New system YEAAAH

[Mithos]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
- Live streaming games (mostly PS3, maybe PC someday) with my video capture card (Live Gamer HD). This relies HEAVILY on x264 encoding.
- Team Fortress 2
- Every day internet use

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
- I will derive this value from the parts that would meet my streaming performance needs.
- My CPU choice already cranks up the price. I'd like to save money where I can without gravely sacrificing performance.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
- Within Canada

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Intel 3930k processor (This sounds like THE processor for live streaming - x264 encoding

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Current system:
i5 750
Asus P7P55D-E Pro Motherboard

2x4gb PC12800 G.Skill RipjawsZ
2x2gb PC12800 G.Skill Ripjaws

*128gb Crucial M4 [Re-using]
*1Tb Western Digital Caviar Black [Re-using]
*640gb Western Digital Caviar Black [Re-using]
*LG cd/dvd super multi optical drive [Re-using]

*Sapphire 5770 1gb [Re-using]
*AverMedia Live Gamer HD Video Capture Card [Re-using]

***Corsair tx550 PSU (3 years old) [Maybe re-using]
***Cooler Master HAF 932 [Maybe re-using]

I will definitely re-use the hard drives and the video card.
I know my video card is a POS now, but I don't play any demanding games yet.
I am unsure if I should re-use the case and the PSU though. if I leave these components with my current rig, it may sell better, and perhaps I'd benefit from newer parts for my new build?

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I want to overclock as high as I can go without overvolting the CPU and reducing its lifespan. Low 4Ghz range?

8. What resolution will you be using?
27" Achieva Shimian - 2560x1440 (Primary)
25" Asus VE258Q - 1920x1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
End of November (maybe sooner)

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
I will re-use my Windows 7 Home Premium.
But I will keep an eye out for Windows 7 Ultimate deals. I like the idea of bitlocker.




These are the parts I have in mind:

$574
Intel Core™ i7-3930K Processor, 3.20GHz w/ 12MB Cache (BX80619i73930K)
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD1784&vpn=BX80619I73930K&manufacture=INTEL

$109
Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H100
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC7448&vpn=CWCH100&manufacture=CORSAIR

$35 * 2= $70
Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition High Static Pressure 120mm Fans, 2-Pack
(2 two packs for push/pull on H100)
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX39403

$407
ASUS Rampage IV Extreme E-ATX LGA2011 X79
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530BD7627&vpn=Rampage IV Extreme&manufacture=ASUS

$127
G.SKILL F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZH Ripjawz PC3-17000 16GB 4X4GB DDR3-2133 CL9-11-10-28 1.65V Memory Kit
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950AC2825&vpn=F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZH&manufacture=OTHERS

= $1287

Re-using:
Hard drives
Craphics Card
Optical Drives
Windows 7 OS

Maybe re-using:
PSU
Case


What do you guys think?

 

[DSF]

For the moment I'll set aside my kneejerk responses that a 3930K just about never justifies its own expense, and that $400 for a motherboard is craziness.

You're spending $170 on cooling for a CPU that isn't going to get a Vcore increase. Regardless what CPU you choose that's a waste of money. You'd be fine with a $25 aftermarket air cooler, but if you really want to get fancy buy a premium air cooler in the $50-60 range and be done with it.

If you need 16GB for your video work (and I don't know the answer to that) you're better off buying 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB. You don't need anything close to DDR3-2133. DDR3-1600 will be fine, especially for your modest overclock, and you want RAM that is specced to run at 1.5V.

 

[dmoney1980]

take a look at the bench between the CPU you listed above and the i7 3770k. The 2 CPU's are close, and that gap could be closer with some minor overclocking on the 3770k. something to consider, especially when you could save a lot of money on the CPU+Motherboard.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/552?vs=551

Totally agree with DSF regarding the cooler, you could do much better for a lot less

 

[Ken g6]

my video capture card (Live Gamer HD). This relies HEAVILY on x264 encoding.

With the help of H.264 hardware encoder, the Live Gamer HD allows you to record your PC game footages on the same machine without draining the system resources.

Emphasis mine. So your capture card does all the heavy lifting for you.

