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[matrixman92]

I currently have a GTX 760 4GB, i5-3350p, 8 GB ram

I am not that knowledgable about PC gaming. would it be worth it to just upgrade my video card? I have asked on here before about upgrading my CPU, and found out that I would need a whole new Motherboard. Which one would be worth upgrading between a cpu/mobo or the video card...or are they kind of parts that should be upgraded all at once

 

[RGM79]

Guys this is my current PSU:

http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?...plies&type_sub=Performance&model=AK-PA075AM01

Is that good enough to SLI 970's? and does it have the right connections etc?

Cheers.

Technically 750 watts should be enough, but if if I'm reading the product page correctly your power supply only has two GPU 6+2 pin power cables which means you may not be able to properly power two GTX 970 cards. Generally speaking most examples of the GTX 970 need both one 6 pin and one 6+2 or 8 pin GPU power cable, although some models like the Asus Strix only require a single 6+2 or 8 pin power cable.

It'll depend on what GTX 970 models you are looking at, you may need molex cable adaptors to fully power each GTX 970 if you can't afford to replace the power supply. However molex cable adaptors generally aren't recommended for safety reasons and whatnot as some power supplies don't put out enough wattage/amperage and using molex cables won't change that, you would run the risk of overloading the power supply.

 

[Matty8787]

Technically 750 watts should be enough, but if if I'm reading the product page correctly your power supply only has two GPU 6+2 pin power cables which means you may not be able to properly power two GTX 970 cards. Generally speaking each GTX 970 needs one 6 pin and one 6+2 or 8 pin GPU power cable, although some models like the Asus Strix only require a single 6+2 or 8 pin power cable.

It'll depend on what GTX 970 models you are looking at, but you may need molex cable adaptors which generally aren't recommended unless you can't afford to replace the power supply.

To save on the hassle I would just buy a new PSU, was looking a the CM850.

 

[RGM79]

I currently have a GTX 760 4GB, i5-3350p, 8 GB ram

I am not that knowledgable about PC gaming. would it be worth it to just upgrade my video card? I have asked on here before about upgrading my CPU, and found out that I would need a whole new Motherboard. Which one would be worth upgrading between a cpu/mobo or the video card...or are they kind of parts that should be upgraded all at once

That will depend on how much you want to spend. I think I remember saying that upgrading your graphics card would yield a bigger difference.

What country are you in?

Today is the day I finally go buy my new rig. However there is one new thing that has me doubting. I was originally going to get a relatively cheap kit of 2x4gb RAM 1866mhz CL10. However I noticed the store is doing a fire sale on 2x8gb RAM 1600 mhz CL10.

The latter kit only costs little more but it is indeed slower and has the same latency(?). I'm tempted to go with the latter since apparently RAM speed isn't such a huge deal. Any thoughs? It will be for Haswell 4790k.

How much do they cost? I generally recommend 1866MHz or better if possible for systems that support it, but honestly you won't notice a difference in day to day use as very few games are dependent on RAM speed (although EA's Battlefield games do like high speed RAM).

To save on the hassle I would just buy a new PSU, was looking a the CM850.

I am not sure what model that is, Google brings up nothing? Cooler Master? They make quite a few different 850 watt models.

What country are you in?

 

[Napalm_Frank]

How much do they cost? I generally recommend 1866MHz or better if possible for systems that support it, but honestly you won't notice a difference in day to day use as very few games are dependent on RAM speed (although EA's Battlefield games do like high speed RAM).

87€ and 135€. I don't do video editing or anything like that but I do like to keep net browser open in the backround. I'd probably manage with 8gb if the speed is worth it for better game experience.

 

[matrixman92]

That will depend on how much you want to spend. I think I remember saying that upgrading your graphics card would yield a bigger difference.

What country are you in?

US. I was just going to buy a 970. I dont want to buy both parts at once.

The thing I guess I dont understand and need to learn is what parts increase what aspect of a game. Like, what exactly does a CPU do for games. Is that the frame rate that is mainly attached to a CPU? Its probably blasphemy in here, but to be honest, i dont really care about frame rate, as long as I can get around 30 im good; just want the games to look great. Ive heard that I could run into a bottleneck, not sure how valid that was though

 

[Rentahamster]

If anyone is interested I installed the Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 drive yesterday and the thing is as fast as the maketing hype suggested, although my benchmark below falls a little lower than the peak speeds this thing is supposed to be capable of:

To put that into context, the read speed is over a whopping 5-times faster than what I was getting on my 256GB Crucial MX100 SSD, write speed benchmark over 4x faster. I'm using the SM951 as a boot drive and the PC boots in several seconds. OS feels incredibly snappy, folders/document windows load instantly (I mean instantly!). Photoshop is installed on the drive too as I am using my PC as a workstation and it loads in just over a few seconds.

