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Father/Son Video Editing/Gaming Computer $2500

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Hello,

My son had a great idea. He wants to try and build a new computericon1.png for me/us. My daughter wants to help.  We are at a cross road of quad confusion - Memory - CPU - Motherboard - Video Card. I would like to be under $2500 but I am at a point, the more I research the more the build price goes up!!  I am reaching out to this community for help....  I like the idea of building this with my kids, but I'm questioning whether I'm in over my head at this point.  Below is my story.

Approximate Purchase Date: December 2013

Budget Range: 
$2500 top end but would be happy if I could maintain performance at a lower price. I don’t need to boast about spending $2500 if I can do it for less that would be awesome. I based this price off Dave Dugdales build:http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/new-editing-computer-build/

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 
1st and most important Video editing: Using GoPro Black 3+, Canon 70D for photography and video. Looking for the highest resolution video. Currently using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for photos and Pinnacle 17 Ultimate and Cyberlink PowerDirector 12 for Video.
2nd PCicon1.png Online Gaming mainly Battlefield 4

Monitor?:

Not buying a monitor at this time. 

Do you need to buy OS: 

Yes, Looking at Microsoft Windows7 Professional

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: 
Can use Parts Picker for Parts. Will probably buy most from NewEgg prefer to have one point of contact.

Location: 
Buffalo, NY United States

Parts Preferences: 
Looking for the best overall solution - key is component compatability and future upgradability. I will be building this with my son and daughter. It is our December Christmas project. We have essentially no computer experience, although we have the passion to learn.

Overclocking: We will try to overclock.

SLI or Crossfire: Trying to stick with one video card at this time.  May add another in future if needed.

Additional Comments: I would like to have a quiet case. This will be our first build. This is a family project. We have thousands of photographs and videos. We just purchase a GoPro 3+ and will use it to document the kids sporting events, skiing, fishing also, will use the video for college sport recruiting side business. My son and I are Battlefield nuts.

And Most Importantly, Why am I Upgrading: 
Currently using a Gateway FX6800-01e, has an Intel i7-920/2.67GHz Processor, with 9GB of RAM, and a GTX 560TI Graphics Card. The computer is struggling with some of the video editing that we are performing and expect to have additional issues with the higher resolution video that we will pull off the gopro3+. 

 

 
CPU:  Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($539.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard:  ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($224.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage:  Kingston HyperX 3K 480GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($306.94 @ Adorama) 
Video Card:  Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card  ($699.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive:  LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($54.99 @ Microcenter) 
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($132.98 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $3118.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-04 11:24 EST-0500)
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-snip-

 

definitly get lower end RAM, get about 16 or 32 gb of 1600 mhz ram. it will be much cheaper and wont affect performance that much

Intel 3570k 3,4@4,5 1,12v Scythe Mugen 3 gigabyte 770     MSi z77a GD55    corsair vengeance 8 gb  corsair CX600M Bitfenix Outlaw 4 casefans

 

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I don't know why but I found this super cute. I hope you and your kids have fun. :)

You could definitely save on the HDD and SSD. I'd go for a Samsung EVO and a Seagate Barracuda for mass storage. The RAM is also very pricey.

The rest of the build is okay.

I'd also like to suggest watching Newegg's guide on how to build a computer.

Case-NZXT H440 | Motherboard-Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H | RAM-Kingston HyperX Blue 2x8GB 1600MHz | CPU-Intel 3770K @ 4.3GHz at 1.215v | Heatsink-Coolermaster Hyper212 Evo | GPU-EVGA GTX660 SC | SSD-MX200 250GB | HDD-Seagate Barracuda 3TB | PSU-EVGA GS650

Mouse-Logitech G600 | Keyboard-Ducky Shine 3 MX Blue. white backlight | Headphones-Audiotechnica ATH-M50s. Beyerdynamic DT990

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Get one/two 3TB Seagate instead (for 200 vs 260$ and you have 6TB vs 4TB).

