Any suggestions for my £2640 ($4325) triple monitor 295X2 gaming and digital art build?

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Pyxaon

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Looking for any improvements - cost, efficiency, compatibility etc.



http://www.scan.co.uk/products/nzxt-phantom-410-gunmetal-edition-mid-tower-2x120mm-1x140mm-with-window-w-o-psu - NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower - CASE (£80)

http://www.eizo.com/global/products/foris/fs2434/index.html#tab02 - Eizo FS2434 IPS - MONITOR (3) (£855)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Socket-LGA-1150/dp/B00KPRWAX8 - i7 4790K - CPU (£250)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-612-AS - ASUS SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 2 - Motherboard (£120)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007CCV1TI/?tag=pcp0f-21- RAM (£130)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT256M550SSD1-256GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B00IRRDHUI - SSD (512GB version) (£180)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-350-SP Sapphire 295X2 8GB- GPU (£720)

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1200w-corsair-digital-ax1200i-full-modular-80-plus-platinum-1x140mm-atx-psu - Corsair 1200w PSU (£240)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Noctua-NF-F12PWM-Case-Fan-120/dp/B00650P2ZC#productDetails - Noctua NF-F12PWM (4) (£65)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/NH-D14-Processor-LGA1366-LGA1156-LGA1155/dp/B002VKVZ1A - Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler (£65)
 
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logainofhades


The differences between bronze and better are not really that much. If you care about the high electricity bills, then you want to go with SLI GTX 970 or 980, as they use far less wattage. A 295x uses almost as much power, on its own, as the build I listed above, with SLI GTX 980. Your issues over Gsync are pretty irrational. Even GTX 970's, in SLI, would be faster than a 295x, cheaper, and use less power.
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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I think I would do things a bit differently if I had your budget. Personally I'd go GTX 980 in SLI mode which would be way faster than the R9-295X2 but either way should be good. If you want to stick with the R9-295x2 do something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£166.74 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£109.96 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£128.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£66.84 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£109.50 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 295X2 8GB Video Card (£909.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (White) ATX Full Tower Case (£119.77 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£139.81 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.74 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1798.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-23 22:20 BST+0100

I would personally though go for a dual GTX 980 SLI setup which would be way faster and Adobe programs will work better on this setup:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£166.74 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£109.96 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£128.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£214.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£109.50 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£437.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£437.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (White) ATX Full Tower Case (£89.30 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£139.81 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.74 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1882.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-23 22:22 BST+0100

I didn't include the monitors but you can add whatever you want with the difference.
 
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Pyxaon

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Would you advise different monitors? (If so link me to some better ones, I had no luck myself)

I was planning on replacing the case fans with the Noctua's and I read that the PSU is at peak efficiency around 50% load which will be about what I use on a day-to-day basis, do you advise otherwise?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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The monitors are fine....just the initial price @ $4k+ was a bit shocking. Once you take out the monitor price...not quite so bad.

For the PSU?
Something like this for £124.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seasonic-X-750-module-ATX12V-Supply/dp/B002VAFDQS

Or this, for £116.50
http://www.amazon.co.uk/XFX-Black-Edition-Fully-Modular-Supply/dp/B00B88Z0LM
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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I would probably go for dual 1440P over triple 1080P monitors, unless for design work you get one of the ultra wide displays (2560 x 1080P) and then two additional 1080P monitors, that would be ideal. And then for the case fans that's not really necessary, most of the time the stock fans included are more than adequate unless you wanted to add some LED fans I get that. The Corsair AX1200i is a good choice, but the EVGA P2 is a far superior unit.
 
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Pyxaon

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I appreciate your reply, the primary reason I want the 295X2 is because of the low temperatures and Mantle. I contemplated purchasing the GTX 980 in SLI but I'd be 'wasting' the g-sync capability because of my monitors, right?

I'm swayed by your choice of motherboard and ram, but I'm not sure the i5 will perform as well as the i7- 4970K in Maya 2015, Autodesk CAD, After Effects etc. But I'll have to google some benchmarks to clarify.

P.S I have near to no budget (although I would like to spend as little as possible, of course) so my research has been a bit on the sloppy side, not very 'performance/cost effective'.
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

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The GTX 980's use far less power, so they would run cooler as a result. I would go with something more like this, if you can find the GTX 780's.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£297.82 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETS-T40-BK 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£39.80 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£109.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£119.11 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£96.61 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (White) ATX Full Tower Case (£97.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£77.38 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£13.20 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £926.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-23 22:40 BST+0100
 
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Pyxaon

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I would be purchasing triple 1440p monitors but the 27" size is just too large, I want gaming immersion yes, but not to be completely engulfed in my screens, under 24" is ideal for me - and I also want an IPS monitor for Maya, Photoshop and the like, this monitor seems quite 'perfect' although, I am completely open to suggestions.

" but the EVGA P2 is a far superior unit" - Can you explain what makes this a superior unit? The AX1200i has gleaming reviews and I thought it was ideal for my set up, regarding PSU peak efficiency etc (I don't want high electricity bills).
 
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Pyxaon

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Yes, I like the energy efficiency of the 980's that is definitely enticing, but the 'wasting' of the g-sync capabilities is putting me off, perhaps irrationally... But if those monitors were g-sync enabled I'd definitely purchase a pair of classified 980s late October.



:O £926.88 Half the price of my initial PC build (minus monitors), and it looks really good. I might be able to save a killing here...

Edit: Oh wait, it didn't calculate the GPUs?
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

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The differences between bronze and better are not really that much. If you care about the high electricity bills, then you want to go with SLI GTX 970 or 980, as they use far less wattage. A 295x uses almost as much power, on its own, as the build I listed above, with SLI GTX 980. Your issues over Gsync are pretty irrational. Even GTX 970's, in SLI, would be faster than a 295x, cheaper, and use less power.
 
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