Console Veteran Needs Help Building His First 4K Gaming Rig

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SmileyChief

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Mar 8, 2014
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I’m new to pc building, (having previously been on console), and was thinking of spending some serious cash on a really high-end 4k rig. Some would say as a newcomer I should settle for something less expensive, but I want something high-end right out of the park.

Price is not a limiting factor in this build; it can be as expensive as it needs to be, I just want the best components that are currently available.

While in theory a pc could pump out 4k @ 120fps there are no monitors that are capable of that (we can hope in the next few months). But the pc itself could feasibly hit these marks, (or am I deluding myself?).

I will be playing primarily Minecraft, Skyrim and Battlefield 4 on this setup and would like to install windows 8.1 for the best performance. So, no web browsers or Microsoft office; this is purely a gaming machine with steam, origin and my games being the only thing on it. also, I will not be playing over WiFi but will be using using an Ethernet cable.

Anyway, I’m looking for a full list of components that are compatible together, the end goal being that I can max out any game and play 4k @ minimum 60fps (the monitor being the only limiting factor at the moment, with the pc itself able to do 100-120fps) for battlefield 4, for example. So please focus on the pc itself, not the peripherals.

Cooling - I have done a bit of research myself on this subject and obviously liquid cooling would be the way to go. I would like the CPU, GPU and RAM to be cooled just because the colder the better, right? However, I’m worried that even this method would not cool the components enough as it would not have enough coverage (in the sense that some parts of certain components would not be completely cooled). Please tell me if I’m just over-worrying on this or if I’m talking nonsense.

Secondly, should I use distilled water or premixed coolant, maybe even some sort of oil? Also, on this subject I came across full submersion cooling. But this unfortunately, cannot cool below ambient temperatures, as I was wanting to go below zero. Could someone clue me in on the reality of full submersion cooling in a domestic setting?

Power - Is bigger better? (who am I kidding of course bigger is better). I saw battlefield 4 running at 4k with four GTX Titans, but was wondering, is that the limit? Can I not put 8 GPUs together or more? And what GPU would be suitable for this purpose? Again keep in mind that price does not matter. So, is the sky the limit here? As for a CPU; I do intend to overclock to get the most out of it, so keep this in mind when recommending a CPU.

Memory and storage - Let’s get straight to it; SSD or HDD? Multiple hard drives or just one behemoth, 3TB hard drive? When it comes to ram, how much can you have? As much ram as there are sockets? And again the specific make and model.

I know that the things listed above aren't the only components I need, but they were just areas of interest that I had questions about. So please don’t miss out any other components like disk drive, PSU, sound card and obviously the motherboard, while still making sure the components work together. Also, how loud the pc runs is not a problem, nor is size; I don’t want compromise. Just powerful components with a cooling system that makes them run at below zero.

Lastly, I want everything wrapped up in a kick-ass case to compliment the hardware. And please reference specific components, including their model number etc. Also where possible give justification for a particular component choice.

Now, keep in mind that I have relatively little experience, hence the very exhaustive post. If anything I have listed is not realistic or impossible then please tell me as I am just in my infancy when it comes to pc building. And sorry if I sound a bit demanding throughout, but again; I don’t want compromise. Please list only the best components; not a half-way house. A fair amount of discussion would not be bad, so please tell me as much as possible.

I realise that what I’m asking for is a pretty comprehensive answer and quite a lot in one post, but please take the time to answer every aspect of my question in detail. Maybe use this post to list the most extreme and ridiculous setup you can think of, as I want my setup to be relatively future proof so that when a 4k 120Hz monitor does become available I can have a nerdgasm over the 120Hz straight away; you can really go to town with this, as price just doesn't matter.
 
Hi there! I can't give you all the answers, I don't think I'm experienced enough to do so, and don't want to screw anything up, but I can give you my thoughts etc. Also, I love thinking of builds, even if they ever go out of my budget or demolish my computer spec-wise...

Cooling

If you go with custom watercooling, it's going to add some difficulty if you plan to build this yourself. Granted, you probably know that...If you have a custom loop that cools (in no particular order) RAM, CPU and GPU, an it's efficient, with good fans and radiators, then you should get good temperatures. I don't think you're overly worried, I can't see why you would be, it's a lot of effort and time to make a custom loop and I'd want mine to be as good as it could be.

I've not got personal experience with water cooling, but it does seem to work pretty well, so long as the water blocks are high quality.

As said, I'm not really knowledgeable on water cooling, so I couldn't give advice on coolant, sorry. However, I'm pretty sure you'd have to use liquid nitrogen (which can done) in a loop for the cpu in order to get sub-zero temperatures.

Power

Seeing as it sounds like this is going to be all out, bigger will be necessary, I think. However, to properly decide on the power supply, I think you'd need to build up a list of your main components to get a better idea. However, it sounds like we might be going north of 1000W here. Given that the power supply could ruin your system if it goes haywire, I'd definitely recommend a fair amount of headroom, especially if you overclock your CPU and GPU(s). Given that this seems to be an open-ended budget, getting one from a reliable vendor like Seasonic or Corsair isn't an issue. Corsair's AX series are meant to be good at this wattage, but if you have a look around and do some research then choose what you think is appropriate. Or come back here with a shortlist, everyone here is willing to help!

