2K Budget (Inc. Perephirals) Any Advice?

[rampage94]

Yo people of OC3D; Bascially i'm looking to put together the best PC I can for 2K, but that includes the Peripherals; Gaming Keyboard, Mouse, Headphones and possibly GameBoard. I'm looking for any honest, factually backed up advice on this rig .It'l be used predominantly for Gaming, however it'll be used for Video Encoding and Business management in the near future. I'll write out my rough ideas, and my concerns...and Any advice would be massively appreciated!

Main Rig:
Case: CM Storm Trooper Full Tower £120
CPU: i7 3930K £450
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 £95 *Improvements?
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 £165 *Have heard PCI-e slot close to CPU possible heating issue?
GPU: XFX HD7970 GHz DD Edition £325 *Improvements?
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24 £95
SSD: 120GB Corsair Force Series 3 550/510 R/W £80
HDD: 2TB Seagate SATA 3, £70
PSU: 850W XFX Pro Black Ed. £130

Peripherals + Misc.:
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K90/G19?/other £120 (max) *Mech or not? Suggestions?
Mouse: Razor Naga/Logitech G600? £70 (max) *Suggestions
Headset: Not sure; Max Price (around) £150
GamePad?: Razor Orbweaver £120 *or G13..unsure

So that is my rough rig, I threw it together in the hope that a few ideas would be thrown around to help me better it.
NB. I was also curious as to whether it'd be wiser to wait for Haswell? i'm unsure and have an open mind for advice

 

[remember300]

i got all of mine inc a 27" monitor for 1500 in all, say 1800 if i can get the mouse and keyboard i want later on do you need a i7 3930k what performance are you after id rather for for a 3770k and spend the money left on a better gpu
but thats just me

 

[Cru]

With that kind of budget I'd go custom loop if you're comfortable with that
3770k & custom loop imo

 

[WillSK]

As the others have said. Save on the 3930k and x79 chipset and go with a 3770k and z77. As you have said this is predominantly for gaming and the extra cores on the 3770k will be more than good enough for video encoding etc. Having a 3770k over a 3930k will also save you £200+

Next I would get some faster RAM considering your budget. Maybe some 2133 Dominator platinums coz they're sexy and you have cash to burn

I have the force 3 SSD but it's a bit dated now and there are better ones out there. People here like the Samsung's. In particular the 840 pro so i'd suggest that

The GPU i'm sure is fine as most 7970s are awesome but consider checking out an MSI 7970 lightning Ghz edition. I also believe you can get water blocks for those despite the custom PCB if you decide to water cool later

As for a motherboard. Since i think you'd be better off going Z77 (less heat and just as good for what you need it for). Maybe an MSI Mpower, MSI GD65, ASUS Maximus V formula.

PSU i'd go for a corsair or seasonic unit personally for example the 760i

Corsair h110 performs pretty well i believe but the h100i is prettier and just as good to be honest so maybe get that instead

Hope this helps mate!

 

[leathart123]

i would agree with the ditching the x79 get a 3770k and then maybe get a bigger ssd and headset maybe look at a corsiar vengance 2000 heard it is pretty good but have never used one

 

[leathart123]

and h100i is better than the h110 according to toms graphs

 

[rampage94]

The immediate feedback is seriously awesome, you guys are a credit to the OC3D community.

I did consider this 3770k swap, my only issue was when everyone had dual cores and Quad Cores were out everyone said "you'll never use to 2 extra cores for gaming...they're useless!" and now look , that was the only thing stopping me changing to 3770k

Also, The SSD mentioned to change to IE. Samsung 840 pro; do the Read/Write speeds not matter? only the force 3 boasts higher r/w's.

After taking into account the majority of suggestions,
I'm now considering;
I7 3770k> 3930k
H100i>H110
MSI MPower
Dom Plat 1833MHz>Vengeance 1600Mhz (I've read many reviews claiming minimal increases over 1800)
then adding another HD7970 GHz with the leftover money

thoughts?

 

[iBeInspire]

A Full tower like this CRIES OUT For proper watercooling gear - especially with your budget
For the keyboard, I'd definitely go with a mech board, have a look at some filco's and some ducky's, and do your research on switches
I also second the 3770k, since you will see no difference in gaming an a minimal difference in productivity, but a massive saving. I'd also agree with the suggestion of nicer ram, anything 2133+mhz from a reputable company (Corsair, G.skill, patriot, kingston, ect) will do fine, just go with whatever pleases your eyes most
Also, with the kind of budget, you could get quite a decent soundcard + headphones combo, which would blow any ''gaming'' headset out of the water. I woould suggest a Asus STX + Beyerdynamic DT770 80ohm headphones, but those do basically double the £150 budget, but you'll thank me if you are a serious gamer, or really like your music

 

[jamesriley94]

If he's doing video encoding - depending on how much, there's nothing stopping you getting the 3930k. The budget's there after all.

I'd probably suggest a 3770k too tbh, along with an MSI Z77 mPower, but nothing's wrong with going 2011.

I wouldn't go for a full tower case unless you're properly doing a custom loop. Full tower cases with an H100i looks silly. But again, that's up to you.

I would suggest going for a better motherboard if you do go for 2011 - and if that's the choice of motherboard, I'd definitely switch to 1155.

GPU wise - 7970 is fine - XFX isn't. So look at other brands - as mentioned, the MSI is a good choice.

Maybe get faster RAM as you can afford it.