So I would recommend one of these as a boot drive for anyone wanting the massive speed. It was no trouble getting this set-up on my MSI X99 SLI Plus motherboard and installing Windows 7 on it. This drive should work out of the box for higher end modern motherboards and will also work with older boards with BIOS tweaks.

Even though this drive is meant to be a PCIe device, it still worked when running under the default 'SATA Strap' in the BIOS, albeit with decreased speeds. Setting this to PCIE M.2 SSD gave me the benchmark readings above. Some tweaks here and there with settings and OCing my CPU (got a 5820K at stock still) should also increase the performance slightly.

Dayum that's sweet. How's the heat?

 

[Matty8787]

I am not sure what model that is, Google brings up nothing? Cooler Master? They make quite a few different 850 watt models.

What country are you in?

UK. Also found another PSU - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-013-EA&campaign=affiliate/tag

 

[RGM79]

87€ and 135€. I don't do video editing or anything like that but I do like to keep net browser open in the backround. I'd probably manage with 8gb if the speed is worth it for better game experience.

While I usually recommend higher speed RAM, the benefits aren't easily apparent, and the cost of RAM in non-US countries is usually somewhat expensive. I think for you 16GB may be more important than speed. That said, an option would be to get 8GB of faster RAM now and a matching 8GB set in the future.

I looked at jimms.fi, there is this kit of 8GB G.Skill 2400MHz RAM for 84€ and another kit of 16GB G.Skill 2400MHz RAM for 151€ if you're interested in higher speed RAM.

If the webpage translation is correct, it says there is free shipping?

 

[Napalm_Frank]

While I usually recommend higher speed RAM, the benefits aren't easily apparent, and the cost of RAM in non-US countries is usually somewhat expensive. I think for you 16GB may be more important than speed. That said, an option would be to get 8GB of faster RAM now and a matching 8GB set in the future.

I looked at jimms.fi, there is this kit of 8GB G.Skill 2400MHz RAM for 84€ and another kit of 16GB G.Skill 2400MHz RAM for 151€ if you're interested in higher speed RAM.

If the webpage translation is correct, it says there is free shipping?

Yeah it's free shipping. I was under the impression though that going for that fast ram isn't really worth it since the latency keeps rising (those are CL11) and thus has severe diminishing returns? Plus of course those go over 1.5V.

 

[RGM79]

Yeah it's free shipping. I was under the impression though that going for that fast ram isn't really worth it since the latency keeps rising (those are CL11) and thus has severe diminishing returns? Plus of course those go over 1.5V.

You are absolutely correct, there are diminishing returns. As I understand it, you can roughly gauge RAM latency with the following formula: (CL/(Freq-in-MHZ) * 1000) = speed in ns

So let's compare the 2400MHz RAM with the 1866MHz RAM:
(11/2400) * 1000 = 4.583 ns
(10/1866) * 1000 = 5.359 ns

The 2400MHz RAM I recommended should be slightly faster. Going over 1.5 volts is not an issue. It merely means that the RAM is running slightly hotter, as long as your case isn't a hotbox with inadequate airflow, it will be fine. It may technically be "out of spec" but it is safe to run, all higher speed RAM above 1333/1600Mhz is technically running overclocked anyway, some simply require more voltage at higher speeds and are binned according to their tested performance at the production factory.

UK. Also found another PSU - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-013-EA&campaign=affiliate/tag

That's a very good power supply, but expensive at overclockers.co.uk. The very same 850 watt power supply only costs £102 elsewhere including shipping.

If you're looking to save money, there are other options. Here's some quality power supplies that are at a good price:

XFX Pro Series XXX Edition 750 watts bronze rated semi-modular for £66
XFX Pro Series XXX Edition 850 watts bronze rated semi-modular for £75
Super Flower Leadex Gold 750 watts gold rated fully modular for £90

US. I was just going to buy a 970. I dont want to buy both parts at once.

The thing I guess I dont understand and need to learn is what parts increase what aspect of a game. Like, what exactly does a CPU do for games. Is that the frame rate that is mainly attached to a CPU? Its probably blasphemy in here, but to be honest, i dont really care about frame rate, as long as I can get around 30 im good; just want the games to look great. Ive heard that I could run into a bottleneck, not sure how valid that was though

It varies by the game. Some games (strategy, simulation, or any game that has a lot of elements going on at once) stand to benefit from a strong CPU, while most other games rely on better graphics cards to perform better. What games do you play? We can find some benchmarks to see whether you need a new CPU or just a new graphics card.

