Ok, here is my final build... Finally. I'm ready to order it, I'd just like some feedback if possible.

[MrCanEHdian]

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/kR73mG

So, assuming that link worked, that is the build.

I'm using Newegg.ca for everything, I'm very new to this and would prefer to deal with one re-seller.

I went with the Z97 because it was on sale and onle $30 more than the H97 I originally planned on going with, so someday I can SLI or overclock if I decide I want to.

I went with 16GB of RAM, because it may become relevant for gaming someday and RAM prices seem to be rising all the time.

I chose the i5 4690 because I won't be OCing, and it seems to be very good, and less expensive than the Xeon.

The GPU was on sale and came highly reviewed.

The HDD is simple and cheap, I don't need much more than that lmao. I won't be using an SSD since it's an additional cost I threw into RAM or something.

The monitor is a decent 1080p, if I understand, and can downsize it 720p if necessary, which is nice.

The case is a bit pricier than I originally intended, but has lots of fans and tons of excellent reviews.

The power supply was highly recommended by some and seems very good, plus it has 10 year warranty... Seems pretty awesome.

I just threw the keyboard in there to get a better idea of costs, I dunno what peripherals I'll use.

I'm uncertain whether to go with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. I'm leaning towards Win7 because I'm familiar with it.

I'll be pretty much using this build for gaming, not much else that's intensive. No video editing or coding or anything like that.

*UPDATE*

Am I missing anything at all? I do have a different aftermarket cooler because the Vortex wasn't available. The 212 EVO weighs too much for my motherboard, I don't know if the 450g max weight is legit, on Gigabyte's website, but I figured I'd respect it and find a lighter cooler. Anyways, I'm only getting one to be on the safe side for cooling the CPU.

Thank you for your time .

 

[tiny voices]

Correct about the motherboards.

Neither PSUs suck. Theyare both high quality, but I am saying the Seasonic is just as good or better than the EVGA

Wow......... Well, I'd go for a Z97 if a good one was on sale and the price increase was tiny compared to an H97. Having the ability to SLI/Crossfire and/or overclock down the road would be nice for a minor price increase. Otherwise, I guess H97 is the way to go.

Well, in that case, the gold rating would reduce the amount of heat build up in the system right? Don't the efficiency ratings mean at higher ratings, more AC electricity is successfully converted into DC electricity and therefore, reducing heat due to lost energy?
The PSU you mentioned is significiantly cheaper.... Is it really that good? I was always under the impression that a PSU of less than $100 was going to be cheap and poorly made, I'm guessing that is incorrect in some cases.

I'd be down to go for the PSU you mentioned if I also got an H97, but if I got a Z97 that was on sale, I'd go for the 750w PSU for future SLI or overclocking, just to be on the safe side.

Thank you for the valuable help and insight .

To be honest I don't think SLI is that great of a way to go you get much less constant performance and your always better off getting the newer hardware.

I disagree. I recently bought a second 660ti for $150 to pair with the one I have had for a while. I get consistent performance between that of an r9 290 and an r9 290x. For $150 I could not be happier. Adding a second 760 down the road is a great plan.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

No, the Gold rating also doesn't have anything to do with heat.

You are 100% incorrect. There are plenty of cheaper PSUs that are amazing quality.

The Seasonic will be the same OR BETTER quality than that EVGA will be. Simple as that.

So the main difference is the SeaSonic has 550w or something around there? And the gold rating is simply for "reducing" your electricity bill? That's lame, the difference would be marginal.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Correct about the motherboards.

Neither PSUs suck. Theyare both high quality, but I am saying the Seasonic is just as good or better than the EVGA

Wow......... Well, I'd go for a Z97 if a good one was on sale and the price increase was tiny compared to an H97. Having the ability to SLI/Crossfire and/or overclock down the road would be nice for a minor price increase. Otherwise, I guess H97 is the way to go.

Well, in that case, the gold rating would reduce the amount of heat build up in the system right? Don't the efficiency ratings mean at higher ratings, more AC electricity is successfully converted into DC electricity and therefore, reducing heat due to lost energy?
The PSU you mentioned is significiantly cheaper.... Is it really that good? I was always under the impression that a PSU of less than $100 was going to be cheap and poorly made, I'm guessing that is incorrect in some cases.

