New Gaming/Personal build

[biker121]

Hello guys, 

Alright, let me paint the picture on how bad I need an upgrade. I currently own a desktop (Pentium 4 2.0 GHz :D) and a laptop (Q720 and GTX 260m). I unfortunately have no Overclocking or computer building experience but I do look forward to it.

 

Aim:

So now that I am getting a bit itchy, I want to have own a desktop computer on which I can play games without sacrificing performance, do personal application and web development, and if things go as per plan - video editing. I want to have a desktop computer that can last a long time ~5years if not more. By lasting, I mean not die out like my Pentium 4, which right now is simply inoperable. Not intended for looks, but rather functionality and durability. A quiet system is much appreciated.

 

Monitors:

When I'm playing games, I don't intend to go beyond one hi-res with in-game detail monitor setup. But when I'm doing development or hopefully video editing in the near future, I intend to use an absolute minimum of two monitors if not three.

 

Peripherals:

No operating system, mouse, keyboard, monitor, optical drive, or speaker system is system is required as I transfer those from my current setup or get it later. 

 

$$$:

I hope that covers my intents. Now moving on to money and parts - I would like to keep it at a mid-high (but definitely below $2500) range while going flat for functionality (cooling, durability, gaming related features like Killer ethernet, etc.). That being said, saving money is always on the table.

 

The following are the parts that I desire:

CPU - Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor

GPU - MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)

              --> changed to - EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card

 

The following are the parts I am unsure on how to proceed:

CPU Cooler - I see a bunch of reviews of Corsairs liquid closed loop cooling solutions (H40, H60, H80, so on and so forth), seeing how easy of a cooling solution it is while at the same time I'm seeing some comments of air cooling is a better solution to Corsairs closed loops. Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler - this is the cooler  I was looking at.

-> Changed to: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

-> Changed to: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler

 

Motherboard - There are so many motherboards out there, so I have no idea what to choose. I came across MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard. It seems to be have what a gaming rig could benefit from.

-> Changed to: Asus SABERTOOTH Z87 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

-> Changed to: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

 

Case - I saw Cooler Master HAF 932 Blue ATX Full Tower Case at a fair price.

-> Changed to: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case

 

Memory - 2x8gb Sticks, so that I have room to add more if I so desire. I saw a cheap pair of these Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory.

-> changed to: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

 

Storage - Initially I will purchase a ~256gb SSD with the system, but once I am getting the parts together, I will include some 1-4TB hard drive. I saw this Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk at a fair price.

 

Power Supply - To put it bluntly, I am really out of touch as per what makes a good power supply. As far as I'm concerned, if it powers the rig, it works for me. I saw this Corsair Professional Gold 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply at a fair price. 

--> changed to: SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

--> changed to: SeaSonic 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

--> changed to: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

 

Cooling fans - Similar as power supply, I am not sure how many fans would provide decent cooling.

 

Sound - This is not a necessity as of yet, as my headset is an on-board soundcard which is sufficient for now. But I believe the MSI's motherboard comes with some built-in audio solution. Later on if I enjoy doing video editing, I plan to add a sound card for obvious reasons.

 

<PartPicker URL: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1gdQS>

 

If you've survived this long and willing to put in some words of wisdom, I would appreciate some pointers (no null pointers :D).

 

Thanks,

Biker

Edited July 13, 2013 by biker121

[Dog Knight]

switch to a fractal design R4 there built on the need for silence  

[ShadyHost]

dual 770s might not last as long as you think. Probably not 5+ years. You will most likely have to get an upgrade somewhere down the road if you want to keep maxxing out games. I would say spend less money on a 780 since you will get less microstutter, and you can enable cuda if you use adobe products later down the road (i know you said you don't currently edit videos)

 

For video editing the 4770k will probably be fine for the next few years. 16gb of ram is probably okay but if you went up to 32, windows will dynamically up the amount of ram that programs like adobe premiere and sony vegas can allocate to themselves, making editing a little faster. 16 is fine for now since you plan on going 2x8. Both the 4770k and 16gb of ram is probably more than okay for current gen games and the other things you plan on doing with the machine. 

 

For sound I would recommend the Fractal Design R4. From what I can tell it is pretty quiet. Since you don't care about looks get something like a Noctua NH-d14, it will provide quieter cooling and better performance than the hydro series corsair products (I have owned the d14, h100i, and 2 h80i coolers)

 

MSI motherboards are great but I would say the Asus boards are better for overclocking, and their overclocking software for Windows  is very well done and stable. Since you don't care about looks I would go with the sabertooth board, because it is in their higher tier of boards while still being cheaper than the maximus extreme boards. 

