New PC for gaming/streaming/editing

[Aoewy]

Hi, I'd like to request your help for a new computer. I appologize in advance for the length of this post, as well as my english which isnt my language.

I've been gaming on my PC for the last 7 years (8?), but its time for this good old Intel core Duo E8400 and evga nforce 750i to retire after all these good years of service. So now I need to build a new one that will last me a couple of years hopefully. It would be the first time I build one myself, the last one was done by a friend. Tho watching the Newegg "how to build" videos serie make it looks not so bad to do.

Anyway, heres the infos:

Budget : 2000-2200$ CAN - The less the better of course, but I dont mind going to the max of my budget.
Resolution : In the build I posted, its 1440p.. But in order to shred some money, I might have to go 1080 and I wouldnt mind for now, I could always go 1440 later.
Games / Settings Desired : I play many games, WoW and FF14 would be in the MMOs genre. I play voxel games with procedural generated content too like Space Engineer. I would like to play games like Star Citizens when it comes out, and for now Elite Dangerous.
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc): I do youtube videos, tho with my old pc I couldnt deliver good quality. I'd like to be able now to make good quality video, and streaming too.
Country : Canada (Québec)
Parts that can be reused : None
Do you need an OS? : Yes, I'd like Windows 10.
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? : I only need a monitor, I have a 22 inch samsung one that is as old as my computer, its 1650x1050 I believe. It doesnt have a HDMI cable/port for all I know, so I would use it as 2nd monitor. More on that in the following, but like in the resolution section, if I can shred some money on the monitor going from 1440p to 1080p, it would be okay.


I'm no expert by any mean, I came out with that build, and I would like to have advice on where I could improve for the same/better price, shred some money maybe. I have questions too, Ill put them after the list.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($419.98 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.04 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($134.75 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($224.25 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($404.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($122.21 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ Memory Express)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($66.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($122.00 @ shopRBC)
Monitor: BenQ GW2765HT 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $2328.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-19 12:29 EDT-0400

So my questions:

1- I took the i7-4790k; I heard the K version only difference is that its unlocked to OC. If I dont plan to OC, there is no real benefit going for the K version, right? So I could shred some money there by buying the non-K version, is that correct? Edit : I just saw the K version is 4.0 while the non-K is 3.6, so its more than just OC possibilities.
2- Still on CPU, I heard for gaming/streaming/editing its better to go i7 over i5, which is why i picked it. Is it true? I dont mind spending the money there if it improves the quality/performance.
3- With a 970, can I plug my old screen as 2nd one on it.. it use the white plug, forgot the name (AVI?)
4- I think I could save some money going 1080p instead of 1440 monitor (almost 200$ from what I saw), if in the future I decide to invest in a 1440 monitor, is the 970 good enough or should I go 980 already?
5- I think I could also save some money going to 250gb SSD instead of 500... but is 250 enough? I'll have OS, WoW, Vegas pro, some others games and programs installed on it.

For now I think thats all I can think of, I thank you in advance for your help. I wont buy it right now, and I'm open to all suggestion. I just want to have a solid build so I can start buying maybe when some part goes on sales.

So thank you, and I look foward for your advices and suggestions.

Aoewin

[Pterodactylus]

1- I took the i7-4790k; I heard the K version only difference is that its unlocked to OC. If I dont plan to OC, there is no real benefit going for the K version, right? So I could shred some money there by buying the non-K version, is that correct? Edit : I just saw the K version is 4.0 while the non-K is 3.6, so its more than just OC possibilities.

The savings aren't that much, and as you noted, the stock clock of the K version of the chip is .4 Ghz faster than the non-K version. Moreover, lots of complaints about the stock cooler, so you'd have to get an aftermarket cooler anyway and you don't save money there either. I think it's silly to not get the K version of the i7. The i5 - if you are not going to OC, then it makes sense, but for the i7 - just get the unlocked CPU. Also, most BIOS make it pretty easy to OC these days, so if you do in fact want to dabble in the future for some performance gain, you'll have the option.

2- Still on CPU, I heard for gaming/streaming/editing its better to go i7 over i5, which is why i picked it. Is it true? I dont mind spending the money there if it improves the quality/performance.

Yes, it's better because it can do more tasks at once. Both would be a big improvement over what you currently have, but the i7 will out-perform the i5 when you start multitasking, or if you run some demanding software.

