New Build for Enthusiast Gaming and Professional 3D Art Work/Engines

[Northelim]

Hello all I am a Hardcore gamer and a 3D Artist at heart, finally got out of a university with a degree in 3D Game Art. Looking to start a career sometime soon and keep up with the latest technology for gaming as I always have all my life.

Last time I built a PC was years ago and I was on this forum and you guys helped me out greatly, I am back once again for a new generation of upgrades

Here is my proposed build.

PSU - Newegg.com - COOLMAX ZU Series ZU-900B 900W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
32 GB Ram - Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9Q-32GXM

Computer Case - Newegg.com - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case

GPU - Newegg.com - EVGA 04G-P4-2690-KR GeForce GTX 690 4GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

CPU and Motherboard Combo - Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

SSD - Newegg.com - OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Heatsink/Fan - Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

I don't use multiple monitors for gaming but I do for my 3D Work. I just want to play next-generation games at maxed out settings and be able to render 3D work fast, (Maya, 3Ds Max, Zbrush, Photoshop).

Suggestions please, thanks!

 

[PP Mguire]

I would change a few things.

First thing is that PSU, no. It's only 99 for a reason. The GTX 690 has a minimum requirement of 650w because the Keplar chip has reduced power usage greatly. Which brings me to my next point (PSU recommendations coming in a bit). If you want to go that route I highly suggest going with 2 4GB 680s instead of the single 690. You get more performance and more VRAM per GPU for relatively the same price. Still, either way you can max out any game to date and for a while.

For the 690 I would go for the TX or HX Corsair 750. For dual 680s I would go for the HX 750 or 850.

On to the CPU. If you want to stick with X79 then get the 3930k. If not, the 3770k and a Z77 ASRock board. Reason being, the 3770k is faster than the 3820 for basically the same price making it pointless. Another thing to point out, unless you plan to heavily OC an expensive board isn't necessary.

Next thing to address is the SSD. As of right now I would not buy anything from OCZ. They are currently under investigation due to their fiscal situation. Normally wouldn't be an issue, but it has been known that they are kind of struggling which is why they dropped out of the RAM market. Main point here is, if anything happens to them and your SSD goes down you might not be able to RMA it in the near future. I trust their hardware but others don't. Perfectly up to you, but I suggest a Samsung 830 or 840 pro over the Agility and Vertex series anyways.

As for the case, those are totally personal preference. Thing is, full towers are huge and unless you plan on having a ton of HDDs or extreme water cooling loop they are pretty pointless. You can get ample air flow from any decent mid tower.

My final words, what about storage? If you are doing 3D work surely you need storage space. For that you will want large HDDs and I suggest Seagate but WD Blacks are fine too.

 

[Northelim]

I would change a few things.

First thing is that PSU, no. It's only 99 for a reason. The GTX 690 has a minimum requirement of 650w because the Keplar chip has reduced power usage greatly. Which brings me to my next point (PSU recommendations coming in a bit). If you want to go that route I highly suggest going with 2 4GB 680s instead of the single 690. You get more performance and more VRAM per GPU for relatively the same price. Still, either way you can max out any game to date and for a while.

For the 690 I would go for the TX or HX Corsair 750. For dual 680s I would go for the HX 750 or 850.

On to the CPU. If you want to stick with X79 then get the 3930k. If not, the 3770k and a Z77 ASRock board. Reason being, the 3770k is faster than the 3820 for basically the same price making it pointless. Another thing to point out, unless you plan to heavily OC an expensive board isn't necessary.

Next thing to address is the SSD. As of right now I would not buy anything from OCZ. They are currently under investigation due to their fiscal situation. Normally wouldn't be an issue, but it has been known that they are kind of struggling which is why they dropped out of the RAM market. Main point here is, if anything happens to them and your SSD goes down you might not be able to RMA it in the near future. I trust their hardware but others don't. Perfectly up to you, but I suggest a Samsung 830 or 840 pro over the Agility and Vertex series anyways.

As for the case, those are totally personal preference. Thing is, full towers are huge and unless you plan on having a ton of HDDs or extreme water cooling loop they are pretty pointless. You can get ample air flow from any decent mid tower.

My final words, what about storage? If you are doing 3D work surely you need storage space. For that you will want large HDDs and I suggest Seagate but WD Blacks are fine too.

As for storage space I will be taking out of one of my HDD from my old PC and probably be adding 1 or 2 more.

I am also thinking of adding water cooling, but I have never done it before, is it difficult/dangerous?

Thanks for the warning regarding OCZ, my last SSD was from them and I had 0 problems with them so I am probably going to get them again, but I will look into Samsung just in case.

EDIT - I switched out the CPU to i7 3770K and ASrock Z77 , thanks for the suggestion this definitely saves me cash and I am getting better results.

 

[PP Mguire]

Do you plan to overclock? If not, then having watercooling is pretty pointless. If you plan to mild OC then a Corsair H series cooler would be plenty.

 

[Northelim]

Do you plan to overclock? If not, then having watercooling is pretty pointless. If you plan to mild OC then a Corsair H series cooler would be plenty.

I never over-clocked, I am afraid to do it because I never done it before. Does do anything special and is it worth it?

 

[PP Mguire]

Simply makes your system faster by increasing the speed of your processor and/or your GPU. This system is high end so no point really. Is it worth it? When your system is midrange and getting aged.
The thing is, it creates more heat due to the need to add more voltage and can be unstable for multiple reasons.

 

[Northelim]

Simply makes your system faster by increasing the speed of your processor and/or your GPU. This system is high end so no point really. Is it worth it? When your system is midrange and getting aged.
The thing is, it creates more heat due to the need to add more voltage and can be unstable for multiple reasons.

I see, then in that case I am not over-clocking maybe later way down the line but I doubt it.

Do you have anymore suggestions? I am planning on sticking with 1 GTX 690 because I never done SLI and not sure how to set it up, my previous card was ATI Radeon 5970 HD. However, ATI/AMD has been sucking monkey ass these days, I've been having driver issues with these new games so I am never touching AMD/ATI again.

What you think of these HDDs btw? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

 

[Matt77]

very good HDD deal, Seagate is pretty good.
Try to make a RAID XD

 

[PP Mguire]

I see, then in that case I am not over-clocking maybe later way down the line but I doubt it.

Do you have anymore suggestions? I am planning on sticking with 1 GTX 690 because I never done SLI and not sure how to set it up, my previous card was ATI Radeon 5970 HD. However, ATI/AMD has been sucking monkey ass these days, I've been having driver issues with these new games so I am never touching AMD/ATI again.

What you think of these HDDs btw? Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Good drives. I would get a single 2TB 7200RPM drive instead unless you are only buying one.

BTW, a GTX 690 is SLI, just like a 5970 is Crossfire. There are 2 GPUs on the same board and it is literally the same thing. The only difference is there are 2 cards instead of one. The only thing you have to do physically is put a second card in and put the SLI bridge on. Simple as that.

 

[Northelim]

Good drives. I would get a single 2TB 7200RPM drive instead unless you are only buying one.

BTW, a GTX 690 is SLI, just like a 5970 is Crossfire. There are 2 GPUs on the same board and it is literally the same thing. The only difference is there are 2 cards instead of one. The only thing you have to do physically is put a second card in and put the SLI bridge on. Simple as that.

Will this rig be able to run Unreal Engine 4 games at maxed settings? Lol. I do work with UE 3, improting/exporting models, making materials, importing custom made textures. I am assuming Epic will do same with UE 4 dev kit I want to have a powerhouse that is ready to handle that... without a sweat.