Person wanted a rig that would kill games and the budget was around $1800 in parts. This build offers the ability to overclock an amazing processor capable of amazing multi-tasking, and it provides overkill firepower for 1080p. This build would be able to handle most games smoothly at 1440p.
Note: At the end of the assembly I noticed a lot of bubbly noises coming from the Thermaltake cooler. After running the build through my normal battery of tests, the bubbly noises went away completely.
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CPU – Intel 4770k
Haswell offers the best single-threaded performance on the market right now. That makes it a great choice for gaming, as many games still do poorly in regards to multi-threading. The fact that this offers hyperthreading also makes it a good candidate for streaming, as programs like OBS and Xsplit definitely take advantage of multi-threaded processors. It’s also good for programs that do 3d-modeling, as they often utilize mutli-threaded processors well.
Cooler – Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme
I’m starting to switch away from the h100i. I still love that CLC, but this one offers comparable performance with much quieter fans.
Motherboard – Gigabyte UD3h
Gigabyte was the king of Z77, so I’m still a bit partial to their UD3H boards. This board provided excellent OC support for me, and has plenty of features for extra USB/SATA ports, as well as support for crossfire. I don’t see myself moving away from this board any time soon.
RAM – Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB
RAM is RAM. 8GB was fine for this build.
GPU(s) – PowerColor 7970 X2
Two 7970’s in Crossfire are one of the strongest cost/performance options available on the market for 1440p gaming. Cheaper and better than a 780, these things are amazing.
Storage – 840 EVO 250GB & Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5″ 7200RPM
The 840 EVO’s are priced really nice compared to the amount of storage they offer, and the 840 controller is one of the best on the market at the moment, making this SSD an excellent choice. The Seagate Barracuda’s are priced really well compared to the amount of storage they offer as well.
Case – Fractal Design Define R4
Still love this quiet case. It’s small, it looks nice and clean, it’s not “plasticy”, it has padding on the inside to dampen sound and there’s plenty of room inside for managing cables. I absolutely love this case.
PSU – Rosewill 750w Hive
Good PSU, good price.
DVD Drive – LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer
Just a standard optical drive for reading DVDs.