I'd be down to go for the PSU you mentioned if I also got an H97, but if I got a Z97 that was on sale, I'd go for the 750w PSU for future SLI or overclocking, just to be on the safe side.

Thank you for the valuable help and insight .

To be honest I don't think SLI is that great of a way to go you get much less constant performance and your always better off getting the newer hardware.

I disagree. I recently bought a second 660ti for $150 to pair with the one I have had for a while. I get consistent performance between that of an r9 290 and an r9 290x. For $150 I could not be happier. Adding a second 760 down the road is a great plan.

I was thinking that too, it's amazing, instead of rendering your old GPU obselete and spending big bucks on a new one, you can use the old one and get the same type for a lower price than what you bought the first one for, and get some massive performance boosts, that's a hell of an opportunity. The Z97's markup price is pretty worth it for that option down the road. Thanks for all the feedback, from everyone.

 

[tiny voices]

No, the Gold rating also doesn't have anything to do with heat.

You are 100% incorrect. There are plenty of cheaper PSUs that are amazing quality.

The Seasonic will be the same OR BETTER quality than that EVGA will be. Simple as that.

So the main difference is the SeaSonic has 550w or something around there? And the gold rating is simply for "reducing" your electricity bill? That's lame, the difference would be marginal.

Yes, that is correct.

 

[Gracodana]

Correct about the motherboards.

Neither PSUs suck. Theyare both high quality, but I am saying the Seasonic is just as good or better than the EVGA

Wow......... Well, I'd go for a Z97 if a good one was on sale and the price increase was tiny compared to an H97. Having the ability to SLI/Crossfire and/or overclock down the road would be nice for a minor price increase. Otherwise, I guess H97 is the way to go.

Well, in that case, the gold rating would reduce the amount of heat build up in the system right? Don't the efficiency ratings mean at higher ratings, more AC electricity is successfully converted into DC electricity and therefore, reducing heat due to lost energy?
The PSU you mentioned is significiantly cheaper.... Is it really that good? I was always under the impression that a PSU of less than $100 was going to be cheap and poorly made, I'm guessing that is incorrect in some cases.

I'd be down to go for the PSU you mentioned if I also got an H97, but if I got a Z97 that was on sale, I'd go for the 750w PSU for future SLI or overclocking, just to be on the safe side.

Thank you for the valuable help and insight .

To be honest I don't think SLI is that great of a way to go you get much less constant performance and your always better off getting the newer hardware.

I disagree. I recently bought a second 660ti for $150 to pair with the one I have had for a while. I get consistent performance between that of an r9 290 and an r9 290x. For $150 I could not be happier. Adding a second 760 down the road is a great plan.

I guess it is a bit down to personal preferance I wouldn't really recommend but you would I guess if you want to do but I think it's better to have newer hardware personally.

 

[tiny voices]

Correct about the motherboards.

Neither PSUs suck. Theyare both high quality, but I am saying the Seasonic is just as good or better than the EVGA

Wow......... Well, I'd go for a Z97 if a good one was on sale and the price increase was tiny compared to an H97. Having the ability to SLI/Crossfire and/or overclock down the road would be nice for a minor price increase. Otherwise, I guess H97 is the way to go.

Well, in that case, the gold rating would reduce the amount of heat build up in the system right? Don't the efficiency ratings mean at higher ratings, more AC electricity is successfully converted into DC electricity and therefore, reducing heat due to lost energy?
The PSU you mentioned is significiantly cheaper.... Is it really that good? I was always under the impression that a PSU of less than $100 was going to be cheap and poorly made, I'm guessing that is incorrect in some cases.

I'd be down to go for the PSU you mentioned if I also got an H97, but if I got a Z97 that was on sale, I'd go for the 750w PSU for future SLI or overclocking, just to be on the safe side.

Thank you for the valuable help and insight .

To be honest I don't think SLI is that great of a way to go you get much less constant performance and your always better off getting the newer hardware.

I disagree. I recently bought a second 660ti for $150 to pair with the one I have had for a while. I get consistent performance between that of an r9 290 and an r9 290x. For $150 I could not be happier. Adding a second 760 down the road is a great plan.

I guess it is a bit down to personal preferance I wouldn't really recommend but you would I guess if you want to do but I think it's better to have newer hardware personally.

This is 100% an opinion.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

No, the Gold rating also doesn't have anything to do with heat.

