Media Centre and Gaming Build

[Tropics]

I have pieced together this build which is to be built in about a week. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas about some modifications it would be cool to hear them.

It will be used as a media computer and eventually hooked up to a 4K projector for movie/TV watching and gaming (mostly heavily modded Skyrim). My goals were for it to be high powered for gaming on large displays at max settings and for the computer to be extremely silent which is why there are no spin drives in it.

CPU: Intel Core™ i7-4930K Processor, 3.40GHz w/ 12MB Cache ($649)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition w/ Quad DDR3 1600, 7.1 Audio, GB Lan, Wi-Fi, 4-Way CrossFireX / SLI, OC Panel ($529.99)
Memory: GSkill TridentX Series 16GB PC3-19200 Dual Channel DDR3 Kit (2 x 8GB) X2 ($209 X2 for 32GB = $418)
Video: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Dual Classified 3GB PCI-E /w ACX Cooler, Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort X2 SLI ($799.99 X2 = $1599.98)
Heatsink: Corsair Hydro Series H110 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler ($129.99)
SSD (OS) : Samsung 840 EVO Series Solid State Drive, 500GB ($289.99)
SSD (Storage) : Samsung 840 EVO Series Solid State Drive, 1TB ($479.99)
PSU: Corsair AXi Series AX1200i Digital Modular Power Supply ($349.99)
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2 Enthusiast Case, Titanium Grey ($109.99)
Total: $4557 (All prices in Canadian)

The case fans are all getting switched out to Noctua which will add a bit more expense.

One specific concern I have is the RAM. I was looking at some comparisons of different speeds of RAM and the overclocked stuff and from what I was seeing while the read and write speeds increase with higher clock speeds the latency tends to actually go down in faster RAM so you see almost no real gains in actual performance. Would I be better off simply going for high quality 1866 RAM like Corsair Dominator which might end up being more stable?

Thanks for any help and/or suggestions.

 

[zeyuanfu]

I have pieced together this build which is to be built in about a week. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas about some modifications it would be cool to hear them.

It will be used as a media computer and eventually hooked up to a 4K projector for movie/TV watching and gaming (mostly heavily modded Skyrim). My goals were for it to be high powered for gaming on large displays at max settings and for the computer to be extremely silent which is why there are no spin drives in it.

CPU: Intel Core™ i7-4930K Processor, 3.40GHz w/ 12MB Cache ($649)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition w/ Quad DDR3 1600, 7.1 Audio, GB Lan, Wi-Fi, 4-Way CrossFireX / SLI, OC Panel ($529.99)
Memory: GSkill TridentX Series 16GB PC3-19200 Dual Channel DDR3 Kit (2 x 8GB) X2 ($209 X2 for 32GB = $418)
Video: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Dual Classified 3GB PCI-E /w ACX Cooler, Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort X2 SLI ($799.99 X2 = $1599.98)
Heatsink: Corsair Hydro Series H110 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler ($129.99)
SSD (OS) : Samsung 840 EVO Series Solid State Drive, 500GB ($289.99)
SSD (Storage) : Samsung 840 EVO Series Solid State Drive, 1TB ($479.99)
PSU: Corsair AXi Series AX1200i Digital Modular Power Supply ($349.99)
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2 Enthusiast Case, Titanium Grey ($109.99)
Total: $4557 (All prices in Canadian)

The case fans are all getting switched out to Noctua which will add a bit more expense.

One specific concern I have is the RAM. I was looking at some comparisons of different speeds of RAM and the overclocked stuff and from what I was seeing while the read and write speeds increase with higher clock speeds the latency tends to actually go down in faster RAM so you see almost no real gains in actual performance. Would I be better off simply going for high quality 1866 RAM like Corsair Dominator which might end up being more stable?

Thanks for any help and/or suggestions.