 

I don't have anything else to change about your proposed build. Let me know if you have any questions. 

[WoodenMarker]

It looks solid. 

I'd bump up to a h100i though.

[biker121]

DogKnight and ShadyHost - Thanks for your input.

WoodenMarker and ShadyHost - Thanks for your input. I have changed the CPU cooler to H100i. ShadyHost - is H100i really getting beat by Noctua NH-d14 in terms of cooling?

 

I have changed the case to the suggested Fractal Design R4 and the motherboard to Sabertooth.

----changes have been reflected on the original post-----

 

As for GPU, I really don't know how to go about it. I do want good video performance while playing games.

 

Any advise on it? Dual 770s or single 780? ...

[ShadowRaven]

I would suggest that you go with a single 780 because two gpus increase the temperature & stability coming into play with your system

[Glenwing]

For motherboard there is not really any reason to spend more than $150 or so.  Motherboards don't affect performance so you pick them just based on what features they have, and at ~$150 pretty much all boards have you covered, and you only need to go higher if you need some specific obscure feature or you want very advanced power delivery for hardcore overclocking.  You do not sound like a crazy enthusiast overclocker to me so I would drop the board down to the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H which is a solid quality board with plenty of features, still can get some decent overclocks.  And I do not think the H100i is necessary either, although it does look cool.  A Noctua NH-D14 will be quieter and plenty effective, or a Prolimatech Megahalems Revision C cooler with a Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM fan would also not be a bad choice.

 

I also agree with the above advice, to avoid multi-GPU if possible.  A single GTX 780 would lose to dual 770's a bit in terms of raw power, but you get much more consistent performance (Dual 770's will sometimes perform much better than a 780, and sometimes perform worse than a 780) and a single 780 is more efficient, quieter, and generates less heat.  Plus you leave yourself more options open for future expansion.  If you start out with dual cards your future options are somewhat limited.

[biker121]

I agree with you guys..... with GPU setup, I'll go with a single 780 solution. Less heat, and cheaper.

--GPU change has been reflected on the original post--

 

Glenwing, the only reason I still have the H100i up there is because I have this thinking that a liquid solution may be more effective as it is not affected to the same degree as air cooling by dust or warm ambient temperature.

 

If I do go for the suggested Noctua NH-D14, do you think it would fit into the case I current have -Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case?

[biker121]

Update: 

1) Power supply changed to - SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

[biker121]

Glenwing, the only reason I still have the H100i up there is because I have this thinking that a liquid solution may be more effective as it is not affected to the same degree as air cooling by dust or warm ambient temperature.

 

If I do go for the suggested Noctua NH-D14, do you think it would fit into the case I current have -Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case?

[biker121]

If I am not mistaken, the case comes with one stock fan. Do you think the build would require additional fans? If so, which fans?

[Glenwing]

I agree with you guys..... with GPU setup, I'll go with a single 780 solution. Less heat, and cheaper.

--GPU change has been reflected on the original post--

 

Glenwing, the only reason I still have the H100i up there is because I have this thinking that a liquid solution may be more effective as it is not affected to the same degree as air cooling by dust or warm ambient temperature.

 

If I do go for the suggested Noctua NH-D14, do you think it would fit into the case I current have -Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case?

 

H100i will still be affected by dust and ambient temperatures.  Liquid cooling is the same as air cooling, but instead of having the heatsink mounted directly to the CPU, it is somewhere else in the case, and there is a water loop in between to transport the heat between the CPU and the heatsink (radiator).  The water is just for heat transport.  The actual heat dissipation is still done by blowing air through an array of metal fins with fans.  The purpose of this is to allow you to mount the heatsink in a more convenient location, so they can be (potentially) bigger, and you can string together multiple ones in series, to give you more cooling potential.  Of course this is just potential, and if you only have a single or dual radiator water cooler, the amount of surface area in those radiators hasn't exceeded what's possible with a motherboard mounted heatsink, and so they can still be matched (or close) with larger heatsinks.

 

In essence "liquid cooling" is just a workaround to the inherent limitations on how large a heatsink can be when you mount it on the motherboard.  But is just uses water as a medium to ferry heat between "off-site" heatshinks, so air cooling, blowing air through the radiators, is still the method through which the heat is dispersed, and so it is affected by dust and ambient temperatures in exactly the same way as a standard heatsink is.  

 

Yes, the NH-D14 will fit in the R4.

[biker121]

Thank you Glenwing for the explanation. 

 

Alright, so I'll go with the suggested air cooler.

