Help me build my Pc

[Razorsedge877]

I am wanting to build a new PC and so far here are options for CPU and the MB. I Want performance but also want Cost effective because I still have to get the other parts. I want to build it mainly for the Elder scrolls and Fallout series, I am also into Sim Racing so am taking that into account also (maybe a motion cockpit in the future). I don't want my computer to be outdates in a year and I'm not Really a tech head. I am thinking of also doing crossfire or Sli with the videocards and planning on using Radeon R( 280x or 290x. I think the 280x would probly be the best bet since it is the middle ground. Maybe I will Even go 270x since I want to focus on a good cpu and MB because I can get a better graphics card down the road. it is tough dishing out 2 grand at once on a comp. I also want to do water cooled I believe. I am just thinking we can start here for now and I can ask more questions as we go. I will probably cross off the intel 6 cores because they  are expensive. and am thinking the LGA 2011 MBs because maybe the next cpu I get can be 6 core. So I'm thinking this combo - Intel Core i7-4820K Ivy Bridge-E 3.7GHz (Turbo 3.9GHz), ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition or ASUS Rampage IV Extreme. I also look at the AMD 8 core cpu and they seem pretty tempting and I think that if you pair them up with a radeon gpu you het like a 100 or 200 percent boost. I don't know if I really want to go Nvidia. Please help me spend my money and tell me your thoughts because I know this is a data driven community. I have even more questions after we make my mind up on this part. If I am spending money in the wrong place please tell me maybe I van go cheaper on MB and more expensive on GPU

 

 

---CPU---

Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor - $314.99

MSI Z97 MPOWER Max AC LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $259.99

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK1 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $249.99

---Intel I5

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K - $239.99

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K - $229.99

---Intel I7

Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell 3.5GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I74770K - $339.99

Intel Core i7-4820K Ivy Bridge-E 3.7GHz (Turbo 3.9GHz) LGA 2011 130W Desktop Processor BX80633i74820K - $324.99

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K - $329.99

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I72600K - $339.99

Intel Core i7-4930K Ivy Bridge-E 3.4GHz LGA 2011 130W Desktop Processor BX80633i74930K 6 Core - $579.99

Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K 6 Core - $599.99

---Motherboard---

---LGA 2011

ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard - $481.99

ASUS Rampage IV Extreme LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard - $430.00

ASUS X79 DELUXE LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $328.99

ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $309.99

---LGA 1150

ASUS MAXIMUS VI EXTREME LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $384.29

ASUS MAXIMUS VI FORMULA LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX gaming board with double-sided ROG Armor, 23C-degrees cooler CrossChill and 120dB SNR, 600ohm audio - $284.79

---CPU---

---AMD FX Series

AMD FX-9590 Vishera 4.7GHz Socket AM3+ 220W Desktop Processor - Black Edition FD9590FHHKWOF 8 Core - $329.99

AMD FX-9370 Vishera 4.4GHz Socket AM3+ 220W Desktop Processor - Black Edition FD9370FHHKWOF 8 Core - $229.99

---Motherboard---

ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard with 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support and UEFI BIOS - $224.99

 

 

 

Edit #1

 

  First off I don't want to skimp and I am building just the tower. I do not want to tear apart my current tower and will probably give it to my daughter I want something good and that will last 5 to 10 years. I don't need the monitor mouse keyboards ect. I'm already taking into consideration that this may cost $1500. Money really isn't an issue but I don't want to spend it blindly. I know that computers tend to always upgrade but I don't think that I need to update every time a new part comes out.

  Right now I play on a 46" 1080p TV, A high end 7.1 Surround Sound unit, Logitec G710+ and use a Razor Naga mouse (which I'm going to replace because I don't like wired mice and in wireless mode the battery dies fast) and will probably replace with one of Logitec Mice.

  At some point I want to go triple screen. Monitors are expensive and I want to go with bigger displays. I am thinking 3 - 40" TVs. My 46" is nice but on triples I think that will be overkill.

