New 1440P Build Advice Please!

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davetay14

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Jun 27, 2013
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Hi,

I'm in the process of weighing up what to buy for a new build and was really just after peoples thoughts considering my requirements please :)

I will be gaming at 1440P and want a PC that will last me 5 years without pumping too much extra cash into it as I won't have this sort of money again for some time...

So my thoughts were either:

1) Get one of the new I7 CPUs (undecided on Haswell or not), 16GB of RAM and 2 x GTX770 4GB in SLI.... with a view to dropping in a 3rd 770 a few years down the road to add some more FPSs.

This option would mean that I would be looking a spending more on a MoBo up front though as I'd need a multi SLI ready motherboard to cater for 3 or even maybe 4 GPUs down the line. It would also mean getting a 1200W PSU now to prepare for it.

OR...

2) Stick with the famed gaming CPU I5 3970K, get just 8GB of RAM for now and spend the extra on 2 x GTX 780 SC ACX.

Potentially I would then be spending less on the PSU as would need only a 1000W or less for 2 way SLI and I could settle for a 2 way SLI Mobo which would save me money too, all of which would be put towards the GTX 780's in SLI...

However if that ever gets a little too slow in a few years time I wouldn't be able to drop in a 3rd card would I on a cheap SLI mobo?... or would I even if it runs at lower bandwidth (is this how it works on the cheaper mobos)?


What do you guys reckon would be the best option?

I'm just a little concerned that the i5 3970K might not last me 5 years since there is a chance that more games will take advantage of hyperthreading a few years time?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated :)

 
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davetay14

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Jun 27, 2013
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Thanks for the feedback - Must admit I'm a little more tempted with the 2x 770's & the ability to drop in more cards further down the line...

The CPU choice concerns me though as I'm sure an i5 Haswell would be great for now as hardly any games utilise hyper threading, but that may change over the next few years with the release of the 8 core next-gen console CPUs, so might it better to go for an i7 for the sake of another £70 now, just to give myself a little bit of future proofing?

Also do you think there is any real advantage of Haswell over Ivy Bridge? (I'm really just think which CPU is going to give me the best chance of staying up to date 4 or 5 years down the line is all, whilst chosing a CPU which will give me optimum performance when using SLI at 1440P) :)

Any help greatly appreciated as usual!
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
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There's no need for an i7 and 16GB of RAM for gaming. Put that money into getting better graphics. Knowing a budget would help to suggest a system.

Also do you think there is any real advantage of Haswell over Ivy Bridge? (I'm really just think which CPU is going to give me the best chance of staying up to date 4 or 5 years down the line is all, whilst chosing a CPU which will give me optimum performance when using SLI at 1440P) :)
Click to expand...

The biggest advantage is that Ivy Bridge CPUs will most likely not be manufactured as of next year, where Haswell will be supported for at least the next two - three years. If you decide you want to upgrade in the future Haswell would be the way to go.
 
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fnatic

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The x2 770s will be a very beast set up for quite a while. I'd recommend either the EVGA Super clocked versions or MSI lightning versions of those.

Like G-Unit said 8gb is more than enough RAM.

As for now and looking into the next 2ish years. Hyper threading won't be used as they can barely stress the current CPU's or even those from the last few years. BUT if you do plan on rendering a lot or thinking about it for the future then i'd go to the i7.

Also like g-unit said haswell will be supported for longer unlike this most likely being ivy's last year.
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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But even in the future there's still no reason to purchase an i7. You're better off putting that money in getting a better GPU.
 
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fnatic

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I honestly think it's worth it if he has plans of rendering videos and such. The extra threading does help out. I wasn't speaking about gaming purposes only.
 
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davetay14

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Jun 27, 2013
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Thanks for the responses guys :)

I don't have any plans for video rendering right now & primarily this build will just be for gaming, web surfing & the occasional working from home...

The only reason I was leaning towards the i7 is that I have read that some (admittedly very few) games like Crysis 3 are actually taking advantage of hyper threading & are seeing slight improvements in frame rates as a result. I know this is rare right now, but I also read that with the next gen consoles using 8 cores, games made for multi-platforms are likely to start to utilise more threads going forward... as to when or if that will ever happen is another story!

My reasoning was that for the sake of another £70 now would it be worth covering myself with hyper threading capabilities seeing as I'd ideally like this CPU to last me 4-5 years.. but as you say the i7 advantages in games may never come to light even in 5 years time so maybe I am better off going for the cheaper i5 option... mmm decisions, decisions!

Either way I think I will go Haswell for it's chipset future proofing capabilities as you say :)

 
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davetay14

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Jun 27, 2013
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Sorry I just realised that I hadn't responded to your question of budget either... Initially I didn't want to go over £1500, but I am willing to stretch to £1800 tops for the components to last me...

