New Gaming Rig!

[gwarriornoob]

Currently have an old-ish gaming PC (4-5 years old):
AMD 1090t 6core black 3.2ghz o/c to 3.8 (air cooled)
ROG Crossfire IV mobo
16gb 1833 RAM (cant remember which - corsair 'adventurer' or something equally exciting)
XFX 850/1k power supply
1gb ddr5 GPU (Radeon 8580 or similar)

I was thinking of upgrading and either rebuilding from scratch or upgrading the key components, but then looking at 4k/UHD monitors, was told an i7 was the way forwards:

A 5 minute click on parts picker gave me this: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/jhVqP6

I would keep my SSD & other hard drives, OS and blue ray RW, possibly case.

Can I get assistance to a) make sure these bits configure together correctly and b) optimise the components to make a plush rig!

Not sure why but 384w for total power seems low..?

Help & assistance please

 

[legend001523]

Gimme a budget and I'll sort something, out for you,
do you need a monitor? If so, what size and res?
Do you plan on watercooling?
Do you do anything else on the pc but game? like streaming, rendering?

 

[byza]

That list is a bit all over the shop but we'll sort you out. Is your budget 1500 pound? Do you plan on overclocking? Is the primary use gaming or will it be used for rendering or HD editing?

You already have a 1000w PSU with an 8580?!?!

No GPU's are ready for 4K gaming, but it's fine for productivity.

 

[Nuckles_56]

This is the kind of rig you would need to be playing at 4k and good settings

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£92.94 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£73.57 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.45 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.70 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£397.69 @ More Computers)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£397.69 @ More Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£145.36 @ More Computers)
Monitor: BenQ XL2720Z 144Hz 27.0" Monitor (£369.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Monitor: Samsung U28D590D 60Hz 28.0" Monitor
Total: £1989.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:35 BST+0100

 

[Pr3di]

Here`s a bit of a change to your build. Long story short - your GPU was improved by A LOT!

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YPRpzy
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YPRpzy/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£101.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£170.60 @ More Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB Video Card (£371.15 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£119.63 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ XL2720Z 144Hz 27.0" Monitor (£369.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Monitor: Samsung U28D590D 60Hz 28.0" Monitor
Total: £1481.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:35 BST+0100

 

[legend001523]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/mBwwyc single gpu won't cut it for 4k, sli is the way to go

 

[gwarriornoob]

Hi,

Further to the responses, here are some clarifications Thank you all very much for your assistance!

Monitor I think was on there - torn between a pro BenQ like XL2720Z or go mental and get a 4k / UHD - I would like the rig to 'support' 4k although I may delay the pricier monitor for a bit.

Air cooling - I'm not confident enough to go with water, and I am not that extreme that it really matters (I don't know enough about OC, yet, to safely play around and *keep* more than the pre-programmed settings).

I play games like SC2 - which my current rig can handle on ultra settings with no problems, and then the usual 'browsing, youtube, netflix' - no high end film-making or software editing type stuff, however I do use it for lots of VMs and blu-ray TV.

I was looking at i7 CPU as that seems to be one of the faster / better options, but I don't mind going for something similar that is more customisable/OC-able later - the rest of the settings are just indicative to what I would like - I am not stuck on any particular mobo or brand.

GPU I would like something a bit beefier, around the 4gb ddr5 1000mz + mark, but don't want to go really over £1000, something £3-£400 ($650ish) suits the budget but I will pay more if needed to be able to get to UHD.

I haven't really got a budget in mind - whatever is needed to get the right setup - but £1500-£2000 is a good starting point for the rig, monitor separate from that figure.

Really appreciate your help & assistance

 

[legend001523]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/dN3zhM , this will handle 4k no problem for 1700 pounds

 

[Pr3di]

Ok, so now that we removed the monitors and we have an approximate budget, here`s a build:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/8dpxRB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/8dpxRB/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£75.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£101.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£170.60 @ More Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 1200W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£166.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1639.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 13:04 BST+0100

The R9 290x are optimized for UHD output, so you should be golden there.
I didn`t add a HDD, because I assumed that you can salvage one from your current build.
Let me know what you think about it.

 

[gwarriornoob]

That list is a bit all over the shop but we'll sort you out. Is your budget 1500 pound? Do you plan on overclocking? Is the primary use gaming or will it be used for rendering or HD editing?

