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First time builder

673 views 24 replies 8 participants last post by  twiz0r0r 
#1 ·
I am going to be building my first rig once I get my tax return. My budget is going to be around $3000. I am starting from scratch (no mouse, monitor, printer, etc).

Uses: Gaming (FPS and RPG), pictures (mild editing), general office, torrents (legal of course), blu-ray burning, folding

I have never overclocked before, I am torn between going with air or liquid. Liquid really that complicated?

Needs/wishes:

Tower: Full "modern" looking
Sound Card: High end
Video Card: High end - 1 or 2 depending on price, performance, and most importantly recommendation
Router: High end - very good security
Processor: Best I can get for budget with good overclocking capabilities
Motherboard: good for overclocking etc (DUH lol) (LOTS of USB connections)
Heatsink: ?
Memory: ?
PSU: ?
Cooling Components: ? - like I stated not sure if air or water would be best for me - how can I tell?
Blu-Ray Burner: how much of a difference is between them all? No idea what to look for
Monitor: I'm looking somewhere around 24"-26". Definite possibility of wanting a 2nd monitor
Printer: Combo with scanned - nice but nothing too crazy - personal use pictures, some business presentations, copying receipts/forms - etc
Web Cam: ?
Microphone: ?
Network Card: ?

I'm sorry I'm such a noob at this. I've been out of the computer world for about 5 years. No idea what is good or not. I know that I have probably missed a lot of things. If I need to clarify anything let me know. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Also, if I posted this is the wrong section I apologize - couldn't find a place that seemed "better". Thanks!
 
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#4 ·
Would you be willing to go 27" for the monitor twiz0r0r? As far as I know 27" is minimum size screen for 1440p resolution, its a big step up from 1080 and with your budget I think you might aswell go 1440p.

Also I say go watercooling if the budget permits, it can be quite daunting, I was in same position as you i.e knowing not much about watercooling, but I just read a few threads on here and asked a few people, bought the parts then started building it. Took a few hours but im so happy with it in the end, its virtually silent when its running and my temps are unbelievable.
 
#6 ·
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2H1YB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2H1YB/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2H1YB/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($565.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige 60.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($243.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: PNY 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($127.98 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.67 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($500.23 @ Mwave)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($500.23 @ Mwave)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B3ST/BLK/G/AS DVD/CD Writer ($23.28 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2686.30
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-24 20:12 EST-0500)
 
#7 ·
Throw a Cooler Master V850 in there to replace the TX850
 
#12 ·
I'd recommend a 60-128GB SSD for the Linux install, and a 240-512GB for the Windows install. Unless you have a specific need for a RAID level drive performance, it's not worth the potential downsides. Having a dedicated SSD for each OS (sized correctly for best value) is the most practical solution. Most linux distros are still about 1/6th the size of a Windows install, and all the software for it is still pretty small. 60GB goes a long way there, but 120GB is usually only like $20 more these so that makes more sense from a value perspective.

PNY has typically used garbage bottom barrel ICs in their memory. Often priced competitively for budget builds (and usually works fine, though I have had a bad kit from them), I advise against it for a build of this caliber with OCing intentions. I recommend looking for a nice 1.35V kit from Crucial or Mushkin.

If you decide to go with a 2011 socket build and a 6 core chip under water, I would advise that you plan on having ~300W worth of PSU available for the CPU, VRM losses, and associated case/chip cooling.
  • At stock clocks the chip itself can dissipate up to ~130W.
  • Overclocking can push this to ~220W.
  • VRM losses are typically around 20%. 220W/0.8 = 275W.
  • A case full of fans and pumps can easily add up to an additional 25W.
300W.

I recommend accounting for 300-450W per GTX780 (if you decide to go with these GPU's) if you intend for this to be an overclocking build.
  • At stock default settings, a factory overclocked 1ghz GTX780 will only occasionally bump up against it's 250W TDP rating.
  • Within the overclocking possible on the stock BIOS, it is possible to get 300W peaks of power consumption from a GTX780
  • With aggressive overclocking made possible on 3rd party BIOS, a GTX780 under water can hit peak power consumption of ~450W per card.
Assuming you stay within the scope of what is possible on factory BIOS, you should account for 300W worth of PSU per GTX780.

