Is a GTX 780 overkill for this build? Other build questions. Thanks in advance for advice.

[Pabsmanhere]

Hello everyone,

The graphics card on my 2 year old Asus G73sw laptop is on it's way out and proprietary design features of the laptop make it difficult or impossible to upgrade the card.
{definitely going with a Clevo based system for my next laptop}
I don't travel as much for work as I used to so a desktop gamer is preferable. I've always kept my build budget around $1000 not including monitor and peripherals. I'm willing to spend more this time because I worked hard to get myself out of (all) debt and I have the cash to spend. At the same time, I don't want to overspend on this thing just to have state of the art hardware for three months. I feel like I have researched and compromised price and performance but my final cost comes out around $1600. I am planning on splitting purchases across several websites to get the best deals so I expect this will really come out to around $1500. I don't mind spending $1500, but you should never make a big purchase until you have eliminated all doubts. So here are a few questions to help a guy avoid the terrible scourge of buyers remorse.

*** main question from title: Is a GTX 780 overkill for this build? I looked up benchmark comparisons for the 780 and it knocks everything else out of the water. The recent price drops are tempting... please knock some sense into me if you think I need it.
*** Is the ASUS Z87-PLUS motherboard good long term with regard to easy future upgrades?
*** DDR3 1600 ram is still the way to go right? I read it's not yet worth buying 1866 or 2133.
*** I also have read that the core i5 haswell is actually better for gaming than the i7. Dat true?
*** should I get a water cooler for processor or stick with Cool Master 212 EVO?
*** Finally, feel free to critique my set up and make suggestions.

Much appreciated,


LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827106289
$17.99

ASUS Z87-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131980
$162.99

Seasonic SS-660XP2 ATX 12V/EPS 12V, 660W, 80 PLUS PLATINUM Full Modular certified Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU ...
Item #: N82E16817151121
$163.99

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Arctic White Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
Item #: N82E16811139010
$94.99

SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Capacity: 250GB
Item #: 9SIA0AT13J1887
$194.99

Refurbished: WD WD Green WD10EARX 1TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Manufacture Recertified Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822236182
$54.99

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K
Item #: N82E16819116899
$239.99

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan
Item #: N82E16835103099
$34.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231315
$139.99

ASUS GTX780-DC2OC-3GD5 GeForce GTX 780 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814121779
$519.99

 

[HeyyScott]

What is the purpose for your rig? Gaming? Work intense ( editing,rendering,photoshop ) ?

 

[japps2]

what resolution are you playing at? what games?

 

[battler624]

actually a very nice build, the 780 is still not an overkill even for 1080P. the only thing i worry about is the PSU.

 

[dextermat]

Hi,

If it's for gaming the gtx 780 will honor your CPU!, If not for gaming / demanding video it's overkill

 

[rvilkman]

780 is fine for that build. It will pretty much let you play anything you want at 1920x1080 at max settings and even if you get a 2560x1440 monitor it will run those at pretty high settings as well.

 

[HeyyScott]

The only overkill in your rigs are your 16 GB RAM, $160 PSU, also don't buy used hard drive.

 

[PyjamasCat]

actually a very nice build, the 780 is still not an overkill even for 1080P. the only thing i worry about is the PSU.

Hmm... It will basically max most of today's games at 1080p with power to spare, so unless the OP plans to have excessive AA and/or supersampling/downscaling techniques, then it might be a little pointless for the now. Later on I can imagine the extra power will be useful though so it will probably increase the amount of time before your next upgrade.

HeyyScott, 16GB is now becoming the norm. For general use it is a bit redundant, but games these days are demanding more and more RAM (RAM manufacturers will be happier) so I wouldn't worry about that, but I do agree on the used HDD.

OP The RAM you intend to use will be running in two lots of Dual Channel, not Quad Channel if that makes any difference to you.

OP, try to avoid used hardware unless you were the user or you know the user personally and have seen the state of it (and you are definitely okay with its used state). I bought a used GTX 670 and it was effectively DOA (my experience, but yeah ).

Generally I would not suggest a green drive either unless it is for mass storage of media as the seek times can be quite slow, especially on the larger drives. If your planning to put extra programs on this, then I'd suggest you get a regular drive. (Blue WD or Seagate Barracuda are good options.)

Other than that it looks like a really nice build.

 

[Pabsmanhere]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Overall it's made me more confident of the build.
The machine will be primarily for gaming at high resolution. I will be using a dual monitor set up and often have multiple browser tabs running to do research for work or for personal investments. I should be able to makr use of the extra ram and processor.

I actually plan to use a Seagate constellation ES enterprise drive as the storage for the build. The used green western digital is for my old pc so I can hook it up to my TV and play video or browse the web with a wireless keyboard on the coffee table. The boxee is great... but it jst ain't cutting it anymore.

So I guess I just have to worry about the psu. Is that Seasonic not good for gaming or is spending $160 on power too muc h?

Thanks again for all the feedback. Was very helpfull

 

[determinologyz]

Hello everyone,

The graphics card on my 2 year old Asus G73sw laptop is on it's way out and proprietary design features of the laptop make it difficult or impossible to upgrade the card.
{definitely going with a Clevo based system for my next laptop}
I don't travel as much for work as I used to so a desktop gamer is preferable. I've always kept my build budget around $1000 not including monitor and peripherals. I'm willing to spend more this time because I worked hard to get myself out of (all) debt and I have the cash to spend. At the same time, I don't want to overspend on this thing just to have state of the art hardware for three months. I feel like I have researched and compromised price and performance but my final cost comes out around $1600. I am planning on splitting purchases across several websites to get the best deals so I expect this will really come out to around $1500. I don't mind spending $1500, but you should never make a big purchase until you have eliminated all doubts. So here are a few questions to help a guy avoid the terrible scourge of buyers remorse.

*** main question from title: Is a GTX 780 overkill for this build? I looked up benchmark comparisons for the 780 and it knocks everything else out of the water. The recent price drops are tempting... please knock some sense into me if you think I need it.
*** Is the ASUS Z87-PLUS motherboard good long term with regard to easy future upgrades?
*** DDR3 1600 ram is still the way to go right? I read it's not yet worth buying 1866 or 2133.
*** I also have read that the core i5 haswell is actually better for gaming than the i7. Dat true?
*** should I get a water cooler for processor or stick with Cool Master 212 EVO?
*** Finally, feel free to critique my set up and make suggestions.

Much appreciated,


LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827106289
$17.99

ASUS Z87-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131980
$162.99

Seasonic SS-660XP2 ATX 12V/EPS 12V, 660W, 80 PLUS PLATINUM Full Modular certified Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU ...
Item #: N82E16817151121
$163.99

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Arctic White Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
Item #: N82E16811139010
$94.99

SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Capacity: 250GB
Item #: 9SIA0AT13J1887
$194.99

Refurbished: WD WD Green WD10EARX 1TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Manufacture Recertified Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822236182
$54.99

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K
Item #: N82E16819116899
$239.99

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan
Item #: N82E16835103099
$34.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231315
$139.99

ASUS GTX780-DC2OC-3GD5 GeForce GTX 780 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814121779
$519.99

I like your setup but as said before

1. Get a WD blue HD new
2. For the price your paying for the psu you can get a good 850w or so incase you wanna go sli with the gtx 780 which i would recommend in the future
3. 16GB is a bit high on the ram side but it depends on what your doing. As for me i run VMs alot so it worth it