The other thing to consider is that if live streaming quality doesn't have to be movie-quality, for other live streaming you might want to see if you can find some software that uses Intel Quick Sync. The 3930k doesn't have Quick Sync, but the 3770k and 3570k do. Quick Sync uses your CPU's onboard graphics, so it shouldn't interfere with normal gaming, unless you use Lucid Virtu. (Just don't bother.)

 

[Mithos]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies!

For the moment I'll set aside my kneejerk responses that a 3930K just about never justifies its own expense, and that $400 for a motherboard is craziness.

You're spending $170 on cooling for a CPU that isn't going to get a Vcore increase. Regardless what CPU you choose that's a waste of money. You'd be fine with a $25 aftermarket air cooler, but if you really want to get fancy buy a premium air cooler in the $50-60 range and be done with it.

If you need 16GB for your video work (and I don't know the answer to that) you're better off buying 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB. You don't need anything close to DDR3-2133. DDR3-1600 will be fine, especially for your modest overclock, and you want RAM that is specced to run at 1.5V.

I will begin more reading on more of the air coolers tonight. I just thought that SB-E runs very hot stock, so even a modest overclock would increase it to H100 territory.
I figures those 4 'quiet' fans doing push/pull may not be too loud either.
I run a sensitive microphone while I stream so I'd prefer the tower not to be a screamer when under load.

I have read that one is likely to have more success overclocking with fewer sticks, is that why you recommend 2 sticks vs 4? Does that benefit outweigh what I might gain from quad channel while using 4x4gb?

Also, why do I want ram that is specced for 1.5v? I understand that lower voltage means less heat and less stress on the imc.
I chose those sticks because of high reviews and that they were design for x79. Most sets on G.Skills website say they were designed for the main stream z77 and other 1155 chipsets.

take a look at the bench between the CPU you listed above and the i7 3770k. The 2 CPU's are close, and that gap could be closer with some minor overclocking on the 3770k. something to consider, especially when you could save a lot of money on the CPU+Motherboard.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/552?vs=551

Totally agree with DSF regarding the cooler, you could do much better for a lot less

Ah thank you for the charts.
The 3770k and the 3930k do look surprisingly close for something I was under the strong impression 6 cores w/ hyper threading would excel at by a large margin (vs 4 cores w/ hyper threading).
I should contact Xsplit directly (the program I use to encode my streams with) and see if they actually have their program optimized for 6 cores (while using my capture card on top of that) or not.
If not, with scores that close.. hell yea I'd look into saving a few hundred dollars.

Emphasis mine. So your capture card does all the heavy lifting for you.

The other thing to consider is that if live streaming quality doesn't have to be movie-quality, for other live streaming you might want to see if you can find some software that uses Intel Quick Sync. The 3930k doesn't have Quick Sync, but the 3770k and 3570k do. Quick Sync uses your CPU's onboard graphics, so it shouldn't interfere with normal gaming, unless you use Lucid Virtu. (Just don't bother.)

Thanks for checking out the capture card!
Yes this card is pretty badass in that it can both encode and capture.
Unfortunately though, its own encoding quality falls short of what a fast dedicated computer is capable of.
I wish I could find a thread or a chart to backup those words, but that isn't the case right now. I'm not just trying to defend my upgrade position D: (incase that came to mind).

When I stream a game the two deciding variables of my streams quality are:
1 - upload speed
2 - compression quality
However, with better, faster encoding like a computer is capable of, a higher quality stream at the same upload bitrate is possible.
So the purpose of this upgrade is to move away from the cards encoding.
My quality right now doesn't look very good, even at 720p.

I did not know about quick sync. I will look up to see if it would help with this live video encoding, and if it (hopefully) works with Xsplit.

I do not know of other live streaming programs aside from Xsplit and ReCentral, but I do know that Xsplit partnered with the makers of my capture card to ensure best compatibility.
As far as I know, Xsplit is the best, but I will look to see if there are other alternatives tonight.



Thank you all for your responses.
I really do look forward to making a system I am confident had the best amount of thought and fewest sacrifices made, in order to perform admirably with my streaming.
The streaming is just a hobby, but we all like to "do our best" with our hobbies, right?
I'm not married to the idea of spending all the money I can. I just don't want to have any lasting regrets $300 could have covered.

