Maximus VIII Hero vs GA-Z170X-Gaming 7

[Evannn]

So i'm currently just experimenting with 1440p at the moment and have a few things to ask.

1. Should I go with the GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 or Maximus VIII Hero?
2. Would Dual SLI Gigabyte G1 970's handle 1440p at a smooth 60fps or above?

Keep in mind I am an nVidia gamer, and I currently have no set budget as i'm experimenting in building a 1440p build.

CPU: i5 6600K
CPU Cooler: Be Quiet: Dark Rock 3
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
Graphics Card/s: Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 Gold 750W
Case: Undecided

EDIT: I've heard either incredible or somewhat negative reviews on both Motherboards for e.g. "My Maximus has a cracking/popping sound dodgy sound card blah blah" and the same for the GA-Z170X so I don't really know. I suppose the Maximum would look much nicer considering my build is mostly black and the white won't go well but I don't know. Same price range too.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Maximus VIII Hero , I own 2 hero boards , make any build that much better. Solid , well built.

 

[Evannn]

Maximus VIII Hero , I own 2 hero boards , make any build that much better. Solid , well built.

Thank you!

 

[Tommy_Ledge]

So i'm currently just experimenting with 1440p at the moment and have a few things to ask.

1. Should I go with the GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 or Maximus VIII Hero?
2. Would Dual SLI Gigabyte G1 970's handle 1440p at a smooth 60fps or above?

Keep in mind I am an nVidia gamer, and I currently have no set budget as i'm experimenting in building a 1440p build.

CPU: i5 6600K
CPU Cooler: Be Quiet: Dark Rock 3
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
Graphics Card/s: Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 Gold 750W
Case: Undecided

EDIT: I've heard either incredible or somewhat negative reviews on both Motherboards for e.g. "My Maximus has a cracking/popping sound dodgy sound card blah blah" and the same for the GA-Z170X so I don't really know. I suppose the Maximum would look much nicer considering my build is mostly black and the white won't go well but I don't know. Same price range too.

I would go with an ASUS, besides their Pro Gaming board, the rest are doing quite being a new series. I went with an MSI 5 and Gigabyte G1 and both had issues with audio and the MSI was just a mess. I ended up with the Asus AR which is just a great board for the cost. Dual 970's would clobber 1440p in most games and I would recommend just going with a single 980, it's cheaper and one better card is almost always a better option than SLI/CF setups.. leave those for when you already have one card or already have the top tier card in the series.

 

[photonboy]

1) I agree, and the AUDIO solution on the Hero looks impressive.

2) Avoid multi-GPU. For the budget go with a single GTX980Ti.

SLI or Crossfire:
a) not all games supported
b) may stutter vs single card (higher frame rate maybe, but worse experience)
c) 980Ti has more usable VRAM (6GB vs 4/3.5... ).
If not aware there is 512MB of slow memory on the GTX970 and it's a confusing issue. Not a huge deal most of the time but there are cases it can cause some stuttering by itself (vs 4GB of all fast memory).

3) 1440p ??
Totally depends on the game. On my GTX680 (similar to 770 or 960) I play several games at 1440p, 60FPS, max settings. For others I'm forced to drop to 1080p.

A GTX970 is perhaps 50% faster than my card but won't handle a lot of games by itself if you want max or near-max settings at 1440p/60FPS. So a GTX980Ti is still my best recommend.

4) Other-> GSYNC MONITOR
Too expensive still IMO, but I'll be buying a 1440p, IPS, 144Hz or similar once the price drops closer to $500USD and is great quality.

 

[Evannn]

So i'm currently just experimenting with 1440p at the moment and have a few things to ask.

1. Should I go with the GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 or Maximus VIII Hero?
2. Would Dual SLI Gigabyte G1 970's handle 1440p at a smooth 60fps or above?

Keep in mind I am an nVidia gamer, and I currently have no set budget as i'm experimenting in building a 1440p build.