You are 100% incorrect. There are plenty of cheaper PSUs that are amazing quality.

The Seasonic will be the same OR BETTER quality than that EVGA will be. Simple as that.

So the main difference is the SeaSonic has 550w or something around there? And the gold rating is simply for "reducing" your electricity bill? That's lame, the difference would be marginal.

Yes, that is correct.

That's a lot of money saved for going with the SeaSonic. The money saved on the electricity bill is pretty minor, so the gold rating seems like a marketing gimmick, and the 750w is probably more than I'll ever use.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Correct about the motherboards.

Neither PSUs suck. Theyare both high quality, but I am saying the Seasonic is just as good or better than the EVGA

Wow......... Well, I'd go for a Z97 if a good one was on sale and the price increase was tiny compared to an H97. Having the ability to SLI/Crossfire and/or overclock down the road would be nice for a minor price increase. Otherwise, I guess H97 is the way to go.

Well, in that case, the gold rating would reduce the amount of heat build up in the system right? Don't the efficiency ratings mean at higher ratings, more AC electricity is successfully converted into DC electricity and therefore, reducing heat due to lost energy?
The PSU you mentioned is significiantly cheaper.... Is it really that good? I was always under the impression that a PSU of less than $100 was going to be cheap and poorly made, I'm guessing that is incorrect in some cases.

I'd be down to go for the PSU you mentioned if I also got an H97, but if I got a Z97 that was on sale, I'd go for the 750w PSU for future SLI or overclocking, just to be on the safe side.

Thank you for the valuable help and insight .

To be honest I don't think SLI is that great of a way to go you get much less constant performance and your always better off getting the newer hardware.

I disagree. I recently bought a second 660ti for $150 to pair with the one I have had for a while. I get consistent performance between that of an r9 290 and an r9 290x. For $150 I could not be happier. Adding a second 760 down the road is a great plan.

I guess it is a bit down to personal preferance I wouldn't really recommend but you would I guess if you want to do but I think it's better to have newer hardware personally.

This is 100% an opinion.

Is there any objective reason for going with newer hardware as opposed to SLI? Like, does newer hardware get better PhysX or anything?

 

[Gracodana]

Correct about the motherboards.

Neither PSUs suck. Theyare both high quality, but I am saying the Seasonic is just as good or better than the EVGA

Wow......... Well, I'd go for a Z97 if a good one was on sale and the price increase was tiny compared to an H97. Having the ability to SLI/Crossfire and/or overclock down the road would be nice for a minor price increase. Otherwise, I guess H97 is the way to go.

Well, in that case, the gold rating would reduce the amount of heat build up in the system right? Don't the efficiency ratings mean at higher ratings, more AC electricity is successfully converted into DC electricity and therefore, reducing heat due to lost energy?
The PSU you mentioned is significiantly cheaper.... Is it really that good? I was always under the impression that a PSU of less than $100 was going to be cheap and poorly made, I'm guessing that is incorrect in some cases.

I'd be down to go for the PSU you mentioned if I also got an H97, but if I got a Z97 that was on sale, I'd go for the 750w PSU for future SLI or overclocking, just to be on the safe side.

Thank you for the valuable help and insight .

To be honest I don't think SLI is that great of a way to go you get much less constant performance and your always better off getting the newer hardware.

I disagree. I recently bought a second 660ti for $150 to pair with the one I have had for a while. I get consistent performance between that of an r9 290 and an r9 290x. For $150 I could not be happier. Adding a second 760 down the road is a great plan.

I guess it is a bit down to personal preferance I wouldn't really recommend but you would I guess if you want to do but I think it's better to have newer hardware personally.

This is 100% an opinion.

Is there any objective reason for going with newer hardware as opposed to SLI? Like, does newer hardware get better PhysX or anything?

just look at the 750 and 650 it will be those sorts of differances, you get more power Efficiency such as the 750/ ti can run off just the PCI. You also do get better techniques like physx as you say.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Correct about the motherboards.

Neither PSUs suck. Theyare both high quality, but I am saying the Seasonic is just as good or better than the EVGA

Wow......... Well, I'd go for a Z97 if a good one was on sale and the price increase was tiny compared to an H97. Having the ability to SLI/Crossfire and/or overclock down the road would be nice for a minor price increase. Otherwise, I guess H97 is the way to go.

