Best build under $2,000?

[streetsports]

Scroll to the bottom to see what I went with

do you guys think I should get the asus r9 290x instead?


CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige 60.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($181.68 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.66 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($499.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC68 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($100.98 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Cooler Master V700 700W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1867.96

Any better parts out there? Also are there any better cases? I'm looking for lots of fans, fan controls, filters and high quality bells n whistles.

 

[jnkweaver]

I would get a WD Caviar Black drive.

I would change the psu to a Seasonic Gold or Platinum

 

[marc79]

Cooler Master V700 is made by Seasonic so he's good. Blue is fine, the difference is black has a 5 year warranty. Great Build!

 

[minerva330]

I would also recommended dishing out for a higher capacity SSD. I have a 500GB Samsung evo and would be surprised how quickly it fills up, BF4 alone is 25gb. You can get a 250gb evo for $174 off newegg.

Everything else looks awesome. I love the case

 

[streetsports]

Are you guys installing games on the ssd or the HDD these days? I was thinking the ssd would only be for the os and normal apps. I have $ left in the budget but I was going to add another HDD for raid0 with the cash and possibly blow the rest on steam lol.

 

[minerva330]

I use my ssd for games. I like the fast loading times. Regardless, I only have about 6 or so games that I play at one time.

 

[streetsports]

do you guys think I should get the asus r9 290x instead?

 

[minerva330]

That's kind of loaded question but I think it boils down to preference.

Both the 780 and 290X are pretty evenly matched, driver support and API's such as mantle, notwithstanding.

When looking at cards that are neck and neck like those two it comes down (for me) price to performance ratio, and that where the 780 beats out the 290X.

Due to coin mining AMD's high-end cards are really inflated right now and there way over MSRP, the 290X can fetch upwards of $600 and is in and out of stock, while the 780 has remained fairly stable at $500.

Temps is also something to consider, manufactures have done much better with custom cooling for the 290x

As longs as you have decent cooling to begin with, I think the 780 is the way to go but like I said, it is largely personally preference

 

[streetsports]

I was just wondering because a lot of the benchmarks put the 290x closer to the 780ti (and even better in some cases like high res gaming) and puts the 780 closer with the 290.

 

[minerva330]

I am not familiar with those benchmarks. All the benchmarks I have seen place 780 and 290X in in a dead heat more or less (depending on the game).

Here: http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290X-vs-GeForce-GTX-780

and here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1056?vs=1036

780ti is definitely better but is not dramatic

Like I said before it is all about price to performance ratio, well at least for me it is. The 780 is currently the most bang you can get for your buck (If you have a high res monitor you should probably be doing SLI anyway).

 

[streetsports]

I see...some of the benchmarks I'm looking at are beyond 1920...like 4k or multi screen surround...
http://

And http://

On hardocp they also have an article that states that an over clocked Asus 290x is faster than a stock clocked ti but an over clocked ti is only 5% faster than an over clocked 290x...I have no idea which sites are credible either...tough choices and most reviews aren't of the 290x with the Asus cooler besides a couple.

 

[streetsports]

This is what I finally went with

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.98 @ Amazon)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VI FORMULA ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($293.32 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($199.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.66 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($499.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($122.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $2492.56

 

[minerva330]

Can't get much better than that. I think you'll be very happy

 

[streetsports]

I probably need another 780 but its just not in the budget right now.

 

[marc79]

The V700 is a better PSU, should have went V850 if you wanted more watts. I would have went with Hero and V850, or AX860. You don't need the plastic shroud on the mobo, more of a gimmick.

 

[streetsports]

I was going to go with the hero but no ac WiFi...the Asus wifi card I would use is $100 so I figured I would spend the extra $100 on the formula with onboard ac WiFi...between that and the Bluetooth 4.0 dongle savings...thanks for the heads up on the PSU. I think I will go with the v850