$2,000 gaming rig review

[hollowvolition]

Hello.

I will be assembling a new gaming rig at the end of this month. This computer will only be used for gaming and day to day regular usage. I play most of the latest demanding titles and some older ones.

As mentioned in the title, my budget is $2,000. I have picked the parts, so I would appreciate some comments. Maybe there's something I should change?

I'm looking forward to your input.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H90 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($142.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Se 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($552.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-16D1HT Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
Monitor: LG 24MP55HQ-P 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($144.00 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series White 2 pack 52.2 CFM 120mm Fan ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $2054.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-13 16:56 EDT-0400

 

[zeyuanfu]

1, The i5-4690K will be enough
2, MSI has HORRIBLE QC and customer service
3, The Noctua ND-H14 is cheaper and better
4, SSds and RAM with a lower $/GB can be found
5, I would think the HDD is quite expensive for 1 TB
6, A 780 Ti would be better and last you longer, plus, you get better drivers
Otherwise, you're good to go!

 

[hollowvolition]

so what brand should I look into for the motherboard and gpu? I've been using MSI motherboards for the past 6 years, I haven't ventured off to other brands.

 

[zeyuanfu]

so what brand should I look into for the motherboard and gpu? I've been using MSI motherboards for the past 6 years, I haven't ventured off to other brands.

I would say:
Motherboards (in order of quality, from best to worst):
1, Asus
2, ASRock oir Gigabyte (ASRock split from Asus a few years ago, they cut a bit more corners but the quality is still good)
3, MSI
Get Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte or MSI for the GPU.

 

[hollowvolition]

I picked the ASUS MAXIMUS VII RANGER and the MSI GTX 780T GAMING 3G.

 

[zeyuanfu]

Does the Ranger have any features you absolutely need?

 

[hollowvolition]

you're suggesting I get something cheaper?

 

[zeyuanfu]

You could upgrade your SSD if you got something along the lines of an Asus Z97-A, which is about 140$.

 

[hollowvolition]

does the A model overclock well?

 

[zeyuanfu]

It would OC very well and if you're a noob to overclocking (not saying you are, but just if), it has a feature that sets you up with an appropriate overclock depending on your use and your cooler. Neat, right? It also has features that let you control the cooling and the power savings (I'm sounding like a salesman).

 

[RazerZ]

2, MSI has HORRIBLE QC and customer service
6, A 780 Ti would be better and last you longer, plus, you get better drivers
Otherwise, you're good to go!

I would say:
Motherboards (in order of quality, from best to worst):
1, Asus
2, ASRock oir Gigabyte (ASRock split from Asus a few years ago, they cut a bit more corners but the quality is still good)
3, MSI
Get Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte or MSI for the GPU.

Again, pulling information from thin air.

 

[hollowvolition]

the last cpu I overclocked was my i3 540. I have it running at 4.1 GHz on stock cooler. I want to get at it again. I don't normally use the auto overclock features and such.

What are your suggestions RazerZ?

 

[zeyuanfu]

Not really, MSI DOES have horrible QC.

 

[RazerZ]

Not really, MSI DOES have horrible QC.

Have you ever owned any of their products?

 

[RazerZ]

the last cpu I overclocked was my i3 540. I have it running at 4.1 GHz on stock cooler. I want to get at it again. I don't normally use the auto overclock features and such.

What are your suggestions RazerZ?

I'll try and post back soon with my recommendation.

 

[hollowvolition]

I actually received a MSI B85 motherboard that was DOA last month. I needed it for a business build. It took them a month to replace it. Though my old i3 is running on a MSI too, never had any issues with that one.

 

[RazerZ]

I actually received a MSI B85 motherboard that was DOA last month. I needed it for a business build. It took them a month to replace it. Though my old i3 is running on a MSI too, never had any issues with that one.

Every company has their faults. I've seen posters here with DOA complaints from almost every company out there.

 

[hollowvolition]

that's true. I still had my mind set on getting another MSI board anyway. DOA parts aside, I've been a happy MSI customer for a few years.

