Gaming rig.... thoughts?

[VoidedSaint]

im old and need to get with the program. haha
I plan on playing games like Skyrim, AC4, Battlefield, Diablo 3(maybe) SC2, Batman. stuff like that.
here is my setup:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150

MOBO: ASUS MAXIMUS VI FORMULA LGA 1150 Intel Z87

Graphics: ASUS R9290X-4GD5 Radeon R9 290X 4GB

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Cooling: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler (Out of Stock)
Cooling ALT: Cooler Master Hyper N520 - CPU Cooler with Copper Base and 5 Heatpipes (Alternate selection)

DVD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner

SSD: Seagate 600 Series ST120HM000 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

HD: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"


what you guys think?
thoughts? comments?

 

[alostpacket]

Looks sweet. I might considering upping your SSD to the ~256GB range if you can. 120 might be tight with OS+games.

Personally I'm happier with closed loop cooling as opposed to those crazy big noctua (and similar) heat sinks too. Performance may be similar but it's much easier to move around my case. But that's purely a preference thing. Those air coolers can get you a lot of performance for your dollar.

Looks like a sweet rig though. Got a case in mind?

 

[argedion]

sounds like a nice system. I'm not a gamer so can't say much for it but I would agree with trying to get a bigger hard drive.

 

[VoidedSaint]

Looks sweet. I might considering upping your SSD to the ~256GB range if you can. 120 might be tight with OS+games.

Personally I'm happier with closed loop cooling as opposed to those crazy big noctua (and similar) heat sinks too. Performance may be similar but it's much easier to move around my case. But that's purely a preference thing. Those air coolers can get you a lot of performance for your dollar.

Looks like a sweet rig though. Got a case in mind?

you have a point, I will opt to get the 250gb ssd, I didn't want to go too awful big because that is what the 1tb backup is for, and later on down the road i will have either a 2tb or 3tb as a OS backup.

 

[VoidedSaint]

Looks sweet. I might considering upping your SSD to the ~256GB range if you can. 120 might be tight with OS+games.

Personally I'm happier with closed loop cooling as opposed to those crazy big noctua (and similar) heat sinks too. Performance may be similar but it's much easier to move around my case. But that's purely a preference thing. Those air coolers can get you a lot of performance for your dollar.

Looks like a sweet rig though. Got a case in mind?

Cooler Master HAF 922 - High Air Flow Mid Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0 and All-Black Interior
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN3-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0 and Black Interior - Newegg.com

or

NZXT Guardian 921 RB 921RB-001-RD Black SECC steel chassis Computer Case
NZXT Guardian 921 RB 921RB-001-RD Black SECC steel chassis Computer Case - Newegg.com

 

[thicks56]

The rig your building will completely destroy all the games you've listed and probably new games for a good amount of time to come, all the ones you've listed are pretty much what I'm playing atm and mine is handling every game at highest graphics settings with no problem.

I'd love to be able to build a computer to that spec but unfortunately I was limited by money

those cases both look great but the NZXT looks an absolute beast! even if it does have fewer drive bays

 

[VoidedSaint]

The rig your building will completely destroy all the games you've listed and probably new games for a good amount of time to come, all the ones you've listed are pretty much what I'm playing atm and mine is handling every game at highest graphics settings with no problem.

I'd love to be able to build a computer to that spec but unfortunately I was limited by money

those cases both look great but the NZXT looks an absolute beast! even if it does have fewer drive bays

Thanks for the input!
The fewer drove bays ate not a deal breaker for me as I'm not 100% sure I will be even using half of them. I'm just hoping everything will fit nicely without any issues.
I believe the cost of the whole thing after taxes is about $2200 so I may trim parts of it down lol.

 

[thicks56]

What was your original estimate/budget?

My original budget started off at

 

[VoidedSaint]

What was your original estimate/budget?

My original budget started off at

 

[alostpacket]

^what we all go through


Makes me want to build a new rig heh

 

[sfbloodbrother]

Great system you have right there. For gaming, you really need a good GPU and you my friend have chosen a great one for gaming.

