Need help and suggestions on this Gaming Rig

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Kratos47

Kratos47

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Jan 26, 2014
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Hey guys,

I have been using my old system for like 5 years now and I have finally decided to do a major overhaul to my current system and have gathered all the florins to purchase it lol.

Although I'm somewhat puzzled the more I research and read about it as I don't want to get anything wrong.

First of all my current rig:

  • MOBO: Gigabyte Ex-58 Extreme
    CPU- i7 920 D0@ 4.2 GHz
    RAM- 6GB GSkill Trident@2002 MHz
    Graphics Card: ASUS R9-280X-DC2T
    Corsair 750TX Power Supply
    SSD-Crucial MX100 256 GB
    Monitor-BenQ G2020 HD (1600x900 native resolution)

From this I will be reusing my Crucial MX100 + all the mechanical drives and the Corsair 750TX to power the new rig.

So far I'm considering to buy this:

  • MOBO: MSI X99A Gaming 7
    CPU : i7 5820K
    GPU : NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti (not 100% locked since I'm waiting for AMD release around 16th June and see what they have in their pockets)
    DDR 4 RAM : 16GB kit from Corsair 2666 MHz (From the QVL from the MOBO manufacturer)
    CPU Cooler : NZXT Kraken x61
    Cabinet: NZXT Phantom 820
    Monitor: Benq XL2411Z 24' gaming monitor

Is everything cool\compatible here? I think so...

My main questions are as follows:
1) Is my power supply okay to OC 5820K and run the GTX980Ti (at stock) without any problems? I got the 6 and 6+2 pin connectors to power the card and on its +12 V rail & it can power 12V*60A=720W and max 980Ti requires is 332W, with a TDP of 250W. Moreover my current R9280X has a TDP of 241W, so I think it can easily manage this baby. Am I correct in concluding this? Also does this PSU have all the power cords to feed all the stuff I mentioned above? Like the PC chassis\cabinet's internal wires, CPU Cooler, CPU, GPU etc...?

2) Now I'm looking at displays and this is one area I'm out of touch at. I want to try out 1080p gaming with a pretty decent gaming monitor for quite some time now and this BenQ XL2411Z is available at a good affordable price.

Now when I see this monitor, I see another expensive model called XL2420Z, which has Display Port 1.2. Would I be missing anything if I buy a cheaper monitor that has HDMI or DVI-D. If i'm not mistaken, my current selection has DVI-D, which would allow me to maximize my games@144Hz\1080p. And since i'm not into 4K gaming etc, I need not bother with the expensive XL2420Z. Is my conclusion correct or incorrect?

Besides these 2 questions nothing else comes to my mind right now. Phantom 820 seems like a great case and NZXT website says that Kraken x61 is compatible, so that's also covered.

I will be aiming for 4.2-4.5 GHz of 5820K Overclock just for the hell of it and I think that RAM I picked which is 2666 MHz is more than enough for that.

The MOBO i picked from MSI has the fantastic USB 3.1 and is cheaper than expensive ASUS deluxe, Gigabyte SOC etc models and performs almost the same and this MOBO as per video review has great OC support, also mentioned on MSI website. So I think this is also a smart choice, since I have exhausted my budget and it's pretty tight to make room for more cooler\better components.

And I know guys, 980Ti for 1080p is a bit of an overkill but I'm hugely impressed by this card, 30% more performance than GTX 980 with only a margin of higher price, so definitely gonna pick this instead of simple 980. Can't wait to maximize GTA 5 and Witcher 3 with this. Last time also GTA4 forced me to buy a new PC and it seems the time has come again. :)

Oh and last by not the least:
3) I will be waiting for AMD Fiji\Fury whatever release as well and do you guys think it's worth the wait or should I just buy 980Ti? I have been on AMD side for quite many years now and I'm pretty excited to Join the Green Team.

Though the reason I'm hesitant with new HBM stuff from AMD is because:
-Most probably it will be more expensive and I simply can't afford it.
-I like DX 12_1 full support offered by 980 Ti, so would do well with Windows 10 and thus it's already futuristic and doesn't requires me to wait for AMD release.
-HBM is new tech and I'm a bit hesitant to buy because of the driver issue etc it might have during the early progress.
-Personally think I should stick with current best 980Ti and see HBM 2.0 in Late 2016 and then choose AMD or NVIDIA's Pascal.
-I'm not very good at waiting lol.
Am I thinking too much or what? 😛
 
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Why would you go for the X99 platform if the system is for gaming? Haswell would do just as well and is plenty cheaper, not to mention you can upgrade to Broadwell when they are released.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£178.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£87.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£129.24 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£82.76 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card (£599.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case (£89.39 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1167.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 21:02 BST+0100

Woody
 
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+1; This is a solid build for under 1200 quids!
 