And finally, there's nothing wrong with the PSU - it's still made by Seasonic after all, but fully modular PSUs look so much better IMO, so I'd go with a Corsair 760i, or a Seasonic, or a Silverstone Strider.

Other than that, it looks good - other than the game pad - no need for one, just save on that and get a better keyboard.

Price that up, see what it comes out as - then we'll see what we can spend on sound

 

[remember300]

the advantage of the h110 over the h100i is that you can fit the 140mm fans moving more air for a slower speed and less noise, but im sure there is an h110i coming soon with the same software and pump system

 

[Spiderz]

I'd not bother with the platinums unless you are dead set on their looks. Also would suggest the Seasonic x-750w or the Corsair AX 760(i) as a PSU over the XFX one.

z77+i7-3770k is far better for your needs than the x79+ i7-3930k

Instead of adding in the 2nd 7970, I'd look at throwing a watercooling loop in instead. You would have roughly £400 on that going by your inital costs for the H100 and the 2nd 7970 which could get you a damm good loop I believe.

 

[s3ns3]

get other 7970 not xfx

 

[WillSK]

The immediate feedback is seriously awesome, you guys are a credit to the OC3D community.

I did consider this 3770k swap, my only issue was when everyone had dual cores and Quad Cores were out everyone said "you'll never use to 2 extra cores for gaming...they're useless!" and now look , that was the only thing stopping me changing to 3770k

Also, The SSD mentioned to change to IE. Samsung 840 pro; do the Read/Write speeds not matter? only the force 3 boasts higher r/w's.

After taking into account the majority of suggestions,
I'm now considering;
I7 3770k> 3930k
H100i>H110
MSI MPower
Dom Plat 1833MHz>Vengeance 1600Mhz (I've read many reviews claiming minimal increases over 1800)
then adding another HD7970 GHz with the leftover money

thoughts?

I'd still go for the Samsung if it were my money. They boast great quality and i'm sure i've heard it mentioned on the forums here that their failure rates are some of the lowest in the market right now.

As some of the others have recently said, with the size of your case it may be worth looking into water cooling or your case will dwarf your motherboard. Either that or consider an alternative (but just as good case).

PSU you're def gonna want a modular. As i said previously a nice corsair or seasonic unit would be perfect such as the 760i

and i still recommend looking into the MSI 7970 Lightning ghz edition if you don't wanna consider water cooling for now

otherwise all good!

 

[remember300]

and with the ram you probs wont need more than 8gb but hey if you want more to fill slots go for it i love the dom plats cos of the look. and 1833 should be enough for your needs i use catia v5 3d modeling suite with simulation and ansys work bench 14 which uses billions of small triangles to work out stresses and heat etc in materials, and my rig copes i would like the budget for a better cooling system. and gpu but im happy with my rig in performance, and i can play all in 3d with decent fraps. hope that helps and i have the h100i if you do go for a custom watercooled system you will get much better temps

 

[Mysterae]

I'd also add, don't get a small capacity SSD - get the biggest you can afford. I had a 120gb with the idea of OS on it, main programs only and Steam games on another mech drive. Office opened quick yeah but games paused ever so briefly, defeated the point of a SSD in my eyes. Now with a 240gb and games loaded on it...so much better.

If your going to get a SSD then use it to the full and put your games on it!

 

[remember300]

i use a 60gb for os only i wish i got 120 just so drivers and stuff could be on there but then i have a 1tb for games and software and have no issue what so ever

 

[rampage94]

>Again, many thanks for all your responses the amount of times i've changed my basket is insane XD.

Taking, again everything into account, I can't see myself doing a custom water loop unless i had an additional £600 to go fully water cooling.
Surely i'd see far more benefits if I go for another 7970?

On that topic, i've looked at the HD7970 GHz Lightning BE, and it's £400..
What about Gigabyte HD7970 GHz 1100MHz (6000MHz) ? I'd break the budget a little to go for 2 of those? considering they'd together be £100 cheaper than 2 Lightnings?

The PSU I mentioned is fully modular?!

Yeah my thoughts are surely the benefits of getting an additional GPU outweigh that of a custom CPU water loop?

 

[jamesriley94]

>Again, many thanks for all your responses the amount of times i've changed my basket is insane XD.

Taking, again everything into account, I can't see myself doing a custom water loop unless i had an additional £600 to go fully water cooling.
Surely i'd see far more benefits if I go for another 7970?

On that topic, i've looked at the HD7970 GHz Lightning BE, and it's £400..
What about Gigabyte HD7970 GHz 1100MHz (6000MHz) ? I'd break the budget a little to go for 2 of those? considering they'd together be £100 cheaper than 2 Lightnings?

The PSU I mentioned is fully modular?!

Yeah my thoughts are surely the benefits of getting an additional GPU outweigh that of a custom CPU water loop?

What resolution are you playing at?

There's a few different versions of the XFX 850w pro Black edition I think. If it is fully modular, then it's fine. Bear in mind with the Corsairs you will be able to buy pre-sleeved cables in the near future, whilst the XFX you'd have to do it yourself. Just something to think about if you ever did want to do that.

 

[rampage94]

My current resolution is at 1920x1080, but I'm also looking at getting 3 screens in the future or one 4k monitor depending on price etc, still unsure of this at the moment.

 

[jamesriley94]

Stick to one 7970 for the time being.
Think about upgrading when it comes round to buying the screens.

Next generation cards should be out by then so there's not much point in spending loads on cards now if they'll only get cheaper in the future - or if they'll be better cards for the same price in the future.

A single 7970 will max out pretty much every game at 1920x1080 anyway.