Framerate is a product of both the processor and graphics card - if one or both are weak, then it will result in a weaker framerate. A weak processor paired with a strong graphics card can hold back overall performance, and same goes for the opposite pairup. If you're only interested in getting 30FPS and above with decent visual graphics, I think you just need a better graphics card. Your i5 processor isn't that old and although it can't be overclocked, it should still offer decent performance for the majority of games out there. I can't actually think of any games that are bottlenecked harshly (<30FPS) if they happen to be running on an i5 processor provided the graphics card is capable of more than 30FPS at moderate graphics settings.

 

[chiliboy]

After saving up for a long long time I finally got the hit the button on my new hobby room/PC upgrade.

i7 4790k
Gigabyte G1 GTX 980
500 GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD
EVGA supernova G2 750 watt modular 80+ gold
Gigabyte z97 gaming 3 motherboard
1TB WD Black drive
16gb Corsair Vengeance LP 1600mhz RAM
Define R5 case
NH-15 air cooler
Arozzi Torretta gaming chair
G402 mouse
Func KB-460 keyboard
HyperX Cloud 2 headset
Logitech speakers, forgot name.
Windows 8.1 64 bit
Acer 24" predator G-sync monitor

Can't wait!

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

After saving up for a long long time I finally got the hit the button on my new hobby room/PC upgrade.

i7 4790k
Gigabyte G1 GTX 980
500 GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD
EVGA supernova G2 750 watt modular 80+ gold
Gigabyte z97 gaming 3 motherboard
1TB WD Black drive
16gb Corsair Vengeance LP 1600mhz RAM
Define R5 case
NH-15 air cooler
Asetto gaming chair
G402 mouse
Func KB-460 keyboard
HyperX Cloud 2 headset
Logitech speakers, forgot name.
Windows 8.1 64 bit

Can't wait!

Nice build.

 

[chiliboy]

Nice build.

Thank you lord fuzzy

Forgot to mention that I bought a Acer 24" G-sync monitor aswell, really interesting to see how that one is.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Dayum that's sweet. How's the heat?

It's my understanding that the SM951 M.2 runs a lot cooler under load than the older XP941, although tbh that's based on a comment on the Tweaktown review and knowing that this is supposed to be an improvement in every way from Samsung's previous M.2 entry.

I did have a little feel (with antistatic gloves) of the module after doing lots of installing and moving/deleting files around the OS after initial set-up and installation of Windows 7 and it only felt slightly warm.

I'm not knowledgeable on drive utilisation but I haven't installed any games on the M.2 yet, as my thinking this may put the drive in heavy use. I may do so as a test and stick a few of the temp sensors you get with the BitFenix Recon fan controller on it to try and get a reading.

 

[Dries]

Sup, PC-GAF

I'm in search of a new DisplayPort cable. I just ordered a Acer XB270HU and I've read that the DisplayPort cable that comes packaged with the monitor is kinda short. So I want a longer one. Couple of questions:

- Are there big differences in quality between different DisplayPort cables?

- If there are, what are the things I should keep an eye on?

- The DisplayPort cable will be working on a Acer XB270HU, so it should support 1440p, G-sync and DisplayPort 1.2. Will all DisplayPort cables work fine with a Acer XB270HU? Or will some work "better" than others?

- How do 3rd party DisplayPort cables work with hardware? Should I be wary of anything? Will I be at a disadvantage by not using the packaged cable?

- I'll be going from +-1m (the packaged cable) to 2m. Will there be any noticeable quality loss?

Lastly, could anyone advise a specific brand/product? Thanks!!!

 

[Rentahamster]

I haven't installed any games on the M.2 yet, as my thinking this may put the drive in heavy use.

What's the point then, if not games?

 

[chiliboy]

Sup, PC-GAF

I'm in search of a new DisplayPort cable. I just ordered a Acer XB270HU and I've read that the DisplayPort cable that comes packaged with the monitor is kinda short. So I want a longer one. Couple of questions:

- Are there big differences in quality between different DisplayPort cables?

- If there are, what are the things I should keep an eye on?

- The DisplayPort cable will be working on a Acer XB270HU, so it should support 1440p, G-sync and DisplayPort 1.2. Will all DisplayPort cables work fine with a Acer XB270HU? Or will some work "better" than others?

- How do 3rd party DisplayPort cables work with hardware? Should I be wary of anything? Will I be at a disadvantage by not using the packaged cable?

- I'll be going from +-1m (the packaged cable) to 2m. Will there be any noticeable quality loss?

Lastly, could anyone advise a specific brand/product? Thanks!!!