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@Woody
Hey thanks for the response woody, I know you help out a LOT of people, so I appreciate your response.

And gaming is my passion which I tend to do on weekends or whenever I'm not working but this PC is mainly for my work that requires me to use Adobe softwares, Corel x7 etc and as per the review 5820K got at Anandtech this is a great CPU for productivity. Earlier I was going for Z97 built with 4790K but then I changed my decision after seeing its review.

If I'm not mistaken the only major downside is the power consumption and higher costs of X99+DDR4 setups, which I'm willing to spend.

And that eVGA card is arsekicking but unfortunately it's out of my budget. Here prices in India are insane just like in Australia and electronics cost quite a bit like the same card you linked is priced around 750£ in India, that is why I went for Zotac's 980 Ti base model (594 £ here). I think Zotac card is also just as nice without the factory overclock profile. Wish I could've bought the eVGA one tbh but short on monies.

Could you clarify and answer my (1) (2) (3) questions\doubts I'm having? I would really appreciate it mate.
 
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The X99 platform is a big trap, like all previous extreme edition chipsets were. They lure in performance junkies, who pay a tonne of money for all the bells and whistles of X99, but realise that they've severed any chance of upgrading from their current setup and have no use for most of the excess features. Does that make sense? I would only recommend X99 for someone who is going to spend a long time working on multithreaded software of now, as in the future the new software will outgrow the platform.

However, seeing as your use seems to be exactly this, I don't see why not 😛

A 5820K would be a good choice for you, if you plan to do SLI in the future. It has 28 PCIe lanes rather than the 16 on the 4790K, which means you can still run one card in x16 in an SLI config. If I had to change anything, I would get a slightly cheaper motherboard unless you plan to use all of the features on that one.

Woody
 
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I bought my old PC components on 31-10-2009. And this X58 system has served me very very well for 5 years, 7 months and it has been a good run. Only thing I upgraded was my Graphics Card from HD 5870, HD 5970 to R9 280X & like tried SSD on SATA II. And as far as gaming is concerned it can still pack a punch to most of the games these days. Gaming on 900p, so R9 280X and i7 920@4.2 Ghz (like i5 2500K) can mange most of the games perfectly.

The professional part in me has pushed me to look for newer\latest platform because I will get a lot of convenience from latest tech out there. And since I earn my livelihood from my computer, I just need to make sure I'm running a top end machine. Since personally I like to invest in a high end machine and then forget about it for a couple of years.

Besides the kid in me is also kicking me to go for it. GTA 5 and Witcher 3 are the only games that have finally now forced me to move on to current times. Don't play a lot of games like i used to as a college student but such games are a part of my childhood and being a fan of the series I like to follow few select games and want to have best experience out of it. So personally as far as gaming is concerned, in future I only need to upgrade my graphics card or hell even SLI it with another 980 Ti. I think in this department, it's already an overkill for 1080p so I'm not that worried about it.

My main reason is the design work I do which helps in my livelihood. Things like 6GB RAM when working with HD content and editing really means nothing nowadays. RAM gets hosed easily when running a few programs. During my time 6GB of DDR3 RAM was seen as something and was more than sufficient. Not the case now though.

Then my main focus is programs that take advantage of i7 5820K and although a bit angry with the DDR4\X99 MOBO pricing here in India, I'm willing to spend the amount as earlier I was looking towards something in X79 or Z97. 5820K is a best processor with performance\price combo but as you said the means to make it work ends up in the expensive end. So i agree with the big trap scenario you said haha.

And yeah there are some cheaper motherboards out there but all the OC ones are a bit on the high end and this MSI board is a perfect balance in pricing and performance I want. Plus I really want to see USB 3.1. Right now in India this is the only MOBO out there that has it and it was launched here not long ago.

I have used XfireX in the past although back then scaling, especially on AMD\ATI cards, was just crap. Nowadays it's really something and worthwhile, so in future I won't hesitate to try SLI setup.

Your suggestion to buy eVGA 980Ti has been superb\excellent\kickass\ (put awesome word here) though. It isn't available in India but even with newegg shipping costs this card is not expensive in comparison to the stock Zotac one priced here. Almost the same. So I would rather spend just a little bit more and get more performance sucked out of it. Great card and thanks for suggesting it, really helped me.

I will be buying the parts around 17th June then, after I read the Fiji benchmarks. And see if they do better in softwares (HBM mem thingy they have). But with all the rumours and leaks, if true, I personally think now that 980Ti is a better card when seeing the performance\price ratio. Fiji will be marginally better than it with a higher price tag on'em. Which is simply out of my reach and not worth it for me.
 