CPU: i5 6600K
CPU Cooler: Be Quiet: Dark Rock 3
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
Graphics Card/s: Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 Gold 750W
Case: Undecided

EDIT: I've heard either incredible or somewhat negative reviews on both Motherboards for e.g. "My Maximus has a cracking/popping sound dodgy sound card blah blah" and the same for the GA-Z170X so I don't really know. I suppose the Maximum would look much nicer considering my build is mostly black and the white won't go well but I don't know. Same price range too.

I would go with an ASUS, besides their Pro Gaming board, the rest are doing quite being a new series. I went with an MSI 5 and Gigabyte G1 and both had issues with audio and the MSI was just a mess. I ended up with the Asus AR which is just a great board for the cost. Dual 970's would clobber 1440p in most games and I would recommend just going with a single 980, it's cheaper and one better card is almost always a better option than SLI/CF setups.. leave those for when you already have one card or already have the top tier card in the series.

Thank you so much! I suppose a single 980Ti would be slightly cheaper than 2 G1's and i'll just upgrade to SLI 980Ti when it's supported more!

 

[Evannn]

1) I agree, and the AUDIO solution on the Hero looks impressive.

2) Avoid multi-GPU. For the budget go with a single GTX980Ti.

SLI or Crossfire:
a) not all games supported
b) may stutter vs single card (higher frame rate maybe, but worse experience)
c) 980Ti has more usable VRAM (6GB vs 4/3.5... ).
If not aware there is 512MB of slow memory on the GTX970 and it's a confusing issue. Not a huge deal most of the time but there are cases it can cause some stuttering by itself (vs 4GB of all fast memory).

Thank you a ton man! Definitely got the build sorted now, i'll send a link in just a second!

 

[photonboy]

"Thank you so much! I suppose a single 980Ti would be slightly cheaper than 2 G1's and i'll just upgrade to SLI 980Ti when it's supported more!"

Sure, keep in mind:
1) Game settings are important - maxing to ULTRA with VSYNC ON for example and dropping below the target refresh can cause a lot of stuttering. Tweaking and perhaps using Adaptive VSYNC (tweak so you rarely drop below thus rarely have screen stutter) is one way to go.

2) DX12 should make SLI work better, though it will depend on the game developer. Some of the work is shifting to the game developer instead of the GPU driver team.

So it's difficult to say what that means in terms of support.

DX11 will still be around for a while. Sure, NVidia can do a certain amount in its basic driver and help on a per-game basis but the developer has to code well enough or it's a mess. Things in the gaming world progress SLOWLY.

3) GSYNC:
Putting money into a GSYNC monitor down the road may be a better way to go instead of 2x980Ti. You can get a much SMOOTHER experience at a lower frame rate. You can do research on that if you want but I'm waiting at least another year.

(FYI still happy with my GTX680 though I'm really good with game tweaking... will upgrade to NVidia Pascal in a year or so)

 

[Evannn]

"Thank you so much! I suppose a single 980Ti would be slightly cheaper than 2 G1's and i'll just upgrade to SLI 980Ti when it's supported more!"

Sure, keep in mind:
1) Game settings are important - maxing to ULTRA with VSYNC ON for example and dropping below the target refresh can cause a lot of stuttering. Tweaking and perhaps using Adaptive VSYNC (tweak so you rarely drop below thus rarely have screen stutter) is one way to go.

2) DX12 should make SLI work better, though it will depend on the game developer. Some of the work is shifting to the game developer instead of the GPU driver team.

So it's difficult to say what that means in terms of support.

DX11 will still be around for a while. Sure, NVidia can do a certain amount in its basic driver and help on a per-game basis but the developer has to code well enough or it's a mess. Things in the gaming world progress SLOWLY.

3) GSYNC:
Putting money into a GSYNC monitor down the road may be a better way to go instead of 2x980Ti. You can get a much SMOOTHER experience at a lower frame rate. You can do research on that if you want but I'm waiting at least another year.

