$2500 Gaming Rig

[CapitanoMal]

Hello chaps,

• Where are you located? California, USA
• What is your budget? $2500 (1550 Pounds
• Will you need a monitor, keyboard, and/or mouse included in that budget? Negative Ghostrider
• Shall you be requiring an OS? Yes
• What will you be using this rig for? Gaming, daily use, TTL vids, probable AutoCAD in the future.
• If gaming, what resolution will you be playing at? 1920x1080
• Will you be overclocking? Most likely. Light overclocking at the most
• Do you need a full build or will you be reusing some old parts? Possibly full build?(More details under PSU)


Without further ado my build iteration currently looks like:

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770k or i5 4760k (leaning towards the i7)

GPU: My main source of curiosity. Mixed opinions on AMD or Nvidia based. Current contenders I'm looking at are; Nvidia MSI N770 TF 4GD5 GTX 770 4GB. Possibly in SLI? or an AMD HD 7970 model in Crossfire.

Case: Corsair 750d, no ifs, ands, or buts, about it; the case is damn sexy and I want it.

PSU: Currently I'm using an older Corsair HX 850 PSU that has been nothing but awesome for me. My only worry is it's not enough for a possible SLI in my future.

Motherboard: Mostly lost, I have no clue what brands are in favor currently, but, I was looking at the Gigabyte UD4H Z87. The Guv was favorable too it but I'm curious if there's better/cheaper motherboards on the market for LGA 1150 now. (Plus the red accents would look nice in a red themed interior. I already did Blue themed with my last rig, and I would prefer a change of scenery. It's not a MUST but it's certainly nice)

RAM: In keeping with the red theme I was looking at Corsair Vengance Pro 8GB 2x4GB 1866 or 1600. I'm also favorable to Corsair because my current rig has Corsair and, again, like the PSU, it's been a champ.

Storage: 500GB Sata III Samsung 840 EVO SSD for primary and Game Drive and a 1-2 TB Western Digital Caviar Black for second Drive (I'm a bit of a packrat and music junkie.

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i with 4x SP120 Quiet Edition fans in Push/Pull config. I don't want to do full on water cooling this go around and air cooling heatsinks look off to me in nice windowed cases, especially the mighty NH-D14.

OS: Windows 8. Not much to say.


If I'm missing anything please let me know, currently 4 cups deep into coffee this evening, and I'm a bit wonky.

Thanks, guys! ]

P.S. I'll likely get the individually braided corsair modular PSU cables because they are awesome.

 

[Feronix]

Seems good to me

CPU: Would personally grab the i7. If you want to do editing/rendering work in the future, the extra threads will come in handy. With the next-gen consoles, we might also see games starting to use up to 8 threads and the i7 will be able to handle all of that without any problem.

GPU: Either team will do fine, but if you want to run more than one card in the future, I'd recommend Nvidia. There are some known issues with AMD cards in crossfireX, mainly micro-stutter. You really don't need a 4GB card for 1080p gaming though, the regular version will serve you well.

Case: Fair enough

PSU: 850 should be enough to run SLI 770s, even though the HX series aren't Corsair's highest end ones. Usually we recommend the AX860 when people want to run things like SLI 780s so you should be fine!

Motherboard: Gigabyte has a really good Z87 offering and the UD4H will be good. You can also get something like the MSI GD65 Gaming, which features a better on-board audio chip, Killer Ethernet and a red colour scheme. I'm personally not a fan of the heatsink design, but hey, maybe you are and it's an epic board for the price

RAM: Most RAM is made in the same factory anyway and so you're not going to see a massive difference between brands. Just go with the heatspreader design that you like best. I must say that Corsair have epic warranty policies but RAM isn't really a component that tends to break or just not work.

As you want a red colour scheme though, the Corsair Vengeance would be nice. G.Skill also do some red sets (RipjawZ if I remember correctly). Would personally grab the somewhat quicker 1866MHz kit, just make sure it doesn't use more than 1.5 Volts and keep the Cas Latency as low as possibly (preferably 9).

With gaming, you're not going to see much improvement with RAM over 1866MHz, but for editing, faster RAM does help. Considering you rig is mainly going to be for gaming though, 1866 should to the trick. It can also easily be swapped out if you really want an upgrade in a few years from now.

Storage: Samsung make some epic SSDs and the Evo is a really good choice! One tip: The WD Caviar Blue is almost as quick (7200RPM - 64Mb Cache) but a fair bit cheaper. If it really is just for the storage of files, you might as well get a Caviar Green. That one's a bit slower, 5400 RPM, but it'll be quiter and cheaper. For storing files you don't really need a quick drive anyway.

CPU Cooler: Solid choice. Get some 5 - 7 Volts adaptors and run them straight off the power supply and it'll be nice and quiet

OS: Make sure you get the Pro version, not the regular one. You can also find some keys online for a sweet price cause many people don't want to upgrade, or you can use the upgrade version (with disc) to do a clean install.


Please share that coffee with me, I need it!

 

[WillSK]

Firstly welcome! Great to see another Firefly fan here (or at least i'm assuming so from your user name).

Also I completely second everything Feronix has said, as it is identical to what I would have suggested. If you get the Gigabyte board something Tom did which was pretty cool was to get a set of red and a set of silver vengeance pro Ram in the same board.

