$2500 Black Friday Game Dev Build

[gohpep]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 280L 122.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($185.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($249.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 960GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($499.88 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($549.95 @ Directron) 

Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (White) ATX Full Tower Case  ($214.57 @ Mwave) 

Power Supply: FSP Group AURUM 92+ 550W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($106.50 @ Newegg) 

Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($149.00 @ B&H) 

Keyboard: Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL White LED Backlit (Red Cherry MX) Wired Standard Keyboard  ($139.00 @ Mechanical Keyboards) 

Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse  ($50.36 @ Amazon) 

Total: $2545.22

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-21 23:41 EST-0500

 

Hello, and thank you for taking a look at my build. I'll be buying my PC parts on Black Friday. I will be overclocking. I will be doing video editing (with Hitfilm 2 Ultimate), graphic design (with paint.net), gaming, game development (with Unreal Engine 4), and programming (although I don't think this will affect anything). The games that I will be playing will be Assassin's Creed: Unity, Watch_Dogs, and GTA V, plus some other older games I don't think will be a problem with this build.

 

I decided to postpone my summer build to now so I can save a bit of money from the sales, and I wanted to wait for the new Intel CPUs and Nvidia cards to come out.

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

How can that Aurum be so expensive? o.O We got an 750W platinum rated here for less than that ...

 

One thing, if You are looking to spend that much on an SSD I'd rather look at this if I were You.

 

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Solutions-RevoDrive-Generation-RVD350-FHPX28-240G/dp/B00JXKIET2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416632044&sr=8-1&keywords=revodrive

 

I guess it will get a tad cheaper on Black Friday?

 

Other than that, a very good a decent build. :rofl:

[MorganX]

Looks good. I'd go with Dual 512GB SSDs in Raid 0. Samsung 840 or 840 Pros. You'll get 1GBs R/W. Intel Chipsets support Trim on Raid 0 since Series 7. Attached is what I'm getting with two 128GB 840 Pros.

[gohpep]

How can that Aurum be so expensive? o.O We got an 750W platinum rated here for less than that ...

 

One thing, if You are looking to spend that much on an SSD I'd rather look at this if I were You.

 

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Solutions-RevoDrive-Generation-RVD350-FHPX28-240G/dp/B00JXKIET2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416632044&sr=8-1&keywords=revodrive

 

I guess it will get a tad cheaper on Black Friday?

 

Other than that, a very good a decent build. :rofl:

Went with Morgan's suggestion and got 2 Extreme Pros.

 

 

Looks good. I'd go with Dual 512GB SSDs in Raid 0. Samsung 840 or 840 Pros. You'll get 1GBs R/W. Intel Chipsets support Trim on Raid 0 since Series 7. Attached is what I'm getting with two 128GB 840 Pros.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

Went with Morgan's suggestion and got 2 Extreme Pros.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Yeah, a tad cheaper as well I guess :)

[Mandosis]

Since you mentioned you are going to be using Unreal Engine 4 I know in the documentation they recommend 32gb of ram but thats not as necessary if you use the pre-compiled build. If you compile it from source you should consider bumping the ram up to 32gb.

[+PeterUK MVC]

I've got a Gigabyte GA-X99-UD4 which is a bit cheaper then the one you picked but its a very capable Motherboard for the price.

Up RAM to DDR4-2666

[T3X4S]

PSU is a little wimpy in my opinion.

It might be a good model, but it is a little on the thin side.

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

PSU is a little wimpy in my opinion.

It might be a good model, but it is a little on the thin side.

 

Aurum's are actually very good PSU's. I have had a couple and they are top notch but the wattage he is getting...meh. Better safe than sorry and up that to some bigger one.

[T3X4S]

Yeah, thats what I was getting at.  It might be a really good PSU, just kinda weak in terms of power.  The PSU is never the place to try and pinch pennies.

[gohpep]

Aurum's are actually very good PSU's. I have had a couple and they are top notch but the wattage he is getting...meh. Better safe than sorry and up that to some bigger one.

PCPartPicker estimated the wattage to be 406W, but I'm not sure how accurate it is.

[gohpep]

Since you mentioned you are going to be using Unreal Engine 4 I know in the documentation they recommend 32gb of ram but thats not as necessary if you use the pre-compiled build. If you compile it from source you should consider bumping the ram up to 32gb.

Although I know it might be helpful, I am going to stick with less RAM now, and upgrade later if I really need it.

[gohpep]

Does anyone know a good monitor worthy of my build?

I was thinking

• http://pcpartpicker.com/part/dell-monitor-u2713hm
• http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-90lm00u0b01370

[gohpep]

Yeah, thats what I was getting at.  It might be a really good PSU, just kinda weak in terms of power.  The PSU is never the place to try and pinch pennies.

Changed the power supply to http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ss760xp

[gohpep]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($389.99 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 280L 122.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI X99S Gaming 7 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($278.79 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($259.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($249.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($249.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($549.95 @ Directron) 

Case: Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($174.99 @ Amazon) 

Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($799.00 @ Amazon) 

Keyboard: Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL White LED Backlit (Red Cherry MX) Wired Standard Keyboard  ($139.00 @ Mechanical Keyboards) 

Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse  ($46.15 @ Amazon) 

Total: $3377.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-22 10:50 EST-0500

 

I changed the case to a 760T, the motherboard to a MSI X99S Gaming 7, and the monitor to the ROG Swift. The monitor really bumps up my price, but as long as it is worth it, I will buy it.

