My first gaming pc

[upcountryjarl]

Well i am currently in the process of picking parts for my first gaming pc. i have a rather large budget of 3k. I have been playing with builds and swapping parts in and out , but i just wanted to see if this is optimal for my money and is a good pc. 

 

here is my build on pcpartpicker: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dBFst6

 

[Gung Pow Chicken]

Looks good

[enthalpy]

Nice =) looking 4ward to it

[PokémonTrainerFour]

I would get a 780TI over a 780 SLI config, mainly because SLI doesn't work all the time.

 

Pretty nice build though, good job.

[Sauron]

You don't need 1000watts, an rm 850 is fine. Also you don't need more than 8gb of ram.

 

For the rest, I'd ditch those monitors and get an asus pb287q. With two 780s you can drive it perfectly.

[Shd0w2]

Just gaming? this needs a lot of work

 

Here we are

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.99 @ NCIX US) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($143.99 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($74.99 @ Micro Center) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($599.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($599.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer  ($14.99 @ Newegg) 

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

Monitor: Acer G236HLBbd 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 

Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($249.23 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  ($24.15 @ NCIX US) 

Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($111.98 @ Newegg) 

Mouse: Razer Mamba 2012 Elite Wireless Laser Mouse  ($108.28 @ NCIX US) 

Headphones: Asus Orion Pro 7.1 Channel Headset  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 

Other: NZXT sleeved cable ($17.99)

Total: $2980.48

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Dual 780ti.

[upcountryjarl]

So is ROG not really that necessary? i was just looking at a lot of it and it seemed beneficial, but does it really help the system that much?

[SeanBond]

 

Just gaming? this needs a lot of work

 

Here we are

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.99 @ NCIX US) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($143.99 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($74.99 @ Micro Center) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($599.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($599.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer  ($14.99 @ Newegg) 

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

Monitor: Acer G236HLBbd 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 

Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($249.23 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  ($24.15 @ NCIX US) 

Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($111.98 @ Newegg) 

Mouse: Razer Mamba 2012 Elite Wireless Laser Mouse  ($108.28 @ NCIX US) 

Headphones: Asus Orion Pro 7.1 Channel Headset  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 

Other: NZXT sleeved cable ($17.99)

Total: $2980.48

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Dual 780ti.

 

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/By34YJ

This is pretty much like his except a few changes like the mouse, g502 is amazing. The cooler, h100i is a little overkill. In fact im sorry I got a h110 because too much voltage becomes an issue way before heat on 4670k and that would run hotter than devils canyon. Also double the SSD drive. And a slightly cheaper quieter WD Blue that is not far behind in performance. The extra ssd space will mean if you want something to load faster put it on there.

Edited July 11, 2014 by SeanBond

[AlwaysFSX]

Don't buy a Hero, it's a stupid board for the money. Get a Phantom 410 or 530, they're more updated and will cause you less headaches and have nice little features in them.

[upcountryjarl]

i guess my fear with getting a mid size tower is i didnt know if heat would be an issue, especially with sli. so i thought a bigger tower would let the heat more around more. 

[Feeterican]

I'm really liking the setup and you will really like that monitor, I'm running it with G-Sync and it's so smooth it just flows.

 

the few things I would change on it myself is:

I would go with windows 7 64bit

Corsair Dominator ram

and the Mouse, I for one really like Razer but I'm not to keen on wireless. I would rather go with a wired one only cause if it dies in the middle of a game it would make my a little miffed.

 

The rest though is almost like my dream machine.

 

Thumbs up on the build

 

 

So is ROG not really that necessary? i was just looking at a lot of it and it seemed beneficial, but does it really help the system that much?

I would stick with it only cause I've noticed that if you use a really good motherboard your system will last for years and years.

 

My secondary PC is 6 years old now and I spent about 300$ on my motherboard and I'm still using it today and as a second gaming system. It can still run Black ops 2 maxed out running it at 1920x1080 and also it can run Titanfall at the same res but the setting are on medium to high.

[SeanBond]

i guess my fear with getting a mid size tower is i didnt know if heat would be an issue, especially with sli. so i thought a bigger tower would let the heat more around more. 

No heat is only an issue for high end stuff if you overclock and by high end stuff I mean overvolting the crap out of your cpu. I don't touch voltage on gpu's because it does not seem to help enough to warrant it. Any aftermarket cooling you get on a card should more than keep the gpu frosty cool. Most aftermarket cooling won't go past 72C silent mode at full load. However in the case of sli I think the best thing to do is to get at least one reference card so the bottom card that get air intake first blows the hot air out the back of the case instead of up into the second gpu. If both cards are just dumping heat into the case you won't get the best temps.

[Feeterican]

No heat is only an issue for high end stuff if you overclock and by high end stuff I mean overvolting the crap out of your cpu. I don't touch voltage on gpu's because it does not seem to help enough to warrant it. Any aftermarket cooling you get on a card should more than keep the gpu frosty cool. Most aftermarket cooling won't go past 72C silent mode at full load. However in the case of sli I think the best thing to do is to get at least one reference card so the bottom card that get air intake first blows the hot air out the back of the case instead of up into the second gpu. If both cards are just dumping heat into the case you won't get the best temps.

