Hello forum this is a follow up post I did a few weeks ago. I’ve learned a few things since then and revised my build a bit. Warning this post will be on the long side but instead of adding a tl;dr I just suggest taking a look at the part listings and strolling down to the highlighted questions.
This is my first PC build; I have little experience picking the parts and none when it comes to actually building it. This rig will be used almost exclusively for gaming and web browsing; though I may start gameplay videos in the future just haven’t decided yet. Now for the parts:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Formula ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($263.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($166.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($118.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($609.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($213.86 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($135.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($269.09 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC68 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($21.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($21.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K95 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse ($79.92 @ Amazon)
Headphones: SteelSeries H Headset ($278.63 @ Newegg)
Speakers: Audioengine A5+ Black 100W 2ch Speakers ($399.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $3406.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-29 09:35 EDT-0400
Build Explanation:
This rig primarily for gaming and web browsing but let me explain some of my part decisions. First the CPU was originally going to be the Intel Core i5-4690K but after consideration I wanted the ~5-10% FPS increase that the Intel Core i7-4790K gives. Now it may seem trivial and I’m definitely looking for suggestions here because the end goal will be to overclock it and the i5-4690K overclock probably makes more sense.
The motherboard is still up for debate for me. I’m stuck between the Asus Maximus VI Formula and the Asus Sabertooth Mark 1. I used the Formula in the build due to its better on board audio which I should clarify is very important to me. However the Mark 1 having an Intel Z97 chipset can’t be ignored. I’m also looking at the Asus Maximus VII hero as well.
Being a gaming rig the GPU is definitely a center piece and I decided to go with the GeForce GTX 780 Ti. There is one main reason why I went with the GTX 780 Ti over the Radeon r9 290x is because of cooling. I will be avoiding the use of water cooling in this rig (mainly due to fears of leaks) and have instead decided to add more fans sacrificing lower noise. I do plan on buying a second GPU in the future. The only question I have is whether or not I should wait for the rumored GTX 900 series or not.
Expectations:
As a gaming rig I want this PC to run the most demanding games on their highest settings while handling other small background tasks. I haven’t decided quite yet but I may go into video editing in the future though it is not guaranteed. Future proofing this PC is also important in the wake of Windows 9 and Direct X12 I would like this rig to take advantage of the newest hardware to avoid immediate future incompatibility. With no water cooling I want to make sure my PC runs cool even at the cost of noise. I have plans to overclock this rig but due to my lack of experience I want to be sure that I have the cooling and power to handle it. I will also be adding two GPUs in the future and a second monitor with G-Sync was well.
Questions:
Now for the reason I’m even making this post.
1.) i7-4790K vs i5-4690K
I’ve been going back and forward between these two. They both perform well and achieve the goals I have for this rig but the question is the $100 extra I would be spending on i7-4790K worth it? How much I’m I really getting of that $100?
2.) Asus Maximus VI Formula vs Asus Sabertooth Mark 1 vs Asus Maximus VII Hero
There are two points of debate here for me. The first is SATA Express and how important of a role it plays. To my knowledge there are no drives that support it but the 33-66% read/write speeds can’t be overlooked. However the question remains on how much SATA Express will enrich my gaming experience. The second point is the audio features of the Formula. Music listening is only second to my love of gaming and I’ willing to pay a premium for it. This is why I’m looking to buy the Audioengine A5+ 2.1 Speakers as well as already bought the SteelSeries H headsets. The question here is how does the audio on these boards stack up to against each other and is it better to buy a slightly cheaper one and opt for a separate audio solution.
3.) Liquid Cooling vs Fan Cooling
When I first started this build I thought for sure that would be using water cooling. Over time that thought has changed due to the fear of leaks. The rig is a hefty investment and I want to strike a balance between product life expectancy and product reliability. Water cooling such as the Corsair H110i provided all-in-one cooling solutions that have high efficiency, however come with the risk of potential leaks completely damaging other components. The other option I was considering is simply adding or even replacing fans in the NZXT Phantom 820 ATX Full Tower. I figured this would be more costly but in turn safer. The questions here are how safe are water cooling solutions and are they worth the risk? Will adding extra fans be enough to the entire system cool? If so how many extra fans are needed and should I replace the standard case fans?
