Building a new mid-to-high end gaming rig, looking for advice.

[code99cc]

Hello everyone!

Ill get straight to the point.

2 weeks ago my GPU decided it was time to go and it blew up, one of the transistors to be more precise. I then swapped it for an old and already dyeing Nvidia GeForce 9800GT GPU which is barely running.
The time has come for a new gaming rig since this old bucket of bolts is barely running.

I could use some advice if any and thoughts you guys might have. Maybe you have used some of the components bellow and can tell me about them if there are issues and such.

Budget: 700-900 euros (this may vary in the following months so its just as an indication for now. It may go slightly higher or lower)

As per the title, this rig is for gaming, specifically i plan on playing Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen (when it releases), Armored Warfare and others (but those are the main ones).

Bellow I will list the components im thinking in buying. The "preferred" component is what i would like to get if possible, the "alternative" component is what I might take if budget wont allow for the preferred one.

This is what ive come up with:

PS. Prices are from an online store in my country where i am planning to buy from.

- Mobo

Prefered: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer
Price: 136 Euros

Alternative: Gigabyte Z97X?SLI
Price: 128 Euros

- CPU

Prefered: Intel Core i7 4770S
Price: 324 Euros

Alternative: Intel Core i5 4690K Haswell Refresh
Price: 250 Euros
PS. For some reason couldnt find this CPU on intel website so i linked it for the store im getting it from

- GPU

Prefered: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WindForce 3X
Price: 306 Euros

Alternative: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760
Price: 251 Euros

- RAM

Corsair DDR3, 8GB (2 x 4GB), 1600MHz, CL9, Vengeance Red, Rev. A
Price: 108 Euros

- PSU

NZXT Hale82 V2
Price: 82 Euros

or

EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B 750W
Price: 95 Euros

- Case

PS. Im not looking for a monster case, just one that works.

Aerocool XPREDATOR X1 Black Edition
Price: 57 Euros


Thats about it.

I havent included fans, monitors, optical drives, hard drives/SSD and the likes since most i already have (except for the fans/cooling system which i will buy depending on the CPU)

I dont care for overclocking so I tend to get the non OC parts. As for SLI, I might one day consider adding a second card.

Im no expert in PSU so i would like an advice on that. Should i get a Modular PSU or it doesnt matter?

Anyhow, if i missed something that I should've posted please let me know.
Thanks for reading and for your help!

 

[code99cc]

Dont know if its allowed or not to bump but this post just went on the third page

 

[theunliked]

The i5-4690k is pretty decent for the current games in my opinion.
http://ark.intel.com/products/80811/Intel-Core-i5-4690K-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz

Also, the HALE82 v2 700W has better amps on the 12v so I would recommend you to get it.

And definitely get the GTX 770. Or even the 780. The GPU makes the most difference in game fps. More than the CPU and RAM.

 

[McDuncun]

Go for the next items:
- i5-4690k, i7 is not needed for gaming(hyper threading)
- Gigabyte Z97-SLi, because I am a Gigabyte fanboy and so what!! And its better
- Gtx 770, the better one of the two at the end and a nice card overall
- Ram fine
- PSU, pretty much any good wattage Corsair. dont go anything else... Just Corsair...
- Case, at your own discretion, it`s personal taste. Cant tell you what to do there...

And there you have a very sexy gaming rig... congrats!

 

[stormflakes]

well,

with this build you can get a GPU gtx 970 which is quite nice.
I wasnt able to cram in an SSD because of the budget :-( maybe you can add it later?

PS: the case can always be replaced with something you like.

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/user/stormflakes/saved/t2MmP6

 

[code99cc]

I already have an SSD (Corsair Force GT SSD 120GB) and as for the 970gtx, i would love to have that but its quite expensive but i guess i could think about it.

Any of these would do? Which one do you suggest?

Zotac GeForce GTX 970

or

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970 OC WindForce 3X

Im personally leaning towards the Gigabyte version.

As for the CPU, yeah, i think imma stick with the i5.

Thanks, keep the ideas coming

 

[stormflakes]

considering your budget just get the cheapest gtx 970 you can get.
Maybe even the standard geforce gtx 970?

All depends if you want to oc or not.
If you can afford an oc board by asus, gigabyte, msi or evga you might want to pay a bit more, quite nice to have a mild oc board and still enjoy warranty

The 970 i selected was the cheapest one at the moment.

 

[code99cc]

considering your budget just get the cheapest gtx 970 you can get.
Maybe even the standard geforce gtx 970?

All depends if you want to oc or not.
If you can afford an oc board by asus, gigabyte, msi or evga you might want to pay a bit more, quite nice to have a mild oc board and still enjoy warranty

The 970 i selected was the cheapest one at the moment.

I was at work when i replied earlier and did it in a haste. Failed to notice you had included a link with the system you were talking about heh.

Anyway, after looking at the build, I must say im not too pleased with the motherboard. Doesnt support SLI and as you hinted, it cant OC and tbh at that price i wouldnt expect much from it. One thing i wouldnt mind spending more money is the mobo and GPU.

While i might not care for OC at the moment, it wouldnt hurt having the possibility to do so in the future.

Anyway, when i get home today ill look into tweaking my build with the suggestions ive got so far, see if i cram a 9xx gpu ...

Thanks

 

[stormflakes]

you could get gigabyte Z97-sli or asrock z97 extreme 4,
but it all adds to the price i'm afraid.

 

[theunliked]

you could get gigabyte Z97-sli or asrock z97 extreme 4,
but it all adds to the price i'm afraid.

I have the Asrock Z97 Anniversary.

