Gaming Build Help

[C4Dman314]

I am doing my first gaming build (also used for After Effects, Photoshop, Cinema 4D, and Autodesk) and I was wondering if you guys could give me some insight. I have two ideas for a build (amd vs intel processor). I was wondering about several things on both builds:

1. Are there any bottlenecks?
2. Am I overdoing the PSU?
3. Is it worth putting the H100i in the original build or should I wait and put it in later (if and when I get the nerve to OC)
4. Do I need any extra cooling fans besides the stock cooler (or H100i) and the case fans
5. What thermal paste should I get (does it really matter)
6. I put windows 8 in as the OS (although I am going on the assumption that it will be 8.1) is this a bad idea
7. Thoughts on the the MOBOs

BUILD 1:
CPU Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core
CPU Cooler Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid
Motherboard MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150
Memory Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600
Storage Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" SSD
Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4GB
Case Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower
Power Supply Corsair 760W ATX12V / EPS12V
Optical Drive LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)

BUILD 2:
CPU AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core
CPU Cooler Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid
Motherboard Asus SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 ATX AM3+
Memory Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600
Storage Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" SSD
Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB $579.99
Case Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower
Power Supply Corsair 760W ATX12V / EPS12V
Optical Drive LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)

if you have any thoughts please explain why (I would rather learn than to be told)

 

[badboyrog]

well get the gtx 770 instead of everythings else

 

[thepinkanator95]

This is what your AMD build should look like.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($189.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($126.92 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($395.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($141.01 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($84.78 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($52.00 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1533.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-06 23:03 EDT-0400)

I got you a better graphics card and a higher clock speed memory.

I downgraded your SSD. You should only use it for your operating system, After Effects, Photoshop, Cinema 4D, and Autodesk. Everything else can go on the HDD.

This will be the build you want because it will give you more bang for the buck. If you do have extra money though, do this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($327.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($126.92 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($395.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($141.01 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($84.78 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($52.00 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1626.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-06 23:01 EDT-0400)

 

[C4Dman314]

This is what your AMD build should look like.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($189.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($126.92 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($395.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($141.01 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($84.78 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($52.00 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1533.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-06 23:03 EDT-0400)

I got you a better graphics card and a higher clock speed memory.

I downgraded your SSD. You should only use it for your operating system, After Effects, Photoshop, Cinema 4D, and Autodesk. Everything else can go on the HDD.

This will be the build you want because it will give you more bang for the buck. If you do have extra money though, do this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($327.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($126.92 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($395.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($141.01 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($84.78 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($52.00 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1626.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-06 23:01 EDT-0400)

Out of curiosity, should I not get the bigger SSD and put the majority of my games on it? Or should i use something like steamtool to move games on and off the ssd, keeping like my top 5 games or so and the rest on the hdd (alternatively those games could be directly played off the HDD but what is the cost in performance?)

My second question is about the graphics card. What is the advantage of the 4 gigs vs 2 gigs of graphics ram?

 

[thepinkanator95]

This is what your AMD build should look like.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($189.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($126.92 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($395.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($141.01 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($84.78 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($52.00 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1533.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-06 23:03 EDT-0400)

I got you a better graphics card and a higher clock speed memory.

I downgraded your SSD. You should only use it for your operating system, After Effects, Photoshop, Cinema 4D, and Autodesk. Everything else can go on the HDD.

This will be the build you want because it will give you more bang for the buck. If you do have extra money though, do this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($327.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($126.92 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($395.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($141.01 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($84.78 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($52.00 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1626.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-06 23:01 EDT-0400)

Out of curiosity, should I not get the bigger SSD and put the majority of my games on it? Or should i use something like steamtool to move games on and off the ssd, keeping like my top 5 games or so and the rest on the hdd (alternatively those games could be directly played off the HDD but what is the cost in performance?)

My second question is about the graphics card. What is the advantage of the 4 gigs vs 2 gigs of graphics ram?

You can keep all of your games on the HDD. The game will be loaded to RAM so while playing the game you won't notice a difference. You may just gain a couple seconds in load times, not worth the extra money to me.

As far as the GPU, it's just more resources your GPU can use quickly. The more RAM you have on your GPU, the less of the system RAM the CPU has to assign for use by the GPU.