Help me help my friend

Comments

• Ridelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

  July 2013

  First off --

  Avoid SLI whenever possible. The only reason I see it as necessary is when you absolutely can't find a single video card that is powerful enough to do what you need - and in that case you'd be SLI/CFX'ing two of those high end video cards. Mid/low range SLI/CFX is mostly an advertising gimmick, and the only reason I would consider it would be if I got the second card for free.

  So, aside from being out of stock, if your buddy really wants a 780, I think it's superior than dual 760's. If he needs to trim the budget, the appropriate thing to do would be to drop to a single 770, rather than dual 760's.

  The RAM is ridiculous under both accounts - start with 8G - if you need more than that later, it's easy to add and will likely be cheaper at that point as well.

  I agree, going to an i5 is an easy way to save $100 over the i7, with pretty much no affect on gaming. Staying with Ivy bridge saves another $50 or so, but if he's really concerned with "future proofing" - you may want to step that up to a Z87 motherboard and a Haswell Core i5 4670k is the "latest and greatest".

  I agree with going with on the cheaper HDD, and the SSD in general.

  The CPU Heat sink - you don't need to spend a ton of money on this. The Noctua is very nice, but unless your trying to extreme overclock, won't notice a difference over cheaper Cooler Master he had picked out.

  The power supply is nice - but 850W is pretty big - 650 would be big enough for a single video card set up (even a 780), and save around $50.

  Is there a good reason for Blu-Ray over a standard DVD-RW? That's $30-40 bucks right there if he never ever plays Blu-Ray's on it.
• Asm0deus Member EpicPosts: 4,622

  July 2013

  About the noctua it is a very nice cpu cooler but it is kind of big and can block access to your ram, just something you might want  to think about.

  

  Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.

  
  
  
  
  
• Quizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,532

  July 2013

  No motherboard or OS license in either build?

  There's no need for a $79 CPU fan unless you're going for an unreasonably large overclock.

  There's no point in getting memory above 1600 MHz unless it's basically the same price as 1600 MHz memory or you need to feed integrated graphics from it.

  For an SSD, I'd sooner go with this for the same price:

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249025

  If you're getting a big SSD, then the speed of the hard drive doesn't matter, so you don't need a WD Caviar Black.

  SLI and CrossFire are finicky enough that I'd avoid them unless the goal is to get higher performance than can be obtained from a single card.

  Why does your friend want a Blu-Ray drive?

  And why, for that matter, an 850 W power supply?
• Abdiell Member UncommonPosts: 102

  July 2013

  Sorry, I didn't include the motherboard. I agreed with his mobo selection, so it is the same for both builds. He also already has a Windows 7 license.

   

  He wants a blu ray drive because he watches blu rays from it. I know he wont ever burn them, so I will convince him to just get the reader.

   

   

  Mobo: $139.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837

   

  Here are some changes.

   

  PSU $119.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

  Ram $139.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231429

  Graphics $429.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921

   

  I'm wondering if the I should steer him to the 770 over the 780. He keeps saying future proof, is the extra $200 in the card worth it?

   
• Quizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,532

  July 2013

  Even if you really want 16 GB of memory, you can get it a lot cheaper than that:

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313352
• Abdiell Member UncommonPosts: 102

  July 2013

  Ok, I know he is set on 16gb. I will steer him to a cheaper alternative.

   

  What about the video card. Am I right telling him to not spring fro the 780?
• Quizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,532

  July 2013

  The GeForce GTX 780 is both faster and more expensive than a GTX 770.  Whether to spring for a 780 is a matter of opinion and budget.
• GroovyFlower Member Posts: 1,245

  July 2013

  With cooler and PSU better pay little more get better one then be sorry.

  850watt psu if your planning on sli(better go 1x 780)

  If you go for 3770k and planning on OC get better cooler(noctua is good mugen 3 also.

  MB i say go Deluxe cost little more but more option and better for OC.

  His case is better.