(FYI still happy with my GTX680 though I'm really good with game tweaking... will upgrade to NVidia Pascal in a year or so)

I personally can't enjoy games as much if I have to drop graphics to get a higher frame rate but that's just me, I like my games to look smooth as butter aswell as look beautiful, I understand I may be being picky right now but that's why if I get a 980Ti i'd like to SLI down the road, not right away just whenever I can afford it in the future.

Why would you choose GSync over 2-Way SLI?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

If you were looking at Z87 / Z97, I would say definitely the Gigabyte as the a perusal of the Asus RoG Boards on the Hero shows a high instance of problems. It also didn't stack up well, performance wise, against the competition and had a high number of extremely negative newegg reviews.

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/msi_z97_gaming_6_review/10

The ranking is based on setting the board which recorded the highest combined fps in the gaming tests at 100% and ranking the others by fps as a % of the fastest one.

MoBo % of Leader

MSI Z97 Gaming 9 - 100.00%
MSI Z97 Gaming 5 - 99.86%
MSI Z97A Gaming 6 - 98.96%
Asus Z97 TUF Sabranco - 96.13%
Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5 - 95.00%
Gigabyte Z97X SOC Force - 94.95%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Hero - 93.67%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Formula - 93.58%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Gene - 91.69%
Asus Z97-A - 89.57%
MSI Z97 Mpower MAX AC - 88.20%
MSI Z97S Krait SLI - 71.01%

I don't see MSI and Gigabyte hitting home runs here, just that outside of the Sabertooth Sabranco, Asus seems to have dropped the ball in this generation.

Another ranking appears below .... based upon which boards might be best avoided. The % listed are the percent of board owners who posted highly negative (1 egg) user reviews.

Asus Z97 TUF Sabranco - 3%
MSI Z97 Mpower MAX AC - 4%
MSI Z97 Gaming 5 - 10%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Gene - 11%
MSI Z97A Gaming 6 - 12%
Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5 - 14%
MSI Z97S Krait SLI 19%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Hero - 19%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Formula - 26%
Asus Z97-A - 27%
MSI Z97 Gaming 9 - 28%
Gigabyte Z97X SOC Force - 29%

The wide variation in performance, it must be said, is very unusual. The Z170s is a whole new ballgame and all Z170 reviews to date seem to have performance levels or all boards I have seen so far within just 1 or 2 % of one another. Withe Z170, we are not seeing Asus 7% behind the leaders this generation. It would appear therefore that Asus has returned to their expected form with this generation.

I still think the Z97 Hero is a pretty good board, it's just not a top performer and not a good buy at $210 ... not when it gets beat by and has twice as many highly negative reviews as the $125 MSI Gaming 5 which has an almost identical feature list and equal or better components.

Let's look at the newegg user reviews for your two named choices.... There are 37 reviews to date which is in the range where we can start to feel some confidence in the sampling size.... once ya get to say 100, confidence level is high.... below 20, it's tough to take much from it.

Asus Z170 Hero has an average rating of 3.4 eggs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132565
5 eggs - 38% (14)
4 eggs - 14% (5)
3 eggs14% - (5)
2 eggs - (9)
1 egg - 11%- (4)

Gigabtyte model seems to be a bit more popular with 44 reviews and has a significantly higher % of happier owners.

Gigabyte G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 has an average rating of 4.2 eggs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128835
5 eggs - 64% (28)
4 eggs - 14% (6)
3 eggs - 9% (4)
2 eggs - 7% (3)
1 egg - 7% (3)

Using the compare function on newegg site.... these are the differences I observed.