I have also ordered almost the same monitor as you so it's an interesting question.
There is some info here: http://www.displayport.org/cables/how-to-choose-a-displayport-cable-and-not-get-a-bad-one/ with further links and reading

"Contrary to what you may think, the more expensive cable will not give you a better picture quality. DisplayPort uses packetized data, similar to USB and Ethernet, to send digital display and audio data, therefore you either get all of the data or you don&#8217;t. Unlike other older video interfaces, you don&#8217;t get a &#8220;better&#8221; picture or other incremental improvements with a more expensive cable. But of course a poor quality cable could lead to data errors and obvious corruption of the video or audio data, but you can avoid such cables, as explained further below."

 

[Tacitus_]

So, how badly is my Lynnfield i5 (OC'd to 3.37 Ghz) going to gimp my 970?

 

[RGM79]

So, how badly is my Lynnfield i5 (OC'd to 3.37 Ghz) going to gimp my 970?

Depends on the game. You're not in that bad a position. Although it's not as good as a 2500K, you should be able to overclock up to 4GHz or so on a decent cooler to help make up for that, though.

 

[ohyouagain]

According to the System Requirements Labs, my i5-2500 will not allow me to run the Witcher because it's a non-K modell.
But I wonder if this be a hinderance in a real case ? If I play the game with modest settings, I should still be able to play it, right ?


EDIT : I should add, I also have a GTX 750 Ti, which is slightly less powerful than the GTX 660 required for the minimum specs.

 

[Poetic]

I could use a little help finalizing this or maybe optimizing my money. I need help picking up RAM as I'm not sure what speeds are good for gaming. This rig will be purely for gaming. Not sure on case either, I kinda want something without a window so I was thinking the Fractal Define r5?

The PSU is a placeholder, was going to go with 850w but they didn't have the 850 on their site.

I have room for about $300 more. I still need windows 8.1.

Last question, is two 980s overkill for a single 1080p monitor? I plan on going 1440 within the next 4-5 months. Thanks in advance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1886.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 06:53 EDT-0400

 

[chiliboy]

I could use a little help finalizing this or maybe optimizing my money. I need help picking up RAM as I'm not sure what speeds are good for gaming. This rig will be purely for gaming. Not sure on case either, I kinda want something without a window so I was thinking the Fractal Define r5?

The PSU is a placeholder, was going to go with 850w but they didn't have the 850 on their site.

I have room for about $300 more. I still need windows 8.1.

Last question, is two 980s overkill for a single 1080p monitor? I plan on going 1440 within the next 4-5 months. Thanks in advance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1886.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 06:53 EDT-0400

Looks good. get dual 980's if you plan on going 1440p.
I recommend corsair ddr3 1600 or 1866mhz RAM if you can get em. 16gb at least. The vengeance series is good, I always buy LP versions so cpu coolers won't hit em
If you can afford the i7 4790k id recommend that aswell but it's your choice

 

[Tacitus_]

Depends on the game. You're not in that bad a position. Although it's not as good as a 2500K, you should be able to overclock up to 4GHz or so on a decent cooler to help make up for that, though.

Yeah I have a nice cooler, though I'm not sure if I've set up the air flow correctly.

 

[RGM79]

I could use a little help finalizing this or maybe optimizing my money. I need help picking up RAM as I'm not sure what speeds are good for gaming. This rig will be purely for gaming. Not sure on case either, I kinda want something without a window so I was thinking the Fractal Define r5?

The PSU is a placeholder, was going to go with 850w but they didn't have the 850 on their site.

I have room for about $300 more. I still need windows 8.1.

Last question, is two 980s overkill for a single 1080p monitor? I plan on going 1440 within the next 4-5 months. Thanks in advance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1886.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 06:53 EDT-0400

Here's my version of your build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($539.98 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($539.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1960.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 07:10 EDT-0400

1. The MSI motherboard I chose has similar features for a better price point.
2. I found you 16GB of 2400MHz RAM for $105. Can't go wrong with that.
3. Changed the blower-type GTX 980s to the slightly cheaper and faster twin fan models.
4. I added the Fractal Define R5 as you asked.
5. Just 750 watts is enough, including overclocking. The 850 watt models are here, I recommend the Supernova B2 for best cost to performance.

Windows 7/8.1 licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for $20 or less. These are most likely legitimate keys that are resold from educational programs like Technet or Dreamspark. However, you are dealing with a person instead of a retailer, and informal Windows keys sales are unapproved by Microsoft and probably breaking some licensing agreement to be clear, but it's not illegal. The risks involved are that the person could be selling you a fake or used key, or that Microsoft may deactivate your license and refuse to reactivate it, although it's somewhat unlikely, usually only if the seller and their list of sold keys was caught. We've had people here using those keys without issues for a long time and others who say Microsoft deactivated their key after several months. Or you can get a retail copy for bit under $90.

