Finishing off a Gaming Desktop Build - I need confirmation

[Edward T]

Hello!

Introduction:

So I have completed my build and I just want to confirm it here on the forums before I order and build it at the end of next month (July, 2015). My price limit is $1550 (including screen and keyboard). My aim is excellent gaming performance at ~1080p Ultra on AAA titles (Battlefield 4, GTA V), in addition to everyday use and multitasking. I chose to get an ultrawide display since I think it would be really cool and useful.

Build & Summary:

I need a great gaming desktop (including display & keyboard) for under $1550. I will buy and build it at the end of July, 2015. Link below.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/edwardtyl/saved/Lx2nTW

 

[sizzling]

Good build. The 970 is great for regular 1080p but I suspect it might miss your expectations on the higher resolution of an ultrawide monitor, I would try and factor in something a bit more powerful.

 

[entropy4money]

The GTX 970 has proven to be a very good video card for the money. But it is a bit misleading, it won't use all of its 4gb VRAM, and it is not as powerful as advertised.

Check this out:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2888877/its-a-feature-not-a-flaw-nvidia-ceo-addresses-geforce-gtx-970s-memory-spec-fiasco.html

I would personally go with a R9 290x instead.

Monitor is not the best for gaming

 

[RCFProd]

The first thing that bursts my eye is the 500GB SSD for 330 dollars lol what is going on there! Firstly, the majority on here doesn't need 500GB SSD and It's much better to split it up in 250 GB SSD space and a 1TB HDD.

Here an equally good mobo, much better keyboard which can actually be quite important, and one of the best cases around.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: Innovation Cooling Diamond "7 Carat" 1.5g Thermal Paste ($7.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($158.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($329.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: LG 25UM57-P 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($179.00 @ B&H)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Quick Fire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard ($85.75 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1438.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-16 16:20 EDT-0400

 

[RCFProd]

And I would say 25 inch ultrawide is on the small side. Look for 29 inch if you can.

 

[Tchota]

No need to settle with less than GTX 980 ti:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FkpzwP (non overclocking build) - if you dont want to SLI in the future you can change the MB to https://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gah97d3h , that would allow you to use M.2 .

Personally I would go with the Xeon, because it has more virtual cores and games are starting to use more and more cores. But if you want to invest on the ability to overclock you can go with:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PY3gcf

 

[RCFProd]

I mean, that's a really nice build but what's the point of a GTX 980 Ti at 1080p.

 

[sizzling]

An ultrawide monitor is not normal 1080p

 

[Tchota]

The monitor OP wants to buy have 1440p, and at some games a GTX 980 is already having an hard time getting 60 fps: http://www.techspot.com/review/1006-the-witcher-3-benchmarks/page4.html, and can get only 40 fps at 1440p. So the GTX 980 Ti is the way to go if he can afford it, and he can.

Even at high setting the GTX 980 nor the GTX 970 can get 60fps: http://www.techspot.com/review/1006-the-witcher-3-benchmarks/page3.html

 

[Edward T]

Hey everyone thank you for all the answers.
Here are my responses:
Thank you for suggestions about storage, keyboard & the monitor, I appropriately made changes:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/edwardtyl/saved/Lx2nTW

To the gtx 980/ 980 ti people: You say I can afford it, and you give me builds that have worse motherboards and degraded other parts of the build for the 980 Ti. Yes, then I can have a ti, but I miss out on other features that I get from a better motherboard or a better PSU or a better monitor, and honestly I'd rather have a better monitor & motherboard & better quality PSU than save $20 from the PSU, $200 from the monitor, and $90 from the motherboard to have a gtx 980 or 980 Ti.
Also to the Ultrawide display:
I really want an ultrawide. I changed it to a good quality ultrawide by AOC that has 5ms 29". Also I looked at some benchmarks online and a gtx 970 does ~80 FPS on 1080p and ~50 FPS on 1440p in Battlefield 4, which is probably the most graphically intensive game I play. Math time!
1080p = 1920 * 1080 = 2073600 pixels
1440p = 2560 * 1440 = 3686400 pixels
UltraWide = 2560 * 1080 = 2764800 pixels
Ultrawide is actually closer to the amount of pixels in 1080p as you can see above so I'm guessing it'll be closer to 80 FPS than 50 FPS which is good for me. Also for the near future when games get more intensive (I'm guessing Battlefront?) I'll just turn down the Anti-Aliasing and I'm guessing my FPS will go above 60 again... so I'm good for ultrawide with a gtx 970 I think.

So yeah here's my build with updates from this post any other suggestions?:
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/edwardtyl/saved/Lx2nTW

 

[Edward T]

Ok quick update to the last post just made some personal changes on it...
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/edwardtyl/saved/Lx2nTW

the case I have included right now, which I changed to nzxt h440, do you guys think it will be good for my build or should I get a different case?