Advice needed on photo/gaming rig

[XuBlax]

Hi Folks,

Specing a PC as we speak, wouldnt mind a bit of a review on the mess ive made.
I will be using the computer for heavy game usage and I also do a lot of photo processing work in lightroom/PS.

I realise the current spec doesnt have coolers but will be adding watercooling to taste possibly...

The mobo isnt the most practical as I realise the sniper is probably as good but with better on board sound but err the colours dont match the rest of the build *hides*

Any thoughts on screens would be appreciated, obviously something responsive for gaming but good for photo processing, toying with the idea of a 2 screen setup if I cant get a one size fits all.

Anyway thoughts and suggestions, I am open to cutting costs in places, the PSU was just for sli further down the line...

Cheers,
Tom



Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £499.99
(£416.66) £499.99

Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
(£224.99) £269.99

Samsung 500GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE500BW) £189.98
(£158.32) £189.98

Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK Black Edition Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £161.99
(£134.99) £161.99

Corsair RM Series RM 1000 '80+ Gold' 1000W Power Supply (CP-9020062-UK) £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99

Avexir Core Blue Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001008G-2CW) - Blue Light £129.95
(£108.29) £129.95

Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Arctic White (CC-9011048-WW) £104.99
(£87.49) £104.99

Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99

OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £10.99
(£9.16) £10.99


Sub Total : £1,306.55
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
UPS Access Point
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £262.91
Total : £1,577.46

 

[Danny75]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £499.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £131.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury White 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX318C10FWK2/16) £119.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Arctic White (CC-9011048-WW) £104.99
2 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Black / White Finish (KE-S32240-W) £104.99 (£209.98)
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x NZXT HUE RGB LED Controller - Black £39.98
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSWS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - White £21.98
2 x OcUK Professional 2.5" to 3.5" SSD Adaptor Plate - Black £4.99 (£9.98)
2 x Silverstone 140mm Magnetic Fan Filter in Black £3.95 (£7.90)
Total : £1,586.30 (includes shipping : £8.00).




2 x 240GB Kingston Whites in RAID, displayed on the base of the Air 540, in the hot swap bays.

The UD3H-BK is a bit cheaper and looks the same as the UD5H-BK.

White Kingston RAM, to match the white/black theme. If you fancy the Avexirs more, then I would grab the Avexir Core White.

EVGA 850W suggestion, as it should be enough for SLI, although some do like the 1000W headroom. The EVGA SuperNova G2's are very good and have a 10-year warranty. If 1000W was desired, I'd go for an EVGA G2 or a SuperFlower Leadex.

The HDD would go hidden at the back (one method is on top of shoggy sandwich glued to base to prevent vibrations, and velcro tied around the HDD, and through the shoggy).

2 x dust/fan filters to go under the case, as 50 Air owners say a lot of dust gets in through the hot swap bay holes on the floor.

For a white/black build, the NZXT Hue RGB LED Controller is ideal for lighting and effects. You can still set it to white light if preferred (although if that's the only thing you will do, might as well go for a cheaper white LED strip).

Included a white external optical drive, as the vertical slots on the Air 540 aren't ideal.


So yeah, a few things cheaper but also added some suggestions which increase the total.

However, you do end up with three copies of Watch Dogs, so you can sell two and recover some cash.


Now I'm going to just focus on getting same performance for cheaper:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £499.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £131.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury White 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX318C10FWK2/16) £119.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Arctic White (CC-9011048-WW) £104.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £10.99
Total : £1,457.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).




White cable set:

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - White £8.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin PCI-E extension 45cm - White £6.98
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 6pin PCI-E extension 45cm - White £6.49
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - White £5.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Internal Audio Extension Adaptor 30cm - White £4.49
4 x BitFenix Alchemy 2pin I/O extension 30cm - White £3.95 (£15.80)

 

[XuBlax]

Thanks, really appreciate the feedback I did try find 16gb core whites but could only find them on ebay and didnt really trust the advert... but I will have another look.

Suggestions look spot on and will be looking hard at those SSDs, mobo and ram tonight.

Nice to get another pair of eyes on the prize

 

[Doomedspeed]

I think Danny is spot on with his first (expensive) spec. Looks epic, those SSD's in the bottom would look class.

I know you have mentioned about cooling, watercooling, but to start with it may be worth looking at getting a h100i/h105/h110 for you CPU and some sp120's (white rings) yummy.

Though a full black and white loop would look stunning in there.

 

[Danny75]

I know you have mentioned about cooling, watercooling, but to start with it may be worth looking at getting a h100i/h105/h110 for you CPU and some sp120's (white rings) yummy.

Though a full black and white loop would look stunning in there.

Please, stop, too much sexiness....

 

[Danny75]

Thanks, really appreciate the feedback I did try find 16gb core whites but could only find them on ebay and didnt really trust the advert... but I will have another look.