Well, in that case, the gold rating would reduce the amount of heat build up in the system right? Don't the efficiency ratings mean at higher ratings, more AC electricity is successfully converted into DC electricity and therefore, reducing heat due to lost energy?
The PSU you mentioned is significiantly cheaper.... Is it really that good? I was always under the impression that a PSU of less than $100 was going to be cheap and poorly made, I'm guessing that is incorrect in some cases.

I'd be down to go for the PSU you mentioned if I also got an H97, but if I got a Z97 that was on sale, I'd go for the 750w PSU for future SLI or overclocking, just to be on the safe side.

Thank you for the valuable help and insight .

To be honest I don't think SLI is that great of a way to go you get much less constant performance and your always better off getting the newer hardware.

I disagree. I recently bought a second 660ti for $150 to pair with the one I have had for a while. I get consistent performance between that of an r9 290 and an r9 290x. For $150 I could not be happier. Adding a second 760 down the road is a great plan.

I guess it is a bit down to personal preferance I wouldn't really recommend but you would I guess if you want to do but I think it's better to have newer hardware personally.

This is 100% an opinion.

Is there any objective reason for going with newer hardware as opposed to SLI? Like, does newer hardware get better PhysX or anything?

just look at the 750 and 650 it will be those sorts of differances, you get more power Efficiency such as the 750/ ti can run off just the PCI. You also do get better techniques like physx as you say.

So there are legitimate reasons, it just comes down to whether you want to spend the big bucks on a new GPU and render your old one obsolete, maybe sell it for a fraction of its original value online.

 

[tiny voices]

Selling GPUs 2+ years down the road is never a very good idea. You will likely get 50% for them. It is better to just keep them around. I am a firm believer in buying a second card used for cheap and using SLI/ CF instead of buying a whole new card as long as the pair of cards will be the same/ close in performance.

For example, I can buy a second 660ti for $160 and have performance between a 290 and a 290x. Why would I buy one of those when I can have the same/ better performance for only $160?

Everyone who complains about micro-stuttering/ no SLI/CF support is just making excuses. I have used multi GPU setups my whole life (AMD and Nvidia) and I have never run into micro-stuttering or game support issues that have made me wish I went with a single card instead.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Selling GPUs 2+ years down the road is never a very good idea. You will likely get 50% for them. It is better to just keep them around. I am a firm believer in buying a second card used for cheap and using SLI/ CF instead of buying a whole new card as long as the pair of cards will be the same/ close in performance.

For example, I can buy a second 660ti for $160 and have performance between a 290 and a 290x. Why would I buy one of those when I can have the same/ better performance for only $160?

Everyone who complains about micro-stuttering/ no SLI/CF support is just making excuses. I have used multi GPU setups my whole life (AMD and Nvidia) and I have never run into micro-stuttering or game support issues that have made me wish I went with a single card instead.

You would keep the old cards even if you don't use them for anything?

Ya... Now that SLI works better than it did 7 years ago, SLIing is an awesome opportunity. I'm pretty set on a Z97 just for that capability right now.
That's good, about the instability issues being mostly nonesense, but if you do experience issues like that, can you turn one GPU off to get rid of that issue?

 

[tiny voices]

There is no need to turn anything off. I have never done that in the 6+ years I have had Dual GPU systems. If something does not support SLI, it only uses one card. Simple as that.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

There is no need to turn anything off. I have never done that in the 6+ years I have had Dual GPU systems. If something does not support SLI, it only uses one card. Simple as that.

I'm seriously learning towards the GTX 760 of all now, then, I mean I can buy one and enjoy it until I find I need another one, that is so badass and I see so much value!
I love that, how SLI doesn't get in the way in any circumstance.

 

[Gracodana]

Selling GPUs 2+ years down the road is never a very good idea. You will likely get 50% for them. It is better to just keep them around. I am a firm believer in buying a second card used for cheap and using SLI/ CF instead of buying a whole new card as long as the pair of cards will be the same/ close in performance.

For example, I can buy a second 660ti for $160 and have performance between a 290 and a 290x. Why would I buy one of those when I can have the same/ better performance for only $160?

Everyone who complains about micro-stuttering/ no SLI/CF support is just making excuses. I have used multi GPU setups my whole life (AMD and Nvidia) and I have never run into micro-stuttering or game support issues that have made me wish I went with a single card instead.

