My Ultimate Pc Build

[bn0sakwe]

Hey guys/ girls i'm planning on building my very first computer

I use my computer for basic school work, photo/video editing and gaming . My goal is to build a computer that'll last me 2-3 years or a little more. I currently own a MSI GT70-0NC gaming laptop and although I love the portability, I realized every year I pay about $1500 for a gaming laptop then sell it for about 1k to get a newer gaming laptop in order to run newer games at high settings, basically I feel I'm wasting money. Had i spent 2k for a desktop originally I wouldn't have this issue as i know desktops tend to be more powerful than gaming laptops, plus i can interchange parts when i want to upgrade vs buying a whole new one. I originally bought the laptop for portability but with the availability of tablets, I would much rather prefer lugging a light tablet vs a 9-15lb laptop and power cord around campus while carrying my longboard (the struggle of gaming o the go lol).

That brings me to my current situation i'm selling my laptop to hopefully end this cycle and need some help building my gaming desktop i've done some research on the parts i choose and to my knowledge are they are all good parts, but i figured some advice from more experienced people would help

I have a budget of 2k, and my goal is to buy everything around black friday this year ( trying to save some dinero lol.) I currently have two 24" monitors and might add a third later on in the future. Also I already have a samsung 120gb ssd and 1tb hard drive hence why no hard drives are listed

Build X97

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($317.27 @ TigerDirect)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming G1 WIFI-BK ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($326.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($355.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($355.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($146.66 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2024.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-06 01:15 EDT-0400


Build X99

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($97.16 @ Amazon)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-GAMING G1WIFI EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($342.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($355.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($355.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($138.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2107.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-06 20:53 EDT-0400


The reason i chose the Gigabyte motherboard was because its one of the few that would run both graphics card @ PCIe 3.0 x16, i heard sli performs better in x16/0/16/0 vs x16/8 if anyone could chime in on this let me know

please give me some feedback/ opinions so i'll have a complete list by black friday

 

[jboydgolfer]

I would pick a different PSU if it were MY build, just a Personal opinion.
IMO, the PSU is THE if not ONE of the most important components in ANY build, since if IT fails, Your going to possibly lose more than just the PSU.
Thats MY 2 cents. Your spending a LOT of $$ on the build, I would recommend spending a bit more on The Power supply that is Powering ALL of the Pricey parts.They both have a 5 year warranty, I've just had GREAT experiences with Corsair. Maybe someone else will have a different opinion.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139057

 

[bn0sakwe]

I would pick a different PSU if it were MY build, just a Personal opinion.
IMO, the PSU is THE if not ONE of the most important components in ANY build, since if IT fails, Your going to possibly lose more than just the PSU.
Thats MY 2 cents. Your spending a LOT of $$ on the build, I would recommend spending a bit more on The Power supply that is Powering ALL of the Pricey parts.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139057

So I'm assuming just like their 970 refrence graphic cards evga is no good then ??

 

[INSTG8R]

I would pick a different PSU if it were MY build, just a Personal opinion.
IMO, the PSU is THE if not ONE of the most important components in ANY build, since if IT fails, Your going to possibly lose more than just the PSU.
Thats MY 2 cents. Your spending a LOT of $$ on the build, I would recommend spending a bit more on The Power supply that is Powering ALL of the Pricey parts.They both have a 5 year warranty, I've just had GREAT experiences with Corsair. Maybe someone else will have a different opinion.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139057

That EVGA is a better PSU to be perfectly honest. The Corsair is a Channel Well and the EVGA is a Superflower and a very highly rated one at that.

Edit: The EVGA also has a 10yr warranty

 

[thebluebumblebee]

1000 watt PSU? Even PcPartPicker estimates it at 484 watts. A quality 750 will do just fine. Really.
X16/X8 doesn't matter.

 

[bn0sakwe]

1000 watt PSU? Even PcPartPicker estimates it at 484 watts. A quality 750 will do just fine. Really.
X16/X8 doesn't matter.

Any recommendations on good quality brands PSU's???
also on behalf of the X16/X8, the second graphics card still be able to reach its full potential?? I heard the X16/X8 would limit it compared to one sli on X16/X16??

 

[INSTG8R]

Quality PSU is Seasonic hands down. X-750 80+ Gold is well up to the task.