That's 900W peak power consumption in a GTX780SLI+i7-4930K OC rig under stress testing and that doesn't include power consumption from drives, RAM, southbridge, ethernet, SATA controllers, etc etc etc.
A 1KW PSU is the proper size for this rig if that's the direction you decide to go. Not an 850W. (Granted, most nice 850W PSUs would handle the excess, but I think that in an overclocked rig, there should always be at least 1 component that is NOT being stressed beyond the rated limits, and that is the PSU.)

The 1KW EVGA SuperNova G2 for $175 would be my recommendation if you wanted to go for a GTX780SLI type rig with overclocking on the factory BIOS.

If you DO want to overclock GPUs beyond what is possible on the stock BIOS, I think an investigation into which specific models offer the beefiest VRM configurations is warranted. Also, an even larger PSU should be on the list for such a setup.

Best of luck with the build,
Eric
 
#13 ·
Any recommendations on an AC router? I don't feel that I need a lot of features, just fast and reliable - and i would prefer if it looked "nice"

I have definitely decided to go with just 1 video card for the initial build.

As expected...the build gets more and more expensive. Hopefully my tax return is a little better than expected haha. I'm looking at about $4000.

Is it worth me going to 32GB ram, or should i stay @ 16gb?
 
#15 ·
I think some people on this site are getting ahead of themselves with their recommendations. $3000 is a very high budget for a personal computer, and I think it excites people into recommending some parts that won't bring you the most noticeable difference in performance for your money. Even with a budget of $3000, it is important to keep in mind that your money will not stretch to include all that is out there, and that decisions must still be made about what parts will make the biggest difference for your experience-and at the end of the day, isn't your experience what really matters? $3000 is enough to buy a rocking PC, just make sure you don't spend it on eccentric flair that you will be hard pressed to notice when it comes down to actually using you computer.

With that in mind, I have a couple suggestions to steer you in your search:

1. Go with Haswell over Ivy Bridge-E. Haswell uses a newer architecture, and also happens to be cheaper for both processors and motherboards. Most applications you will use on a day to day basis (photo-editing, games, web-browsing, email) will take advantage of Haswell's more efficient architecture and run faster than they would on an i7 4930K. When you buy an i7 4930K or similar Ivy Bridge-E processor, you are paying extra for features like 40 PCI-E lanes that you won't be able to take advantage of. Don't take my word for it, look at this Anandtech comparison:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7255/intel-core-i7-4960x-ivy-bridge-e-review/7

2. Don't get 2 SSDs. First of all, they won't provide much additional performance in RAID. RAID0 was a great option when VelociRaptor drives were the fastest available hard storage for consumers, but SSDs have completely changed the game. Don't believe me? Believe these guys:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485-13.html

Get a single SSD. Get a really good SSD with an enormous amount of space and don't look back. I personally use a Samsung EVO with 500GB of space, and I think it's the best $280 (I got a great deal) I've ever spent on my computer. With your budget, you could easily go with a 1TB drive and keep all your games, music and movies on it. It might sound excessive, but when you account for the noticeable difference in load/copy times, it won't seem nearly as excessive as a 4930K processor. With a 1TB drive, you can create 2 generous partitions for Windows/Linux and avoid the complexity of adding another drive (also keep in mind that larger SSDs are faster than smaller ones for technical reasons that I won't get into here).

3. Don't get a sound card. Don't get a network card. Any motherboard worth buying will have a perfectly capable network adapter (and probably two of them). Network cards are a stop-gap solution for older computers and an important tool for servers. Get a motherboard with an Intel NIC and Wireless AC and don't look back.

As for sound cards, motherboards generally have that down as well. While sound cards do provide features and occasionally quality that isn't available on all motherboards, they are rarely the best option. If you have high quality headphones or a good sound system, consider buying an external sound card/DAC. I bought a $200 Essence STX card, and it was the single worst buy I've ever made.

