Tell Me About The Reasons Behind Some of Your Monster/Overkill Rigs?

[pmarascal]

I've been following PC builds and the hardware scene for awhile, recently starting to let myself build above budget level PCs. Some because finally out of school, etc but also because I never quite understand the point of some of these seemingly overkill computers I see people building.

Recently upgraded to a GTX 770 and couldn't be happier with it. It runs just about anything at 1080p at ultra levels, beginning to maybe struggle at Ultra levels on far cry 4. But otherwise paired with an i7-4770k I consider my PC 'high level' for what I want. I've always been extremely pleased with my builds when using a GPU that's a year or 2 old.

I'm curious to understand what a lot of you are gaining by having like 2 GTX 980 in SLI. That seems complete overkill even for 4K am I right? I've always figured it was just the hobby 'master race' and if you're into it a lot then absolutely no harm building a sick PC. But wondering what else are your reasons?

And I hope this doesn't come out as me being a ****, I'm genuinely curious as to the benefit of some of this. Perhaps I'm looking for a reason to build myself a high end rig. I know it's fun to overclock and benchmark, etc but then what?

Thanks guys, include a picture of your beauty if you want!

 

[ATMINSIDE]

SLI 980s aren't really overkill for 4K, they're actually pretty necessary.

That said, my 980 does quite well with my 5760x1080 setup.

 

[thobel]

For me its not wanting my PC to struggle at any levels for a few years to come. That being said I have begun to scale back my new builds.

CPU: I7 4770k @4.5
MOBO: ASUS Maximus VI Impact Air
RAM: Corsair Vengence DDR3 2x8GB 1600 C9
Video: Evga GTX 980SC ACX Air
Case: Corsair 250D
PSU: Corsair HX650
LCD: BenQ XL2720T
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
H20: Corsair H110
Keyboard: Logitech G19 Logitech G9x
Headset Logitech G930

CPU: I7 5960X @4.4ghz
MOBO: ASUS Rampage 5 Extream Air
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platnium DDR4 4x4GB 2800
Video: Evga Titan Black Signiture with Backplate Air
Case: Corsair 750D
PSU: Corsair AX860
LCD: ASUS 27" Rog Swift
SSD: Samsung XP941 M.2 512GB
H20: Corsair H105
Keyboard: Corsair K65 Mouse Corsair Saber
Speakers: Bose Companion 5
Headset: Beyerdynamic MMX 300

While many would consider both of these overkill I think we can agree they are less overkill then the one in my Sig

 

[Mandrake4565]

Most people build/buy overkill computers because they are uninformed, they are led to believe that the top of the line Cpu and Gpu is needed run a game better then another lower end cpu/Gpu. this is not always the case and a lot of times one does not need the biggest baddest Cpu and Gpu to game. The other bunch of people that build higher end rig do it because they can and or just want to. Nothing wrong with either but a lot of people I see come through this forum looking for help will put together on paper components that are way overkill for their needs. We usually do a pretty good job of helping them save money by letting them know that they do not "need" for example a 300+ Z97 motherboard if gaming is the primary goal.

 

[Daleon]

55" 4K, SLI 980's do a good job all around. Star Citizen being my top system killer and I don't play it that often mainly because it still runs like a pig for the most part. Everything else I play I am beyond overkill. So why overbuild? Many of us have been building for a LONG time. I rebuilt and upgraded some 486's but my first ground up from scratch build was a Pentium. Computers back then even when you bought high end stuff were still pretty slow much of the time and I had to upgrade much more often as the advances in cpu and gpu every generation were much more noticeable. Only in the last 7-8 years have things slowed down to where a high end system will last 2-3 generations for me at least. So what is overkill today, will be a little slower in a year, and a little slower the next. Back when I started if you had a 3 year old PC playing a new game that just came out you'd be lucky if it would even install.

Price to performance is also always the number one thing in my mind. I can get faster ram for $20, hell yeah. Faster cpu with higher OC's for a hundo sure. Where to put your money into the system to get the most out of it. What can I buy cheap now that will get the job done and I can replace it in 6 months with something much better so I can spread my costs out some. Everyone has a different budget of course. I make a lot more now than I did back when I started, and some things are more today and some things are much less but I bet if you compared what I spent back then over a 3 year period to what I spend today its likely less.

