Building a Monster PC

I would consider using reviews and benchmark tests, as well as your needs to choose what the best parts for you. Building a PC is easy if you know what to do. If you had experience working with the internals of a PC, it’ll be a piece of cake.

But I urge you, take caution. You should always think about what are your needs and which parts will you need the most. You don’t want to spend a fortune on just building a Facebook machine. That’s what Macs are usually for.

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I’ve build my fair share of Computers and while your setup works, there are a few things to take into consideration.

Your CPU has 8 cores, which as said in a post above isn’t needed for a gamer pc. But some programs do occasionally use 8 cores (and more). Most of those are for video and image editing, for example Photoshop. So if you think you could use them, why not. But a 4 core will be sufficient even in 5 years.

Your video card is way to overboard. 1500$ is to much, especially in a self build PC. There are a lot of better alternative for a third of that price.
One major plus of a custom build PC is that you can easily upgrade it.
It is better to do “pitstops”, eg it is better to buy a new 500$ GPU every 2-3 years instead of doing the whole race in one go like using a 1500$ GPU for 6-9 years.

No problem with an optical drive, but you should also consider if you’ll need a card reader too. There are portable ones too if you ever need one, but if you are gonna keep this PC for years you may as well have a build in card reader for a few more bucks and less hassle but it really is personal preference in both cases.

For the monitor, since you are a 3D environmental artist, maybe looking into getting a TFT with IPS pannel would be a good idea. Try both types of pannel out in a shop before buying. IPS usually cost a bit more, but is better in rendering so it’s the go to for image and video editing or for movie watching etc.

A 200$+ keyboard that isn’t mechanical is wasted money imo. For that money you can get a nice mechanical one that will survive longer than you. But again, it’s personal likes here i guess.

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I’ve built my share of PCs over the years… and it is definitely a rewarding experience! however, if you are not on a really tight budget, you might want to look into custom built PCs, as the difference in price (and potential savings) has really diminished over the last decade…

either way, good luck! :smiley:

If you are using your MONSTER computer for gaming, I would suggest staying away from Windows 8, just my personal opinion.

Have to agree with @SteveAdamo on this. The price difference between building your own and many custom jobs is miniscule these days. I brought a Velocity micro and absolutely love it, it cost $50 more then if I had brought it all separately including shipping but it has a better case then I could afford, and their customer support is top notch.

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The Monster has been reborn/reshaped . With the help everyones input, I reviewed the build at hand and critiqued it to where I thought it was suitable for standards. Somethings I changed like the video card, display, and accessories. I thought the accessories I had chosen were just fill in where I see fit. I got rid of them completely cause the only thing that should be taken into consideration is the machine itself.

I did however decide to keep the rest, the only thing I’m questioning is the CPU cooler, and the optical drive. I think the CPU cooler might be too over the notch for what it is, especially when dealing with liquid cooling. Things tend to break over time and could possibly ruin the machine if not taken care of right away.

I hope to hear your feedback on the updated version, thanks again guys. =)

I was thinking the same thing, because I know Directx 12 is right around the corner with DDR4, and I’m thinking maybe I should wait. Cause that will most likely change a lot of things about this build.

I sat and thought about it and was like "you know what, he’s right. " So I looked more into the video card, and figured out you don’t need that much buck for such a bang.

I looked at reviews and tried to find a good display, but I couldn’t decide on what to get. However, I will go to Fry’s here in a few days and try some out.

Oh, I forgot.

Intel is usually a better choice than AMD, usually because of the performance and how Intel chips are usually a great bang for the buck, but it’s your choice whether you want Intel or AMD. I use Intel, but I’m guessing you use AMD.

Also, where is the case for this “Monster PC”

Well… I have to wait til pay day. Trust me there will be pictures. =)
Relevant

Oh, I saw your Comic, the Titanic one, and I have to say it looks a lot like C&H. No offense though, I just want to know why you chose the C&H art style.

Which is one reason not to buy an over-the-top GPU that you won’t be changing any time soon.
I’m more familiar with radeon, but that GTX 770 you have now seems to be sufficient for now, especially with only 1920x1200.