There is no need to turn anything off. I have never done that in the 6+ years I have had Dual GPU systems. If something does not support SLI, it only uses one card. Simple as that.

I'm seriously learning towards the GTX 760 of all now, then, I mean I can buy one and enjoy it until I find I need another one, that is so badass and I see so much value!
I love that, how SLI doesn't get in the way in any circumstance.

you might think of a 770 because a 760 is good but it is struggling with some games on ultra so the 770 would give you enough horse power to deliver a good framerate at high settings when only using one card in case the game didn't support SLI.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Selling GPUs 2+ years down the road is never a very good idea. You will likely get 50% for them. It is better to just keep them around. I am a firm believer in buying a second card used for cheap and using SLI/ CF instead of buying a whole new card as long as the pair of cards will be the same/ close in performance.

For example, I can buy a second 660ti for $160 and have performance between a 290 and a 290x. Why would I buy one of those when I can have the same/ better performance for only $160?

Everyone who complains about micro-stuttering/ no SLI/CF support is just making excuses. I have used multi GPU setups my whole life (AMD and Nvidia) and I have never run into micro-stuttering or game support issues that have made me wish I went with a single card instead.

There is no need to turn anything off. I have never done that in the 6+ years I have had Dual GPU systems. If something does not support SLI, it only uses one card. Simple as that.

I'm seriously learning towards the GTX 760 of all now, then, I mean I can buy one and enjoy it until I find I need another one, that is so badass and I see so much value!
I love that, how SLI doesn't get in the way in any circumstance.

you might think of a 770 because a 760 is good but it is struggling with some games on ultra so the 770 would give you enough horse power to deliver a good framerate at high settings when only using one card in case the game didn't support SLI.

That is a good point, it is only an extra $100. On the other hand, I could also go with an R9 280, can the R9 280 compete with the GTX 770?

 

[tiny voices]

the 280x is what competes with the 770, not the normal 280.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

the 280x is what competes with the 770, not the normal 280.

Hmmm.... Tough calls, does crossfire work as well as SLI? I've heard no, but I don't know if it's true or not.

 

[tiny voices]

Honestly, I have never owned a crossfire build, but a close friend has one with two 7950s in it. He seems to love it and doesn't have issues. In the course of history, Crossfire has proven more troublesome than SLI.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Honestly, I have never owned a crossfire build, but a close friend has one with two 7950s in it. He seems to love it and doesn't have issues. In the course of history, Crossfire has proven more troublesome than SLI.

Yes, I've read about that being the case. It seems AMD cards have more issues than Nvidia cards too. All the Newegg reviews for AMD GPUs are pretty poor, they seem to have a lot of issues.

 

[tiny voices]

I disagree with the reviews about the cards as a whole. The are fine cards. I used a 7870 for a long time and it was great. never had a single issue.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

I disagree with the reviews about the cards as a whole. The are fine cards. I used a 7870 for a long time and it was great. never had a single issue.

So take them with a grain of salt? That's good.

 

[Gracodana]

I disagree with the reviews about the cards as a whole. The are fine cards. I used a 7870 for a long time and it was great. never had a single issue.

So take them with a grain of salt? That's good.

I prefer nvidia cards as a whole but those reviews I would disagree with AMD runs a bit hotter and uses more power but they are still powerful and have support for a lot of games that they run better then nvidia

 

[MrCanEHdian]

I disagree with the reviews about the cards as a whole. The are fine cards. I used a 7870 for a long time and it was great. never had a single issue.

So take them with a grain of salt? That's good.

I prefer nvidia cards as a whole but those reviews I would disagree with AMD runs a bit hotter and uses more power but they are still powerful and have support for a lot of games that they run better then nvidia

Yes, the heat is kinda sketchy, can you buy GPU coolers? The extra power is no biggie to me, it barely impacts the electricity bill. So, some games run better on Nvidia and others on AMD? A lot of the R9 series GPUs have complaints of leaking oil and what not, stock fans breaking down, in the Newegg reviews.

 

[tiny voices]

Yeah, people like to hate AMD for no reason. I personally like their CPUs and GPUs quite alot.

Generally people seem to think and say that the 770 blows away the 280x, when in reality they are basically the same. Some games run better on the 770 and others on the 280x.