re: PC Discussion - Gaming, Performance and Enthusiasts

I mean, minimum could be 60GB but wouldn't be enough to store much else besides OS and a few programs. Ideally, you'd want something to store OS, all programs, some games, and at least whatever 3D project you're working on at the time (would load much faster). You can get a 250GB SSD for under $100. I think that should be your absolute minimum starting point these days.

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They are definitely perfect steambox cards within the heat and power constraints. With the cost of waterblocks bringing the pair to $1400, probably not the best of upgrades from a 780 Ti.

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Yeah, it isn't much more head room. I took my 780 Tis out of SLi and ran a few games and benches against my single 980 (was planning on getting a second), but it was barely marginal difference. Sometimes Big Kepler would stay a few frames ahead and other times Little Maxwell would perform a better.

Now I do want to point that Maxwell just "feels smoother" over the old Tis.

I will just be holding out for Big Maxwell for the main rig.

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Make sure you throw that qnix monitor to 120hz with that new setup!

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120 was a no go, I am at 90 right now.

Got this feedback from overclock.net, is it true?

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I may be wrong but it looks like the CPU block is mounted sideways. This will not cool the cores properly because the slots in the block are sitting in the wrong direction.

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shite it looks like they might be right!

I can't seem to find a picture of the underside of the block to tell you for sure, and I've never worked with these coolers before. I do see that every photo of it mounted shows it oriented like the pic above, so you may want to play it safe and remount.


That tubing in the above pic drives me nuts. That slightly kinked tube at the top just ruins it.

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Can the wisdom of this board please critique my build? This will be my first attempt at building a gaming PC that can also be used for 3D modeling.

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Based on the parts I'm assuming this is mostly 3d modeling, and gaming is just a secondary nice-to-have?

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Based on the parts I'm assuming this is mostly 3d modeling, and gaming is just a secondary nice-to-have?

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Pretty much. The main games I want to be able to play are single player fantasy epics like Skyrim, The Sims franchise, and Total War series.

I plan on using the computer to design my dream home in autocad and revit as well as allow my SO to design projects in there in her spare time.

I'm also going to eventually fit the PC out to use as a music recording station. In the meantime, on the music side, it will be more for itunes and streaming internet radio.

Are there easy ways to hook the PC up to my TV without snaking an HDMI chord the whole way?

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Pretty much. The main games I want to be able to play are single player fantasy epics like Skyrim, The Sims franchise, and Total War series.

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What 3d modeling software are you going to use? That will make a big difference in CPU choice.

EDIT: just saw your edit above

The pic with the shitty white tubing is actually on the support page on Swiftech's site, so that orientation is a safe bet.

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Obviously, I want the most value possible, but I'd really like to stay under $700 if possible. Please let me know what you think.

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I'm going to revise your "big" build and leave the budget one alone, as it's configured to do not much of anything all that well.

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Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor

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That's the first thing that needs to change. $700 for a 3d modeling/gaming rig is still considered low-budget, and an i7 seldom fits in this budget for a well-balanced rig. Furthermore, pretty much all games use 4 cores or less, so the hyperthreading will be a waste in most cases. Even in Revit, the list of multi-threaded functions is short. The important things in the software, based on what I've read, rely on single-threaded performance. An i5 is appropriate here.

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Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

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You selected an unlocked (K) processor but then chose this motherboard. You only want a K processor if you intend to overclock, and if you intend to overclock, you should be getting a Z-series chipset board. However, your budget doesn't allow for either. We'll stick with a cheap board, but for the sake of keeping things less complicated, we'll go with an H97 chipset since H81 may or may not require a bios update to run a haswell refresh chip (never know which vendors have updated boards or not).

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G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory

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There are cheaper kits that are dual channel and faster. Right now there's a pretty insane deal on some 2133 CL9 RAM... $64.99 with promo code. Ends 11/27.

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EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card

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This is fine for extremely casual low-end gaming, but just be aware that for another $80 you'd get a new R9-280x that would be nearly double the performance. Revit doesn't care about GPU brand either, because it doesn't have GPU-accelerated rendering.

But anyway, here's what I'd do: LINK

It's just above $700 after rebates. Caveats are that I did not include the Blu-Ray burner. How important is it? I bought one years ago and can count on one hand how many blu-rays I burned and how many I actually watched. It's not practical unless you have a specific use (e.g., if you're a professional video editor who provides blu-ray media to clients). Also didn't include the speakers since I'm not the one to ask for speaker advice.

You can add those items back in by downgrading to the 750 Ti again if you must.