Been out of the game for a while..

[Killerz187]

Been a very long time since I got my paws down and dirty into a system, and I think it's high time for me to build one again.

Rig will be used for gaming, and all other times for SETI and BOINC computing most likely around the clock. I've been doing research for maybe a week or two now, and my budget is going to be right around $2000-2200 USD. Definitely looking into OC'ing, nothing immense, but definitely going for it. Liquid cooling is a definite, but IDK if I should go with a big kit and route it to the GPU as well since I'll be clocking that too, or should I just stick with a liquid cooler for the CPU and get some good case fans for everything else.

Now, I don't need the system just yet, so I can wait a few months if I have to, I'm definitely not in a rush, so as always the prices are liable to change.

This is the list I have put together so far, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. No need to sugar coat anything either

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1g9YR

 

Was thinking about going with a 770 SLI setup, but decided on just the single 780 w/ clocking.
 

 

Please and thank you, ladies and gents.


Edit: I was also looking into deliding the haswell chip and repasting it, seems like Intel skimped out on that, would you guys recommend it? 

Edit 2: Also looked into the Asus Sabertooth z87 Mobo as well, only thing is that it seems ASUS's RMA process is a major pain in the neck to deal with if anything goes wrong. Any recent experiences?

Edited July 13, 2013 by Killerz187

[Prunes]

I'd go for a Corsair H100i instead, if you opt for closed loop WC. It's even a little cheaper on newegg.

Also, since your budget is 2000, you still have room for a SSD. Maybe a Samsung 840 Pro 128 GB, which is one of the fastest on the market right now, if I recall.

If possible, you might want to go with a 750 W PSU, just to ensure that you have enough overhead. Especially, if you consider SLI in the future. 

[theaterinterior]

Why the dominator Platinum? There's nothing wrong with it, I have it myself, but Vengeance or plain old Dominator is a lot more cost effective. Put that extra cash towards a custom loop.

[potatochobit]

it is BETTER to buy a new card every 3 years, than to buy the most expensive card and plan to keep it 5 years

 

650$ for a graphic card is completely stupid unless you have gold plating on your porsche to match.

 

I dont understand why you are literally wasting thousands on a computer and you don't have an SSD in your cart

 

you like sitting around waiting 2 minutes for your computer to start? coffee time?

[Killerz187]

Reason I didn't include one is because I already have a SSD. Forgot to mention it actually. 

 

 

 

So what card would you recommend instead of a 780?

Edited July 13, 2013 by Killerz187

[Killerz187]

Yea, that was aimed at Potato since he/she disagreed with the 780 but didn't actually give any advice. 

Been thinking this afternoon, a pair of 760's in SLI would be a pretty penny cheaper, and would give me better performance than a single 780 unless I was running more than one monitor, which I'm not. I've been looking at the MSI twin frozr cards, they're a little difficult to find, but they're already overclocked, and have good cooling, and I could even bump the clocks up further, though I'd need a bigger PSU, maybe something like an 850?

 

Never been too into the ATI/AMD gpu sets, but I'm open to trying them.

[potatochobit]

Crossfire / SLI is a double edged sword

in most games you get superb performance

but there is always that one game that won't run properly and you will have to disable it, or it may cause other issues with your drivers such as HDMI sound not working (ati issues in the past)

 

since you have a nice budget to use, why not go with a single GTX 770?

you should be happy with that performance, and if not you can go SLI

or you can sell it off, that card will hold most of it's value for at least till the end of this year

 

edit:

personally, a 7950 is the most I would spend on a graphic card at one time

that is about 300$

I tend to upgrade to the new tech a year or two later and sell off the current card while it still has decent used value

Edited July 17, 2013 by potatochobit

[VaporX]

People make the mistake, in my opinion, when buying a video card of looking purely at the frame rates. The key is to look at the gaming experience. Often a card that is a few frames per second slower can deliver an identical gaming experience with a lower cost.

 

Before figuring out the best card we need to know what resolution you intend to use it at, gaming resolution is a huger determining factor in card choice.

 

If you plan to stay at 1080 and want great gaming experience anything past a 7950 is a waste of money. Moving up to 1440 I would say 7950 is the minimum you want and you will get gains from a 7970 or GTX 780.