- Giga supports 3867 to Asus 3733 RAM
- Giga has 3 SATA E ports to Asus 2
- Giga has 3 M.2 ports to Asus 2
- Both have high end sound solutions from different vendors, not in posaitin to judge which one excels as no data available that I have seen.
- Giga has Creative Sound Core 3D chip versus Asus ROG SupremeFX 2015
- Giga has 1 x Intel GbE LAN chip versus Asus Intel I219-V
- Giga has 2nd Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2400 LAN chip
- Both have 2 USB 3.1 ports
- Giga has 5 USB 3 ports to Asus 2
- Giga is $20 cheaper

I gotta say at this point that we are still in the early steppings of these boards and many bugs / problems will have been resolved by later steppings. Personally, we are recommending to users that they not jump into Z170 until the later steppings flush the earlier ones off the shelves which I expect will be sometime around the end of November.

But, if ya must buy now, with the data available to date, I gotta say go with the Gigabyte... it's got almost twice the % of 5 egg ratings, it's $20 cheaper and edges the Hero in numerous features.

As for the SLI's 970's, two 970s beat the 980 Ti by 20% and provide more bang for the buck... even when you include the larger PSU and even if you water cool the cards.

The alleged memory issue on the 970 has been shown to be a red herring.... test sites simply have not been able to recreate the reported problems. As long as you are not driving 4k, you won't have a problem. If ya need the numbers, the explanation and graphs, read this:

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor-geforce-gtx-970-vram-stress-test.html

If that doesn't do it, Extremtech put the 4 GB question to bed for good ... no issue at all for 4 GB till ya get to 4k and at the settings required to cause a problem at 4k game is unplayable. The reason people *think* it is an issue because what the utilities report as RAm usage is false. The tools merely identify that if the card see s 12GB it will "reserver" say 2/3 of that "cause its there"... it is not however used. Detailed explanation here:

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/213069-is-4gb-of-vram-enough-amds-fury-x-faces-off-with-nvidias-gtx-980-ti-titan-x

Two 970s have no problem at 1440p... whatsoever... not in the reviews, not on the ones we've built. Here you see the 970s in SLI topping the Titan

On average the SLI'd 970s are about 20% faster than the 980 Ti when all are overclocked.

As for the monitor, if you are investing $700 in GFX cards, I wouldn't even think about not having 144 Hz / G-Sync .... It's often asked why G-Sync adds a cost premium and Freesync doesn't. It's because they are not remotely the same. Freesync basically provided synchronization below 60 Hz ... so does G-Sync.

But what G-Sync also provides is additional hardware which provides motion blur reduction or ULMB (Ultra Low Motion Blur). You can buy Freesync monitors with MB technology but that also comes at a cost premium... some monitors include it, some don't... some have a good implementation, some don't.

I play Witcher on twin 780s on a 144 Hz TN monitor... my son plays on two 970s on a 144 Hz G-Sync IPS Monitor (Acer Predator XB 270HU) .... I'm so frakin jealous

 

[broidk]

So going with cf/sli isn't a great idea.. What if I am building a new system but don't want to pay for a 980 ti(Currently have an r9 390 in my list) When I want to upgrade should I just make the jump to a 980ti or whatever card AMD will put out (If it's better of course)?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

So going with cf/sli isn't a great idea.. What if I am building a new system but don't want to pay for a 980 ti(Currently have an r9 390 in my list) When I want to upgrade should I just make the jump to a 980ti or whatever card AMD will put out (If it's better of course)?

As indicated in above post there's no issue whatsoever with two 970's in SLI. Done several builds, no one's complaining. My son loves his, no issues whatsoever and he maintains bragging rights over friends w/ 980 Tis

 

[Evannn]

So going with cf/sli isn't a great idea.. What if I am building a new system but don't want to pay for a 980 ti(Currently have an r9 390 in my list) When I want to upgrade should I just make the jump to a 980ti or whatever card AMD will put out (If it's better of course)?

