Suggestions for a first build

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1

Hi everyone!

This summer I'm finally going to bite the bullet and build a gaming/audio editing rig to replace my current DV6T which has been having lots of software compatibility and heat issues as of late. My budget is around $1500 for the core components (listed below). As I mentioned, I will be using this PC for gaming and also audio editing within Pro Tools, Cubase, etc. For this reason I've chosen to go the i7 route as opposed to an i5. I would also like to have the ability to overclock my system (nothing too fancy, just around 4.4 Ghz or thereabouts).

So, naturally, I have a few questions regarding which CPU/motherboard combo would be ideal for my purposes. I know that overclocking the Ivy Bridge and Haswell i7's can cause some serious heat issues once you reach a certain point and that the 2011 socket CPU's are much less affected by this problem. However, Newegg has a sale on the 4770k with certain mobos that will allow me to save $100 on a reasonably well-suited motherboard (thinking about the Gigabyte Z87X-UDH4). This leads me to be somewhat torn between which system I should go for, and it does affect a few other components in my build until I can get it sorted.

The other components I've decided on are as follows:

  • Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600 RAM
  • Corsair Vengeance C70 case
  • GTX 760 (either EVGA ACX superclocked if I can find it anywhere or the MSI gaming version -- please feel free to throw out suggestions for this portion as well, I'm very open) -- I plan to SLI a little later on
  • Swiftech H220 (if I can find it) or Corsair H100i
  • Corsair HX850 PSU
  • Samsung 840 Pro 120GB SSD
  • 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD

Let me know what your suggestions are, even with regards to the components I've 'decided on.' Nothing's been ordered yet, so I'm very willing to change my plans if I'm given a better alternative. Thanks a lot!

2

I've done two builds for you. An AMD build and a Intel haswell build. They will perform the same but the AMD will overclock a lot better than the haswell build.

The reason i chose the air cooler it that it would cool just as good as the h220 if not better. But if you wanted the h220 to expand later on you could easily swap it out.

AMD build

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

Intel build

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

3

Thanks for the response, I really appreciate it! I only have a few concerns with these builds.

First, the AMD motherboards use PCIe 2.0, which I know doesn't make any difference at the moment due to graphics cards not being able to utilize all of the lanes on 2.0, let alone 3.0. However, I'm wondering if in 2-3 years this could possibly change. Basically, I'm just wondering if having 3.0 over 2.0 would matter in a few years when GPU technology evolves?

Second, I'm really only concerned about the temperatures while overclocking. I'm not looking to overclock to 4.8 GHz just for bragging rights, I simply want a reasonably fast boost (something like 4.4 GHz) past stock performance. Will the Haswell chip really heat up under those conditions compared to the AMD? I've been trying to find some comparisons online for this, but none really seem to be what I'm looking for. I'd just like my system to be as cool as possible with an overclock, and I know that Haswell chips really burn up after a certain point.

Again, thanks for recommendations! I have a lot of things to look over and decide on, so I appreciate the help!

4

No, having an AM3+ board with PCIe 3.0 is a waste of money because the CPUs do not, on AM3+, support PCIe 3.0.