Computer Build Resource Thread - Page 1620

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($63.00 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($63.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($679.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($679.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2306.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-16 14:00 EDT-0400)

Quick template for budget. Overkill on GPU's, maybe too much so. If your main screen is not either 120/144hz or etc 2560x1440 - or you don't plan on running the game across 3 1920x1080 screens, the second GPU would flat out be a waste. Needs case, maybe HDD depending on wants, maybe not 16gb RAM, it's just cheap and good kit. Could be poking through budget though with everything together, especially if a sweet tower case with lots of airflow is included, which I'd recommend for a high budget multi-gpu system.

Some potential options:

1. SLI 770 instead, but unless you're an enthusiast gpu overclocker (better than me with the gpu stuff) then 780's are basically titans: Read: http://www.overclock.net/t/1400319/titan-vs-780-stock-bios-reference-card-oc-battle/0_20#post_20180994 You could wait for the lightning 780's i think it is, whatever, one of the models - there's a thread on overclock.net - but there might be a model releasing with voltage control, that would let you bump clocks up further (maybe get 15% out of it) if you can control thermals. Maybe worth waiting for that model for single card, probably not for SLI. I think the thread title is 1410mhz on air or something like that - though i wouldn't expect normal people with normal voltages to pass 1300 or so (770's run @1300 with 1536 cores.. 780's have 2344 cores, same architecture, so that's an idea of relative performance)

770's would cut a lot from the budget, and from performance too in GPU bound cases. I have some concerns with streaming and capture methods regardless, i'm not sure how well they work with multi-GPU these days, it's hard to get lots of good info.


2. A different build, around x79 (socket 2011) with either Sandy Bridge-E or Ivy Bridge-E CPU - 6 cores, less powerful. IB-E isn't released yet, it's releasing in the next month or two i don't know the date exactly, but everything points to the cpu's being soldered and we have information showing low power usage, so they will probably (probably..) overclock quite well for CPU's in the ivy bridge/haswell era. I would expect a haswell quad core (4770k) to beat an ivy-bridge E CPU by 10 to 25% depending on the work done, if only 1-4 cores of CPU are used, or a single thread is relied on. A 6 core CPU would have a large advantage when you are using software that can heavily utilize more than 4 cores. It's hard to reccomend this though, because they're weaker per-core in order to have 6 cores and also an architecture behind right now, while also being a lot more expensive. It'd be go-to for more than 2 graphics cards due to supporting more PCI-E lanes or being more versatile in a super high budget system, but i don't think it's appropriate here. They have a performance advantage in a few games, but a performance disadvantage in a lot too, and the extra cores don't help you a ton for running a typical stream, because you're mostly held back by running the actual game itself well, and the interactions and performance losses with capturing the screen - you don't lag with conventional settings because your CPU is at full load, because it just doesn't happen on an overclocked Haswell quad core with normal streaming settings (like 1920x1080, 48fps - and i can't reccomend anything above that anyway due to bandwidth limitations and performance hits on many games)

In the end, i think either sli 770's (a good model of them) or a single 780 is more realistic. Depends what you want.

And maybe a part or two that could be switched out for a better deal, the RAM's down @$63 or something for 8gb which is sweet and i know the kit is decent, mobo/cpu on combo deal for $25 off and i didn't see a reason to go past the d3h - maybe i'm missing something but i don't think so unless there are specific needs here, i'm not sure of case markets on any continent yet (looking into them soon for myself too etc) so i didn't throw one in, the capstone seemed like a good price, and i hit half a dozen CPU coolers, didn't see anything stand out in pricing so threw u14s on. It's hard to beat.

Also to quote an x264 developer:


^This is why it would hurt to get a Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge 6-core CPU - many tasks rely on individual core performance, which is why modern intel CPU's tear apart the competition - but Intel 6-core CPU's sacrifice that a bit, partially by having more, slightly lower clocked cores, and partially by being, right now, an architecture behind the quad cores - x264 is the encoder used by Xsplit/OBS and the best encoder really available, and one of the primary things, most likely, that you would benefit from in having more than 4 cores - but it benefits a LOT from the newer architectures, more than most things - so by going 6 core instead of 4 for a gaming/streaming system, you are most likely, i believe, to be paying to shoot yourself in the foot right now. Haswell-E, in late 2014 if it doesn't get delayed, will come before the next Intel quad core architecture and also have an 8-core option, so that won't really be the case then, it will be a beastly CPU and platform if hopes hold up, but that's a year maybe a year and a half out, so not really too relevant right now.

Any comments/suggestions on this appriciated