Building Gaming System - What do you think?

BingoMingo · Sep 28, 2014

I'm about to build a gaming pc centered around the GeForce GTX 980 graphics card, but before I make the final purchase, I just want to make sure what other people think, since this is the first system that I build myself.

Does this hardware allow a single GTX 980 to run at full potential, or should some of the parts be ramped up/down. From what I can tell, it's pretty balanced. I am just not 100% sure about the PSU.

System:

Processor: Intel Core i5-4690K

Graphics card: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980

Motherboard: ASUS Z97-AR - Black, Socket-1150

Ram: HyperX Fury DDR3 1600MHz 8GB Black

Power supply: Corsair CX 600M, 600W PSU

Storage: Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB
(Will get a bigger, normal hard drive for storage at a later time)

Case: Corsair Graphite 760T Big Tower
(Looks good and has plenty of space for future modifications)

Wireless: ASUS PCE-N53 11n N600 PCI-E Adapter
(I don't have access to a wired connection, from where I'm gaming, so I have to use this card)

Any feedback, positive or negative, is greatly appreaciated.

MeteorsRaining · Sep 28, 2014

The build looks pretty good, Zotac is not the best to go, while going for high end cards, IMO. Is there a significant difference in Zotac's and Asus/ MSI/ Gigabyte's pricing? I'd go with any of the latter brands.

Also, the PSU is actually not so bad, pretty average (lot better than normal CX), but there still are better brands with more reliable units in market, like XFX/ SeaSonic/ Antec/ EVGA all make high quality unit. Where do you live and what site will you be using for purchasing the components? I'd get SeaSonic M12II 620W or Antec 620M HCG over that one.

Everything else looks nice and good, you'll need an af CPU cooler if you plan to OC though.

mdocod · Sep 28, 2014

If it were me, I would:

...Switch RAM to a kit with 2 ranks per DIMM for best memory access performance (rank interleave):
Options: Ballistix, Redline, Blackline, Vengeance. I'd probably entertain something a little more promising in the clocking department (either a low voltage kit, or something with faster profiled speeds). Not so much for performance reasons, more for the novelty of a bigger number

...Switch the GPU to an EVGA, Asus, or MSI. (not necessary, I just feel better about these brands).

...Switch the Case to a mid-tower or smaller. Most PSUs in the <$100 price class won't even have cables long enough to reach around a full tower properly. Full towers are enormous, and really only offer any useful benefit over a mid tower for performance tuning on custom water loops, multi-GPU installations, and high disk-count systems (server/media), over-sized motherboard (enterprise multi-socket or enthusiast multi-socket), etc.

Switch the PSU to something built better with nicer quality components. A Seasonic G 550W Modular would be nice and handle some reasonable overclocking on both CPU and GPU.

BingoMingo · Sep 28, 2014

MeteorsRaining :

I live in Denmark.
The site is scandinavian (Nothern Europe if you are unaware) and has danish/norwegian/swedish languages and currencies, so it probably won't help anything if I list it, but here you go:

https://www.komplett.dk/k/kc.aspx?bn=10057&ref=cat-left

I can go with the Gigabyte gtx 980 although it's a 34$ increase in price. The EVGA GTX 980 has the same pricepoint as Zotac's. Should I go with that?

The site has none of the two power supplies you suggested.

MeteorsRaining · Sep 28, 2014

Its actually easy to compare prices locally as the model numbers don't change and google translate is a click away, the world is becoming smaller yes

EVGA sadly has flawed design in ACX 1.0 which results in higher temps and more noise than its counter brands, ACX 2.0 will be out soon but will take to reach out. So I'd eliminate that.

Yep GigaByte is worth the extra $34, you can check out some reviews, its a great all rounder card. XFX Pro 650W is a much better PSU, although not modular:
https://www.komplett.dk/xfx-proseries-core-edition-650w-psu/657686

XXX edition if you want Modular (better cable management):
https://www.komplett.dk/xfx-proseries-xxx-edition-650w-psu/760107

Nothing else is really worth getting quality wise.

ZeusGamer · Sep 28, 2014

For the "wireless" card that you want? You'd be better off with a powerline adapter. You connect wired internet connection through your power outlets and it acts as a wired internet. If you're going to build a gaming computer, you just can't go wireless with it. There'd be so much lag on your end. I would know because of experience. Go with powerline adapters.

BingoMingo · Sep 28, 2014

mdocod :

If it were me, I would:

...Switch RAM to a kit with 2 ranks per DIMM for best memory access performance (rank interleave):
Options: Ballistix, Redline, Blackline, Vengeance. I'd probably entertain something a little more promising in the clocking department (either a low voltage kit, or something with faster profiled speeds). Not so much for performance reasons, more for the novelty of a bigger number

...Switch the GPU to an EVGA, Asus, or MSI. (not necessary, I just feel better about these brands).

...Switch the Case to a mid-tower or smaller. Most PSUs in the <$100 price class won't even have cables long enough to reach around a full tower properly. Full towers are enormous, and really only offer any useful benefit over a mid tower for performance tuning on custom water loops, multi-GPU installations, and high disk-count systems (server/media), over-sized motherboard (enterprise multi-socket or enthusiast multi-socket), etc.

Switch the PSU to something built better with nicer quality components. A Seasonic G 550W Modular would be nice and handle some reasonable overclocking on both CPU and GPU.

If I go with the XFX ProSeries XXX Edition 650W PSU as MeteorsRaining suggests and go with a Gigabyte GTX 980, will that be fine?

Also, if I should switch to a mid-tower case, which one do you suggest?

ZeusGamer · Sep 28, 2014

BingoMingo :

mdocod :

If I go with the XFX ProSeries XXX Edition 650W PSU as MeteorsRaining suggests and go with a Gigabyte GTX 980, will that be fine?

Also, if I should switch to a mid-tower case, which one do you suggest?

I'm gonna butt in this conversation again haha. But you should take a look at NZXT 410 or NZXT H440.

They're both mid-towers but they look amazing. Well to me at least.

BingoMingo · Sep 28, 2014

ZeusGamer :

Thanks. I never even heard of powerline adapters. Although I have been gaming on wireless for years without big problems. Will definately consider powerline adpapters though.

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