Building two high end gaming systems.

[local]

Update #2: Builds complete!

Sorry for the delay I have been busy playing the Witcher 3.

All three systems worked perfectly and overclocked to 4.5 with zero effort. Idle temps at 3c above ambient, full load at 85c. Cannot hear not running. Runs the Witcher at 60 fps with all settings on ultra.

Update: Parts have arrived!

A third less powerful PC was added to the order. Now for the fun part!



Hi all,

I have not built a new PC since sometime in 2008 or so and even though I can still run pretty much anything I want my father has gotten the itch so it is new system time. First I will fill out the questionnaire...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming, lots and lots of gaming. Everything from HOI to The Witcher 3.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
$1,500 each give or take a few hundred.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US

5. 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 and Nvidia. I also prefer EVGA due to awesome service in the past.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Reusing peripherals only. May reuse my fathers case it was one of the older Corsair cases similar to the Carbide 400R with a big fan on top.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Why stay stock?

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
1080 max, currently using 1050 and dont plan to upgrade unless it dies.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Now-ish

I've been running a q9650 since they came out, originally it had a GTX 285 but that died and I got a free 470 from the RMA. We like to build higher end systems that will last about 5 years, I believe it is safe to say we accomplished that. But now I am 7 years out of date on what is what and I don't have the time to get up to date on all the current components.

So far I am looking at a 4790k or maybe a 5820k but I don't know if the price increase for a hexcore will do anything down the road, DDR4 does sound nice though. I am guessing I am going to be stuck with a GTX 970 unless I skimp on other components for a 980. I figure 16GB of RAM will be ok for a while and I would like to finally get in on the SSD action as well. Undecided on air or water cooled. Noise is not a huge issue as my current system is probably giving me hearing damage but quieter would be nicer.

I know this build will be completely overpowered now but in 2020 I hope to still be able to run anything, barring major advancements that I don't see happening.

I put together a quick no research build on pcpartpicker. Please review and critique.
Here

Thanks for the help.

EDIT
New parts list, now includes water.
Here

 

[mvbighead]

At your price point, I can see fitting a $200 motherboard, but personally, I just don't see the point. Unless you're getting some feature set out of it you can't with a 'lesser' board, I dunno.

Now, I will say, it does look like you picked a great set of parts aside from my comment above. And while I don't agree with it, you may have a good reason for it. Here is my adjusted version:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z2DqJx
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z2DqJx/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($93.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($117.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.30 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($539.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1447.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-05 09:51 EDT-0400

It's a bit more expensive than what you suggested, but includes a higher end video card and a 'lesser' motherboard. If they're mostly for gaming, I'd put everything you can towards the GPU and fit the other parts in around it.

But, there is absolutely nothing wrong with your build. I just feel you are over spending on the MB.

 

[local]

Thanks for the response.

My feature set for a motherboard is as follows:
Will the parts I have selected fit? Yes
Does it boot? Yes
Does it OC? Yes
Does decent sound come out of it? Yes
Does it catch on fire or otherwise die prematurely? No

That being said as the part that literally ties everything together I just want a good quality board. I just picked that one at random since I have not had the time yet to go through current offerings. In my brief search it seems they are all just pitching some minor gimmick and it is hard to decipher what is actually better between them.

Hopefully I will get some time today to actually do some research on the MB but I know my father is wanting to move forward with something before the end of the week. Meaning I need to order the parts tomorrow. Personally I don't like rushing this stuff but since I am getting a free computer out of it I don't have much choice.

 

[mvbighead]

Sounds rough.

I did accidentally throw an Asrock in there instead of an Asus. Asrock does make a fine board, but Asus usually is the name many look for in a good motherboard. There are several with the Z97 chipset in the $100 price range.

My thing is, unless you aim to get massive OCing with liquid nitrogen or whatever the cool kids are doing these days, you tend to be best served by buying:

* - a quality brand
* - a quality chipset (Z97 is Intel's best right now)
* - a board that meets the specs you need

While a MB does connect it all together, it really is the chipset that makes the biggest difference. That extra $100 can buy you a bigger SSD or a better GPu or...

There may be others who disagree, or are after the absolute best possible OC results... but they're maybe gaining a difference of 2-5% over a 'lesser' board, if that.

 

[local]

Agreed on all points. Had an Asus board many years ago, never had a problem. Been using a Gigabyte on the build I have now, again no problems. I know all manufacturers have their ups and downs I just don't know who is on the up right now. Thanks again for your input.

 

[DigDog]

i like the above build but i would make 2 changes;

1. a cheaper GPU. such as a R9 290 or a 970.
2. a G-sync monitor

the 980 i'm sure is awesome, but a 290 will do just as well on a 1440p/1080p. and it costs half as much, and i really would not want to build a new gaming system and leave out g-sync.

i'd also ditch the 2Tb drive and buy a second SSD, because who needs mechanical; learn to manage your storage space.

 

[Cerb]

So far I am looking at a 4790k or maybe a 5820k but I don't know if the price increase for a hexcore will do anything down the road

Nor does anyone else, really. Whether it's worth it for single-GPU gaming is a tough question to answer.

DDR4 does sound nice though.

Not really. It's just a requirement of LGA2011-3. DDR3 is faster, for a given cost, right now, and there's not much in the way of high capacity available, anyway. In a few years, we'll have lower latency DDR4, and CPUs tweaked for the higher bandwidth, but for now, it's nothing special. Even going forward, it's going to be a much bigger gain for mobile than desktop.

I figure 16GB of RAM will be ok for a while and I would like to finally get in on the SSD action as well. Undecided on air or water cooled. Noise is not a huge issue as my current system is probably giving me hearing damage but quieter would be nicer.

