~ $2000-2500 streaming/gaming build

[GoblinBuilder]

Hey all - looking for suggestions and comments on an upcoming build I plan on ordering in the next 4 weeks. My primary concerns are high-end gaming and live streaming in at least 720p with as high of FPS as possible. (I have the internet for it)

My budget is $2000-2500 and I will need everything (including 2 monitors and peripherals). I will be ordering everything that I can from Amazon, I am located in the US. Here is what I have:


CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor $339.99
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler $78.76
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: HyperX 16GB Kit (2x8GB) 1600MHz DDR3 - $124.99
Storage: SanDisk Ultra Plus SSD 256 GB - $149.99
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $94.99
Video Card: X2 Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7970 OC 3GB - $309.99
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case $79.99
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified PSU - $119.99
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer $18.49
Operating System: Windows 8 System Builder OEM DVD 64-Bit $86.99
Keyboard: Logitech G710 Wired Gaming Keyboard $128.99
Mouse: Logitech G500 Wired Laser Mouse $49.99 @ Amazon
Headphones: Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930 $89.99
Monitor: Yamaski 27" 2560x1440 IPS from Amazon - $375.45

Total: $2,462

 

[Torn Mind]

You might want to consider the Xeon E3 1230 v2 or v3(v2 is Ivy Bridge, v3 is Haswell and not compatible with 1155 boards) chips or FX-8350 if you're going to stream and game at the same time.

 

[Termie]

Welcome to the forums, GoblinBuilder!

So, for your purposes, if you're streaming and playing at the same time, you'll want more cores, or at least more threads. With your budget, there's no reason not to go with x79 and the new i7-4930K. And there's simply no reason at all for you to be choosing the 3570K. It's older, it's slower, and it doesn't have enough threads. At the minimum you want the 4770K and a Z87 board.

Also, you don't need Arctic Silver. The Noctua comes with much better thermal paste in the box.

Finally, the CX750 is not a good pick at that price. There are much better PSUs available in that price range, like Corsair TX models and the Seasonic M12II and G models.

 

[GoblinBuilder]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll revise the build. It seems as though the only big decision I have left is for the CPU / PSU. Thanks a lot!

 

[Torn Mind]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll revise the build. It seems as though the only big decision I have left is for the CPU / PSU. Thanks a lot!

You're not out of the woods. mfenn will come along tonight, most likely, with some advice.

As for the PSU, this XFX is a decent option, although you must register the product if you want the full warrant from them, I think. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RJ8EKI/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

[GoblinBuilder]

You're not out of the woods. mfenn will come along tonight, most likely, with some advice.

As for the PSU, this XFX is a decent option, although you must register the product if you want the full warrant from them, I think. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RJ8EKI/?tag=pcpapi-20

Hah! Didn't expect to be. Like I said, it'll be 3-4 weeks before I actually order the parts. I'm reporting to a new command soon, but essentially I want to get to my new house and immediately order this with all the research and debate out of the way. What really separates, say, an i7-4770K from an Xeon E3-1230 V2? The reviews on both of them seem to be very very similar.

 

[Termie]

The Xeon is a server chip. It cannot be overclocked, it runs at a lower clock speed, and it is based on an older architecture (Ivy Bridge). It's comparable, but overall slower, and in fact doesn't work in the same motherboard socket. I don't think it's the right pick for your purposes, as it's not an ideal gaming chip.

 

[Jaydip]

There are some cool combos with 4930K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Size=10&page=1

 

[Chapbass]

You don't live near a Microcenter, do you?

 

[Torn Mind]

Hah! Didn't expect to be. Like I said, it'll be 3-4 weeks before I actually order the parts. I'm reporting to a new command soon, but essentially I want to get to my new house and immediately order this with all the research and debate out of the way. What really separates, say, an i7-4770K from an Xeon E3-1230 V2? The reviews on both of them seem to be very very similar.

