Motherboard recommendation for titan x

Kokai · Apr 20, 2015

I have been looking to build a new pc for a while, I have decided to go for the titan x graphics card, but I am stuck regarding the motherboard. I'd appreciate some recommendations, thanks!
(I'm pretty new to pc building, so please point out any errors I'm making, or suggest other parts for my build)

Darkbreeze · Apr 20, 2015

Are you planning to do a surround 1440p or 4K display configuration? If not, you probably don't need a Titan X. A GTX 980 is sufficient to game at Ultra on pretty much any title at 1440p or lower with a single monitor, and it's half the price of the Titan.

As far as the motherboard, what is your budget and are you trying for a particular color scheme or just want the best performance for the money?

Tradesman1 · Apr 20, 2015

Do you have a CPU in mind, that is primary in mobo selection, and if going Titan X would look pretty strictly to Intel based rigs for PCI-E 3 vs the PCI-E 2 mentioned above as well as the more powerful CPUs.

Darkbreeze · Apr 20, 2015

^^^^Yep, this is a rather large consideration with that kind of card as well.

Kokai · Apr 21, 2015

ShadowR34per :

I was thinking around $250-$300

Kokai · Apr 21, 2015

Darkbreeze :

My budget for the motherboard is about $200, I was hoping for a black/blue/white colour scheme, but performance would be more important.

Kokai · Apr 21, 2015

OK, I did a bit more research, it looks like gtx 980 sli would make more sense, does this change what proccessor/motherboard I should get?

Darkbreeze · Apr 21, 2015

What is your full budget for the entire build? Yes, it does somewhat because unlike with some other cards in SLI, 980 SLI can actually utilize some additional PCI lanes so having them might not be a bad idea, but it depends on WHAT you're planning to do with this?

What resolution will your monitors be?

How many many of them will there be?

What would your entire budget for the entire computer AND monitors be, or will monitors come later?

If later, what monitor(s) do you have?

Etc.

Kokai · Apr 21, 2015

Darkbreeze :

My overall budget is around $2000, but I am willing to go a bit higher. I already have 2 monitors, only one supports 4k however, so I will be using one for gaming, one for browswing youtube etc but I plan upgrading the second one soon. The parts I am thinking of using so far are;
GPU: Gigabyte gtx 980 sli
CPU: Either i5-4690k or i7-5820k. (My friend suggested the i7)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 8 GB
Storage: 1TB Western Digital Blue
Case: Undecided
CPU cooler: Undecided
Boot Drive: Keeping my current one
Motherboard: Undecided

Again, please point out any mistakes I am making, this is my first time building a pc from scratch, I've upgraded my current one a few times but I've never built it from the ground up, any advice is appreciated.

Darkbreeze · Apr 21, 2015

The 5820k offers no benefit aside from the additional cores which are not going to help much for gaming. The benchmarks bear this out. You're still restricted to x8 on the second card, so it doesn't help there.

This is probably a very good option at or near that price range. The i7 probably isn't a big factor on gaming performance NOW, but it may be going forward as games begin to optimize for more threaded processing, which they're beginning to do already:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($158.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($552.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($552.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($128.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2103.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-21 16:31 EDT-0400

Kokai · Apr 21, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Thanks for the suggestion, I saw this compatibility note at the bottom:
The G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory operating voltage of 1.6V exceeds the Intel Haswell Refresh CPU recommended maximum of 1.5V+5% (1.575V). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1.5V voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the Intel recommended maximum.

Just wondering if it is anything to worry about. Thanks for your help.

Darkbreeze · Apr 21, 2015

It's not. It will run fine. Since the board, cpu and memory are all compatible with XMP profiling, you probably won't even need to make any manual adjustments to the memory voltage, but even if you do it's not a big deal.

Kokai · Apr 21, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Ok, that's good to hear, thanks for all the help.

Kokai · Apr 21, 2015

One more question, sorry. Would you reccommend I buy a CPU cooler? Or is it not necessary?

Darkbreeze · Apr 21, 2015

It's not ESSENTIAL, as the stock cooler is ok, but it's recommended as the stock cooler doesn't generally last as long and is louder, since it's smaller and has to work a LOT harder. If you plan to overclock, that's one thing, and I'd recommend a different cooler than the one below, but if not, I'd go with something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $46.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-21 17:35 EDT-0400

Or at least this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $34.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-21 17:35 EDT-0400

Kokai · Apr 21, 2015

Darkbreeze :

It's not ESSENTIAL, as the stock cooler is ok, but it's recommended as the stock cooler doesn't generally last as long and is louder, since it's smaller and has to work a LOT harder. If you plan to overclock, that's one thing, and I'd recommend a different cooler than the one below, but if not, I'd go with something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $46.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-21 17:35 EDT-0400

Or at least this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $34.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-21 17:35 EDT-0400

Thank you for all your help.

Darkbreeze · Apr 21, 2015

Anytime at all. Good luck.

Motherboard recommendation for titan x

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