i5 4690k at up to 4.4gz, is this a good choice for graphic design and gaming?

JordanWoods90 · Aug 23, 2014

I will be looking to use 2 screens with a GTX 770 4gb overclocked also. The CPU will be cooled with a corsair h80. I am studying web design and also enjoy a bit of gaming (Arma 3, BF4, DayZ) it will mostly be used for designing though. Just wanted to make sure this would be sufficient enough to handle both tasks. I can upgrade to the GTX 780 3gb but feel this could be overkill for what I want to do.

DubbleClick · Aug 23, 2014

The I5 is great for what you're planning to do. Unless graphic designing heavily textured 3d models, theres not much power required to flawlessly work.

If you're using two monitors, you may want to go for two 770s in SLI, though. That depends on how heavily you'll be gaming and what your fps expectations are, though. So go with just one 770 for now.

JordanWoods90 · Aug 23, 2014

DubbleClick :

I only plan on gaming on one monitor, the other will be used for internet etc, Graphic designing will be illustrator, photoshop and adobe premier. Im hoping to get about 50fps on ultra for the games I have chosen, not sure if thats possible though. I can upgrade to the 780 for an extra £35 so not sure. I am happy that the CPU will be good enough though so thanks

Calnin · Aug 23, 2014

I second the SLI option.

Adding on another 770 4gb will improve frames past the gtx 780.

JordanWoods90 · Aug 23, 2014

Calnin :

I can't afford another one, I am maxed out on my budget for the build

I can however stretch to the GTX 780 3gb.

Calnin · Aug 23, 2014

I thought the system was already purchased, apologies.

As for the build itself. I would say downgrade to a 2gb 770, and get 16gb of RAM (assuming you were considering 8), it'd probably do you more good than upgrading to the GTX 780. The productivity programs you'll be running will benefit from the extra RAM.

JordanWoods90 · Aug 23, 2014

Calnin :

Hmm thats a good thought actually.

Here is what I have so far.

Computer Case NZXT Phantom 410 - Black & Orange
CPU Intel i5 4690K - (4 x 3.5 GHZ) OVERCLOCKED UPTO 4.4 GHZ - Haswell - FREE GRID 2 GAME
CPU Heatsink Corsair Hydro Series H80 (Advanced Liquid Cooling)
Memory Corsair Vengeance 16GB PC3-12800 1600 MHz (2x8GB) - Lifetime Warranty (DDR3)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - 2 GB - (MSI) Twin Frozr OC - (PCI-E) (FREE Borderlands Game)
Motherboard Asus Z97-K (Intel Z97)
Sound Card Motherboard Integrated HD Sound
Networking Motherboard Integrated Ethernet Lan (Broadband Ready)
Power Supply Corsair 650W PSU - Low Noise
CPU Compound Standard CPU Compound Supplied With Heatsink
Case Fans Standard Fans Included With Case
Hard Drive #1 120GB Kingston SSD SATA-III, Read 450MB/s, Write 450MB/s - Silent
Hard Drive #2 1 TB Seagate (1000 GB) SATA-III HDD 7200 RPM 64MB
Optical Drive #1 Samsung 24x DVD/CD Re-Writer/Reader - Black - (SATA)
Operating System #1 Microsoft Windows 8.1 Standard 64 BIT (Genuine DVD & COA Included)

Calnin · Aug 23, 2014

What's the budget?

I don't really recommend any corsair PSUs, just because any corsair PSU in the market, there's usually something better for it's price. Usually. There are some systems that have exceptions.

JordanWoods90 · Aug 23, 2014

Calnin :

My top budget is around £1100, but I don't have the patience for building my own rig so using what I have found the best priced company online.

The Hydro series is the only option for the overclocked CPU unfortunately.

This is the link to my quote http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom-pc-quote.php?id=208111

If you can make a better set up as you seem to know a lot more than me, I could perhaps push to £1130ish mark if needed.