You already have a 1000w PSU with an 8580?!?!

No GPU's are ready for 4K gaming, but it's fine for productivity.

Yeah.. I had the idea of making the current rig more customisable later - adding in another GPU and extending RAM, plus the PSU was on offer so I paid less for it than a similar 650w one, and got a free game

Have added clarification below Thank you.

 

[gwarriornoob]

Here`s a bit of a change to your build. Long story short - your GPU was improved by A LOT!

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YPRpzy
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YPRpzy/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£101.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£170.60 @ More Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB Video Card (£371.15 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£119.63 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ XL2720Z 144Hz 27.0" Monitor (£369.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Monitor: Samsung U28D590D 60Hz 28.0" Monitor
Total: £1481.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:35 BST+0100

Looking good

 

[gwarriornoob]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/dN3zhM , this will handle 4k no problem for 1700 pounds

Excellent, thank you

 

[legend001523]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/dN3zhM , this will handle 4k no problem for 1700 pounds

Excellent, thank you

with the build you're looking at 150fps or more on 1080p
100fps ish on a 144hx monitor
and 70-90 on 4k maybe

 

[gwarriornoob]

Most seem to be around the same spec - so thank you all for your notes & comments.

Taking this as a baseline:
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£75.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£101.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£170.60 @ More Computers) *
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 1200W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£166.94 @ Scan.co.uk) +

* I would probably go for 1833, as general info has it that you don't notice much difference past 1600 + when I added 2133 into my current rig I started getting lots of BSOD/memory errors & haven't been able to re-configure to compensate
+ I would probably re-use my existing 1k PSU

So - bearing all that in mind, are there any tweaks or key components that would provide significant improvements? I guess this comes in as a medium-spec gaming rig - what would take it to the next level?

Is it just in configuring and overclocking the hardware, adding in water cooling to get stable top speeds? Or can any of those components be upgraded to achieve higher 'out of the box' performance?

I would rather spend a few extra quid now on getting the best I can afford, rather than have to replace something in a year or two (although that will almost certainly happen too.. :s)

 

[legend001523]

Most seem to be around the same spec - so thank you all for your notes & comments.

Taking this as a baseline:
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£75.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£101.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£170.60 @ More Computers) *
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 1200W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£166.94 @ Scan.co.uk) +

* I would probably go for 1833, as general info has it that you don't notice much difference past 1600 + when I added 2133 into my current rig I started getting lots of BSOD/memory errors & haven't been able to re-configure to compensate
+ I would probably re-use my existing 1k PSU

So - bearing all that in mind, are there any tweaks or key components that would provide significant improvements? I guess this comes in as a medium-spec gaming rig - what would take it to the next level?

Is it just in configuring and overclocking the hardware, adding in water cooling to get stable top speeds? Or can any of those components be upgraded to achieve higher 'out of the box' performance?

I would rather spend a few extra quid now on getting the best I can afford, rather than have to replace something in a year or two (although that will almost certainly happen too.. :s)

You should really go sli 780 ti, the amd cards, even the aftermarket ones, are known to have high temps and amd has even worse driver support for crossfire than nvidia do for sli, and r9 290x's give black screen, stuttering etc. And go down from a i7 to i5, the change in cpu doesn't help in gaming, at all. But you say you want to overclock so a i5 can be overclocked quite high to achieve near i7 performance, and since you have a good cpu cooler, good overclocks should be easy.

 

[Pr3di]

You have good updates on this build.
And to be honest, other than spending an obscene amount on a different CPU (I don`t remember them by heart) that will bring you no real benefit in gaming, there`s not much to improve.
You can go for a Corsair H100i, if you want water cooling, but IIRC, the Noctua D15 equals, and it might even beat the H100i.

I think this build can be seen as High, the only next step being Enthusiast.

 

[gwarriornoob]

You have good updates on this build.
And to be honest, other than spending an obscene amount on a different CPU (I don`t remember them by heart) that will bring you no real benefit in gaming, there`s not much to improve.
You can go for a Corsair H100i, if you want water cooling, but IIRC, the Noctua D15 equals, and it might even beat the H100i.

I think this build can be seen as High, the only next step being Enthusiast.