As indicated in above post there's no issue whatsoever with two 970's in SLI. Done several builds, no one's complaining. My son loves his, no issues whatsoever and he maintains bragging rights over friends w/ 980 Tis

Although I wouldn't mind SLI 970's simply because they beat out a single 980Ti I do see where the others are coming from, a lot of games don't support SLI and that's where it will fuck me over to be honest. My friend is currently in the making of a Dual SLI 980Ti build. Has his first and getting his second soon so that thing will be a monster, that's what I plan to do in the future.

 

[smorizio]

as you haven't build the pc yet if you hold off a little bit the newer nvidia pascal gpu will be out soon in 2016. there going to be a lot faster for the same money as the 900 cards that are out now.

 

[Evannn]

as you haven't build the pc yet if you hold off a little bit the newer nvidia pascal gpu will be out soon in 2016. there going to be a lot faster for the same money as the 900 cards that are out now.

Very good point, i'm just going to do that because in the long run it will pay off!

 

[photonboy]

as you haven't build the pc yet if you hold off a little bit the newer nvidia pascal gpu will be out soon in 2016. there going to be a lot faster for the same money as the 900 cards that are out now.

First of all, you don't have the PRICING yet.

Secondly, the release date is not certain for any model let alone the top models (top models may be delayed due to HBM2 availability). There may be issues preventing card release until Q2, and even then availability may be difficult or pricing too high due to supply and demand.

So it may take at least six months, nobody knows. That's a pretty long time to wait IMO.

*The GTX980Ti is a kick-ass card. If it's in the budget I'd suggest getting it, enjoy it, then don't be annoyed if Pascal ends up cheaper as that's just the way PC upgrading works.

As for GSYNC?
Why would I consider a GSYNC monitor over 2xGTX980Ti?

Well, it would depend on what monitor I had for starters but having a higher resolution is important to me (2560x1440), but as you can research GSYNC is smoother than what a normal synchronous monitor can provide, regardless of what the rest of the system may be.

It's a bit complicated, and SLI again scales inconsistently. I saw an AVERAGE that suggest scaling was closer to 60% but it totally depends on the games you choose to average. Some can get closer to 90% and some no scaling at all. With that in mind here's just an EXAMPLE:

GTX980Ti + GSYNC 1440p monitor (vs 2x980Ti + normal 1080p/144Hz monitor)
a) Lower frame rate, but should still be quite smooth
b) No choosing between VSYNC ON or OFF (screen tearing or added lag. One or the other).
c) Higher resolution (vs 1080p) makes a big difference in some games.

So let's say I play a game but the screen tearing makes me choose to use VSYNC. There's a good chance I can't maintain 144FPS so I'll choose the "Half Adaptive VSYNC" method to get 72FPS. I'll then have to TWEAK the game carefully for the optimal settings so I RARELY drop below 72FPS. If I do I get screen tearing, but too high above and I'm maybe dropping quality settings.

GSYNC for the most part "just works" so I can turn up to ULTRA settings and if my frame rate is high enough for a smooth experience (say 50FPS or better) I don't have to concern my self with VSYNC ON or OFF, tweaking settings carefully etc.

(How often have you started a game only to discover a later level is more demanding so you get low frame rate and stutter. GSYNC makes this far less likely to be an issue).

GSYNC SUMMARY:
A bit confusing but you really need to understand the technology to understand where I'm coming from. How important high resolution and game smoothness are also important.

*The ONLY monitor I like so far is the new 165Hz Asus model (IPS, GSYNC). It's just too expensive right now for me. Note that it's one of the first to have the GSYNC 2.0 module which allows additional inputs (it has an HDMI as well as DP input).

 

[Zavis_Dhu]

Personally, we are recommending to users that they not jump into Z170 until the later steppings flush the earlier ones off the shelves which I expect will be sometime around the end of November.