  Even though I haven't really got to play it much except on console my favorite game is Skyrim and I want to be able to use as many texture and scripted mods on it as possible ( I better plan on getting good at TESV5Edit). I also want to play Fallout New Vegas, The Battlefield series, and at some point will probably play crisis. I am also a fan of the Tom Clancy games, and loves the Mass Effect series. I also like to play racing sims. At some point I want to put together a motion simulator. I don't think there are many racing fans in here but I am always considering something like the Simvibe simulator so I will need something that can multitask to a certain degree. This will also serve as my home theater Movie and music wise. 

  I am not caught up in the AMD Intel hype. I am sure that the both are good companies and have their pros and cons. It seems like half the games are made with Intel in mind and the other half are made with AMD in mind. I think I have read or heard that if you combine an AMD PCU with a Radeon GPU that they work together to create a boost that you would not get mixing an Intel CPU with a Radeon GPU (feel free to correct me if I am wrong. and to be honest I am favoring the AMD FX series 8 core CPU. If you look at youtube reviews they say intel is better but there are so many fanboys that I take things with a grain of salt. I think the only difference between SLI and Crossfire is that one is AMD and one is Intel. I probably want to have 2 GPUs to run triple screens.

So I will need the  Case, PSU, CPU, GPU (that will run at least 2 cards), Some sort of cooling maybe liquid, Ram, Hard Drive 500 GB or 1 TB, SSD 500 GB I am guessing, BRDVD player, Probably as many 3.0 USBs as I can get, I guess a soundcard, and I cant really think of what else goes in a computer off the top of my head.

  I have Never built a computer before and only have basic computer skills but I believe I put it together and if I feel overwhelmed I'm sure I can pay someone to help me. If I have miss quoted, spelled, forgot,  or put any false information up here please correct me because I am going to use this post in other places just to see what kind of replies I get.

 

Edit #2

What do you think so far?

 

Cooler Master HAF X - High Air Flow Full Tower Computer Case with Windowed Side Panel and USB 3.0 Ports - 179.99 (maybe I don't need to buy the fans I chose for this case. I can't figure that out)https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225  

4 - Corsair Air Series SP120 (CO-9050011-WW) 120mm PWM Quiet Edition High Static Pressure Fan - 21.99 each

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181041

1 - Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition CO-9050009-WW 140mm High Airflow Case Fan - 20.99

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181028

CORSAIR Hydro Series H105 Extreme Performance 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler, CW-9060016-WW

$109.99 https://www.newegg.co...N82E16835181060

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K

$239.99 https://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116899

ASUS MAXIMUS VI FORMULA LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX gaming board with double-sided ROG Armor, 23C-degrees cooler CrossChill and 120dB SNR, 600ohm audio – 284.79 (This seems like a really good MB)

https://www.newegg.co...N82E16813132038

ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (2^nd choice maybe) -  $229.99 (I guess this has all the same features but is an upgraded version of ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO) https://www.newegg.co...N82E16813132125

G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2 - $84.99 https://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231461

CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready - 149.99 https://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139011

SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

$214.95 https://www.newegg.co...=9SIA2W00ZD1539

Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive $109.99 https://www.newegg.co...N82E16822148844

ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS - $79.99 (not sure if this drive plays 3D)https://www.newegg.co...N82E16827135252

Pioneer 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BDR-209DBK

$64.99 (this drive plays 3D)https://www.newegg.co...N82E16827129075

 

Total so far- 1563.62

 

@ TechAngel85

I don’t have any preference for Nvidia over AMD. I am just trying to make a good decision and am relying heavily on the community to help me out. Everyone wants the best when involving what they enjoy doing.

I am deciding between each of these GPUs I am thinking a ROG - GPU with a ROG – MB (I am thinking of not getting a SSD yet to get a better GPU) what is your opinion?

