Which GPU should I choose for Gaming and Rendering?

[noahrhino]

Hello everybody. I am planning to build a higher-end PC ($2500), and I am stuck on my GPU.
I am going to be doing things like Gaming, Video Rendering, and 3D Modeling to name a few.

I just don't know really what GPU to get. I've settled to either get:

• 
  Dual GTX 780's (in SLI)
  A single 780ti (being able to upgrade to SLI later)
  A single Titan Black (being able to upgrade to SLI later)

Some help would be amazing determining which GPU to get and from whom (like asus, gigabyte, etc.)

If your wondering what the rest of my build is you can look here:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/noahrhino/saved/4DEw

Thanks!

 

[AgentTran]

Well, for value you would be getting 780 SLI.
But if you have the money in the end, it will be more logical to go with the strongest single card you can get.

I don't recommend bleeding-edge card usually, but I think the 780ti might be the way to go.
But this depends on what types of Gaming, Video Rendering and 3D Modeling you're going to be doing, and what caliber you're going to be doing it on.

Personally, I recommend ASUS the most, but all GPU's are usually the same and the difference is in the custom cooling and price.
I would just go with anything with a reputable brand, (ASUS, GIGABYTE, ETC.) and just find the cheapest one.

To answer your question completely, I need to know the answer to my question I asked above.

 

[M0j0jojo]

I put a Better 3TBHDD and a Gigabyte windforce GTX 780 ti

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($334.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($157.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($143.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($104.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($724.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)
Monitor: Asus VE278H 27.0" Monitor
Other: XSPC FLX Premium Grade PVC Tubing - 7/16" ID (5/8"OD) - 2 Meter (6.5 Feet) Retail Pack - UV Green ($14.99)
Other: IandH Silver KillCoils - Antimicrobial .999 Fine Silver Tubing / Reservoir Strip ($6.99)
Other: XSPC RayStorm High Performance Acetal CPU Liquid Cooling Block - Black Edition ($76.99)
Other: XSPC EX360 Triple 120mm Low Profile Split Fin Radiator ($62.99)
Other: XSPC X2O 750 Dual 5.25” Bay Reservoir Pump V4 ($59.99)
Other: Sleeved LED Kit ($9.99)
Other: Aperture M ($34.99)
Other: Sentry 3 ($34.99)
Total: $2197.81
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-10 14:32 EDT-0400)

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

I threw in an LGA 2011 build because I figured that it would work better for rendering and 3D modeling. Also, two GTX 770s in SLI is often faster than a single GTX 780 Ti. And, of course, with this build, you could add a third GTX 770 for 3-way SLI later on.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($144.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($167.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($197.04 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VE278H 27.0" Monitor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2498.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-10 14:44 EDT-0400)

 

[M0j0jojo]

I threw in an LGA 2011 build because I figured that it would work better for rendering and 3D modeling. Also, two GTX 770s in SLI is often faster than a single GTX 780 Ti. And, of course, with this build, you could add a third GTX 770 for 3-way SLI later on.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($144.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($167.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($197.04 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VE278H 27.0" Monitor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2498.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-10 14:44 EDT-0400)

I do personally like LGA 2011 socket however, the CPU u listed is not as good as the Core i7 4770k, it would be better if you put in something like a 4930k

 

[AgentTran]

I threw in an LGA 2011 build because I figured that it would work better for rendering and 3D modeling. Also, two GTX 770s in SLI is often faster than a single GTX 780 Ti. And, of course, with this build, you could add a third GTX 770 for 3-way SLI later on.

What you're missing is that when you run SLI on anything more than 3-way, and a single, stronger card solution exists it starts to become unlogical.

The original poster specified that he could get dual 780's or a single 780ti, and upgrade to SLI later, means that you should be putting in the beefier card right now, like how "M0j0jojo" did.

I like that you're trying to work inside his budget, but he is going to be upgrading for SLI later so it would be the best option to get the single, stronger card to do SLI with in the future, this would give him better performance in the long run.

Plus, using SLI with anything over 2 cards gets unstable in my opinion.

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

Then I guess another option is this if you need more CPU power for rendering and modeling tasks. You can then add the second GTX 780 for SLI later on.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($565.25 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($144.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($495.91 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($167.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 1000W 80+ Silver Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($171.16 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VE278H 27.0" Monitor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2554.23
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-10 17:06 EDT-0400)

 

[noahrhino]

Wow, now I realized I should consider possibly getting a 2011 Socket CPU. Never thought of that.

Anyway I probably will not do SLI for now, and want to get either a 780ti or the Titan, which then I can SLI later if I feel the need to.

I was reading though and people have been saying that the Titan is just as good as the 780ti at gaming but does better at things like graphic production/rendering/etc. Is this true? Also I heard that if your doing multiple displays for gaming (3, which I eventually plan on doing) the Titan is the best since it has 6Gb of Vram.

 

[M0j0jojo]

Wow, now I realized I should consider possibly getting a 2011 Socket CPU. Never thought of that.

Anyway I probably will not do SLI for now, and want to get either a 780ti or the Titan, which then I can SLI later if I feel the need to.

I was reading though and people have been saying that the Titan is just as good as the 780ti at gaming but does better at things like graphic production/rendering/etc. Is this true? Also I heard that if your doing multiple displays for gaming (3, which I eventually plan on doing) the Titan is the best since it has 6Gb of Vram.

Are you sure you would want to spend $1000+ for the GTX Titan Black, honestly I would stick with GTX 780 Ti, its such a powerful card alone, and then in the future you can upgrade to a GTX 880 or get another GTX 780 Ti.

But anyways since you are interested in a LGA 2011 build, heres one similar to Joseph.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($565.25 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($86.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($309.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($709.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 1300W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($184.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VE278H 27.0" Monitor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2645.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-10 18:50 EDT-0400)

I went with a 1300W PSU cuz it was pretty cheap compared to other ones, and also cuz you wont have any hassle in checking if you have enough wattage for future SLIs and specially with new graphics card coming, they would probably need more power anyways so yea got that, I also put in a GTX 780 Ti however its not overclocked (Saved a bit of money there) you can easily overclock it. and i guess thats about it. Hope you like it.

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

You seem to be getting ridiculous with a 1300w PSU, which is overkill for even 2-way SLI, but I suppose it does make more sense that the OP could use it to get 3-way SLI on this build eventually.