Termie got the basics down. I just want to point out the sockets are different for the two chips because the chip microarchitecture (circuitry inside the chip) is different. The 4th gen Core chips are Haswell--Haswell is the name of the microarchitecture-- chips and work with LGA 1150 boards. LGA stands for Land Grid Array and refers to the number of pins in the CPU socket. You need an Xeon E3-1230 V3 to work LGA 1150 boards.

Typically, the clockspeed for the Xeon is 3.3 Ghz whereas the non-K i7 is 3.4 Ghz.

 

[Essence_of_War]

For almost the same price as you're currently spending on CPU, MoBo, RAM, there is a fantastic amazon bundle that includes the haswell i7, a great MoBo, and 16 GB of RAM.

Also, as far as cases go, there are fantastic deals right now on both the Carbide 300R and the Carbide 400R for $40 and $60 respectively after rebate. Both are worth a look if you're not married to the NZXT.

 

[Agent11]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236102
Asus VE248H Black 24" 2ms Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 10,000,000:1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1420865
Intel Core i7-4960X Ivy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (Turbo 4GHz) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80633i74960X

bundled with:

1x MSI X79A-GD45 Plus LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231537
G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7Q-16GBZM

DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Timing 7-8-8-24
Cas Latency 7
Voltage 1.5V

With that budget there is no excuse not to go for the new 22nm ivy bridge, you could even probably get the extreme edition if you don't mind hitting the high side of your budget.

 

[Topweasel]

Threads, threads and memory, and even a little hard drive performance is important in a gaming machine that will be streaming live. That and threads. A 4c8t is bare minimum of what you should get as a few games (specially BF3 MP) access and use so many cores that streaming apps will just be using HT "cores" to find spare cycles to handle the encoding and uploading of video on the fly. One really intensive area and all of a sudden everyone will be seeing flip book graphics.

You can do things like alt-tab and restrict core usage on both to make sure the video stuff always has a real core or two dedicated to itself but really the extra 2 powerful IB-E cores or an extra 4 weaker cores of an FX-8k or 9k will do wonders here. Consider me +1 in recommending a 4930k and X79 board. You can also easily load up on memory which can help out a lot as well.

 

[mfenn]

Socket 2011 is an option, but you have to give up a little on your peripherals.

i7 4930K $570
ASUS P9X79 LE $225
Mushkin DDR3 1600 16GB $130 - specifically 4x4GB to take advantage of all the memory channels of an IB-E
Gigabyte 7970 3GB $280 AR
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB $193 - for OS, apps, and games
Seagate 2TB 7200RPM $100 - for general storage and a record target
Lite-ON DVD Burner $18
Corsair TX750 $70 AR
Corsair 400R $60 AR
Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 $85
Total (IB-E): $1731 AR
Total (w/ peripherals): $2453 AR

To be honest, I don't think that the $400 extra dollars for the IB-E platform is worth the few times that a game + streaming needs all 6 cores. I'd certainly rather have Crossfire and a 27" screen like below:

Haswell Xeon E3-1240 $255
ASRock Z87 Extreme4 $145
Second Gigabyte 7970 3GB $280 AR
Total (Haswell): $1616 AR

Yamakasi 2560x1440 IPS $355 - swap out the Acer
Total (w/ peripherals): $2543 AR

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Can you tell us what games you will be streaming and playing? Thanks.

 

[GoblinBuilder]

Lots of great info!

BTRY B 529th FA BN - It's likely that I'll be streaming: World of Warcraft (and other MMORPG's), BF4, and possibly a few others. That's the core though.

mfenn - from what I've read, it seems like getting one excellent video card puts out better performance than two. But I'm always open to suggestions. Would that be to better support the large high res monitor?

Essence_of_War - I'm not married to the case, or anything. The build is completely open for modifications.

Chapbass - I'm currently stationed in Hawaii, so no. But I'll be stationed in San Diego in 3 weeks which is a 2 or so hour drive from a Microcenter.