You might have missed my earlier post, I asked you if you wanted a parts list from NCIXUS because you seemed to be interested in their assembly service, but you never replied.

One last thing, depending on when you want to put this PC together, you may want to wait and see how the graphics card situation changes in June. AMD's new R9 3XX line is rumored to release and the GTX 980 Ti appears to be on the horizon.

According to the System Requirements Labs, my i5-2500 will not allow me to run the Witcher because it's a non-K modell.
But I wonder if this be a hinderance in a real case ? If I play the game with modest settings, I should still be able to play it, right ?


EDIT : I should add, I also have a GTX 750 Ti, which is slightly less powerful than the GTX 660 required for the minimum specs.

That's just the website being reliably dumb. You'll be able to run it.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

What's the point then, if not games?

I got it for really fast boot, incredibly snappy OS, and Photoshop/Illustrator rendering speed as I built my machine for work as well as games.

 

[Poetic]

I read i5 was all that was needed for gaming, that true? I'll get a i7 if that's my best bet.

 

[Poetic]

Here's my version of your build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($539.98 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($539.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1960.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 07:10 EDT-0400

1. The MSI motherboard I chose has similar features for a better price point.
2. Changed the blower-type GTX 980s to the slightly cheaper and faster twin fan models.
3. You don't need 1000 watts. Even 750 watts is enough, including overclocking.

Windows 7/8.1 licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for $20 or less. These are most likely legitimate keys that are resold from educational programs like Technet or Dreamspark. However, you are dealing with a person instead of a retailer, and informal Windows keys sales are unapproved by Microsoft and probably breaking some licensing agreement to be clear, but it's not illegal. The risks involved are that the person could be selling you a fake or used key, or that Microsoft may deactivate your license and refuse to reactivate it, although it's somewhat unlikely, usually only if the seller and their list of sold keys was caught. We've had people here using those keys without issues for a long time and others who say Microsoft deactivated their key after several months. Or you can get a retail copy for bit under $90.

You might have missed my earlier post, I asked you if you wanted a parts list from NCIXUS because you seemed to be interested in their assembly service, but you never replied.

One last thing, depending on when you want to put this PC together, you may want to wait and see how the graphics card situation changes in June. AMD's new R9 3XX line is rumored to release and the GTX 980 Ti appears to be on the horizon.



That's just the website being reliably dumb. You'll be able to run it.

I'm open to assembling it myself but an terrified of it.

Question about your GPU suggestion. I was reading blower was better for sli because the other way that top card pushes too much heat on the 2nd. That true?

 

[RGM79]

I read i5 was all that was needed for gaming, that true? I'll get a i7 if that's my best bet.

For best bang for your buck, the i5 is all you need. You won't see much of a difference going with the quad core i7. If you wanted a stronger processor to last you a few years longer than the i5 4690K, I'd recommend looking at a hexacore like the i7 5820K for X99 motherboards.

 

[Kayant]

I could use a little help finalizing this or maybe optimizing my money. I need help picking up RAM as I'm not sure what speeds are good for gaming. This rig will be purely for gaming. Not sure on case either, I kinda want something without a window so I was thinking the Fractal Define r5?

The PSU is a placeholder, was going to go with 850w but they didn't have the 850 on their site.

I have room for about $300 more. I still need windows 8.1.

Last question, is two 980s overkill for a single 1080p monitor? I plan on going 1440 within the next 4-5 months. Thanks in advance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1886.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 06:53 EDT-0400

If your spending that much on GPU why not look into getting a titan x($1000 from nvidia's website). No SLI issues + that 12GB Framebuffer

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

If your spending that much on GPU why not look into getting a titan x($1000 from nvidia's website). No SLI issues + that 12GB Framebuffer

I posted this a few pages back, but two 980s should give significantly more performance than a Titan X, when even two EVGA GTX 970 SSC in SLI does the same in a recent comparison by Hexus. That's the case at 1080p, 1440 and 4k.

I really wouldn't recommend a Titan X to any price-conscious gamer, even if he wants to spend $1000.

EDIT: What I'm saying is that the Titan X should be around $800 before I'd recommend it, and even then, I'd say it might be worth waiting for a 980 ti.

 

[RGM79]

I'm open to assembling it myself but an terrified of it.

Question about your GPU suggestion. I was reading blower was better for sli because the other way that top card pushes too much heat on the 2nd. That true?

