Building a high-end gaming and multi-purpose rig

[johanandros]

Hello! I just fried my motherboard pushing an overclock too far (set BClock past 200Mhz) and then told to myself "well, what the hell, I was planning to upgrade anyway" (not true, I felt like an ***)

Well, I'm planning to sell the rest of the parts and build a new computer from scratch. Budget is not an issue right now, but that doesn't mean I want/need a $500+ graphics card. My approximate purchase date would be maybe a month or so from now on.

Here's my current PC specs:

MB: Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 (RIP)
CPU: Intel Core i5-760 overclocked @ 4.00GHz (was running like this for 1 year and a half before I became greedy)
CPU COOLER: Cooler Master V6GT [RR-V6GT-22PK-R1]
RAM: 8GB ADATA XPG Gaming Series DDR3-1600 [AX3U1600GC4G9-2G]
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB [ECS NBGTX460-1GPI-F]
GPU COOLER: ARCTIC COOLING Accelero Twin Turbo PRO
PSU: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500W [RS-500-PCAR]
HDD1: WD Black 1TB [WD1002FAEX]
HDD2: Seagate Barracuda 1TB [ST1000DM003]
HDD3: WD Caviar Green 1TB [WD10EADS]
ODD: LITE-ON DVDRW [LH-20A1H]
CASE: Acteck Calgary [ACG-2870]
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
DISPLAY: Samsung 32" 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV [LN32B650]
KB/M: Razer Cyclosa + Abyssus bundle
GAMEPAD: Xbox 360 Controller for Windows
SPKRS: Logitech X-230

I think I'll keep my current RAM (should I?), my HDDs, the KB/M bundle and the X360 controller... everything else I'll just sell it.

So, here's my common system usage:
- Games @ 1080p with everything maxed out; if I get low FPS and choppiness or lag then I change the resolution to something between the former and 720p. Games I've recently played are Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason, Metro 2033, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with the "complete" mod, Battlefield 3 and others... I really want to play Metro: Last Light in all it's glory! I also play CPU intensive emulators a lot (Dolphin, PCSX2, bsnes/higan), that's why I wanted to increase my GHz in the first place...
- Movies... lots of them! I don't even go to the cinema anymore, only when there's a REALLY GOOD movie showing. One of my HDDs is full of Blu-ray encodes!
- Home-recording studio. I compose/arrange in Sibelius and then go to my primary DAW, which is FL Studio, but sometimes I use Cubase for certain things. For my audio "interface" I put a USB mic in front of my guitar amp. This is where I am (was?) most unhappy with my current specs... everything is laggy and latency is **** even with ASIO4ALL. I know I just need more RAM and a professional soundcard (audio interface), which btw which one would you recommend? Also, I've been having a bad time trying to use my EastWest virtual instruments, maybe an SSD would come in handy here?
- Design. I mostly use Photoshop CS5.5 (I'm planning to upgrade to CS6) but I also use Illustrator and InDesign when they're needed. I'm not a graphic designer or something but I like to make my own show flyers, band logos, digital post-processing and that kind of stuff.
- Encoding/transcoding and ripping. Software I use: AviSynth, CCE, VirtualDub, MakeMKV, HandBrake, to name a few.
- Everyday things like surfing the web, etc.

You can use any website to link me the parts, I just want to compare prices and know your advice and opinions. I live in Mexico and I'm a registered member of a wholesaler in Guadalajara, so I'll just buy the parts there... sometimes it's a lot cheaper than e-tailers and sometimes maybe the online shop has it cheaper but with the added tax + shipment it comes up to the same price.

I prefer an Intel CPU and an NVIDIA GPU. The mobo I would like it to be Gigabyte, but I've hear that now Asus is better, I'm not really sure about that. I'm planning to overclock it again, by the way, this time a bit more conservative (but I know that eventually I won't be afraid to do it and I'll just push the damn thing as far as I can hahaha). I'm not interested in SLI or Crossfire. I'm happy with a max resolution of 1920x1080 or even 1920x1200, but I do want a bigger screen, something above 32" for sure.

Well, I guess that's all... sorry if it's a long read, but I really wanted to be as exhaustive as I could

Cheers and thanks in advance!

 

[johanandros]

Anyone? :/

 

[fornoob]

to OCF!

If you want a brand new system, for gaming and sound recording/ live encoding, here is one (see attached picture).

For the MOBO, I don't know who told you ASUS was better than gigabyte... and what better means btw

Better in OCing? Not really. Gigabyte does great things and their MOBO are often rock solid except a few ones on AMD side.

Better in reliability? Not at all, ASUS is surely with MSI the worst manufacturer I've seen in this field.

Better in consistency of features in the MOBO? I would rather say Asrock or MSI in this case.

Better in pricing? Asrock

Better in good-looking? Yes, there I would agree But it stays a matter of taste.

Never trust such advices, they are not worth it.

Coming back to the rig, this gigabyte MOBO is fine (micro ATX size, so enough for a sound card and a graphic card, but not much more ). An other rock solid choice is the Asrock Z77 Extreme 4, which I recommend!

Since you plan to play Metro 2033 everything maxed, you may have use of an HD7970 (what most players do not need) or a GTX 670

Hardware speaking, the HD7970 is the best choice.
If you compare the price, they are quite close to each other.
Both will be able to run everything maxed.

It is up to you do decide whether you really want Nvidia or test an AMD
For the sound card, I link you mine: it is a very great card with everything you may want.

For the RAM, if you plan to play + live record, you would need a little more than 8GB (which is more than enough for gaming, but recording and live encoding can be really RAM intensive). Since the RAM costs almost nothing nowadays, I suggest 16GB. The speed can be 1600 or 1866 MHz, it doesn't necessarly matter.

I added an SSD because the upgrade is interesting as boot device and for some applications you want to load quick

The case is up to you, I love the CM storm trooper but this isn't my rig
Let's say it gives you an order of magnitude of the global budget.

 

[Knufire]

I would go NVIDIA'S, CUDA acceleration is more prevalent in media applications than OpenCL.

Since the budget is so high, would you be interested in a triple screen setup? If you're interested, you could even go for a 3x2500x1440 setup, but that would be about $1100-1200 in monitors and adapters.

EDIT: NVM, you'd have to go multiple video cards as well...

CPU: i7-3770K
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
GPU: 4GB GTX670
Case: Fractal Design Define R4
SSD: 256GB Samsung 840
PSU: Corsair CX500

I'll have to do some more research into the audio side of it as well.

 

[Metlcub]

you are basicly doing the same thing I do with my PC, also when Im not on my PC I crunch away at [email protected]
I'd go with
i7-3770k
ASRock z77 Extreem4
16gig gskill mem, 1600 or 2000
h100 cooler or Hyper 212
GTX 670
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD 24-bit 96KHz PCI with front pannel I/O
120-180gig SSD,
1-2tb HDD 7200 64m cach
Blueray drive-DVD-RW/CD-RW
Corsair 750w PSU
932, HAF X, any good case would work.

The SSD would really make win load up quick, and make photoshop launch fast. The Extra mem would help with Photoshop and the Cuda cores if you are doing any vid compression. The X-fi I/O front pannel would help if you connect any outside audio hardware. I play guitar and I hook my computer up to record guitar tracks.
A good CPU cooler would help with a mild OC, I have my 2600k OC to 4.2 and super stable. I do dual monitors, only use 1 for gaming, but the second is great for when working on Video's and such. Also can be playing a game and have gamefaqs up on the other monitor if needed.
You could look at my set up and take out 1 ssd or tweek it a little as a base. I have had no issues with my set up once I got it stable.