 

[4ktv]

1, The i5-4690K will be enough
2, MSI has HORRIBLE QC and customer service
3, The Noctua ND-H14 is cheaper and better
4, SSds and RAM with a lower $/GB can be found
5, I would think the HDD is quite expensive for 1 TB
6, A 780 Ti would be better and last you longer, plus, you get better drivers
Otherwise, you're good to go!

And is there any prove that a GTX 780 ti has better drivers than a R9 290x?

I would like to see the research or at lest a video showing how AMD clearly has worse drivers.

Video of my GTX 580 when it had driver issues: [video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWMf2UhPFj8"][/video]

For how much a GTX 780ti cost he could cross fire two R9 290s and send it back to before it was born school.

R9 290x and the 780 ti trade blows and is only a few percent faster over all yet demands a $700 tag over a $500 or less one on the R9 290x.

 

[zeyuanfu]

1, The i5-4690K will be enough
2, MSI has HORRIBLE QC and customer service
3, The Noctua ND-H14 is cheaper and better
4, SSds and RAM with a lower $/GB can be found
5, I would think the HDD is quite expensive for 1 TB
6, A 780 Ti would be better and last you longer, plus, you get better drivers
Otherwise, you're good to go!

And is there any prove that a GTX 780 ti has better drivers than a R9 290x?

I would like to see the research or at lest a video showing how AMD clearly has worse drivers.

Video of my GTX 580 when it had driver issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWMf2UhPFj8&list=UUL6hBSUB7E0llugeUoIMCFQ

For how much a GTX 780ti cost he could cross fire two R9 290s and send it back to before it was born school.

R9 290x and the 780 ti trade blows and is only a few percent faster over all yet demands a $700 tag over a $500 or less one on the R9 290x.

You might want to look at some reviews on the R7 and R9 series, people said that their card BSODed, crashed or simply didn't work, even with the latest drivers.
A 780 Ti would be a better single-card solution, and unless i'm very wrong, 780 Ti SLI beats 290X CFX (both 2-way).

 

[hollowvolition]

For starters, I've decided on keeping the i7 4790k. Secondly, I've been using AMD gpus since the ATI Radeon 9100 IGP. The only and last Geforce I had ever used on my personal computers was the Geforce256, lol. However, I purchased a Nvidia Quadro for my rendering rig last month (with that B85 board I mentioned).
It's not that I'm biased when it comes to gpus, it just happened coincidentally. I preferred what AMD was offering against Nvidia's choices. However, I am willing and happy to switch to Nvidia if it proves to be a better buy.

 

[RazerZ]

For starters, I've decided on keeping the i7 4790k. Secondly, I've been using AMD gpus since the ATI Radeon 9100 IGP. The only and last Geforce I had ever used on my personal computers was the Geforce256, lol. However, I purchased a Nvidia Quadro for my rendering rig last month (with that B85 board I mentioned).
It's not that I'm biased when it comes to gpus, it just happened coincidentally. I preferred what AMD was offering against Nvidia's choices. However, I am willing and happy to switch to Nvidia if it proves to be a better buy.

I'm almost done with your build. Do you plan on crossfiring the R9 290s or just switching to a single more powerful GPU?

 

[zeyuanfu]

Well, the 780 Ti would prove to be a very good single-card solution (this is true and not, quote, pulled from thin air, unquote) unless you chose to run the R9 295x2, Titan Black or the Titan Z, which are 1500$, 1000-1500$ and 3000$ respectively.

 

[RazerZ]

Well, the 780 Ti would prove to be a very good single-card solution (this is true and not, quote, pulled from thin air, unquote) unless you chose to run the R9 295x2, Titan Black or the Titan Z, which are 1500$, 1000-1500$ and 3000$ respectively.

Cost to performance the R9 290 wins. Yes the 780ti a faster card but the premium in price really isn't worth it. And using a Titan would be a complete waste of money for a gaming rig.

 

[hollowvolition]

@zeyuanfu haven't those issues been resolved since the cards were released?

In regards to multi gpu setups, I'm not really interested. I tend to prefer single gpu solutions.