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Help on my first gaming rig

1K views 43 replies 7 participants last post by  Furore 
#1 ·
i am building a new gaming PC and i want it to be able to run ultra settings and be some future proof. please let me know if i can improve my rig in anyway. thank you

intel i7 3960x s2011
asus p9x79 pro s2011
Trooper case
corsair ax 1200w
win 8.1
500gb Samsung solid state
2tb hard drive
corsair hydro h100i
two: 2x8gb vengeance 2400mhz ram

i still haven't decided a graphics card but im leaning towards the Titan...again please let me know and thank you for the feedback
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#2 ·
Titan ($1000) is way too overpriced. Better get GTX 780 ($500 after the price cut) which offers 90% of Titan performance, or wait for the upcoming GTX 780Ti ($700), which might even be faster than Titan in gaming. On the AMD side, you could also consider R9 290X or the upcoming R9 290. And if you go with one card, with any of the above,1200W PSU is way too overkill and not a good idea.

Edit:
Eddie below is right about 3930K being of much better choice, performance is the same, stock clocks are not important because both are overclockable. You save about $400 and you lose 3MB of level 3 cache, 12MB on 3930K vs 15MB on 3960X, but there is no performance loss really. And he is also right that 4*4GB is better than 2*8GB, since socket 2011 supports quad channel RAM, for which you need to have 4 RAM sticks.
 
#3 ·
Hi and welcome to OCN
smile.gif


The list is looking ok so far but here are my thoughts on it:

The 3960x is a great cpu, I own one myself. But to be honest it was not worth the money to me, so I'd now go with the 3930k looking back. It's much cheaper and only has a bit less performance.

The PSU you selcted is way overkill if you're only going with one GPU.

If I'm not mistaken it would be better for you to run 4x4 gb of ram instead of 2x8 gb on LGA 2011.

If you are considering the titan as your GPU, take a look at the new 290x by AMD or the 780ti by nvidia (not out yet).

Now I can't really tell you how "future proof" that is, I'm guessing it's ok. But the CPU's mentioned above don't have the newest architecture. Have you concidered going haswell or ivy?
 
#4 ·
A good quality 550w power supply is all you need for one graphics card. The 3960x is way overkill for your needs and something like a i7 4770k would be fast enough for gaming. A processor like the 3960x is only needed if you do heavy video editing and graphic design. If you plan to put an AIO watercooler on the processor then I would buy the Swiftech h220/320. Better performance and quieter than the h100i. Also you only really need 8GB of ram if you are just gaming, and I would get some other cheaper memory. Get stuff at least 2133mhz and find a good price. G-Skill, Mushkin, as well as many other brands make memory which I think are better value than a lot of the overpriced Corsair Vengeance kits. Good work choosing to put an SSD in, one of the best performance upgrades you can do to a PC. Samsun is also a good choice and their 840 pro and EVO series SSDs are fast and relatively cheap. If you can find them on sale, the Adata SX900 and the Kingston HyperX 3k are both really fast SSDs.
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#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrazyLikeDatGlu View Post

im extremely new to this so please forgive me if i dont know what haswell or ivy mean...what is that exactly?...should i consider a newer cpu?
No worries
smile.gif
we're here to help

Ivy and Haswell are newer architectures of Intel CPUs. They are, in my oppinion, not worth the upgrade since they were meant to use less power and space then the earlier CPUs and are not that much better performing than the older Sandy Bridge (the cpu's I mentioned before) CPUs, + I think Haswell doesn't overclock that well...
However they are more "future proof" I suppose.

I am not an expert on the new architectures, so please correct me if anything is not right in the above.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eddie Smurphy View Post

Hi and welcome to OCN
smile.gif


The list is looking ok so far but here are my thoughts on it:

The 3960x is a great cpu, I own one myself. But to be honest it was not worth the money to me, so I'd now go with the 3930k looking back. It's much cheaper and only has a bit less performance.

The PSU you selcted is way overkill if you're only going with one GPU.

If I'm not mistaken it would be better for you to run 4x4 gb of ram instead of 2x8 gb on LGA 2011.

If you are considering the titan as your GPU, take a look at the new 290x by AMD or the 780ti by nvidia (not out yet).