I agree with you on that but if he did go with a DirectCU setup he could get away with it if he was running a Cooler Master HAF 932 where there are 3 200mm fans and 1 120mm fan and an optional 120mm at the bottom. But now that I remember he is using a H100i, so the top fan would be replaced by that RAD and I would say to compensate it would be a Push Pull and the HAF case has plenty of room for that at the top.

[SeanBond]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/By34YJ

I don't think my edited link came out right, it keeps sending me to a weird build without a motherboard so this is what I thought you should probably end up getting.

[upcountryjarl]

What made you decide going for a noctua cooler over the h100i or a different radiator?

[SeanBond]

What made you decide going for a noctua cooler over the h100i or a different radiator?

Mainly because with an h100i you will be hitting about 1.40V before heat becomes a problem, which you shouldn't be volting a cpu that high for long periods of time. So you are really just paying for extra cooling you won't need. The noctua has a bit more balance, it's quieter and it's nearly half price but you should still stay cool enough to hit 1.3V without issue which is about where you would want to be. Like I said. I very much regret getting an h110 because it's huge. Incompatible with most cases and unnecessary. I am at 4.4ghz on my chip at 1.275V and just to get it to 4.5 stable I need 1.37V which starts things heating up and too much volts for me. Those big liquid coolers really are not needed because the difference between the noctua and the h100i might only be 100mhz in the real world. But this is all my opinion. I do not claim to be a professional. 

[Guest]

I would go for a better psu.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20850xr

[SeanBond]

I would have put the ax860 in there but I was trying to squeez it in the 3000 price mark

[upcountryjarl]

i am very glad that i posted on here because i feel that it is really helping me get the optimal build. 

 

is it overkill for me to have an sli setup with 780 tis on just a 1080p screen? 

[SeanBond]

i am very glad that i posted on here because i feel that it is really helping me get the optimal build. 

 

is it overkill for me to have an sli setup with 780 tis on just a 1080p screen? 

Not at 144hz. Overkill would be 2 780ti's for 1080p at 60hz. But I would say most people would agree to drop the 144hz screen for a 1440p 60hz screen But either way. 

[ddbtkd456]

Also I would not get the hero because it has the bios freeze bug, which is not a good thing....You should get a Kraken x61 or Corsair h110 instead of the H100i (they are more quiet), I would go with a single 780ti (which is overkill for any game available today anyways), and spend that extra money on a nice 4k monitor or a 27" (2560x1440). Even tho it is a 27" it still has a very nice crisp picture that that resolution....the Kraken x61 has a variable speed pump as well, which means it is quiet when it is not needed, then when its needed it revs up to cool your system...kinda nice really.

[SeanBond]

Also I would not get the hero because it has the bios freeze bug, which is not a good thing....You should get a Kraken x61 or Corsair h110 instead of the H100i (they are more quiet), I would go with a single 780ti (which is overkill for any game available today anyways), and spend that extra money on a nice 4k monitor or a 27" (2560x1440). Even tho it is a 27" it still has a very nice crisp picture that that resolution....the Kraken x61 has a variable speed pump as well, which means it is quiet when it is not needed, then when its needed it revs up to cool your system...kinda nice really.

Not entirely sure what this guy is thinking. you need two 780ti's just to barely achieve 4k 60fps in last fall's games. So 1 gpu and you will only be playing old games at that res which somewhat defeats the purpose so yeah definitely get a 1440p 60hz and forget the second monitor if you can. Also like I said unless you are going for a crazy overclock just for epeen that extra 100mhz you will get from extreme cooling won't be worth it in my opinion. Would you rather be at 4.4ghz with a 500gb ssd or 4.5ghz with a 250gb ssd. 

[ddbtkd456]

Not entirely sure what this guy is thinking. you need two 780ti's just to barely achieve 4k 60fps in last fall's games. So 1 gpu and you will only be playing old games at that res which somewhat defeats the purpose so yeah definitely get a 1440p 60hz and forget the second monitor if you can. Also like I said unless you are going for a crazy overclock just for epeen that extra 100mhz you will get from extreme cooling won't be worth it in my opinion. Would you rather be at 4.4ghz with a 500gb ssd or 4.5ghz with a 250gb ssd. 

 

Yea I thought about the 4k monitor after I posted it...guess I'm lazy when it comes to that sorry...I was just thinking as far as noise level goes the 140's are quieter. I am still learning...I've only built one computer...I just watch alot of videos on it........I mean alot.

[SeanBond]

Yea I thought about the 4k monitor after I posted it...guess I'm lazy when it comes to that sorry...I was just thinking as far as noise level goes the 140's are quieter. I am still learning...I've only built one computer...I just watch alot of videos on it........I mean alot.

it's alright baby cakes. you a good guy

[upcountryjarl]

i dont really play a lot of FPS games but i do enjoy playing them from time to time, but not to the level that i think i must 100% have the high refresh rate. I do love looking at nice graphics so i am fine with increasing the resolution and possibly dropping the second monitor to make it fit into my build. But what are some recommendations for a good 1440p monitor?