New Egg has a pretty good price on the X-1050 if you really want to go high.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151110

 

[bn0sakwe]

ok changed my PSU to seasonic x-750, now anyone know a good mobo with wifi, and a good soundcard, and good OC capabilities since the gains of sli on X16/X16 vs X16/X8 is negligible

 

[SteelStroke]

I got the Antec 1000W PSU(80+) as a combo deal with my R295X2 (Crap card btw) and it is a solid performer providing plenty of power in the 12V rails. I just got 2 Nvidia 980 GTX's to replace my POS Radeon R295X2 card. Not supporting HDMI 2.0 in a (then) $1500 card is just asinine engineering by AMD. Will never go back to AMD...driver support is just awful.

I have the Gigabyte G1 X99 Mobo and it supports 2 980 GTX's in SLI superbly. My fault for early adopting the 295X2 for solid 4K Display support. No minidp 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapter can support 4K @ 60hz as of this posting.

 

[Easo]

What is wrong with R295X2, in your opinion?

 

[SteelStroke]

Not supporting HDMI 2.0 (Which has been out since Dec 2013) and pandering to the miniDP 1.2 crowd (Apple idiots) along with not providing reliable drivers. Oh and not supporting a display port that 97% of 4K TV/Monitor uses just shows why AMD will always lag behind NVidia. I have a HD7850 2GB card that was just awesome AND at least supported 4K @30Hz for just $170 in 2012 and turn around to be stupid enough to spend 1500 on AMD's flagship card which did NOT support HDMI 2.0 nor provide a minidp 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapter@60Hz just showed AMD's commitment to $$ over listening to gamer's needs. Just my .02....I could be wrong...

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Back on topic....OP, since you are not planning on buying this for a while, keep an eye out for rebates on Seasonic, and bigger than the $15 rebate currently. There seem to be repeating rebates on their "X" and "XP2"(link to 760 watt) units. I would also recommend their "Platinum series" over the "X" series because it's only a few dollars more.
About the motherboard, As long as you stay with the top 3 brands, Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte, (and some would want to throw in Asrock) just pick one with the features (and even colors) that you want. Getting a motherboard with wireless really bumps the price. For instance, I recently helped one of my son'd friends and we went with the MSI Z97-Gaming 5 at $160 and added an Intel wireless card instead of going with the $290 MSI Z97-Gaming 9 AC, but, since you are going with SLI, you would need to verify that you have the room for an add-on card.

 

[64K]

1000 watt PSU? Even PcPartPicker estimates it at 484 watts. A quality 750 will do just fine. Really.
X16/X8 doesn't matter.

I will second the 750 watt PSU. I've seen a couple of reviews for SLI GTX 970 and they've both shown a system max draw of around 450 watts. Those MSI 970s are going to draw a little more but I think you will still be under 500 watts. That leaves you plenty of room for overclocking if you want to. I think the video card you chose is the best available 970. I've got one on back order for a week now. The only thing I've seen negative on them is that some of them have coil whine on GPU stressful games. I plan to test mine right away on Crysis 3 to make sure I got a good one.

 

[erocker]

PSU looks absolutely fine. The entire build looks solid.

Only thing I'd change is swapping out the Arctic Silver 5 for something better like the Arctic Cooling stuff.

 

[GreiverBlade]

PSU looks absolutely fine. The entire build looks solid.

seconded

Only thing I'd change is swapping out the Arctic Silver 5 for something better like the Arctic Cooling stuff.

or the (i'm swiss i was in love with the Arctic cooling MX-4 but the GC-Extreme outdated her)

 

[EarthDog]

I would pick a different PSU if it were MY build, just a Personal opinion.
IMO, the PSU is THE if not ONE of the most important components in ANY build, since if IT fails, Your going to possibly lose more than just the PSU.
Thats MY 2 cents. Your spending a LOT of $$ on the build, I would recommend spending a bit more on The Power supply that is Powering ALL of the Pricey parts.They both have a 5 year warranty, I've just had GREAT experiences with Corsair. Maybe someone else will have a different opinion.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139057

You are off on this advice. The PSU is fine. One of the top notch PSU's around, actually, and has plenty of wattage to boot. A quality 750W PSU will EASILY handle that system and overclocking (ambient temp overclocking air/water). So will a 650W.

At the 750W level, at this moment, there is no higher quality unit and better bang for the buck than the EVGA Supernova G2 (Superflower) units. Same Tier1 quality of Seasonic and Corsair AX/AXi

 

[erocker]

seconded


or the (i'm swiss i was in love with the Arctic cooling MX-4 but the GC-Extreme outdated her)
View attachment 59558 View attachment 59559

What are the differences? I think I'll pick up a tube to give it a try. I just realized I haven't had my case open in almost a year! That as to be a record for me.

