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[kharma45]

For $280 the reference is a steal.

 

[Smokey]

Interesting that reference 970 seems to only be sold at Best Buy.

 

[Pepiope]

Interesting that reference 970 seems to only be sold at Best Buy.

And for $380. Is that normal?

 

[Avallon]

Will the performance be noticeably better on the O/C card, though?

 

[Smokey]

And for $380. Is that normal?

I haven't seen the reference card any where else but Best Buy. PC parts are almost always more than MSRP at Best Buy too.

Will the performance be noticeably better on the O/C card, though?

Yes, but you can O/C the reference card too so it really doesn't matter. For $280 I'm going with that reference model.

 

[roytheone]

No better time to overclock your CPU then!

I am going to wait until I have installed an after market cooler before trying to overclock. I still have the stock cooler and because the cpu is 4 years old, I think the thermal paste isn't in the best condition to overclock anymore. Even at clock speeds my CPU gets quite hot.

Now that we are talking about the subject, this is my current motherboard: http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3503#ov

I have all 4 RAM slots filled, with slot 1 and 3 having normal RAM, and slot 2 and 4 (with 4 being the slot closest to the CPU socket) having low profile RAM. Would this be a problem for some aftermarket coolers?

 

[Avallon]

Yes, but you can O/C the reference card too so it really doesn't matter. For $280 I'm going with that reference model.

Alright, I'll see how cheap I actually can get that card for then.

 

[Smokey]

Every time I go back to my Dell U3011 I am blown away by the colors compared to my TN panels. Every. Time.

 

[Nostremitus]

That new thread smell...

What are my options for an HTPC case that will hold an ATX board?
I have the mobo already, so I'm trying to work with what I have. (ie, trying to keep the wife happy, she'd be upset if I bought another mobo instead of using the one I already have.)

 

[Unbreakable]

I would greatly appreciate some input from you guys on some of the parts I plan to buy.
My main aim is to go from 1080p 60 fps+ gaming to 1440p 60 fps+ gaming, with over clocking.
I plan on reusing some of the parts from my current setup.

The build im going for:

Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor ( £620.00 @ Amazon UK )
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ( £167.50 @ Amazon UK ) will overclock
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ( £137.24 @ Ebuyer )
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ( £131.98 @ Amazon UK )
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce G1 GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ( £285.56 @ Scan.co.uk ) will overclock
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case ( £98.95 @ Amazon UK )
Total: Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available £1441.23

I will be reusing the following parts from my old build:
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
2nd Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive slightly older model
PSU: Corsair HX750 Professional Series HX 750W older psu model not the new HX series.

So can anyone recommend general tweeks or better parts for my gaming orientated build?
Im also kind of lost on what to pick as my CPU cooler. I was thinking of the Noctua NH-D15 but it seems to cover the ram slots as well as the first PCI slot of the motherboard?
I wouldn't mind going for a integrated water cooling solution ie. H105 Corsair if they dont sound like a jet engine.
Is there any other better motherboard apart from the Gigabyte?

 

[Smokey]

I would greatly appreciate some input from you guys on some of the parts I plan to buy.
My main aim is to go from 1080p 60 fps+ gaming to 1440p 60 fps+ gaming, with over clocking.
I plan on reusing some of the parts from my current setup.

The build im going for:

Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor ( £620.00 @ Amazon UK )
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ( £167.50 @ Amazon UK )
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ( £137.24 @ Ebuyer )
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ( £131.98 @ Amazon UK )
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ( £285.56 @ Scan.co.uk )
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case ( £98.95 @ Amazon UK )
Total: Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available £1441.23

You need a cooler for your CPU. Are you trying to play with max settings at 2560x1440? If so a 970 most likely won't get you in the 60fps range especially in newer titles. The good thing is GSYNC is great and it would still be a smooth and enjoyable experience.

 

[Lunar15]

Finally jumped on the Enthoo Luxe. It was down to that, the H440, or waiting for the R5. In the end, I just liked the features on the Luxe more.

Anyone have experience with Luxe (or pro, I guess)? Noise levels high? Stock fans worthless? Everything good? Let me know.

