Review my gaming build?

[D0cR0ck]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm looking at building a somewhat future proof gaming rig capable of running my games at max settings.

 

This is only my second vuild so please let me know if something could be swapped out for a better component.

 

Thanks

 

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=32973588

[FMod]

It's very unoptimized, also many components are dated, or just not good value, pretty much everything should be swapped. Let me put together a different one from scratch.

 

Hold off on buying a CPU for now. You want to preorder this one - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369 - but it won't be shipped until a little later. 4790K comes clocked up to 4.4 GHz turbo, and Haswells have trouble overclocking. If you can't wait, get a 4770K as planned, but otherwise the difference is worth waiting for.

 

So, an upgraded build would be this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RJhDJx

...and this is it really. Add $340 for i7-4790K CPU and the total comes out to $1,550 - actually less than your initial build.

Peripherals and OS are not included, similar to your build.

 

Spending the exact same budget as yours, an optimal build would come to this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qNryVn (+$340 CPU).

But it's not really significantly better, I basically just "spent" the remainder the best it could be spent. Value for money take the previous build.

 

I used pcpartpicker because it automatically finds best deals and all that. Buying all on newegg would come to a slightly higher total, and some parts aren't available there (like the cooler).

As for the case, the ones I've picked are objectively slightly better in that they reduce system noise (without harming cooling), but if you don't like their looks, there's nothing wrong with your original pick either. If you just want a window, though, Fractal cases do have a window version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352037

The cooling you've picked has nothing wrong with it either, it's just more expensive for no performance or acoustic benefit, but if you're willing to spend that for looks/"just because"/etc, it won't gimp the system.

[D0cR0ck]

Wow, I had no clue I was that bad at this, lol.

 

I honestly know nothing about over clocking and was hoping what I chose would work well "out of the box."

However if doing so allows me to save money on parts I would gladly consider it.

 

Only reason I choose the Full tower/water cooler was on a recommendation from a friend who builds/repairs PC's freelance.

[FMod]

You don't really need overclocking here. i7-4790K comes clocked very high right out of the box - 10% faster than 4770K. In modern CPU world, 10% is a lot, basically i7-4770K is 10% faster than i5-4670K that costs $100 less. Getting this amount of boost for free is worth a delay.

 

If you have no other requirements etc, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RJhDJx is the build to go with. It's cheaper because it's well optimized, best value components, good components match, etc, not overclocking. End result is actually better.

 

Air vs "water in a box" cooling comes down to preference, air cooling is a bit more difficult to install, but once it's there, you're pretty safe. Water cooling can have a pump breakdown, fan breakdown (good air coolers are safe even fanless), corrosion, leaks, it's all rare, but if I were to give someone a build and forget about it, I'd use air.

Don't mistake "water in a box" systems like H100i for high-performance component enthusiast systems, they don't perform the same.

 

I put in a 780 instead of 780Ti because it just makes more sense to save some money for when the next generation comes out. Or one after next, at least. Video cards are best upgraded more often than other parts.

[D0cR0ck]

You don't really need overclocking here. i7-4790K comes clocked very high right out of the box - 10% faster than 4770K. In modern CPU world, 10% is a lot, basically i7-4770K is 10% faster than i5-4670K that costs $100 less. Getting this amount of boost for free is worth a delay.

 

If you have no other requirements etc, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RJhDJx is the build to go with. It's cheaper because it's well optimized, best value components, good components match, etc, not overclocking. End result is actually better.

 

Air vs "water in a box" cooling comes down to preference, air cooling is a bit more difficult to install, but once it's there, you're pretty safe. Water cooling can have a pump breakdown, fan breakdown (good air coolers are safe even fanless), corrosion, leaks, it's all rare, but if I were to give someone a build and forget about it, I'd use air.

Don't mistake "water in a box" systems like H100i for high-performance component enthusiast systems, they don't perform the same.

 

I put in a 780 instead of 780Ti because it just makes more sense to save some money for when the next generation comes out. Or one after next, at least. Video cards are best upgraded more often than other parts.

Understood.

 

Thanks for all the info.

 

I'll be saving for the new 4790k and probably go with the 780 to, just to try to make it less obsolete proof.

 

Thanks again for all the info

[dave1029]

If you're going to spend that kind of money, why not get a better GPU?

[D0cR0ck]

If you're going to spend that kind of money, why not get a better GPU?

It's something wrong with the 780 ti?

That's pretty close to my top end budget.

[FMod]

I'll be saving for the new 4790k and probably go with the 780 to, just to try to make it less obsolete proof.

 

Cards generally get obsolete when their feature set no longer covers everything, rather than when their performance is no longer sufficient. Simply put, 2 years down the line, the 15% difference between 780 and 780Ti won't make one of them any more or less obsolete. But the difference between say GTX 960 that supports DirectX 12 and 780Ti that's only DX11 will make the latter obsolete.

 

So, the rule of thumb is to put as much money into your GPU as you plan to spend on GPU upgrades every 2 years (or more often). High-end and midrange GPU become obsolete at the same time - people who buy high-end cards don't do it because they're willing to put up with 30 fps and half the eye candy disabled.

 

Now, no disagreement with the choice of 780Ti, just that the reason for picking would be higher resolution or third-party graphics mods or other heavy tasks, not that it lasts longer.

[dave1029]

 

If you're going to spend that kind of money, why not get a better GPU?

It's something wrong with the 780 ti?

That's pretty close to my top end budget.

 

The 780 Ti is fine, but if you wanted to be future proof, you should get a dual GPU. It really depends on what resolution you plan to play at, and how much *eye candy* you want. If it's just 1080p and you don't mind turning down your graphics as time goes by, then get the 780. If you want to keep graphics maxed and only be turning down the resolution as time goes by, then get a dual GPU. Only problem with that, is, Nvidia hasn't released he 790 yet, and the only good AMD dual GPU is the 295x2, which is $1,500. So either wait on the 790, or get the 295x2. If those are out of your budget, go for the 780 ti.

[FMod]

The 780 Ti is fine, but if you wanted to be future proof, you should get a dual GPU. It really depends on what resolution you plan to play at, and how much *eye candy* you want. If it's just 1080p and you don't mind turning down your graphics as time goes by, then get the 780. If you want to keep graphics maxed and only be turning down the resolution as time goes by, then get a dual GPU.

 

Remember: the night DX12 is released, however cool your GPU are and however many of these you have, there will be a "poof" and a cloud as they turn into pumpkins.

They'll still fetch a few dimes on the dollar on craigslist from people who just want a cheap beater, of course, but so can real pumpkins be cooked and eaten.

 

The only situation where buying 2 cards buys you more time until upgrade than 1 is when a game is about to be released tomorrow (as in, very very soon), and you have it on preorder, and you you know with confidence that it will not run well in your current resolution on a single GPU.

 

Currently for 1080p such games do not exist.

If you might buy a new display later, see above about how your cards might go "poof" before you actually buy the screen.

If you think they're going to start developing such a game and you might want to play pone of them, see above, except your cards will definitely go "poof" well before the game is out.

 

If you want to be future proof, set up a personal fund for instantly preordering the next top GPU as soon as it's announced.

If you have to feel future proof, but it's mandatory that you do so without upgrading your components, lock yourself up in a bunker without internet or TV so that you don't learn about any new developments.