4. Lastly but most importantly, your monitor is what you will spend your day looking at. If you have extra slack in your budget, place that slack here. What you buy here should be based on personal preference. Go to Best Buy or Fry's and try a couple different set-ups out. You could go with 3 1080p monitors in Eyefinity or Surround or you could go with 1 4K monitor. Different people are looking for different things, so make sure you know you'll like it before you invest a thousand bucks in your setup. While I'm on this point, I will also mention that you should make sure you have the graphics horsepower to deal with whatever you choose and then some. Games will only get more complicated, so this is an area where a little future proofing might go a long way.

It would be unfair to leave you with all this advice and no concrete suggestion so here it goes:
Tower: Corsair 550D, will fit everything with room to spare - $150
Sound Card: No. $0
Video Card: Geforce GTX 780 - $550
Router: Not sure. Let's say $200
Processor: i7 4770K. $339
Motherboard: If you must have wireless, go for the MSI MPower Max. If you can leave that feature off, the Gigabyte UD5H would be my choice. Neither are particularly flashy, but they are from solid companies and will do everything you want them to do. Don't get roped into buying a $500 motherboard with features for people that want to use liquid nitrogen. $220
Heatsink: Corsair H100. Will cool your processor, and it's super low maintenance. Even if the thing leaks (which they don't), you'll get just non-conductive goo all over your computer and save yourself the hassle of buying another $3000 computer. $110
Memory: RipjawsZ DDR3-2133 9-11-10 4x4 GB $130
Cooling Components: In heatsink. $0
Blu-Ray Burner: Ask someone else, I think they're outdated unless you are one of the 5 people on earth that has a Blu-Ray collection. Don't forget to get software for it. $50
Printer: Not sure. I only use a laser printer, and you'd probably want ink. Say $150
Web Cam: $30
Microphone: $15
Network Card: No. $0

You've left out
Monitor: If you read those huge blocks of text above, you will know that I don't suggest you get anything before trying it out first. Say $500
SSD: Samsung EVO 1TB $600
Power supply: Seasonic 650 watt Gold $100
Keyboard/Mouse: $100 should get both of these. I love G400 mice, but they break and I don't recommend them to others. I use hand-me-down keyboards because I like old Dells.
That brings you to a total of $3244. A little over-budget, but you've suggested that might be okay. If you want to cut back, and must have an expensive router/a printer/a Blu-Ray burner, I'd suggest going with a 4670K processor for $100 less. If you don't think you can fill up a 1TB SSD in the next 4-6 years, go with a 500GB for $300 less. You can save $50 by going with less memory (8GB is fine if you don't use virtual machines).

That's all I have to say.
Rick
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by twiz0r0r View Post

Any recommendations on an AC router? I don't feel that I need a lot of features, just fast and reliable - and i would prefer if it looked "nice"

I have definitely decided to go with just 1 video card for the initial build.

As expected...the build gets more and more expensive. Hopefully my tax return is a little better than expected haha. I'm looking at about $4000.

Is it worth me going to 32GB ram, or should i stay @ 16gb?
Asus makes some good quality routers, and also some that look pretty sleek. Depending on your taste of course. Take a look at them. Have been very happy with my rt-n56u (not AC though but they have them in newer models). Stay 16gb unless you do heavy video/photo editing.
 
#18 ·
I believe the last part of the build that I am confused on is going to be overclocking and cooling my GPU. Is this card in the build good for what I am looking to do? If so what block fits this board? With all the variations of the 780 I am getting lost on this. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated
smile.gif
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by twiz0r0r View Post

I believe the last part of the build that I am confused on is going to be overclocking and cooling my GPU. Is this card in the build good for what I am looking to do? If so what block fits this board? With all the variations of the 780 I am getting lost on this. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated
smile.gif
which build?
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by PontiacGTX View Post

which build?
I'm currently looking at this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2JXcD (note the video card is the 2nd to last item on list) - I just changed that this morning. It looks good and it has a block on it already.

I'm going to shoot myself before this is all over - didn't think building a computer could be so stressful - I admire you guys for all that you know and do we this
 
#23 ·
Cooler Master V700 is the same PSU as the AX760 just cheaper and without the coil whine
 
#25 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beatwolf View Post

btw nice choice going with a Schiit DAC. Let me know how it sounds to you.
Thanks very much. Honestly though, the "audiophile" side of me is a relatively new thing. From what I've read - for that price point nothing else comes close. So I am excited to see how this will work with a couple of my cans.
 
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