You mean the top card gets warmer than the bottom, that's the usual concern with SLI/crossfire. It's true, although other factors like case airflow will play into temperatures and noise levels. Provided that your case has adequate fans and airflow, I don't think getting blower-type coolers will mean the difference between overheating or not.

I'll admit that I am biased towards open air coolers. I've rarely (well, never) heard of a blower type cooler outperforming an open cooler when it comes down to GPU temperatures and fan noise, although there is a definite point in favor of blower coolers not warming up the air inside the case, and when you have two graphics cards that can generate quite a lot of heat.

I'd say it's probably fine to go with two open type coolers, but it's up to you. The motherboard I recommended does space the two PCI-E x16 slots a bit further apart for more breathing room between the two cards.

 

[Poetic]

Is SLI difficult or has problems often?

 

[Ettie]

I got it for really fast boot, incredibly snappy OS, and Photoshop/Illustrator rendering speed as I built my machine for work as well as games.

Would "heavy use" reduce the lifespan to an unacceptable level relative to the high cost?

 

[Repo Man]

I'm looking for some suggestions as to what SSD to pick. I'm on a budget of £100 ( or 150 $ ) give or take because bills and wrath of the missus... Anyway, been looking at the Crucial MX200 256gb but I'd like to know what others might be worth considering as I was initially looking at the Samsung EVO's but I thought I read somewhere that some of the Samsung drives have been having reliability issues or am I mistaken ?

256gb drive size isn't a big issue as I plan to buy a new bigger mechanical drive later on for general storage and some games and whatnot so the SSD would be the OS drive, some programs and maybe a few of the games I play the most.

 

[RGM79]

Is SLI difficult or has problems often?

It doesn't work with all games and scaling isn't always consistent. How well SLI works depends on how much work the devs put into the game as well as driver optimizations and SLI profiles being made available by Nvidia. It's not all bad, though. Some games like GTAV are particularly good in that department so it is possible to get good performance with proper coding effort. For games that initially perform poorly, SLI support will usually improve within weeks or months.

Generally speaking a single strong graphics card is preferred for framerate stability and good performance without needing to rely on developer effort and driver updates, but running multi-GPU setups for certain models of graphics cards can offer much better performance for a given price and for high resolutions like 4K which no single graphics card can do at both high framerate and graphics quality, there's no choice but to go with multiple GPUs.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Would "heavy use" reduce the lifespan to an unacceptable level relative to the high cost?

I'm not sure, I suppose only time will tell how good Samsung made these. They had a 'trial run' with the XP941, so you'd think what is actually a 3rd generation m.2 drive would be a pretty durable SSD.

 

[ipitydatfu]

I'm looking for a replacement PSU, but I don't know what model to get. all I know is that in looking for a semi/fully modular.

current system
Phenom 940
r260x

 

[RGM79]

I'm looking for some suggestions as to what SSD to pick. I'm on a budget of £100 ( or 150 $ ) give or take because bills and wrath of the missus... Anyway, been looking at the Crucial MX200 256gb but I'd like to know what others might be worth considering as I was initially looking at the Samsung EVO's but I thought I read somewhere that some of the Samsung drives have been having reliability issues or am I mistaken ?

256gb drive size isn't a big issue as I plan to buy a new bigger mechanical drive later on for general storage and some games and whatnot so the SSD would be the OS drive, some programs and maybe a few of the games I play the most.

The MX200 is a good drive, but for slightly better cost per GB there's the Crucial BX100 250GB model for £73.

The Samsung 840 Evo model had performance issues that weren't totally gotten rid of. Some users still report having issues whereas others don't. The newer 850 Evo is the replacement for the discontinued 840 Evo, and while I'm optimistic that Samsung has fixed the issue, it remains to be seen if there will be any similar issues with the 850 Evo as it takes time for the problem to show up.

I'm looking for a replacement PSU, but I don't know what model to get. all I know is that in looking for a semi/fully modular.

current system
Phenom 940
r260x

Country? Budget?

 

[RumblingRosco]

Hi all, just wanted to say that I have a $20 NCIXUS.com (might work on NCIX.ca, but I'm not confident with that) gift card I received as a promotional bonus for a first-time purchase at NCIXUS. I don't plan to have a use for it in the next few years so I'd rather just sell it at a discount to a Gaffer - anyway, if you're interested, PM me and I'll sell it to you for less than the $20 face value.

Also, I recently sold my 560 Ti to SavageCobra thanks in part to this thread being so chill about advertising sales, so thanks thread/thread regulars!

