blu ray versus just read. I thought this was just a no brainer in the even that you ever needed to. Furthermore I can't stress this enough IF you intend to watch Blu rays you WILL need blu ray playback software and I would suggest PowerDVD its the best you'll find. You can normally find promo's online to find it a little cheaper. http://www.cyberlink.com/index_en_US.html?r=1
PSU: I felt you were overshooting a little bit on the PSU a 850w will do just fine and you save a little in the process.
OS: I went with Windows 7 instead why? less of a hassle. Less compatibility issues, more user friendly.



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($107.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($212.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($649.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper ATX Full Tower Case ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($156.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1903.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-29 16:08 EDT-0400)

 

[bigshootr8]

You said you do light editing in Vegas, which may make the 4770k a worth it purchase but for gaming all you need is a i5 4670k. It's up to you whether the editing you do justifies the price jump upto an i7.

In terms of compatibility, at first glance it all looks compatible and powerful, but I wouldn't get Windows 8 as it is such a new OS many programs aren't designed for W8 use. I would personally get Win 7, and that may save you a bit of money as well. The RAM is a bit overkill as well, there isn't really any reason to get RAM higher than 1600MHz, and that would also save you some money. Apart from that, looks like a solid build . Ultimately, it is your decision what you want in your build, but personally I would get 1600MHz RAM, i5 4670k and W7 and save some money

Hope this helps

EDIT: Also, I would personally not get a liquid cooler for your CPU as there is more to go wrong and wreck the system (if worst came to worst). You normally won't notice a CPU overclock at all, so I would get a CM Hyper 212 Evo (air cooler), and save some money there also. And yeah, that build is beast, with the 780 you should get infinite FPS so no issues there

^I agree with the i7 justification its really up to you whether you feel you do enough professional work to justify the extra cost.

In terms of the cooling the closed loop coolers are fine their isn't a risk of them leaking or anything like that. I will say though that in general the haswell chips have been running a little hotter and for what you are putting in your case a EVO is not worth it. IF you go with a air cooler the Noctua NH-D14 may be an option for you. If you stick with your plan for the closed loop cooler you may want to replace the fans with performance 140 fans the fans that come with those coolers are junk.

 

[C_Swagger]

You said you do light editing in Vegas, which may make the 4770k a worth it purchase but for gaming all you need is a i5 4670k. It's up to you whether the editing you do justifies the price jump upto an i7.

In terms of compatibility, at first glance it all looks compatible and powerful, but I wouldn't get Windows 8 as it is such a new OS many programs aren't designed for W8 use. I would personally get Win 7, and that may save you a bit of money as well. The RAM is a bit overkill as well, there isn't really any reason to get RAM higher than 1600MHz, and that would also save you some money. Apart from that, looks like a solid build . Ultimately, it is your decision what you want in your build, but personally I would get 1600MHz RAM, i5 4670k and W7 and save some money

Hope this helps

EDIT: Also, I would personally not get a liquid cooler for your CPU as there is more to go wrong and wreck the system (if worst came to worst). You normally won't notice a CPU overclock at all, so I would get a CM Hyper 212 Evo (air cooler), and save some money there also. And yeah, that build is beast, with the 780 you should get infinite FPS so no issues there

Thanks for your help. I think I will take your advice on Windows 7 and the ram. Are you suggesting that I don't overclock at all? Not even the conservative OC genie one? Or would the performance gain be too miniscule?

Thanks again.

 

[bigshootr8]

No I would say its fine for you to overclock. I would never suggest using the default auto overclocks that boards set you up with. Mainly because they set you up with voltages that are a bit high to achieve that overclock and its better for you to find the appropriate voltages for your overclock. Performance could be small could be large all depends on how much of an increase you intend to make.

 

[C_Swagger]

You said you do light editing in Vegas, which may make the 4770k a worth it purchase but for gaming all you need is a i5 4670k. It's up to you whether the editing you do justifies the price jump upto an i7.

