Help - Purchasing PC parts today, need advice on MOBO and GTX 970 brand

Trivolver

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Jan 16, 2015
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Need to buy a PC by 5pm today. Can't figure out which parts I want to get.
The PC will be primarily for gaming / streaming.

CPU - i7 4790k (with a 212 evo)
GPU - GTX 970
RAM - 2x8GB DDR3

SSD/PSU/Case Purchased already (256gb, 750w, r4 fractal).

When it comes to the MOBO, I'm completely lost. I've not done OCing before but I'd like to make sure everything works. Here's a couple I'm looking at: Maximus VII Hero, ASRock Z97 OC Formula. I'd like to keep it between 100-200 dollars. I'd like the MOBO to have SLI so I can run two 970s in the future.

Which GTX 970 should I buy? I'm leaning Gigabyte. I'm concerned about coil whine and temperature. I've come to the conclusion an MSI purchase is risky in that notion.


tldr; Reccomend me a mobo and gtx 970
 
Solution
Trivo, if the kingston 1866 are cheaper, get them. I can't check because pcpartpicker isn't working for me tonight.
Psu is good, thank god. You wouldn't imagine how many people I see buying cheap crap.
Mobo, I can recommend Asus, Gigabyte and MSI. Asrok have great price tho and are not bad at all.
I have the 212 evo, btw. It's a good cooler for the price, but with your build, I would go with a better one if you are overclocking. The noctua I suggested is both quieter and more efficient.

i5 vs i7 AT STOCK, if you overclock both the i5 catches up with the i7!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbzUZ_KM5t4

Demosthenest

Admirable
Asus Strix and MSI are very good gtx 970s. Gigabyte is also good.
Ram does not really matter for gaming, get the cheapest pair of ddr3 1600 you can find (from g skill, corsair or kingston)
Motherboard? Again, does not affect performance at all. IMO get the cheapest z97 mobo with sli you can find. Should be about 100 bucks. Spend the money on a better cooler for overclocking like the noctua nhd14.
An i5 4690k would suffice and would be able to run 2 gtx 970 without any problems. In gaming, difference between this i5 and the i7 4790k is about 2-5%. When both are overclocked, the i5 even beats it in some games and the performance is equal in the rest. Games do not benefit from hyperthreading.

Which psu have you bought?
The fractal design r4 is a great choice. Congrats, you just got the best sub 100 dollar pc case.
A 1tb hdd from seagate barracuda might prove useful if you plan on having more than 4-5 games.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate, fire.
 
Motherboards, Gigabyte, no question. I almost always use Gigabyte boards and they are usually vrey stable, even their low end boards.

Ram, I concur, grab the cheapest stuff available. Ram is ram, long as it works. Video cards, EVGA, Gigabyte, about any of them work, long as they have a good warranty. Coil whine, thought on the gtx 970's I'd heard about evga's maybe having some coil whine, not sure on the others. Good idea for the secondary drive, that's how I have mine. OS on my SSD, steam and games installed on my secondary hard drive.

 

Trivolver

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Jan 16, 2015
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Thanks for the advice so far. I'll take your word on the ram and just grab a G.Skill 1600 since they seem to be the cheapest right now.

The PSU is a EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2. I have a 1TB drive bought already, I forgot to list it.

I opened up the tier list for z97 chipset boards and have open all the tabs for the "top tier - b" picks, so I'll grab something inexpensive from there I suppose, or if someone recommends me one I'll take a look.

Thank you for the help!
 

Demosthenest

Admirable
Trivo, if the kingston 1866 are cheaper, get them. I can't check because pcpartpicker isn't working for me tonight.
Psu is good, thank god. You wouldn't imagine how many people I see buying cheap crap.
Mobo, I can recommend Asus, Gigabyte and MSI. Asrok have great price tho and are not bad at all.
I have the 212 evo, btw. It's a good cooler for the price, but with your build, I would go with a better one if you are overclocking. The noctua I suggested is both quieter and more efficient.

i5 vs i7 AT STOCK, if you overclock both the i5 catches up with the i7!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbzUZ_KM5t4
 
Solution

Trivolver

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Jan 16, 2015
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4,510


Thanks for the help today. I'll probably grab the STRIX. Pcpartpicker has been up/down all day, but g.skill is cheapest today at 120$ for 16gb of ram. Still looking at Mobos, but you've helped, thanks!

And thanks to everyone else in the thread!