 

[thobel]

another way to look at it. Needs have almost nothing to do with wants. No one NEEDS a 700hp Car but plenty of people want one anyway.

 

[pmarascal]

I'll definitely say that I'm starting to get the bug to upgrade or rebuild just because I can. Coincides with being a few years out of college and since its one of my interests then why not.

But I always laugh, even when I got this 770 (had a 660ti) that really it was just about useless. Sure occasionally I throw stuff at it, but really CS:GO and indie games are what I really love.

I'm sure my next big rebuild I'll end up with something in SLI and I'll just laugh at myself

 

[Witchdoctor]

Never really considered building a rig using a mainstream thought process.

Building hot rods is fun IMO.

Same can be said for cars or just about anything, if you had a choice of driving a Honda civic everyday or a Ferrari

Sure the Ferrari would not be very practical, I think the popular term around here is overkill, but that would not make it any less fun

Unfortunately it is an expensive hobby.

But the term overkill is used way to offened for an enthusiast site IMO

Nothing wrong with getting someone on a budget the best parts for their money.

But I have seen threads where enthusiast are ridiculed for choosing high performance parts.

If someone wants to build a Tri SLI rig instead of asking them why, should we not explore how to help them the best we can ?

 

[Theocnoob]

Never really considered building a rig using a mainstream thought process.

Building hot rods is fun IMO.

Same can be said for cars or just about anything, if you had a choice of driving a Honda civic everyday or a Ferrari

Sure the Ferrari would not be very practical, I think the popular term around here is overkill, but that would not make it any less fun

Unfortunately it is an expensive hobby.

But the term overkill is used way to offened for an enthusiast site IMO

Nothing wrong with getting someone on a budget the best parts for their money.

But I have seen threads where enthusiast are ridiculed for choosing high performance parts.

If someone wants to build a Tri SLI rig instead of asking them why, should we not explore how to help them the best we can ?

I think we should definitely ask them why. A lot of people just decide they want a $7500 computer without really being informed. If somebody comes in asking for a quad SLI 980 system with a 5960X and they just play minecraft at 1080P, we'd want to tell them it was overkill, wouldn't we?

On the other hand, if that same person wanted to run 2 or 3 4K monitors for gaming, and they wanted to do professional level image and video editing and 3D modelling, they wouldn't be so crazy to buy that same system. It all depends on what the user wants to get out of the PC. Some people need nothing more than a Raspberry Pi.

 

[Witchdoctor]

My thought process assumes anyone on an enthusiast site are informed already ???

If not one would think they would create a description of what it is to be used for and ask for input ?

The few builds I have done since i started hanging around I have always asked for input,

it has always been very positive and informed, just seems like sometimes people get hostile with another member on selections ?

But it sounds like a heck of a rig, 5960x with quad SLI

 

[Mandrake4565]

My thought process assumes anyone on an enthusiast site are informed already ???

Wish this was true Witchy!

I can't count how many times I've seen people ask for help build, especially AMD rigs and they choose an Fx 8xxx/9xxx and mate it to a budget board with a 4+1 Power Phase VRM and no heatsinks on the VRM/NB.

 

[Theocnoob]

My thought process assumes anyone on an enthusiast site are informed already ???

I've seen some things.... been here for over 7 years. It doesn't happen frequently but sometimes you get an absolutely epic fail forum member. They come on acting like they know what they're doing and then catastrophically bone themselves.

One guy, who I like to remember as "Pasty" was actually asked if he knew how to apply thermal paste in his thread pre-build. He said yes, so we all just let sleeping dogs lie. Well, he gets to building his machine and uses an ENTIRE tube of Arctic silver 5. He killed his motherboard, his video card... Never came back again.

We've also had people say that they knew what they were doing then they plug 8 pin PCIE into the motherboard and blow up their motherboard. It's best to err on the side of caution and assume that every new member knows nothing. If they find that insulting, that's unfortunate, but better that they should feel slightly insulted than burn $1500 by destroying their new parts through ignorance.