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Unread 03-27-2014, 06:12 PM   #11
Menarker
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You most certainly have been of excellent help! (+1 Rep Point!)

On another note...
Looked at memory cards now and I'm sticking with Synk's choice. There was one called Corsair's vengence that for double the price has double the RAM (32 instead of 16), but looking at the reviews, I'm seeing quite a few occasional dead RAM sticks and that's something that's kinda turning me off a little. And quite a few of the reviews I'm reading says that 16GB of RAM is already somewhat more than I need and 32 is kinda more for future-proofing. So I'd rather stick with ensuring that my RAM is durable and doesn't need the inconvenience or effort to replace them!

So yeah, putting 16GB worth of RAM from G.SKILL Ripjaws.

---------- Post added at 02:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 PM ----------

Looked at cooling systems.

I'm questioning whether what sort of cooling system I should get as there seems to be several options; fans, water coolant and a few others I hear.

That said, I looked at Bell's suggestion of NOCTUA and it seems to be supported by this particular article (the "Noctua NH-U14S" that is)
EDIT: I have since noticed that there is a newer version of that one (Noctua NH-D14) that is only a tiniest bit more expensive but also quieter (which is kinda important since I live with other people in house that complain about noise)

EDIT: I then looked into another page and found an article that also included water coolers, with the ThermalTake Water 2.0 (Both normal and Extreme) being pretty noteworthy. The Enermax ETS-T40 fan also got acolades in that article too.

That article was an interesting read, but I looked at the date and the Noctua one was more recent (2013), while the others I scratched out is 2011.

I'm starting to think with all the stuff listed above, that I might need a fairly big case...

---------- Post added at 04:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:40 PM ----------

Looking at Monitors since I'm a little pressed for time for the afternoon to look at casing compatibility.

At first glance, the Asus VG248QE seems to have what I would like...

Last edited by Menarker; 03-27-2014 at 05:27 PM.
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Unread 03-27-2014, 08:50 PM   #12
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Go with the i7 if you want. I believe an i5-4670k could quite easily last you through the generation, using one myself overclocked to 4.5ghz. Just make sure it's -k for Intel stuff, otherwise you won't easily be able to OC it.

That Noctua NH-D14 fan is excellent. Got it myself. Makes hardly any noise, and keeps things nice and cool. Haven't seen any temperatures exceeding 70C at full load, and running idle it's between 20-35C. But yeah, it's on the large side. Using this case for it, and the fan clearance over the RAM isn't as good as I'd like it.

If you go for an i5 in your budget you might be able to up the card to a GTX 780.

16GB RAM itself I'd consider overkill, at least for the next 3 years. 32GB is for yacht gaming with $3000 Titan Ball Z cards.
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Unread 03-29-2014, 03:57 AM   #13
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Something occurs to me now that I forgot to consider.

The operating system (OS)

I've been checking things out and it looks like Windows 8.x has been seeing a lot of hate (so much that Microsoft is making Windows 9 to come out next year). What with the Metro mechanic, privacy invasion of the "SmartSearch", programmed nagging to have/use a Microsoft account instead of a local account and what not.

That said (and there are some ways around the stuff mentioned above), I've read that Windows 8 is generally faster and more secure than Windows 7.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Also, posting this here for my personal record.

PCPartsPickerList
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.98 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($71.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($118.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($156.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($384.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($132.98 @ Best Buy)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($264.99 @ B&H)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($23.69 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($23.69 @ Amazon)
Total: $2042.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-31 03:41 EDT-0400)


Still need to consider Case and OS...

Last edited by Menarker; 03-31-2014 at 02:42 AM.
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Unread 04-03-2014, 11:24 AM   #14
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Nothing pulls me back in like a PC gaming rig thread!

Windows 8 is most definitely faster than Windows 7, particularly in boot time, but the benchmarks I have seen generally show game framerates are also slightly better (probably not by a noticeable amount, but every bit helps). I recently installed Windows 8 on my laptop, and the boot time was cut in half.

My opinions on your part picker list:

1) Was there a reason for going Ivy Bridge over Haswell? Only thing I can think of is you're going to try and massively overclock the 3770K, which it is better suited for overall. But on a quick check, the 4770K is cheaper, uses less electricity, and running stock or the minor/moderate overclocks both processors could achieve, is slightly faster. As well, if you are comfortable overclocking, you probably WILL save dollars by following RO's suggestion of downgrading to an i5. You lose HyperThreading I think? Not sure if any game engines even use that. CryEngine 3 maybe. But by how much?

2a) Only SSDs for storage? I like it! Modern games are starting to get huge, though. As long as you don't mind uninstalling stuff, you might find ~750GB of space filling up rather quickly.

2b) I recommend the Samsung 840 EVO series over the Pro series. It's quite a bit cheaper, and you really aren't going to notice the performance gains to justify the $120+ price difference. I recently helped my coworker build his first gaming PC, and we put a 256GB EVO on the boot/gaming drive, boots from power button to Windows 8.1 in 6 seconds. My jaw dropped.