 

[Poetic]

It doesn't work with all games and scaling isn't always consistent. How well SLI works depends on how much work the devs put into the game as well as driver optimizations and SLI profiles being made available by Nvidia. It's not all bad, though. Some games like GTAV are particularly good in that department so it is possible to get good performance with proper coding effort. For games that initially perform poorly, SLI support will usually improve within weeks or months.

Generally speaking a single strong graphics card is preferred for framerate stability and good performance without needing to rely on developer effort and driver updates, but running multi-GPU setups for certain models of graphics cards can offer much better performance for a given price and for high resolutions like 4K which no single graphics card can do at both high framerate and graphics quality, there's no choice but to go with multiple GPUs.

I see, how far off is that 980 TI? Titan X doesn't seem worth it as a single card.

Let's say I wanted to go single card right now and maybe SLI down the road, how much would you change my build? What's the best single 980? For 1080p until I upgrade to 1440. Can a single 980 do 1440 on high settings?

I want to play GTA 5, Witcher 3, MGS when it's released.

 

[Chinbo37]

So I have a gaming PC (needs upgrading but still going strong), a dedicated music PC (fanless, hooked up to a DAC), and now i want to build a home file server.


Of course while I want to keep the cost down, the main point would be to conserve power as it will be running 24/7. I am trying to decide between two different Haswell CPUs. Both are T models with 35W power use.

My main question is, should I go with the i5 (quad core) or the i3 (dual core)? There will be some streaming of movies to other devices so there will be transcoding. I just want to be sure that paying for the extra cores will be worth it, given that the actual speed of the CPU is the same between the two models.

 

[ohyouagain]

That's just the website being reliably dumb. You'll be able to run it.

That's good news to hear. Thanks a lot !

 

[RGM79]

I see, how far off is that 980 TI? Titan X doesn't seem worth it as a single card.

Let's say I wanted to go single card right now and maybe SLI down the road, how much would you change my build? What's the best single 980? For 1080p until I upgrade to 1440. Can a single 980 do 1440 on high settings?

I want to play GTA 5, Witcher 3, MGS when it's released.

There's nothing but rumors about the GTX "980 Ti" so far. Nothing is known about potential pricing or a release date. I agree that the Titan X isn't cost-effective.

I wouldn't change a lot about the build. Maybe go with an stronger power supply like you originally wanted in case the GTX 980 Ti is a bit more power hungry. Since you're saving around $500 by going with a single GTX 980, perhaps you could change to the i7 5820K, X99 motherboard, and DDR4 RAM.

Looking at GTAV benchmarks, a single GTX 980 should handle 1080p well at decently high-to-ultra settings. Back in March the Witcher 3 was reported from a German source to run well on a GTX 980 when maxed out at 1080p, although that was with an i7 4790 processor. If Ground Zeroes is any indication of the final build of Phantom Pain, then the GTX 980 should also do well just swimmingly at 1080p. For 1440p gaming in general it'll struggle a little more but framerate should still be acceptably above 30FPS, you may have to lower some settings for 60FPS.

EVGA has a step-up program where they allow you to trade up to a newer graphics card if a better one comes out within 90 days of your purchase. You do have to pay the difference according to the full price on EVGA's website though, and there's no guarantee that a GTX 980 Ti will arrive within three months of now.

 

[sackboy2197]

Here's what I put together from some advice here and there and following this thread for a bit. I'd like to play at 1080p, ultra, 60fps, which should be doable with this setup. If someone has any tips, I'd like to hear them! Also, if someone has the time to double-check sizes and cables, I'd appreciate it (even though I believe I checked everything).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€252.44 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€152.74 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€75.14 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€68.05 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€60.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (€377.00)
Case: Corsair 350D Window MicroATX Mid Tower Case (€117.25 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€96.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (€119.00)
Monitor: BenQ GW2265HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (€108.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Other: HDMI Cable (€8.00)
Total: €1434.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 14:40 CEST+0200

 

[Poetic]

There's nothing but rumors about the GTX "980 Ti" so far. Nothing is known about potential pricing or a release date. I agree that the Titan X isn't cost-effective.

I wouldn't change a lot about the build. Maybe go with an stronger power supply like you originally wanted in case the GTX 980 Ti is a bit more power hungry. Since you're saving around $500 by going with a single GTX 980, perhaps you could change to the i7 5820K, X99 motherboard, and DDR4 RAM.

Would the switch to i7, z99, and ddr4 be more about future proofing? Which I'm not opposed to.

