Thoughts about a rig I would like to build.

[ColTomb]

The MSI Z87-GD65 is a excellent board. I bought this after 3 failed ASUS boards. It works perfectly right out of the box.

Good overclocker as well. If you are not doing anything with video then the i5-4670K is a better bang for the buck.

I would also get the SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series SSD instead of the Crucial. Get a good after market CPU Cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO,

and don't forget the thermal compound. I normally use Arctic Silver 5, but if this is your first build I would get ARCTIC MX-4.

It's non conductive, so if you get sloppy with it and get some on the board it won't short it out.   

[eagl]

I would 100% recommend at least 256GB SSD, and also agree about Samsung.  I'd get Samsung 840 evo 256GB or 500GB.  Or go all-out and get the 1TB Samsung 840 evo SSD for $469 at newegg or amazon.  If you still want crucial, the release of the crucial M550 this week has driven M500 prices through the floor so you could get a 240 or 480GB crucial m500 for a good price.  If you need to offset the extra SSD cost with a cut elsewhere, go with the i5 cpu as others have also said.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

The crucials are based on the micron controller (IIRC) which has relatively bad performance on single channel operation, which is why Crucial drives are relatively bad performers in the size class below 256Mb. That's another reason to invest to a bigger drive.

[amulford]

Ok, after much thoughtful consideration I have chosen and ordered the following hardware:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler 

Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory   

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card 

Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply 

Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) 


Even after everyone saying get an I5, I think the extra  I spent on the I7 will be worth it for future proofing.  It's a little overkill I know, but I won't have to overclock as hard.  I am thinking about trying to make a few movies anyway...

I hope the gpu will be adequate.  I just don't have the funds right now to go with a better one.

I dropped the SSD for the time being.  For the time being I will have to suffer without it.  I had  budget I wanted to try and keep.  I did come close.

I went with an 850W PSU because I plan to utilize a multi card SLI setup in the future.  Thank you for the Seasonic suggestion, I feel pretty good it will last for quite a while.

The case I chose for a couple of reasons.  I think it will have a good air low with the fans and the Aftermarket cooler I chose.  It's  mostly toolless installation is a nice feature, I like to try to minimize having to stick tools in cabinets.

I chose to go a little overboard with the CPU cooler.  The dual fans and oversized radiator sounded like worth it to me.  I hope I am right.

It's ordered and on the way.  Any opinions?

[eagl]

The H100 is a bit hard to fit into most cases, even corsair ones.  If it doesn't fit, exchange it for an H80 or H90 which ought to fit better.

[Debrody]

That i7 is a 90W CPU. For the love of God, my old 140W crap never goes over 60° and does it totally silently - on a 35$ CM Hyper212.

Edit: water cooling might be useful for a high performance, ~250W GPU, especially if its throttling is connected to the core temperature - 290 series - , but practically useless for a 90W cpu.

By the way, that puter is great - super expensive, but will serve you well.

[Bizman]

That i7 is a 90W CPU. For the love of God, my old 140W crap never goes over 60° and does it totally silently - on a 35$ CM Hyper212.

I was thinking about the same. IMO the current CPU's run so cool that there really is no benefit in water cooling. After all, they need a fan, too. The old wisdom is still true: The more and larger fans you have, the quieter your system. Plus air won't leak. Ever.

All in all, it looks like you should be very pleased with it for many years.   

[Masherbrum]

I went with an h80i for quiet performance now and stability in overlooking for the future.

Fractal Design cases are accommodating for h100's, but hey, what do I know? 

[amulford]

Thank you all again.  There is a lot to consider and I do appreciate the input.

If the case doesn't work, I can always order a different one.  

edit: I went ahead and added a Samsung 840 Pro 256G SSD.  I just couldn't stop myself...

[SilverZ06]

Thank you all again.  There is a lot to consider and I do appreciate the input.

If the case doesn't work, I can always order a different one.  

edit: I went ahead and added a Samsung 840 Pro 256G SSD.  I just couldn't stop myself...

Good choice! You will be very happy.

[TequilaChaser]

I'm still very happy with the 4 crucial m4 series 128 GB ssd drives I bought back in 2011...

I had thought one had went bad on me, but after researching trying to diagnose what was wrong, it turned out to be a simple firmware update...

And the performance is still above 95% after 3 years use playing AH and recording films every sortie when I play,  some films are over 2 hours long when flying FSO....

Crucial use one of the Marvell controllers, different versions depending on the crucial model, the last time I researched it... Although they may have changed recently...

I have to disagree, I've had more issues with Samsung products verses crucial ram or crucial ssd drives..

Ymmv

Wish you luck, looks like you've been bitten by the DIY computer building bug!

TC

[save]

Also some games benefit from more cores.

He can save the money by dumping the i7 and getting i5 k-series instead. i7 has poor return for dollar in gaming use. If you plan to do rendering etc. stuff also, then i7 is worth it.

[amulford]

Fractal Design cases are accommodating for h100's, but hey, what do I know? 

You were right, sir.   The cooler and the two fans would't fit.  I worked around it by mounting my fans on the outside.  It will work, but doesn't have the aesthetic I'd prefer.  I am ordering your suggestion tonight.