Gaming Beast

[vincenexus]

wow looks like i was way off thanks for the suggestions i have mad a lot of changes to my build and have updated the first post please review it for me if you will

and once again thank you for your help so far

 

Here is the new build also on page 1

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM = $99
Case: Thermaltake Level 10 GT Case = $265

Disk Drive: Pioneer DVR-220LBKS Black 24x DVDRW OEM = $25

MoBo: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Motherboard = $199 im a sucker for aesthetics black red and gold

Sound Card: ASUS Xonar Essence STX = $169

CPU: Intel Core i5 4670K = $269 Decided Against the i7 too expensive just for hyperthreadding plus i only need 4Ghz OC

Cooler: Xigmatek Aegir CPU Cooler = $59

GFX: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked ACX 2GB = $499

Ram:Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8R 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 = $99

HDD: Toshiba DT01ACA200 2TB 7200RPM = $95

SSD: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB SSD Retail Box = $249

PSU: Corsair AX760 Platinum Power Supply = $219

Total: $2339 This Includes Postage And Parcel Protection

Edited June 19, 2013 by vincenexus

[FMod]

MoBo: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 Motherboard = $215

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770 = $345

Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler = $89 to Fmod it seems the xigimark cooler does not fit 1150 i may be wrong this one ok?

SSD: Samsung 840 Series 120GB SSD Retail Box = $109

LGA 1156, 1155 and 1150 all have the exact same cooler mounting. What fits one, fits all three.

Noctua DH-14 isn't bad, just old. It goes neck in neck with Aegir, and Aegir is $35 less.

 

On the motherboard, with Haswell's integrated VRM and low o/c ceiling, there's just no real added value to high-end mobos.

Integrated audio gimmicks are just that, gimmicks. You don't want to plug your high-grade headphones into any motherboard.

 

A card like Xonar DX would be more appropriate: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=211&products_id=13190

This is the optimum I'd recommend, assuming you don't already have a headphone amp.

 

Once again on the SSD, consider more than 120GB, it just isn't enough for serious use.

[hoofhearted4]

Once again on the SSD, consider more than 120GB, it just isn't enough for serious use.

This^

 

i got a 128gb when i got my SSD close to a year ago, and i regret it. i should have (and will be getting) got a 256gb. i was premature in buying my SSD, and wanted it sooner. i thought id be fine with 128gb, but it fills upfast with any sort of large games or multiple OSs

[vincenexus]

Ok so i have got a bigger SSD 1TB less on the HDD went with the Pro 4 MOBO and chose the Sound Blaster Z as the SoundCard

• the Xonar DX did not state to have a headphone amp and i have read it does not do great with headphones as i live in a unit i wont be using the speakers i have much and i play mostly at night so headphones are my main audio

P.S i know my headphones dont need a 600 ohm amp probably overkill getting a 100 ohm amp if they existed but i previously owned a Xonar U3 USB Soundcard Before i had to RMA it twice and the headphones through that were 10 fold what they are with the on-board laptop audio Acer Aspire S3

im not a massive audiophile but do own a lot of lossless audio go into it once i got my ATH-M50's and i need a dedicated headphone amp its just not the same without it and after returning my Xonar U3 for store credit i just dont get the same buzz form the lossless

this is the cheapest i can find on pccasegear that states that it has a headphone amp

its getting a little pricey but i can see the benefits of a dedicated Sound Card And Bigger SSD

went back to the i5 k for price reasons but i have read it can get to 4.5Ghz stable that's more than enough i probably wont get that high with an air cooler but i will settle for a 4Ghz overclock

Edited June 18, 2013 by vincenexus

[FMod]

Ok so i have got a bigger SSD 1TB less on the HDD went with the Pro 4 MOBO and chose the Sound Blaster Z as the SoundCard

Not this one. SB Z is just trash, you don't want it. After the X-Fi they are making, I have no idea what, it's a bunch of cheap parts with a lot of wrapping.

 

Xonar DGX does have a headphone amp, if you don't have a dedicated one. I forgot the more expensive DX omits one.

Or, if you are willing to spend more, Essence STX has probably the best headphone amp on a sound card: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=211&products_id=10940

 

You might not discern the difference between DGX and STX. But with your headphones, it will be audible, just depends on personal preferences. Will it be $135 worth of difference, I don't think it will. DGX is completely reasonable, while Essence STX is an audiophile level card.

 

Don't let bad experiences with one card (esp. an external) color your choice, it's not like Creative is better in that regard, statistically speaking.

