First Gaming PC Build

[Carson79]

Hi everyone, new member here. 

I been following Linus on youtube for about a year with the aim of eventually building a gaming PC and this seemed like the right place to come for some advice.

So here's the requirements, it has to run triples mostly for sim racing titles like Project Cars and Assetto Corsa. I'll also play Fifa and whatever else takes my fancy.

It will need to be easy to keep cool, no aircon and I've a small gaming room with 3 32" lcds and 6 amps running Buttkickers so it can get pretty hot on a summers day. I will be looking into aircon solutions after the PC build.

I'll need multiple sound cards, the on board plus two more, one for sound and two for simvibe software for sim-racing.

Really my trouble is with what I really need versus what would be just overkill. I am willing to spend money now rather than upgrading in one or two years time. That said I'd like to keep costs to £2000-£3000 max the lower in bracket the sooner I can get started. I've started the fund already and should have the rest in 8 weeks.

Looking forward to your thoughts and thanks in advance for taking the time to help! 

 

This is what I've been looking at

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Carson79/saved/#savedbuild_1195024

Am I on the right track?

[Real_PhillBert]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£227.99 @ Aria PC) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£81.60 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Extreme ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£292.92 @ Ebuyer) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  (£136.99 @ Novatech) 

Storage: Mushkin Chronos 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£155.99 @ Aria PC) 

Storage: Mushkin Chronos 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£155.99 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  (£499.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Case: Corsair 900D ATX Full Tower Case  (£263.99 @ Aria PC) 

Power Supply: Corsair 1200W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£209.50 @ Ebuyer) 

Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  (£51.92 @ Amazon UK) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (£79.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card  (£131.84 @ CCL Computers) 

Total: £2288.71

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-17 15:17 BST+0100

 

For those who dont want to click.

 

Lemme help you out a bit. Give me a second to write some things up. @Carson79

 

BTW, Welcome to the forum.

[xD6N]

Hi everyone, new member here. 

I been following Linus on youtube for about a year with the aim of eventually building a gaming PC and this seemed like the right place to come for some advice.

So here's the requirements, it has to run triples mostly for sim racing titles like Project Cars and Assetto Corsa. I'll also play Fifa and whatever else takes my fancy.

It will need to be easy to keep cool, no aircon and I've a small gaming room with 3 32" lcds and 6 amps running Buttkickers so it can get pretty hot on a summers day. I will be looking into aircon solutions after the PC build.

I'll need multiple sound cards, the on board plus two more, one for sound and two for simvibe software for sim-racing.

Really my trouble is with what I really need versus what would be just overkill. I am willing to spend money now rather than upgrading in one or two years time. That said I'd like to keep costs to £2000-£3000 max the lower in bracket the sooner I can get started. I've started the fund already and should have the rest in 8 weeks.

Looking forward to your thoughts and thanks in advance for taking the time to help! 

 

This is what I've been looking at

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Carson79/saved/#savedbuild_1195024

Am I on the right track?

Personally i would go with the 780 ti build, you can also save some money on this too. i see that you have selected a 1200w PSU you most likely won't need this unless you are going to put another 780 ti in there which i suppose you may do as you have a maximum of £3000 budget. but if you were to go with just one 780 ti then go for a corsair 850w RM Gold powersupply it will be perfect for it. I also see you have gone for a top of the line case, the 900D is great for air cooling so this will deafinity be ok however i also think you could save some money here but you have that your room that you play in can get quite hot. Lastly the 780 ti whilst extremly good for one monitor it may not be quite as good for three, i would strongly reccomend going with a titan black as it has 6gb of vram which will be perfect for running three monitors whilst gaming! http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-geforce-gtx-titan-black-6gb-pci-express-3-0-hdmi-992F.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc%20product%20search&utm_content=Q200&utm_campaign=Components%20and%20Storage%20-%20Graphics,%20TV%20Tuners%20and%20I/O%20-%20Graphics (if you go with titan black stay with at least a 1000w psu)

[SpyRosL]

900D is way too big. It will feel so empty without custom loop. Find something a little bit smaller like 750D or 760T if you only want full tower.

The motherboard is overkill imo. You can find something with same features with half the cost.

With that budget youy should go with 2 video cards. 2x780s or 2x r9 290s.