3- With a 970, can I plug my old screen as 2nd one on it.. it use the white plug, forgot the name (AVI?)

I have the ASUS Strix 970 and I had to use an adapter for my ancient 2nd monitor - forget what I was adapting from, but all the 970s have 4 out-puts: 1 x DVI-I, 1 x DVI-D, 1 x HDMI, and 1 x DisplayPort.

4- I think I could save some money going 1080p instead of 1440 monitor (almost 200$ from what I saw), if in the future I decide to invest in a 1440 monitor, is the 970 good enough or should I go 980 already?

Well, the 970 will be able to handle 1440 - but will struggle as you go higher than that - but so will the 980. If you want to flirt with higher resolutions than 1440 then you need to starting thinking about something with more vRAM, like the 980ti. But the 970 will be just fine at 1440 and is likely the best bang for your buck, err loonie.

5- I think I could also save some money going to 250gb SSD instead of 500... but is 250 enough? I'll have OS, WoW, Vegas pro, some others games and programs installed on it.

I have a 120 g SSD - and wish I had the 250, but if I had to guess the 250 gb will enough and you can just keep the games you are currently playing on the SSD and the others on the HHD.

With respect to the parts you chose, the PSU is shit - and you should not get it. I'd recommend this one: Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Memory Express)

What do you have such an expensive optical drive? Do you use your optical drive? I realized I had not used mine for years and my latest rig I did not even get one. Just something to think about.

If you wanted to drop the optical drive, here my suggested build with my favorite case: the S340.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($419.98 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.04 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus Z97 PRO GAMER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($209.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($120.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.94 @ shopRBC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($419.25 @ Vuugo)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($83.00 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Memory Express)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($122.00 @ shopRBC)
Monitor: BenQ GW2765HT 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $2238.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-19 14:28 EDT-0400

I swapped out your MoBo to the Pro-gamer the BIOS are simply the best, the board is of the highest quality, the audio chipset is supberb and there are no shortage of features. What's nice about the pro-gramer is you can overclock with one click with their "EZ mode" which is nice for first time OCers. I also switched you to the STRIX card, which I think is the best of the 970 line. The heatsink on the 970 is excellent and my fans don't even turn on while I am sitting in my garrison in WoW. This is nice because it means my rig is quiet. Some folks don't care, but I like to not hear my computer whirling and churning.

The reason I like the case is two fold. First, the PSU shroud makes cable management a breeze and makes you look like you build computers for a living it is so easy to use. Secondly, the fact that it does not have the 3.5 in drive bays in the front real opens up the case and gives great unimpeded air flow to help keep everything cool. It also looks sleek, simple, and plain - everything I like in a case. My old case had all these various ridges and things and it was jsut a place for dust to collect. But some folks like it. The case is a very personal decisions since it's what you see.

Your parts above (except that PSU) are fine too and will give you a great rig, everyone has their preferences.

One last thing to consider is going for Skylake. While there are not huge gains in performance, the MoBos have expanded functionality and gives some more options for the future.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($459.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.04 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($228.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($155.91 @ NCIX)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.94 @ shopRBC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($419.25 @ Vuugo)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($83.00 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Memory Express)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($122.00 @ shopRBC)
Monitor: BenQ GW2765HT 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $2332.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-19 14:42 EDT-0400

[Aoewy]

-snip-

Wow, thank you for that detailed answer! I'll keep it bookmarked!

-About the PSU, that is why I post here hehe, I dont have the knowledge so I'm glad you gave me your honest opinion on it. My old PC was mostly made of EVGA pieces (mobo, gpu, psu), my friends back then told me it was a good brand with a nice lifetime warranty on some parts, so I have no doubt the one you proposed will be way better.

-About the Optical drive, to be honest I'm not certain, I tought I'd need one for the Window 10 OS? I'm not familiar with OEM, isnt it a DVD to install, so a DVD reader is needed? If not, I'll definitly drop it for now.

-About Skylake, is the i7-6700K out yet? I'll consider it anyway, if it comes out in a near futur I think it could worth the few extra dollars as it doesnt look much more expensive than the i7-4790K (even the mobo).

If I would like to go for a 1080p monitor instead to cut down a bit the price (and maybe later, make it my 2nd and buy a 1440p one), which one would you recommand?

Thank you again, it was very useful! I'll definitly use the parts you proposed over those I took, as I have no experience in the matter. I might even try to do some OC if with that mobo its easier (will try to educate myself on that first tho).