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Your programs work best with CUDA cores, so Nvidia is the obvious choice. The 980Ti is going to be a card that you will be happy with for a long time, as Nvidia have really stepped up the VRAM. The Zotac model is fine, however if you wait a little longer there might be a much nicer open-air cooler (like the EVGA ACX 2.0 model) out for you. This would not only be cooler than a reference design, but plenty quieter.

Woody

 
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Hey woody,

If that's the case then looks like I will be buying GTX 980 Ti without waiting for AMD release. You just reminded of an option that's disabled in Premiere Pro since my AMD Graphics card doesn't have CUDA. Thanks for reminding me!

Also I was just informed that MSI GTX 980 Ti 6G Gaming Card is now available in my country! 😀 And I can get this at a great price rate similar to the stock zotac one so I think i'm gonna go ahead and buy the MSI one instead.

MSI has a great RMA process in my country (India) as well. I was going to go for eVGA one that you linked but I have to ship\import that component from US which I'm not keen to do and secondly I personally would've to pay the shipping prices if I want to get it RMAed in Taipei, Taiwan. Too complicated, in case I get a dud. With MSI i just have to go and throw it at their local service centre in my city and be given a new card within a week.

I can't find any reviews of the MSI gaming one besides the following tech specs link but I think the Twin Forzr series is pretty renowned for its factory OC settings, general performance. The card is kickass and worth my money imo. Should I go ahead with it?
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b3346/msi-gtx-980-ti-gaming.html
 
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Great then! Your post helped me in sealing the deal as my mind was running in too many directions. 😛
Ordered the card and the retailer told me that it should arrive at my door step within 15-20 days. A lot of demand for this card right now lol.

And yes I have one more problem, so I could use your help a little further bro. I have gone and ordered most of the parts. Only RAM, Monitor and CPU cooler remain to be ordered.

-RAM I have to import from US. This is not a problem, will order it tonight.
-Trying to find a better deal in monitor and talking to some retailers about it, might save like 45£ on it if the deal is true. Dunno the timeline on this.
-CPU Cooler was NZXT Kraken X61 but unfortunately that is out of stock and discontinued here in India. It was a great cooler and had 6 year warranty.

Now I can't seem to settle on some other CPU Cooler. x61 was aesthetically pleasing as well. So can you recommend me some dual fan radiator that offers the same stuff and can fit in NZXT Phantom 820 chassis?
 
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I would definitely recommend the Swiftech H240-X if it is available, but it might be a bit expensive. It's a lot quieter and a lot better at cooling compared to the X61 and H100i, but also more expensive.

If not, the Corsair H100i is a good cooler as well.

Woody
 
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Yeah that cooler wasn't available and neither was Kraken X61 unfortunately. I was planning on importing Kraken but it was costing me more than H320. So i went ahead with Swiftech H320 that has a triple copper radiator and is supposedly very good and less noisy. Hope it's worth it & actually good as people say. I was also recommended Deepcool Captain 360 and man that cooler is sexy but I want performance since India has an insane summer temperatures and I wanted a damn good cooler to handle my OCed rig.

Also after reading the news of AMD release my MSI GTX 980Ti Gaming Edition is locked and confirmed to be delivered by the end of June. AMD Fury X is awesome but GTX 980 Ti isn't that behind it as I was hoping (if the rumour benchmark is true that is. So far that wcctech website has been spot on). 980 Ti also marginally beats Fury Pro even at stock so they're both equivalent and I shall buy Pascal in 2 years if I feel the need to upgrade or take advantage of some feature which is heavily HBM dependent. Anyways I'm glad I stuck with GTX 980 Ti. It's been a while since I went ahead and rejoined the green team.

Really the only game I shall play right now heavily is Witcher 3 with full features set to Ultra settings & NVIDIA gamework features will add to it. Dunno if I have the time for gaming much like my younger days but definitely when it comes to Witcher 3. I have so far held on from playing TW3 on my AMD R9 280X because I want to play the game on ultra and @1080p settings. :)

Also I went ahead and bought XL2420Z gaming monitor instead of Benq XL2411Z. XL2420Z is better but was more expensive by around 90 dollars but I managed to get a 90 dollar discount and bought the XL2420Z for the same price as XL2411Z! Really happy with this deal. 😀

So now only MOBO and RAM remain and the unfortunately the MSI Mobo ran out of stock and I have to wait till June 25 to reorder it. Have booked but have to wait a bit longer. Most likely it will arrive at the same time as my MSI graphics card shipment.

Once MOBO is ordered and confirmed I shall buy the RAM from newegg. So it looks like I have to do a long wait of like 3-4 weeks.

I shall update the thread and post pictures once I have all the parts. Thanks for helping me woody. :)
 
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