In terms of compatibility, at first glance it all looks compatible and powerful, but I wouldn't get Windows 8 as it is such a new OS many programs aren't designed for W8 use. I would personally get Win 7, and that may save you a bit of money as well. The RAM is a bit overkill as well, there isn't really any reason to get RAM higher than 1600MHz, and that would also save you some money. Apart from that, looks like a solid build . Ultimately, it is your decision what you want in your build, but personally I would get 1600MHz RAM, i5 4670k and W7 and save some money

Hope this helps

EDIT: Also, I would personally not get a liquid cooler for your CPU as there is more to go wrong and wreck the system (if worst came to worst). You normally won't notice a CPU overclock at all, so I would get a CM Hyper 212 Evo (air cooler), and save some money there also. And yeah, that build is beast, with the 780 you should get infinite FPS so no issues there

^I agree with the i7 justification its really up to you whether you feel you do enough professional work to justify the extra cost.

In terms of the cooling the closed loop coolers are fine their isn't a risk of them leaking or anything like that. I will say though that in general the haswell chips have been running a little hotter and for what you are putting in your case a EVO is not worth it. IF you go with a air cooler the Noctua NH-D14 may be an option for you. If you stick with your plan for the closed loop cooler you may want to replace the fans with performance 140 fans the fans that come with those coolers are junk.

Thanks for all your input. Yes I have Noctua NF-A14 FLX 140mm in my line to attach the Kraken X60 if I decide to go that route. Would those work?

 

[Havoc2510]

No problem, and yes, in my opinion the performance gain from an overclock doesn't really justify the need for a much better cooler, although a small overclock will normally be fine. I have an i5 3570k overclocked to 4GHz, and haven't noticed any difference at all from the stock clock but if you want to just don't go crazy. I think that a 4770k is fine on the stock clock, and if you really have your mind set on overclocking then a Hyper 212 or Noctua as bigshootr8 said will see you to the 4GHz mark.

One other point is that I wouldn't use overclock software, but manually OC in the BIOS. Hope this helps

 

[bigshootr8]

I would pick these up instead personally. And soon since they are on sale. Reason why? Well the FLX version of the 140mm fan from what I've heard has 120mm mountings but 140mm fans. So with your X60 you will wan't 140mm mountings.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AED7XFI/?tag=pcpapi-20

I have a 2500k overclocked to 4.2 and I notice a little bit here and there but not a ton. Where it will help is with graphic cards bottle necking but at this point and with that processor it wont happen. In cpu intensive tasks for example if you were to play a cpu intensive game we will use WoW as an example it may be noticeable how much hard to say.

For a performance oriented system I would never ever throw in a stock cooler unless I was awaiting a replacement cooler. Your computer deserves to run cooler and more efficiently then a stock cooler that will keep your computer running okay at stock.

 

[C_Swagger]

No problem, and yes, in my opinion the performance gain from an overclock doesn't really justify the need for a much better cooler, although a small overclock will normally be fine. I have an i5 3570k overclocked to 4GHz, and haven't noticed any difference at all from the stock clock but if you want to just don't go crazy. I think that a 4770k is fine on the stock clock, and if you really have your mind set on overclocking then a Hyper 212 or Noctua as bigshootr8 said will see you to the 4GHz mark.

One other point is that I wouldn't use overclock software, but manually OC in the BIOS. Hope this helps

I would pick these up instead personally. And soon since they are on sale. Reason why? Well the FLX version of the 140mm fan from what I've heard has 120mm mountings but 140mm fans. So with your X60 you will wan't 140mm mountings.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AED7XFI/?tag=pcpapi-20

I have a 2500k overclocked to 4.2 and I notice a little bit here and there but not a ton. Where it will help is with graphic cards bottle necking but at this point and with that processor it wont happen. In cpu intensive tasks for example if you were to play a cpu intensive game we will use WoW as an example it may be noticeable how much hard to say.

For a performance oriented system I would never ever throw in a stock cooler unless I was awaiting a replacement cooler. Your computer deserves to run cooler and more efficiently then a stock cooler that will keep your computer running okay at stock.

It helped a lot. Thanks!

 

[C_Swagger]

I would pick these up instead personally. And soon since they are on sale. Reason why? Well the FLX version of the 140mm fan from what I've heard has 120mm mountings but 140mm fans. So with your X60 you will wan't 140mm mountings.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AED7XFI/?tag=pcpapi-20

I have a 2500k overclocked to 4.2 and I notice a little bit here and there but not a ton. Where it will help is with graphic cards bottle necking but at this point and with that processor it wont happen. In cpu intensive tasks for example if you were to play a cpu intensive game we will use WoW as an example it may be noticeable how much hard to say.