4.) GTX 900 series and Windows 9
This may not be the best time to build a PC like this due to a lot of new tech around the corner though I guess it’s inevitable. The GTX 900 series has been rumored to be unveiled in the upcoming months. The question I have is it worth waiting for. This build contains 1 GTX 780 Ti but I plan to add a second one once I get my second monitor so waiting for the 900 series may change this plan. As of the OS I use Windows 7 currently and have never touched 8 but with Direct X12 coming eventually I’ll have to ditch Windows 7. The question here is mostly based off of a rumor but is it worth waiting on Windows 9. There have been rumors of a September reveal as well as free Windows 8 to 9 upgrades. I hope all of this was true that way I would have no problem buying Windows 8 and simply upgrading it in the future. Assuming Windows 9 is revealed in September what would be the predicted date of the release (basing assumptions off of previous OS releases) and is it worth waiting for.
Peripherals and Extras:
Not as important as the parts above but still fun to talk about are the peripherals I want for this system. I should note that I have bought several peripherals and components on my list already and they include:
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" SSD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM
NZXT Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower
Asus VG248QE 24.0"
Logitech G502 Wired Optical
SteelSeries H
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Let me explain some of my choices here. First the Asus VG248QE 24.0" monitor was purchased with G-Sync in mind. My plan is to have two of these, one with G-Sync installed and one without. The NZXT Phantom 820 was a personal choice for me as I love its design. Though it says the Corsair Vengeance K95 keyboard in the listings I will actually be looking to get the Corsair Vengeance MX RGB K90. Though it isn’t yet available but I will be buying it was soon as it is. Finally I would to mention the Audioengine A5+ which a very high end speaker solution. I chose these over the Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 mainly due to the fact that all gaming audio will be done through my SteelSeries H headset and I’ve looking for great music quality throughout my room; I’m definitely looking for advice on speakers though.
Conclusion:
Well there you have it. Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy post and in case you just skipped straight to the end I suggest reading at least one of the question I underlined above if you have any knowledge you would like to share regarding that specific topic. Please at the very least let me know what you think even if it’s just from taking a glance at the parts list.
This is my first PC build; I have little experience picking the parts and none when it comes to actually building it. This rig will be used almost exclusively for gaming and web browsing; though I may start gameplay videos in the future just haven’t decided yet. Now for the parts:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Formula ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($263.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($166.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($118.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($609.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($213.86 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($135.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($269.09 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC68 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($21.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($21.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K95 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse ($79.92 @ Amazon)
Headphones: SteelSeries H Headset ($278.63 @ Newegg)
Speakers: Audioengine A5+ Black 100W 2ch Speakers ($399.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $3406.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-29 09:35 EDT-0400
Build Explanation:
This rig primarily for gaming and web browsing but let me explain some of my part decisions. First the CPU was originally going to be the Intel Core i5-4690K but after consideration I wanted the ~5-10% FPS increase that the Intel Core i7-4790K gives. Now it may seem trivial and I’m definitely looking for suggestions here because the end goal will be to overclock it and the i5-4690K overclock probably makes more sense.
The motherboard is still up for debate for me. I’m stuck between the Asus Maximus VI Formula and the Asus Sabertooth Mark 1. I used the Formula in the build due to its better on board audio which I should clarify is very important to me. However the Mark 1 having an Intel Z97 chipset can’t be ignored. I’m also looking at the Asus Maximus VII hero as well.
Being a gaming rig the GPU is definitely a center piece and I decided to go with the GeForce GTX 780 Ti. There is one main reason why I went with the GTX 780 Ti over the Radeon r9 290x is because of cooling. I will be avoiding the use of water cooling in this rig (mainly due to fears of leaks) and have instead decided to add more fans sacrificing lower noise. I do plan on buying a second GPU in the future. The only question I have is whether or not I should wait for the rumored GTX 900 series or not.