 

[Eureka]

Unless you're making money off this live-streaming gig, $1000 for basically a new CPU and motherboard is nuts. The H100 doesn't cool much better than a top end air cooler, and not significantly more than the rest. Unless you're going to be overclocking at the limit, the cheapest well-built air cooler will do. You also noted overclocking without touching v-core... there's no point in getting a top-end cooler for that. Coolers come into play when you've pushed the v-core to the max and heat starts to build up.

Also, that RAM seems kind of expensive. 16gb for ddr3 2133 shouldn't be over $100.

Demanding or not, 5770 1gb at 1440p doesn't cut it. The only thing you'll be live streaming is TF2 because it's all that thing would handle. You can easily cut the price in half for what you want ($70 for fans?), and put it towards a good video card (670 and 7970 are both around 350).

 

[Mithos]

Unless you're making money off this live-streaming gig, $1000 for basically a new CPU and motherboard is nuts. The H100 doesn't cool much better than a top end air cooler, and not significantly more than the rest. Unless you're going to be overclocking at the limit, the cheapest well-built air cooler will do. You also noted overclocking without touching v-core... there's no point in getting a top-end cooler for that. Coolers come into play when you've pushed the v-core to the max and heat starts to build up.

I know I sound like a fool asking these things on an enthusiast forum like this but, isn't it 'bad' to raise the v-core? I mean, isn't that the point where actual non-reversible damage is being done over time to the cpu, regardless of cooling? I would raise the v-core if sufficient cooling could prevent the CPU from having a shorter life than otherwise (not passing the v-core).

Also, that RAM seems kind of expensive. 16gb for ddr3 2133 shouldn't be over $100.

Really? For 16Gb memory?
The only memory I've read to avoid is the Corsair Vengeance series.
I will keep that in mind, but tabs are filling with 3770 vs 3930k threads now. Ahhh numbers.
I still need to find if 4 sticks (for quad channel) is a performance increase more valuable than the stability of overclocking with 2 sticks (rather than 4).

Demanding or not, 5770 1gb at 1440p doesn't cut it. The only thing you'll be live streaming is TF2 because it's all that thing would handle. You can easily cut the price in half for what you want ($70 for fans?), and put it towards a good video card (670 and 7970 are both around 350).

The content I stream is PS3. I have the appropriate converter setup to capture at 1080p (passing HDCP), but most PS3 games run at 720p so that is what I stream at. Currently I stream half decent at 30fps but it gets choppy at 60fps, even at mid settings.

TF2 is just my favourite PC game I play alone, no streaming.

My 27" 1440p display is currently only used for photoshop editing because of its highres+ accurate IPS colours.

You are right that my 5770 chokes on this resolution and once in a while stops working "Your display driver has failed and recovered".
I am holding off on a new video card upgrade until I actually want to game on my computer. If I bought a new one now, its potential would be wasted on me.

Thanks for the response!

 

[lehtv]

Really? For 16Gb memory?

No. 2x8GB 2133 costs around $120. But you don't need 2133, 1600mhz is fine.

The only memory I've read to avoid is the Corsair Vengeance series.

Really? There's nothing wrong with Corsair Vengeance, except for the tall fins which block aftermarket heatsinks. The standard profile Vengeance LP fixes that problem

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I'd recommend a 3770k, z77, and a nice air cooler like a d14 with 16 GB of ram.

 

[dmoney1980]

OP - you can get a 3770k with a good motherboard and overclock that a bit on stock voltage (or with a slight bump). Good motherboards let you save overclocking profiles in your BIOS, which lets you run stability test.

here's a good cooler for the money http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186058

 

[mfenn]

I know I sound like a fool asking these things on an enthusiast forum like this but, isn't it 'bad' to raise the v-core? I mean, isn't that the point where actual non-reversible damage is being done over time to the cpu, regardless of cooling? I would raise the v-core if sufficient cooling could prevent the CPU from having a shorter life than otherwise (not passing the v-core).

In theory, yes. In reality you're talking about the difference between the CPU lasting 20 years instead of 30 unless you go absolutely insane on the vCore. Not that you really need to overclock the system to achieve what you want to do.

Also, GIGO. You have to consider the quality of your source material. Streaming a PS3 game that's being rendered internally at sub 720p resolution is never going to look as good as somebody streaming the PC version of the game being natively rendered at 1080p.

Overall, I agree with the other posters here. You're spending $1200, but not getting a significant improvement over a $600 (i7 3770K + Z77 + 16 GB DDR3 1600 + $30 air cooler) system.