Advice on gaming rig

[2hm]

Hi! I've been having a hard time deciding between the two following builds for my new gaming pc. I'll be doing some mild overclocking as well and I'm planning to watercool.

1. lga 1150

Motherboard: Maximus vi formula
CPU: 4770k
RAM: 16GB, 2400Mhz
GPUs: either 780ti SLI or Titan Blacks SLI
PSU: Corsair AXi 1200
Sound: Asus Xonar Phoebus Solo (I don't like the thingy that comes with the other version )
Case: fell in love with the Phanteks Primo case, the thing is huge!
Storage: 128 Samsung evo Pro for the OS, 1TB Seagate generic for other stuff

2. lga 2011 same as above except
Motherboard: rampage iv black
cpu: 4930k / 4820k

both @ 2560x1600 resolution

and now my thoughts.

1. I know there's no such thing as futureproofing, yet with the haswell extremes coming out in the near future, I could go for the 4820k now and get a haswell extreme later, without changing motherboards.

2. as far as I know, more GPUs means more problems, that's why I think I'll be sticking to dual SLI. What concerns me about the 1150 are the pcie lanes, being x8 x8 instead of the 2011s x16 x16. I've read an article about it and apparently it does not matter that much, but yeah.

3. the eternal classic: PSU. are 1200watts really necessary? and what about adding a pump and 19 fans(2x480 rads in push pull or something similar + 3 case fans)?

4. I'm using the same storage setup in my current rig, and running games off a standard HDD doesn't bother me at all. Keeping that in mind, aren't 128 GBs too much for windows 8/8.1 alone? No point in paying for dead storage space.

Let me know what you think. money is not an issue, within reason.

 

[NeverBackDown]

If you can save money going for a 290x in Xfire then i recommend that set up instead as in Xfire and SLI performance is pretty identical fr the two cards. If they cost the same then its up to you for your perference.

Sound card wise.. Get a Xonar STX over the Phoebus. Much better! Best current consumer internal sound card out.

1. As far as rumors go Haswell E will use a slightly different socket. Though its unconfimred last i checked. So you won't be able to simply swap out CPUs on the same board.

2. Reason why all the problems occur with more than 2 cards is driver support and games supporting them efficiently. PCIE 3.0 at 8x is the same as PCIE 2.0 at 16x. No performance difference will occur. Don't worry about it tbh.

3. 1200watts for this rig is a lot. 850watts will do you just fine. Most sites show the 780ti in SLI using less than 600 watts in games for the whole system. 290x in Xfire on the other hand will use about 650-700watts depending on the card and clocks.

4. If you are just using the SSD as an OS now it would be wise to put some programs you use frequently(steam or origin) on that drive with games on a storage drive to help speed things up a little bit. If nothing else will go on it then 120-128GB is a good size.

Other than that looks good to me.

 

[barnsley]

Gaming pc? Just get an i5. No difference between an i5 over the i7 4770k in gaming.

 

[RadeonHDx]

Gaming pc? Just get an i5. No difference between an i5 over the i7 4770k in gaming.

^^this.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Gaming pc? Just get an i5. No difference between an i5 over the i7 4770k in gaming.

Didn't even realize.. good call!

 

[Deejeta]

Concur with the psu suggestion - i struggle to draw 650w with oc 2700k, 2x oc 760s, and a shit load of other gear. Something like an rm850 would be perfect.
If you have the cash then grab the i7, it wont matter so much now but later on who knows what the hyperthreading gods have in store for us.
Grab 780ti's, titans are a waste of money atm.
Also I'd grab a bigger ssd and wd black hdds.

 

[remember300]

i agree with what everyone has said about the ssd, makes senses not to go to big but if you have the cash then hey why not. But if you plan on making it look good with maybe a vertical ssd or something then maybe go for a higher cap one for the bragging lol

Samsung is a good choice for ssd, i myself have one and more than chuffed with it.

If you have the cash for cards like that maybe go for 2 drives for storage and raid them especially if its going to be a daily user, maybe raid them up and get 2 velociraptor drives or some higher perf drives.

When it comes to Gpus id suggest the 780ti's and go for stock PCB's so getting water blocks wont be an issue to much.

I dont think your going to be need all that ram but hey up to you i cant say anything ... lol but at that frequency i don't think you'd need that high for just gaming, unless its just cos you can then go ahead

I also do agree with an i5 the i7 is just overkill for general use and gaming unless your gonna be using it for photoshop or something like that.

And as for PSU just go for a good branded but yet efficient PSU maybe a plat or gold rated, 850/860 watt unit, which will easily give you enough head room even for overclocking, hope this helps

 

[2hm]

thanks guys! I'll be going with a i7 4770k then, since I maybe do some light video editing. I really do like the black edition rampage though!