[Build Help] First Build. Trying to decide between two builds - one with Two R9 280X or one with just a R9 290X.

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DJ777

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This is my first time making a build and after a long amount of deliberation and planning, I have settled upon the following two builds. I'm glad that I checked this site before starting to purchase it yesterday, because I read about the new GPU releases from NVIDIA and consequently the possible price drop which I will be waiting for.

Until then, I'm going to order the components, get it up and running and rely on the integrated graphics. Hopefully there will be some significant savings for having waited for two weeks!

[Build 1](http://i.imgur.com/rPEAxSO.png)

[Build 2](http://i.imgur.com/h4p6SrQ.png)

Since my expertise is clearly lacking, here are some questions I have:

1) Is the differences in the motherboard (between the Gigabyte and MSI) going to be vast? I compared the two via comparison sites and the MSI seems better but if it won't be noticeable then I'd rather go for the cheaper

2) Will having two R9 280X make a significant change to the visible graphics and my ability to run games at the highest possible setting in comparison to the one R9 290X? Also which one will become obsolete quicker?

3) Will the tower be able to house all of my components?

4) Ignoring the differences in the two builds, are they both compatible? Do you see any issues regarding either of them?

5) Which would you recommend? Personally, if the difference between the two is minimal, I'd rather go for the cheaper option which will save me ~£80.

Thank you very much in advance!

EDIT: Replace the HyperX 16GB RAM for Two (2x4GB) G-Skill Ripjaw 2133 MHz which will save £10 on Build 2
 
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randomhkkid

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Apr 18, 2012
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1)As for the motherboards i'd change the MSI one to a different series if I were you. The Mpower boards are meant for extreme overclocking such as LN2, try a 'gaming' series board for more consumer oriented features. The gigabyte one is also pretty good, whats the price difference between them?

2)Dual 280X will be much faster as long as you're not gaming at >4k resolutions where you may be bandwidth constrained. The 290X system will technically go obselete quicker but leaves room for a possible upgrade to 2 of them in the future.

3) Yes everything will fit, you may have to remove some drive cages to clear room for the GPUs

4) Comparability looks fine

5) I'd recommend an MSI gaming motherboard and the dual 280X for maximum performance now, to be honest they're gonna be good for a long time. As long as you only game at sub 4K resolutions where a single 290X may have an advantage.
 
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legend001523

legend001523

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I'd go for the single r9 290x, yes dual gpu will be more powerful but not as lot of games support dual gpu and r9 290x has more vram

1. The difference between the boards won't be big, maybe one or two less USB or something
2. dual vs single, but they will both become obselete at around the same time
3. Any mid or full tower will
4.compatibles
5. I'd go for the r9 290x build, and get a asus maximus VII Hero instead, It's a better board
 
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DJ777

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Thank you very much for the quick input! Been stressing over this for a while now.
Unfortunately my budget does not cover >4k resolutions. From your advice I am inclined to go for the 290X system in the hopes that, I can always buy another one in the future for additional speeds.

As for the motherboard question, they are actually not very different in price - The MPower goes on Amazon for £123 and the Gigabyte goes for £126. However I have actually spotted a bundle with the Gigabyte that will save me ~50 when compared to buying individually).


 
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DJ777

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Thank you again for the comprehensive reply, it's really helped put me at ease. I am definitely going to take your advice and go for the R9 290x build because it seems to be better for the kind of use I will be going for, and as a previous answer stated, I could always double up on it in the future if needed.

I checked the Asus maximus and unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to fit it into budget since it is around £40 more expensive. Thanks again!
 
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DJ777

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Checked the prices quickly and it is at roughly £129 (vat and delivery included) from MoreComputers. Do you think I should go out of my way to buy this motherboard, since I can get the Gigabyte 7 with the 4790 processor, 16gb of ram and PSU all in a bundle (saving me £50 as opposed to buying individually)
 
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randomhkkid

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If you're saving 50 quid I'd be inclined to suggest that bundle. The ROG boards will be almost identical just aesthetic, gigabyte is a very reputable motherboard manufacturer. Maybe just pull up the specs and see if one or the other has specific features that suit your needs. Is that the 4790 or 4790K? The K means it's unlocked and overclockable.

On average at 1080P maximum settings the dual 280X are 10% faster. http://www.ocaholic.co.uk/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1335
 
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legend001523

legend001523

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Well gigabyte 7 is roughly the same as the ranger, so if you got it as a bundle, just stick with the gaming 7 :)
 
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DJ777

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Sweet! I think I will stick to the bundle with the Gigabyte 7. Can't thank you enough for the help, since I'd posted elsewhere on Reddit and on overclock.net and you guys were the first to respond, and so quickly too.

If I've assessed correctly, I'd say right now the desktop is being bottlenecked by the relatively poorer monitor, which I may try and upgrade if there's still enough coins in the piggybank.

 
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DJ777

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Thanks for bringing up that link. I cant believe I didnt just search for that myself. Are there any sites which you would recommend to compare motherboards with - I've been using http://uk.hardware.info/productgroup/1/motherboards and they seem to have a very detailed specification comparison between the ones you choose.

Also to answer your question the bundle provides the 4790K. Right now I'm verging towards purchasing the 490X but my plan is to get order everything for the build by today/tomorrow and depend on the integrated graphics until late Sep/Oct when hopefully there will be a price drop. The GPU I ultimately buy will have the price in consideration but it's really good to know their performance so i can evaluate when the time comes.

Thanks again, and I've been on such a learning curve these last few days. Cant believe I haven't done this earlier :)
 
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randomhkkid

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No problem. For a straight comparison I'd be inclined to go to the manufacturer website and look at their spec sheets, however that link looks pretty good to me. That's good, the K is a better part and I was wondering as that could have explained the 50 quid difference if it was a non-K. That plan sounds sensible, make sure you check out the individual comparison for specific games as some games are more optimised for dual GPUs than others.

Also at 1080p that GPU setup is overkill, instead you could save money and get a R9 290 saving a large amount of money and still being able to max pretty much every game at 1080p
 
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