2nd build looking for advice and or criticism

[danmn1313]

So as the title states I'm in the market for a new PC. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do but thought I would ask for some other opinions before I pull the trigger. This PC will be used for some gaming, video editing, live streaming, and browsing. This is going to be a huge upgrade for me coming from a Phenom II Deneb OC'd to 3.8ghz unlocked to six cores, a 6850 IceQ stock OC, an ASRock extreme 3 MOBO, and a regular 500 GB HDD. So here is my next build idea taking advantage of Microcenter, Newegg, and Amazon:

CPU: Intel i7-4770k $249.99 MC
MOBO: MSI Z87-G45 $129.99 MC
PSU: Corsair CX750M $84.99 MC
Case: NZXT Crafted series Phantom $89.99 MC
Memory: G Skill Ares 1600 8GB $77.99 Newegg
Storage: Crucial MSATA 240GB SSD $129.99 Amazon
: Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 3TB $109.99 Newegg
GPU: Gigabyte R9 270X GDDR5-4GB $259.99 Amazon
Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 $79.99 Newegg

 

[realchaos]

Microcenter also has a bundle deal when you buy the processor and a select motherboard, you get $30 off: http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx
Grab the i7-4770k with the Asus Z87-A for $335.

The CX750M isn't a very great quality psu to begin with. Corsair generally makes good quality psus, but their CX line-up is on the lower end of the spectrum. I would try to go for this: http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=59616&vpn=P1650SNLB9&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1253
And then to qualify for free shipping on your order at NCIX, grab the 3tb HDD from them instead of Newegg: http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=66009&vpn=ST3000DM001&manufacture=Seagate&promoid=1253

That should have saved you enough to upgrade to this GPU: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3F7CFK/?tag=pcpapi-20
The GTX 770 is a lot stronger and it can max out anything at 1080p.

 

[ssddx]

CPU: Intel i7-4770k $249.99 MC
-good
MOBO: MSI Z87-G45 $129.99 MC
-personally i'd say go with an asus motherboard but this should work.
PSU: Corsair CX750M $84.99 MC
-why such a large psu? i would also suggest buying something a little more quality oriented like either one up the upper tier corsair units or one made by xfx or seasonic.
Case: NZXT Crafted series Phantom $89.99 MC
-your choice here
Memory: G Skill Ares 1600 8GB $77.99 Newegg
-your choice but just to let you know 1866 cas9 gskill goes on sale for about $73 at times which is worth picking up instead perhaps.
Storage: Crucial MSATA 240GB SSD $129.99 Amazon
-good however i would recommend looking at samsung drives. they have an excellent track record for reliability.
: Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 3TB $109.99 Newegg
-large drives tend to be less reliable than the smaller drives. i'm on my 5th rma of my own large drives so just a word of caution.
GPU: Gigabyte R9 270X GDDR5-4GB $259.99 Amazon
-good, solid middle of the road video card. its not going to completely max out settings on the latest games but it will be able to run ultra on most.
Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 $79.99 Newegg
-do you realize how huge this thing is? google image it. its laugable (but it really is a good cooler). if you arent comfortable with something that big perhaps look into a liquid cooling loop from nxzt or corsair.

 

[danmn1313]

Microcenter also has a bundle deal when you buy the processor and a select motherboard, you get $30 off: http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx
Grab the i7-4770k with the Asus Z87-A for $335.

The CX750M isn't a very great quality psu to begin with. Corsair generally makes good quality psus, but their CX line-up is on the lower end of the spectrum. I would try to go for this: http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=59616&vpn=P1650SNLB9&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1253
And then to qualify for free shipping on your order at NCIX, grab the 3tb HDD from them instead of Newegg: http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=66009&vpn=ST3000DM001&manufacture=Seagate&promoid=1253

That should have saved you enough to upgrade to this GPU: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3F7CFK/?tag=pcpapi-20
The GTX 770 is a lot stronger and it can max out anything at 1080p.

The MSI Mobo I listed is with the $30 off. I was thinking about the Asus you suggested but after reading a lot of reviews it seemed hit or miss.

The PSU I wasn't too sure about so thanks for clearing that up.

GPU was also another thing I was questionable about and the one you linked looks awesome. One thing though, will I still be able to run 3 monitors off of that card?

CPU: Intel i7-4770k $249.99 MC
-good
MOBO: MSI Z87-G45 $129.99 MC
-personally i'd say go with an asus motherboard but this should work.
PSU: Corsair CX750M $84.99 MC
-why such a large psu? i would also suggest buying something a little more quality oriented like either one up the upper tier corsair units or one made by xfx or seasonic.
Case: NZXT Crafted series Phantom $89.99 MC
-your choice here
Memory: G Skill Ares 1600 8GB $77.99 Newegg
-your choice but just to let you know 1866 cas9 gskill goes on sale for about $73 at times which is worth picking up instead perhaps.
Storage: Crucial MSATA 240GB SSD $129.99 Amazon
-good however i would recommend looking at samsung drives. they have an excellent track record for reliability.
: Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 3TB $109.99 Newegg
-large drives tend to be less reliable than the smaller drives. i'm on my 5th rma of my own large drives so just a word of caution.
GPU: Gigabyte R9 270X GDDR5-4GB $259.99 Amazon
-good, solid middle of the road video card. its not going to completely max out settings on the latest games but it will be able to run ultra on most.
Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 $79.99 Newegg
-do you realize how huge this thing is? google image it. its laugable (but it really is a good cooler). if you arent comfortable with something that big perhaps look into a liquid cooling loop from nxzt or corsair.

