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Need help building a Gaming/Drawing/Modelling PC

Ryuzaki

Hey guys I'm finally thinking of upgrading my computer cause it just can't keep up anymore. I play a lot of games from every genre (BF3, Starcraft 2, Totals wars etc.) I also do a lot of digital art and I'm also trying to get into 3d modelling.

I currently use 2 monitors and getting a cintiq is a strong possibility for me in the future

Storage is a big thing for me so atleast 2TB would be great and also looking for an SSD.

All help is greatly appreciated!

1. What is your budget? [€1000 - €1400]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/Programming/Internet] (Starcraft 2, Total Wars, BF3, ArmA 2/3)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [No]

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [N/A]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080 + 1920x1080(I think, I'll check when I get home from work)] [Yes(Cintiq)]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Wireless card would be nice but isn't vital. Likewise with a card reader]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes (I have no experience with it though)]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [ASAP. Most likely before the end of the month]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [Based in Dublin but I should be fine]

Thanks in advance for all the help

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BloodBath

How does this look? Should be plenty of power there to last you a while and if you need more power in future there is room and power to add a second 760 gtx. If you don't think you will go with dual cards you can drop the mainboard to the Asrock Z77 pro 3 and the power supply down to the 500w version of the Corsair.

Do you need a dvd drive? You can install windows from a usb stick.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€202.90
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€29.68
ASRock Z77 Extreme3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€107.09
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 WindForce 3X OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€235.50
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€60.71
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€85.04
2 x WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€112.24
Nanoxia Deep Silence One Dark Anthracite, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€93.59
Corsair CX Series Modular CX750M, 750W|€84.68
ASUS PCE-N15|€14.90
2 x Nanoxia Deep Silence 140 - 1100|€17.34
2 x LogiLink SATA Anschlusskabel mit Sicherungslasche, 0.5m|€2.78
LogiLink USB 2.0 all-in-one Card Reader, für 3,5" Einbauchschacht|€3.32
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1068.76

Ryuzaki

BloodBath wrote: »

How does this look? Should be plenty of power there to last you a while and if you need more power in future there is room and power to add a second 760 gtx. If you don't think you will go with dual cards you can drop the mainboard to the Asrock Z77 pro 3 and the power supply down to the 500w version of the Corsair.

Do you need a dvd drive? You can install windows from a usb stick.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€202.90
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€29.68
ASRock Z77 Extreme3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€107.09
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 WindForce 3X OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€235.50
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€60.71
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€85.04
2 x WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€112.24
Nanoxia Deep Silence One Dark Anthracite, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€93.59
Corsair CX Series Modular CX750M, 750W|€84.68
ASUS PCE-N15|€14.90
2 x Nanoxia Deep Silence 140 - 1100|€17.34
2 x LogiLink SATA Anschlusskabel mit Sicherungslasche, 0.5m|€2.78
LogiLink USB 2.0 all-in-one Card Reader, für 3,5" Einbauchschacht|€3.32
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1068.76

Thank you sososo much for the quick reply! If I had another 400 to spend is it worth upgrading anything else? I would like to futureproof the computer so maybe the second card would be a good idea? Also any perks of having 16gb of RAM?

Once again, thank you SO much!:)

BloodBath

No problem.

For the ram it depends on how much video editing you do and at what resolution. The same for your artwork. If you are rendering lots of batch images you might need 16gb of ram. It makes no difference for games. If you go with 16gb get a 2 x 8gb kit.

I don't think you would need a second 760 gtx yet. 99% of games would run at 60fps at 1080p on 1 card. Only a few games would really benefit from 2 at the moment. If you want to spend the money now for overkill power that will keep you playing at max settings longer you could grab a second one now.

Next gen games should be coming in the next 6 months so there should be more stressful games.

You could even grab a 27" 1440p monitor later if you wanted to make the most of the cards. You can get cheap ones delivered from Korea for about €280.

Ryuzaki

I think going for the 2x8gb kit might be worth it then. Better safe then sorry.

Sorry for all the questions but if I get the second card now is there a chance of it just being outdated by the time new, next gen games come around and won't hold up as much or?

That sounds appealing alright, I might consider it!

I'm sorry for hassling you but could you link the build with the recommended 2x8gbs and second card? I'm just curious price wise. Also, is there a nicer looking case that does the same job or?

Thanks so much for all your help though, you've been unbelievably kind.

BloodBath

The 2 cards support dx11.1 which is the same as next gen consoles so there's no chance of it being dated in that sense. They would also have more than enough power to run any game at 1080p for the entire next console generation of games imo. There may be a few pc exclusives that push the graphics boundaries, the likes of metro 2033 and crysis 3 are a lot more stressful than most games but these are rare.

Saying that you could stick with 1 card for now and add another when you need the extra power.

I've already emptied my basket sorry. This would be a good 16gb kit.

Updating to that and adding a second card would bring you to about €1370.

As for the case The Nanoxia has understated looks but the build quality and features are second to none for the price. It has a built in fan controller for 6 fans and lot's of other really nice features. It's also a padded silenced case so your pc would be virtually silent.

It comes in a few other colors.

Ryuzaki

Oh wow, awesome! The two sounds mighty temping then

Its looking like I'll be ordering the rig either today or tomorrow since its pretty much sorted

Thank you so much for all the help! Its greatly appreciated

BloodBath

No problem. Actually pay €1 more for this higher ram kit.

Ryuzaki

Oh, I totally forgot! Last question, I promise. Whats the deal with 6 and 8 core processors? Are they worth it? As far as I'm aware games and the like can only use/support up to 4 anyway? But would a better processor be worth the money?