Now I can't really tell you how "future proof" that is, I'm guessing it's ok. But the CPU's mentioned above don't have the newest architecture. Have you concidered going haswell or ivy?
I completely agree with your point about the graphics cards.
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#8 ·
cool thank you for the feed back...lol my main objective is to be able to run ultra setting for the next year or two with any game that will come out.. do you think this will be the case for my current selection of hardware? i understand its a ridiculous question considering we cant tell the future and what specs requirements new games will use. but i was hopping if i over killed this pc i would be in a safe zone
smile.gif
lol
 
#9 ·
Overkill is what we do here on OCN
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The component's I listed in my first post should be good enough for the next 2+ years. Just get a good GPU like the new AMD R9 290X or the upcoming 780 ti and you'll be sorted for ultra on the next games for sure.

I amied for ultra for the next few years with my old build as well and it worked out great. My 690 still gives me ultra in bf3 with 100+ fps which is plenty, and will do about the same in bf4 for sure. (and that gpu is a few years old by now)
 
#10 ·
i got just a few more questions...thanks again guys for all the help, i cant sleep thinking about all this stuff.

1.) what about the 4930K cpu

2.) and what about a monitor...i spend my budget on the rig but have no monitor. i was planning to plug it into my HDTV for now but not sure what difference i will see. its 1080p 120hertz

3.) what are your thoughts on overclocking my rig...should i wait a while or overclock from the get go?
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrazyLikeDatGlu View Post

i got just a few more questions...thanks again guys for all the help, i cant sleep thinking about all this stuff.

1.) what about the 4930K cpu

2.) and what about a monitor...i spend my budget on the rig but have no monitor. i was planning to plug it into my HDTV for now but not sure what difference i will see. its 1080p 120hertz
Well if you are prepared to pay the extra, the 4930k would certainly be a good way to go. Newer games are starting to take advantage of processors with more cores, (and hyper-threading is certainly becoming more important) so by buying the 4930k you would get a 6 core processor, but because of it's hyper-threading technology you would effectively be getting 12 cores. Also a monitor would be a good idea, wouldn't really recommend that you use it with your T.V- televisions have a low pixel-density and sitting up close the image would not look very good. Best just to get a nice monitor with a high pixel-density, preferably 120hz (if you want really smooth gameplay) or an IPS (In Plane Switching technology) if you want the most accurate vibrant colours and best viewing angles. I use a 120hz monitor and I really love the smoothness- especially on lower framerates games feel smoother, but there are times I would really love an IPS monitor (particularly in Trine & Trine 2).
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#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dctr View Post

Well if you are prepared to pay the extra, the 4930k would certainly be a good way to go. Newer games are starting to take advantage of processors with more cores, (and hyper-threading is certainly becoming more important) so by buying the 4930k you would get a 6 core processor, but because of it's hyper-threading technology you would effectively be getting 12 cores. Also a monitor would be a good idea, wouldn't really recommend that you use it with your T.V- televisions have a low pixel-density and sitting up close the image would not look very good. Best just to get a nice monitor with a high pixel-density, preferably 120hz (if you want really smooth gameplay) or an IPS (In Plane Switching technology) if you want the most accurate vibrant colours and best viewing angles. I use a 120hz monitor and I really love the smoothness- especially on lower framerates games feel smoother, but there are times I would really love an IPS monitor (particularly in Trine & Trine 2).
wink.gif
what are your thoughts on overclocking...should i do it right out the gate or wait a bit
 
#13 ·
I would just like to add a couple things. As far as overclocking I would say leave it stock for awhile. You say you are kind of new, and once you have had your system for awhile and more comfortable over clock away. That's how I learned I didn't overclock at first and overclocked after my computer started to age and needed a little boost to keep it performing with the newest stuff out. I am currently hooked up to an hdtv using my comp kind of as an htpc. The closer you are to the screen the more important higher pixel density is. For example, 1080p is fine for me across on the couch, but as mentioned before, a big screen tv at only 1080p may cause you to see the pixels if you use it at regular monitor distances. Someone mentioned that the 6 core processor giving you an effective 12 cores is misleading. You will have 12 threads from you 6 core processor, but you will not get true 12 core performance, but you are able get more than 6 core performance with the correct applications. I think I read somewhere that hyper threading could get you something like 20% more performance with the correct applications. Also, for only gaming, I think the 6 core processors are slight overkill and believe something like a 4770k will still be good for this next generation of games coming out. Though if I had the budget for it, I could see me going for the 6 core, even though I believe I would not see much of a difference in gaming.