 

[thicks56]

Makes me want to build a new rig heh

Same here!

 

[trophynuts]

uhhh wait on a steam machine? lol

Steam Machines

 

[VoidedSaint]

uhhh wait on a steam machine? lol

Steam Machines

Yea there is no telling when that will come and the rig I'm building may be more powerful than a steam PC. That and I'm not just going to be playing games on this thing. There will be quite a few other things as well. If I could see the specs of the stream PC then I might hold off that and if the price is nice.

 

[Slug]

what you guys think?

I'm thinking I need to rebuild.... thanks for that, VS.

What's been said... fit the largest capacity SSD you can budget for; it makes a world of difference to loading times.

If you're looking at air cooling, check out Thermolab. One of their Barem coolers is on my i965, with two 120mm fans set to min rpm - very efficient.

I've nothing but praise for Asus' Formula 'boards - my Crossfire III has been rock-solid since I installed it.

Good to see you're leaving room for RAM expansion.... an expensive mistake I made when I maxxed my rig out with 4x2GB modules.

What PSU are you looking at? Don't scrimp on this part.

Use ALL the available budget.... barring the RAM cock-up mentioned above, which still isn't a real problem, my venerable i965 rig is still more than capable because I've been able to upgrade gradually. A new GPU (when required by games) or additional storage (bays permitting) is much cheaper than a wholesale rebuild.

 

[VoidedSaint]

I'm thinking I need to rebuild.... thanks for that, VS.

What's been said... fit the largest capacity SSD you can budget for; it makes a world of difference to loading times.

If you're looking at air cooling, check out Thermolab. One of their Barem coolers is on my i965, with two 120mm fans set to min rpm - very efficient.

I've nothing but praise for Asus' Formula 'boards - my Crossfire III has been rock-solid since I installed it.

Good to see you're leaving room for RAM expansion.... an expensive mistake I made when I maxxed my rig out with 4x2GB modules.

What PSU are you looking at? Don't scrimp on this part.

Use ALL the available budget.... barring the RAM cock-up mentioned above, which still isn't a real problem, my venerable i965 rig is still more than capable because I've been able to upgrade gradually. A new GPU (when required by games) or additional storage (bays permitting) is much cheaper than a wholesale rebuild.

CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
unsure if I am going to need 850 or more wattage right now.

you can always upgrade ram slug, just buy more sticks

 

[Slug]

CORSAIR HX Series HX850

Good call.... got the same PSU here. Runs quiet, cool and reliably.

you can always upgrade ram slug, just buy more sticks

I'd need to ditch the existing 4 x 2GB modules first. I broke one of the cardinal rules.... "don't fill all the sockets". :-(

 

[VoidedSaint]

Good call.... got the same PSU here. Runs quiet, cool and reliably.



I'd need to ditch the existing 4 x 2GB modules first. I broke one of the cardinal rules.... "don't fill all the sockets". :-(

i know just wondering if i will need to increase to 1050w

yea that rule should be present for everyone.

build a new rig slug

 

[NYCHitman1]

I would go with the 250GB Samsung 840 EVO if you're looking to save a few bucks, but still get a top of the line SSD.

 

[VoidedSaint]

I would go with the 250GB Samsung 840 EVO if you're looking to save a few bucks, but still get a top of the line SSD.

$309.00 & FREE Shipping
vs

SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $199.99

vs

Seagate 600 Series ST240HM000 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $169.99

I was going for seagate but may go for the samsung

 

[VoidedSaint]

It has been done!
total cost:
$2082
made a few additions.
Will post pictures when it gets here.

 

[VoidedSaint]

Turns out I got the wrong fan and heat sink. So now I have to get a new one. :-(

 

[trophynuts]

what version of Windows are you putting on there?

 

[VoidedSaint]

I put windows 8.1 on it.

 

[VoidedSaint]

Video card was bad made some kind of ticking noise so it is being returned as we speak arms hopefully a new one will come in Friday