3) RAM is fine, that's a good price on the sticks. I'm not well versed in the nitty-gritty of RAM performance, though it tends to be a pretty tertiary component for gaming. Does anyone know if it would make a difference having 8GBx2 sticks versus the 4GBx4 you have selected in performance? It would be running Dual Channel vs. Quad Channel, my intuition tells me that imposes a bandwidth limit of some kind, but like RO mentions, 16GB will still be 16GB, you won't be starving for RAM in either case. If you went with a 8GBx2 kit instead, you wouldn't have to replace all your RAM sticks if you ever decided to make the jump to 32GB in a few years.

4) Cooling solutions look excellent.

5) Case, I have no opinion on. Just pick a Mid case that suits your needs. I've been a fan of Antec myself. I use the old 2009 Antec Twelve Hundred and it cools like a BAMF even without the added cooling you would bring in. It's a little...big though. Antec Nine Hundred? Pretty sleek. Just make sure you've got USB3.0 on it, ideally front and back.

6) And my final point...based on all of my suggestions, I feel like you could make some major improvements overall with the money saved from all avenues. Your monitor seems hella expensive, unless there's a specific reason you want a really high framerate and, I'll say it, the aging resolution of 1080p. This is a ~$2000 gaming rig in 2014, there is pretty much zero reason you should be limiting yourself to 1920x1080 gaming.

Therefore:

7) Trim costs off the SSDs, CPU, wherever else you think you can tighten the build, and try to go plaid.

7A) Keep the GTX770 4GB, a very good card, lose that pricey monitor, get a 1440p monitor. That card should handle it.
or
7B) You can get a good combo price on the benchmark obliterating GTX780Ti, for a nominal upgrade, where you could annihilate 1440p and even try your hand at lower framerate 4K.
or
7C) At least go multi-monitor 1080p. This is not so much for gaming, but I find it increases productivity/convenience.
and/or
7D) Consider NVIDIA G-Sync monitors. I have not had the privilege of seeing one in person yet, but the reviews are stellar.
and/or
7E) This build will be ridiculously suited for the NVIDIA Shield, which may or may not be up your alley depending on your personal preferences, gaming habits, and wireless situation, but it's pretty freaking cool.

I hope my advice helps in some way or another, happy building!

Last edited by Azisien; 04-03-2014 at 11:32 AM.
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Unread 04-03-2014, 03:05 PM   #15
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Default For example, I hadn't even looked at that monitor res.

I'd recommend giving the above your attention -- there is more care in the actual product recommendations than mine by far.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Azisien View Post
Does anyone know if it would make a difference having 8GBx2 sticks versus the 4GBx4 you have selected in performance? It would be running Dual Channel vs. Quad Channel, my intuition tells me that imposes a bandwidth limit of some kind, but like RO mentions, 16GB will still be 16GB, you won't be starving for RAM in either case. If you went with a 8GBx2 kit instead, you wouldn't have to replace all your RAM sticks if you ever decided to make the jump to 32GB in a few years.

It's definitely important to properly pair RAM when slotting it in the motherboard with respect to performance -- if DIMM slots 1 and 2 are a pair, don't use 1 and 3, for example. Usually these pairings are color-coded (e.g. two are blue, two are black). I don't have any source to point to, but basically memory controllers benefit from capitalizing on dual-channel setups, making 1 stick inferior to 2 sticks, and four sticks does add an additional step over just having two. That said, speeds are so quick anymore that this is likely not something a person playing a game is going to notice (though it may come out in small number differences in benchmarks?).

If there's no budget issue and/or there's a desire to slap more RAM in the machine later, it's easier to add two more of the same type later (e.g. two more 8GB sticks) than to have to replace them all (e.g. having to swap out all four 4GB sticks for 8GB sticks).
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Unread 04-03-2014, 06:00 PM   #16
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Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days. Have been busy.

I went over to NCIX yesturday for some advice and for a price quotation.

Some of the parts they suggested (like the Intel Core I7 4770k which Azisen mentioned above) was not found in PC Parts Picker website (seems like the site is slow to include newer parts). So they made that suggestion and put it in the price quote.

Was told that regarding memory, 8x2 was smoother than 4x4. So that got changed as well.

Was told that SSD doesn't really speed up gaming that much (just the booting it up really), so that was swapped for a Terrabyte of a cheaper normal hard drive (of a brand he said was excellent).

Can you elaborate more on the monitor specs? Like why 1080p is considered aging?

Don't have time right now to post the parts list (need to get ready for work), but I'll see what I can do soon.

However, I found out that the price for a fairly decent gaming rig is going to be higher than normal because I live in Canada and thus the price is roughly going to be about 15% higher due to taxes and what not. My current price quote after OS and everything (and he already subbed a few parts to make it cheaper) is $2749.45 which makes me flinch a little, but I can technically afford it. (The price includes about 6-7 discounts that NCIX was able to give me on parts.)

---------- Post added at 04:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:43 PM ----------

I actually found time to scan the page and host it up to show you guys.