Get cheaper RAM. (you can sabva about 200$ here)

 

 

edit: also I would get the black version. The white define looks kinda cheap : /

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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cute i wish u guys luck.

my only advice is get more hard drives and get windows 8.1 its time to move on past win 7
switch the h100i for a swiftech h220 its better and well worth the money

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cute i wish u guys luck.

my only advice is get more hard drives and get windows 8.1 its time to move on past win 7

switch the h100i for a swiftech h220 its better and well worth the money

dear god..

hello

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Hello,

My son had a great idea. He wants to try and build a new computericon1.png for me/us. My daughter wants to help.  We are at a cross road of quad confusion - Memory - CPU - Motherboard - Video Card. I would like to be under $2500 but I am at a point, the more I research the more the build price goes up!!  I am reaching out to this community for help....  I like the idea of building this with my kids, but I'm questioning whether I'm in over my head at this point.  Below is my story.

Approximate Purchase Date: December 2013

Budget Range: 

$2500 top end but would be happy if I could maintain performance at a lower price. I don’t need to boast about spending $2500 if I can do it for less that would be awesome. I based this price off Dave Dugdales build:http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/new-editing-computer-build/

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 

1st and most important Video editing: Using GoPro Black 3+, Canon 70D for photography and video. Looking for the highest resolution video. Currently using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for photos and Pinnacle 17 Ultimate and Cyberlink PowerDirector 12 for Video.

2nd PCicon1.png Online Gaming mainly Battlefield 4

Monitor?:

Not buying a monitor at this time. 

Do you need to buy OS: 

Yes, Looking at Microsoft Windows7 Professional

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: 

Can use Parts Picker for Parts. Will probably buy most from NewEgg prefer to have one point of contact.

Location: 

Buffalo, NY United States

Parts Preferences: 

Looking for the best overall solution - key is component compatability and future upgradability. I will be building this with my son and daughter. It is our December Christmas project. We have essentially no computer experience, although we have the passion to learn.

Overclocking: We will try to overclock.

SLI or Crossfire: Trying to stick with one video card at this time.  May add another in future if needed.

Additional Comments: I would like to have a quiet case. This will be our first build. This is a family project. We have thousands of photographs and videos. We just purchase a GoPro 3+ and will use it to document the kids sporting events, skiing, fishing also, will use the video for college sport recruiting side business. My son and I are Battlefield nuts.

And Most Importantly, Why am I Upgrading: 

Currently using a Gateway FX6800-01e, has an Intel i7-920/2.67GHz Processor, with 9GB of RAM, and a GTX 560TI Graphics Card. The computer is struggling with some of the video editing that we are performing and expect to have additional issues with the higher resolution video that we will pull off the gopro3+. 

 

 
CPU:  Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($539.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard:  ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($224.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage:  Kingston HyperX 3K 480GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($306.94 @ Adorama) 
Video Card:  Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card  ($699.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive:  LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($54.99 @ Microcenter) 
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($132.98 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $3118.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-04 11:24 EST-0500)

 

Not surprised you're struggling with Gateway. Anyway don't use Asrock motherboard bcos it is a bitch. Use either Gigabyte or Asus. RAM use 1866Mhz will suffice at the price point. SSD 256GB is enough. Get a GTX 690 if you're not going to add more cards. Get Corsair Case because they come with two front and one rear fans usually. Just buy everything from Newegg. Save the shipping fees. At $2.5k, would suggest you to take AMD 8-cores CPU for gaming and video editing.

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Not surprised you're struggling with Gateway. Anyway don't use Asrock motherboard bcos it is a bitch. Use either Gigabyte or Asus. RAM use 1866Mhz will suffice at the price point. SSD 256GB is enough. Get a GTX 690 if you're not going to add more cards. Get Corsair Case because they come with two front and one rear fans usually. Just buy everything from Newegg. Save the shipping fees. At $2.5k, would suggest you to take AMD 8-cores CPU for gaming and video editing.

no.

hello

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CPU:  Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($539.99 @ Amazon) 

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard:  ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($224.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage:  Kingston HyperX 3K 480GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($306.94 @ Adorama) 
Video Card:  Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card  ($699.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case Fan:  Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive:  LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($54.99 @ Microcenter) 
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($132.98 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $3118.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-04 11:24 EST-0500)

Overhauled:

CPU:  AMD FX-9590 Vishera 4.7GHz Turbo Freq@5Ghz Socket AM3+ 220W Eight-Core w/ Liquid Cooling kit ($399.99 @ Newegg)

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound ($8.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard:  GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7 AM3+  ($199.99 @ Newegg) 
SSD:  SAMSUNG 840 Pro 256GB  ($233.40 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply:  Corsair AX series AX860 860W 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified ($169.99 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit - OEM ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2707.31
Newegg free ground shippings.Use the old GTX 560Ti for Physx. Rbm to partition the 4TB into Max. 3TB spread.

