First time rig builder looking for advice. Mainly graphics card advice.

theother64

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May 4, 2015
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I'm a first time PC builder. I'm looking at building a gaming rig for approximately £1500 but wouldn't mind spending little more if it makes it a lot better.
Do people think there is much difference between the Radeon R9 295X2 and Dual GTX 970s?

This is my idea for a Radeon rig
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/TyK4kL

This is my idea for a Nvidia rig
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ZhgJXL

Can anyone see any major mistakes or incompatibility errors?
Thanks for your help.
 
Solution
MB - Fine and all, but the Z97-A will handle SLI and has the same features as well as SATA Express.
MEM - No need for the higher frequency (speed) modules as they provide no benefit to gaming and their higher voltage just produces more heat... DDR3-1600 CL9 or lower, or DDR3-1866 CL10 or lower. ..both at 1.5v.
SSD - The Samsung EVO or Crucial MX100 are the better budget options from a price-for-performance perspective.
GPU - Consider a single GTX 980 for now, then add a second in SLI later if needed.
CASE - At that price range I like the Fractal R5 better.
PSU - Nothing from Corsair that starts with C or Builder. XFX or Seasonic, then EVGA G2 if needed. 850w is plenty to handle a pair of large GPUs.

PCPartPicker part list /...
MB - Fine and all, but the Z97-A will handle SLI and has the same features as well as SATA Express.
MEM - No need for the higher frequency (speed) modules as they provide no benefit to gaming and their higher voltage just produces more heat... DDR3-1600 CL9 or lower, or DDR3-1866 CL10 or lower. ..both at 1.5v.
SSD - The Samsung EVO or Crucial MX100 are the better budget options from a price-for-performance perspective.
GPU - Consider a single GTX 980 for now, then add a second in SLI later if needed.
CASE - At that price range I like the Fractal R5 better.
PSU - Nothing from Corsair that starts with C or Builder. XFX or Seasonic, then EVGA G2 if needed. 850w is plenty to handle a pair of large GPUs.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£247.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£92.52 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£110.24 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£88.22 @ More Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£77.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£78.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (£464.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£85.62 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£99.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer (£12.36 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£76.74 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£25.73 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1460.44
 
Solution