My first build - Looking for opinions, ideas, and guesses at performance.

[JenNettles]

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/JenNettlse/saved/3csB
Not included:
1080p monitor
standard keyboard/mouse
750w PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate

What it will be used for:
- Gaming (Fully modded games like Skyrim or Minecraft. I'd like to get them looking as pretty as I can and be as expansive as I can. Also games like COD and Titanfall.)
- Streaming (to Twitch and Youtube simultaneously. I think it's more weighing on internet than it is PC, but it will be a use anyway)
- Recording (With Fraps, if that matters. May consider another recording device, but Fraps has treated me well and I own it. Would take recommendations, for sure)
- Rendering (With Sony Vegas. May eventually learn After Effects. Count Photoshop in here if you'd like, but I'm not too worried about it even on the junk i've got it on now)
- General computing (thus the 3tb drive)

Notes:
- I intend to overclock it when I figure out how to and what exactly it is. The extent of my knowledge is: It takes away from the general lifespan of the parts in return for more performance, but they usually live longer than they are useful anyway, so no big deal.
- The cooling concerns me a tiny bit. The guy who helped me out assured me that the cooler was more than enough (should be for the price), but I still wonder a bit.
- Noise is a big concern (for recording and streaming, of course)
- The Hitachi Travelstar 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive is going in my Playstation 3, not my PC.

Any feedback at all is appreciated. Looking for:
Opinions of parts and the overall build
Ideas for changes either to impact price or performance. Would like a nice balance
Guesses at performance. I don't know if it can handle what I need it to do. I can't imagine I'll get 30 frames recording a supercharged Skyrim while using Fraps
And maybe anything about it fitting in the case or not
Anything you think will be useful for me to know. Complete noob to this, learning as I research things.

 

[ssddx]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($318.98 @ Amazon)
since you want to video render, use photoshop and multi-task this is the correct cpu for you. since you want to overclock you are right in picking the K version.

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.95 @ Amazon)
this is one of the best (if not the best) air cooler. the only issue is that it is so honkin big! look at google photos if you dont believe me. if you dont mind an expanded budget you could get rid of that mess by using a 2x120 or 2x140 cpu cooler loop.

Thermal Compound: Masscool Stars-700 0.5g Thermal Paste ($1.99 @ Microcenter)
i personally prefer artic silver as its worked excellent for me but your choice. look at some performance charts of pastes.

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
z87 is what you want for overclocking. personally i would suggest something from asus's lineup however your choice.

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
is there a reason why you picked two sticks by themselves? you arent saving any money over buying a 2x8 set (you actually save $5 from buying the 2x8) please look at this http://pcpartpicker.com/part/mushkin-memory-997055 (mushkin makes some nice mem) or this http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml16gx3m2a1600c10r also please note the corsair vengeance you list has a high heat spreader so will clash with your nh-d14. you will want low height ram instead.

Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($144.98 @ SuperBiiz)
i would suggest getting a samsung 840evo, 840, 840pro or intel ssd instead. they are well known for reliability.

Storage: Hitachi Travelstar 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.95 @ Amazon)
you listed this as your ps3 drive so no comment.

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
one thing to keep in mind is that some of the larger hard drives have pretty high failure rates. i have some 2tb drives and they have died quite frequently. if you want large i would get wd caviar blacks for the 5 year warranty. or just go with multiple 1tb drives (which actually can benefit video editing by setting one as source, one as destination)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card ($699.99 @ Microcenter)
great card.

Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
there are some other options available that you might want to look into.

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
your choice.

Total: $2255.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-21 10:22 EST-0500)

 

[JenNettles]

I very much appreciate your input.

Is the cooler overkill? It is among my biggest concerns, so I'd like to be safe as I've never overclocked before and there's lots of money in this box, but if I can get away with a $20 fan and a $10 case fan instead and be safe, I'd like to.

The reason I picked them separately was I originally had 4x4, but wanted to keep some slots open in case I ever wanted to expand to 32gb. I can bundle them, no big deal. I'm not in love with the Corsair Vengeance either, it was just what I'd heard so much about. If you back Mushkin, would you advise Redline instead, as it may be overclocked?