[Ironman273]

I know people that swear by this monitor: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130703&p_id=10489&seq=1&format=2

[Ironman273]

Wow!  Just came across this: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Dell-28-Ultra-HD-4K-Monitor---P2815Q/productID.309552300

[xendrome]

Wow!  Just came across this: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Dell-28-Ultra-HD-4K-Monitor---P2815Q/productID.309552300

 

 

"The killer flaw of the Dell P2815Q panel: it's capped at 30Hz when it's at full 3840x2160 resolution."

 

http://accessories.ap.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&redirect=1&s=dhs&sku=210-40773

 

Is my choice.

[T3X4S]

Wow!  Just came across this: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Dell-28-Ultra-HD-4K-Monitor---P2815Q/productID.309552300

I think that is one of those garbage 4K ones - 30Hz

[gohpep]

Here are the monitors I am looking at:

• http://pcpartpicker.com/part/dell-monitor-u2713hm
• http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-pb278q
• http://pcpartpicker.com/part/aoc-monitor-g2460pqu
• http://pcpartpicker.com/part/benq-monitor-xl2720z
• http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-90lm00u0b01370

[gohpep]

Added http://pcpartpicker.com/part/steelseries-headphones-51110

[gohpep]

Added thermal paste, because why not? http://pcpartpicker.com/part/arctic-silver-thermal-paste-as535g

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 280L 122.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste  ($3.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: MSI X99S Gaming 7 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($267.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($259.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($249.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($249.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($549.95 @ Directron) 

Case: Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($174.99 @ Amazon) 

Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($807.58 @ Newegg) 

Keyboard: Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL White LED Backlit (Red Cherry MX) Wired Standard Keyboard  ($139.00 @ Mechanical Keyboards) 

Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse  ($46.15 @ Amazon) 

Headphones: SteelSeries Siberia v2 Headset  ($70.05 @ Amazon) 

Total: $3409.62

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-22 12:44 EST-0500

[Ironman273]

I think that is one of those garbage 4K ones - 30Hz

Was just coming back to post that. Only good stat is the 4k. Everything else is cheap.

[MorganX]

The only reason I'd pay that much for a 27" 1440p Monitor is that it is 144Hz. Right now G-sync is just way too expensive, but for game dev I can see it. I might hold off if you're going to spend that kind of money for a Monitor and see what's available in 1stQ. You'll have the AMD Freesync Monitors, and more 144Hz panels.

 

If I went 1440p right now I'd go with the LG Curved 34" http://www.amazon.com/LG-34UC97-Cineview-Ultrawide-3440x1440/dp/B00NTQHIUM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1416678810&sr=8-11&keywords=LG+34%22 which is 60Hz over Display Port. AOC will have the same panel minus Thunderbolt in 1sQ15 which should know a couple hundred off the ~1200 price http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_5o_tsBz5Q.

 

And Dell will have theirs at that time too http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/full-info-on-dell-u3415w-appears.html. That should provide some price competition. The only issue is going over 60Hz at that size and resolution. Right now the ROG is the only option, and you're paying a premium.

 

Unfortunately manufacturers have jumped on the 4k buzzword bandwagon which to me is a waste for PC monitors except for video production and movie watching. EVen with 20/20 vision I can't see anyone having a productive computing experience at that resolution on less than a 34" monitor, and for gaming you're going to have to have 2x or 3x SLI or Crossfire. I hope we get more 1440p with higher refresh rates at 28-34" as opposed to more 4k next year.

[gohpep]

The only reason I'd pay that much for a 27" 1440p Monitor is that it is 144Hz. Right now G-sync is just way too expensive, but for game dev I can see it. I might hold off if you're going to spend that kind of money for a Monitor and see what's available in 1stQ. You'll have the AMD Freesync Monitors, and more 144Hz panels.

 

If I went 1440p right now I'd go with the LG Curved 34" http://www.amazon.com/LG-34UC97-Cineview-Ultrawide-3440x1440/dp/B00NTQHIUM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1416678810&sr=8-11&keywords=LG+34%22 which is 60Hz over Display Port. AOC will have the same panel minus Thunderbolt in 1sQ15 which should know a couple hundred off the ~1200 price http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_5o_tsBz5Q.

 

And Dell will have theirs at that time too http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/full-info-on-dell-u3415w-appears.html. That should provide some price competition. The only issue is going over 60Hz at that size and resolution. Right now the ROG is the only option, and you're paying a premium.

 

Unfortunately manufacturers have jumped on the 4k buzzword bandwagon which to me is a waste for PC monitors except for video production and movie watching. EVen with 20/20 vision I can't see anyone having a productive computing experience at that resolution on less than a 34" monitor, and for gaming you're going to have to have 2x or 3x SLI or Crossfire. I hope we get more 1440p with higher refresh rates at 28-34" as opposed to more 4k next year.

So I guess a 1440p monitor would be good, IPS, with a 60Hz+ framerate, or just keep the ROG SWIFT.

 

Also someone on reddit recommended 970 2x SLI instead of one 980. Thoughts?