As far as monitors what kind of games do you play? From what I have read, it seems like the first person shooter players tend to like the faster refresh rate monitors, like the 120 hz monitors. I personally find the higher resolution monitors more intriguing. I almost purchased a 1600p monitor, but it was backordered and ended up getting an hdtv instead and using it as a htpc due to my current living situation, It just made sense to have my computer hooked up to my tv. You could always go with some of the 1440p monitors which can be overclocked to 120h such as the yamakasi catleap monitors, those were the ones I was looking at, except the 1600p version called the yamakasi sparta, the 1440p version which may be overclocked to 120hz depending on which version is called the catleap.
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dctr View Post

Also a monitor would be a good idea, wouldn't really recommend that you use it with your T.V- televisions have a low pixel-density and sitting up close the image would not look very good. Best just to get a nice monitor with a high pixel-density, preferably 120hz (if you want really smooth gameplay) or an IPS (In Plane Switching technology) if you want the most accurate vibrant colours and best viewing angles.
Agreed, the tv will be fine for surfing the web and stuff, but not suitable for gaming. You also might have some input lag, making games unplayable. I have a 120hz and a 144hz monitor at home. So much better than 60 hz and totally worth the cash
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I'd suggest, if money is getting short, to spare some cash on the components and getting a propper monitor (getting a 3930k cpu instead of the 3960x will already get you a good monitor). What good is a beastly rig without the option to diplay all that power on screen?

As for overclocking you can start straight away. OC the CPU up by a bit since you're runing it on water. GPU's can be OC'd so easy, my dog could do it (with a bit of luck
biggrin.gif
) and RAM should be good enough for now (BF4 for exaple gets quite a performance boost from faster RAM, yours looks fast enough)

EDIT: IBooNI has a point there, if you are not 100% sure you know what you're doing, do some more research. You don't want to destroy your stuff.
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by IBooNI View Post

I would just like to add a couple things. As far as overclocking I would say leave it stock for awhile. You say you are kind of new, and once you have had your system for awhile and more comfortable over clock away. That's how I learned I didn't overclock at first and overclocked after my computer started to age and needed a little boost to keep it performing with the newest stuff out. I am currently hooked up to an hdtv using my comp kind of as an htpc. The closer you are to the screen the more important higher pixel density is. For example, 1080p is fine for me across on the couch, but as mentioned before, a big screen tv at only 1080p may cause you to see the pixels if you use it at regular monitor distances. Someone mentioned that the 6 core processor giving you an effective 12 cores is misleading. You will have 12 threads from you 6 core processor, but you will not get true 12 core performance, but you are able get more than 6 core performance with the correct applications. I think I read somewhere that hyper threading could get you something like 20% more performance with the correct applications. Also, for only gaming, I think the 6 core processors are slight overkill and believe something like a 4770k will still be good for this next generation of games coming out. Though if I had the budget for it, I could see me going for the 6 core, even though I believe I would not see much of a difference in gaming.

As far as monitors what kind of games do you play? From what I have read, it seems like the first person shooter players tend to like the faster refresh rate monitors, like the 120 hz monitors. I personally find the higher resolution monitors more intriguing. I almost purchased a 1600p monitor, but it was backordered and ended up getting an hdtv instead and using it as a htpc due to my current living situation, It just made sense to have my computer hooked up to my tv. You could always go with some of the 1440p monitors which can be overclocked to 120h such as the yamakasi catleap monitors, those were the ones I was looking at, except the 1600p version called the yamakasi sparta, the 1440p version which may be overclocked to 120hz depending on which version is called the catleap.
welli want to be able to play skyrim, FFXIV and BF4...these are some examples of what i gear toward in regards to gaming
 
#16 ·
A common misconception is that more cores means more performance no questions asked, which is not necessarily the case. For example, skyrim is a game that is suppose to be a game that utilizes 2 cores. In this situation you probably wills not see a difference between a 4 core or 6 core processor, and maybe a slight advantage to a 4770k over a 4930k due to being a newer architecture. Now something like battlefield 4 would probably benefit from 6 cores in multiplayer under the most demanding situations, but the 4770k would still be adequate in my experience win bf3 and my 2600k. As far as FFxiv I can't say as I have never played it. But in my opinion, you would be better off with a 4 core with hyper threading and save the money from the 6 core processor and mobo. I don't think the difference in performance from the 4 core proc and 6 core processor is what you are expecting with you intended use, which is gaming. Another misconception people have is that gaming is some of the most demanding things you can do with your comp, when something like video encoding I would recommend the higher core count.