 

ASUS ROG POSEIDON-GTX780-P-3GD5 GeForce GTX 780 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card - $599.99 (water cooled) https://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121869

 

ASUS ROG MARS760-4GD5 GeForce GTX 760x2 4GB 512-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $649.99 (don't think its water cooled)  https://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121839

 

EVGA 04G-P4-3778-KR GeForce GTX 770 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $449.99 https://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130925

 

I like both cases a lot and just can’t decide (I think I have them in order of which I prefer)

Corsair Obsidian 750D Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case – $159.99 (Nice pretty window, looks roomier)

CM Storm Trooper - Gaming Full Tower Computer Case with Handle and External 2.5" Drive Dock – 149.99 (really cool design)

 

So this is what I have come up with so far. Decision Decisions. I really want to thank everyone for the input. You guys are really helping me narrow this down. Any more input is greatly appreciated. Will my PCU still need a heat sink or fan if I am using a liquid cooler

Edited May 17, 2014 by WilliamImm

[phazer11]

Alright, well first you'll need to tell us a bit more about what you're going to be doing with it and your planned budget as well as which components you need and which are still fine (i.e. mouse, monitor, keyboard, power supply) and in the case of the power supply if you already have one we'll need to know the model to make sure it will

A.) Be powerful enough to let everything turn on

B.) Is a quality PSU so your components don't wind up taking a dirt nap because you skimped out on the PSU

 

 

A few other things to take into consideration especially with Haswell is to take into consideration where you live an how hot the room can get on an average day since these things can make the room all toasty even without overclocking on stock cool. Just FYI I'm an AMD and ATI (though I kept flip-flopping on that one) convert and haven't seriously considered going back since 2011. I also overclock my components so that'll be a slight skew on things as well.

 

If you're going to be only using it for gaming and light editing tasks I'd probably go with an i5 (non-k if you don't ever think you'll want to overclock it...). I'd also go for a mid-range board from either ASUS, MSI or Gigabyte.

 

To be honest I don't think the Maximus VI Extreme is worth the $100 jump (over the Formula) since it gets rid of the VRM water cooling option in favor of that overclocking panel thing (that being said you'll have to get it if you plan on going quad SLI or Crossfire) and gets rid of the dust covers and such.

 

I'll post more in the morning. I'm currently overclocking my own fresh parts so I need to keep an eye on it.

[Razorsedge877]

  First off I don't want to skimp and I am building just the tower. I do not want to tear apart my current tower and will probably give it to my daughter I want something good and that will last 5 to 10 years. I don't need the monitor mouse keyboards ect. I'm already taking into consideration that this may cost $1500. Money really isn't an issue but I don't want to spend it blindly. I know that computers tend to always upgrade but I don't think that I need to update every time a new part comes out.

  Right now I play on a 46" 1080p TV, A high end 7.1 Surround Sound unit, Logitec G710+ and use a Razor Naga mouse (which I'm going to replace because I don't like wired mice and in wireless mode the battery dies fast) and will probably replace with one of Logitec Mice.

  At some point I want to go triple screen. Monitors are expensive and I want to go with bigger displays. I am thinking 3 - 40" TVs. My 46" is nice but on triples I think that will be overkill.

  Even though I haven't really got to play it much except on console my favorite game is Skyrim and I want to be able to use as many texture and scripted mods on it as possible ( I better plan on getting good at TESV5Edit). I also want to play Fallout New Vegas, The Battlefield series, and at some point will probably play crisis. I am also a fan of the Tom Clancy games, and loves the Mass Effect series. I also like to play racing sims. At some point I want to put together a motion simulator. I don't think there are many racing fans in here but I am always considering something like the Simvibe simulator so I will need something that can multitask to a certain degree. This will also serve as my home theater Movie and music wise. 

  I am not caught up in the AMD Intel hype. I am sure that the both are good companies and have their pros and cons. It seems like half the games are made with Intel in mind and the other half are made with AMD in mind. I think I have read or heard that if you combine an AMD PCU with a Radeon GPU that they work together to create a boost that you would not get mixing an Intel CPU with a Radeon GPU (feel free to correct me if I am wrong. and to be honest I am favoring the AMD FX series 8 core CPU. If you look at youtube reviews they say intel is better but there are so many fanboys that I take things with a grain of salt. I think the only difference between SLI and Crossfire is that one is AMD and one is Intel. I probably want to have 2 GPUs to run triple screens.

So I will need the  Case, PSU, CPU, GPU (that will run at least 2 cards), Some sort of cooling maybe liquid, Ram, Hard Drive 500 GB or 1 TB, SSD 500 GB I am guessing, BRDVD player, Probably as many 3.0 USBs as I can get, I guess a soundcard, and I cant really think of what else goes in a computer off the top of my head.