 

 

 

went back to the i5 k for price reasons but i have read it can get to 4.5Ghz stable

You might be thinking about i5-3570K. 4670K does go to 4.5GHz stable - but it goes to 4.5 for the same people who overclock 2500K to 5+ GHz. Average people who ran 2500K at 4.5 or 3570K at 4.4 should do about 4.2 with 4670K. It's because of the integrated VRM elements... Haswell is *almost* not worth it, but almost, it's still better to get a newer part just because.

 

I'm still sitting with 2500K, personally. It's kind of silly considering the rest of my setup - but hey, I can do 5.2 GHz on it or 4.9 efficiently, and there's just no performance gain to be had by upgrading to marginally higher PPC, but lower-clocking chips. Had I known new Intels would suck so bad, I would have upgraded to 3930K when it was released, instead of hoping for new generations to bring something to the table.

Edited June 18, 2013 by FMod

[vincenexus]

fmod your the man thanks

and thanks to everyone for your reply's so far

i had to go with the Asus Xonar Essence STX after reading about 100 different reviews this one meets my near audiophile needs for lossless music through headphones and my gaming needs with is unified drivers and all that jazz and the total still comes under $2500 AUD which is my hard limit after postage and parcell protection $2300 and

Im getting platinum rated power

A beast of a GFX Card

A dreamy Sound Card

1150 Socket K so i can overclock (Just a bit)

and i still get my super expensive case that makes me drool hehe

this build to me looks finished

but if there are any more things anyone would like to add i would appreciate it

 

made one change mostly on aesthetics to the MoBo MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Motherboard Now its Black Red And Gold for $30 More

but aside from aesthetics it has 3x PCI-E 3.0 x16 if i ever feel the need for SLI for Multiple Screen Setup

but it does have a lot of bells and whistles like the GUI Bios Easy Overcloking, oh and the Vga Boost but it's most likely a gimmick

Plus and i know i'm sad i get the Powered By EVGA case badge and the Gaming G Series MSi badge and it will look badass hehe

Edited June 19, 2013 by vincenexus

[kalikka]

 

Ok so i have got a bigger SSD 1TB less on the HDD went with the Pro 4 MOBO and chose the Sound Blaster Z as the SoundCard

Not this one. SB Z is just trash, you don't want it. After the X-Fi they are making, I have no idea what, it's a bunch of cheap parts with a lot of wrapping.

 

Xonar DGX does have a headphone amp, if you don't have a dedicated one. I forgot the more expensive DX omits one.

Or, if you are willing to spend more, Essence STX has probably the best headphone amp on a sound card: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=211&products_id=10940

 

You might not discern the difference between DGX and STX. But with your headphones, it will be audible, just depends on personal preferences. Will it be $135 worth of difference, I don't think it will. DGX is completely reasonable, while Essence STX is an audiophile level card.

 

Don't let bad experiences with one card (esp. an external) color your choice, it's not like Creative is better in that regard, statistically speaking.

 

 

 

went back to the i5 k for price reasons but i have read it can get to 4.5Ghz stable

You might be thinking about i5-3570K. 4670K does go to 4.5GHz stable - but it goes to 4.5 for the same people who overclock 2500K to 5+ GHz. Average people who ran 2500K at 4.5 or 3570K at 4.4 should do about 4.2 with 4670K. It's because of the integrated VRM elements... Haswell is *almost* not worth it, but almost, it's still better to get a newer part just because.

 

I'm still sitting with 2500K, personally. It's kind of silly considering the rest of my setup - but hey, I can do 5.2 GHz on it or 4.9 efficiently, and there's just no performance gain to be had by upgrading to marginally higher PPC, but lower-clocking chips. Had I known new Intels would suck so bad, I would have upgraded to 3930K when it was released, instead of hoping for new generations to bring something to the table.

 

I wouldnt go as far as calling the SB Z trash. The recon3d was indeed utter trash but they fixed everything that sucked on the Z series.

But still, Titanium HD and Xonar STX wins anyway if you dont count the ZxR.

[vincenexus]

kalikka do you own a STX? i want to know how good the unified drivers are for gaming

i know it will be amazing listening to full lossless through my ATH-M50's (i might get a 600 ohm pair of cans after this card)

but i have heard some back and forth between forums that argue that it is a near audiophile card but not great for games

i think i will be amazing for both but as i have never looked into Sound Cards i wanted to make sure this is an all rounder

[Beriallord]

Any reason you need the sound card? For over $2000, you should be able to do a better GPU like a Titan, or even SLI 770s. Also there is a 4GB version of the 770, and in a game like Skyrim, you could definitely make use of that. If I was you I'd find some places to cut and get more GPU power for the $.

 

Also the Noctua CPU cooler is arguably the best air cooler there is, and it even outperforms some water cooling. You should be able to OC the heck out of that CPU with a Noctua cooler, maybe even 5ghz.