Am of moderate intelligence, but very enthusiastic - my only drawback is the lack of time.. Last time I looked into proper overclocking on my current rig it took me a solid weekend to learn and then another 3 to experiment, only to get nervous at the heat coming out ..! i.e. I'm not a millionaire, but happy to spend an extra few £ if it means better OOTB performance. Later I can book a week off work and have a play

 

[Pr3di]

You have good updates on this build.
And to be honest, other than spending an obscene amount on a different CPU (I don`t remember them by heart) that will bring you no real benefit in gaming, there`s not much to improve.
You can go for a Corsair H100i, if you want water cooling, but IIRC, the Noctua D15 equals, and it might even beat the H100i.

I think this build can be seen as High, the only next step being Enthusiast.

Am of moderate intelligence, but very enthusiastic - my only drawback is the lack of time.. Last time I looked into proper overclocking on my current rig it took me a solid weekend to learn and then another 3 to experiment, only to get nervous at the heat coming out ..! i.e. I'm not a millionaire, but happy to spend an extra few £ if it means better OOTB performance. Later I can book a week off work and have a play

Here`s my previous build, but with an EXTREME CPU:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/TmymmG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/TmymmG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£741.80 @ Scan.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£75.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme EATX LGA2011 Motherboard (£304.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£170.60 @ More Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 1200W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£166.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £2347.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 14:05 BST+0100

 

[gwarriornoob]

You have good updates on this build.
And to be honest, other than spending an obscene amount on a different CPU (I don`t remember them by heart) that will bring you no real benefit in gaming, there`s not much to improve.
You can go for a Corsair H100i, if you want water cooling, but IIRC, the Noctua D15 equals, and it might even beat the H100i.

I think this build can be seen as High, the only next step being Enthusiast.

Am of moderate intelligence, but very enthusiastic - my only drawback is the lack of time.. Last time I looked into proper overclocking on my current rig it took me a solid weekend to learn and then another 3 to experiment, only to get nervous at the heat coming out ..! i.e. I'm not a millionaire, but happy to spend an extra few £ if it means better OOTB performance. Later I can book a week off work and have a play

Here`s my previous build, but with an EXTREME CPU:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/TmymmG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/TmymmG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£741.80 @ Scan.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£75.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme EATX LGA2011 Motherboard (£304.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£170.60 @ More Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£399.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 1200W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£166.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £2347.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 14:05 BST+0100

And a couple of these bad boys: http://www.ebuyer.com/620516-evga-gtx-780-ti-sc-acx-3gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-03g-p4-2884-kr

the GTX 780 seems almost on par with the r9 290 (http://benchmarkreviews.com/8716/2560x1600-geforce-gtx-780-ti-vs-radeon-r9-290x/?cbg_tz=-60) Although the one I linked to above is a factory OC'ed version..

Awesome, thank you all for your help

 

[gwarriornoob]

You should really go sli 780 ti, the amd cards, even the aftermarket ones, are known to have high temps and amd has even worse driver support for crossfire than nvidia do for sli, and r9 290x's give black screen, stuttering etc. And go down from a i7 to i5, the change in cpu doesn't help in gaming, at all. But you say you want to overclock so a i5 can be overclocked quite high to achieve near i7 performance, and since you have a good cpu cooler, good overclocks should be easy.

Excellent points, thank you.

Here is the final config, subject to any online bundles or deals (prices range from £1500-£2200 depending on retailer)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler (£42.94 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£125.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£156.02 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£496.47 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£496.47 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2 (Black Pearl) ATX Full Tower Case (£90.44 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£188.52 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£34.50 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: BenQ XL2720Z 144Hz 27.0" Monitor (£369.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £2237.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 14:24 BST+0100

 

[Pr3di]

That looks beastly!
I`m jealous.

 

[legend001523]

Looks great, but for 10 pounds more, you can get the noctua dh 14, which is arguably the best cpu cooler you can buy http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-011-NC

 

[Pr3di]

If willing, even the Noctua NH-D15 if the budget allows it.
IIRC, it`s even better than the D14, which is still a beast.

 

[gwarriornoob]

Looks great, but for 10 pounds more, you can get the noctua dh 14, which is arguably the best cpu cooler you can buy http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-011-NC

I just did

 

[gwarriornoob]

If willing, even the Noctua NH-D15 if the budget allows it.
IIRC, it`s even better than the D14, which is still a beast.

According to the blurb, the d15 is louder at the same max RPM, so I went for the 14..

"That's noobs for you"