 

[Dries]

I have also ordered almost the same monitor as you so it's an interesting question.
There is some info here: http://www.displayport.org/cables/how-to-choose-a-displayport-cable-and-not-get-a-bad-one/ with further links and reading

"Contrary to what you may think, the more expensive cable will not give you a better picture quality. DisplayPort uses packetized data, similar to USB and Ethernet, to send digital display and audio data, therefore you either get all of the data or you don’t. Unlike other older video interfaces, you don’t get a “better” picture or other incremental improvements with a more expensive cable. But of course a poor quality cable could lead to data errors and obvious corruption of the video or audio data, but you can avoid such cables, as explained further below."

Thanks man, good read. So as long as I get a DisplayPort cable that's on their list I should be solid. And of course look out for a RBR version.

Too bad they don't mention anything about 144Hz (my monitor). They only talk about 60Hz

 

[RGM79]

Here's what I put together from some advice here and there and following this thread for a bit. I'd like to play at 1080p, ultra, 60fps, which should be doable with this setup. If someone has any tips, I'd like to hear them! Also, if someone has the time to double-check sizes and cables, I'd appreciate it (even though I believe I checked everything).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€252.44 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€152.74 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€75.14 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€68.05 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€60.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (€377.00)
Case: Corsair 350D Window MicroATX Mid Tower Case (€117.25 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€96.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (€119.00)
Monitor: BenQ GW2265HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (€108.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Other: HDMI Cable (€8.00)
Total: €1434.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 14:40 CEST+0200

Do you already own the graphics card, power supply, and OS that you set custom prices for? Or are those local prices from retailers you're planning to purchase from? Assuming you haven't already bought them..

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€252.44 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€101.25 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (€125.30 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€68.05 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€57.33 @ Amazon Italia)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (€377.00)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case (€102.27 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€82.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (€119.00)
Monitor: BenQ GW2265HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (€108.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Other: HDMI Cable (€8.00)
Other: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€39.20)
Total: €1440.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 15:12 CEST+0200

After cost optimizations and for just a few Euros more, I was able to double the RAM and add a CPU cooler. That version of the Corsair 350D has no case window, though.

Would the switch to i7, z99, and ddr4 be more about future proofing? Which I'm not opposed to.

Yeah, it'd be a bit more futureproof. Here's what I'd go with for an X99 build, assuming you want the room for future upgrade to twin GTX 980 Ti or something. There weren't a lot of ~900 watt power supplies to choose from, so I went for a decent 1000 watt model.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($349.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($161.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($539.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Rosewill 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1738.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 08:58 EDT-0400
Question: do you live near a Microcenter store? They have the best prices on processors and processor+motherboard bundles.

 

[ricki42]

Here's what I put together from some advice here and there and following this thread for a bit. I'd like to play at 1080p, ultra, 60fps, which should be doable with this setup. If someone has any tips, I'd like to hear them! Also, if someone has the time to double-check sizes and cables, I'd appreciate it (even though I believe I checked everything).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Get a CPU cooler so you can overclock. You can get it later, but it's easier to put it in right away.
Whether this PC will do 1080p, 60fps on ultra really depends on the game though. I seem to remember reading that The Witcher 3 will require a GTX 980 to do that.

 

[sackboy2197]

Do you already own the graphics card, power supply, and OS that you set custom prices for? Or are those local prices from retailers you're planning to purchase from? Assuming you haven't already bought them..

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (&#8364;252.44 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (&#8364;101.25 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (&#8364;125.30 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (&#8364;68.05 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (&#8364;57.33 @ Amazon Italia)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (&#8364;377.00)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case (&#8364;102.27 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (&#8364;82.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (&#8364;119.00)
Monitor: BenQ GW2265HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (&#8364;108.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Other: HDMI Cable (&#8364;8.00)
Other: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (&#8364;39.20)
Total: &#8364;1440.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-15 15:12 CEST+0200

After cost optimizations and for just a few Euros more, I was able to double the RAM and add a CPU cooler. That version of the Corsair 350D has no case window, though.

Get a CPU cooler so you can overclock. You can get it later, but it's easier to put it in right away.
Whether this PC will do 1080p, 60fps on ultra really depends on the game though. I seem to remember reading that The Witcher 3 will require a GTX 980 to do that.

Well, that is the aim, I'm aware it won't be enough for everything
I don't plan to overclock in the near future, but I might like to do that in 6/12 months; that's why I chose the K processor and not put the cooler. The PSU I chose was semi because I think it should be a bit easier to build and to keep the whole thing cleaner, as this is my first build. Also, would the 16GB of ram be worth it? I don't do any editing or streaming, nor I really use that many programs at the same time.
The price I put myself were the Amazon.it price I found on the website itself, which weren't showing in PCPartPicker (the price for Windows is the one on the official website)
Thanks for the advice!