Large PSU in case I want to crossfire later on.
I'll look into the the other Gskill ram you mentioned. I liked the Ares just bc it was ultra low profile.
The HDD, I probably won't need that much space so I'll look at smaller ones.
Already considering GTX 770, but liked the idea of 4GB Vram
I'll look into a Sammy SSD, was also considering a 180GB Intel but liked the idea of using my MSATA.
I know how big the cooler is. I really want to be able to keep temps low without going to custom water cooling and that one seems better than most pre fabbed water coolers in 130 range. Part of the reason for the Ares ram and full tower case.

 

[realchaos]

What reviews? If you're reading Newegg/Amazon reviews, don't bother. The Asus Z87-A is a great quality motherboard for its price.
For the GPU, the GTX 770 is stronger than the 270X so yes, it can still run three monitors and it can run them better.

 

[ssddx]

keep in mind that some reviews on amazon or newegg are actually worth their salt

while i agree that a z-87 asus board is good and i do tend to be an asus guy myself anymore they also arent the only option available. there are plenty of other boards which work fine as well.

i do agree with getting a gtx770 if you can. the windforce fromgigabyte is rather nice.

 

[danmn1313]

What reviews? If you're reading Newegg/Amazon reviews, don't bother. The Asus Z87-A is a great quality motherboard for its price.
For the GPU, the GTX 770 is stronger than the 270X so yes, it can still run three monitors and it can run them better.

Yeah I was reading a lot of DOA reviews on Newegg which I don't like hearing because returning is a hassle.

Wasn't positive if non radeon cards could run triples not being in SLI still. Out of date on my PC knowledge haha

 

[ssddx]

well to be honest a DOA can happen with anything.

you have to take the good and the bad reviews and know how to weed things out. more often than not people post more negative reviews because they are angry while people who are happy generally dont bother to post anything as often.

unless the product gets very poor scores (3 stars or under) i wouldnt worry about it as much. i just looked at the z87-a is 4 stars.

a single nvidia card can run 3 monitors if it has the connections. a single card running games across three monitors would severely cut down on the graphics levels you could run at though. just keep that in mind. you wont be able to play at ultra settings on the newest games across all three. those settings might drop way down to keep framerates playable.

 

[danmn1313]

well to be honest a DOA can happen with anything.

you have to take the good and the bad reviews and know how to weed things out. more often than not people post more negative reviews because they are angry while people who are happy generally dont bother to post anything as often.

unless the product gets very poor scores (3 stars or under) i wouldnt worry about it as much. i just looked at the z87-a is 4 stars.

a single nvidia card can run 3 monitors if it has the connections. a single card running games across three monitors would severely cut down on the graphics levels you could run at though. just keep that in mind. you wont be able to play at ultra settings on the newest games across all three. those settings might drop way down to keep framerates playable.

I use my second and third monitors for other things, usually one is AIM, vent/mumble, OBS, speedfan, and the other is Chrome or a map if I'm playing Dayz or builds for LoL or SC2 etc

 

[ssddx]

to answer your previous statements...

yes you are correct the ares ram is low profile which is better for big air coolers. i just gave you an option for faster ram if you used a heatsink which did not have the space issues.

intel ssd are also respected. honestly i would say intel or samsung are the best for reliability.

you are correct the cooler does perform admirably.its just huge, comes very close in terms of tolerances with ram and is a bit ugly if you ask me. completely your choice i jus thought you may want another option.

if you want to upgade later on then a big psu is good however i'd get something from the tier 1 or tier 2/2b list here if possible http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx
generally i'd say xfx or seasonic if you can but any of the high rated units are good

 

[danmn1313]

to answer your previous statements...

yes you are correct the ares ram is low profile which is better for big air coolers. i just gave you an option for faster ram if you used a heatsink which did not have the space issues.

intel ssd are also respected. honestly i would say intel or samsung are the best for reliability.

you are correct the cooler does perform admirably.its just huge, comes very close in terms of tolerances with ram and is a bit ugly if you ask me. completely your choice i jus thought you may want another option.

if you want to upgade later on then a big psu is good however i'd get something from the tier 1 or tier 2/2b list here if possible http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx
generally i'd say xfx or seasonic if you can but any of the high rated units are good

The Intel SSD looks like a great deal so I may go with that but I'll keep shopping around.

As for the cooler, I was also looking at Phanteks PH-TC14PE because they do look better.

Definitely going to change to a different PSU. Looking over the thread now.

Thanks for all the help.