1. #1

    Gaming Rig Build Critique

    How's it going everyone?
    I am starting to piece out a new gaming rig
    $2500 budget
    This is what I am thinking so far:

    Nzxt phantom 820 case
    MSI X99S SLI Plus mobo
    Intel core I7 5820k haswell processor
    Phanteks TC14PE HSF
    16GB g.skill ripjaws 2400 ddr4 ram
    2x EVGA GeForce gtx 970 in SLI
    EVGA 850G2 850 watt power supply
    2 TB storage HDD
    480GB SSD
    What do you all think?

  2. #2
    Pit Lord
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    For gaming? Or are you going to be doing excessive video rendering and such on it?

    Because for gaming you can drop a lot of the price for literally equal performance. Better, even, in some cases.

    Budget
    Resolution
    Games / Settings Desired
    Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc)
    Country
    Parts that can be reused
    Do you need an OS?
    Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)?
    | Fractal Design Define R5 White | Intel i7-4790K CPU | Corsair H100i Cooler | 16GB G.Skill Ripsaws X 1600Mhz |
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  3. #3
    I don't stream but I do a lot of Fraps and editing for kill vids and such for my guild
    No need for any peripherals or OS have them already
    And no parts to be reused as I'm upgrading from a desktop replacement laptop
    Last edited by dewrat; 2014-12-09 at 09:07 PM.

  4. #4
    Pit Lord
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    Quote Originally Posted by dewrat View Post
    I don't stream but I do a lot of Fraps and editing for kill vids and such for my guild
    No need for any peripherals or OS have them already
    And no parts to be reused as I'm upgrading from a desktop replacement laptop
    Still would appreciate it if you answered the rest of the question: Resolution, Country, and Games in particular.

    Honestly though, unless you just want to shed a little time off of rendering you may just be better off with a 4790k. Better performance in WoW and games in general unless you overclocked that 6 core to at least 4.4Ghz, but the 4790k is 4.4 out of the box and can be OC'd further.
    | Fractal Design Define R5 White | Intel i7-4790K CPU | Corsair H100i Cooler | 16GB G.Skill Ripsaws X 1600Mhz |
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  5. #5
    Resolution: current monitor is 2560x1440 will be upgrading in the near future to something with more unsure yet to what
    USA
    At the moment nothing newer than dragon age inquisition most of its time will be WoW related
    Last edited by dewrat; 2014-12-09 at 09:20 PM.

  6. #6
    Pit Lord
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    Just to save some time,

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Newegg)
    CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 93.3 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($59.90 @ Newegg)
    Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($123.99 @ Newegg)
    Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
    Storage: Western Digital AV-GP 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($94.05 @ Amazon)
    Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($339.50 @ Newegg)
    Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($339.50 @ Newegg)
    Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($113.98 @ Newegg)
    Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.49 @ Newegg)
    Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
    Total: $1785.36
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-08 08:40 EST-0500[/QUOTE]

    The SSD capacity can be changed to your preference of course. Kost posted this in another thread yesterday which is relatively what would probably suite you best and even save you some money. If you want to shave that little time off rendering then you could swap out the CPU/Mobo/RAM for the ones you were considering, but note you'll need to be able to overclock that CPU to 4.4+Ghz to compete in gaming performance which isn't a hard task for the most part but worth noting. The DDR4 Ram will offer no gaming performance increase and will only really benefit the rendering side.

    To be honest, it comes down to how much time you actually spend doing the rendering and how fast it needs to get done.

    Here are some benchmarks you could look at to help:
    http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1320?vs=1260
    These are both at stock settings of course.
    | Fractal Design Define R5 White | Intel i7-4790K CPU | Corsair H100i Cooler | 16GB G.Skill Ripsaws X 1600Mhz |
    | MSI Gaming 6G GTX 980ti | Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | Seagate Barracuda 3TB HDD |

  7. #7
    Deleted
    I built similar 2 weeks ago.

    i7-5820K
    NZXT Kraken X61
    Asus Strix GTX 970 DirectCU II OC 4GB 2-way SLI
    AsRock X99 Extreme 4
    Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB DDR4 2400MHz
    EVGA SuperNOVA G2 750W
    Phanteks Enthoo Luxe
    Crucial MX100 512GB
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit

    I was first gonna go with MSI X99S SLI Plus but the Pci-e slots are right next to each others causing unnecessary heat. Then I thought about Asus but got good deal on Asrock. 980 is only about 10% better than 970.

  8. #8
    Pit Lord
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vegas82 View Post
    It's better to get a single 980(if you can't afford 2) and then upgrade to a second down the line than to go 2x 970 Sli now. That's just my opinion.
    Better performing but not as cost effective. If he dropped to 4790k then 2 980s would be in his budget yea.
    | Fractal Design Define R5 White | Intel i7-4790K CPU | Corsair H100i Cooler | 16GB G.Skill Ripsaws X 1600Mhz |
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vegas82 View Post
    It's better to get a single 980(if you can't afford 2) and then upgrade to a second down the line than to go 2x 970 Sli now. That's just my opinion.
    10% increase in performance for 300-400 dollars extra over time doesn't seem worth it to me.

  10. #10
    Thanks for the responses gentleman. I've been out of the desktop game for far too long.

