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Started by superdragonbeast | | 10 answers
Looking for insight into new rig components
Hi all. First post here, although I have been referring to the site for several years for guidance. My last rig was a Digital Storm system about 5 years ago. Decided I have been gaming long enough to apply myself at building my own system. I began replacing components this year. Old components were based off an i7 900 series processor and ASUS board with Mushkin memory; those are also the last original components. I have been replacing things slowly in order to have less upfront impact on my wallet.

Seeking guidance on my next steps. To date I have upgraded to the following components:
Corsair Obsidian 550D case
EVGA Gold 1000w
Dual EVGA Nvidia 780 GTX (no I didn’t drop $1k on graphics I got one card for free)

From my DS system I will be keeping long term:
256 Samsung SSD
About 2TB traditional WD Black HD storage
DVD-RW drive
LG Blu Ray drive

Remaining components I need to replace are:
CPU
Watercooled CPU cooler
Motherboard
RAM

Looking for opinions/recommendations from the community on those last four components. I will be gaming on the machine. I prefer to game at ultra settings. I am concerned about future proofing which has me looking at LGA 2011 boards and CPUs. I got amost 5 years out of the last systems however I know that most games don’t take advantage of hyperthreading though so I wonder is the Haswell processors and boards might be a better middle of the road option. Newegg is 50 bucks off Haswell i7 at the moment. But then again HT could be leveraged in the future right?

Also if anyone has any thoughts on Ram speed I would be interested. I have been eyeing boards that clock at 1866 out of the box. I had a terrible experience trying to add RAM to my OC DS system so I would rather not screw around with OCing RAM. Also, would you shoot for a board capable of 64GB?

Thanks in advance for the insight all. And if I have completely left out a component let me know but I think that covers all my bases.

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a b V Motherboard
a b à CPUs
February 19, 2014 7:34:27 PM

Just FYI if you are going 16 GB of ram I would aim for a quad channel kit 4x4 gb

Best solution chosen by ErVivek

a b V Motherboard
a c 84 à CPUs
February 19, 2014 4:43:48 PM

There is a 240mm Raystorm kit too, just thought that case would support dual 140's. I'm using Win8.1 on my desktop, and have zero issues with it so I don't have any problem recommending it. I did install the app that gives you back the old windows start button though...before that I didn't like it as much.

An i7 for under 300 is a really compelling buy honestly. 60 dollars more than an equivalent i5...I'd probably go for it if you can stretch the budget for it. The Asus motherboard is really nice as well, and has on-board wi-fi. If you need that, I'd get it, but if the Extreme 6 is cheaper, I'd just go with the AsRock board.

Right now 16gb's of Ram is overkill, so I wouldn't worry about getting 32gb's. When we want that much Ram, I'd expect us to be using ddr4 anyways so no worries there.

Link for the 240mm Raystorm kit: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/21235/ex-wat-270/XSPC...
February 19, 2014 11:14:12 AM

I have been going through PCPartPicker, which Swordkd introduced me to. Based on my budget I think I am leaning towards the following:

4770k CPU at 279.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CO8TBQ0/ref=ox_sc_a...

ASUS z87 Pro at 179.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CRJSXR4/ref=ox_sc_a...

Crucial Ballistix 16gb kit at 139.99 - 14.00 newegg coupon code= 125.99 (maybe two kits at that price)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Still debating on the water cooling, the XSPC Raystorm 750 EX280 looks really cool. Might need to research installing it and mounting it further before buying.
a b V Motherboard
a b à CPUs
February 19, 2014 10:37:16 AM

I wouldn't consider less than an i5 3570K with Z77 or 4670K with Z78 system, overclocked. That much GPU horsepower deserves a good CPU. If you are going for graphic design or heavily CPU dependent processes other than games, the extra 100$ may be worth it for you to go with an i7 (4770K).

The other and more expensive route would be going 4930K with a 2011 motherboard. It doesn't get better than that, but you are looking at an additional 300$ or so, for marginal gains.

8GB of 1600mhz DDR3 RAM is plenty for games, you might get slightly faster if the price difference isn't huge.
February 19, 2014 10:31:03 AM

That seems pretty cool but I think it might be just slightly too large for my case at 280mm radiator if I am reading it right. I think the most I can take is 240mm, its the Corsair 550d.

I see Windows 7 Home premium will only support up to 16gb anyway, which is the OS I was going to reuse. Have you had any experience with Windows 8.1 on a desktop? Don't nessesarily need that now but if i go to 32gb in the future I would need to upgrade my OS.
a b V Motherboard
a c 84 à CPUs
February 18, 2014 8:44:36 PM

No, shouldn't have issues if you were to buy another 16gb set that ran at the same timings as the first. I've heard issues about running 4 x 8gb's sticks, but I believe that had to do with overclocking the ram on a lesser motherboard.

If you don't mind spending more on the water cooling set up, I'd just buy the XSPC Raystorm kit. You can get a dual 140mm setup for about 160 I believe, and it's great in the fact that it acts like an AiO, but you can open it up and add to it. I'll look for a link for it in a little bit.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/20926/ex-wat-266/XSPC...
February 18, 2014 6:56:53 PM

Thanks. That is a great deal. Would you anticipate any issues if I decide to pick up a matching set down the road and throw it in to bring it up to 32 gb? or would I need to buy a specific 32gb kit?

Definitely getting the water cooled CPU heatsink. I have one in my current system that I have enjoyed.
a b V Motherboard
a c 84 à CPUs
February 18, 2014 1:42:57 PM

You don't need more than 8gb's for gaming right now. You could double it, and go for this set if you are worried and don't want to drop down from 12gb's:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-memory-ble2kit8g3d... That is a heck of a deal right now. One advantage with going with a water cooled setup, is you don't have to worry about Ram clearance from the tall heatsinks for the cooler.
February 18, 2014 12:05:40 PM

Thanks for the insight Swordkd. Haven't had much exposure to ASRock but I see they review highly for the most part. PCPartPicker seems like a great resource too, I will have to poke around there some more. Cooler looks decent, I should be able to install that in the top of my case, it has two dual fan slots there that will look pretty good.

Would 8gb of RAM be sufficient though? Maybe I am overthinking it, but I have 12gb now on my current 5 year old build.
a b V Motherboard
a c 84 à CPUs
February 18, 2014 11:29:46 AM

We've had hyperthreading Cpu's out for quite a while now, and less than 10% of games takes advantage of it, so I wouldn't worry about it. For a great performing rig without spending an arm and a leg, this is what I'd get right now:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($228.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme 99.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: GeIL EVO VELOCE 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $541.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-18 14:05 EST-0500)

Standard i5 4670k Cpu, unlocked multiplier and ready for Oc'ing. Good deal on the AsRock motherboard, I'd normally suggest the Extreme 4, but for just a bit more you can get the Extreme 6. For the Ram speed, you don't want to drop below 1600mhz Cas9, but you also don't want to spend a premium for anything faster. This set is in the same price range, and you get 1866mhz @ Cas 9. GEiL is a solid brand too.

For the cooler I chose this design for it's price and performance. Could spend less and get a good single 140mm radiator, or spend more and get a design that allows it to be *opened* up so you can add a new pump/reservoir/radiator too.

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