EDIT: Also forgot to ask about the cards.. are they Nvidia or does that really make a difference? For things like supporting their PhysX stuff or whatever :S I'm an idiot :P Just got a chance to read through part details there and answered my question

BloodBath

It's a mixed bag. The i7's aren't really 8 cores. They can just split 2 threads between a single core. This gives it about a 50% boost over an equivalent i5 in programs making use of all 8 threads rather than 100% if it was truely 8 cores. There's only a couple of games that benefit from it at the moment and it's only a slight increase in performance. Future games may make use of more cores/threads but I don't see it making a big difference. It would speed up your rendering times for videos and photos as well though.

Your games will most likely be gpu limited before they are cpu limited.

Ryuzaki

BloodBath wrote: »

It's a mixed bag. The i7's aren't really 8 cores. They can just split 2 threads between a single core. This gives it about a 50% boost over an equivalent i5 in programs making use of all 8 threads rather than 100% if it was truely 8 cores. There's only a couple of games that benefit from it at the moment and it's only a slight increase in performance. Future games may make use of more cores/threads but I don't see it making a big difference. It would speed up your rendering times for videos and photos as well though.

Your games will most likely be gpu limited before they are cpu limited.

Sweet! Thanks

Would you mind suggesting a decent 8core processor just on the offchance I decide to take the extra step? No worries if you cant though, you've given me more than enough help as is

BloodBath

If you want to stick with the current board then a 3770k would do.

To complicate matters further there is also a newer version of the i5's and i7's out called Haswell. Clock for clock they perform about 10% faster than the Ivybridge ones i have linked here. They cost a bit more and run a bit hotter though meaning you would need a slightly better cpu cooler if you wanted the same overclock. The Haswell boards are a little better as well with more sata-600 ports which are only useful for ssd drives and some have better onboard sound but again they cost more.

You're looking at about €50 more for an equivalent Haswell i5 or i7 build over ivy.

Ryuzaki

Cheers!

I'm gonna think about it while I'm in work and probably make some decisions later when I get home.

BloodBath

Actually go with the samsung 840 evo ssd. I forgot these were out.

Ryuzaki

BloodBath wrote: »

Actually go with the samsung 840 evo ssd. I forgot these were out.

Will do! Thanks

Its looking like I will need a CD drive so will any do or?

BloodBath

For installing windows? You can download it and throw it onto an 8gb or higher usb stick if you have a windows key. There's no need for dvd drives really these days but if you need one ad anything really. There's not much difference between them. Cheap and cheerful will do.

You will need another sata cable then as well.

There's a good deal on these cards at the moment. 2 of them would give you a lot of power for a long time.

Ryuzaki

BloodBath wrote: »

For installing windows? You can download it and throw it onto an 8gb or higher usb stick if you have a windows key. There's no need for dvd drives really these days but if you need one ad anything really. There's not much difference between them. Cheap and cheerful will do.

You will need another sata cable then as well.

There's a good deal on these cards at the moment. 2 of them would give you a lot of power for a long time.

Thats true

Thanks so much

Which of the two cards you've recommended is better though? If those two are better then I might consider them but money isn't too tight so giving or taking 100 isn't too bad. I also forgot to ask if you're recommending I overclock anything or leave it all as it is?

BloodBath

Overclock everything

There's no point paying extra for overclocking parts and good cooling if you aren't going to make use of it.

As for the cards I think 2 x 760's would be overkill for 1080p. The 2 x 7870's are far better value and would give you insane performance for 1080p or even 1440p. They wouldn't be far off the dual 760's once overclocked. Considering a saving of €170 I'd definitely go for the 7870's. They won't stay that price forever though.

You could put the money saved into some nice speakers, headphones, a mechanical keyboard, a nice gaming mouse and mat, an i7 processor or even a 1440p monitor.

Ryuzaki

BloodBath wrote: »

Overclock everything

There's no point paying extra for overclocking parts and good cooling if you aren't going to make use of it.

As for the cards I think 2 x 760's would be overkill for 1080p. The 2 x 7870's are far better value and would give you insane performance for 1080p or even 1440p. They wouldn't be far off the dual 760's once overclocked. Considering a saving of €170 I'd definitely go for the 7870's. They won't stay that price forever though.

You could put the money saved into some nice speakers, headphones, a mechanical keyboard, a nice gaming mouse and mat, an i7 processor or even a 1440p monitor.

Oh right. So how do I go about overclocking things? And will that effect the lifespan of the parts? I've never properly overclocked something before other than an ATI card with the control panel thing they have. So if I was taking that route I'd definitely need some advice

Thanks again for the help and suggestions by the way

BloodBath

There are loads of guides online and on youtube if you google them. It's a bit much to explain here but it's very easy. You just need some software and know what settings to use. It's completely safe once you know what the max safe voltage of the parts are. It's about 1.3v for the i5, i7 or the 7870's.

1.25v would be a completely safe bet with that cooling.

There's an overclocking forum here with more information and links and people with similar hardware.

Ryuzaki

BloodBath wrote: »

There are loads of guides online and on youtube if you google them. It's a bit much to explain here but it's very easy. You just need some software and know what settings to use. It's completely safe once you know what the max safe voltage of the parts are. It's about 1.3v for the i5, i7 or the 7870's.

1.25v would be a completely safe bet with that cooling.

There's an overclocking forum here with more information and links and people with similar hardware.

Cheers!

:D:D

BloodBath

Serephucus has an overclocking guide here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056515869

twinex

Speaking from experience (cintiq 12wx), and for your digital art aspirations you should totally push ahead with the cintiq , regardless of which one you decide upon. Good luck!