  11. #11
    Immortal Stormspark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dewrat View Post
    How's it going everyone?
    I am starting to piece out a new gaming rig
    $2500 budget
    This is what I am thinking so far:

    Nzxt phantom 820 case
    MSI X99S SLI Plus mobo
    Intel core I7 5820k haswell processor
    Phanteks TC14PE HSF
    16GB g.skill ripjaws 2400 ddr4 ram
    2x EVGA GeForce gtx 970 in SLI
    EVGA 850G2 850 watt power supply
    2 TB storage HDD
    480GB SSD
    What do you all think?
    It will do alright. But you would do MUCH better to lose the X99 and get a Z97 board and a 4790k. It will perform better in games and is MUCH cheaper. Unless you are *consistently* running programs that can use 12-16 threads, the 4790k will perform better across the board. Fraps isn't going to do this. Unless you are doing heavy duty video editing/encoding, or professional rendering, there is zero reason to spend a HUGE amount of money on an X99 processor that will be slower for games.

    X99 processors are the same architecture as Z97 processors. They're all Haswell. The difference is cores and clock speed. Some of the X99's have 6-8 cores/12-16 threads rather than 4-8 like the 4790k does. But the more cores you add, the slower the clock speed. The 4790k has a higher clock speed than the 5820k, so since they are identical except for the number of cores (and games are not even going to use 4/8 let alone 8/16), the 4790k will be faster for games.

    Only applications that can fully utilize the extra cores will see a benefit. If you don't use all of the cores, it will be slower than a 4790k. There are a small handful of applications that can do this. Encoders can. Video editing can. And professional 3D rendering (not gaming, talking about things like Maya here) can. If you aren't doing that, you do not need X99 and should be getting Z97/4790k.

  12. #12
    nope nothing more hardcore than fraps and windows movie maker. This is why I'm asking

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Akaihiryuu View Post
    X99 processors are the same architecture as Z97 processors. They're all Haswell. The difference is cores and clock speed. Some of the X99's have 6-8 cores/12-16 threads rather than 4-8 like the 4790k does. But the more cores you add, the slower the clock speed. The 4790k has a higher clock speed than the 5820k, so since they are identical except for the number of cores (and games are not even going to use 4/8 let alone 8/16), the 4790k will be faster for games.
    Actually, they are not all the same architecture; X series CPUs are simply re-branded Xeons, which are, in turn, (currently) the fairly newly released IvyBridge-E. They get better performance per clock than Haswell (largely due to a faster and MUCH larger per-core cache, larger and much faster general cache), and when overclocked scale well past Haswell (which is largely heat-limited; IvyBridge-E (and SandyBridge-E, before it) dont make as extensive use of the 3D transistor technology which turned Ivy Bridge/Haswell chips into such heat mongers). Xeon chips are regularly one or even two CPU architecture's "behind", and there arent even any plans to base a Xeon on Haswell at all; IvyBridge-E is only a few months old and the plans are to replace them with a chip two generations from now (a tick and a tock, as Intel calls them) based on a 10-12nm process.

    Your point that they aren't worth the money for the real-world performance gains to gaming is completely legitimate, however. Unless you need a workstation-class computer, or have money to throw away and love having a machine that is totally bleeding edge and gets that extra 5% performance over a Z79/Haswell chip... dont bother. It's a huge waste of your money.

  14. #14
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    Just going to note Kagthul, the current i7-E processors are Haswell.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vegas82 View Post
    You get 5-10 more fps from 970 sli than you get from a single 980(from my own testing) at most. Often the single 980 outperforms the 2 970s.
    Wild guess, you only tested WoW?

    There is no way on earth a single 980 is better than SLI 970. Show me the proof, every review I have seen has the SLI 970 beating the 980 by a wild margin!

  16. #16
    Pit Lord
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vegas82 View Post
    If he's going to go top of the line on the majority of the parts why would he skimp on the GPU? Buy 1 now and buy the other in a few months. If you're going to debate cost effective the entire system needs a rework. Not to mention you're not making any sense. 970 sli is barely better than a single 980 and costs quite a bit more. 980 sli is significantly better than 970 sli.

    - - - Updated - - -



    You get 5-10 more fps from 970 sli than you get from a single 980(from my own testing) at most. Often the single 980 outperforms the 2 970s. How is that worth an extra $130? You can debate if dual 980's are worth it, but what you can't debate is that 970 sli is a smart buy unless you absolutely can't afford a 980 and are doing the 970 sli over time, as I'm advising with the 980 sli. You get one now at $570($130 less than the 2 970's) and then buy another in 6 months when they're cheaper. In the end you'll spend $200 more, possibly less if you get a really good deal down the line, and get significantly superior performance versus minor gains on 970 sli versus a single 980.
    If we're going for cost effectiveness then no, the system doesn't really need a rework. He does video editing and gaming, and the 4790k is the best for both worlds without spending a fortune more.

    2 970s is the most cost effective 1440p set up:
    http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,16.html
    Tons of other games in 1440p in that article as well. I don't consider a ~50% increase in performance for $150 more to be minimal.

    Actually,
    http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,17.html
    Here you can see the difference between Both single card and SLI setups for both 970 and 980 at 1440p.
    You're looking at ~$550 more dollars in the long run for ~15-20% increase and you would have to deal with much less performance until you were ready to spend that money on a second 980...assuming the OP even wanted to spend the extra money later. He gets all of that added performance NOW without having to spend money later and still be within his budget.

    Oh and you really think 980's will be cheaper in 6 months? Lol no, they'll drop $50 at most, but I wouldn't even hold your breathe for that. GTX 970s plays much more games at 60+ fps 1440p than the 980 does,
    Last edited by Arbiter; 2014-12-11 at 04:30 PM.
    | Fractal Design Define R5 White | Intel i7-4790K CPU | Corsair H100i Cooler | 16GB G.Skill Ripsaws X 1600Mhz |
    | MSI Gaming 6G GTX 980ti | Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | Seagate Barracuda 3TB HDD |

  17. #17
    EDIT: hadn't seen Arbiter's post.

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