In that case, spend wisely on cooling. It's not hard at all to get close to the noise level of OEM desktops, even using several times the peak power, with pretty quiet idling, and relative cost increase is maybe $50-100, compared to OCing parts selected without noise as a consideration.

Water let's you move the radiator, gives you a lot more internal space to work in, and more space for air to move in. But, the improvements in cooling, at sane air flow and noise levels, are not huge, without big radiators (but, CLCs can make up for so-so case air flow). There are only a few moderately quiet AIOs (Swiftech's being expandable), but you really need to decide on a case with the cooler, if you're going to do that. Water will bring you over budget, but if you don't do a custom loop, not by too much. Even with a CLC, you need to have a good place to mount it, and the more options, the better.

I know this build will be completely overpowered now but in 2020 I hope to still be able to run anything, barring major advancements that I don't see happening.

You'd be surprised. While games still often suffer from being console ports to a degree, new big budget titles are quite capable of bringing most PCs to their knees, with enough eye candy.

 

[local]

i like the above build but i would make 2 changes;

1. a cheaper GPU. such as a R9 290 or a 970.
2. a G-sync monitor

the 980 i'm sure is awesome, but a 290 will do just as well on a 1440p/1080p. and it costs half as much, and i really would not want to build a new gaming system and leave out g-sync.

i'd also ditch the 2Tb drive and buy a second SSD, because who needs mechanical; learn to manage your storage space.

I would imagine a 980 pushing only 1680x1050 will have no problems for the next 5 years. That is the point of a 980, not today but in 2020. Also I have not had good luck with ATI/AMD since the 9800 Pro.

Not really interested in G-sync. I have two good monitors that I really like, I tend to use them until they die. By then G-Sync will probably be a common item.

 

[local]

Nor does anyone else, really. Whether it's worth it for single-GPU gaming is a tough question to answer.

Not really. It's just a requirement of LGA2011-3. DDR3 is faster, for a given cost, right now, and there's not much in the way of high capacity available, anyway. In a few years, we'll have lower latency DDR4, and CPUs tweaked for the higher bandwidth, but for now, it's nothing special. Even going forward, it's going to be a much bigger gain for mobile than desktop.

That confirms my thinking, 4790k it is.

In that case, spend wisely on cooling. It's not hard at all to get close to the noise level of OEM desktops, even using several times the peak power, with pretty quiet idling, and relative cost increase is maybe $50-100, compared to OCing parts selected without noise as a consideration.

Water let's you move the radiator, gives you a lot more internal space to work in, and more space for air to move in. But, the improvements in cooling, at sane air flow and noise levels, are not huge, without big radiators (but, CLCs can make up for so-so case air flow). There are only a few moderately quiet AIOs (Swiftech's being expandable), but you really need to decide on a case with the cooler, if you're going to do that. Water will bring you over budget, but if you don't do a custom loop, not by too much. Even with a CLC, you need to have a good place to mount it, and the more options, the better.

I mentioned CLC to my father, that is now a requirement. Budget is only a soft number.

You'd be surprised. While games still often suffer from being console ports to a degree, new big budget titles are quite capable of bringing most PCs to their knees, with enough eye candy.

I dunno, first thing I do with my q9650 and 470 rig is max everything out. At 1680x1050 I usually have no issues. With DA:I I had to finally turn it down from max for the first time in 7 years.

 

[local]

Parts list updated. Guy paying the bill now desires water cooling. Probably a good thing since he moves his PC a lot and a huge chunk of metal hanging on the cpu socket is asking for trouble.
Updated parts list.


Component Selection Price
CPU

Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
$309.99 Buy
CPU Cooler

NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
$129.99 Buy
Motherboard

Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
$135.49 Buy
Memory

G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
$99.99 Buy
Storage

Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
$117.99 Buy

Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
$119.30 Buy
Video Card

EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card
$544.99 Buy
Case

Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
$99.99 Buy
Power Supply

EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
$64.99 Buy
Total: $1622.72

Did some research and I believe everything should work ok together. Let me know if you see any problems.

 

[Cerb]

This was being typed out prior to reading the last post by local.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($80.00)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($99.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1443.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-05 14:37 EDT-0400

The BX100 250GB is $99 with a $20 MIR at Newegg, right now.

The Z97 Extreme6 is ASRock's middle of the road OC board, and is a very nice mobo. I've come to like their EUFI interface better than Asus', as of late, as well.

The Define R5 may or may not warrant some fan additions or replacements, especially with CLCs, but as a follow-on to the R4 (I still haven't physically laid eyes on an R5 ), single-GPU shouldn't be a problem, and even with overclocking, you'll be hard pressed, with Haswell and Maxwell, to break 500W, outside of synthetics (in gaming, 400W is going to be a stretch, even overclocked quite a bit). You will likely want to experiment with one of the builds, after making sure the parts all work (don't let those short 7-day or 14-day return windows on some parts pass you by!), since it is a very flexible case, with removable panels and the like.

--

P.S. Generally good parts, there. Also look at the Swiftech H240-X, as an alternative water cooler (it's a pre-assembled kit, more so than a CLC).

 

[local]

Update, parts have arrived!

 

[mfenn]

Nice, let us know how it goes.

 

[local]

Well everything went smoothly, pics in first post. All three systems had zero problems. It took a while to figure out how I wanted to mount the rad and fans on the first one but after that it was a breeze.

The rad is front mounted with two case fans in front pushing and the two rad fans behind pulling when needed. The 5th fan is in the standard position on the back pulling air out.

No temp issues under stress testing or actual use and it is practically silent when not under load.

I went with the 970 SSC instead of the 980 so we could get the Kracken X61 in under budget. Besides we can always upgrade the GPU in two or three years.

Thanks for all your help. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[mfenn]

Nice job! Glad it went well.