I7 vs i5 and 980 vs 980Ti

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NMOOK

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Jun 19, 2015
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I am building a PC that will be used for gaming(1080p). I have 2 screens that will both be used at the same time. On the PC I will also be streaming, browsing the Internet, Microsoft word, and using Microsoft PowerPoint. I will be playing games such as cs go, fallout, cod. I would like them to be at a very high setting so I can get an extremely good gaming news experience while also doing other tasks on the other monitor. I'm having trouble deciding between a i5/980, and i5/980ti, and a i7/980ti. I know which would be better but I would like to know which one is best suited for me based on the fact that I'm 15, paying for this myself, never have had a job, and care about money. Is the performance increase worth the money?
 
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Rhezner


Unless you plan on overclocking i would not get a water cooler. more like a 212 evo.

The motherboard is also a bit too pricey, i would get an asrock extreme3 or extreme6

I would switch the gtx 970 with an r9 390. the r9 390 is about equal in perforance but has more than 2x the vram. The 970 has 3.5gb. many modern games already use more than that.

This build is way overkill for playing CSGO, but if you want to play fallout 4 high graphics than this is about right
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i5 4690k and GTX 980Ti. No question - You should be able to max out 1080p for a couple of years quite easily with a single 980 Ti, and then of course you have the SLI route if you so desire.

There is no noticeable difference between an i5 and i7 in about 90% of tasks, with the exceptions being rendering and modelling, so for most people an i5 will be more than sufficient.

What's the rest of your build look like, maybe we can offer some advice there too?
 
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yeah this is basically what you should do although i would get an r9 390 because it is the same price but beats the 970 in benchmarks and has 8gb of vram the 970 is way better for overclocking. If you plan on overclocking then get a gtx 970 and overclock it to its limit and just upgrade to a better card in a few years that is better than the 980ti but will cost 300$
 
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OP should not even be considering a 980 or 980ti, so I suggested something better...970. However, his games could also be played with a 290. A 390 will be good but it isn't for sale yet and probably gonna want a lot more power than a 970.
 
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OP has stated they are 15 years old, and have never had a paid job. Clearly, they have the cash to pay for the parts they listed, or will find some way to afford them.

Sure, a GTX 970 is a great option for Price / Performance, however since OP doesn't have a job, it may be best for them to get what is essentially the current Nvidia flagship card due to not having a clear timeframe for a future upgrade.

Edit: They have stated they want to run on 'essentially' max settings at 1080p.

I was in a similar position to OP about 18 months ago (16 yr old, no job). Should i save more and get a GTX 770/780? Intel or AMD? I ended up with an FX 6300, GTX 760 and 8GB RAM. At the time, that combo performed extremely well, and i was able to max out nearly everything. Most games had recommended specs of a GTX 650Ti or lower, and everything was great.

Within about 6 months however, system reqs began to change, and now, more often than not, we see a GTX 970 or 980 recommended. For me, suddenly having to change settings from ultra everything to a mix of high and medium within a year of building was kinda crap(Even though expecting PC hardware to be 'future proof' is stupid). Although a GTX 970 performs great now, that may not be true in 12-18 months with the way PC game optimization is going, and this is why i suggest OP look at a GTX 980/ 980Ti if it is within their budget.

Just my two cents.
 
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I think you guys are missing the point. OP is wanting to game at 1080p and it is safe to assume it is a 60Hz monitor. Now look at the games he/she listed: cs go, fallout, cod. Would a 970 max out those games? Yes and more. So, why would you suggest a 980 or 980ti? That is by definition..overkill and a waste of money. The only people that should consider a 980 or 980ti are those with 1440p monitors or 1080p 144Hz ones. Otherwise the OP is better off getting a 970 and make sure to invest in a 250gb SSD too. Most people, including kids that have parents buy things for them, can upgrade the gpu when the time comes.

@bradsctt. I think the 760 is still decent but the fx-6300 is the weak component in your build. It could be the one giving you less than great fps and gameplay. And just another way to look at things: 18 months ago a $300 770 would have maxed out 1080p games (not 760) and if you went with more overkill...780..that would have cost $500. That means $200 was spent to "future proof". OP could instead wait until his $300 gpu falls behind (which should take 2 years) and sell his old one to upgrade to the new one.

What I always suggest is to look at benchmarks and see how a gpu does for what you want. If it maxes out for your usage, without going way beyond, then get that gpu.

 
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That's fair enough, i see where you're coming from.

As an alternative suggestion, OP could pair the i7 with the GTX 970? It would still cost less than the price of i5 + 980Ti, and an i7 4790k will easily last for 3-4+ years for gaming and whatever else OP can throw at it (assuming game CPU requirements don't suddenly skyrocket like GPU reqs have). Most games barely use 50% of my 4770k, so i have tons of power free for other simultaneous tasks. Also, unless i've miscalculated, there would still be $ left for a 850 EVO 120GB with the 4790k and 970?

By no means would i say the GTX 760 is bad (sorry if it sounded like that), it ran most games fine both with the FX 6300 and after i upgraded to an i7 4770k (And it still runs fine in most cases - although i've since grabbed a GTX 980). However, i cant look past the fact that for the majority of new, DX11 enabled titles released 2013 - 2015, the card didn't cut it at 1080p if i wanted to run high-ultra settings, when 6 months prior it would have run these titles fine. Admittedly, a lot of this can be blamed on the new consoles making devs more lazy in their attempts to optimize their PC ports (ahem, AC Unity, Watch Dogs, Arkham Knight...), but ah well...
 
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@bradsctt. I like your points. But let me offer an example. I bought my i5-2500k right as the 3570k became for sale. I chose 2500k for better overclocking and price. (No regrets still) And it has been 3 years of 4.4ghz running solid. There is still no need to upgrade the cpu, and won't be for at least another year (maybe Skylake). A decent i5 will last a long time. However, GPUs don't. You can't go 4 years on the same GPU unless you way over spend on it in the first place. But I'm sure you'll want a new one before not long. And new GPUs have extra features that are desirable.

So, its best to stick with a i5 for 4+ years and think about a new GPU every 2 years. By going i5 + 970 the OP is spending for his needs and not wasting money. Then in 2 years OP can reassess whether he wants a new GPU. But at the age of 17 I hope he is more into studying and chasing girls/boys rather than gaming. And saving money for a car to drive someone around in is :)
 
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Unless you plan on overclocking i would not get a water cooler. more like a 212 evo.

The motherboard is also a bit too pricey, i would get an asrock extreme3 or extreme6

I would switch the gtx 970 with an r9 390. the r9 390 is about equal in perforance but has more than 2x the vram. The 970 has 3.5gb. many modern games already use more than that.

This build is way overkill for playing CSGO, but if you want to play fallout 4 high graphics than this is about right
 
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