Review my New Build , Budget is about $2,500

[KevinEA42]

I'm planning a new build and would like constructive feedback on it.

Approximate Purchase Date: Next Two Weeks

Budget Range: About $2,500 but not rigid on that.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, email, science and math-related work (Mathematica, programming in C, etc.), video rendering, websurfing.

Parts Already Acquired:
Monitor: Dell U2713HM-IPS-LED CVN85 27-Inch Screen LED-lit Monitor (2560 x 1440)
Keyboard: Logitech G710+
Mouse: Anker 8200 DPI High Precision Programmable Laser Gaming Mouse

OS Planned: Windows 8 OEM

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon.com, newegg.com

Location: Orange County, CA

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU

Overclocking: Yes, but quiet PC is a must (see comments below)

SLI or Crossfire: Not at first; maybe later if games get more demanding

Monitor Resolution: 2560 x 1440

Additional Comments: Having a quiet machine is a must. I have had it with loud ones. I'm willing to sacrifice performance within reason, undervolt devices, etc. if necessary. Having said that, I like to game and need good frame rates. However, I really don't want to do a from-scratch water cooling setup. Pre-build coolers like the Corsair Hydro series are fine though.

Proposed Part List:
- GPU – MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780 OC Edition
- Processor - Intel Core i7-4790K, 84 W TDP
- Case – Thermaltake New Soprano
- SSD - Samsung XP941
- HDD – Seagate Barracuda 3TB STBD3000100
- RAM – Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
- Cooler – Corsair Hydro H100i
- Motherboard - ASRock Z97 Extreme6
- PSU – EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2
- Optical Drive – Asus BW-12B1ST
- Sound Card (?) - Not sure if I really need one, but like the Asus Xonar STS in my current machine.

A few specific questions:
- I understand I won't be able to use SLI with the M.2 card (because of PCI channel limitations), but Crossfire still works. If there is a good, quiet AMD card of similar power to the NVidia 780, I'm open to it.
- The ASRock MoBo has a RealTec 1150 audio chip. I like high quality audio. How necessary is a separate audio card?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Karsten75]

'Fess up, yuo read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-xp941-z97-pci-express,3826.html

Looks like a sweet, sweet build.

 

[g-unit1111]

No reason to buy a sound card anymore, nor i7, nor 16GB of RAM, put that money into getting either a single 780TI or dual 780TI, for 1440P, that's the sweet spot.

I would do something like this for your budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($136.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($161.13 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M550 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Dual Classified ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($699.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Dual Classified ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($699.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (Gunmetal) ATX Full Tower Case ($175.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $2508.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[Karsten75]

No reason to buy a sound card anymore, nor i7, nor 16GB of RAM, put that money into getting either a single 780TI or dual 780TI, for 1440P, that's the sweet spot.

You should note that the Devil;s Canyon i7 is about 400Mhz (11%) faster than the i5 in the same family, and that's before overclocking. There now is a reason to buy the i7. Maybe not cost-justifiable, but then I don't tell others how they should spend their money.

 

[KevinEA42]

Thanks for the feedback and recommendations. I plan to stick with the i7 for the extra clock speed and overclock potential. I plan to get 16 GB of RAM, even though 8 GB would do, just because I've seen RAM needs creep up over the years and RAM is pretty cheap anyhow. I will ditch the sound card (I can always add it later if the onboard sound proves not to my liking).

I do plan to switch the cooler to a Noctua NH-U14S. I think that will be more than adequate and even more quiet than the hydro coolers.

As for the video card, I plan to change to MSI's 780 Ti Gaming.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[KevinEA42]

Before I pull the trigger here, a few last questions:

- Will Crucial Ballistix Sport XT RAM sticks fit under the Noctua cooler?
- I would switch to an AMD 290 solution for the video card if there were a QUIET one out there but I can't seem to find one. Know of one?
- Is there any downside to having 16 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB? For example, longer boot times?
- Is there any sense in upgrading to the ASRock Extreme9 rather than the Extreme6?

Here is my current design as it stands: my list

Thanks much!