Help With Building a Gaming Setup

[jimtaylor]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rgvLNG

Current Build

CPU: AMD FX-8150
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB (got for free from work)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB (got for free from work) / WD 2TB 7200 RPM 32M
GPU: EVGA SC ACX 2.0 GTX 970
PS: EVGA 1000W 80+ Gold
Case: ARC Mid-Tower

I am upgrading my computer, piece by piece. I need advice on a couple of items.

Upgrade Priority:
1) Motherboard & CPU
2) GPU
3) Case

Possible Combinations:
1A) (i5 4690K) & (Gigabyte GA-z97x Gaming GT) or (ASRock z97 Extreme 6) or (MSI Z97-G45 Gaming 7) ~ $380
1B) (i7 5820k) & (MSI X99S SLI) & (Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB DDR4) ~ $640

2A) Second GTX 970 in 2016 (~$200)
2B) 980Ti in 2016 (~$530)
2C) Keep Current and wait until 2017 ($????)

3A) Rosewill Gaming THOR V2 ($130)
3B) Thermaltake Chaser Mk-1 ($130)
3C) Antec Twelve ($130)

Current Requirements:

I would like to be able to play current games like Fallout 4, Witcher 3, GTA V, Civilization, Rome Total War II, Bioshock Infinite, heavily modded Skyrim and Fallout New Vegas, etc... at High to Very High settings on a 32inch wide screen 1080p monitor with FPS hovering around 50 to 60. I do very little else besides gaming but do a lot of mods on my games. This will be pretty much a dedicated gaming rig with some Photoshop stuff but that is not my priority. Gaming is the priority.

Future Wants:

I would like to be able to play current and future (Up until 2019) games (obviously none of you can predict the future) at High to Very High Settings on a single 27 to 32inch 4K gaming monitor. Again, this is a dedicated gaming machine and I have no concern about other processes. Virtual Reality is a possibility as well.

What I am asking:

Please critique and offer advice on my desired build and current build. Price is only an issue because I am an auditor by trade and I like getting the best bang for my buck. I believe it is a poor idea to spend a 30% premium for a 5% increase in power. I am not 100% sold on Intel but have heard enough to believe it is the best route. The same goes with Nvidia. I had two AMD Radeon HD 7770's in the build before and they lasted me from August 2012 until last month when I replaced them with the GTX 970.

If you have any ideas on the motherboards or gaming case, I am all ears. Those are just the three that I noticed that seem the best price to performance. For both the cases and the motherboards. I am not looking to future proof this but instead have room for upgrade. If I can get 3 to 5 years out of this, I would consider it money well spent. I got 3 years out of my current build and was absolutely happy with it.

 

[davidarad02]

first of all, for the CPU you should really go skylake. it just launched (not yet available, but soon), and with it z170 and DDR4. you dont need to get REALLY high end board like you picked, but a 6600k, a decent z170 motherboard and a 8-16 (depends on DDR4 price drops) GB kit of ddr4 should cost around the same.

as for a GPU, wait for pascal. it is rumored that the pascal chip will be twice as powerful as the titan X (or 980 ti), for around the same price.

as for a case, if you are satisfied with your current, why do you want to change it? anyway, if you are not, then the phanteks enthoo pro is an awesome choice.

 

[jimtaylor]

first of all, for the CPU you should really go skylake. it just launched (not yet available, but soon), and with it z170 and DDR4. you dont need to get REALLY high end board like you picked, but a 6600k, a decent z170 motherboard and a 8-16 (depends on DDR4 price drops) GB kit of ddr4 should cost around the same.

as for a GPU, wait for pascal. it is rumored that the pascal chip will be twice as powerful as the titan X (or 980 ti), for around the same price.

as for a case, if you are satisfied with your current, why do you want to change it? anyway, if you are not, then the phanteks enthoo pro is an awesome choice.

Thanks for the tips david. I didn't even see Skylake was released. I will wait and go that route. For comparison sake, could you reference a z97 motherboard that would recommend? I can then use that kind of like a baseline for what I look for in z170. As for the case, I am concerned because the larger graphics cards barely fit and it causes terrible air flow. I tested out a MSI OC GTX 980 and it just didn't fit well. It fit but it was difficult to thread all the cords to were they need to go. It was almost blocking the SATA ports on the motherboard. So I was thinking going with a case that has some external usb 3.0 slots and few more spots for fans. I do like that case you sent. Pretty simple. The Thor V2 falls down to that price with rebates about every two months so that is the one I am leaning towards since I can get it for $90 and maybe cheaper on Ebay.

 

[davidarad02]

first of all, for the CPU you should really go skylake. it just launched (not yet available, but soon), and with it z170 and DDR4. you dont need to get REALLY high end board like you picked, but a 6600k, a decent z170 motherboard and a 8-16 (depends on DDR4 price drops) GB kit of ddr4 should cost around the same.

as for a GPU, wait for pascal. it is rumored that the pascal chip will be twice as powerful as the titan X (or 980 ti), for around the same price.

as for a case, if you are satisfied with your current, why do you want to change it? anyway, if you are not, then the phanteks enthoo pro is an awesome choice.

Thanks for the tips david. I didn't even see Skylake was released. I will wait and go that route. For comparison sake, could you reference a z97 motherboard that would recommend? I can then use that kind of like a baseline for what I look for in z170. As for the case, I am concerned because the larger graphics cards barely fit and it causes terrible air flow. I tested out a MSI OC GTX 980 and it just didn't fit well. It fit but it was difficult to thread all the cords to were they need to go. It was almost blocking the SATA ports on the motherboard. So I was thinking going with a case that has some external usb 3.0 slots and few more spots for fans. I do like that case you sent. Pretty simple. The Thor V2 falls down to that price with rebates about every two months so that is the one I am leaning towards since I can get it for $90 and maybe cheaper on Ebay.

I run a MSI z97 gaming 5, and I love it, so something like the MSI z170 gaming m5 would do the trick, but there are alot of board which go cheaper if you want.