Expectations:
As a gaming rig I want this PC to run the most demanding games on their highest settings while handling other small background tasks. I haven’t decided quite yet but I may go into video editing in the future though it is not guaranteed. Future proofing this PC is also important in the wake of Windows 9 and Direct X12 I would like this rig to take advantage of the newest hardware to avoid immediate future incompatibility. With no water cooling I want to make sure my PC runs cool even at the cost of noise. I have plans to overclock this rig but due to my lack of experience I want to be sure that I have the cooling and power to handle it. I will also be adding two GPUs in the future and a second monitor with G-Sync was well.
Questions:
Now for the reason I’m even making this post.
1.) i7-4790K vs i5-4690K
I’ve been going back and forward between these two. They both perform well and achieve the goals I have for this rig but the question is the $100 extra I would be spending on i7-4790K worth it? How much I’m I really getting of that $100?
2.) Asus Maximus VI Formula vs Asus Sabertooth Mark 1 vs Asus Maximus VII Hero
There are two points of debate here for me. The first is SATA Express and how important of a role it plays. To my knowledge there are no drives that support it but the 33-66% read/write speeds can’t be overlooked. However the question remains on how much SATA Express will enrich my gaming experience. The second point is the audio features of the Formula. Music listening is only second to my love of gaming and I’ willing to pay a premium for it. This is why I’m looking to buy the Audioengine A5+ 2.1 Speakers as well as already bought the SteelSeries H headsets. The question here is how does the audio on these boards stack up to against each other and is it better to buy a slightly cheaper one and opt for a separate audio solution.
3.) Liquid Cooling vs Fan Cooling
When I first started this build I thought for sure that would be using water cooling. Over time that thought has changed due to the fear of leaks. The rig is a hefty investment and I want to strike a balance between product life expectancy and product reliability. Water cooling such as the Corsair H110i provided all-in-one cooling solutions that have high efficiency, however come with the risk of potential leaks completely damaging other components. The other option I was considering is simply adding or even replacing fans in the NZXT Phantom 820 ATX Full Tower. I figured this would be more costly but in turn safer. The questions here are how safe are water cooling solutions and are they worth the risk? Will adding extra fans be enough to the entire system cool? If so how many extra fans are needed and should I replace the standard case fans?
4.) GTX 900 series and Windows 9
This may not be the best time to build a PC like this due to a lot of new tech around the corner though I guess it’s inevitable. The GTX 900 series has been rumored to be unveiled in the upcoming months. The question I have is it worth waiting for. This build contains 1 GTX 780 Ti but I plan to add a second one once I get my second monitor so waiting for the 900 series may change this plan. As of the OS I use Windows 7 currently and have never touched 8 but with Direct X12 coming eventually I’ll have to ditch Windows 7. The question here is mostly based off of a rumor but is it worth waiting on Windows 9. There have been rumors of a September reveal as well as free Windows 8 to 9 upgrades. I hope all of this was true that way I would have no problem buying Windows 8 and simply upgrading it in the future. Assuming Windows 9 is revealed in September what would be the predicted date of the release (basing assumptions off of previous OS releases) and is it worth waiting for.
Peripherals and Extras:
Not as important as the parts above but still fun to talk about are the peripherals I want for this system. I should note that I have bought several peripherals and components on my list already and they include:
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" SSD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM
NZXT Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower
Asus VG248QE 24.0"
Logitech G502 Wired Optical
SteelSeries H
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Let me explain some of my choices here. First the Asus VG248QE 24.0" monitor was purchased with G-Sync in mind. My plan is to have two of these, one with G-Sync installed and one without. The NZXT Phantom 820 was a personal choice for me as I love its design. Though it says the Corsair Vengeance K95 keyboard in the listings I will actually be looking to get the Corsair Vengeance MX RGB K90. Though it isn’t yet available but I will be buying it was soon as it is. Finally I would to mention the Audioengine A5+ which a very high end speaker solution. I chose these over the Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 mainly due to the fact that all gaming audio will be done through my SteelSeries H headset and I’ve looking for great music quality throughout my room; I’m definitely looking for advice on speakers though.
Conclusion:
Well there you have it. Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy post and in case you just skipped straight to the end I suggest reading at least one of the question I underlined above if you have any knowledge you would like to share regarding that specific topic. Please at the very least let me know what you think even if it’s just from taking a glance at the parts list.