Calnin · Aug 23, 2014

I do suggest you build the system yourself. But if you don't want to, then The system would do fine. I would suggest just going with a cm 212 evo over the h80. It'll run slightly warmer, and will take up a bit more space in your case, but it will be slightly quieter I believe.

Just something to consider. Aside from that little note, everything will still do fairly well. Since the website doesn't really offer anything outside of corsair psus for the mid/lower range stuff, there's no point in me suggesting anything else then.

JordanWoods90 · Aug 23, 2014

I think what I am going to do is SLI in the near future, but I notice the motherboard has 1 16 2.0 and 1 3.0 will this be ok for adding another 770 in a few months?

Calnin · Aug 23, 2014

Check whether the motherboard is compatible with SLI.

You'll also need a bigger psu to support two graphics cards.

As for the pcie slots, it'll still be fine. There aren't that many cards in the market right now that'll fully bottleneck a 2.0 slot. The dual gpu cards and maybe the titan z or something might be the only few cards that'll be able to bottleneck a 2.0 x16 slot.

JordanWoods90 · Aug 23, 2014

Calnin :

Ok, I have swapped the h80 for the 212 as reviews online have been quite good. Here is the new list of specs, thanks alot for all the help its really appreciated.

Computer Case NZXT Phantom 410 - Black & Orange
CPU Intel i7 4690K - (4 x 3.5 GHZ) OVERCLOCKED UPTO 4.4 GHZ - Haswell - FREE GRID 2 GAME
CPU Heatsink Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo - Low Noise
Memory Corsair Vengeance 16GB PC3-12800 1600 MHz (2x8GB) - Lifetime Warranty (DDR3)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - 2 GB - (MSI) Twin Frozr OC - (PCI-E) (FREE Borderlands Game)
Motherboard Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 (Intel Z97)
Sound Card Motherboard Integrated HD Sound
Networking Motherboard Integrated Ethernet Lan (Broadband Ready)
Power Supply Corsair 750W PSU - Low Noise
CPU Compound Standard CPU Compound Supplied With Heatsink
Case Fans Standard Fans Included With Case
Hard Drive #1 120GB Kingston SSD SATA-III, Read 450MB/s, Write 450MB/s - Silent
Hard Drive #2 1 TB Seagate (1000 GB) SATA-III HDD 7200 RPM 64MB
Optical Drive #1 Samsung 24x DVD/CD Re-Writer/Reader - Black - (SATA)
Operating System #1 Microsoft Windows 8.1 Standard 64 BIT (Genuine DVD & COA Included)

Upgraded the motherboard and added another 100watt's onto it.

DubbleClick · Aug 24, 2014

Great build by now, sorry for my long absence.
You can get a cheaper motherboard. I'm using the z97x-sli, which will fulfill all your needs. As well as it supports 2x pcie 8x. I can oc my 4790k to 4.8ghz (maybe higher, I dont have extreme cooling so I wont test) so 4.4ghz wont give you problems. And it's cheap, at least here. Just 100€ which is about 80-85GBP I believe.

Look up if the psu is a corsair cx series though. Those are crap. I'd recommend you to go with at least a tier b+ 800w one. Or a tier b- or c 850w one. You can find the list by googling "psu tier list" on the first link.

Calnin · Aug 24, 2014

I wouldn't say they're crap. At least they're decent units if you don't put too much stress on them. The system specified above most likely wouldn't put too much stress on the PSU.

DubbleClick · Aug 24, 2014

Tier D. Thats one tier apart from 'DO NOT USE, THEY WILL KILL YOUR SYSTEM, REPLACE IMMEDIATELY'.
I really wouldn't want to use one in my build, especially assuming there are much better options in the same price range.
No idea what corsair did wrong there, their AX and TX are great.

Calnin · Aug 24, 2014

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html << Tier 3 according to this.

The build itself is also from a site that does build it for you...

The sites also has the XFX 750w available to put in the build, should use that one if you can put that into the budget. It is a higher quality unit.

i5 4690k at up to 4.4gz, is this a good choice for graphic design and gaming?

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