Approximate Purchase Date: Late August 2014
Budget Range: 1500-2000$ (Minus Keyboard and Mouse)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming/Streaming (BF4, Titanfall, Crysis 3, MMOs), Editing/Rendering (Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop), College work
Are you buying a monitor: Yes, (and would like suggestions) and just one monitor for now
Do you need to buy OS: Yes, included in budget, figured I'd try Win8.1 out
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Whatever is cheapest and most reliable! I also have a microcenter nearby.
Location: New Jersey (The greatest state in the country) 😉
Parts Preferences: Intel/Nvidia
Overclocking: Yes
SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future
Your Monitor Resolution: At least 1920x1080 but not opposed to suggestions on others, (the high the res the more editing room I have with one monitor)
I have a build and will write a short comment after each part, if you could provide suggestions on different parts, reviews on others that would be great. As computer parts come out so often, is there anything that's upcoming between now and August that will severely drop the price of certain components? My budget is pretty flexible, so if you think I should upgrade here, or downgrade there let me know. I'd prefer to keep it in the window but I can budge. Thanks a lot Tom's! Let me know what you think!
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74770k) | $269.99 @ Micro Center
Went with the i7 for hyperthreading, the 4820k wasn't enough of an improvement and I don't believe I should go for the 4930 model because I'm not THAT serious about rendering.
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $31.99 @ Mwave
I'll be doing at least a slight overclock and I've read this is the most bang for your buck at the moment, I plan on making a custom loop later on, so I didn't want to go with something like a h100i or anything like that.
**Motherboard** | [Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-maximusvihero) | $199.99 @ Micro Center
I 'shopped' around on mobos and it was between this one and the Sabertooth, I like the aesthetics of the Hero, and I've heard great things.
**Memory** | [G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f32400c10d16gtx) | $189.99 @ Newegg
I was a little concerned with the 1.65v rating as I am not the most keen on Overclocking yet, but I've read enough reviews and most of them end up with "Put it on XMP profile 1" and everything sorts itself out. If you could suggest different ram, different frequencies go for it! But the price between the 1866 and 2400 wasn't much at all.
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250lw) | $149.99 @ Micro Center
"Once you go SSD you can never go back" Was thinking about possibly increasing this to a 500GB, but don't really need to. What do you think?
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001) | $83.98 @ Best Buy
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001) | $83.98 @ Best Buy
I've never ran RAID before, and I wanted to try it out, was going to do RAID 0 (aware of the non-redundancy) but also I was thinking of a RAID 10 - I've read you need at least 4 drives for this, so should I get 4 - cheaper 1TB hard drives? Maybe Cav Blues or something.
**Video Card** | [Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn770wf34gd) |-
For whatever reason the price isn't coming up on this, this component is my main concern though. I'm stuck in the -Maybe I should just dish out the extra cash now and not deal with it later- mentality. I was originally on the GTX 770 2GB, then I read BF4 and Crysis3 hit past the 2gb Vram mark, so I figured at minimum I need the 4GB. But then I get to the point where I go "Well the 780 isn't THAT much more, then when I decide the 780 I'll think, well the 780 Ti isn't THAT much more. So on and so forth. I REALLY need help deciding on this one TH, should I just stick to the 770 4gb? Go 780? 780 Ti?
I know the obvious choice is "If you can afford it, go for it" But is it really worth it at this point - as I can just SLI down the road
Also, by August I would assume the prices of these cards would drop slightly with new components coming out. Please help!
**Case** | [Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White) ATX Full Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-sgc5000wkwn1) | $154.99 @ Newegg
I searched hours upon hours and it finally came to this case, I like the size, easily liquid cooling ready, and I've heard great things.
**Power Supply** | [XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1750bbefx) | $119.99 @ NCIX US
Have the 750 for possibly SLI in the future
**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas) | $16.99 @ Newegg
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615) | $89.98 @ OutletPC
**Case Fan** | [Xigmatek CLF-F1255 68.3 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xigmatek-case-fan-clff1255) | $13.98 @ OutletPC
**Case Fan** | [Xigmatek CLF-F1255 68.3 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xigmatek-case-fan-clff1255) | $13.98 @ OutletPC
| | **Total**
Going for a White/Purple build, these were the best reviewed purple fans I could find.
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1389.82
The price isn't accurate because the GPU wasn't showing up, but it was another 340$ so this build would be ~1740$ Minus the keyboard/mouse/monitor
For the monitor, I've been poking around but can't really seem to decide, the 1920x1200 Asus Vs24AH caught my eye, but I'm not definite on it. Should I just keep it simple at stay at 1920x1080p?
Something with a slim bezel would be ideal for possibly having three monitors in the future.
I plan on buying the Max Tesoro Gungnir H5 ~50$ and am in between about the Max Nighthawkx8 (purple) and the Tesoro Lobera. The two keyboards are around the same price, but I can find very few reviews about Tesoro as I believe they are a new player in the game.
So where can I cut costs? Where can/should I spend more? Thanks TH for always being so helpful!
