Help with build

[Stormin]

Hey Guys. Its time for an upgrade and since I haven't kept up much with current hardware I would like some advice on what I should buy. I don't game as much as I used to but I would like a decent enough video card to be happy with most games and run two monitors and a TV for media. I would also like it to be as silent as possible.


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
It will double as an HTPC and my main gaming and work (coding) computer.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500 with tax and shipping but I would like to keep the price down as low as makes sense.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
San Antonio, TX

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, RAM, case, motherboard, video card, SSD, bluray drive, case fans, CPU fan/heatsink

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Brand new 650W SeaSonic PSU, two 3TB hard drives, dual monitors, and an HD TV

6) Will you be overclocking?
no

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
27" 1920x1080, 19" 1280x1024 (only used while coding), 47" 1080P TV (only used for watching media)

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In a week or two

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
I need RAID 1.0 support for the two 3GB hard drives

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No. I will need to get a copy of windows

 

[Dangman]

How old is that Toughpower PSU?

How far are you from these Microcenter locations?:
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/houston.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/richardson.aspx

Did you want a HTPC style case or will a normal ATX looking case be just fine?

 

[Stormin]

How old is that Toughpower PSU?

4 years old

How far are you from these Microcenter locations?:
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/houston.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/richardson.aspx

I am about 4 hours from both of those locations.

Did you want a HTPC style case or will a normal ATX looking case be just fine?

I prefer an normal ATX case. Preferably one that has a door or some kind of protection over the power buttons. I have young kids that like to push buttons.

 

[Dangman]

Are those two 3TB drives already in a RAID 1 array or are they separate empty drives at the moment?

Also see if you can buy this PSU today with the Promo code "EMCYTZT3557" as it knocks the PSU down to $100. It's a good deal for a quiet higher quality PSU:
$100 - Seasonic X650 Gold 650W Modular PSU

Do you already own Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Far Cry 3, and Crysis 3?

 

[Stormin]

I went ahead and bought the SeaSonic 650W PSU.

Are those two 3TB drives already in a RAID 1 array or are they separate empty drives at the moment?

They are currently running with all of my data on one and the other as a backup.

Do you already own Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Far Cry 3, and Crysis 3?

No.

 

[Dangman]

$320 - Intel Core i7-4770 CPU
$80 - MSI B85-G41 Intel B85 ATX Motherboard
$100 - Corsair XMS CMX16GX3M2A1333C9 2 x 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$400 - Gigabyte GV-R797OC-3GD Radeon HD 7970 3GB PCI-E Video Card
$225 - Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD
$65 - LG CH12LS28 Blu-Ray Drive
$25 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$96 - Windows 8 64bit
-----
Total: $1311 plus shipping

I went with the COre i7-4770 because I'm assuming that you're doing a ton of multi-threaded programming. If you're not, then drop the CPU down to the Core i5-4430.

That HD 7970 comes with the four games I asked about earlier and thus makes it a very awesome deal. However you will have to connect the third monitor to the integrated GPU connection on the motherboard itself if none of your monitors support displayport. THe video card only supports three monitors if the third display is connected via DisplayPort, whether through the actual cable or an adapter. If for some reason you can't use the onboard video for that third monitor, you can always use this mini-displayport to DVI adapter:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999034

I left out the case so that you can choose one on your own. However, I recommend the following quiet cases:
$110 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case

 

[Stormin]

Thank you Danny, that is a lot of good information. I'm debating whether I would play all of those games. Which video card would you recommend with the games not considered?

 

[Dangman]

Thank you Danny, that is a lot of good information. I'm debating whether I would play all of those games. Which video card would you recommend with the games not considered?

Without considering the games, I would actually recommend taking a look at the slightly faster GTX 770. Priced about the same too:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125463

However, once you factor in those four games (A value of roughly ~$135 at the current pricing for those games on Amazon.com) that come for free with that HD 7970, it's extremely hard to recommend the GTX 770 unless you already have all four games already. Hence my earlier question in regards to that.

 

[Stormin]

How can I tell if the Motherboard will support RAID 1?

 

[Dangman]

How can I tell if the Motherboard will support RAID 1?

I apologize for the mistake: I missed your motherboard requirement. The B85 chipset does not support RAID. You'll need to spend the extra $10 for this MSI B87 Motherboard to get RAID:
$90 - MSI H87M-G43 Intel ATX Motherboard.

 

[Stormin]

I purchased this CPU with this CPU cooler. Would either of these come with thermal paste or will I need to buy some?

 

[Dangman]

The Coolermaster already comes with thermal paste.

 

[Stormin]

I apologize for the mistake: I missed your motherboard requirement. The B85 chipset does not support RAID. You'll need to spend the extra $10 for this MSI B87 Motherboard to get RAID:
$90 - MSI H87M-G43 Intel ATX Motherboard.

Danny, that board is a micro ATX. Do you know which one would be the standard ATX equivalent that can do RAID 1?

 

[Dangman]

Danny, that board is a micro ATX. Do you know which one would be the standard ATX equivalent that can do RAID 1?

From what you've stated so far, it doesn't matter whether you go with ATX or mATX or not since you're not overclocking nor are you planning on multiple GPU upgrade or several PCI-E card upgrades. So, I'm not sure why you want an ATX motherboard over a mATX.

In any case, the MSI H87-G43 is the ATX version of the motherboard I recommended and costs $10 more:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D12OANW/?tag=extension-kb-20