(Build Help) Finished making my first build on PCPartPicker

I'd like a high end build for gaming at high resolution and frame rate. Trying to get out of consoles and join the master race.

Here's my build: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/Psvgpg

I'm a newbie as this, so any helpful suggestions on my build will be appreciated. Thanks!!

Great CPU and GPU. I have the same ones in my rig. You can run games at 1440P (2K) and 2160 (4k) without breaking a sweat. But I would suggest switching to the GeForce GTX 980. Its nvidia's newest card. Its as fast, if not a hair faster than the 780ti, uses less power so it will run cooler, is compatible with HDMI 2.0 while the 780ti is at HDMI 1.4 and is CHEAPER. HDMI 2.0 allows you to run 4K monitors at 60fps while HDMI 1.4 can only do 30fps over HDMI. I can't think of a single reason to go with the 780ti over the 980 right now. Did I mention its $70 cheaper...

If you are gonna build a high end rig don't use a cheap cpu cooler. I would suggest a liquid cooling cooler by Corsair or a fan cooler by Noctua. Im glad to see you are throwing in extra for thermal paste. It may not seem like much but cheap thermal paste can kill a CPU especially if you plan to overclock your CPU. On a side note, don't overclock your CPU. The benefits in 2014 aren't worth the risks. All you will be doing is shortening the lifespan of your parts. I would wait till your CPU is average to below average then overclock it since you would be upgrading it soon anyway.

Great case coolers. The PSU looks good. The case is OK I guess, I would go with something fancier but I like pretty, shiny things. 16GB is a good starting point for memory, you can always add more.

Your storage is WAY to small. 250gb will be filled up in 5 months. The average triple A game is around 25GB. I would suggest not just looking for a bigger drive but adding a secondary drive. You can have your SSD drive to boot your OS and a HDD to store all your files, music, movies, junk. You can get 2-4TB for cheap with a HDD. I myself have a 250 SSD and a 4TB HDD drive and I'm looking to treat myself with a 1TB SDD for christmas. You don't want to run games or big programs off of your HDD for performance reasons and 250gb fills up quick.

I question your choice of mother board. It will work well. But why are you getting that specific MB? I doubt you did the research on it cause it comes with a WiFi hotspot yet you are also purchasing a WiFi network adapter? Get one or the other. You can also save some money getting a Motherboard with a built in sound card. Unless you are doing audio editing I don't see the reason for buying a separate sound card in 2014. The sound card you have isn't even that good. My Asus Sabertooth motherboard has a better built in sound card then that one. I don't think Sabertooth is the latest and greatest so don't rush out and get that one but I have my doubts if the one you picked is the best for you. You may also want to consider a MB with a startup power button built into it for easy debugging of power related issues. Its not a must have feature but one am always confused isn't added onto high end boards. But shorting the power pins is easy enough. I'd don't know if your board has that feature or not.

Unless you don't have internet, you don't need a optical drive. I have never used mine. But if you must get one add the extra $30 and get one blu-ray capable.

Last but not least, why get a 1440P (2K) monitor when you can get a 2160P (4K monitor) at the same price right now. Thats right. People don't realize it but the cost of 4K monitors are quickly coming down. I got my 4K monitor on sale in may for $350. I would suggest if you are making your 4K monitor your main monitor make sure it is HDMI 2.0 compliant and runs at 60Hz at 2160P. Your new 4K monitor will go lovely with your GTX 980 ;)

I hope that helps. I love talking PC builds. It can be a little scary building your first rig but if you do the research its a great experience. I think I love my gaming rig more than my GF ;p

(I hope she doesn't read this)

Also when you are done, add some LEDs. Make your new girl look all pretty like.

@michael582

Don't buy x79 platform, but the new x99 if you want to use lga 2011 platform

780ti i good , but if i were you i ll get 980 or if you dont have the budget and you are nvida fan get 970 , or 290 , and you can sli it in future .

for alot of reasons , dx12 support , games at 970 is better or even in 290 , and in the future you can sli it and play most of the games at 4 k without an issue ,

What is with the $800 GPU? holy crap.

this is exact replica of my PC you will love it

My build

He's just moving over to PC and you want to introduce him to any potential problems with 2 GPU's?