Every time I go back to my Dell U3011 I am blown away by the colors compared to my TN panels. Every. Time.

I just bought the ASUS VG248QE, but comments like this have me worried. I went framerate over picture quality, but I'm not sure which I actually value more. I've never owned a monitor over 60hz or an IPS panel, so I don't know which I'd find more impressive. I had seen so much hubbub about higher refresh rates, so I went for that. Buyer's remorse is hitting me hard. I'll just have to see how it looks when I get the monitor in next week.

 

[tcrunch]

I noticed the links list doesn't have any professional assembly options for the US or AU. Does anyone have any company they like for this (US)? I used Maingear last time and I have no complaints, I just wanted to know if there are other options out there that people have tried.

 

[kharma45]

I noticed the links list doesn't have any professional assembly options for the US or AU. Does anyone have any company they like for this (US)? I used Maingear last time and I have no complaints, I just wanted to know if there are other options out there that people have tried.

NCIX will do it for $50 iirc, or something around that.

 

[mr2xxx]

That new thread smell...

What are my options for an HTPC case that will hold an ATX board?
I have the mobo already, so I'm trying to work with what I have. (ie, trying to keep the wife happy, she'd be upset if I bought another mobo instead of using the one I already have.)

Node 605 will fit the bill and it's a beautiful case that doesn't look out of place in a home entertainment center.

 

[Unbreakable]

You need a cooler for your CPU. Are you trying to play with max settings at 2560x1440? If so a 970 most likely won't get you in the 60fps range especially in newer titles. The good thing is GSYNC is great and it would still be a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Yep, prematurely pressed submit. I've updated my original comment.

 

[Nostremitus]

Node 605 will fit the bill and it's a beautiful case that doesn't look out of place in a home entertainment center.

Thank you. That looks great.

 

[Dio Brando]

Reposting my question from the last thread:
Maybe someone here can help me: recently, i started using two monitors. I did a little bit of research and found some programs to force borderless fullscreen on games.
i discovered a program called Borderless gaming. works as intended, but i cant make it start with windows. i read on the program's github that it could be because windows ignores programs that need administrative rights. Any tips? If not, any suggestions on a better program?

 

[garath]

Reposting my question from the last thread:
Maybe someone here can help me: recently, i started using two monitors. I did a little bit of research and found some programs to force borderless fullscreen on games.
i discovered a program called Borderless gaming. works as intended, but i cant make it start with windows. i read on the program's github that it could be because windows ignores programs that need administrative rights. Any tips? If not, any suggestions on a better program?

What games are you playing that you are trying to force borderless on? All the ones I regularly play have native borderless windowed mode. Can't you just start the app on demand for the ones that don't?

 

[mr2xxx]

Thank you. That looks great.

Not sure if it's important but you can't use a DVD/Blu-Ray drive with a ATX motherboard in the case.

 

[Aztechnology]

Interesting that reference 970 seems to only be sold at Best Buy.

Yea, until I picked up mine at bestbuy I never knew it existed. I thought they only made their flagship cards in the reference style. I managed to get mine for 350.

Is there going to be a noticeable difference in gaming performance between these two cards? I think I can get the one from Best Buy for about $280 if not.

When you say 280 are you factoring in a gift card or something? Because 90 off retail is pretty insane this early. I just bought mine and I'm pretty sure they offer retroactive deals if the purchase was made within a few days of a special offer.

 

[Unbreakable]

You need a cooler for your CPU. Are you trying to play with max settings at 2560x1440? If so a 970 most likely won't get you in the 60fps range especially in newer titles. The good thing is GSYNC is great and it would still be a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Yes max settings is what I'm after, what would you suggest then.
Sli 970 or single 980?

 

[Smokey]

I just bought the ASUS VG248QE, but comments like this have me worried. I went framerate over picture quality, but I'm not sure which I actually value more. I've never owned a monitor over 60hz or an IPS panel, so I don't know which I'd find more impressive. I had seen so much hubbub about higher refresh rates, so I went for that. Buyer's remorse is hitting me hard. I'll just have to see how it looks when I get the monitor in next week.