You REALLY don't need a EE CPU for a HTPC, a Core i5-4690 is more than enough, saves you 300$. RAM clock speeds don't really affect performance, and neither does CAS latency. Also, Dominator is a waste of money. Get G.SKILL or Corsair Vengeance. You also don't need a 500$ mobo for a HTPC, the Gigabyte GA-Z97 Gaming 7 or GT is more than enough. If you get a K CPU it can also be OCed, thus yielding more performance for your money. With 1500$ for a GPU, you might be better off with a R9 295x2, which also costs 1500$. it has about 4-6 ports for monitors, and it probably has Eyefinity support. if you can afford it, I'd get one or two nVidia Titan Blacks or a Titan Z. You can use a HDD for storage, the 1 TB counterpart of the SSD is 55$, much cheaper.

 

[zeyuanfu]

A way better system at only a hundred bucks more:http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qn3pzy

 

[zeyuanfu]

Or this:http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BFw2WZ

 

[Tropics]

You REALLY don't need a EE CPU for a HTPC, a Core i5-4690 is more than enough, saves you 300$.

This is one thing that I looked at closely. I strongly considered a i7-4790K Processor, 4.00GHz w/ 8MB Cache which is almost $300 cheaper. It would modify a lot of my choices down the line if I switched to that processor.

Part of the reason I went with the 6 core processor is that I "might" end up using the computer for Petrel 3D modeling as part of my work and if/when that happens the extra cores will suddenly become nice to have. But, I am definitely not completely stuck on getting the 6 core yet and will think about this advice more now.

RAM clock speeds don't really affect performance, and neither does CAS latency. Also, Dominator is a waste of money. Get G.SKILL or Corsair Vengeance.

Yeah, it is G-Skill I have in there atm and at $209 for each 16GB (Canadian) for the 2400OC speed it is actually cheaper then a lot of the slower clocked RAM out there. That is kind of why I threw that in there. Many of the 1866 RAM is actually more expensive.

You also don't need a 500$ mobo for a HTPC, the Gigabyte GA-Z97 Gaming 7 or GT is more than enough. If you get a K CPU it can also be OCed, thus yielding more performance for your money.

The MOBO was a tough choice. I tried to do a lot of reading of reviews on MOBO's and that is one computer component that seems to have little consensus. There does not seem to be that one awesome MOBO that stands out from the rest. The one thing I like about the one on there is that it makes overclocking easier and I can watch temps on my components a little closer.

With 1500$ for a GPU, you might be better off with a R9 295x2, which also costs 1500$. it has about 4-6 ports for monitors, and it probably has Eyefinity support. if you can afford it, I'd get one or two nVidia Titan Blacks or a Titan Z..

From what I have heard/read from almost everyone and most all benchmarks out there the Titan is a step behind the overclocked 780 Ti's due to their anemic clock speeds. I am pretty sure the Titan Black Superclocked would be a good step up mostly due to the extra RAM on the card, but to SLI those is $2400 worth of cards vs the $1600 I am currently at... I would do that "IF" I knew I was getting a big jump in performance there, but it would have to be significant and about the same as spending the $2400 on a 3-way SLI on those 780's at the least.

I have read that the Titan's might prove to be a little more "future proof" and that they will likely outperform the 780's over the long haul, but for the money they cost in 2 years that money I save now can just be spent on the next gen cards to replace the ones I currently have chosen.

You can use a HDD for storage, the 1 TB counterpart of the SSD is 55$, much cheaper.

This is one thing I know I am sticking with. My last computer had the OS running off a SSD and had a 1TB spin drive for storage and I could not stand every time I clicked on the spin disk hearing that thing kick in and start up and the lag time associated with it as it woke itself up. Plus I really like not having a big spin drive in there taking up space and leaving more airflow.

Thanks for the post and thoughts, I am definitely going to have to think about the chip and MOBO more. I am also going to try and find some benchmarks between the Titan Black and the cards I have in there atm and see how they actually compare.

 

[zeyuanfu]

You should probably go with the 780 Ti, but you can get a cheaper model that performs just the same.