is this a GREAT GAMING PC???

saggers123

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PARTS ARE:
CPU: INTEL i5 4670k
MOBO: ASUS MAXIMUS 6 HERO
PSU: CORSAIR GS 700
RAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE 8GB*2
GPU: SAPPHIRE R9 290 TRI-X

ANY CHANGES?
I'LL BE PLAYING @ 2560*1440
 
Solution


CM Storm / Razer Deathstalker / Razer Blackwidow (ultimate) are all great but expensive keyboards. I myself have the Sharkoon Skiller which is a great gaming keyboard for under <20$ ;).

Razer does also make great mouses, but a mouse depends more on preference taking into account that the response time is reasonable. The Razer Deathadder is a very well known gaming mouse, I myself have the more budget Razer Abyssus and I must say it works like a charm =).

A quick note, don't take the mouse with the 'highest DPI", the abyssus has an adjustable DPI function and I am not even using it to the max as I won't even see my...
It's a high-end gaming PC. Sure, it's "great".

I wouldn't play every game at 2560x1440 though. Many look almost exactly the same at 1920x1080 but would allow higher frame rates or higher quality settings.

My general rule-of-thumb is that I play at 2560x1440 only if I can maintain 60FPS at max (or near-max) quality. You should be playing Crysis 3 for example at 1920x1080, and CIV5 or similar at 2560x1440. Top-down, "god" games tend to look better on high-res monitors due to the small HUD/text elements and luckily these games don't tend to be as demanding either.

Crysis 3 looks nearly identical at 1920x1080 as 2560x1440 (on the same 1440p monitor) but at a 30% performance difference so you'd have to lower quality settings or suffer a lower frame rate which results in a POORER game experience.

FYI, the "greatest" gaming PC's will be those using G-Sync monitors and that requires an NVidia graphics card so if that interests you I suggest something like the EVGA GTX780 967MHz ($510 USD).

Wasn't sure if you had a 2560x1440 monitor yet. If you did then you likely won't upgrade for a long time so G-Sync wouldn't be a big deal. If you didn't, it's still hard to justify as the Asus G-Sync 2560x1440 27" 120Hz model will be $800USD initially and you can get an Asus non-GSync IPS 60Hz monitor at same basic specs for $530USD.

DDR3 memory:
Unless you edit video, more than 8GB is overkill. You can get a good G. Skill 2x4GB kit for $65 USD through pcpartpicker.
 

BnG

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G-Sync is like mantle for Nvidia, the only problem is that you can only use G-Sync on a G-Sync monitor... Not a lot of games have implemented mantle yet (except for Battlefield 4), so there is only a point in buying specifically for mantle if you see a future in mantle. The build is pretty good, but the 290 is quiet loud in general. If noise doesn't matter to you the 290 will be a great choice.
 

BnG

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Pure performance wise the 290 will beat the 780. But I'd personally go for the 780. One of the main reasons is noise. The 290 sounds like a jet taking off under load LOL. So unless you really really don't care about noise, the 290 will be fine. Another problem is heat. The 290 runs very hot... The 780 runs at pretty nice temperatures compared to the 290. Further more, the Nvidia card can be OC'ed. The 290 would more likely be underclocked to decrease the noise/heat.

For me it is a no-brainer, 780 all the way :p.
 

BnG

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All of the run hot :p. They are made for maximum performance. AMD is trying to get the maximum possible out of the GPU. In the case of the 290 this results in higher temperatures (which shouldn't be a very big problem except you won't be able to OC), but the noise will be a problem for some people.

If you don't care about noise, the 290 is a great card. I'd prefer a bit quieter/ cooler / OC'able card in general.
 

CTurbo

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It's tough. You really can't go wrong with either. You could probably get a cheaper motherboard anyway. The 290 and 780 trade blows, but I prefer the 780 for all of the reasons stated above, and for the fact that nvidia usually has superior driver support. You would benefit from the extra vram the 290 has to offer though.
 

leeb2013

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I've found in BF4 and thief, with a decent CPU and GPU, Mantle gives no significant improvement and in fact can cause graphical glitches. I think it helps low end AMD CPUs more.
 

saggers123

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are you sure?