Building a pc for the first time.

[lost_gypsy]

As stated I am building a pc for the first time. I am currently running on an asus g10ac model.

Seeing how this community has a wealth of knowledge I was wondering if you wouldn't mind shooting me some recommendations on what to get as far as motherboard and gpu are concerned.

At the moment I have my eyes set on two titan blacks though I'll start with one and buy the other later. Can you mix gpus as in one black and lets say a 780ti? (Refuse to pay 3000 for the Z)

Maybe even a motherboard that can support two cpus. Though obviously I can live with one.

Also perhaps some advice on what to avoid. I should be able to transfer my ram, bluray dvd player and harddrive so I am good in those regards.


Any insight you can offer would be lovely. Thanks.

[electricsheep26354]

Hi lost_gypsy

First off graphics cards: the Titan Blacks are a good choice if you have the budget - modded Skyrim will definitely benefit the 6GB VRAM (The 780ti runs about the same speed but the 3gb VRAM can be limiting.) You can't mix and match different graphics card classes for multi-GPU setups they all need to be Titans or all 780s, but can be different brands of the same model. If you have the budget I would definitely recommend 2 cards - this nearly doubles my frame rate with very high quality ENB settings. The Titan Z is a complete rip off - IMO - 2 Titan Blacks in SLI will beat it hands down for nearly half the price!

I wouldn't bother with 2 CPUs - no games will ever make use of them. I would recommend taking look a the new Intel Devils Canyon CPU the i7 4790k - due about in a few weeks for the same price as the i7 4770k. It has higher clocks and much better overclocking potential due to improved thermal compound. You will need a Z97 motherboard for this - their are lots available depending on you budget - be sure to get one that supports SLI - Asus and Gigabyte boards are both very good IMO.

Skyrim is a CPU bound game - if you play on high ugrids and have lots of mods (esp. grass/flora/mesh) installed the CPU can still limit your FPS - if you have the budget you could consider a i7 4930k or a i7 i7 4960X - i have seen benchmarks that show increased Skyrim performance with these.

The other factor to consider is cooling - if your running everything at stock speeds you're fine, if you plan to overclock (can gain about 20% performance with overclocked Titans or 780tis) I would high recommend considering a water cooling solution, same for the CPU.

Also be sure to get a case with plenty of space for air flow for SLI - I have the Phanteks Enthoo Primo which I would highly recommend.

Hope this helps - if you need any further advice let me know

I really like some of your gallery pics BTW

[hager13]

I would wait til next year if thats a possibility. Next year you get a new generation of intel CPUs which support DDR4 ram. Furthermore next year there will be 20nm gpus.

I think the best time to upgrade is at the beginning of new generation, not at the end.

[--JawZ--]

I agree with hager13 on the waiting part if you have the possibility to wait that long that is.

I however don't agree on the part where it's better to upgrade when a new generation has just been released or close to it. It's new and though it has been tested, with all things new there
are more likely to be "bugs" left in the system to take care of. Which later on will be fixed (hopefully at least) and there is also the possibility of improvements being added further down the line.

I would rather say somewhere at the middle (and leaning towards the end) of a generation is a good time to start investing in upgradeable parts or buying new parts entirely.
A good reference is with my current motherboard which had some faults in it's initial release but later on in a newer revision it was fixed.
I can't remember what it was exactly as it was years ago.

Motherboard I currently have is the MSI P67A GD55 B3, earlier version of it is the same name but without the B3 at the end of it.


However I think, just assuming though, I know what hager13 gets his point of view from. A new generation in itself brings improvements in performance,
stability and efficiency (most of the time anyway) and thus makes it a good time to start thinking about upgrading and/or buying new parts.
Am I right or wrong here hager13 about the way you where thinking abut that it's a good time to start when a new generation is released?



Here are some links to actually building a PC in case you want some more info on that
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/274 ... e-building
http://www.buildeasypc.com/

They might be outdated but the general principle of putting it all together will not change any time soon.
Google search that I used to find the links - building a computer step by step and building a computer guide as well as just building a computer

[lost_gypsy]

I would wait til next year if thats a possibility. Next year you get a new generation of intel CPUs which support DDR4 ram. Furthermore next year there will be 20nm gpus.

I think the best time to upgrade is at the beginning of new generation, not at the end.

But can't I just swap out the old for the new?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... OgodjkcASw

The desktop I am using atm.

Reason why I posted it is because I am wondering if perhaps it would be better for me to buy a new gpu for the moment instead. I already know I can't do SLI (Unless all I need to do is get a new motherboard?)