 

So as for purchasing options, do you have any recommendations? I have never ordered parts online so I am unsure on how to get the 'best' deal.

[biker121]

Also, if I plan to overclock my CPU which can be done since its unlocked. But as for GPU, can my existing (EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card) be overclocked or does it have to be a certain type like the CPU for it to be overclocked?

[WoodenMarker]

Also, if I plan to overclock my CPU which can be done since its unlocked. But as for GPU, can my existing (EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card) be overclocked or does it have to be a certain type like the CPU for it to be overclocked?

All gpus can be overclocked. 

[WoodenMarker]

If I am not mistaken, the case comes with one stock fan. Do you think the build would require additional fans? If so, which fans?

The R4 already comes with good fans. If you aim for better/quieter fans, look to Noctua.

[biker121]

Thanks WoodenMarker, I didn't know that all GPUs could be overclocked. Got it, thanks.

 

As for the build, I think I'll stick with the current setup unless someone has any other suggests....

 

As for purchasing options, any suggestions on how to go about it? From which site? 

[Glenwing]

What is your region?

[biker121]

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

[WoodenMarker]

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Here you go: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1fFLU

The system is sli ready. There's not much of a reason to get a sabertooth other than for it's looks. You only need to get a premium motherboard for overclocks at the very least 4.8ghz or higher.

[KONA]

change the CPU cooler to a Noctua if you want good performance,long lasting and if you don't care how it looks

[biker121]

Kona - I had actually put the cooler under the 'motherboard' heading, my mistake. Thank you for backing up the cooler, now I am that much more assured.

 

WoodenMarker:

1 - Why did you choose the H100i cooler? Many of the other users, seem to suggest that the Noctua is a better option.

2 - Why did you choose a higher wattage power supply?

3 - As for the motherboard, I have been suggested to go for the Sabertooth as it has some durability features..

For pricing, I'm still not sure where to order these parts from because some stores are only in United States....

 

Also if I do buy from a store in United states, I am unsure if I would be charged Custom when I receive the item or if it would be part of the shipping.

[WoodenMarker]

Kona - I had actually put the cooler under the 'motherboard' heading, my mistake. Thank you for backing up the cooler, now I am that much more assured.

 

WoodenMarker:

1 - Why did you choose the H100i cooler? Many of the other users, seem to suggest that the Noctua is a better option.

2 - Why did you choose a higher wattage power supply?

3 - As for the motherboard, I have been suggested to go for the Sabertooth as it has some durability features..

For pricing, I'm still not sure where to order these parts from because some stores are only in United States....

 

Also if I do buy from a store in United states, I am unsure if I would be charged Custom when I receive the item or if it would be part of the shipping.

1. I chose the h100i for the looks as most people like that. If you don't mind the Noctua, by all means get it. I myself have a NH-D14.

2. I chose a higher wattage psu for sli capability at a lower price. If you didn't want to sli, you could get a cheaper mobo/psu

3. The sabertooth isn't significantly more durable than any other motherboard. It just happens to have a shield that might get in the way of falling parts. Any z87 board would do. All the parts I listed are from Canadian merchants.

 

I'm not sure why you would buy from the US when you have a decent list of merchants in Canada. 

[biker121]

Thanks for responding WoodenMarker.

 

1 - Ah I see, I don't mind the looks as I slipping the tower into a bathing suit :D

2 - Lets say I do go for the higher wattage, does that mean it WILL consume more energy or that the extra wattage is there for the parts if need be?

3 -I see.... So how would my original motherboard of choice be -MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard? 

Should I rather go for the one you suggested? 

 

As for merchanges - I just noticed the Canadian merchants options, so I have updated the main page accordingly.

[WoodenMarker]

Thanks for responding WoodenMarker.

 

1 - Ah I see, I don't mind the looks as I slipping the tower into a bathing suit :D

2 - Lets say I do go for the higher wattage, does that mean it WILL consume more energy or that the extra wattage is there for the parts if need be?

3 -I see.... So how would my original motherboard of choice be -MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard? 

Should I rather go for the one you suggested? 

 

As for merchanges - I just noticed the Canadian merchants options, so I have updated the main page accordingly.

Please quote a post or else the person won't get a notification you responded to them.

 

1. Awesome. Go for it.

2. Getting a higher wattage psu won't use more energy. It just gives more headroom to allow for more parts that require more power.

3. The main point for the G45 gaming would be its looks imo. If there are any other features you like from the G45 over the one I chose, go get it. Otherwise, the motherboard I suggested will do everything you need.