  I have Never built a computer before and only have basic computer skills but I believe I put it together and if I feel overwhelmed I'm sure I can pay someone to help me. If I have miss quoted, spelled, forgot,  or put any false information up here please correct me because I am going to use this post in other places just to see what kind of replies I get.

[Aiyen]

If you do not care much for the upfront cost then first off a few pointers. 

 

A: Get a min. gold certified PSU... they cost more up front, but during their life time (5-10 in your case) then they will have paid themselves home... unless you live in a place where power is free ofc. Platinum is most likely overdoing it in most cases though.

 

B: Decide early if you want to go multicard or not. The performance boost from the 2nd card is not x2! So always be aware that you are throwing a very large amount of cash after something that only gives you between 10-40% of the first card depending on application. Also the price of the PSU goes up by quite a bit when you go multi! So all in all you pay a really high premium for going multicard, and the ongoing power bill is also going to be much higher... The cards eat the full amount of power but you do not get the full relative performance! 

 

C: Go watercooled components if you can. Less heat = better running stuff, for a longer period of time! It cost more up front, but it should pay itself home again during the lifetime of the components. Also... much less noise which is always a bonus.

 

D: Get a quality motherboard... if nothing else just that! It is almost always worth it to spend extra on the motherboard and PSU that cannot be stressed enough!

 

After those then you can mix and match as you want.. read all the reviews and make an informed decision... yes there are many many many fanboys, but as long as you base your choice on several reviews and not just one then you will most likely get the best quality for you!

 

[phazer11]

Alright, a few things. First AMD own ATI, Intel does not own Nvidia. If you're truely favoring AMD I won't be able to help you, AMD still hasn't addressed the power consumption and heat output of their newer cpu's and that's a major turn off for me.

 

Since you don't know much about putting the PC together I guess I would recommend not making a watercooling loop (you could within your budget) and just getting something like the Corsair H100i or H105. I'd lean towards the H105 since it seems to be catering even further to casual builders "Tool-less installation" It also has a nice 5 year warranty.

 

If you wind up going Intel I can give you a nice starting point, same for the Nvidia cards. Here is what I would do since you're mainly wanting it for watching movies and playing games.

 

CPU: Intel Core i5 4670k

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VI Hero (the ROG series has better than normal audio on board), or at most the ASUS Maximus VI Formula. MSI Sniper motherboards seem to be good as well, as Gigabte UD3H and UD3 models.  I don't suppose it'd hurt to get one of the new boards that came out recently (other than lack of research)

SSD: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB

PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 850W or Silverstone Strider Gold 850W or XFX Pro 850W or the Corsair AX760 750W

CPU Cooling: Corsair H105 All-In-One Liquid Cooling or Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo (at minimum)

Case: Something like a Corsair Carbide 750D or a Cooler Master Storm Trooper (awesome case just a very, very tight fit if you're watercooling... which I am) should do you nicely unless you plan on making a full water cooling loop. In which case I'd have to recommend you to either a Phanteks case, a HAF X or a Caselabs Case (crazy expensive bro)

 

If you want a combo that's easy I'd recommend this one. Found it when I was searching through newegg looking for combos to go with the recommended PSU's over on OCN. It's a little out of your price range but comes with an SSD, an HDD, RAM, CPU and Motherboard, an $800 GPU (special savings in the deal). It'd be nice if they let you nix the case, the SSD, HDD, DVD Drive and the 212 EVO so you could get a better cooler and case, either way it's a nice combo.

 

TBH you won't be able to fit a 500GB SSD, especially not with two good graphics cards and good quality of everything else. Plus I think single GPU setups are just fine.

[Garfink]

Agree with what has been said, I would also add: get a good case that is easy to work in and I would consider a UPS as well, especially in the long run, it has saved my ass many many times over the years. I prefer one graphic card setup, less heat, less likely to breakdown, less hassle, less compatibility issues. Use to use 2x 590, now I am super glad I paid the premium in a Titan than going SLI.