@GTR12: problem ? and why is that ?

@Jawad2007:

He's new to PC's (just coming from consoles), and hes not used to dealing with a lot of problems and drivers, utilisation, profiles etc of having 2 GPU's.

Its easier recommending 1 GPU and if the TC wants he can then delve into multiple GPU's.

This.

What's so hard about sticking another one on a motherboard and enabling SLI/Crossfire..?

Some builds for you.

This.

or

This one.

Lets go with what's wrong with your build:

1. 600$ CPU, 350$ MOBO and 16Gb of RAM, do you even edit bro?
2. 800$ GPU that no one buys today, you can get 2x 970s or maybe even 3x 290s.
3. You get cheap on the CPU cooler, really? well a 600$ CPU but a 30$ cooler, nothing wrong but it does look somekind odd.
4. A 1000Watts PSU for what exactly?

To be honest with you, I think I saw a similar join the master race post already and you've just copied it from somewhere. (that's the prices so high and the no reason for 780Ti)

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/fRVrWZ here saved you about a 1000$ and gave you way better gaming PC

Any potential problems with drivers/profiles/utilisation, it doesn't always work, and troubleshooting can be hard if your new.

Umm... It's been a very long time since I experienced any SLI/Crossfire issues. Plus, is it so hard to uninstall and reinstall drivers or disable SLI/Crossfire.

Play watchdogs then.

Its not hard for us, but TC is completely new, and for someone new, keep things simple or you'll scare them off.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the great advise. I'm definitely a noob at this and made silly mistakes that i wasn't aware of. But all the helpful suggestions have been convenient!

I did play watch dogs on two 780 Ti's. It was perfectly fine.
First time I built a PC, I bought my second card not even a week later.. there's nothing scary. If you don't believe in yourself then that's your problem.

Thanks Diablo-B for the huge and extremely helpful response. And napo_sp as well, both have been great in making me realize whats out there.

Here's an update on my build: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/LkHYwP

I already have own 2TB external HDD and i think i'm going with the 2k monitor because it has ips, whereas most 4ks don't in that price range, unless it doesn't matter... Thoughts on the build? Thanks!

That's a really nice build. Go with a 1440P monitor. If you go with a 4K monitor then you'll need at least two GTX 970's / 980's.

Way to lie, Watchdogs doesn't scale properly and there's horrible stuttering if you play using 2 cards. Driving is incredibly hard with a 2nd GPU.

Also SoM is another game as well as alien isolation, big-name PC games.

There's quite a few others that are from this year.

Also TC, why the 850watt PSU? that is overkill even for 2x 980's, you could save a little money.

Its a question of cost verses stability. One GPU will be more stable and have less glitches than multiple GPUs. This has to be looked at on a game by game basis. Some new released games aren't optimized well enough to run smoothly with SLI/Crossfire. The major releases usually get patched up eventually but its a potential headache to deal with. However, its a headache that in this day and age you see a lot less then you used to in the passed which is a good thing. So if money is an issue you can get 2 cheaper cards and potentially get the same performance. But for a new build, where money isn't an issue, why go for 2 cheaper cards when you can get the better card, then 5-8 years down the road if you find your PC is getting outdated you can get a second 980 and a huge price drop and get your GPU setup running like a top rig again? If you go for 2 cheaper cards now, in 3-5 years you will be forced to upgrade sooner and you will have to buy either the top GPU in the future anyway or 2 mid-ter GPUs. If you can afford it go with a single GPU.

@michael882 someone mentioned that your PSU was over-powered at 850W, this is true you don't need that much but I'm going on the assumption that your budget is around $3200-$3500. There are a few places you can trim some cash off your build. My concern is whether or not the parts you picked are good choices. If you are trying to save money let us know cause as it stands this will be a BEAST machine that will run games at 4K without even trying. You will struggle to get your CPU at 20% usage even when gaming. Im not joking, I have a similar build and if I see my CPU at 15% usage Im shocked. This will be well overpowered for your gaming needs in this day and age. And should last you a long time before you even have to think of upgrading.