P.S: Newegg stocks running out. Don't miss it!

 

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Alibalidan - I like the direction you are heading with this.  Although, I think I may run into a decrease in performance more specifically lower editing efficiency with AdobeCS and Premiere Pro with AMD CPU's. I missed the Adobe Products in my intro.

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Alibalidan - I like the direction you are heading with this.  Although, I think I may run into a decrease in performance more specifically lower editing efficiency with AdobeCS and Premiere Pro with AMD CPU's. I missed the Adobe Products in my intro.

CPU are there to handle the loads. This FX CPU 8-cores are healthy for HD video editing and 3D modeling. But you need more Cuda cores to render through those software.

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What versions of Adobe do you use?

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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WoodenMarker - Currently using Adobe Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS5 for photos and just purchase Pinnacle 17 Ultimate should have it this week.  I Have Premier ProCS5 really can't run it very well on my current computer, but may use Premiere Pro creative cloud in the future if Pinnacle 17 doesn't work out for us.

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WoodenMarker - Currently using Adobe Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS5 for photos and just purchase Pinnacle 17 Ultimate should have it this week.  I Have Premier ProCS5 really can't run it very well on my current computer, but may use Premiere Pro creative cloud in the future if Pinnacle 17 doesn't work out for us.

Alright.

Edits: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2fOYW

Hdd's in raid 0. 

Btw, you need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them.

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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Alright.

Edits: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2fOYW

Hdd's in raid 0. 

Btw, you need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them.

Ok,  I have a couple of questions please keep in mind that we are Novices at this.  We have been trying to absorb everything that we can from the Web but nothing can replace first hand experience.  

 

Question 1 regarding Memory.  You have chosen a dual channel kit,  would there be a notable difference if we added a quad channel kit, just in case I need to move up to 64GB of memory for future improved performance.  Also would there be a noticeable difference if we jumped up to higher speed memory. 

 

Question 2 regarding Video Card.  I notice that you have the 780 card which saves me an extra $200, this system keeps me at my budget(Thanks).  After pulling all this together my concern would be, I say to myself, for $200 I should have just added the 780TI.  I am hoping to work with this computer for awhile and I'm considering longevity/upgradeability. Any thoughts regarding the 780Ti, is it that much better and worth the cost.

 

Question 3:  I noticed the three drives in Raid 0

Reason for storage?  Would you set up your storage configuration something like this.

SSD - 1st Drive (OS, Programs, Pagefile)

HDD1 - 2nd Drive (Projects and Media)

HDD2 - 3rd Drive (Previews, Media Cache, Exports) 

 

Thanks again!

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Mechanical drives are prone to failure, and given the volume of photos and the professional nature of the work, I would switch the 4TB drive for three 2TB drives and configure them in a RAID 5 array, which will give you 4TB of storage + redundancy.  If any of the drives fail, you can replace it and the array can be rebuilt without losing any of the data.

Forum Rules   |   Guide to Display Cables / Adapters

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Anyway, here's a full list I put together, comes out to around $2500.

 

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=29172767

 

The Gigabyte board here is not a fantastic overclocker (the BIOS is not well-designed) but to be honest most X79 motherboards have problems of some kind... it's a very complex platform and it seems all the board vendors had some difficulty designing for it.  You could put another $100 into the board if you really wanted to but I don't think it's really worth it.  The Gigabyte UP4 has a pretty full feature set at a good price.  If you do want to though, the ASUS X79 DELUXE would be a solid choice, or the Rampage IV Extreme Black Edition if you really wanted to go nuts.

 

The GTX 780 is a better value than the 780 Ti in my opinion.  It's got plenty of gaming horsepower.  The price increase for the 780 Ti gets you nearly halfway to a second 780.  Again though, if you are willing to put the extra $200 in, the 780 Ti is a pretty epic card, and the overclocking is really great.  Factoring that in makes up for some of the value loss compared to the 780, I suppose.  Some of it.

 

An 860W power supply will give you the option of a second GTX 780 in the future.  760W is a stretching it a little bit thin (although it will still work), and 660W is good for just a single GTX 780, but foregoing the option of a second one in the future.

 

The SX900 SSD is a reputable, quality drive and keeps up with the best of them.  At the price it's at now, it's a steal.

