New gaming PC build - looking for advice.

[Saja]

Looking to build a powerful new PC that will be primarily for gaming on a budget of $2000 which is about the price for a good computer in Australia, something around the specs I've listed below. I'm considering the PC being able to run 4K resolutions, and run games relatively well.
Parts I'm Considering

i7-4770K
ASUS Z87-A
1 - 2TB HDD
Samsung 840 EVO Series SATA3 500GB
R9-290X (Or similar NVIDIA card)
16G Kit 1600(8Gx2) G.Skill Rips-X
Corsair Carbide Air 540 High Airflow ATX Cube
Noctua NH-D14 (Unsure if it's neccesary)

The total cost from sites I've looked at was around 2,200 AUD, which excludes the OS which I already have a spare copy of, So I'm not too sure if there is any cheaper and better options besides what I looked at, I also don't need any peripherals.

[Cyrops]

You can knock the price down with cheaper case, cheaper cooler (212 evo does the job), perhaps with 8GB of RAM only.
You can also get cheaper mobo, like g43 (non gaming). or asrock pro4/extreme3-4

[Eroginous]

Looking to build a powerful new PC that will be primarily for gaming on a budget of $2000 which is about the price for a good computer in Australia, something around the specs I've listed below. I'm considering the PC being able to run 4K resolutions, and run games relatively well.
Parts I'm Considering

i7-4770K
ASUS Z87-A
1 - 2TB HDD
Samsung 840 EVO Series SATA3 500GB
R9-290X (Or similar NVIDIA card)
16G Kit 1600(8Gx2) G.Skill Rips-X
Corsair Carbide Air 540 High Airflow ATX Cube
Noctua NH-D14 (Unsure if it's neccesary)

The total cost from sites I've looked at was around 2,200 AUD, which excludes the OS which I already have a spare copy of, So I'm not too sure if there is any cheaper and better options besides what I looked at, I also don't need any peripherals.

There aren't any games out that will benefit from the i7, you could lower the cost of your build by going with the i5 4670k instead. You could also just go with 1 stick of 8gb ram instead of a 16gb kit. Again, no games will utilize even 8 gb of ram, let alone 16gb. Lastly, unless you already have a 4k monitor (many of them are expensive, inefficient for gaming, and don't really offer any benefits you can't get from a much less expensive 1440p monitor.

To that end, if your goal is to play on a single monitor, you don't really need to get a 290x. You could play most games on a 1440p monitor with a R9 270x or a GTX 760.

[Deleted]

You could also just go with 1 stick of 8gb ram instead of a 16gb kit.

I would go with 2x 4gb to utilize dual channel. No point in going with 1 stick, when you have 4 slots.

To that end, if your goal is to play on a single monitor, you don't really need to get a 290x. You could play most games on a 1440p monitor with a R9 270x or a GTX 760.

You might be able to play with a 270x or 760 on a 1440p monitor, but would have to drop down the settings by quite a lot. For 1440p, the minimum I would get would be a 280x. But you would be better of with a 290 or 780.

As for the OP. You could drop down to a i5 4670k. Switch the SSD to a crucial m500, you will not notice the difference in speed between the two. Plus the crucial has some extra safety in regards to powerloss. And I would switch the 290x for a 290, the 290 performs just a bit less than the 290x. But the difference in costs is not worth the performance increase. Or if you want to go with Nvidia you could go with a 780.

[Cyrops]

There aren't any games out that will benefit from the i7, you could lower the cost of your build by going with the i5 4670k instead. You could also just go with 1 stick of 8gb ram instead of a 16gb kit. Again, no games will utilize even 8 gb of ram, let alone 16gb. Lastly, unless you already have a 4k monitor (many of them are expensive, inefficient for gaming, and don't really offer any benefits you can't get from a much less expensive 1440p monitor.

To that end, if your goal is to play on a single monitor, you don't really need to get a 290x. You could play most games on a 1440p monitor with a R9 270x or a GTX 760.

1 stick of RAM is only good if you plan to add second stick a bit later.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

If you are looking to go 4k a few things you need to consider. The big one is you need a amazing video card(s). I would sacifice a few cores from the i7 and go i5. Unless you do a lot of hard core processing applications that take advantage of multi-core than you won't see much difference (video editing and such). Also 16gigs of ram falls into this same boat. Unless you are doing a ton of video editing and the like 8gigs is all you will need for almost all gaming purposes (again video editing things like that its VERY helpful). 16gigs will only give you marginal proformance gains. Probly get more of a gain with 8gigs of faster ram with lower latency than you will with 16 of what you got (not saying what you picked is bad mind you). But ram really isn't a strong leg in gaming these days. But for sure get 2 sicks for duel channel. Not to mention if you go 2x 4gig sticks you can still get 2x more 4gig sticks and end up with 16gigs later if it is something you absolutely find out you need. Very simple upgrade in the future if it becomes needed.

I perfer nvidia. It has a lot to do with a deal I have with them in builds so I get a little shaved off of course. But beyond that they run cooler and generate less sound. Two big things in my book. Plus the SLI and driver support is just stronger compared to crossfire and driver support from AMD. Again, a big thing when you are planning to jump to 4k.

If it was me, personally, and I was going 4k? I would wait until next gen nvidia comes out (should be 6 months or less) and go with whatever the 880 (if they stick with same naming plan) and possibly SLI them. They will likely be designed with 4k options MORE in mind. If right now is the goal, and not within 6 months (and pardon that I don't know how releases work in Aus), than I would likely go 780 or 780ti and plan to drop another card in SLI later down the road when budget allows it. The 780ti runs games at 60ish frames pretty solidly. I am also sure the 290x will do the same, but like I said with more heat and sound. It likely boils down if those things are worth a few more bucks or not. Drop them into SLI or crossfire and they will own 4k pretty strongly.

[Deleted]

I perfer nvidia. It has a lot to do with a deal I have with them in builds so I get a little shaved off of course. But beyond that they run cooler and generate less sound. Two big things in my book. Plus the SLI and driver support is just stronger compared to crossfire and driver support from AMD. Again, a big thing when you are planning to jump to 4k.

That all depends on the kind of cooler the cards use. You have to look at reviews for that. A quick comparison at techpowerup between the MSI and ASUS 290x/780ti show similar temperatures. Unfortunately they dont show noise levels, it could be that the AMD ones make a bit more noise. I doubt, that the difference is large enough.

As far as SLI/crossfire. The 290/290x utilize the PCIe slots for communication and as a result have a lower latency compared to the other cards. As for 4k, the obvious way to go is AMD. They have more bandwidth and Vram which helps. This review shows that SLI 780ti most likely lacks the memory for it.

As for general driver support, both companies have their faults. I think as of late there have been some more issues with Nvidia. As far SLI/Crossfire support, it could be that nvidia is a bit faster with SLI support.