(Read what I bolded) So SoM isn't a major release? and neither was watchdogs? and AC: U?

My point is, the TC has JUST moved from consoles, you don't need a 3k rig just to play, even half that will last a good while. Introducing someone new to multiple GPU's and their potential problems with games/profiles/drivers is going to lead to a bad experience, I said potential problems, it may not happen but why go SLI/Crossfire from the beginning? 1 4GB 980 or 1 8GB 290x goes a long way, in 6 months/1 year you can delve into multiple GPU's if you wanted to.

Sure people may edit/render/photoshop and they need a lot of grunt to do things, but I am assuming in this scenario its just for games.

@Diablo-B: Yea for sure, if I can save money while keeping the same level of performance, i'll gladly hear suggestions.

@GTR12: Not sure if you read my posts, they were a bit lengthy. I AGREE with you. I don't recommend starting your first build with SLI/Crossfire.

@michael582: You can save $60-$90 bucks going for a PSU from the same brand and efficiency rating if you go with a 650 or 750 watt. Your current build shouldn't go above 500 watts. Its currently estimated at 406W so a 650W PSU would give you 240W of wiggle room to play with. 750W would give you 350W of wiggle room. 850W is overkill unless you have other plans for it.

You current case looks really nice. And if that is the design you like the most go for it. Remember you will be the one having to use this everyday and the last thing you want is buyers remorse. But there are a ton of cases out there less than $200. That is another place you can get savings.

Got to amazon directly to find your monitor. Cause I see the same monitors on pcpartPicker showing up on amazon right now around $100 less. I am even seeing 4K monitors on sale right now for less than $500.

Is there a reason why you are going for the Asus X99-Deluxe over the Asus X99-A or Asus X99-Pro? Is that built-in WiFi a deal breaker for your needs? From a gaming, performance and reliability point the Asus X99-A will serve all you needs at $300. I haven't compared all the features but is there something else (other than the WiFi) that you need the deluxe version?

Those would be the places I would look to to save extra. Now "some" people would make the argument that your CPU and GPU are also overkill for gaming. I am not one of those people. Your CPU and GPU are the heart and soul of your build. I live by the rule of thumb, get the best GPU/CPU you can afford.

Yet you say that 4K monitor will go with single 980. ["Your new 4K monitor will go lovely with your GTX 980 ;)"]

Lets wait and see when the TC will get frustrated from his brand new build...

Whyd you quote me lol?

@PredatorRules: I'm using a 4K monitor with a SINGLE 780ti right now. I run games like Skyrim, with 90 mods, all high-res texture, and an ENB on my 4K monitor with no problems. The 980 matches or out performs the 780ti in ever benchmark I've seen. So Im not sure what you are getting at.

@GTR12: LOL, to show my agreement :-p

@Diablo-B:

Ok well now I know ;)

@Diablo-B: 2nd update: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/m34Fxr

I do need wifi in the build, right now its not possible for me to spread out an ethernet cable to the computer from the modem. Also I can't find any cheaper monitors than the one I found? But overall i did lower the price, what you think?

@GTR12: Okay buddy, apparently you know better. I'm not even gonna bother.

NEX is the worst PSU from EVGA.
Updated - http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/Vfpxt6

@michael582:

I don't have much experience with EVGA I heard they were good. But Corsair I know and have used. Good choice from insane_matalist.

The Asus X99 Pro also has the integrated WiFi/Bluetooth but after doing a side by side I would stick with the deluxe do to its higher WLAN speed. If you can't use a wired connection the extra speed will come in handy. Here is a comparison chart of the 2: http://uk.hardware.info/comparisontable/842917/geen_username/motherboards-comparison-table-16-12-2014-1409

I looked at the IPS monitors, there is a BenQ one that gets good reviews but the one you currently have is excellent. I thought you can get it for less but the price in Canada seems to be a bit more than in the US. Stick with the one you have.

Yeah, try playing some modern games on max settings, then talk.

I've seen benchmarks the 980 can run those on 30fps, which IMO is bad for a PC game.

Also try to think of the future and not only for the current moment.