High end PC build

Hardware Build a PC
1

This is a build for my slightly more fortunate in life friend. Budget is around $1500.  Even though I think i'm at the point that I know what I am doing, it never hurts to go to go to TekSyndicate for some input: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1WFKv

Rational for part selection

AMD FX 8350 Since nowadays most games we are playing are console ports and consoles have 8cores, this CPU will beast in games.

Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK: A good CPU cooler that also goes with my black color theme.

 Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z ATX AM3+ Motherboard : Very good motherboard for overclocking.  I want to squeeze every single MHz out of this and the Crosshair can do it.  Although I do feel it's a bit overkill but the more the better.  Also looks good in a windowed case

G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory Two modules of 4gb Ram what more can I say really?

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive: 1 TB.  Caviar black. Nuff Said

EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card: $50 less than the R9 290x, marginal performance, wayy better cooling and noise, three free games, 10 dollar rebate, Shadowplay, PhysX, and G-sync.  I'm going with this until AMD can come out with some good refrence cards and bundle some decent games. 

Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case: Love the sleek look, Black, silent, window (I am a case window freak for some reason.)   One of my favourite cases.'

XFX 850W 80+ Gold Full Modular.  Why 850W?  Along with the efficiency it gives, it is confirmed we will crossfire in the future.  Also fully modular, 80 plus Gold, Seasonic made and legenddary XFX support.  This PSU is the way to go.

I really like this build but there will be someone who knows what he is doing better than me that will disagree.  

Also excuse my english, No it is not my second language but i'm just to lazy to spell check.  

 



2

Looks good to me. I'd grab 16GB of RAM, before the price of DDR3 goes up further.

3

With this build you may want to bump the ram up to 16GB. Other than that it looks pretty good. Also if the build is primarily for gaming then you may want to look at the amd r9 290x, as it seems to get better framerates than the gtx 780 overall.

4

780 is faster after OC. 290x throttles down after extended gameplay sessions. It's a massive 30% performance penalty.

5

It's more of a "Do I Even Need It" thing you know what I am saying?

Sure 16GB is a nice thing but for gaming,which is what my friend mostly intends to do, 8GB does the job right and in most applications is a bit more than necessary.  

Although you do make a good point about the price rising.  Put let's just hope it's not as drastic as it was recently.  

6

Games ran on a 32-bit instruction, which limits memory access to 3.5-4GB. Now many are going to be running 64bit (which includes BF4), which means those games can access a greater amount of memory. Some people reported a 12GB use in BF4.

The 8350 is a productivity chip, and 16GB is great for productivity applications. Just grab 1600 speed RAM with the lowest CL you can find.

7

I think the build looks pretty good as is.  Whenever you need more RAM, just get another kit and put it together.  I might go with 1600mhz ram as anything clocked too high may not work if you mix and match kits.

8

To help match your black color scheme, I recommend this version of the 780...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130951&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

I edited your part list for you to save you the hassle of searching for it on pcpartpicker.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1WH80

Good luck!

9

Very good point.  I will ask my friend if he can slightly expand his budget

10

Well to be fair towards the R9 290X there is no non-reference card to truly unleah it's potential.  

11

Lol same one I had except I chose the non superclocked version

12

The difference is marginal yet the 780 is $50 cheaper, comes with a better non-reference cooler as opposed to that hand held leaf blower the AMD has, and comes with three free games that are new!  Also a $10 rebate is nice.

13

It's going to be hard to Crossfire that 780 ;)

I would get a 750W PSU - still, more than enough wattage for overclocking two 780s + CPU, but cheaper upfront, and overall, more efficient. 

Aside from that, I would get two different fans for your PH-TC14PE. Trust me, I own the exact model, and the stock fans, while they cool incredibly well, are like jet engines past 50%. I would get two Noctua AF-!$ FLX fans myself, but Cougar makes some nice 140mm fans, as well.

14

For the moment let's just stick with stock and hope the Fractal design define R4 does the job in noise cancellation.  But some fans can be added to the upgrade road map.  

As for the PSU i'll just stick with the 850W.