Any suggestions on what I should buy to enhance my experience with this desktop desktop while I wait for next year then?

Also btw thanks everyone for the help so far.

[--JawZ--]

The only thing I see that would make a worthwhile enough boost in performance is a new graphics card like the ones electricsheep26354, but your setup is already fairly new and couldn't have been long since you purchased that computer. I'm just thinking from an economical stand point here, your system is already fairly new and should be fine to have for at least 2 years to come, excluding the graphic card.

If that is your current setup I would recommend waiting and saving up money or look into some cooling solutions either improve the none water cooled setup you have now, better flowing fans and quieter ones, some sort of noise dampening solutions perhaps or depending on what monitor/screen you use invest in a good one with good color reproduction and contrast ratio, or if you are spending a lot of time in front of FPS games then a 120Hz or more would be well suited, worse image quality though as they are only available as TN displays. While IPS, PLS, MVA are better in image quality but "stuck" at 60HZ unless they have the ability to be overclocked.

I'm running a i5 2500K@4.3 GHZ, GTX670 4GB, 16GB@1333MHZ RAM and I'm still able to play the game just fine with my game not dropping below 35+FPS. Depending on ENB use and texture + meshes of course and performance heavy mods in general. Been running with this setup since a few months after the i5 2500K was released, which was back in 2011, except for the graphics card which I bought at the end of the last summer or something like that.


Parts I would look into if I had your current setup and the need for upgrading for more performance for any reason;

• Water cooling solution - Allows for a far better cooling system than air cooling if setup properly also with possible noise reduction. Perfect for overclocking any number of parts http://www.overclock.net/t/1406363/begi ... oling-2013
  |
• SSD drive - Use as OS disk and if you can afford an extra SSD use it as a game installation disk to have your game installation separated for a slightly better performance, I mean slightly. I personally never install games on my OS drive. Use the 1 Terabyte HDD as a storage disk if you purchase an SSD and use it as an OS disk, which is preferred.
  |
• PSU - 500 watt won't last long espescially if you are going to be adding SLI graphic cards and them being Titans, a 800 watt preferably a modular PSU unit should suffice for SLI setup without overclocking a 900 to 1000 watt for overclocking graphic cards, CPU and RAM, give or take.
  |
• Graphic card/cards - After PSU upgrade you can think about adding a new or several graphics card. electricsheep26354 already mentioned a pair of good ones.

I couldn't see any reference to specific parts used in that PC, like for instance the motherboard if it does support SLi, which almost all motherboards released in the past years support actually but never know until it's actually confirmed. Or if the CPU is the unlocked kind or the locked kind which then would make overclocking hard and not something for a beginner in overclocking. Thread carefully if you are considering overclocking any part as it can bring about a lot of provlems

[lost_gypsy]

The motherboard doesn't support sli, I googled it Lol.

I will by a titan for now then, and see about getting a new power supply and keep the fans seeing how I have no issues.

My monitor is 1920x1080 120hz so I should be good for a bit. It also has Nvidia 3d support which I never use. But hey it's there Lol

With my current setup plus a titan would you still recommend a 800 watt power supply? And I do not play to oc.

[--JawZ--]

Ok then that is something that needs to be upgraded Before purchase of the second graphic card.

The official recommended PSU is at 700W, so a 800W will leave you with a little headroom for for instance overclocking and additional power consuming parts added in the future. Also the PSU, no matter what brand (almost), does not deliver exactly the advertised amount of Watt, I have seen for instance 700W PSU only delivering around 620 to 650 true Watt. Though I think a 500W would suffice/be ok for a single Titan card.


With this said I do not personally own a Titan card nor have I had the opportunity to try such a card to see Watt usage and benchmarking results on my own system.
I can only go by my own experiences on how the graphics cards I've tested with my system and make a theoretical assesment based on that info.

Any Titan owner, be it single or SLI, should correct any info I have mentioned above if I'm misjudging the required Watt amount.

[electricsheep26354]

The Titan may work with 500w but I wouldn't recommend it, you'll be pushing your current psu to its limit which is never recommended. A good 750W psu would give you plenty of headroom and peace of mind.

I have the 1300w version of this which I would recommend:
EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750 G 80 PLUS GOLD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817438027
Some more recommendations here:
http://www.squidoo.com/best-psu-power-supply
http://www.overclock.net/t/1482157/700- ... t_22109815

This would also be just enough for SLI (without overclocking) if you do upgrade later.

[lost_gypsy]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... &A=details

Should I buy?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

or that one? Lol