Thanks for input.

[RKS]

I have the following:

Corsair Cases 800D and 200R
I haven't decided which case to use yet.

LG BR Burner
i7 4770k
ASRock Z87 Extreme4
Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme
Toshiba Q Series Pro 256GB SSD
(2) TOSHIBA 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB SATA 6.0Gb/s
Cooler Master V850
G Skill Ripjaws X 8GB
Gigabyte GTX 780 GHz edition

the only missing item another 30" monitor

 

[lehtv]

I have the following:

You own them or have them in a shopping list?

Please Recommend:

Why do you have separate budgets for different parts? In total it seems you have $500 left to spend on memory, PSU and graphics. Your 30" Dell should have a resolution of 2560x1600... no $200 GPU runs modern games on that resolution very well.

What is the PC used for - i.e. do you actually need 16GB of RAM

 

[Blain]

please recommend:

16 gb ram, don't want to go over $150 (prefer g skill, never had issue with them)

f3-1333c9d-16gisl

 

[Malik2981]

If you have the budget I'd spring for a R9 290 or GTX 780 and call it a day as single card solution will always be better than two. And if this rig is only for gaming then 8GB is plenty espeacilly considering the price for 16GB right now.

 

[RKS]

You own them or have them in a shopping list?

Why do you have separate budgets for different parts? In total it seems you have $500 left to spend on memory, PSU and graphics. Your 30" Dell should have a resolution of 2560x1600... no $200 GPU runs modern games on that resolution very well.

What is the PC used for - i.e. do you actually need 16GB of RAM

I have all the items except for the RAM, GPU, PSU, and the 3rd monitor. I wanted to start pulling my home movies from the mini-dv tapes, edit, and put them on pc. I thought 16GB would make that process a little smoother?

f3-1333c9d-16gisl

Thanks.

If you have the budget I'd spring for a R9 290 or GTX 780 and call it a day as single card solution will always be better than two. And if this rig is only for gaming then 8GB is plenty espeacilly considering the price for 16GB right now.

Thanks, my plan is to start with 1 GPU and add another when prices come down a little from the mining run. If I don't need 16GB of memory, I can buy a better GPU and PSU.

I guess I should add that the budget really isn't set in stone. I could go up to $250/$300 for the GPU if that is the best option. I build a system every 5 years or so and try to future-proof within reason. I still use my Addtronics 7896 case!

 

[lehtv]

I wanted to start pulling my home movies from the mini-dv tapes, edit, and put them on pc. I thought 16GB would make that process a little smoother?

How are you planning to edit them and with what application? How large are the files?

The transfer part isn't really concerned with RAM amount.

 

[RKS]

How are you planning to edit them and with what application? How large are the files?

The transfer part isn't really concerned with RAM amount.

Pinnacle Studio or Adobe Premier Elements? I believe the tapes translate to over 10GB.

 

[mfenn]

Planning to SLI/CFX $200 cards does not make sense because VRAM is not additive in a dual-GPU setup, i.e. data must be duplicated in each cards memory. $200 cards are going to come with 2GB of VRAM and thus VRAM limitations at 2560x1600.

 

[RKS]

Planning to SLI/CFX $200 cards does not make sense because VRAM is not additive in a dual-GPU setup, i.e. data must be duplicated in each cards memory. $200 cards are going to come with 2GB of VRAM and thus VRAM limitations at 2560x1600.

I can bump up the budget. My plan is to get a decent card and add another later. So do I need a card with more than 2GB VRAM?

 

[Torn Mind]

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=XFX-750S&c=CJ
Or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

should suffice for most SLI setups.

 

[RKS]

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=XFX-750S&c=CJ
Or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

should suffice for most SLI setups.

Thanks. I'll check those out. So how important are SLI/Crossfire certifications?

At this point I will cut my RAM to 8GB, up my GPU budget to about $300, and a quality PSU will run about $100.

 

[Torn Mind]

SLI/XFire certs are mostly inconsequential but do absolve the GPU companies from at least some liability against fellas who accidentally blow up their system due to buying crappy PSU units with false specs, i.e PSUs from Diablotek and Logisys units that can only pull half of their rated wattage. The certs are mostly to steer the ignorant from a disastrous purchase. Being ignorant is not a bad trait in this context, it is perfectly understandable to not know about the finer details of hardware.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks. I'll check those out. So how important are SLI/Crossfire certifications?

At this point I will cut my RAM to 8GB, up my GPU budget to about $300, and a quality PSU will run about $100.

The R9 280X 3GB is the best high-res choice at the normal price of $300. Unfortunately, LiteCoin miners are buying them as fast as AMD can make them. So you have a few options:

1. Wait and watch for stock like a hawk
2. Buy a 280X at higher than MSRP on eBay, Amazon 3rd party, etc.
3. Go up to a GTX 770 4GB ($390) or GTX 780 3GB $500

 

[RKS]

The R9 280X 3GB is the best high-res choice at the normal price of $300. Unfortunately, LiteCoin miners are buying them as fast as AMD can make them. So you have a few options:

1. Wait and watch for stock like a hawk
2. Buy a 280X at higher than MSRP on eBay, Amazon 3rd party, etc.
3. Go up to a GTX 770 4GB ($390) or GTX 780 3GB $500

Thanks, I will wait for GTX 780 prices to drop a little. I have updated my original post with the items I have. The GPU chart in the video card forum is awesome.