 

[Raiin]

if your not overclocking You might as well go with a Xeon e3- 1231v3 which goes for about 250$ and has Hyperthreading, same speed as a 4770 but 70$ cheaper since it doesnt have a IGPU.

 

[McDuncun]

Dude no! Don`t do that, if your not overclocking and just want a gaming rig just go with the i5... Hyperthreding is totally pointless for gaming. Games only run on 1 thread. I dont see HT being a thing in games for at least the next 5+ years and the your i5 would still work!

 

[code99cc]

if your not overclocking You might as well go with a Xeon e3- 1231v3 which goes for about 250$ and has Hyperthreading, same speed as a 4770 but 70$ cheaper since it doesnt have a IGPU.

Dude no! Don`t do that, if your not overclocking and just want a gaming rig just go with the i5... Hyperthreding is totally pointless for gaming. Games only run on 1 thread. I dont see HT being a thing in games for at least the next 5+ years and the your i5 would still work!

I actually agree. I've only seen very few games that actually support hyperthreading. I am gonna stick with the i5 cpu.

As for OC, as i said previously, i dont care for oc right now BUT i would like to be able to do that in the future if for some wierd reason i would want to do it so getting an OC mobo is the plan here.

I also decided to get the 970 gtx even tho i get over my budget.

I'm also considering getting the modular Corsair CX750M 750W PSU.

Anyhow, thank you all for your suggestions, much appreciated!

EDIT: Is there a way to know beforehand if any of the components i am going to get would have some compatibility issues with the rest of the rig?

I've got a friend who spent a fortune on his new rig only to have frequent BSODs and other issues in games. As far as we can tell there is nothing wrong with each of the parts in that rig and that something in there isnt getting along with something else.

I would like to avoid that if possible before i get my new rig. Not sure its possible tho.

 

[McDuncun]

No way they will conflict with each other... The only thing would probably be the chassis not accommodating the card so just make sure the length of the card your getting and the length the the chassis can handle...

That is if your going with round about the system I`m proposing, excluding the 970(Awsome card) and the PSU(very glad your going with Corsair)

BTW what is the entire system you decided on?

 

[code99cc]

This is by no means the definitive rig that i will be getting, stuff might change in time.

CPU - Intel Core i5 4690K
GPU - GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970 OC WindForce 3X
Mobo - ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 or Gigabyte Z97X−Gaming 5
RAM - the same one in my main thread
PSU - Corsair CX750M 750W PSU

It is above my original budget but whatever, money aint an issue as much as time. I wouldnt want to spend my whole life building this rig.

 

[McDuncun]

Dude thats the perfect gaming rig in my opinion without braking the bank and that Gaming 5 is one decent board!
The Atheros Killer E2201 is a very good lan chip and the 2-way SLI wil help you later on!

 

[code99cc]

Now if only i had a fast forward button somewhere to speed up time until i get the money i need would be awesome!

I would like to thank everyone who replied to this thread. Cheers!

 

[code99cc]

Ok, so apparently the Nvidia GTX 970 has some serious issues with its memory. So thats off the list.

Now im forced to either downgrade to a 770 gtx or go for amd cards such as the SAPPHIRE TRI-X R9 290X or the SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X R9 290


Only problem is that whenever i had ati/amd cards i always had problems with their drivers, lets face it, they sucked. Dunno bout now tho, since amd took over.

Ideas?

 

[McDuncun]

Ok, so apparently the Nvidia GTX 970 has some serious issues with its memory. So thats off the list.

Now im forced to either downgrade to a 770 gtx or go for amd cards such as the SAPPHIRE TRI-X R9 290X or the SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X R9 290


Only problem is that whenever i had ati/amd cards i always had problems with their drivers, lets face it, they sucked. Dunno bout now tho, since amd took over.

Ideas?

Dude no that issues your read about is not serious... they just had a little pr prob, go with the 970!!! There is nothing wrong with it! It still in reality has access to the full 4gb of memory it`s just used in a weird way in my opinion!

 

[code99cc]

Well that seems to be contradictory to what nvidia said. They did confirm that this issue really exists and that they are "looking into it" (im pretty sure they wont do squat about it).
And other than that a lot of people confirmed these issues and ive seen the data on it, dunno if its legit/true/accurate but I would still want to stay on the safe side. Hopefully since AMD took over ATI they have improved their drivers because lets face it, back when ATI was still ATI their drivers were atrocious.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/198214-198214

 

[McDuncun]

Wrll I`ve always thought that giving the 970 the same amount of memory that the flagship has is pretty pointless... So what it has only 3.5gb usable, still alot!

 

[code99cc]

A lot, yes and i doubt you would reach even 3GB on current stock games but as I like to play heavly modded games especially with hd/ultra hd textures, 4 GB wont be that hard to reach. Just a thought.

 

[McDuncun]

A lot, yes and i doubt you would reach even 3GB on current stock games but as I like to play heavly modded games especially with hd/ultra hd textures, 4 GB wont be that hard to reach. Just a thought.

That is very true yes... But that just means that you should go for the 980 anyway, but that does not mean that there is anything wrong with the 980...

 

[code99cc]

Yeah, 980 has no issues (so far) and i would love to have that card but its quite expensive, way more than im willing to pay for.
The cheapest i could find in my country is 556 Euros. Thats a lot.

 

[McDuncun]

Yeah, 980 has no issues (so far) and i would love to have that card but its quite expensive, way more than im willing to pay for.
The cheapest i could find in my country is 556 Euros. Thats a lot.

That thing is very very aggressive in the price department... But it is a beast of a card!