First Build: For Gaming/Media Creation

[PaperTreePropht]

Hello everybody I have been somehow avoiding building my own PC for quite sometime, even convinced myself on an Alienware system back when I last upgraded (was on sale, only $100 more than a custom built system at the same level). But now that I am doing more photography and video editing, I need a better rig that can handle what I am putting my aging desktop through better.

I have been tinkering with the parts list for a while now, and was hoping to find anyone with more experience that could give me an opinion on this setup. I have multiple external HDs for data backup, and plan on getting a Drobo soon, so I don't need much in the way of internal space, just enough to keep working files on the desktop. I also plan on eventually adding in a second graphics card, as I find myself playing less on a console, and more on my PC.

So here is my base parts list:

NZXT SWITCH 810 White CA-SW810-W1 Steel / Plastic ATX HYBRID Full Tower Gaming Computer Case
Model #:CA-SW810-W1
Item #:N82E16811146088
$169.99	 	$169.99


ASUS Rampage IV Extreme LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #:Rampage IV Extreme
Item #:N82E16813131802
$429.99	-$15.00 Instant	$414.99


EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Model #:02G-P4-2680-KR
Item #:N82E16814130768
$489.99	 	$489.99


CORSAIR AX860i 860W Digital ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Full Modular Active PFC ...
Model #:CP-9020037-NA
Item #:N82E16817139041
$229.99	 	$229.99


Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K
Model #:BX80619i73930K
Item #:N82E16819116492
$569.99	 	$569.99


G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9Q-32GXM
Model #:F3-1600C9Q-32GXM
Item #:N82E16820231569
$244.99	 	$244.99


SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Model #:MZ-7PD256BW
Item #:N82E16820147193
$249.99	-$10.00 Instant	$479.98


Western Digital WD Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:WD2002FAEX
Item #:N82E16822136792
$169.99	-$10.00 Instant	$319.98


ASUS Black Blu-ray Burner SATA BW-14D1XT
Model #:BW-14D1XT
Item #:N82E16827135302
$99.99	 	$99.99


CORSAIR Hydro series H50 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Model #:CW-9060006-WW
Item #:N82E16835181010
$64.99	-$5.00 Instant	$59.99


Subtotal:	$3,079.88

So any feedback would rock, no hurry though as I will be buying parts slowly over the next 5-6 months.

 

[Chass1s]

Was your objective to spend the most money possible? Or build a computer that can handle typical media editing and gaming?

EDIT: I personally do a lot of photography and videography editing and TONS of gaming and even MY set up is kind of overkill. You could save a lot of money ya know.

 

[PaperTreePropht]

Was your objective to spend the most money possible? Or build a computer that can handle typical media editing and gaming?

EDIT: I personally do a lot of photography and videography editing and TONS of gaming and even MY set up is kind of overkill. You could save a lot of money ya know.

Oh my first build was actually at $6000, this was the trimmed down base build. I know its a bit overkill, but from my research, with what I will be doing I will use a majority of what I put in this system. Lots of multi-track effects heavy video in premiere pro; 20-30mb raw files from my T4i, and 32mb+ for the 5D Mk III; minor effects work in After Effects, and of course lots of gaming.

My goal is to be able to easily handle doing all of this, without really having any hard bottlenecks. I am fine with the $3k price tag, with my current set of bills it shouldn't take more than 5-6 months to buy all the parts, and if I do start getting more paid work in photography, this will go even quicker.

 

[Chass1s]

Well what you have seems to be alright. I'd call it a brute force setup.

I use premiere, photoshop, lightroom, and AE. Everything runs smoothly on my system, so you should have no problems.

Make sure your OS will support 32GB of RAM if that's what you want.

 

[Metlcub]

I would really say that Mobo is over kill, that board is designed for extreme OC with L2. If your going with a single GPU you would be fine with a ASRock z77 extreme 4 or extreme 6. Perfect board for mild OC, 2x sli/xfire support that would save you over $200. That's all I really see is the overkill on mobo, IMO.

 

[MattMan657]

If you are intent on having that bad *** of a system I would not opt for the H50. That kind of build deserves a much much better cooling system, and at the current price of your build, forking over perhaps an additional $100 would go a LONG way. The H50 is really not that good, it was my first cooling system and I regret getting it.

 

[Chass1s]

If it were me, id go with an 1155 LGA, get a quad core intel i7-somethingK an H100 and I'd get an AMD 7970 GHz. It's 100 bucks cheaper than the 680 with similar performance. Then I'd probably get 16GBs of RAM, 32 just seems like ALOT.

 

[Knufire]

Just saying, if you buy all of this over the course of 5-6 months, half of it is going to be outdated by the time you finish. We think that it's imperative that you buy all your parts within a month of each other. There's also the fact that parts usually come with a 30 day warranty from the retailer, so it'll suck when the first part you bought is actually dead, but the shop won't take it back because it's been too long.

I can also tell you in the next 6 months there's going to be a whole new line of CPUs, a new line of NVIDIA GPUs, and extremely close to a new line of AMD GPUs.

 

[PaperTreePropht]

If you are intent on having that bad *** of a system I would not opt for the H50. That kind of build deserves a much much better cooling system, and at the current price of your build, forking over perhaps an additional $100 would go a LONG way. The H50 is really not that good, it was my first cooling system and I regret getting it.

I admit to knowing nothing about Liquid Cooling, as this will be my first system to use it. The H50 is one I saw someone recommend in a video on system building somewhere on YouTube, so I would happily take any suggestions for a better one.

 

[PaperTreePropht]

Just saying, if you buy all of this over the course of 5-6 months, half of it is going to be outdated by the time you finish. We think that it's imperative that you buy all your parts within a month of each other. There's also the fact that parts usually come with a 30 day warranty from the retailer, so it'll suck when the first part you bought is actually dead, but the shop won't take it back because it's been too long.

I can also tell you in the next 6 months there's going to be a whole new line of CPUs, a new line of NVIDIA GPUs, and extremely close to a new line of AMD GPUs.

I am horrid on actually saving money, spacing it out is about the only way I can pull it off.

 

[Knufire]

If you insist, don't even worry about the CPU, motherboard, or GPU. Those should be the LAST parts you buy. Look for a good deal on a quality PSU and case first.

And frankly, if you don't have the money on hand, you shouldn't be looking at extras like liquid cooling or fancy ROG motherboards.

 

[MattMan657]

If you don't feel like taking the plunge into a real loop and don't plan on doing any hardcore OCing, an AIO could probably get you by.

Preferably the Swiftech H220 if you can find one and it fits in your case (probably will). Typical setup has them mounted to the top of your case. The Corsair H100i and H110 aren't as good but could get you by.