[Pterodactylus]

-About the PSU, that is why I post here hehe, I dont have the knowledge so I'm glad you gave me your honest opinion on it. My old PC was mostly made of EVGA pieces (mobo, gpu, psu), my friends back then told me it was a good brand with a nice lifetime warranty on some parts, so I have no doubt the one you proposed will be way better.

Almost everyone agrees that the CX line from Corsair is pretty much junk. Not everyone agrees that the one I listed above is one of the best, but I sure think so. Here is an a review from JonnyGuru (they pretty much just review PSUs)

-About the Optical drive, to be honest I'm not certain, I tought I'd need one for the Window 10 OS? I'm not familiar with OEM, isnt it a DVD to install, so a DVD reader is needed? If not, I'll definitly drop it for now.

No need for it. You can buy win10 on a USB drive. Alternatively, you can buy a Digital download on your current rig and load it on a USB and boot from there.

-About Skylake, is the i7-6700K out yet? I'll consider it anyway, if it comes out in a near futur I think it could worth the few extra dollars as it doesnt look much more expensive than the i7-4790K (even the mobo).

It is out, my 2nd build I listed is a skylake build. There is about a 10%ish gain on performance with the Skylake CPU, but there are gains with the Z170 chipset too. Notabley are the added PCIe lanes in the MoBo. Basically this means that you can keep shoving crap into the board like a 2nd GPU or an M.2 SSD and you won't compromise something that is already there. The reality is you likely would not even use enough of your slots on a Z97 board so unless you want multiple PCIe based SSDs, you are likely better off saving your money and sticking with the Z97. I am a little underwhelmed by the Skylake to be honest.

If I would like to go for a 1080p monitor instead to cut down a bit the price (and maybe later, make it my 2nd and buy a 1440p one), which one would you recommand?

I've spent countless hours reading about computer components, but I've spent very little time reading about monitors so I am never too comfortable recommending on monitor over another. You can make a separate post about monitors and I am sure more knowledgeable people will chime in on that.

Thank you again, it was very useful! I'll definitly use the parts you proposed over those I took, as I have no experience in the matter. I might even try to do some OC if with that mobo its easier (will try to educate myself on that first tho).

I am sure there are people who will comment and say the Gigabyte is the best or you should get the MSI one, or whatever. Everyone has there various brand loyalties. Truth be told, most of those mobos will work fine for you and you will get a solid rig. I have never been disappointed by ASUS so I tend to recommend their parts over other brands. With the pro-gamer, the BIOS has a setting where it is literally 3 clicks and you have Overclocked your rig - stupid easy. That's the "EZ mode" but the BIOS is sophisticated enough where you can tweak just about every attribute of the Board if you get ambitious.

Cheers.

[Aoewy]

Huge thank you once again, it was very usefull infos! I think I'll go with your i7-6700k build, all I need now is a 1080p screen.

[Remilia]

The selected RAM that he picked is out of stock at the listed price.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gski...42800c16d16grr
Can go with this. Skylake scales better with higher RAM speed this go around.

1920x1080 monitors.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/dell-monitor-u2414h
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2414h.htm
Is a good monitor for price. Main thing to be aware is it has no DVI ports.

[Aoewy]

Thank you Remilia!

It has a HDMI port tho, right? So I could plug it to the 970 using a HDMI, and plug my old 23 screen with DVI in the 970 too? Thank again!

[Remilia]

Yes, it has 2x HDMI, 1x Mini DisplayPort and 1x DisplayPort.

[TaintedOne]

Your parts above (except that PSU) are fine too and will give you a great rig, everyone has their preferences.

@op Do not buy an Corsair CX psu. If you take any advise from this thread let it be that.

[Aoewy]

Hi, so after checking on my side, I think I'll be going with the i7-4790k build. I looked the i7-6700k, and i can only pre-order, NCIX says estimate date is 10/2/2015 so I cant purchase it atm.

I have some new questions if I may. First, should I go with CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($97.74 @ DirectCanada) for the cooling, I keep seeing these in different threads about new build. Would it be better to pay a bit more for that instead of the air and huge heatsink I had in my build? (Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler). Or is a air heatsink good enough/have enough place in the case for it?

Second, about this case. I read into it and I saw it only has 2 fans, one on top, and one in the back. Should I get additionnal fans for the front?

