Looking for a Powerful Gaming PC

[munrean]

Hey everyone,

I'm going to replace my old gaming rig with a new one next week. I will be using it primarily for gaming (obviously) and I hope it will handle games on high details for at least 2 years. After some research, I came up with the configuration listed below. My budget is not limited but I also don't want to purchase overpriced components that bring just a marginal performance. I haven't assembled a PC for a few years so I'm not sure if I missed on any trends that I should be aware of.

I would appreciate your thoughts on the configuration and/or experience with the components below. Thank you.

Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING
CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K
Graphics: MSI N780 Lightning
CPU Fan: NOCTUA NH-D14
SSD: Kingston SSDNow KC300 120GB 7mm
HDD: Western Digital Black 4000GB 64MB cache
RAM: Kingston 16GB KIT DDR3 1866MHz CL10 HyperX
PSU: Corsair RM750
Case: FRACTAL Define XL R2 Titanium Grey
Display: 27" ASUS PA279Q

Cheers,

Martin

 

[ssddx]

the msi 780 lightning (3fan) is $550 the gigbyte (3fan) 780 is $500 and the asus 780 (2fan) is $510. i'd probably go with one of the others since they are a bit better value but that is your choice.

if you are gaming only you can get away with an i5-4670k instead for $210 instead of the i7-4770k for $310. unless you are recording games, doing significant multi-tasking or running applications which make good use of hyperthreading its $100 which doesnt need to be spent which could be used elsewhere. if you dont plan on overclocking you could drop down to a non-k cpu and h87 board but thats your choice if you want to OC or not.

personally i'd use one of the motherboards from asus like the hero, sabertooth or another z87 board since i've found them to be pretty solid but thats just a personal choice of mine and what you have should work.

16gb of ram is a bit overkill (8gb is typically fine) but if you have need or if you just want to make sure you have enough for a good long time then go ahead. sometimes gskill ripjaws 1866 cl9 ram goes on sale for $72 which might give you the best value

i would recommend going with a samsung 840 ssd in 250gb. samsung drives are about as reliable as you can get and are trusted. only samsung and intel exceeded their rated MTBF while most other brands are rather iffy. if you intend to do alot of writing to the drive its a must but if its mostly a read only drive you could get away with what you have. a 120 is a bit small unless you do not plan on putting too much on it. after the 80% rule and about 30gb reserved for os thats only 66gb you can actually use with a 120gb drive hence the recommendation for a 250.

beware the large hdd. drives over 1tb tend to be a bit unstable and fail often. i've had about 6 2tb drive failures since 2010 while my 1tb is rock solid.

i'd like to recommend the corsair 750d case but thats just a personal preference. your choice.

the psu you picked is a bit overkill for wattage but if you want to possibly add a few more components in the future it is fine. the rm750 however is a tier 3 psu so i wouldnt recommend it for a high end system. instead go with the AX or HX series or even better an xfx or seasonic. basically anything in tiers 1 and 2 are the best and are recommended. tier 3 is about the lowest i would use in any build. anything below that is junk.

just a note... look at the nh-d14 on google images. its huge. if this is an issue, perhaps look into corsair or nzxt cpu cooling loops as they are a bit nicer to look at if you have a case window.

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

This should be a reasonable build for a monster multimedia rig which can handle the most demanding games out there.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3wRqC


CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z87 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($239.29 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked Video Card ($689.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($182.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($54.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($142.27 @ TigerDirect)
Total: $2121.44

 

[ssddx]

@above

-same note about the i7 (an i5 is fine in most cases)
-cooler is fine but if o/c you want something a bit more
-there are cheaper 780ti models available (but unless you are really hardcore the 780 non-ti edition is probably fine)
-the phantom cases have issues with certain fans fitting in them and are all plastic (personal choice if you like that or not)
-windows home can be had for about $80 is it really worth getting pro?

but overall its pretty good and similar to what i'd recommend. much depends on what exactly the op wants to do with the build. they need to give some input here.