If you've never owned an IPS panel then you won't know what your missing in the first place. Once you play on your new high refresh monitor all worries will go away.

Yep, prematurely pressed submit. I've updated my original comment.

The integrated water coolers are nice. If it's sound you're concerned about then you'll probably want to replace the stock with something nicer. I'll let someone else offer suggestions there. The air coolers are big but if you're not going to be opening your PC a lot or have a window, then they'll be ok. Just get some low profile RAM.

Yes max settings is what I'm after, what would you suggest then.
Sli 970 or single 980?

Either way you'll need SLI if you want the highest settings plus fluid frame rate at that res. GSYNC helps a lot with this though. I'd get a single card for now and see if the performance with GSYNC is up to your standards. If not then get a second card, but understand that also brings headaches. Newer engines don't seem to like SLI as much for some reason.

 

[appaws]

Didn't know I could buy from reddit lol.
I think I want to keep the Optical drive to watch Blurays in my room.
And I'm assuming the motherboard is overkill? Could you explain why? I was checking Logical Increments and its the best one they matched up with my processor and its just $20 more than the other 2.



Yeah I was just thinking about how the pricese are always changing with PC stuff. I guess I will save until I have the full sum.
And thanks for the Corsair 400r feedback. Any other recommendations for that price range? I dont like the flash stuff that's why I loves the simplistic look of the 400r.

For a little cheaper actually I recommend the NZXT S340. Very modern design, very plain monolithic look. Although it does not support an optical drive at all.

For a little more $$$ I recommend either the Phanteks Enthoo Pro (a little roomier) or the new quiet oriented Fractal R5.

That is a very fine motherboard that you chose. But people are very cost conscious, and these days there is not much performance difference between mid-range and expensive motherboards. You have to pick based on looks and features, and for a straightforward single-GPU gaming build...a lot of times a mid-level board will do.

 

[Oxn]

Can someone explain case fans to me?

So I always thought that case fans and cpu fans are the same thing. But I just found out that they are not.

Case fans use 3 pins, and cpu fans use 4 pins right?

So I bought a case fan hoping to use it as a CPU fan. How would I do this?

 

[Dio Brando]

What games are you playing that you are trying to force borderless on? All the ones I regularly play have native borderless windowed mode. Can't you just start the app on demand for the ones that don't?

i guess i could just start. just wanted to know if there was any way to force the program to start with windows. About what games, right now i was testing Red Faction Guerrilla, but i would like to do it on The Evil Within too.

 

[colt92]

Can someone explain case fans to me?

So I always thought that case fans and cpu fans are the same thing. But I just found out that they are not.

Case fans use 3 pins, and cpu fans use 4 pins right?

So I bought a case fan hoping to use it as a CPU fan. How would I do this?

Just plug it in the CPU fan connector. The 4th pin is for the mobo to change the fan speed depending on the CPU temp. You don't need it for the fan to work.

 

[Aztechnology]

Can someone explain case fans to me?

So I always thought that case fans and cpu fans are the same thing. But I just found out that they are not.

Case fans use 3 pins, and cpu fans use 4 pins right?

So I bought a case fan hoping to use it as a CPU fan. How would I do this?

well.. uhh, unless you want to make a custom heat sync you're going to have to pony up and buy a proper CPU cooler. I mean they are pretty reasonable. For instance an EVO 212 or similar for 20-35, or you can get a closed loop liquid for like 60-80.

Edit: Did I misunderstand and he just wanted to replace the fan that's on his current CPU heatsink?

 

[Oxn]

Just plug it in the CPU fan connector. The 4th pin is for the mobo to change the fan speed depending on the CPU temp. You don't need it for the fan to work.

2 questions.

So you can plug a 3 pin fan into a 4 pin cpu connector?

What if I need to increase the speed of the Case fan on the CPU when Im running a demanding application?