Edit: I would also personally suggest a single 780 over SLI 770s as it leaves you the option to go SLI later on when they are cheaper but also a single 780 will destroy anything at 1080p

 

[Excalabur50]

I agree with mostly with what the others have already said the difference being I would say have a look at the new cards AMD are bringing out as they should be epic for the price, Also have a serious look at the MSI GD65 board as it is a ripper and as Feronix said it has better features

 

[WillSK]

I agree with mostly with what the others have already said the difference being I would say have a look at the new cards AMD are bringing out as they should be epic for the price, Also have a serious look at the MSI GD65 board as it is a ripper and as Feronix said it has better features

I dunno why I didn't even think of that. The new 290x from AMD is allegedly going to be a titan beater but we will see!

 

[Penance81]

Another vote here for the GD65 gaming. Running that board myself with the corsair ram. Great features, and the red on the Corsair ram and the MSI board match nicely.

 

[NeverBackDown]

GPU wise i would wait until the AMD R9-290X is released. A GPU more powerful than titan but as cheap as a 780? No brainer to me!

Xfire in the future should work fine as well.

I7 over an I5.. maybe even a 4960k over a 4670k? Extra cores and threads may help with auto cad later on.

PSU is more than capable for Xfire/SLI

 

[CapitanoMal]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I have a few followup questions

The GD65 I'm looking at now and will make a decision between that and the gigabyte UD4H.

As for video card(s) I neglected to mention while I only game on 1920x1080 I do run two monitors if that makes any difference at all. Second the 580 looks like a better idea for the time being. Last, the new AMD R9-290X sounds too good to be true, whats the ETA on that? I'm a firm believer in if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. I'd also rather not wait but I could get by on my old HD 5870 if it was soon.

As for the PSU if I were to do the 580 and possibly SLI it in the future would I still be good? or would I need to invest in the 860AXi.

Last off a few extra questions, Thermal Paste, the crap they have on the H100i; is that good or bad and is there too much on there? Less is more and I've seen some heatsinks with gobs of the stuff on there. Second in the H100i review Tom mentioned sanding the bracket on the heatsink and painting it... it kinda stuck out to me and I'm interested in doing that to add a little splash of color in there possibly. Any details from you modders? Paint etc?

Thanks again guys, and sorry for all the questions. I know a bit about computers but I've still got a long ways to go.

 

[Penance81]

I believe they said Oct 3rd on pre orders for the 290x, but there have been no official benchmarks on it outside what AMD showed. I really hope review samples start showing up this week, I hate to pre order without any reviews.

H100i paste is not that bad, I used it on my 2500k then moved over to Gelid stuff when I changed processors. In the end it won't make much difference, maybe a degree or two and the stuff on the Corsair is decent.

 

[WillSK]

If i were you mate I would wait for the 290x benchmarks before investing in a 780 only to find you couldve got a better card at what might be a lower price point.

As for your 850w PSU you can very happily go SLI on that thing. Don't spend money on a PSU you don't need when you've got a good one already

 

[CapitanoMal]

Quick question, the red corsair sleeved cables do work with the older HX series psus correct? Their page says it does but I want to make sure. The only problem, which is very very very minor but my OCD says its a problem is the blue of the PSU in a red theme -_-... I can't help it.

Oh, and I'm seeing the October 15th for the 290x release date, but non reference coolers would take long to come out and I don't know how long I want to wait for my GPU.... BUT; if the card is that much of a monster I'd be willing to do so. Time will tell I guess.

 

[Excalabur50]

You have to get the correct cables for your psu or you could blow it if your psu is a series 1 then you must get the cables to match, I went through all those issues recently but Corsair themselves helped me track some down so if you have trouble finding them just talk to Grey_beard on these forums and he will help you

 

[NeverBackDown]

Oh, and I'm seeing the October 15th for the 290x release date, but non reference coolers would take long to come out and I don't know how long I want to wait for my GPU.... BUT; if the card is that much of a monster I'd be willing to do so. Time will tell I guess.

Stock coolers won't be bad. It seems like they are going the Titan Style stock cooler route but in their own version. Besides with all that power at 1080p the card will rarely hit 100% usage, so noise will be less of an issue. That is if i am correct(which most likely not but oh well).

 

[CapitanoMal]

So the PSU I totally forgot, the HX 850 I currently have is only Semi Modular, the 24pin cable is attached to the unit, hence why I couldn't find the 24pin cable that was compatible with the HX series. Problematic.

Still on the fence with the GPU but I'm leaning towards using the 5870 until the 290x release.

Decided on the MSI GD65 over the Gigabyte UD4H (thanks for that recommendation guys it looks awesome)

Feronix mentioned 5 7 volt adapters for the H100i fans to hook them directly into the PSU. What did he mean by that?

Lastly, the front bracket for the H100i heatplate Tom mentioned being sanded down and painted. Any details on that? Mostly paint type and such. Or is that a bad idea?

 

[NeverBackDown]

PSU: Just buy bitfenix alchemy cables if you are really concerned.

GPU: Wait for the 290x release

Motherboard: Both are solid choices. Either is great!

5/7volt adapters: He means you get 5 or 7 volt reducers.. you hook them up to the end of the fan cable and then the other end to a molex spiltter, something like this... Link

Lastly: Don't worry about it. Leave it how it is.

 

[CapitanoMal]

So I purchased all my stuff but the GPU; it'll be here tomorrow... but now that the 290x is $700+ I'm feeling that the 780 is a better buy esp. with the leaked benchies for the 290x.

 

[NeverBackDown]

So I purchased all my stuff but the GPU; it'll be here tomorrow... but now that the 290x is $700+ I'm feeling that the 780 is a better buy esp. with the leaked benchies for the 290x.

Drivers are not out for the 290x.. Just wait and it's less than 700$ as far as i know.