Third, which include parts of the first 2 questions, if its better to go with the corsair H75, does it fit in that case? If it does, and if I need to add additionnal fans on the front, will I still have place for them because of the H75 fan taking their spot? I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but it seems like I have to put the H75 fan in the front?

Sorry about all these questions, I just want to be sure of what I'll get.

Thank again

[Remilia]

CM 212 is a decent budget cooler, by no means great.
H75 is a 'budget' AIO that is not really budget or worth it.
They're both relatively loud so to speak.

Only advantage of an AIO is space above the MoBo and heat that is being pushed out the case. The latter is kind of pointless if you have a good airflow set up in your case anyways.
If you want water cooling, custom loops are what you want to do.

I'd rather get an NH-D15(S) as opposed to that as it's only a bit more than H75 but also performs better and quieter. Albeit it's big.

[Aoewy]

So if I go with Noctua heatsink, do I also need to buy fans for the front of the case. I'm no expert, but it comes with a fan on the top and a fan on the back, is that enough to have a good airflow?

Thank again!

[Remilia]

You could if you want. It's not really going to make that big of a difference unless you're really that big of an enthusiast to get every single possible ounce of performance out of something.

[Aoewy]

Okay, thank! I think I'm set, now all I have to do is decide if I wait 8-10 weeks for skywall, or if I pull out the credit card tonight and procede with the 4970k. In any way, thank to you all, it gave me a better idea of my possibilities.

Edit: Yeah the first thing I told to myself was... Brown? Really? hehe.. but all I read was very positive review so.. if it perform well I guess the color isnt important.

[Remilia]

All hail the cream brown.

[Pterodactylus]

If you go with the Noctua NH-D15(S) it is too tall for the S340 Case. You can try the be quiet! Dark Rock 3, which is a pretty solid cooler and fits teh scheme of your build better thant he Noctua. Or you could even get the NH-D14 if you wanted to stick with the Noctua - they make solid coolers - no doubt about it. The 212 will work for you though, it;s what I have in my rig and I never hear it. The Dark Rock 3 is good looking and will fit in that case, and cools well.

For case fans, I'd get the two extra. The fans I recommend are Phanteks PH-F140. The noctua fans are good too - a bit more expensive, and....cream brown. But those Phanteks are great. My whole case is populated with them, and they are dead silent, event at max RPM. They also carry a mean time between failure (MTBF) of over 150,000 hours. Thats over 10 years of constant use. Regardless of what brand you get, for the S340 case - if you are still with that case - you want to fill those two front spots and make them intake fans. You can use the BIOS and manually set the fan control (really easy today btw) to make sure that the intake fans are moving more air than your exhaust fans. This means you will have more air inside your case and will have positive pressure inside the case that is critical for dust control.

[Deleted]

Cryorig H5 is also a good choice for cooling, good price and performs well, noctua still performs better.

[Remilia]

Can't find any Cryorigs in Canada land =\
At least not according to pcpartpicker.

[Aoewy]

Okay, so 2 fans in the front, and I'll stick with the Heatsink I had and this case. I guess how to plug these extra fans on the mobo/how to make them turn the right way (so intake) is explained in the mobo manual? To be honest, thats the part I'm afraid, those small cable (fans, case usb and orthers ports, etc.). afraid that the fan wont turn in the right direction.

It start to look like something, I finally found what you meant about OEM W10 on usb, I saw it on newegg, so thats what ill order. Guess I'll have to go in the mobo bios and set up the usb as my booting option and just follow the instructions from there.

Thank again all of you for your time.

[Pterodactylus]

Okay, so 2 fans in the front, and I'll stick with the Heatsink I had and this case. I guess how to plug these extra fans on the mobo/how to make them turn the right way (so intake) is explained in the mobo manual? To be honest, thats the part I'm afraid, those small cable (fans, case usb and orthers ports, etc.). afraid that the fan wont turn in the right direction.

It's really not too hard, some on these forums use the term "expensive legos" and they are pretty much right. As for the fans, there is an arrow on the fan that shows flow direction. It only spins in one direction, and its the orientation of the blades that controls the direction of airflow. As for all the little cables and things, its all labeled on the Mother Board. CPU fan or CHA fan 1, USB Header, etc. and all explained in the manual. Not only that, there are so many videos out there you can almost always find a video with the items you are working on.

As for the OS Booting from a thumb drive, you'll have no problem.