[phazer11]

Yes, definitely get an UPS if you don't already, I'm not used to people not having them. That said, I would still recommend that combo in my last post, it's great. However, with a little bit of targeting I came up with.

PCPartpicker: List

[Razorsedge877]

Thanks for all the info so far guys. I have a couple questions but am pressed for time right now. I still haven't had time to absorb everything. I have a question I feel really dumb asking. When I think of UPS I think of the postal service. lol Is that correct?

[Nozzer66]

Nope. Means Uninterruptible Power Supply. (or Uninterrupted Power Supply, same thing anyway)

 

It's essentially a limited battery backup in case mains power drops. In an absolute worst case, if you hear the UPS alarm go off you know it's time to shut down the machine. However, some actually are good enough to run the rig for a while as well. The internal battery is charged by mains power when mains power is actually applied. When mains drops, the unit switches over to the batteries, and provides AC power to whatever's plugged into it via the in built inverter circuit.

 

I have one on my machine, and it has saved a few issues for me in the past.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Nozzer66

[phazer11]

Yeah, in my case mine will hold my machine up for about 5, and to as much as 10 minutes if I'm lucky.

[TechAngel85]

UPSs are mainly used by businesses to give their servers time to properly shut down. Very few own them for personal use at home from my experience. Even the big techies I know that work in the industry don't use them at home. Just my two cents on that. On the options you've given I would go with: Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell. I have this CPU and I have yet to toss anything at it that significantly slows it down. You won't get much use out of the extra cores and hyperthreading of the i7 if you're not regularly running programs that can take advantage of these. The games you mentioned do not. Even most modern games will not use past 4 cores, i think. Go with Haswell because it's the newer generation which is more power efficient. It will be more powerful than previous generations when both are running at the same clock speeds and that is due to it's better design. Remember that more cores does not mean more power either. Intel has led over AMD for some time now. Motherboard. Unless you're going to be using the extra features of those motherboards, I recommend downgrading. At some point you have to ask yourself, "will I use this feature?" If that answer is anything but, "yes" then it's time to downgrade to a board that has all the feature you need and will still last for years to come. Something like the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO or the ASUS Z87-PRO is all most gamers would ever really need. Both will save you an extra $80-$100 that you could be putting toward something else (nicer case, better video card, etc).

 

Btw, I would totally recommend NVIDIA over AMD. Speaking mainly from a Skyrim standpoint and the experience from users I've observed on these forums over the time I've been here. NVIDIA is far less troublesome. Is there a reason you're leaning more toward one over the other?

[Nozzer66]

^That on the Motherboard. I use an ASUS Maximus VI Hero and it's perfect for what I need. 

[Razorsedge877]

What do you think so far?

 

CORSAIR Hydro Series H105 Extreme Performance 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler, CW-9060016-WW

$109.99 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181060

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K

$239.99 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899

ASUS MAXIMUS VI FORMULA LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX gaming board with double-sided ROG Armor, 23C-degrees cooler CrossChill and 120dB SNR, 600ohm audio – 284.79 (This seems like a really good MB)

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132038

ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (2^nd choice maybe) -  $229.99 (I guess this has all the same features but is an upgraded version of ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO) https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132125

G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2 - $84.99 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231461

CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready - 149.99 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

$214.95 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00ZD1539

Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive $109.99 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148844

ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS - $79.99 (not sure if this drive plays 3D)https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252

Pioneer 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BDR-209DBK

$64.99 (this drive plays 3D)https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129075

 

Total so far- 1282.72

 

@ TechAngel85

I don’t have any preference for Nvidia over AMD. I am just trying to make a good decision and am relying heavily on the community to help me out. Everyone wants the best when involving what they enjoy doing.

I am deciding between each of these GPUs I am thinking a ROG - GPU with a ROG – MB (I am thinking of not getting a SSD yet to get a better GPU) what is your opinion?