3x 1tb drives would be a hard sell. I like the idea of it, but two of them is as much as the 3tb drive (probably for reason). I'll consider going with a Samsung Evo for the extra $50 at the same size.

Thank you for taking the time out.

 

[ssddx]

dont get me wrong... the cpu cooler does perform well. here is it in relation to a few cpu water cooling loops

keep in mind that not shown are the nzxt x60 (2x140mm rad) and the corsair h110 (2x140) along with the h100i (2x120) which perform better than the ones shown.

the reason why i say think about the nh-d14 is this..

this is the noctua nh-d14

this is it installed in a case

this is a nzxt x60
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

this is it installed

while costing more money for sure the cpu w/c loops take up much less space and locate it away from the motherboard. this allows for full height ram as well as more space to get in at things like motherboard located on/off buttons (for post testing, etc), in at your ram slots for adding more ram, and in some cases the big cooler interferes with pci slots meaning you might not be able to use them.

----

i would bundle them as 2x8 instead of seperate. you save a buck or two.

corsair vengeance is good ram. i do recommend it. i've used it before in other builds i made for other people and it is reliable. i personally use mushkin redline in my own machine. great stuff and it has been absolutely rock solid.

one thing you may want to think about is going with 1866mhz ram instead of 1600. slight performance increase in your pc across the board (not much perhaps 1-4%) but sometimes you can get it for the same price as 1600 when its on sale which makes it a no-brainer.

---

i know what you mean. honestly i hate to mention it however i'm now on my fourth 2tb hard drive which has failed. i bought two for raid 1 (data backup/mirroring) and had one die. sent it back. got another one rma. that one died in 3 days. then my other one went a little while later. got those rma and immediately i went to ssd drives for my boot. those were perfectly reliable and i set the 2tb drives as data. just the other day i had a system freeze and bluescreen/trouble booting and i believe the one 2tb i left in my system for data storage is now dead or dying (its been acting odd/slow/freezing for a month or more now).

can you see my hesitation to recommend large drives? from what i've read 1tb and lower drives are fine but the high-capacity-per-platter drives are the ones which are affected (1.5tb and above).

if you did go with large drives i would buy two. put them in data mirroring (raid 1) and get one with a 5 year warranty (wd black). or as an alternative buy a seagate barracuda, samsung spinpoint or western digital caviar (non black) from your local microcenter or store that offers an in-store rma replacement (for extra cash) and just take it back to them if it fails. i've paid $70 by now in shipping for rma (for drives which cost me $105 each i should mention) and its getting rediculous. so if you go large... go safe with raid 1.

---

samsung and intel make the most reliable ssd drives. there is a consumer MTBF test somewhere on the internet i read and all brands except those two performed under the listed mtbf values. only those two exceeed the numbers.

i personally use an 830 256gb and a 840pro 512gb.

---

as far as the case is concerned..

what are your thoughts on:

corsair 540. its a rather small case but supports atx as well as large 140mm fans.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139022

corsair 500r. mid tower case with decent airflow.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139010

corsair 750d. a tad less airflow than some (due to flat front) but not bad. also well built and classy.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139024

i would really recommend something with large 140mm fans. a plus for the 540 and other models with a double 140 in front or on top is that it works with a 2x140mm radiator (like the x60) perfectly.

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if you would like to sit down and talk about this in more detail about your options i'd be happy to discuss options in real time with you via internet based irc (its easier to communicate than just via post-and-wait ... ala forums.

just let me know if you want to and what times. (just be aware you may learn enough to make your brain explode).

 

[JenNettles]

I get 404'd trying to privately message you, but if we could make something happen over skype that would be perfect. It's my preferred IM. Something to be worked out. Would love to be knowledgeable about this.

 

[ssddx]

sorry... i dont use skype.

i use https://webchat.freenode.net/ its a free web-based no-download no-advertisement irc where i can host a temporary room

404... must be site issues again... rats!

when? [strike]its really late (or should i say early!!) here now but if its not for a really long time i could do something right now.[/strike]

edit: well since i didnt get an immediate response i'm heading off for the night. you will need to let me know what times and what time zone.

 

[ssddx]

@jen

any updates?