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IwinFTW · ‎01-16-2013

Before I get started here, I just wanted to clear some things up. Firstly, as the title says, this is my first build, and with it comes a lot of power. I have an intermediate level of knowledge with PC hardware, and just wanted some advice on this planned build. I really want to get into competitive gaming atm and I want a edge over my opponents. Granted, this PC is probably plenty powerful enough to do that, but I also need it for video editing and VFX work.
Also note that I'm not building this anytime recent. It should be ordered in about 5 months.

Budget: $4,200 USD
Main uses of intended build: Gaming (FPS games mostly + other competitive gaming), video editing + recording, VFX, multi-tasking
Parts:
Motherboard: Rampage IV Formula

CPU: i7 3930K

RAM: Corsair Dominator 16GB 2133 MHz (CMT16GX3M4X2133C9)

HDD: 2 Corsair Neutron GTX 120 GB SSDs + Seagate Barracuda 2TB SATA III 6GB/s HDD

CD/DVD Drive: Lite-on Blu-Ray Drive

CPU Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series Extreme H100i

Monitor: BenQ XL2420TX (out of stock until February) + 2x ASUS VS248H-P

GPU: 2 EVGA GTX 680 Classified (4GB)

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster ZxR

PSU: Corsair HX1050 - 1050W PSU w/80 Plus Gold

Peripherals: Razer DeathAdder 2013, Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth, Astro A40 2013 Ed. Headset + Mixamp (this product is having lots of issues with firmware atm but since I'm not getting them anytime soon I think it should be okay).

Chassis: Level 10 GT Snow Edition - If there is any difference between this and a normal Level 10 GT please advise, I'd rather not spend an extra $50 or so.

Previous build information: I have never built a PC, and my current desktop (A Dell. Not going to buy pre-builts anymore after this build.) I am however salvaging a Seagate Barracuda 2TB gb/s SATA drive from it, as well as my audio equipment (Rode NT1-A condensor mic + Focusrite Saffire 6 USB Interface) and webcam etc.
Monitor resolution: 1920x1080 or more
Storage requirements: 2TB+
Will you be overclocking: Yes, but not extremely. I'll probably OC to 4 GHz, but no RAM OC since I'd have no idea what I would be doing.
Any motherboard requirements: SLI, USB 3.0, Intel Socket (2nd-3rd gen i7s), PCIe 3.0, PCIe 8x + 1x slots.
Extra information about desired system: This is my first build, so pointing out newbie mistakes that most people do would be great.

Pricing Summary (based on Amazon prices):
CPU - $569
Motherboard -$370
RAM - $240
SSD x2 - $270
Optical Drive - $69
CPU Cooler - $143
BenQ Monitor - $500 direct from BenQ store.
2x ASUS VE258Q Monitor - $480
GPU x2 - $1200
Sound Card - $250 direct from Creative. The card doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere.
PSU - $200
Level 10 GT Chassis - $250
Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth 2013 - $140 direct from Razer
Razer DeathAdder 2013 - $70
Astro A40 2013 Edition w/Mixamp - $250
--
Total Price for PC: $4286 (+$400 for ASUS Monitors, purchased separately)

Krindor · ‎01-16-2013

I would recommend you to hold up the build planning, both IB-E and Nvidia 700 series will be released this year. The IB-E is going to be released Q3 which will be a month or so after you are going to order it and 700 series is going to be released during Q2.

IwinFTW · ‎01-16-2013

Krindor wrote:
I would recommend you to hold up the build planning, both IB-E and Nvidia 700 series will be released this year. The IB-E is going to be released Q3 which will be a month or so after you are going to order it and 700 series is going to be released during Q2.

I'm really interested to see how the 700s and IB-Es will be, but considering that I've seen people that still use 8800 GTs, I think I can hold back on getting the 700 series cards. Also, until we can get a solid release date for the IB-E processors, I think I'll hold off buying one.
Thanks for your advice, though. I'm just doing some planning in advance so I don't have to do it later.

HarryM · ‎01-16-2013

i agree with Krindor, but for the SSD i would recommend the Corsair Neutron GTX 240 GB because is has data read and write speeds of over 500 megabytes per second. (i have one so i know from experience)

Krindor · ‎01-16-2013

Okay in that case I'll help you with it 🙂

First of all I would want to know what you do most, gaming or rendering? If it's gaming the 3770k would be a better choice as it has better performance when gaming compared to the 3930k but if you do a lot of video rendering the 3930k will come to use. Also we can consider both the next gen cpu as well as the build won't be ordered until June, the Haswell is rumored to be released during Q2 with a new chipset and the IB-E is going to be released Q3.

For motherboard the RIVE won't come into use unless you're going to do high overclocks or using all 8 slot of ram. The MIVF would be a better choice due to being cheaper and featuring more stuff for gamers and it also supports quad SLI. If you decide to go for the Z77 the MVF will be a good choice unless you want to go tri SLI with sound card or quad SLI as this would require you to get MVE.

