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Sub 3k Audit

Major Bullet Points
 
1. Budget & Location
Sub 3k USD.  Central Texas, USA
2. Aim
General Purpose: Activities will include gaming, light editing, programing/software development, school, media center.
3. Monitors
A 2560x1600 Yamakasi 301 Sparta is what I currently have. However, I would like to upgrade to a higher quality g-sync enabled Asus Monitor in the future, but that is not a part of this particular build.  I have no inclination for multiple screens at present, but I hear they are useful for programing and development at times, as it allows one to have a dedicated monitor for looking up information so one does not have to alt tab back and forth.  I will likely just use AutoHotkey to toggle the always-on-top property though.
4. Peripherals
No peripherals needed except OS
5. Why are you upgrading?
My current computer is a cyberpower I have owned for many years now.  It still functions great, but I would like to make the move into building and maintaining my own PC from scratch such that I become more familiar with the use and maintenance of PC hardware.  Additionally, I would like a rather significant upgrade as I tend to keep computers for around 5 to 6 years before replacing them, and giving my current rig to someone else in the family who wants/needs one.  Typically I budget approximately 1k for my replacement, but I am financially capable of spending up to 3k for this project, so that is the limit I set for myself.  Additionally, my PC is pretty much central to my life at present, so I tend to take good care and maintenance of it.
6. Additional Considerations
I definitely want a positive pressure build, with filtered air intakes.  I would prefer to keep everything air cooled at present, or possibly use a closed loop -which I do not believe will be necessary.  This is because I anticipate relatively frequent moving over the next few years, and I would prefer air cooling for now.  I also live in Texas and dust and ambient temperatures are hideous.  Another thing to note is that I almost never turn my computer off except when giving it it's bimonthly servicing.  It's just a quirk of mine, and I always seem to be doing something on it, i.e. providing ambient/chillstep music if nothing else.
 
My current build is listed below, and it is mostly complete (I may purchase or replace fans with Noctua fans as needed).  Please audit it and let me know what you think, and even though I have double and triple checked, check for part compatibility please.  I am still learning the ins and outs of pc hardware, and what the various numbers mean and represent.
 
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YyMmNG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YyMmNG/by_merchant/
 
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($338.99 @ NCIX US) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($96.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII FORMULA ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($349.99 @ NCIX US) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($350.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($237.99 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($99.99 @ NCIX US) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Matrix Video Card  ($739.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Silverstone FT02B-W-USB3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($275.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($199.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($170.99 @ Adorama) 
Total: $2861.79
 
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-17 23:09 EDT-0400

 

***Edited to reflect changes on 2014-08-17 22:09 CST***

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CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($96.99 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($135.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: A-Data XPG V2 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($237.99 @ NCIX US) 


Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($339.60 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($339.60 @ Newegg) 



Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit)  ($94.99 @ B&H) 

Total: $2095.10

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 01:27 EDT-0400

Better.

 

 

Things to improve if you want it even better: 290Xs instead, and maybe jump on x79.

Diamond 5 in League :)

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CPU Cooler: Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($88.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: PNY XLR8 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($149.99 @ Amazon) 



Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($379.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($379.99 @ Newegg) 



Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $1948.87

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 01:46 EDT-0400

 

please don't spend more than this on a computer 

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@silveranstavern,

 

The memory configuration is far from optimal. If you want 32GB get a 4x8GB kit. G.Skill Ares, Patriot Viper 3 LP, or Corsair Vengeance LP would be good choices.

 

The Maximus VII Formula is not on the Noctua QVL for the NH-D15 or NH-D14. It is quite likely this is because the motherboard is quite new, but it wouldn't hurt to send Noctua an email inquiry.

80+ ratings certify electrical efficiency. Not quality.

 

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Are you on the wrong thread?

 

post-120628-0-51122700-1408165202.jpg

You saw nothing...  :ph34r:  :ph34r:  :ph34r:  :ph34r:

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@silveranstavern,

 

The memory configuration is far from optimal. If you want 32GB get a 4x8GB kit. G.Skill Ares, Patriot Viper 3 LP, or Corsair Vengeance LP would be good choices.

 

The Maximus VII Formula is not on the Noctua QVL for the NH-D15 or NH-D14. It is quite likely this is because the motherboard is quite new, but it wouldn't hurt to send Noctua an email inquiry.

 

Thank you for pointing that out, I was switching memory and it added to instead of replacing.  I only want two 8 gig sticks, and I made the correction.  As for the specific board, it is a LGA1150 and that is listed as supported by the D15, but I will contact them before going forward to verify.