Ah I see. 4 x 4GB sticks of Avexir Core White might be an option, albeit slightly more expensive. But I reckon you'll be happier in the long run with how the Kingston White looks, set on the black motherboard set in the white case.

As for monitor, are you looking for particular requirements, like 10-Bit, full Adobe RGB etc? Or will a good no frills IPS do the job? Any particular resolution you're interested in? I'm not really that clued up on monitors and photo editing but if you state requirements/budget, someone more knowledgeable may be able to recommend.

 

[XuBlax]

Doomedspeed thanks for the input, I was thinking on one of the corsair jobs as a temporary measure to let my wallet recover...
Danny, thanks again, I'm pretty much sold, its hard to argue with your logic there

Screen wise, I would be looking for something Adobe RBG but being honest I might settle on a good gaming screen and purchase a dell screen for photo editing alone later down the line.

Looks like I'll be working overtime for a month

 

[Danny75]

Doomedspeed thanks for the input, I was thinking on one of the corsair jobs as a temporary measure to let my wallet recover...
Danny, thanks again, I'm pretty much sold, its hard to argue with your logic there

Screen wise, I would be looking for something Adobe RBG but being honest I might settle on a good gaming screen and purchase a dell screen for photo editing alone later down the line.

Looks like I'll be working overtime for a month

Hope you post naughty pics when it's finished.

 

[McGraw]

I've been reading that photoshop benefits from a separate scratch disk so I would go 1 ssd for ps, 1 for scratch and the mechanical for image files.

Put your apps on c: and games/scratch/ LR catalogue on d: perhaps.

That's what I'd be doing with your budget anyway.

 

[McGraw]

As for the monitor I think 10 bit is a pointless venture. I go on lightroom forums a lot and it seems the benefits just aren't worth it.

Better to spend the money on a decent calibration device.

 

[Danny75]

I've been reading that photoshop benefits from a separate scratch disk so I would go 1 ssd for ps, 1 for scratch and the mechanical for image files.

Put your apps on c: and games/scratch/ LR catalogue on d: perhaps.

That's what I'd be doing with your budget anyway.

Going by this advice (cheers, McGraw) and some other stuff that came to mind:

120GB for OS/Apps and 240GB for Games/Scratch/LR Catalogue and then the mechanical drive?

And the Kingston SSD + Memory bundles can be used to save further £ on buying the same parts individually (hadn't spotted those till now).

Also found the dust filter I'd been looking for that I just couldn't find yesterday for some reason, so swapped the 2 x 140mm's for it instead. Comes out a few pounds cheaper too. And I know it fits well thanks to feedback from Air 540 owners.

Alladat saves some.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £499.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Kingston HyperX SSD and Memory Bundle 240GB White SSD + 8GB White Memory £159.97
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £131.99
1 x Kingston HyperX SSD and Memory Bundle 120GB White SSD + 8GB White Memory £117.98
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Arctic White (CC-9011048-WW) £104.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 1 Year Warranty £59.99
1 x NZXT HUE RGB LED Controller - Black £39.98
1 x Corsair Fan, SP120 PWM High Pressure Fan 4 pin, Dual Pack (CO-9050014-WW) £25
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSWS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - White £21.98
1 x Corsair Air Series AF140 1200RPM LED White Quiet Edition (CO-9050017-WLED) £10.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - White £8.99
2 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin PCI-E extension 45cm - White £6.98 (£13.96)
1 x Silverstone SST-FF142B Magnetic Fan Filter - 320x155mm £5.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - White £5.99
3 x BitFenix Alchemy SATA 6GB/s braided cable 30cm - White £5.99 (£17.97)
2 x OcUK Professional 2.5" to 3.5" SSD Adaptor Plate - Black £4.99 (£9.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Internal Audio Extension Adaptor 30cm - White £4.49
4 x BitFenix Alchemy 2pin I/O extension 30cm - White £3.95 (£15.80)
Total : £1,700.95 (includes shipping : £12.50).




That's with all the works, including refurbished cooler suggestion to tide you by until you do your own custom loop.

You could replace all the case's fans with AF120's to match the SP120's, although it's cheaper to keep the front two white LED 140mm fans and add another to replace the non-LED case fan on the rear. The other reason not to spend on AF120's right now is that when you do your custom loop, you'll probably want more SP120's instead?

And this is what it comes out to with all the bling removed (but cooler included, unlike in original spec):

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £499.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Kingston HyperX SSD and Memory Bundle 240GB White SSD + 8GB White Memory £159.97
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £131.99
1 x Kingston HyperX SSD and Memory Bundle 120GB White SSD + 8GB White Memory £117.98
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Arctic White (CC-9011048-WW) £104.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 1 Year Warranty £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSWS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - White £21.98
1 x Silverstone SST-FF142B Magnetic Fan Filter - 320x155mm £5.99
2 x OcUK Professional 2.5" to 3.5" SSD Adaptor Plate - Black £4.99 (£9.98)
Total : £1,556.29 (includes shipping : £11.25).