How does my rig compare? Price seems a little low...

[jmchapel]

So I'm in the midst of ordering and selecting parts for my new gaming/video editing computer and am noticing the price does not compare to other threads claiming their super gaming rigs are costing $3K+. I felt like I selected good quality components, but perhaps I am mistaken, the entire rig is only costing me $1386, perhaps I'm missing something? Check it out...

Azza Genesis 9000 Computer Case - $149.99
NZXT Sentry Fan Controller - $24.99
MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming Motherboard - $187.99
CORSAIR AXi AX1200i 1200W Digital ATX12V v2.31 (Power Supply) - $329.99
Intel Core i7-4771 Haswell 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1150 - $319.99
CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 Desktop Memory - $224.99
Windows 7 64 Bit - $139.99
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - $8.99

I already have 5 HDD's and a graphics card, if you see anything I'm missing let me know, and if you would recommend replacing one of my products with something else let me know. Appreciate any advice.


Regards
Mike

 

[tiny voices]

What GPU do you have? This is the most important part for gaming.

 

[jmchapel]

What GPU do you have? This is the most important part for gaming.

I've got an MSI GTX 780 Lightning already on me, I read the 780s are actually better than the Titans? Not sure if its true, just a few things I had read about it.

 

[tiny voices]

Well the PSU is 2x overkill. A 750w would be more than enough.

You can ditch the thermal paste. The stock cpu cooler will come with it.

 

[jmchapel]

Well the PSU is 2x overkill. A 750w would be more than enough.

You can ditch the thermal paste. The stock cpu cooler will come with it.

Ok cool, thanks for the heads up about the paste...as for the PSU I figured better to have and not need than need and not have, but if I'm only going to be needing 750 then its just a waste of money to get the 1200. Do you think a 750 will still be fine if I decide to upgrade to 2x780 Lightnings with SLI sometime down the road?

 

[tiny voices]

No, you would want 850w if you want to SLI 780s

 

[mc962]

I havent heard wonderful things about the stock paste, but obviously it will work or intel wouldnt be selling it. If you want other stuff you can get something for $5-10.

I also might recommend the regular GD65 over the gaming version; I was looking at that version when I was shopping around for parts and I felt that it didn't really give me much that I really needed for the added price, but again it's your decision, there is nothing wrong with the gaming version. If you are nervous about the 750 w psu, there is an 860w version that I think should be fine for just about any 2 cards you plan on.

About the psu, I forget the exact fact stating it but I remember something about it being more efficient when you are using a certain amount of the psu's capacity (so like using 50% of an 800w psu would be better than using 5% of a 1200W psu). But regardless, I don't think you'll need more than the 860 w version for only 2 cards. You also don't need the i version unless you are interested in the poer monitoring features it has and want to spend money on that, the regular non-i version works just as well.

 

[jmchapel]

I havent heard wonderful things about the stock paste, but obviously it will work or intel wouldnt be selling it. If you want other stuff you can get something for $5-10.

I also might recommend the regular GD65 over the gaming version; I was looking at that version when I was shopping around for parts and I felt that it didn't really give me much that I really needed for the added price, but again it's your decision, there is nothing wrong with the gaming version. If you are nervous about the 750 w psu, there is an 860w version that I think should be fine for just about any 2 cards you plan on.

About the psu, I forget the exact fact stating it but I remember something about it being more efficient when you are using a certain amount of the psu's capacity (so like using 50% of an 800w psu would be better than using 5% of a 1200W psu). But regardless, I don't think you'll need more than the 860 w version for only 2 cards. You also don't need the i version unless you are interested in the poer monitoring features it has and want to spend money on that, the regular non-i version works just as well.

Good to know about the PSU usage capacity, I'll have to research into why thats the case but good to know, thanks...yeah I hadn't done much research into the PSU's like I did with all the other components so when choosing I just went for the top of the line model but I will definitely throttle the wattage back a bit.

 

[mc962]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/323755-28-higher-power-supply-wattage-electricity

I think this topic talked about it a bit, or you could wait for those that know more to comment. Regardless, not buying the biggest one you could find is definitely the best choice. I see it like getting a nuclear reactor to power your house (just yours): sure it would do it just fine, but it's overkill, expensive, and wasteful