Last edited by Menarker; 04-03-2014 at 03:53 PM.
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Unread 04-04-2014, 08:45 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Menarker View Post
Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days. Have been busy.

I went over to NCIX yesturday for some advice and for a price quotation.

Some of the parts they suggested (like the Intel Core I7 4770k which Azisen mentioned above) was not found in PC Parts Picker website (seems like the site is slow to include newer parts). So they made that suggestion and put it in the price quote.

Was told that regarding memory, 8x2 was smoother than 4x4. So that got changed as well.

Was told that SSD doesn't really speed up gaming that much (just the booting it up really), so that was swapped for a Terrabyte of a cheaper normal hard drive (of a brand he said was excellent).

Can you elaborate more on the monitor specs? Like why 1080p is considered aging?
Oh how I know paying the Canadian price. I'll try to address those questions/concerns in some kind of order:

1) Use PCPartPickerCanada. There is a Canadian version of the site and it lists Canadian prices and dealers.

2) i7-4770K is definitely on PCPartPicker, that's like the flagship Haswell processor. Anyway, if you're set on an i7, it's the one to get, so I mostly agree with the NCIX folks there.

3) SSD won't speed up framerate very much (huge game assets generally aren't loading on the fly in most games), but you WILL get gaming performance out of faster level loading. Of course, load times are a complex variable with no set parameters, they use the CPU, GPU, hard drive in somewhat random mixtures, but the throttle is always the hard drive. That's where the SSD sees some benefit. What I personally do is use Steam Folders to have an SSD install or HDD install depending on the game. Games I'm actively playing go on the SSD, then I can toss them to the HDD when I don't play as much, or just uninstall. You could do something similar.

4) Monitors...Displays, yes.

I called 1080p an aging resolution, my words. The consoles are still trying to get there half the time, but dedicated PC graphics cards are literally on another level at this point.

My concern with your build is that it's $2700 and you're going with one 1920x1080 screen, and it makes me cry a little. It's not that 1080p doesn't look fabulous, it does! And you'll certainly be happy. The car equivalent of what you're doing, though, is buying a race car and using it to get groceries or as a golf cart. The biggest throttle in your build will be your display. The GTX770 4GB will handle good framerates at 2560x1440 resolution. Since you know I'm not talking out of my arse, here's benchmarks: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1037

Actually, not sure if that's the 2GB or the 4GB.

Here's alternate sources of not-$800 1440p monitors:

http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=053988

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Achieva-Shimi...29bcec5&_uhb=1

http://item.ebay.com/111152577746

Whatever your PC can't handle at max setting 1440p (and keep in mind, medium settings 1440p may be better than high settings 1080p), it will handle in 1080p anyway, and you can always downgrade in the game itself.

Another thing, which has been brought up by both RO and myself, is that if this is a dedicated gaming rig, you are currently buying one of the best i7 processors out there, but your video card is your most important piece of hardware. Would you consider downgrading to a gaming quality i5 and using the difference to get a GTX780? It might be worth your while, but I've thrown a lot at you, so think it all over, maybe run it by the NCIX guys.

In general they picked good parts for you. The R4 is nice, the Intel SSD is stellar.
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Unread 04-08-2014, 06:28 PM   #18
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Ok, some news!

1: I went to NCIX to see what other monitors are like, and I'm happier sticking with what I got. I don't personally see much of a difference between 1080p and 1400p and I prefer more speed/framerate than details/colors and the price of a few extra hundred dollars for results I couldn't really notice steered me away. Sorry!

2: Been getting extra hours at work, so I could justify getting a new 780 graphics card without removing anything else. Selected the "ASUS GeForce GTX 7880".

3: Regarding SSD cards, I'm holding off on that, seeing how my computer performs before I get another hard drive.

4: Aside from the upgraded graphics card, I'm also buying Thermal Paste (kinda like Synk suggested) although I was suggested the Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound Paste. Normally a bit more expensive than what Synk suggested, but they had a special that reduced it a bit less than the Arctic Silver 5 and I was assured the quality was better. I'm also springing an extra $25 for premium assembly-setup, so they'll take care of cable management, application of the thermal paste, testing and everything.

Total cost is $2943.20, which I paid $300 now and will pay the rest when I get the computer.

Many thanks in advance for everyone's time and support! More details later when I get it!
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Unread 04-08-2014, 06:54 PM   #19
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Congrats man! Pics when they are available!

For what it's worth, that is actually the best 1080p monitor available, it really is excellent for its resolution. So, when do you begin your SSD upgrade fund?
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Unread 04-22-2014, 09:08 PM   #20
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Normally, I'm not a big fan of taking pics, nevermind posting them.

However, you requested it. =P

I got my computer today. While it'll be a little while before I finally personalize it to my liking, I'll display what I've gotten... as a slideshow!

Computer Pics here!

PS: Bought an internet adapter that is working nicely and a fancier keyboard than I would normally get. The mouse is a "gift" (didn't want anymore) from my brother, but it's better than my plain mouse so that's that.
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