It's almost the end of November, any news or leaks yet? I'm going thru the exact same debate as the original post. Both current boards seem nice but there are buggy situations. I really want to get started on a build soon

 

[mkim055]

I am going with

i5 6600K
Noctua NH-D15
G.Skill Ripjaw V DDR4 CL16 3200MHz 2x8GB (only because it was bargain)
Gigabyte GA Z170X Gaming 7 (I like Creative Sound, whaaaaat =P)
ATi R9 Fury (unlock cores to match Fury X, no point dishing out for X) or GTX 980 Ti
Old PSU is 620W which will most likely need upgrade, undecided
If you have full tower case, dont really need to upgrade unless you want fresh looking pc.

Hope that helps

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Although I wouldn't mind SLI 970's simply because they beat out a single 980Ti I do see where the others are coming from, a lot of games don't support SLI and that's where it will fuck me over to be honest. My friend is currently in the making of a Dual SLI 980Ti build. Has his first and getting his second soon so that thing will be a monster, that's what I plan to do in the future.

Define "a lot". With 3 kids who remain active gamers into adulthood, have yet to experience an issue here.

1. All AAA games are SLI, usually right from the getgo.
2. I can't remember a game that I or the kids have had where:

a) The game supported SLI
b) The game was capped at 60 fps
c) The game didn't get 100 fps or better in which case the absence of a boost won't be missed

3. We always recommend that if getting a single card, the "later SLI" door always be left open. The thing is, twin SLI 970s is more than adequate for 1440p.... whereas twin 980 Tis just doesn't quite cut it at 4k.

It's a bang for the buck thing really..... the return on investment is a lot smaller for the higher end cards. Two 980s in SLI brings you a relative bang for the buck of 2.30 where as a 980 Ti, at 2.42, has a better return on investment. But, based upon techpowerup's 19 game test suite results and current card costs, you get 44% more fps per dollar with twin 970s versus twin 980 Tis

970 - 3.97
970 SLI - 3.48
980 - 2.63
980 SLI - 2.30
980 Ti - 2.42
980 Ti SLI - 2.11

Of course bang per buck means nothing if your needs aren't being satisfied and if you were going 4k and wanted to use ULMB (60+fps) in all AAA games ..... and two 980 Tis were capable of doing that, I'd throw bang for buck out the window. But I don't think we'll see that kind of performance out of a pair of GPUs until this time next year.

So let's say I play a game but the screen tearing makes me choose to use VSYNC. There's a good chance I can't maintain 144FPS so I'll choose the "Half Adaptive VSYNC" method to get 72FPS. I'll then have to TWEAK the game carefully for the optimal settings so I RARELY drop below 72FPS. If I do I get screen tearing, but too high above and I'm maybe dropping quality settings.

G-Sync is for < 60 FPS.... but G-Sync comes with ULMB and ULMB / G-Sync can not be used at the same time. G-Sync's usefulness fades with increased fps. You would pick the supported 85, 100 or 120 Hz settings tho instead of 72. Note that the initial Acer predators had just 85 and 100 Hz modes in ULMB, now they have and added 120 Hz setting (since Sept/15)

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/acer_xb270hu.htm

It should be noted that the real benefits of G-sync really come into play when viewing lower frame rate content, around 45 - 60fps typically delivers the best results compared with Vsync on/off. At consistently higher frame rates as you get nearer to 144 fps the benefits of G-sync are not as great, but still apparent. There will be a gradual transition period for each user where the benefits of using G-sync decrease, and it may instead be better to use the ULMB feature discussed in the following section which is not available when using G-sync.

As for the new Asus PG279Q, it is actually a 144 Hz model that can be overclocked to 165..... it would seem that all G-Sync panels will be coming this way.... the Acer 34" model went from 60 to 100 which had huge (+67%) impact.... the 165, from 144 Hz is just 15% so less of an impact

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/asus_rog_swift_pg279q.htm

Even if you can power that kind of frame rate reliably, whether you'd see any real difference in practice between 144 and 165Hz is also questionable. It does seem to be little more than a marketing gimmick really in our opinion. Maybe some people will reach those levels and find it useful, but to be honest it feels to us a bit like a race to offer the highest number in the spec.