 

The RAM is not the fastest on the block but RAM speed is not really super important anyway.  It can give a little bit of benefit on workstation tasks like editing, but even then, not much.  Again the RAM here is at a great price.  If nothing else I'd get the RAM and SSD while you can, before the prices go back up.  Of any of the components, super high end RAM is really, really not worth the money; $260 vs $520 for the 32GB of HyperX black vs Dominator Platinums... considering it has a pretty minor effect on performance, when it has any at all, it's not a good buy at all.  I'm not opposed to paying more for a better looking item, even if there's no tangible benefit, I do it myself, but this is just ridiculous. (Also to answer your question above, the X79 platform is capable of quad-channel memory, and if you get 2 sets of dual-channel kits then you can run the four of them in quad-channel mode).

 

As I mentioned, three 2TB hard drives in RAID 5 via the SATA 3Gbps (black) ports on the motherboard.  SSD would go in one of the white.  Assuming the Gigabyte board is used.

 

The H100i is not really known for quiet operation, the fans run at >2000RPM (?) and it is really geared more toward performance, although it does have a "quiet" mode... even then, Corsair's fans are mediocre and you can get fans that are not only more effective, but quieter at the same time.  For the price of the H100i, and if you swapped the fans out for some better ones (~$15-20 each, for decent fans) the price is too high in my opinion, and the performance, while good, is not exactly miles ahead of a less expensive air cooler (don't be fooled by the fact that it's "liquid cooling") and it does not justify the cost.  In addition an air cooler will give you better reliability, since the pump in the H100i can fail.  Not that it happens all the time, but it is always good to have less points of failure, especially in a machine used for professional work, and one that will be in service for a long time.  I really like the Prolimatech Megahalems cooler.  It doesn't come with a fan, so that it isn't built into the cost for those who would replace it with their own fan anyway.  I'd pair it with the Gelid fan in the list.  Really an excellent 120mm fan.

 

The other 3 Rosewill fans (they're rebranded Akasa Apaches, before anybody says something about Rosewill) are quiet and effective 140mm fans.  I'd put all this stuff in the Corsair Obsidian 750D case, which is a well-built and elegant case, with a lot of expansion room.  Replace the stock fans with 2 Apaches as intake in the front fan mounts, and one more as exhaust in the rear.  It's always good to have more air blowing in than blowing out, it helps keep dust out.  When you have more fans blowing out than blowing in, air gets sucked in through all the seams in the case too, whereas if you have it the other way around, air leaks out of the seams instead, and the only place it enters is through the front intake, which has a dust filter.

 

EDIT: Somehow I forgot to add the case onto the wishlist; comes out a bit less than $2700 then.

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Question 1 regarding Memory.  You have chosen a dual channel kit,  would there be a notable difference if we added a quad channel kit, just in case I need to move up to 64GB of memory for future improved performance.  Also would there be a noticeable difference if we jumped up to higher speed memory. 

 

Question 2 regarding Video Card.  I notice that you have the 780 card which saves me an extra $200, this system keeps me at my budget(Thanks).  After pulling all this together my concern would be, I say to myself, for $200 I should have just added the 780TI.  I am hoping to work with this computer for awhile and I'm considering longevity/upgradeability. Any thoughts regarding the 780Ti, is it that much better and worth the cost.

 

Question 3:  I noticed the three drives in Raid 0

Reason for storage?  Would you set up your storage configuration something like this.

SSD - 1st Drive (OS, Programs, Pagefile)

HDD1 - 2nd Drive (Projects and Media)

HDD2 - 3rd Drive (Previews, Media Cache, Exports) 

The difference in performance between dual and quad channel are very small outside of synthetic benchmarks. There's not much that can utilize thew difference in bandwidth. Higher speed memory won't make much of a difference unless you're working with some very heavy content.

 

The 780 Ti is a bad value. If you take a look at the 780 price drop, you can see how much of a premium Nvidia puts on their top tier cards. the extra money is better off saved for upgrades when you need them when better and cheaper parts come out. It's better but not worth the extra money for the 780 Ti.

 

Only the 2 hdd's are in raid 0. This is so you can work with heavier projects and import/export more quickly.

The ssd is for os/programs and I guess pagefile as well.

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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Well it’s been a crazy Holiday Season and I've been out of town for the past couple of weeks.  Just wanted to give you an update of where we are with this computer build.  We have a some extra Christmas funds to use for the build.

