3440x1440 gaming build - Need review :)

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fruitsalsa

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May 24, 2015
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Hi guys!

This PC will be oriented mainly towards gaming (at 3440x1440p). It will be use for work as well, but no image rendering or video editing.

I'm aiming for smooth gameplay (60 fps) at 3400x1440 and at high settings. The most demanding game I'll play on it will be Star Citizen I guess, but since it is not released, it is hard to forecast the hardware required. I guess Crysis 3 is the benchmark at the moment since Star Citizen will run on Cry Engine 3.

I'm not looking for a budget PC, high end is the way to go for this build. Of course I'm not burning money like a madman (so no 4-way sli titan X suggestion please😛). I'm estimating 3000$ will be good (without the screen).

I'm living in Canada, so I'll get my parts mainly on NCIX, Newsegg, Amazon.

The part selection for the moment: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/86XvQ7


I'm looking for 3440x1440P because I really love working with 2 screens, but I hate the bezel at the center. So I can see this resolution really fixing my problem! Also, in gaming, it will be quite immersive :)

Processor: the i7-4790K seems like the way to go for a good gaming processor with hyperthreading, so I took it without many other reasons than hyperthreading (which i guess will be helpfull in upcoming games). I could wait a bit for Broadwell, but I don't think it will worth it (not much improvements over this generation).

Motherboard: I honestly don't have much clues over which mobo to choose. It looked like a good one with good reviews on PCPP, so I took this one. I don't know if there is much difference between a mobo with 2 sli 16x PCI-E lanes, and one with 1 16x and 8x (since both card will run at 8x). Is there any real performance difference?

RAM: Not so expensive, 16 gigs seems like a reasonable amount to run games and other apps at the same time. Apparently the brand is good, 2400 mhz wiill improve speed, but otherwise I don't have other argument to choose on type of RAM over the other...

Storage: I leaning toward all SSD storage into this build. I don't have much music, or pictures/video, so I don't need a HDD with 4G to store that, but I want my OS and all my games on SSD for a lightning fast boot of everything! 2 512G SSD RAID 0 or 1 1TB SSD is the question at the moment...

GPU: I'm waiting for the next generation of GPUs (it will be either the 980ti or the 390x), so I have put 2 GTX 780 ti for the moment only to figure out the required wattage (250 W each, which will probably be the wattage required on the upcoming cards) on PCPP for the build, but it will be 1 of those 2 card at first, and the I will move on to sli. Apparently the 390x will comes with only 4gig of memory on it, si I guess I will lean toward the 980ti (at 6gig) to sustain good performance at that resolution. The upcoming weeks in GPUland will make me decide which one to get. I'll wait for good reviews as well to compare the 2 cards!

Case: I like minimalistic design (I'm not looking for a window or lights in the case), so fractal design R5 looks like the way to go. Plus, it is a mid-tower case, which I prefer, and it is supposed to be really quiet :)

PSU: The PCPP calculator gives me a reading of 714W, so a 860W should do the trick (plus a safety margin!). It is also a platinium certified psu, which is great!

I intend to overclock a bit, but not that much. I will go all in air cooling, and I'm aiming for quiet and performance, so I grabbed 3 Noctua 140mm fan (2 front, 1 back) for the case , and a noctua NH-U12 for cpu cooling, which I think will be cool and quiet (as the noctua reputation implies).

The screen will be the magnificient LG 34UC97-S which I really love, even if it doesn't have freesync or g-sync on it.

Still undecided for the keyboard, so I pick up this Thermaltake Poseidon for the moment, but I will review it later.

Thanks in advance for the help guys ! I looking for your approval, so I can lock-up my choices and be ready for the upcoming GPU releases in the upcoming weeks :)!!
 
As I said, I've only put 2 780ti to see the required wattag for the build. I agree with you that 2 980s will be cheaper (and faster!). However, I'll go with 980ti or 390x, since I belive those cards will be what I need to get a smooth experience at that kind of resolution :)

Thanks for the PSU recommandation, I'll look it up on johnnyGuru.com, the AX860 got no cons on th site, so I though it was really good! Any reason why the corsair one is worst thant EVGA G2?
 
You are definitely along the right lines here i would look at a cheaper board such as the sabertooth mark 2 or z97-a. The cpu cooler is a good choice another slightly nicer looking alternative is the be quiet! dark rock 3. For your ram again you are overpaying below is a cheaper option which is just as good. For ssd's don't bother with raid as i may be wrong but i have heard of it actually reducing the speeds so i'd recommend a single 1tb drive either crucial mx200 or samsung 850 evo. Your gpu seems to be correct. For the case the define s may suit you better as it is similar to the r5 but doesn't have the drive cages and has 3 drive mounts behind the motherboard so there's more building room and better airflow. You can't really pick a psu until you know what is needed by your gpu so i'll skip that. Finally i'd only get 1 noctua fan as the two that come with the case are very good and very quiet.

RAM - https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx318c10fbk216
 


Thanks for the advice! You are right, the z97-a would b a better buy, since I didn't have any particular reasons to buy the maximus, I just read great review, but it is the same with the z97-a. For the dark rock, it is actually a good solution, I'll have a look at that. I'll just mak sure there is enough clearance for the RAM with the cooler. I'll think I will go with a 1tb as you says. Thanks for the RAM suggestion, definetly a good one :)
 
Well the R9-390X is apparently just going to be a refresh of the currently available R9-290X and the 980Ti won't be enough to offer a significant performance improvement over the current generation. The Maximus is kind of expensive and the extra thermal compound is a waste of money. You can get a motherboard that's full featured for $100 less than the Maximus and be fine.
 


I don't agree, I'm pretty sure the 980ti will be quite an improvement over the 980 (even if it is not titan x level of performance). As for the 390x, there is no way the HBM is just gonna "refresh" the performance of a 290x.

Anyway, we will see that quite soon since the release are getting really close!
 
the corsair is a great PSU but so is the EVGA i have used both and i can say that the corsair was a little quieter... I ran them both with the heater on in the room, and the room temp was 34dC.

and I personally like the corsairs look better
 


Well if you look at the trend in CPUs from each Intel generation to the next there really isn't much of an improvement in terms of performance. Ivy Bridge was only a 10% increase in performance over Sandy Bridge, and Haswell is only a 10% improvement in performance over Ivy Bridge. GPUs do change in performance but that mainly comes with an overhaul of the platform architecture. I don't think the 980TI will be a massive improvement but I would wait and see how it handles 1440P and 4K before I'd recommend that over 980 SLI or a Titan X.
 


Thanks for your advice! Do you think there is much difference between corsair AX860 and AX860i beside the CorsairLink sofware? (in term of noise and heat?)
 


Duly noted, thanks!
 
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