Anyway to get back to your setup:

  • the RAM : don’t buy RAM with Heat Spreaders. Those sometime look like this:
    http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/ram-module-heat-spreader-26651825.jpg
    http://hothardware.com/newsimages/Item20820/pny-xlr8.jpg
    Those will sometimes get in the way of your CPU cooler or longer GPUs. RAM without heat spreaders works just fine, so avoid possible hassle there.

  • The monitor is now a 1920x1200. Since you had a 1920x1080 before, I’m just pointing it out here in case you took it by mistake. It’s personal preference here either way.

  • You are buying a x4 Network Adapter, but your mainboard should already have at least one. If you don’t need more than one, save yourself 150usd there.
    Same for the soundcard, if you don’t work extensively with sound then the onboard sound will suffice amply.
    The fun part about those cards is that you can always add them easily later on if you really need it.

I think that’s all for now, but it’s late here so I may have missed something :wink:

I’m terrible with monitors, I mean I look at them and just get confused with the wording and end up walking out of Sears with a 3D tv… Not my best purchase. I tried looking for a TFT with IPS pannel but could not find one. If you find one please point me into the direction.

I don’t work with sound much, but I do have a nice entertainment system and wanted to use that with it. Just get that nice sound instead of a mono sound tone. I’ve read that network cards can be beneficial, like when you get distortion it’s usually because interference with the motherboard.

Although with the network adapter I’m not too sure on. My friend told me they’re good to have if you’re online gaming, it can demand more from your modem. I was just unsure and took his advice and put one on the list.

I want to thank you so much for your feedback on this project, it means a lot to me! =)

[quote=“Feashrind, post:13, topic:6360”]
I’m terrible with monitors, I mean I look at them and just get confused with the wording and end up walking out of Sears with a 3D tv… Not my best purchase. I tried looking for a TFT with IPS pannel but could not find one. If you find one please point me into the direction.[/quote]
The one you have now seems good.
I’m sorry if I confused you, I was just pointing out that the monitor in your first link was a 1920x1080. And now you have a 1920x1200. Some people prefer the 16:9 widescreen (1920x1080), but the 16:10 is good too, it adds 120px vertically and those ARE noticable. For movies it adds sometimes black bars on top and below the movie, in games it depends on the game but either you get those black bars or a better FOV. But for anything else (internet, work, coding etc) those 120px are very welcome.
So the one you chose is good, it’s just a question of whether you prefer 16:10 or 16:9 which seems to be the norm nowadays.

[quote=“Feashrind, post:13, topic:6360”]
I don’t work with sound much, but I do have a nice entertainment system and wanted to use that with it. Just get that nice sound instead of a mono sound tone.[/quote]
Your mainboard has everything you need for surround sound. As you can see here you have all you need.
If you feel later on that you need a soundcard, you can always add it, but it probably won’t be the case. Soundcards like that are useful for old mainboards without connectors or for people with really specific needs (eg DJs etc but those soundcards cost probably a bit more).

[quote=“Feashrind, post:13, topic:6360”]
I’ve read that network cards can be beneficial, like when you get distortion it’s usually because interference with the motherboard.[/quote]
I don’t know about that, seems strange considering the network PCI card you are buying extra will be put on the mainboard too, so any interference would be there too :confused: … I guess if your friend is sure about it, but personally I haven’t heard about those problems. And again, you can always add this costly card later on, maybe you should test the provided LAN first and see if you actually need to pay 150usd extra. I’d much prefer to spend the 200usd from both cards (soundcard and LAN) in an SSD for Windows and programs or sth like that.

[quote=“Feashrind, post:13, topic:6360”]
they’re good to have if you’re online gaming, it can demand more from your modem.[/quote]
You have a Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s with your mobo already, I don’t see how you can use more with a card that has the same specifics… As I said, as long as you don’t intend to use more than 1 ethernet cable for your PC you should not need the extra 4 for 150usd.