Psu is waaay overkill. Search something like 850 watts of power for 2 video cards,650 watts for single card.

 

Also,this belongs to new builds and planning section

Edited June 17, 2014 by SpyRosL

[A.D.A.M]

900D is pretty overkill with only a 260mm rad, check out the 750D its cheaper 

[Real_PhillBert]

This is miles better.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£267.73 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£99.98 @ Aria PC) 

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£129.56 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  (£130.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£335.99 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£339.95 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£339.95 @ Aria PC) 

Case: Corsair 760T Black ATX Full Tower Case  (£129.99 @ Ebuyer) 

Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£142.01 @ Amazon UK) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (£79.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £1996.14

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-17 15:26 BST+0100

[Carson79]

Thanks guys, I was planning ahead with the choice of case and the extra in the budget is for a second graphics card or single more powerful one. That's really were I'm at a loss lol  

[IcedEskimo]

Do you really really like the 900D? or are you okay with a different case? The 900D is pretty chunky and unless you want water-cooling I wouldn't suggest it Why not get the 750D instead? it's basically the same thing without the ridiculous height.

 

here's what I've come up with. £200 over 2000 but this should last you a few years (wayy overkill for single monitor but for your 3 32'' lcd's, this is required.)

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£267.73 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£81.60 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£164.36 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£118.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£179.99 @ Aria PC) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£68.00 @ Amazon UK) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£499.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£499.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case  (£121.76 @ CCL Computers) 

Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£142.01 @ Amazon UK) 

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer  (£11.88 @ Amazon UK) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (£79.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card  (£131.84 @ CCL Computers) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm  Fans  (£19.00 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Red 52.2 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£7.98 @ Ebuyer) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Red 52.2 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£7.98 @ Ebuyer) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Red 52.2 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£7.98 @ Ebuyer) 

Total: £2411.07

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-17 15:36 BST+0100

 

EDIT: You might want to get some after market case fans and 2 SP 120's for that H100i. Also, switch out the WD Black for Green ones which run cooler and quieter. Just saw your cooling requirements.

 

EDIT2: Edited build with changes mentioned.

[Carson79]

 

This is miles better.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£267.73 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£99.98 @ Aria PC) 

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£129.56 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  (£130.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£335.99 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£339.95 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£339.95 @ Aria PC) 

Case: Corsair 760T Black ATX Full Tower Case  (£129.99 @ Ebuyer) 

Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£142.01 @ Amazon UK) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (£79.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £1996.14

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-17 15:26 BST+0100

Thanks mate, would the psu be okay when I add two sound cards? This is really the help I'm looking for, I really would prefer it to be a wise build rather than a contest of the most expensive parts lol

[Real_PhillBert]

 

 

This is miles better.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£267.73 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£99.98 @ Aria PC) 

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£129.56 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  (£130.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£335.99 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£339.95 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£339.95 @ Aria PC) 

Case: Corsair 760T Black ATX Full Tower Case  (£129.99 @ Ebuyer) 

Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£142.01 @ Amazon UK) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (£79.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £1996.14

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-17 15:26 BST+0100

Thanks mate, would the psu be okay when I add two sound cards? This is really the help I'm looking for, I really would prefer it to be a wise build rather than a contest of the most expensive parts lol

Thanks mate, would the psu be okay when I add two sound cards? This is really the help I'm looking for, I really would prefer it to be a wise build rather than a contest of the most expensive parts lol

 

Yep that PSU would have no problems at all. But I question your need for dual sound cards. I have never heard of a system that needs that. Can you expand on your setup a little bit to help us understand what exactly you are needing that for?

[Carson79]

Yeah I really liked the 900D I had been looking at the Cooler Master cosmos but liked the simplistic design of the 900D  

[xD6N]

Yeah I really liked the 900D I had been looking at the Cooler Master cosmos but liked the simplistic design of the 900D  

if you deafinitly going to go for a 900D then don't go for a 780 ti, you really should go for a titan black. ( it will literally double the 780 ti's performance and also a=has 6gb of vram which is becoming more and more important)

[Carson79]

Sorry the duel sounds cards are needed for software called simvibe its drives buttkickers to simulate engine and road vibrations and other effects that make the cockpit shake and vibrate more realistically than just sound driven buttkickers. It is quite amazing effects   

[Carson79]

After the PC build I'll be getting better monitors, so is the Titan black the way to go then? 