 

Also the Z87 motherboard has a feature called smart caching. It uses an SSD to boost the speed of your system by automatically placing your most used programs on the SSD. Which would be your OS + most used games. You don't need a 256GB SSD for this. I got a 64GB SSD as a caching device and it works great. If you're manually storing programs on your SSD while using a Z68, Z77, or Z87 motherboard, then you're doing it all wrong. When they include such an awesome feature as this, there is really no reason not to use it because you can get the best of both worlds, lots of HDD storage + SSD speeds on most of your programs. Without having to micro manage anything.

 

You should definitely try to cut your costs down in some areas and try to squeeze in the budget to SLI another 770.

 

#1: You don't need a 256GB SSD to be used as a caching device, you can get by with a 128GB or even a 64GB. Could save up to $150 or more here

 

#2: Probably don't need that sound card. Save another $160 here.

 

#3 You could scale down a few other parts to make room in the budget if needed. If you squeeze another $150 here then you made up the budget for another 770.

 

This is just an example, and this is in USD:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18ned
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18ned/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18ned/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter) - This is worth a drive to a microcenter if you got one anywhere near you.
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z87 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($247.99 @ Newegg) - This motherboard is a beast for overclocking.
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($142.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data S510 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($449.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($449.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 1050W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($177.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2252.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-20 08:45 EDT-0400)

 

 

Or another example, this one is a lot cheaper.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18o14
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18o14/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18o14/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Microcenter) - Best CPU cooler for the price IMO. I5 2500k @ 4.5ghz no problem with this.
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($66.60 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data S510 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Amazon) - Non reference triple fan cooling on this.
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($102.68 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 1050W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($177.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Microcenter)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1464.20
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-20 09:58 EDT-0400)

 

Or SLI GPUs and the total comes to $1946.18

 

Newegg has a combo deal with the CPU + motherboard.

 

Is asthetics really worth $800? A gaming PC is strictly business.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Beriallord

[FMod]

Gaming-wise, STX's audio processor is really lackluster. A better idea could be the newer and much cheaper DGX; it's not quite as good-sounding, but still good, and the DSP is modern.

 

Alternately, Titanium HD is about on par with Essence STX quality-wise, but with a full X-Fi DSP onboard.

 

Software audio isn't really any slower than hardware; the issue is it's far worse in quality. DSP can do on the fly operations that would fully load a generic multi-core CPU, so they do them; in software audio, all but the simplest effects are simply thrown away.

X-Fi can deliver vastly superior effects to SB Z, though it requires games that support EAX and Alchemy if running Win7.

 

 

Any reason you need the sound card? For over $2000, you should be able to do a better GPU like a Titan, or even SLI 770s. Also there is a 4GB version of the 770, and in a game like Skyrim, you could definitely make use of that. If I was you I'd find some places to cut and get more GPU power for the $.

 

Also the Noctua CPU cooler is arguably the best air cooler there is, and it even outperforms some water cooling. You should be able to OC the heck out of that CPU with a Noctua cooler, maybe even 5ghz.

Noctua used to be arguably the best, many years ago. Now it's about on par with the much cheaper Aegir.

 

Haswell just doesn't do 5 GHz. Even Sandy barely does 5; you need to pick a lucky chip and a good mobo with a favorable voltage curve. On Haswell, the average o/c is only in 4.2 GHz range; it's not all about the cooler.

 

The 4GB version of 680 hasn't been shown to offer any actual performance advantage over the 2GB one, even in heavy modes or on modded games, and 770 is, well, that.

Titan just won't fit into the budget (we're talking 2k with everything, not 5k), and really the only step above 770/2GB that makes any sense is 780.

 

Also the Z87 motherboard has a feature called smart caching. It uses an SSD to boost the speed of your system by automatically placing your most used programs on the SSD. Which would be your OS + most used games. You don't need a 256GB SSD for this.

SSD Caching just doesn't come close to a proper SSD. It's about the same to a SSD install that a SSD-cached setup is to a low-performance 5400 HDD.

 

Z87 will only cache moderate blocks of data, only after multiple use, and its implementation is software-based and simply substandard compared to commercial solutions. Simply put, Intel's caching caches for data blocks rather than actively minimize HDD IOPS.

 

 

Or SLI GPUs and the total comes to $1946.18

Newegg has a combo deal with the CPU + motherboard.

Is asthetics really worth $800? A gaming PC is strictly business.

 

The card you suggested isn't even in stock.

OP's in Australia. Newegg won't ship there for free or offer all the deals. And AUD prices are higher, in part because AUD/USD hovers around 0.9.