The Monster has been changed, again I went back to the drawing board and picked away at things. I read a lot of articles, and watched many Youtube videos and I think I finally came down to the core of things.


Noticable Changes

  • Changed the CPU, I thought from 4.0 to 4.4 you can’t really notice a difference, especially with a small gap, so I went with its predecessor. Dropped at least $50.

  • Went with a different cooler this time around, I went into my local computer guy and had a good chat with him about my machine and he told me that the whole machine could get ruined when dealing with liquid cooling. As much fun as that sounds, I’ll pass. Changed that to a nice fan setup I read about.

  • Changed the graphics card because this one is over clocked, and I have no idea how to do that myself and thought $2.00 for that can’t be too bad. It’s the same card just faster rate.

  • The case is different, I just don’t like those flashy cases. I thought the green line looked teal, and was disgusted with it. I had to send it back just for that reason. New case is on the way though!

  • Downgraded the optical drive. An optical drive doesn’t need to be that much, I’ll mostly use it for installing old games, and the OS. Other than that it’s trash.

  • Took off the sound card and network adapter. I am convinced that you do not need any of that, at all. The $169.99 board pays for itself when working with audio. The network adapter has the same usage as my motherboard.

  • As for the monitor, I’m going to look around at some places and just do my research before deciding which one I want. I asked around at a few places and I just got lame answers like, " 4k displays are all the in. Your standard 1080p monitor will be outdated very shortly." I sat there and admired the nice selection of monitors, and it looks amazing! The only problem is it’s some where at $2,000.00 for one. I think I’ll wait for my tax check on that one!

The next thing I think I should change out is the power supply. I’m not sure I need that much power. What are your suggestions?

For the PSU, I’d say a 500 Watt is good enough.

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for the PSU, go for the biggest, and most reliable brand you can afford… really factors into your ability to upgrade down the road… overkill now equates to room to expand later…

It’s not what I would build as setup personally but I tried keeping personal opinions out of the way and only give general tips and it seems to be a pretty solid build you have now imo.

  • A nice 580 Watt one with CM: Suche | ARLT Computer
    Never had problems with be-quiet so I tend to recommend them.

  • Don’t forget to take RAM without Heat spreaders, they bring nothing but problems.

  • As for the monitor, I don’t recommend a 4k display for a PC. Keep the 1920x1200 one you had in your last build I’d say or any 1920x1200/1080.
    If you really want to go big buy two of those 1920x1200 ones, that will give you more advantages than a 4k.
    4k is nice for movies but on a PC TFT it has mostly only problems, from the fact that you’ll need a 3k PC to play your games to the tiny tiny font size on a lot of programs that just don’t stretch that far…
    http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Origin-Login.png

Yet for PSU this may not apply. In recent years, due to the rise of tablets and smartphones, the trend is to save energy consumption - not increase it. For example, by upgrading this system here to much more powerful equipment, I’ve managed to actually save energy - although it’s been used more often. So if a device requires (noticeably) more energy, chances are that it’s got more powerful than energy saving.

In addition, the certification for PSUs - to my knowledge - is based on certain efficiency stages (i.e. at 20% consumption, 5% loss or something like that). Most PSUs get really efficient only if the demand is above half of what it can offer and gets better the closer you get to the limit. So some air is certainly necessary, especially if you can get a better efficiency anyway, but buying one that has 2 KW more because you can afford it would be a horrible waste of money, not just while buying it.

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Update!!!

My case has arrived!! I really love the look of it and it’s nice and simple. Sorry for the late update, had to move and all kinds of other little things got in the way. But I finally have the first piece to the puzzle! What item should I order next?

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Power supply, you can install it right when you get it and it’s usually one of the cheapest components (Case/HDDs aside).
If you know what you’re going to order, and are able to purchase them all at once of course, why not bulk buy parts, like your drives or peripherals?
(EDIT: Turns out, tab doesn’t 5x space, it posts:D )

Well if I sit too long on my pay check I tend to spend it, therefore I thought if I buy it piece by piece than it will all come together in the end anyway. Although I am buying somethings together like hard drives, and RAM.