[xD6N]

After the PC build I'll be getting better monitors, so is the Titan black the way to go then? 

if your only going to be using 1 monitor then stick with 780 Ti, if your getting anymore monitors i.e 3 then i suggest the titan black by far.

[xD6N]

After the PC build I'll be getting better monitors, so is the Titan black the way to go then? 

Also one kind of monitors where you thinking of and also what resolution?

[Real_PhillBert]

if you deafinitly going to go for a 900D then don't go for a 780 ti, you really should go for a titan black. ( it will literally double the 780 ti's performance and also a=has 6gb of vram which is becoming more and more important)

 

Lol What?!?! This is complete bogus and I would ask you to stop spreading misinformation around.

 

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/05/08/gtx-titan-black-the-ultimate-gaming-gpu/

 

The Titan black often performs worse in gaming than the 780ti, but will do better in compute calculation situations.

 

After the PC build I'll be getting better monitors, so is the Titan black the way to go then? 

 

No, disregard what @xD6N said. The titan Black is incredibly bad value for a gaming PC.

[xD6N]

Lol What?!?! This is complete bogus and I would ask you to stop spreading misinformation around.

 

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/05/08/gtx-titan-black-the-ultimate-gaming-gpu/

 

The Titan black often performs worse in gaming than the 780ti, but will do better in compute calculation situations.

 

 

No, disregard what @xD6N said. The titan Black is incredibly bad value for a gaming PC.

oops, sorry about that my mistake.

[Carson79]

That's okay, I thought that 2 780ti's were better from reading it somewhere. I think they run cooler than two R290x's as well?

The case isn't a big deal just personal preference, I may get the system water cooled down the line, but first things first lol baby steps as I will be doing all this for the first time myself  

[Le Lion de Barreras]

You basically got two options.

What Real_Phillbert recommended which saves you a bit of cash or what IcedEskimo suggested if you want to go all out. 

In any case, both are excellent builds.

[xD6N]

That's okay, I thought that 2 780ti's were better from reading it somewhere. I think they run cooler than two R290x's as well?

The case isn't a big deal just personal preference, I may get the system water cooled down the line, but first things first lol baby steps as I will be doing all this for the first time myselfyes

this will be great and will fit all of your tasks http://www.ebuyer.com/640880-msi-r9-295x2-8gb-gddr5-dvi-4-x-mini-displayport-pci-e-graphics-r9-295x2-8gd5?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products&gclid=CJOVtb-Wgb8CFSjpwgodolYAsA

[Carson79]

Also one kind of monitors where you thinking of and also what resolution?

I'm undecided on 32"LED tv between £250- £350 or 29" monitor in the £300-£350 bracket.

The most important thing is bezal size.

[xD6N]

I'm undecided on 32"LED tv between £250- £350 or 29" monitor in the £300-£350 bracket.

The most important thing is bezal size.

so you will only be going with one monitor? becuase if you are then just stick with 780 ti ( also look for 144hz monitors ) theese monitors display more fps than a regualr 60hz monitor.

[Real_PhillBert]

That's okay, I thought that 2 780ti's were better from reading it somewhere. I think they run cooler than two R290x's as well?

The case isn't a big deal just personal preference, I may get the system water cooled down the line, but first things first lol baby steps as I will be doing all this for the first time myself  

 

Here is kinda the pecking order for Nvidia GPU setups: 780 < 780ti < 780 SLI < 780ti SLI The higher up the chain you get the hotter the system gets but the better it performs. 

 

You basically got two options.

What Real_Phillbert recommended which saves you a bit of cash or what IcedEskimo suggested if you want to go all out. 

In any case, both are excellent builds.

 

Yep @IcedEskimo 's build is very solid. It will perform slightly better than my build, but run a bit hotter and be a bit louder. Its all about the preference of the user, and how much he wants to spend. Both would be very good options.

[Carson79]

You basically got two options.

What Real_Phillbert recommended which saves you a bit of cash or what IcedEskimo suggested if you want to go all out. 

In any case, both are excellent builds.

Yeah I like both, and at £2400 with two 780ti's it's still good value imo