 

[GhostRyder]

Not supporting HDMI 2.0 (Which has been out since Dec 2013) and pandering to the miniDP 1.2 crowd (Apple idiots) along with not providing reliable drivers. Oh and not supporting a display port that 97% of 4K TV/Monitor uses just shows why AMD will always lag behind NVidia. I have a HD7850 2GB card that was just awesome AND at least supported 4K @30Hz for just $170 in 2012 and turn around to be stupid enough to spend 1500 on AMD's flagship card which did NOT support HDMI 2.0 nor provide a minidp 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapter@60Hz just showed AMD's commitment to $$ over listening to gamer's needs. Just my .02....I could be wrong...

Umm there are plenty of mini-DP to HDMI 2.0 compatible cables but the monitors that support that are few and far apart. Why you are bringing up that again in this thread is beyond me since it pertains nothing to the OP's request.

OP, your rig looks fine to me as it is and will work very well together. I might suggest a bit of changes if you want to balance a few parts out and add a little more bang in a few areas especially if you do not mind overclocking but as is I would say this is a pretty good looking machine.

 

[bn0sakwe]

Back on topic....OP, since you are not planning on buying this for a while, keep an eye out for rebates on Seasonic, and bigger than the $15 rebate currently. There seem to be repeating rebates on their "X" and "XP2"(link to 760 watt) units. I would also recommend their "Platinum series" over the "X" series because it's only a few dollars more.
About the motherboard, As long as you stay with the top 3 brands, Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte, (and some would want to throw in Asrock) just pick one with the features (and even colors) that you want. Getting a motherboard with wireless really bumps the price. For instance, I recently helped one of my son'd friends and we went with the MSI Z97-Gaming 5 at $160 and added an Intel wireless card instead of going with the $290 MSI Z97-Gaming 9 AC, but, since you are going with SLI, you would need to verify that you have the room for an add-on card.

I'll keep that in mind I might actually just start buying parts now as I find good deals on them since there's no guarantee they'll be on sale during cyber Monday/ black Friday

 

[bn0sakwe]

E

Umm there are plenty of mini-DP to HDMI 2.0 compatible cables but the monitors that support that are few and far apart. Why you are bringing up that again in this thread is beyond me since it pertains nothing to the OP's request.

OP, your rig looks fine to me as it is and will work very well together. I might suggest a bit of changes if you want to balance a few parts out and add a little more bang in a few areas especially if you do not mind overclocking but as is I would say this is a pretty good looking machine.

What changes do you recommend??

 

[bn0sakwe]

I will do some more research on the thermal compounds, and when I get my cards I'll make sure to stress test them.

Thanks for the suggestions guys keep them coming

 

[EarthDog]

As far as thermal paste... they are all within 1-2C of each other really.. Grab some MX-2, MX-4 and call it day. Easily to apply, easy to remove and cheap. The differences between the pastes are EASILY eradicated by your mount anyway.

 

[GreiverBlade]

What are the differences? I think I'll pick up a tube to give it a try. I just realized I haven't had my case open in almost a year! That as to be a record for me.

1-2° at most but : that one was cheaper than the MX-4 where i am (Switzerland) and has the TPU Approved logo on it you can't go wrong with that

 

[GhostRyder]

E

What changes do you recommend??

Well like I said I am basing this on your budget mixed with what you want to accomplish with your machine:

I would say go for the i7 5820K on the LGA 2011 platform instead because the extra 2 cores and threads will be beneficial with video editing and as far as gaming goes both i7's would perform on par with the inch going to the 5820K (Clock to clock) due to the extra cores. I would say if you only were gaming not to worry and even just get the i5 4690K, but you stated you like to video edit and stuff so I figure the extra money might be better put there. On that note you would also need something like this gigabyte board with built in wifi and some ram to compliment it. That would add about 150 bucks to your total depending on your choice of components and the components you mix together. I would say if you might be better off with that (So long as you overclock) for all your needs but that is because when I see such a high budget and you already have the SSD and HDD that it would just be a nice bonus to your performance.

The other thing is though I agree with everyone on how great Seasonic PSU's are for the price and especially if you want to save a couple bucks or cut cost if you go with some of my suggestions above then the Corsair HX750 is also gold rated and an excellent PSU (Corsair make darn good PSU's in my book) that will save up to 50 bucks. That is mostly just saying you could save more money and put it in a different spot, the same I could say about the case because that is a very pricey case (Love the Haf-X but its pretty expensive for what you get) but its your eyes of course so I would say go with what you think looks best and fits your needs in that area (But I will say you can get plenty of excellent cases for under 100 bucks that are similar in feature set).

Take what I say as just another bit of friendly advice and nothing more!

 

[Jetster]

Perfect, now just need an insane monitor