For ram the kit will work fine with the X79 chipset, if you go for the Z77 remember to get the dual channel version.

For OS a 120gb will suffice, get a separate 120gb for games and programs instead.

The h100 will be a good cooler, but unless you're going to really overclock it's a bit of a waste, the cheaper H80 would be a better choice but if you're interested in overclocking get the H100 and try out the guides here to overclock, you will be able to reach 4.4 ghz without any problems, going further is very possible the H100 is a great cooler.

For GPU in single monitor gaming 2gb will suffice but if you're going to do multi-monitor gaming the 4gb version would be a better choice especially if you like to game with high AA.

Unless you're going to go tri SLI or higher 1200w won't be used, getting a 1000w would be a better choice as it will be cheaper.

As for Chassi most 100$+ full towers now a days support a radiator like the H100. In my opinion chassis are a personal choice rather than performance, well performance is important but only if you like the chassi. The only thing you should look for when choosing chassi would be that it supports e-atx and a 240 (2x120mm) radiator.

IwinFTW · ‎01-16-2013

Krindor wrote:
Okay in that case I'll help you with it 🙂

First of all I would want to know what you do most, gaming or rendering? If it's gaming the 3770k would be a better choice as it has better performance when gaming compared to the 3930k but if you do a lot of video rendering the 3930k will come to use. Also we can consider both the next gen cpu as well as the build won't be ordered until June, the Haswell is rumored to be released during Q2 with a new chipset and the IB-E is going to be released Q3.

For motherboard the RIVE won't come into use unless you're going to do high overclocks or using all 8 slot of ram. The MIVF would be a better choice due to being cheaper and featuring more stuff for gamers and it also supports quad SLI. If you decide to go for the Z77 the MVF will be a good choice unless you want to go tri SLI with sound card or quad SLI as this would require you to get MVE.

For ram the kit will work fine with the X79 chipset, if you go for the Z77 remember to get the dual channel version.

For OS a 120gb will suffice, get a separate 120gb for games and programs instead.

The h100 will be a good cooler, but unless you're going to really overclock it's a bit of a waste, the cheaper H80 would be a better choice but if you're interested in overclocking get the H100 and try out the guides here to overclock, you will be able to reach 4.4 ghz without any problems, going further is very possible the H100 is a great cooler.

For GPU in single monitor gaming 2gb will suffice but if you're going to do multi-monitor gaming the 4gb version would be a better choice especially if you like to game with high AA.

Unless you're going to go tri SLI or higher 1200w won't be used, getting a 1000w would be a better choice as it will be cheaper.

As for Chassi most 100$+ full towers now a days support a radiator like the H100. In my opinion chassis are a personal choice rather than performance, well performance is important but only if you like the chassi. The only thing you should look for when choosing chassi would be that it supports e-atx and a 240 (2x120mm) radiator.

Okay, I'll switch out the PSU to a 1000w PSU and since I will be doing a lot of rendering, I'd like to keep the LGA 2011 socket. I'm going to downgrade to the RIVF, which should make it a whole lot easier to find a chassis since it's ATX and not E-ATX. Also, I'm going to keep the H100i cooler since one of my worst issues with my current PC is cooling and it's one of the things I Really obsess about, even if I'm not going to clock my CPU past, say, 4.2 GHz.

For the SSD I've swapped it out for two Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB SSDs because of their R/W speed. I think I'll go with a Level 10 GT chassis.

As for the sound card, the RIVF seems to have some excellent sound onboard but I still want the Sound Blaster ZxR since it has Dolby Digital Live, which is required by the Astro Mixamp. Of course, I could always use a different headset but my favorite YouTubers game with A40s, so I'd rather have those.

Thanks for all the help so far!

IwinFTW · ‎01-16-2013

Regarding Krindor's advice about the 680's - If I SLI two 680 2GB cards, will SLI combine the two cards and end up with 4GB VRAM? If not, should I just get one 690, or two 680 4GB card?
Please keep in mind that this will eventually be a triple monitor setup.

Krindor · ‎01-16-2013

No they won't, the same goes for the 690. The only way to get 4gb ram is by using the 670 or 680 4gb version. Even though the 690 says it has 4gb ram, the amount of ram used per core is following this formula ram/cores, though this is not the real reason but this works the same. So 2 680 2gb would be 4/2 and the 690 would be 4/2 as well. The 4gb versions would be 8/2=4

IwinFTW · ‎01-16-2013

In that case, I'll swap out the 2GB cards for Galaxy GTX 680 4GB GC Edition cards. Two more questions - would I benefit more from EVGA 680 Classified's or the Galaxy card?
Also, since I will eventually use 3 monitors, I am confused about what outputs to use. There are two DVI slots on the 4GB cards, so would the third monitor be plugged into the slave card, or would I use a different output setup?

Krindor · ‎01-16-2013

The Classified and the Galaxy have the same clocks so there shouldn't be any difference there, the difference is in the cooling system as well as warranty policies of each company.

I myself don't run multi monitor setup so I have no idea how to set it up. Most of my info is based on tests on the net.

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