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Thank you for pointing that out, I was switching memory and it added to instead of replacing.  I only want two 8 gig sticks, and I made the correction.  As for the specific board, it is a LGA1150 and that is listed as supported by the D15, but I will contact them before going forward to verify.

 

One of the issues large coolers like the D15 have is brushing up against a card in the 1st slot and tallish heat sinks. I just took a look at a picture of the VII Formula and it appears that the 1st x16 PCIe is in the 2nd position, so that should not be an issue.

 

The Trident memory is very nice. However modules are rather tall with their heatsinks installed. The D15 overhangs memory and the 2nd fan may cause difficulty. One can remove the heatsink from a module, http://www.gskill.com/marketing/design01.jpg, but the module will still be 39mm - 7mm taller than Noctua's max height recommendation. The fan can be raised, but the case will only allow an additional 5mm. Options include: different memory modules, operate D15 in single fan mode, different case.

80+ ratings certify electrical efficiency. Not quality.

 

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Get a cheaper mobo. No need for a $350 ROG motherboard. I suggest you dont mix ram like that, Just get the same kind and there is no real need or reason to go past 16gb of ram. Get a corsair h105 cpu cooler and overclock the hell out of that cpu and just go with a 750w PSU unless you seriously plan on getting another GPU in the future. And just go with a DirectCU II 780 ti from asus instead of the matrix. And just OC the card yourself.

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5. Why are you upgrading?
My current computer is a cyberpower I have owned for many years now.  It still functions great, but I would like to make the move into building and maintaining my own PC from scratch such that I become more familiar with the use and maintenance of PC hardware.  Additionally, I would like a rather significant upgrade as I tend to keep computers for around 5 to 6 years before replacing them, and giving my current rig to someone else in the family who wants/needs one.  Typically I budget approximately 1k for my replacement, but I am financially capable of spending up to 3k for this project, so that is the limit I set for myself.  Additionally, my PC is pretty much central to my life at present, so I tend to take good care and maintenance of it.
 

 

I envy your wallet, additionally if you really want to learn a ton about computer hardware take all of your money and start a semiconducter plant and send me free ddr4 :)

 

Anyway everything you listed as a use for this computer except gaming can be done with a $600 build. I personally dont know what kind of games your play and on what insane settings you run them on but rest assured that beast of a system you have planned out will handle it. Also you might want to consider putting ssd's in raid 0 , it'll increase failure chance (the effects of which can be negated by setting up a backup schedual) but also nearly double what are already impressive speeds at 100% space efficiency.

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I envy your wallet, additionally if you really want to learn a ton about computer hardware take all of your money and start a semiconducter plant and send me free ddr4 :)

Ha, my wallet is not that deep.  I have just skipped a few intermittent upgrades because the house is actually budgeted for a replacement of a 1k pc every two years, and I have good financial sense.  Additionally, this is one of those rare instances where I find myself with more money than sense and I expect that to be changing soon. *Smirks*  So I would like a computer that will be decent and last for another 5 to 6 years. Maybe at the end of that time I will find myself in the same predicament.

 

Anyway everything you listed as a use for this computer except gaming can be done with a $600 build. I personally dont know what kind of games your play and on what insane settings you run them on but rest assured that beast of a system you have planned out will handle it.

I play a wide assortment of games when I have the time. Bioshock 1&2, Bioshock Infinite, Metro Last Light, Metro 2033, Thief, Fallout, Fallout New Vegas, Skyrim, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Sid Meier's Civilization V, multitudes of 4x games like Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, and strategy games like Starcraft II. My steam profile has over 100 games listed, but I purchase games in bulk whenever they are on sale so that skews the results compared to the games I have played extensively or beaten. All of the games listed have either been beaten or played extensively enough for me to recall from memory. With college I find myself with less time to invest into games as I have in the past though. The good thing about Steam games is that they never get lost, damaged, or stolen and they transfer from computer to computer. So building a library of games actually has some merit.

 

Also you might want to consider putting ssd's in raid 0 , it'll increase failure chance (the effects of which can be negated by setting up a backup schedual) but also nearly double what are already impressive speeds at 100% space efficiency.

I know about the various raid configurations. I briefly contemplated a raid 10 setup but thought it overkill. Even switching to a SSD is going to be a vast improvement over my current and previous rigs. Though I might need to acquire some external hard drives for bulk storage. Thanks for the suggestion though. I might try it on my Linux build when I get around to it, but that will just be a cheap build to get linux familiarity and as something I can take apart and put back together for giggles *Winks*.

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