Will My setup work?

[iskoristena4]

Hey everyone, my friend referred me to this website saying it had a very experienced and friendly community:D so hopefully someone can help me out!
i have been saving for ever now to accumulate enough money to buy my first real gaming pc, however my knowledge of setting up computers is very limited... i have been doing some research so i wouldn't have to ask too mny questions... however unfortunately my research hasn't been all that effective so im gonna be asking a lot lol.
So anyways my build is intended to start off as a multimedia unit, 3D modelling in particular (Rendering with V-ray), and so this is why i have chosen such an expensive processor. After i have finished school the computer will be intended for High end gaming. Eventually in the end i will probably use it for work related to multimedia. Just thought this may help you guys in making some decisions.

Essentially i would not like to go over $3800 and at the moment my build appears to be coming to around $3300 (missing some parts) so that's pretty nice. But i am 100% aware that the parts i have chosen are very likely incompatible and so i will need to make many alterations, so just think of the parts i have got at the moment as a guideline i guess?

Basically the questions i need answering are as follows:
1. Is what i have so far compatible
2. Should i use 2 good graphics cards? or 1 REALLY good graphics card?
3. How much power am i going to need? and so what power supply should i get?
4. How many fans will i need? which ones should i get?
5. If by some miracle my components do work together, are there any parts i could buy that are just as good yet cheaper? e.g. cheaper yet equally as good graphics card's... Or mabye i could spend $10 extra and get a way better part?
7. What Hard drive should i get
8. What Solid State drive should i get?
9. What components am i missing?

The site i am using to purchase my computer is www.pccasegear.com and so i would REALLY appreciate if someone could help me  use this site to build my computer
Current Hardware
CPU
 Intel Core i7 3960X
Motherboard
Asrock Fatal1ty X79 Champion (Do i need such an expensive one?)
Graphics Card/Cards
1x Sapphire Radeon HD7970 6GB Vapor-X Edition

2x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB OC
RAM
Corsair Dominator GT CMT32GX3M4X1866C9 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3
Optical Drive
Samsung SH-222BB SATA DVDRW Drive OEM
Case
Aerocool Strike-X ST Devil Red Super Full Tower
CPU cooler
Corsair Hydro Series H80 CPU Cooler
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM
Power supply
Absolutely no clue... Please suggest one for my build
Hard Drive
Anything 2TB + would be preferable
Solid State Drive
Not sure about this component, recommend please

Note: all the listed parts can be found on www.pccasegear.com. And i would prefer any referred parts to come from that site, if possible.
Everything i have listed so far comes to around $3334 and i dont wanna go over $3800... so i have roughly $500 left in my budget for a Hard drive, Power supply, Additional fans, and a solid state drive... If i am going to need to allocate more money to these components then i guess i can do that, but yeah... Hopefully i have provided you guys with enough information to answer my questions.

[Calum]

Hi there and welcome to the forums, nice build you're planning there!
Does your budget need to include a keyboard, mouse, monitor, or any other peripherals?
I've put together a quick build for you that comes to $2574 excluding the above but including everything you need for the PC itsef - motherboard, CPU, case, graphics card, SSDs, HDD, high end cooler, RAM, PSU, DVD drive and OS.
Will you be overclocking your system?  If not, you don't need such an expensive board, and a more basic board would do you fine.  Also, the 3930K is much more cost effective than the 3960X, which is only really beneficial for extreme overclockers (phase change, very high end water cooling) and even then only for a few extra hundred MHz at the most.
If you let me know whether you will be overclocking, I can post the build as is, or make some tweaks to allow for you not overclocking, and add anything else as required (e.g. peripherals or another graphics card if you think you'll need the extra power).

[iskoristena4]

Hey Calum, thank you for taking the time to help me put together a build, i really appreciate it!
Im not very familiar with the process of overclocking, i've kinda been using a very basic PC for many years now, playing my MMOs and FPS at the lowest possible settings lol.
I have all the peripherals required and so i wont be needing any thing along those lines (keyboard, mouse etc).
And if you think that the 3960X is not necessary, that is probably a major blessing as it was darn expensive!
When it comes to the motherboard i'm inclined to go with something that will make upgrading in the future fairly easy, but wont hinder me for the time being... if that makes any sense heh?
But yeah essentially this computer is being built for my 3D modelling which research indicates requires allot of CPU "power", however i dont want to overshadow the fact i still want a pretty awsome gaming pc if it is possible.