In short, a better gpu will almost always directly get you better performance, where as a higher core processor won't necessarily get you better performance depending on the game. I also believe something like the 4770k will last you for awhile into this next generation of games.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by IBooNI View Post

A common misconception is that more cores means more performance no questions asked, which is not necessarily the case. For example, skyrim is a game that is suppose to be a game that utilizes 2 cores. In this situation you probably wills not see a difference between a 4 core or 6 core processor, and maybe a slight advantage to a 4770k over a 4930k due to being a newer architecture. Now something like battlefield 4 would probably benefit from 6 cores in multiplayer under the most demanding situations, but the 4770k would still be adequate in my experience win bf3 and my 2600k. As far as FFxiv I can't say as I have never played it. But in my opinion, you would be better off with a 4 core with hyper threading and save the money from the 6 core processor and mobo. I don't think the difference in performance from the 4 core proc and 6 core processor is what you are expecting with you intended use, which is gaming. Another misconception people have is that gaming is some of the most demanding things you can do with your comp, when something like video encoding I would recommend the higher core count.

In short, a better gpu will almost always directly get you better performance, where as a higher core processor won't necessarily get you better performance depending on the game. I also believe something like the 4770k will last you for awhile into this next generation of games.
This indeed may of been the case up until this point, but we are already seeing newer games starting to optimize for hyper threading and more cores. Graphics are also drastically getting better and since the OP wants this build to be reasonably future proof I personally see no harm in spending another $150-$200 on a processor that will take advantage of upcoming games. I completely see your point in saving money, but I think running the next games on ultra with good frame rates will need the extra cores.
 
#18 ·
ok i finally decided, the heck with it im going to toss my budget out the window... my ultimate goal now is an over kill all around. im now looking into the rampage and maximums motherboards... i understand they use different cpus so thats where im going to need your guys help. if i want to just go all out on this mother board and CPU, what should i go for and what overkill CPU is my option with one of the two mother boards..i am planning on getting two of the 780 ti or two titans. please help..and thank you for your patients with me:thumb:

ps, i will also like to know what is the best monitor i can get for this rig
 
#19 ·
In that case, you could forget quad cores such as 3770K and 4770K and the Maximus boards that suuport them and go for the Rampage 4 Extreme and a six-core like 3930K or 4930K ($580) which are as overkill as 3960X, 3970X, 4960X ($1050). SLI GTX 780Ti sounds great in an overkill setup also. Its up to you to decide what monitor setup you would like. Single vs triple, 1080p vs 1440p, 60hz vs 120Hz...
 
#20 ·
As for 500GB SSDs, go with the Samsung EVO. Great price point at this time!

Your HDTV should be ok, but how big is it?

You should be able to overclock it from the start after you stabilize and optmize your system. Just start small with something you are comfortable with and work up from there. Alot of great OCing guides on this website.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Furore View Post

As for 500GB SSDs, go with the Samsung EVO. Great price point at this time!

Your HDTV should be ok, but how big is it?

You should be able to overclock it from the start after you stabilize and optmize your system. Just start small with something you are comfortable with and work up from there. Alot of great OCing guides on this website.
i have a 47in LG 1080p 120hertz

i got the samsung 500gb 840 evo
 
#22 ·
It will probably take some tweaking depending on what type of games you play, but I am sure you could make it happen if you wanted to save some money.

I use this monitor: http://www.amazon.com/Series-VG278HE-27-Inch-LED-lit-Monitor/dp/B00906HM6K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383637789&sr=8-2&keywords=asus+vg278h

Asus VG278H. 120-144HZ refresh rate. I absolutely love the colors and the true 120HZ. $380.00 on Amazon. Yes it isnt a 1440p monitor as is the rage around here, but it is a great 27 inch monitor that is easy on the eyes and won't break the bank.

I hope this helps.
 
#26 ·
cool so this is what i got

Asus Rampage IV Extreme S2011
Hydro Series H110 280mm Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Intel Ci7 3970X 3.5GHz S2011 Processor
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 2400 (2x8)
samsung solid state 500gb 840 EVO
7200rpm 64mbbuffer 2TB hard drive
LG DBRW 14x
Trooper Case
Corsair AX 1200w power supply
win 8.1

and when they come out two 780 TI

thoughts? any room for improvement?
 
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