Need advice for a new gaming PC

[SlaveNumber23]

So after about 4 years of loyal service my budget gaming PC finally uttered its last beep code and I don't feel like its worth getting it fixed so its time to buy a new PC. I'm thinking of spending not much more than $2000(AU) and a place very close to my house offers what I think is a pretty good deal on a custom built rig that they will put together for me (they built my previous PC).

Anyway the parts are as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz (LGA-1150)

Motherboard: I have the choice between the ASUS Z87-C(LGA-1150) or the ASUS P9X79-LE(LGA-2011) for the same price and from a very brief look at both of them I think the P9X79 looks like the better choice, with slots for up to 3 video cards so I can add more later if I want to boost performance. As far as I can tell the Z87-C only has 2 slots and supports CrossFireX but not SLI, whereas the P9X79 supports both. Please correct me if I'm wrong here because I'm not 100% sure.

Cooling Fan: Boxed Cooling Fan (1150pin)/Intel BXRTS2011AC Cooler (LGA-2011)

Chipsets: Genuine Intel Chipset

Video Card: 2GB Radeon R9-270X PCI-E VGA Card

Memory: 16GB DDR3 1333 Memory (Is this overkill? Because having only 8GB instead would save me $75.)

Hard Disk: 4TB Seagate/Western Digital SATA3 HDD + Fujitsu SATA3 256G Solid State Drive

ATX Case: SHAW GM2 Gaming USB3.0 Case with SHAW 80PLUS GOLD 550W Power Supply I know it isn't too important but I really dislike the aesthetics of this case and SHAW seem a little dodgy so will probably try and swap it out for a different case, any recommendations? I like the look of Thermaltake/Coolermaster designs and don't mind paying a little more for looks.

Monitor: 27? ACER G276HLBqbid 5ms HDMI LED Backlight Monitor How exactly does running dual screens work? Can I have both screens running in a different resolution as my current monitor only goes up to 1600x900 or will I have to buy a second screen that also runs in 1920x1080?

Sound Card: High Definition Audio CODEC 5.1 Channel Sound Integrated)

Network Card: Gigabit 10/100/1000 Fast Network Card (Integrated)

DVD RW: Genuine Samsung Dual Layer DVD Writer

Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows 8.1 64bit

They also throw in some cheap speakers, keyboard and mouse worth about $50 all up which I'm not going to use as I already have a set of higher quality peripherals.

The entire system will cost me $1815 plus probably a little more depending on what case I end up choosing. I'd just like some advice how balanced this system is, how well it will run etc, will I be able to just add another video card if I want to increase performance down the line? Are any parts overkill or a little too weak compared to the rest of the system? Also am I getting good value for my money, but keep in mind that I'm in Australia so parts are probably relatively more expensive than in America.

Edit: I compared the prices with pccasegear.com and everything on there besides the case, PSU, Sound Card, Network Card, OS and DVD RW totals up to $1527. So I think I'm getting a pretty good deal here as the case, PSU, Sound Card, Network Card, OS and DVD RW likely aren't too far off that $288 difference, plus there is the labor for them to build the machine for me.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

You've only got one choice on that motherboard actually. You have a CPU that fits a 1150 socket so your mobo must have a 1150 socket. (look at the LGA number at the end of the mobo description)

As for the RAM you won't be needing 16GB. It's far too much overkill. 8GB will be more than enough. Also the case doesn't really matter so just go with one that you reckon looks nice.

Besides that though it's a pretty solid build. You will be looking at 60fps on High-Ultra settings for most if not all games.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

You've only got one choice on that motherboard actually. You have a CPU that fits a 1150 socket so your mobo must have a 1150 socket. (look at the LGA number at the end of the mobo description)

Ah I completely missed that, for another $170 they will give me a LGA-2011 Intel Quad Core i7-3820 3.60Ghz which can be used by the P9X79 motherboard which I think seems better, would that be worth it? Thanks very much for the advice.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

You've only got one choice on that motherboard actually. You have a CPU that fits a 1150 socket so your mobo must have a 1150 socket. (look at the LGA number at the end of the mobo description)

Ah I completely missed that, for another $170 they will give me a LGA-2011 Intel Quad Core i7-3820 3.60Ghz which can be used by the P9X79 motherboard which I think seems better, would that be worth it? Thanks very much for the advice.

Eh I'd say no. Will you be using this mainly for gaming? If so the i7 offers no real performance gain over the i5. You are better off using any spare money on getting the best graphics card you can afford.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Eh I'd say no. Will you be using this mainly for gaming? If so the i7 offers no real performance gain over the i5. You are better off using any spare money on getting the best graphics card you can afford.

