New 5-year computer build for a gamer-dev

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micsun

Distinguished
Apr 13, 2010
6
0
18,510
Approximate Purchase Date: Before 2014 ends.

Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400) ~$3,000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (FPS, MMO, MOBA, etc)

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: This will be a new build.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon (I have Prime, and I like their return policy)

Location: Seattle, WA

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Your Monitor Resolution: 4K or 5K

Additional Comments: Quiet PC would be nice. Something I don't have to mess with and will last me at least 5 years. I want to run all my games in 4K+ resolution with most of the graphics options turned on. Also, I'd prefer to have G-SYNC and the monitor to run at 120-144hz.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My last computer is mostly components that are 5-7 years old and it's time to upgrade.

Here is the current spec I'm thinking about. Please tell me where I should improve or made mistakes, thanks!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($235.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.03 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-PRO(Wi-Fi ac) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($171.50 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($407.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($394.36 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($394.36 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($181.10)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-2209 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($114.99)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($105.54)
Case Fan: Aerocool DS 120mm White 81.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($18.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Aerocool DS 120mm White 81.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($18.99 @ Amazon)
Other: Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 ATX Cube Case - Steel Silver (CC-9011034-WLED) ($133.34)
Other: Acer XB280HK bprz 28-inch Display Ultra HD 4K2K NVIDIA G-SYNC (3840 x 2160) Widescreen Monitor ($799.99)
Total: $3220.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-03 04:04 EST-0500
 
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TopLuca

TopLuca

Splendid
Jun 2, 2012
3,119
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21,960
If you're going 4k then consider AMD too , The R9 290X in CF are beasts as AMD's XDMA makes the cards scale very well on 4k while Nvidia's SLI is still lacking in that department.

At that Budget I'd get an i7 and drop the SSD to 500Gb with a mechanical HDD.

As previously mentioned the Asus Z97-A should be a good choice along with a Wifi Adapter.

 
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TopLuca

TopLuca

Splendid
Jun 2, 2012
3,119
0
21,960
Their Verdict : n most of the games tested GeForce GTX 980 SLI matched the same gameplay experience as AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire. This was surprising considering single-GPU GeForce GTX 980 is able to outperform single-GPU AMD Radeon R9 290X. We thought that naturally, putting two video cards together in SLI would equally excel past AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire. This wasn't the case. We got an unexpected result.

Instead, GeForce GTX 980 SLI was on par, equal with AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire in performance, most of the time. There were some occasions that AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire was even better than GeForce GTX 980 SLI, for example in Watch Dogs. We didn't expect that, considering that game had the heavy hand of NVIDIA Game Works applied to it. Yet, the competition seems to be scaling much better with CrossFire on that game. It seems SLI isn't doing well there.

We also saw problems in Alien: Isolation with SLI. Performance was more erratic, inconsistent compared to CrossFire. Performance even seemed to drop out when interacting with the computer terminals in the game under SLI. CrossFire had no problems with that.

These two games are the "newest" games in our gaming suite, and so far, CrossFire seems to be doing better compared to SLI. That's not enough for a trend, but it is interesting to note. We will have to see how Far Cry 4 does here next month.

My Thoughts :
[The only reason I'd pay about 40% to get the 980 is to use less power consumption and heat output ].
 
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M

micsun

Distinguished
Apr 13, 2010
6
0
18,510


Case: Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 ATX Cube Case - Steel Silver (CC-9011034-WLED)

I have a 120hz 1440p monitor, but this monitor does 144hz with nVidia G-SYNC: Acer XB280HK bprz 28-inch Display Ultra HD 4K2K NVIDIA G-SYNC (3840 x 2160) Widescreen Monitor

I'm pretty much wanting to build the system around the 4K G-SYNC monitor, so ATI cards are probably a no-go.

Also, I'm skimping out on the Samsung 840 EVO instead of a 850 PRO because both report very similar results with RAPID mode enabled (Samsung Magician software cache -- caches stuff to RAM). I don't want any mechanical HDD in this new build. Defragmenting can kiss my butt.

 
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