[patio]

A good friend of mine i've done a few builds for is an Architect...tons of 3D/AutoCad work...and bought a vid card specific for his needs...needless to say it kicks rear in gaming although he's not heavy into it....

He did all his research before buying at the AutoDesk Forums...you may want to have a looksee over there for the latest info...

[Calum]

That does indeed make sense, I wouldn't suggest skimping on the board entirely - just that the top-end is really not required if you're not overclocking.  With that in mind, my new build is $2411 - I dropped the board down to one that's still very good, and will still let you overclock just fine if you want to, but is much cheaper.  I also dropped the cooler down as an aftermarket cooler is still nice to have because it's quieter, but you won't need a top-tier cooler unless you want to push the clock speeds.

So, here's what I put together, add another GTX 680 if you want ultimate graphics horsepower but be aware that to get the most out of what you would really need to overclock your CPU, as there's no stock CPU that will keep up with GTX 680 SLI.  That's not to say the performance won't be monstrous though!

Finally, as patio suggests, for 2D/3D modeling, a Quadro card may be better as the drivers are more optimised towards rendering than gaming.  I'm not familiar with that side of things so it's something to check into, it may be that a normal gaming card will handle it just fine.

[iskoristena4]

Alright thank you very much for all the help i really do appreciate it, that setup seems pretty sweet! i will look into this as much as possible and hopefully end up with a pretty awesome gaming/multimedia rig

[Calum]

No problem at all, I'm only envious and wishing I could build that kind of setup again myself heh.  Hope you enjoy it!
If you have any further questions, feel free to ask

[patio]

I like the changes/suggestions listed by Calum...
If you feel like saving some more cabbage on a roomy builders case i'd suggest the RaidMax Smilodon...
1/2 of what high end cases go for but built solid with self-builders taken into consideration...
For example both side panels fold down...a definite Plus....and can also be easily removed.

Easily approx 1/3rd of the prices so far listed.

[Calum]

Unfortunately the store don't carry Raidmax cases.  The Bitfenix is a fantastic case, and will probably be my next one.  Very roomy inside and solid build quality.  It's definitely worth the price, I even picked it over the Fractal Define XL which was my previous case - and I'm a massive Fractal fanboy heh.

[patio]

Even though the Vendoe doesn't carry it here's the link for inspection...
Have a look...

My current cost is approx $60.00 U.S....not sure how exchange rates are for U.K. or Aus.

[patio]

For the OP...
One thing i neglected to mention but should be mentioned here to avoid headaches on a new build...
Once you do decide on the MBoard they have what's called a QVL ( Qualified Vendor List ) available at the site for RAM that has actually been physically tested on the board at their labs...
I'd seriously consider selecting your RAM from that list....

[iskoristena4]

Ok i have got a pretty good looking 'cart' so far, ill post a screenshot at the end just to make sure everything is a-okay. Just out of pure curiosity what are your opinions on this? http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1411&products_id=21480

[Calum]

It's not too bad, but it's not something I would build personally.  The SSD is not as reliable, fast or large as the Crucial(s), the cooler is loud, and the memory isn't as reliable.  On the plus side, you get Windows 7 Pro vs Home, a 1 year warranty on the system, a slightly better motherboard and a larger HDD though personally I'd pick a Hitachi 2TB over the Seagate.  You also get a modular power supply, the extra 100W is irrelevant as 750 is more than sufficient.  It's not a bad system for the price though.

[iskoristena4]

Well would we be able to make a couple of alterations to the list you gave me previously in order to fill out a solid $3000?. Its not that i want to spend money willy nilly, im just very curious as too how putting in an extra $500 now could result in a worthwhile percentile increase in performance over the next couple of years (aiming to not need an upgrade for a while i guess). I'm thinking about maybe better graphics card and/or Ram (perhaps motherboard)? I would love to finally be able to play games on the Ultra-High settings or as close to as possible.

[patio]

I think overall you should select ALL your own components...but i've been a builder for years so my opinion may be a bit slanted...