Completing my build

[Szef]

Hi,
I got stuck with Playstation for a long time and wasn't using PC for anything except browsing www. Now I've got some bits from my mate as he upgraded and I want to make the best of it (within reasonable costs).
This is what I have:
AMD Phenom 2 1075t (3.0Ghz)
Asus m5a99x evo
CM gx 650w
All in cool zalman z11plus and a fan controller.
I will be using it mainly to play BF4 but I want also my girlfriend to be able to use Cinema 4d, Aftereffects and premier pro.
I want to add 27' 2560x1440 monitor.
I was thinking of getting Radeon R280x and at least 16gb of ram (1866?) and I.m still not sure which Windows to buy.
If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be great.
Thanks

 

[dish_moose]

If you want to play BF4 @ 2560x1440 - you are in for a shock. I would say at least an AMD 290x and then your cpu will start to slow you down.
-Bruce
Edit: That resolution is 1.8 times more demanding than a 1080p monitor.

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Yeah if u want BF4 at 1440p u might want to take a look at this: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/battlefield_4_vga_graphics_performance_benchmark,8.html
if u look at the r9 280x it runs decently at 50fps
With the OS i am not sure, i heard windows 8.1 is better than win8 but there are still people using windows 7.....

 

[Portuguesetechie]

If u are going for a 16gb of ram config u can get 2 kits of 2 4gb modules since your board is dual channel or get a kit of 2 8gb modules and leave room for improvement

 

[Szef]

If you want to play BF4 @ 2560x1440 - you are in for a shock. I would say at least an AMD 290x and then your cpu will start to slow you down.
-Bruce

The monitor is more for my girl to work on. I would really like to work with what I already have cause the monitor will take the most of my budget. Small overclock won't be sufficient to cope with the resolution?
Thanks

 

[Szef]

I was thinking about getting two 8gb modules. Portuguesetechie this comparison shows that the difference between 280 and 290 isn't as big as the price I was hoping to spend around £270 for gpu.. The price of OS is similar so I think Win8 would be just right as I've heard that it actually improves performance over Win7 (?)

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Well those are simple benchmarks, they usually help u get a sense of stuff and their price/performance, the 290 will probably work better than the 280 on some games its up to you if you think the FPSdifference is worth the price. U should look up more benchmarks though, guru3d.com usually offers good ones
From what ive heard windows 8.1 is better than windows 8, but i cant really speak for windows 7

 

[Szef]

I have to think it through. Maybe I'll take the 280x and if needed upgrade it later with crossfire. After this http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/battlefield-4-8596/so-bf4-is-showing-off-the-advantages-of-running-wi-1457907/ win 8.1 seems like a good idea. The question still remains which ram should I choose cause I'm not sure about the mhz's? Is scan.co.uk a good place to get bits from?

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Well if u want u can check out the GTX 770, its comparable to the 280x, the 280x in some countries has risen up in price making it more expensive
Well it depends on your MOBO, most modern boards will accept all kinds of DDR3 memory, i use 1600mhz memory simply because thats enought for me, your mobo may be able to accept 1866mhz and upper
*Edit check this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWgzA2C61z4

 

[Portuguesetechie]

I dont know scan.co.uk sorry mate, i am from portugal, i know some good german sites if u want they ship to 20countries or smthing

 

[Szef]

Thanks man you've been very helpful. I'll do some more browsing and hopefully soon I'll be up and running. Thanks

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Youre welcome enjoy yourself bro

 

[dish_moose]

You can have the big monitor for your GF and a good 1080p 144Hz monitor for gaming.
-Bruce
Edit: I use a 2550x1440 27 Dell + two 24" 1920x1200 on my GTX 670 for pcb design/layout. I only game on one 24".

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Yeah but isnt a 144hz monitor at 1080p somewhat expensive?

 

[dish_moose]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236313
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236261
-Bruce

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Yeah i thought so, i will stick with a 60hz one cheaper

 

[Szef]

I was thinking about this one http://www.scan.co.uk/products/27-dell-u2713hm-led-ips-monitor-dp-hdmi-dvi-vga-2560x1440-10001-350cd-m2-8ms-black-with-4-port-usb-3 and unfortunately that will be the only monitor in the set up as I simply can't afford to have more

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Well i cant really tell u if thats a good one, i dont know much about 1440p 60hz monitors sorry :/

 

[Szef]

should I look for higher refresh rate?

 

[Portuguesetechie]

60 hz is fine, besides if u are going to game BF4 with a r9 280x u will get about 60fps at ultra so your screen is just fine

 

[Szef]

Sounds good to me I'm strugling to understand the ram phenomenon. If my mobo supports up to 4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 2133(O.C.)/1866/1600/1333/1066 is the speed supperted by CPU matters?

 

[Portuguesetechie]

WEll if your mobo is made to match your cpu's socket than the RAM frequencies which are supported should be the same, your CPU might be weird and have problems with certain frequencies but that is kind of absurd
If your mobo supports those frequencies just get one of them, see if u like the style, if u are getting a high profile cooling on ur CPU make sure u get low profile memory in the DIM closest to the CPU and you should be fine

 

[Szef]

I'm going to oc the cpu a little bit so I'm getting Corsair H80 so the size of ram is not an issue. I know now that the cpu speed is just the guaranteed speed that will be stable but the limit is the mobo.

 

[Portuguesetechie]

True dat as long as u can keep your CPU stable and under 85ºC U should be fine

 

[Szef]

Last pc I've put together was Pentium 4 and a lot changed since then. So much useful software now makes it easier to overclock. I'm going to put all the bits together soon and let the fun begin