Budget Range: 1500-2000$ (Minus Keyboard and Mouse)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming/Streaming (BF4, Titanfall, Crysis 3, MMOs), Editing/Rendering (Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop), College work
Are you buying a monitor: Yes, (and would like suggestions) and just one monitor for now
Do you need to buy OS: Yes, included in budget, figured I'd try Win8.1 out
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Whatever is cheapest and most reliable! I also have a microcenter nearby.
Location: New Jersey (The greatest state in the country) 😉
Parts Preferences: Intel/Nvidia
Overclocking: Yes
SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future
Your Monitor Resolution: At least 1920x1080 but not opposed to suggestions on others, (the high the res the more editing room I have with one monitor)
I have a build and will write a short comment after each part, if you could provide suggestions on different parts, reviews on others that would be great. As computer parts come out so often, is there anything that's upcoming between now and August that will severely drop the price of certain components? My budget is pretty flexible, so if you think I should upgrade here, or downgrade there let me know. I'd prefer to keep it in the window but I can budge. Thanks a lot Tom's! Let me know what you think!
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74770k) | $269.99 @ Micro Center
Went with the i7 for hyperthreading, the 4820k wasn't enough of an improvement and I don't believe I should go for the 4930 model because I'm not THAT serious about rendering.
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $31.99 @ Mwave
I'll be doing at least a slight overclock and I've read this is the most bang for your buck at the moment, I plan on making a custom loop later on, so I didn't want to go with something like a h100i or anything like that.
**Motherboard** | [Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-maximusvihero) | $199.99 @ Micro Center
I 'shopped' around on mobos and it was between this one and the Sabertooth, I like the aesthetics of the Hero, and I've heard great things.
**Memory** | [G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f32400c10d16gtx) | $189.99 @ Newegg
I was a little concerned with the 1.65v rating as I am not the most keen on Overclocking yet, but I've read enough reviews and most of them end up with "Put it on XMP profile 1" and everything sorts itself out. If you could suggest different ram, different frequencies go for it! But the price between the 1866 and 2400 wasn't much at all.
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250lw) | $149.99 @ Micro Center
"Once you go SSD you can never go back" Was thinking about possibly increasing this to a 500GB, but don't really need to. What do you think?
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001) | $83.98 @ Best Buy
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001) | $83.98 @ Best Buy
I've never ran RAID before, and I wanted to try it out, was going to do RAID 0 (aware of the non-redundancy) but also I was thinking of a RAID 10 - I've read you need at least 4 drives for this, so should I get 4 - cheaper 1TB hard drives? Maybe Cav Blues or something.
**Video Card** | [Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn770wf34gd) |-
For whatever reason the price isn't coming up on this, this component is my main concern though. I'm stuck in the -Maybe I should just dish out the extra cash now and not deal with it later- mentality. I was originally on the GTX 770 2GB, then I read BF4 and Crysis3 hit past the 2gb Vram mark, so I figured at minimum I need the 4GB. But then I get to the point where I go "Well the 780 isn't THAT much more, then when I decide the 780 I'll think, well the 780 Ti isn't THAT much more. So on and so forth. I REALLY need help deciding on this one TH, should I just stick to the 770 4gb? Go 780? 780 Ti?
I know the obvious choice is "If you can afford it, go for it" But is it really worth it at this point - as I can just SLI down the road
Also, by August I would assume the prices of these cards would drop slightly with new components coming out. Please help!
**Case** | [Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White) ATX Full Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-sgc5000wkwn1) | $154.99 @ Newegg
I searched hours upon hours and it finally came to this case, I like the size, easily liquid cooling ready, and I've heard great things.
**Power Supply** | [XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1750bbefx) | $119.99 @ NCIX US
Have the 750 for possibly SLI in the future
**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas) | $16.99 @ Newegg
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615) | $89.98 @ OutletPC
**Case Fan** | [Xigmatek CLF-F1255 68.3 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xigmatek-case-fan-clff1255) | $13.98 @ OutletPC
**Case Fan** | [Xigmatek CLF-F1255 68.3 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xigmatek-case-fan-clff1255) | $13.98 @ OutletPC
| | **Total**
Going for a White/Purple build, these were the best reviewed purple fans I could find.
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1389.82
The price isn't accurate because the GPU wasn't showing up, but it was another 340$ so this build would be ~1740$ Minus the keyboard/mouse/monitor
For the monitor, I've been poking around but can't really seem to decide, the 1920x1200 Asus Vs24AH caught my eye, but I'm not definite on it. Should I just keep it simple at stay at 1920x1080p?
Something with a slim bezel would be ideal for possibly having three monitors in the future.
I plan on buying the Max Tesoro Gungnir H5 ~50$ and am in between about the Max Nighthawkx8 (purple) and the Tesoro Lobera. The two keyboards are around the same price, but I can find very few reviews about Tesoro as I believe they are a new player in the game.
So where can I cut costs? Where can/should I spend more? Thanks TH for always being so helpful!