To the rest - Seems like there's a lot of different opinions on what CPU/mobo combinations to use, then the PSU/Case and peripherals simply supplement that. I'll have to keep looking at advice. The more I shop the more my price goes up and I'm trying to keep it from costing more than my car. Though I have the money for it, just not sure if it's necessary!

 

[fixbsod]

As prev mentioned with that price point I'd be looking at a better cpu and >= 16 GB ram.

 

[Torn Mind]

If you're going to be playing BF4, then LGA 2011 is the way the go. It is a core-hungry game if given the cores to "eat".

 

[Essence_of_War]

To the rest - Seems like there's a lot of different opinions on what CPU/mobo combinations to use, then the PSU/Case and peripherals simply supplement that. I'll have to keep looking at advice. The more I shop the more my price goes up and I'm trying to keep it from costing more than my car. Though I have the money for it, just not sure if it's necessary!

It's, frankly, really tough to beat the build that mfenn's suggested. I will offer the following though, that is comparable to the Xeon previously suggested:

Amazon had a bundle for an i7-4770K, a nice Asus MoBo, and 16 GB of RAM for $530 shipped. It is currently unavailable/sold-out, but I'd keep my eye on it in case it popped back into stock. If you can get it for that price, it would be an excellent performer also. It probably won't OC as well as the ivyB-E, but it might be nice if you want native USB 3.0 and SATA6 Gb/s ports.

On the case, I'd consider snapping up the Carbide 400R soon. It's a good deal if you're OK with ordering from Newegg and not Amazon.

mfenn - from what I've read, it seems like getting one excellent video card puts out better performance than two. But I'm always open to suggestions. Would that be to better support the large high res monitor?

Crossing into 2560x1440 is VERY demanding for gaming. A single 7970 can be OK at that res, but if you want to turn up all of the bells, whistles, and AA, you're really looking for either a single very high end card (GTX 780 or Titan) or a Xfire/Sli set-up. If you're committed to the higher res AND you don't have the games, given the new xfire frame pacing drivers, I might be tempted by the 7990, which comes with a truly staggering game bundle that might make up for the price difference between it and 2x xfire'd 7970s.

By staying at 1920x1080/1920x1200 for gaming, you stay in the zone where you can max out games with better price/performance single-cards, as well as value oriented MoBo's and power supplies.

Sidenote on the dell ultrasharp monitor: If you're willing to wait a few extra days, Amazon has warehouse deals (returned, opened, unused, and repackaged) on that monitor that can save you $20-30 for an identical item.

 

[mfenn]

If you're going to be playing BF4, then LGA 2011 is the way the go. It is a core-hungry game if given the cores to "eat".

Any benchmarks on BF4?

 

[mfenn]

mfenn - from what I've read, it seems like getting one excellent video card puts out better performance than two. But I'm always open to suggestions. Would that be to better support the large high res monitor?

All else being equal, yes a single high end card is going to give a better experience than two low end ones. The thing is, a GTX 770 is simply not that much faster than a 7970, certainly not worth the price increase.

Once you get to 1440p, you're not going to find any single GPU card that can drive it as well as 7970 CFX. Not even a Titan.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Any benchmarks on BF4?

I see what you did there

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You don't perhaps have a 1366 socket system right now, do you? cough *xeon L5639* cough

 

[GoblinBuilder]

Hah, BTRY, I don't. Alright awesome. It looks like sticking to the to the middle-ground resolution instead of the incredibly high one will allow me to have a perfect balance for my budget/performance desires. Like I said before, I COULD afford to invest more in the build, I just don't want to go TOO crazy.

I never considered the 7970 CFX, but after looking at it some more it certainly looks like an excellent option! I'm sure I'll have the perfect gaming/streaming build ready to rock by the time I order.

Though I don't have a lot of experience with cooling, and I feel like I'd want to get into a water-cooled loop if I started getting double GPU's etc. Oh man!

 

[mfenn]

As long as you have a board with at least 2 slots between the GPUs (both mobos I recommended have that), a full custom water loop is not necessary. Cool project though.