However, since if you are in the 70+fps performance range, you are more likely to choose ULMB at the fixed 85, 100 or 120 Hz settings in hich case 144 / 165 is outta the picture.

Here's the Asus TN, Asus IPS and Acer IPS monitors compared at 144 Hz

Now compare that to 120 Hz ULMB and it's easy to see why at high refresh rates, why most will find ULMB mode more desirable than G-Sync.

Overclocking aside, it's great monitor and it's now available at $804 from Directron so no longer such a big premium over the Acer model ($700ish)

 

[Dark Legend]

Maximus VIII Hero , I own 2 hero boards , make any build that much better. Solid , well built.

Hello guys, but still i have a question that why im not seeing Maximus VIII Hero world wide not soo much under consideration but all the time i was waiting for Maximus VIII. And you saide you have 2 hero mobos so which are they Maximus VII or Maximus VIII.... Please reply and thanks.

 

[Zavis_Dhu]

I am going with

i5 6600K
Noctua NH-D15
G.Skill Ripjaw V DDR4 CL16 3200MHz 2x8GB (only because it was bargain)
Gigabyte GA Z170X Gaming 7 (I like Creative Sound, whaaaaat =P)
ATi R9 Fury (unlock cores to match Fury X, no point dishing out for X) or GTX 980 Ti
Old PSU is 620W which will most likely need upgrade, undecided
If you have full tower case, dont really need to upgrade unless you want fresh looking pc.

Hope that helps

Well I am starting a brand new (my first ever) build with 6700K. I'm curious: why made you choose gigabyte over Asus? And how does gigabyte overclock? Besides, is there a dedicated fan controlling system?

 

[Zavis_Dhu]

G-Sync's usefulness fades with increased fps.

What do you mean? Would you argue that if two monitors both operate at 144Hz, one has G-sync, the other one does not, are not that different because the frame rate is very high? If so, then why would people pay couple hundreds more for a g-sync panel?

 

[broidk]

g-sync is much better than v-sync and gives you way better performance.

 

[DaSXTC]

People buy what people are told to buy. People believe what others believe, because the companies made them believe, true or not... Question is.. are you going to take a rich person for his word? Ask yourself why they keep comparing 4k with 1080p pictures wich are not even 1080p but more like 720p... Just google for 1080p vs 4k, look at the blurry 1080p pictures then look up 1080p pictures on google and find out that 1080p is actualy a lot better then what the 4k vendors want to make you believe.... Truth be told.. only idiots blindly believe whats being told to them, but you'll have to take it with a grain of salt..

 

[JackNaylorPE]

What do you mean? Would you argue that if two monitors both operate at 144Hz, one has G-sync, the other one does not, are not that different because the frame rate is very high? If so, then why would people pay couple hundreds more for a g-sync panel?

Your missing the point I was trying to make probably cause I wasn't clear enough

G-Sync gives you G-Sync for < 60 fps ..... and ..... ULMB for > 60 fps
Freesync gives you Freesync for < 60 fps, no Motion Blue Reduction Technology

That's why G-Sync has a cost premium over Freesync .... ULMB requires hardware to be installed in the monitor and that is why there is a cost premium.

You start off playing a game and you see that fps ranges from 50 - 70 fps ..... leave G-Sync on

You start off playing a game and you see that fps ranges from 85 - 100 fps ..... go into Monitor controls and swiitch from G-Sync to ULMB G-Sync (85 Hz)

You start off playing a game and you see that fps ranges from 98 - 120 fps ..... go into Monitor controls and swiitch from G-Sync to ULMB G-Sync (100 Hz)

You start off playing a game and you see that fps is always above 120 fps ..... go into Monitor controls and swiitch from G-Sync to ULMB G-Sync (120 Hz)