 

[Oxn]

well.. uhh, unless you want to make a custom heat sync you're going to have to pony up and buy a proper CPU cooler. I mean they are pretty reasonable. For instance an EVO 212 or similar for 20-35, or you can get a closed loop liquid for like 60-80.

Edit: Did I misunderstand and he just wanted to replace the fan that's on his current CPU heatsink?

I bought a corsair H75. It comes with 2 CPU fans, however I dont want to use those. I want to use the Cougar Red Vortex LED fan I bought instead.

 

[Aztechnology]

I bought a corsair H75. It comes with 2 CPU fans, however I dont want to use those. I want to use the Cougar Red Vortex LED fan I bought instead.

Ok, I misunderstood, this just kept going through my head

Like someone stated above you should be able to plug it into the 4 pin CPU fan, but you won't get adaptive speeds.

 

[colt92]

2 questions.

So you can plug a 3 pin fan into a 4 pin cpu connector?

What if I need to increase the speed of the Case fan on the CPU when Im running a demanding application?

Yes and it will increase automatically, but will depend on voltage instead of temps.

 

[MetalDeer]

well.. uhh, unless you want to make a custom heat sync you're going to have to pony up and buy a proper CPU cooler. I mean they are pretty reasonable. For instance an EVO 212 or similar for 20-35, or you can get a closed loop liquid for like 60-80.

Edit: Did I misunderstand and he just wanted to replace the fan that's on his current CPU heatsink?

I'm fairly certain he's just changing the fan on his heatsink.

2 questions.

So you can plug a 3 pin fan into a 4 pin cpu connector?

What if I need to increase the speed of the Case fan on the CPU when Im running a demanding application?

The safest solution would be to connect the fan to one of the chassis fan connectors on your motherboard.

Or, just go find a PWM fan.

 

[Oxn]

Yes and it will increase automatically, but will depend on voltage instead of temps.

Ok so to sum it all up so Im clear.

4 pin connector fans, can adapter to temps, and can regulate speed through the bios.

3 pin connector fans, can adapter to voltages, but CANNOT be controller through the Bios, and speed varies by the voltage.

3 pin fans can also be used in a 4 pin connector, but not vice versa.

 

[LilJoka]

Ok so to sum it all up so Im clear.

4 pin connector fans, can adapter to temps, and can regulate speed through the bios.

3 pin connector fans, can adapter to voltages, but CANNOT be controller through the Bios, and speed varies by the voltage.

3 pin fans can also be used in a 4 pin connector, but not vice versa.

A lot of incorrect information here in the last few posts.

Both 3 pin and 4 pin fans/headers allow temperature vs fan speed curves.

The difference is 3pin is modulated via voltage, 4 pin is modulated via PWM. The PWM fan will run lower rpm without spin up problems since it sends 12v pulses at different duty cycles to modulate the speed, whereas the 3 pin header uses a lower voltage to adjust the fan speed.

3 pin fans work on 4 pin headers, 4 pin fans work on 3 pin headers but won't get PWM control.

It's not always 3 vs 4 pin that dictates a pwm header, it's the motherboard maker. The power pin is always the same on both header, just depends if the manufacturer used PWM or RPM readout on the 4th pin. Most only have CPU headers with PWM and other 4 pin system headers as voltage controlled with RPM readout (sneaky).

You must check the motherboard manual for the actual pin configuration!

 

[RGM79]

Shit this seems expensive :/

Ok so I came up with this build for Gaming, Video & Image editing, 3D model work such as Maya, UDK work.

CPU Intel i7 4790K- $300
Motherboard- ASUS Z97-Pro $190
RAM 2 x8GB (16GB) $125
Graphics Card GTX 760 $200
SSD 240GB $130
HDD 1TB $60
Power Supply SeaSonic M12II 620 $90
Case Corsair 400R $90
Optical Drive LG Bly-Ray $60
Heatsink NH-U12 $60
OS Windows 7 $130

Total- $1435 (ノಠ益&#3232ノ彡┻━┻




So can someone help me trim some fat? I'm not super tech savvy and I dont know for sure what I need. I dont have the cash at the moment so I will be saving up for this build and will purchase a few things every paycheck from now on. But first I need to know what I do and dont need.