 

We have decided to go with the 6 core 4930K Processor as the center of the build.  We will perform quite a bit of video work on the computer including using Davinchi for some of the color correction.  

 

As far as the H100i CPU Cooler this just seems to be an easy setup with efficiency.  I will replace the stock fans with the 2 Noctua Fans for noise reduction.  I believe the cooler comes with thermal paste so we should be good there.

 

Still struggling with the motherboard but we are leaning toward Asus Motherboards.  This has the Asus Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard.  We will be overclocking and we will add another video card in a few months, music is important to us and we like the audio on the card, overall it seems to give us more versatility.  This has been the most difficult choice for the build.  I guess I could go with the Sabertooth x79 and save $200 looks like one of the main differences is 2x PCI-e x16 slots vs.4.

 

As far as the memory GSkill Ripjaws DDR3-1866 have received good reviews and seem to be a solid choice for what we are trying to accomplish.

 

Any other recommendations or input is welcome.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2unWm

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2unWm/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2unWm/benchmarks/

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($568.98 @ Amazon) 

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

Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition EATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($497.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($147.27 @ TigerDirect) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($104.99 @ NCIX US) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($104.99 @ NCIX US) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  ($527.27 @ TigerDirect) 

Case: Fractal Design ARC XL ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($21.49 @ NCIX US) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($21.49 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($183.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($132.99 @ B&H) 

Total: $2706.40

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-02 13:49 EST-0500)

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This looks like a great build to me.  I'm using the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme currently, which has served me well.  I have a RIV Black Edition coming soon which I will be switching to, and will have some extra snazzy features.  

 

This has the Asus Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard.  We will be overclocking and we will add another video card in a few months, music is important to us and we like the audio on the card, overall it seems to give us more versatility.  This has been the most difficult choice for the build.  I guess I could go with the Sabertooth x79 and save $200 looks like one of the main differences is 2x PCI-e x16 slots vs.4.

Yes the main difference is the extra PCI-e x16 slots, but there are a few new features in the black edition that the older sabertooth won't have.  It seems that the fan control and additional utilities are better in the black edition than they were when X79 was first released.  Also, if you're buying that much memory, you may want to consider RAMdisk utilities, and the black edition does come with ASUS's new ramdisk utility.  Now as I said, I don't have the board yet, but I am mostly excited for the additional features and utilities.  

 

I thought I might mention that the additional utilities may be something you want to consider when comparing the boards.  Some people consider these utilities bloatware, but I find myself using them frequently to make my overclocking life easier.  

Isopropyl alcohol is all you need for cleaning CPU's and motherboard components.  No, you don't need [insert cleaning solution here].  -Source: PhD Student, Chemistry


Why overclockers should understand Load-Line Calibration.


ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition || i7 3930k @ 4.5 GHz || 32 GB Corsair Vengeance CL8 || ASUS GTX 780 DCuII || ASUS Xonar Essence STX || XFX PRO 1000W

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Well i did a build here, its a bit over budget, Doesnt have the Asus Rampage IV, which its really an amazing board, if you have the money to go for that board, and can go for the black edition, you wont regret it.

 

here is the link for the build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2uwwm

 

also I'm guessing you son or daughter are still in school, if they are, buy windows 8.1 with their student ID (you can buy direct from a microsoft store, or online microsoft store)its like 70.00 USD for the pro version.

 

also if you like to drive, have a nice trip to New York City, and get from microcenter, but also newegg does price matching, so you can try to match microcenter price with the newegg price and buy everything from one place.

I hope it helps.

Everyday Rig: CPU: Intel i7 3930k (stock), Graphics Card: Asus Strix GTX 1080 Advance Edition, Ram: 32Gb 1600MHz Corsair Vengeance, Storage: 128Gb Samsung 830, 2Tb Seagate Barracuda, CPU Cooler: H100i GTX Noctua F12 iPPC 2000RPM and Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM, Windows 10 Pro, Power Supply: Corsair HX1050 80Gold, Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Keyboard: Corsair K65 Cherry Red,  Mouse: Razer Mamba TE

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The Asus Rampage IV Black Edition is a waste of money. 

Unless you're paying just to have the premium or the best to show off, it's not worth it if what you're concerned about is just functionality.

Why the Arc XL instead of the Arc Midi R2?

The Psu is overkill even for a 780 sli. A decent 750w would be plenty for that.

...Is the bluray drive really necessary?

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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