For a performance oriented system I would never ever throw in a stock cooler unless I was awaiting a replacement cooler. Your computer deserves to run cooler and more efficiently then a stock cooler that will keep your computer running okay at stock.

Wow I didn't notice that about the fans at all. Thanks, I'll pick those up now. I understand what you're saying, I'll stay with the Kraken and be "flexible" OC wise. I'm way under budget so I can take that hit. Thanks for your help.

 

[bigshootr8]

I would pick these up instead personally. And soon since they are on sale. Reason why? Well the FLX version of the 140mm fan from what I've heard has 120mm mountings but 140mm fans. So with your X60 you will wan't 140mm mountings.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AED7XFI/?tag=pcpapi-20

I have a 2500k overclocked to 4.2 and I notice a little bit here and there but not a ton. Where it will help is with graphic cards bottle necking but at this point and with that processor it wont happen. In cpu intensive tasks for example if you were to play a cpu intensive game we will use WoW as an example it may be noticeable how much hard to say.

For a performance oriented system I would never ever throw in a stock cooler unless I was awaiting a replacement cooler. Your computer deserves to run cooler and more efficiently then a stock cooler that will keep your computer running okay at stock.

Wow I didn't notice that about the fans at all. Thanks, I'll pick those up now. I understand what you're saying, I'll stay with the Kraken and be "flexible" OC wise. I'm way under budget so I can take that hit. Thanks for your help.

Not a problem enjoy the extra money

 

[Havoc2510]

Oh, one other point is you are probably gonna want a mechanical HDD for mass data storage as well as the SSD for the OS. Games take up huge amounts of space, and that SSD would run out in no time! I'd look at a 2TB Seagate Barracude 7200.14 for the game and video edit storage

 

[C_Swagger]

OH Crap I forgot. One more question!! I plan to use this machine on a 60hz refersh rate Samsung LCD via hdmi, if this pc is running games at 120mhz + will that cause complications with the monitor? Do I need to be looking to upgrade that also?

I apologize if this is an astonishingly stupid question, I'm new to this.

 

[bigshootr8]

Oh, one other point is you are probably gonna want a mechanical HDD for mass data storage as well as the SSD for the OS. Games take up huge amounts of space, and that SSD would run out in no time! I'd look at a 2TB Seagate Barracude 7200.14 for the game and video edit storage

I included that in my build a 1 TB Seagate drive. I have a 1 TB WD Black seems to be enough for me but if you need more you can get a larger drive certainly.

 

[C_Swagger]

Oh, one other point is you are probably gonna want a mechanical HDD for mass data storage as well as the SSD for the OS. Games take up huge amounts of space, and that SSD would run out in no time! I'd look at a 2TB Seagate Barracude 7200.14 for the game and video edit storage

Yes I just realized that. I will add one. Could you also look at my question above, completely forgot about that.

 

[bigshootr8]

OH Crap I forgot. One more question!! I plan to use this machine on a 60hz refersh rate Samsung LCD via hdmi, if this pc is running games at 120mhz + will that cause complications with the monitor? Do I need to be looking to upgrade that also?

I apologize if this is an astonishingly stupid question, I'm new to this.

You won't run on 120hz unless you have a 120hz screen otherwise it will be defaulted to 60hz. You will need a 120hz screen to do 120hz.

 

[C_Swagger]

Oh, one other point is you are probably gonna want a mechanical HDD for mass data storage as well as the SSD for the OS. Games take up huge amounts of space, and that SSD would run out in no time! I'd look at a 2TB Seagate Barracude 7200.14 for the game and video edit storage

I included that in my build a 1 TB Seagate drive. I have a 1 TB WD Black seems to be enough for me but if you need more you can get a larger drive certainly.

1TB will do me just fine. Could you also look at my monitor question? I completely forgot.

 

[C_Swagger]

OH Crap I forgot. One more question!! I plan to use this machine on a 60hz refersh rate Samsung LCD via hdmi, if this pc is running games at 120mhz + will that cause complications with the monitor? Do I need to be looking to upgrade that also?

I apologize if this is an astonishingly stupid question, I'm new to this.

You won't run on 120hz unless you have a 120hz screen otherwise it will be defaulted to 60hz. You will need a 120hz screen to do 120hz.

Understood. That upgrade will come a little later.