 

ASUS ROG POSEIDON-GTX780-P-3GD5 GeForce GTX 780 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card - $599.99 (water cooled) https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121869

 

ASUS ROG MARS760-4GD5 GeForce GTX 760x2 4GB 512-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $649.99 (don't think its water cooled)  https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121839

 

EVGA 04G-P4-3778-KR GeForce GTX 770 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $449.99 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130925

 

I like both cases a lot and just can’t decide (I think I have them in order of which I prefer)

Corsair Obsidian 750D Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case – $159.99 (Nice pretty window, looks roomier)

CM Storm Trooper - Gaming Full Tower Computer Case with Handle and External 2.5" Drive Dock – 149.99 (really cool design)

 

So this is what I have come up with so far. Decision Decisions. I really want to thank everyone for the input. You guys are really helping me narrow this down. Any more input is greatly appreciated. Will my PCU still need a heat sink or fan if I am using a liquid cooler

[Spock]

I recently had an extensive reading session on PSU's, appearently the Corsair AX760i platinum PSU is the best PSU out there. https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-AX760i-Power-Supply-Review/1668

Those are the electronics gurus and they say it's the best PSUs they ever reviewed, other reviews confirm that. And as a big surplus it's really quiet.The version without the i is still outstanding and a bit cheaper: https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-AX760-Power-Supply-Review/1687/1

 

You don't necessarily need a 760W PSU though, there are good 600W PSUs that should suffice as well. I'd advise to read harwaresecrets on a review though as PSUs are a critical part of the system and poor PSUs can cause problems (and even fry components).

 

 

As for CPU coolers, you can save a few bucks if you go for the NH-D14. It performs marginally worse and doesn't come with the drawbacks of water cooling (pump, pc death if it leaks, need to clean the water). Linus' Tech Tips has it's weaknesses but this is a very good video comparing high end CPU cooling solutions:

A friend of mine advised me to go with a coolermaster and put a noctua fan on it and said it would be cheaper while performing just as well. But sadly I do not have a source.

 

 

As for AMD GPUs the Asus r9 280x DirectCU II or Sapphire r9 290 vapor-x are the way to go. NVidia or AMD is another page but as far as AMD GPUs go, go with one of those (in what I expect to be your price range).

As for NVidia vs AMD: This is an argument you will find all over the web. The hard facts are that NVidia cards require less power for an equivalent gaming performance, AMD cards are cheaper for the same performance, AMD cards have more compute/shader power, NVidia cards are faster at geometry and texture filtering, the 290 series' performance varies a little more (though 770s can perform quite different as well), AMD cards are a little faster at higher resolutions while NVidia cards are faster at lower resolutions.

Arguments that are partly speculative and hard to predict for the future: AMD had a higher falue rate Q4 2013 (might "just" have been a bad batch though), compute power and shaderpower might be more important in upcoming 3D engine development, more future titels will be AMD optimized because PS4 and Xbos are AMD based.

 

 

As for Ram I always went G.Skill and never had problems with it. Most of the current overclocking world records are held by G.Skill, they made the most reliably brutal overclocker ram over the past 10-12 years. There is also a life long guarantee for G.Skill ram. Kingston and Corsair definitely make very good ram modules as well though and I've read that Kingston is ought to have especially low faliure rates lately.

 

Hope that helps! :)

 

[edit] For storage I would recommend going for 2 HDDs in RAID 1 (not necessarily right away but headcrashes suck big time) for data and an SSD for programs. Running windows and games on an HDD will seriously slow down your overall system performance.

SSDs write speed usually goes up with size, afaik the Samsung EVO series is usually considered a great value brand with low falure rates.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Spock

[Aiyen]

I fail to see how a pump is a drawback of watercooling lol... kinda the central item for the entire thing to work. 

 

Also the stuff about leaking and changing water... that is only if you go for the older systems. The modern ones are fully sealed and the only way they would ever leak is if you cut the hoses with a sharp object. As for refilling then most modern ones are also fully closed loops that come prefilled where the only thing you have to do is plug it on the GPU/CPU and voila you are good to go for a long time.

 

As I recall the ones that require refill are mostly if you want to have UV reacting fluids so you can get a fancy glowing case.

 

I know I got my eye on a fully passive cooled system designed to cool SLI setups. It is custom made though, so quite expensive. But I keep hoping that it will get cheaper the longer I wait! :)