Alright, do you think using multiple graphics cards is worth it at all though? Because it doesn't seem like the Z87 motherboard supports multiple Nvidia cards and I'm a bigger fan of Nvidia than AMD. Otherwise if I stuck with the Z87 I could pay another $429 for a Gigabyte GV-N780OC-3GD 3GB GTX 780 PCI-E VGA Card would that work with my system/be worth it? I wouldn't mind paying that much extra if that increased the performance by a decent amount. Would probably have to upgrade the power supply as well though.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Eh I'd say no. Will you be using this mainly for gaming? If so the i7 offers no real performance gain over the i5. You are better off using any spare money on getting the best graphics card you can afford.

Alright, do you think using multiple graphics cards is worth it at all though? Because it doesn't seem like the Z87 motherboard supports multiple Nvidia cards and I'm a bigger fan of Nvidia than AMD. Otherwise if I stuck with the Z87 I could pay another $429 for a Gigabyte GV-N780OC-3GD 3GB GTX 780 PCI-E VGA Card would that work with my system/be worth it? I wouldn't mind paying that much extra if that increased the performance by a decent amount. Would probably have to upgrade the power supply as well though.

I would go with the best single card you can afford. Dual GPU set-ups are more of a hassle then they are worth. A GTX 780 would be overkill though. You would be better off with a 770 which has comparable performance for a cheaper price.

But really at that range it's all just diminishing returns. The card you currently have will get you 60fps in most games and you don't really need more than that. I mean sure with a GTX 780 you could get 70-80 fps but you won't notice the difference.

 

[SnowyGamester]

Yeah don't worry about 2011 or i7s, they are overpriced and unnecessary...a top tier i5 is the way to go, and yeah, you'll need a board that supports your CPU of choice...FYI you won't need a third-party cooler unless you plan to overclock. Personally I'm not one to worry about SLI or CrossFire since by the time you feel the need to upgrade it usually makes as much sense to just get a new card rather than a second outdated card. As for RAM, 8GB should be plenty (though admittedly I shelled out for 16 myself), regardless you might as well get 1600mhz RAM since it usually costs only marginally more than 1333mhz so why not get the better stuff. As for the case and PSU, the case isn't all that important so whatever you like the look of is what you should get; the PSU is important but if it's certified and has enough power it shouldn't be a problem. And no, you won't have any trouble running screens at different resolutions...on older versions of Windows the desktop wallpapers would get a little wonky but Windows 8 has really good multi-monitor support.

As for how well it will work, what you've listed is all quality, high end components that shouldn't have any compatibility or bottleneck issues. I'm not super familiar with CrossFire but if you get a second R9-270X down the line you should be able to combine them for increased performance though as I said it's not something I'd personally bother with. As far as whether it's good value for money, I suggest you look up the parts on pccasegear.com (Aussie supplier) and see how the prices stack up...if they're comparable to what they have there than you're probably getting a pretty alright deal. $1815 does seem like a lot but I'm not certain what all of the components are worth so it's hard to say off hand without knowing how it's all distributed.

Also that SSD seems unnecessarily large...personally I only about half fill my 120GB one though it does depend on what you actually plan on putting on there.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

I would go with the best single card you can afford. Dual GPU set-ups are more of a hassle then they are worth. A GTX 780 would be overkill though. You would be better off with a 770 which has comparable performance for a cheaper price.

But really at that range it's all just diminishing returns. The card you currently have will get you 60fps in most games and you don't really need more than that. I mean sure with a GTX 780 you could get 70-80 fps but you won't notice the difference.

Alright sounds like its most sensible to stick with the R9-270X then, thanks for the advice I really appreciate it!

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I would go with the best single card you can afford. Dual GPU set-ups are more of a hassle then they are worth. A GTX 780 would be overkill though. You would be better off with a 770 which has comparable performance for a cheaper price.

But really at that range it's all just diminishing returns. The card you currently have will get you 60fps in most games and you don't really need more than that. I mean sure with a GTX 780 you could get 70-80 fps but you won't notice the difference.

Alright sounds like its most sensible to stick with the R9-270X then, thanks for the advice I really appreciate it!

No worries.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Also that SSD seems unnecessarily large...personally I only about half fill my 120GB one though it does depend on what you actually plan on putting on there.

Well I was planning on installing my OS on it as well as any games with long loading screens so even the 128GB one is probably overkill especially since I'm getting a 4TB hard drive as well as having about 4TB worth of external drives for storage but the prices are $79 / $109 / $195 for 64 / 128 / 256 GB respectively and I think its worth splurging on the biggest one just in case I ever find a need for the extra space on it.

Also the place I'm getting it from (MSY) will build it for me and test that it works smoothly etc so that service comes with the $1815 price but I'll definitely compare prices with pccasegear. MSY have always had really good prices when I've bought from them in the past though. Thanks for the advice!