Graphics

I think this needs its own paragraph. Most of the time, it's better, and easier to have one, more powerful GPU than two less powerful ones. Practically, you would be able to get a maximum of four graphics cards on a high-end, consumer-grade motherboard. At four graphics cards, you start to get driver issues, and I don't really think it's worth the massive outlay of money. You could consider nVidia's top end gaming card, the GTX 780Ti, which is a very strong performer. The GTX TITAN isn't as good in gaming, it tends to perform as well as or slightly worse than a GTX 780Ti In case you're not sure, nVidia graphics cards run in parallel using SLI, AMD cards in Crossfire. For really good performance, and in terms of smooth, relatively simple configuration, two GTX 780Ti's in SLI might be best. Here you can see that, even on two GTX 780Ti's, 4K is very demanding, but it runs well.

You could also consider the AMD 290X, with two or three in Crossfire. I've looked at some benchmarks and they trade blows well with the 780Ti. It seems like they get equal FPS or one or two higher. However, Crossfire seems to sometimes have more driver issues, but don't rule it out!

Memory and storage

Seeing as you have no set budget, I'd say an SSD is a must. You'll have majestic boot times and can keep some games on it too. If you have the cash, I'd go with one of 240GB upwards, that should give you a decent amount of room for games. I'd recommend Samsung, they're reliable and you get good speeds for your money.

For a storage drive, you could get something like a Seagate Barracuda or a Western Digital drive. I have many friends with Seagates and they work just fine for a storage drive. Given that it looks like you'll probably have a shedload of games, your 3TB suggestion isn't a bad one. Alternatively, you could run two 1.5TB drives in RAID, but I'm not familiar with RAID, so someone else will have to help us out there. A 3TB drive could also be partitioned and would run stuff a tiny bit quicker. However, for storage, a 7200rpm drive should be ok.

In terms of RAM, the amount depends on the size of the modules, their speeds (1333MHz, 1600MHz, all the way to 3000MHz), and CAS latency (the lower the timings, the better). Normally, for gaming, 2x4GB sticks should be fine, but if you're doing intensive stuff, 16GB (2 sticks of 8GB) might be needed. RAM is also subject to how many slots your motherboard provides. Most gaming boards provide space for four sticks, but some workstation-grade motherboards provide enough for 32GB of RAM, I think. Corsair Vengeance RAM is widely used, an reliable. The choice you make is whether to get 16GB of RAM at 2133MHz, for example, with higher timings, or fewer GBs of faster RAM. 16GB would probably be good for you, I think.

Processor

You didn't mention a processor, so I'll let you know what I think. Given that you've got no set budget, and you'll probably be running two/three GPUs, I think it would make sense to go with an Intel 4770k or something similar. I don't know whether you'd want to overclock, but I think it's a nice option to have. Apparently games will start to require more CPU threads, and the i7 4770k would probably fare better than a 4670k. However, most games still don't require more than four threads, and I couldn't say when that will happen. If you want good future proofing, and a bit more power, I'd go for an i7.

Case

Your computer's case will be a very personal choice, but I'd consider something with plenty of space, especially if you plan to use two GPUs and have a custom watercooling loop. A case like the Corsair 800D has a ton of space, but, as I said, this is personal, so I'd rather leave this to you. Just remember space, space, space!


I hope this provided some help, if not, then tell me.... :lol:

I'm aware I haven't answered everything, but I've answered all I can to the best of my knowledge!
 
Thanks, that was really helpful and you went into some good detail, you gave me a good starting point. I'll probably need to do some more research into the parts you listed. :)
 
If you are going to be running multiple cards at 4k I would go with socket 2011, and a 4930k, it is a hyperthreaded 6 core monster. But it also has the benefit of supporting 2.5x the bandwidth between the cpu and the gpu's than a 4770k which will be very helpful for your build
 


That's a good point, with a multi-GPU 4K setup the bandwidth will be important.
 


That sounds pretty good. Can it be overclocked?

 


Thanks, as for a PSU I'm looking at the corsair AX1200i Digital ATX, its fully modular and 1200W so should be able to power all the GPUs and so on.
 
Thanks, as for a PSU I'm looking at the corsair AX1200i Digital ATX, its fully modular and 1200W so should be able to power all the GPUs and so on.
Click to expand...

Yes, that should give breathing space for probably another card. The total load power draw for one GTX 780Ti is around 264W, so two will draw around 528W. I used the Tomshardware method of calculating the needed voltage on the power supply's 12V rail, which is a good way to get an accurate representation of what amperage you need.

Just for reference, here it is: GPU total draw will be 528. Divide by 12 to calculate what's on the 12V rail. Then add 15 amps for the rest of the system, and add another 5 amps for safety.

This gives us 64 amps needed for the power supply. The Corsair AX1200i has 100.4A.

That's plenty of space!
 
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