So far I have been considering this as a build, so any comments or suggestions would be very welcome: :)

Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced NVIDIA Edition (USB 3.0 version) = £83
PSU: Corsair AX1200 = £211
MoBo: Asus Z87-WS s1150 Z87 Workstation Motherboard = £263
CPU: Intel CPU i7 4770K = £273
CPU Cooler: Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H70 CPU Cooler = £57
RAM: Corsair Memory Vengeance Racing Red 8GB DDR3 2133 MHz = £72
GPUs: 2 x Palit GeForce GTX 770 JetStream Graphics Card - 4GB = 2 x £367 = £734
HD: SanDisk 256GB Ultra Plus 7mm UltraSlim SSD = £126

(I've already got a standard Hard Disk for extra storage & a DVD Writer so no need for them).

Total = £1819

... So I'm already slightly over budget if I go for the i7!

I was going to go for OC'd 4GB versions of the 770s, but can't afford the extra for the eVGA ones since they are about £430 a pop here in the UK & the Pallit one seems to offer the same VRAM with actually higher clock speeds for a cheaper price.

The thinking behind the Z87-WS MoBo is that it's optimised for 4 way sli, so that way I will be ready to drop in additional 770's in a few years time if the two start to lag a bit at 1440P by then. Hopefully they should be pretty cheap by then so it would give me a cheap path for getting some extra FPSs without having to get 2 completely new GPUs.

I'm also hoping that with the AX1200 PSU it will give me the power for up to 4 way SLI in the future & has a 7 year warranty so potentially I could also use it again for my next build in 4-5 years time.

The hydro CPU cooler might be overkill, but I wanted to OC it to give me some extra power in the future so this was my thinking here.

My biggest concern is the case though as do you think this will provide sufficient cooling / space for multi-GPU SLI? Any other recommendations are appreciated? :)



 
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fnatic

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http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1nHao

49 over BUT has much better quality GPU's. If you take those off and swap them with another brand then you'll be well under your budget.

Also for 4way SLI the only board that can run it at actual speeds is the ASRock extreme 11 I believe. Also the optimizations at 4sli aren't worth it in my opinion nor is it necessary. It'll just be more work then necessary.
 
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davetay14

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Thanks for the parts list - the HAF-X case looks good even if it is a bit pricier :)

To be fair I doubt I'll go as far as 4 way SLI, but was looking at 3 way as when reading about scaling, although the 3rd 770 doesn't scale as well as the 2nd, it does offer on average offer another 33% at high res, which would all help... the Z87 Pro MoBo isn't s well optimised for 3 way SLI as the WS.

Is the eVGA 770 OC card really worth the extra money do you think? What makes it so good - just quality?

The other thing I was thinking.. going back to my original post... the alternative is to stick with 2 way SLI on 2 x GTX 780 SC with ACX cooler - they would kick ass!

Although they would cost more, I would save £100 on the cheaper Mobo & need a lower wattage PSU which would prob save me another £60 and if go with the i5 like you say that would give me yet another £70 saving.. thus giving me £230 towards the extra cost of the cards... I guess I would still have the option of dropping another in if they lag a bit in 3 years time, but then I'd need the better PSU up front, which would get rid of some of my savings!

Grr decisions!

What do you reckon?

2 x GTX 770 OC 4GB - look at adding a 3rd later

OR

2 x GTX 780 SC ACX - but no extra card added later.

?

Thanks :)
 
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fnatic

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Well since I don't know much about the MB you're talking about nor heard of it now I can't really comment on it. Honestly 2x770 or 780 will DESTROY anything you can throw at it for at least 3-4years and that's ultra the whole time. Now 2, 3 or 4gb cards are up to you and your future plans. Do you want to run 3 monitors or 2 at 1440 or greater? If yes then 4gb. Also ACX cooling is amazing. I have it on my EVGA cards and even under full stress they don't get above 67c. I've had gaming sessions for 10+ hours and nothing gets warmer than that. I've tried other brands, MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte. The only two that I can say i'd go back to are EVGA or ASUS(quality is what they build on). My current card is rated for only 1163mhz in boost but actually gives me 1202.

Honestly the cards really don't use a lot of power either.
 
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davetay14

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Jun 27, 2013
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Thanks g-unit... I'm toying with the idea of the 2 x 780 SC ACX now as not only are they EVGA - they are likely to give me the same sort frame rates as 3 x 770s anyway with less scaling problems / driver issues etc.

I'm only looking at a single 27inch 1440P monitor so 3GB should give me enough - I also read that 780s have a greater bandwidth than the 770's which would help, not to mention the lower power consumption & heat emitted... so perhaps it's the more sensible option in the long run.

They'd prob cost me additional £300 or so over the 2 x 770 EVGA 4GBs, but I'm guessing I could get away with a 1000W PSU then if I'm not planning on adding a 3rd card later.

Plus the cheaper MoBo not needed for 3 way SLI & the fact I wouldn't have to drop another £150-200 or so on a 3rd 770 a few years down the line, so that would recoup the extra cost perhaps... just means me having to find some extra cash now tis all!

Thanks for the advice - one more quick question though - do you think 1000W would be enough for 2 x 780 in SLI & an OCed i5? :)
 
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fnatic

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Honestly 850 is more than enough for two 780s with a good PSU. You can go up to 900 if you want to be safe with overlocking and what not but even then I see that as overkill.
 
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fnatic

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No problem at all. Good luck with the build!
 
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