Use PCPartPicker. Here's a better optimized build based on yours. Roughly $400 savings while having a better video card, power supply, and case.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.48 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($123.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($204.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $1008.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-04 19:19 EST-0500

You can get Windows for $20 from Reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap.

Couple of quick questions. So the build I'm using comes out to approximately 500 watts. If I have an I5 4690k and eventually will have a GTX 970, around how much extra power will I need to have for overclocking? Would a 750 watt PSU be fine?

Also, aside from extra slots or connections, what is going to be the biggest difference in say a lower end Z97 board and higher end? I'm looking specifically at the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H on the slightly higher end.

Current specs? The GTX 970 is quite power efficient and Nvidia recommends a 500 watt power supply.

Hey I need to drudge up something from the old thread.

These are the four posts pertaining to whether my motherboard is actually compatible and works in the context of these other build parts:


Trying to figure this out but I need some guidance, from RGM79 or anyone who can help me. On the motherboard's box it says "rev.1.1", dunno where I can find the manufacture date here.

Does it say "F12" or "F13" or "F14" anywhere on the box? If it does, you should be good to go. On the BIOS download page, it says that BIOS version F12 was the one that included support for "New 4th Generation Intel Core Processors". I'm not sure if the motherboard would have come with F11 or F12 out of the box.

Can I just use any of the Haswell overclocking guides for overclocking a 4790k/z97 motherboard? I haven't found a z97-specific one that's simple - not looking to push it that much just looking for the simple/stable method since I'm limited on available time to tinker with it

Motherboard settings should be mostly universal - it'll only depend on whether the motherboard you have is suited for overclocking (CPU power phases, VRM heatsinks, etc) and the fact that some motherboard manufacturers seem to like using different terms for the same BIOS settings just to be different.

 

[RGM79]

I need some help. I just got a new PSU (CorseAir CX600) since my old one couldn't supply my new graphics card with the power it needs. The problem is that this PSU lacks one of the male plug that plugs into my computers motherboard (the old PSU was plugged into it). The one that is missing is a 2 by 2 plug.

Is there anything I can do? Would any of the of the plugs that come with the PSU work despite none of them being 2 by 2? Like this 3 by 2 plug? Is it even necessary to plug anything into it? Sorry if the answer is obvious, first time I have really ever tried to up grade my computer.

Also sorry for the terrible image quality, the only camera I have is the 3DS camera.
EDIT: also sorry if this is the wrong thread to be posting this in.

Your PSU has cables marked "CPU" or something to that effect. it will be 4x2 power connector if not 2x2. One side of that 4x2 will fit in there. Some motherboards allow for the 4x2 to supply even more power to the CPU, yours is just 2x2 but is still compatible.

Don't worry, the power supply connectors are designed with corners and angles in a way that it's impossible to fit the wrong connector into the wrong slot unless you apply a ridiculous amount of force that ends up bending or breaking the plastic connector.

Is there going to be a noticeable difference in gaming performance between these two cards? I think I can get the one from Best Buy for about $280 if not.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming 4GB GDDR5 PCiE Video Graphics Card GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD
NVIDIA - GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card - Silver/Black

The Best Buy model is a reference model and has worse cooling, I think. Worse cooling means it'll run a bit hotter and not have as much room for overclocking. That said.. $280 is a great price.

I am going to wait until I have installed an after market cooler before trying to overclock. I still have the stock cooler and because the cpu is 4 years old, I think the thermal paste isn't in the best condition to overclock anymore. Even at clock speeds my CPU gets quite hot.

Now that we are talking about the subject, this is my current motherboard: http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3503#ov

I have all 4 RAM slots filled, with slot 1 and 3 having normal RAM, and slot 2 and 4 (with 4 being the slot closest to the CPU socket) having low profile RAM. Would this be a problem for some aftermarket coolers?

No, if anything, you hit the nail on the head when it come to installing RAM. Most aftermarket coolers will only interfere with the RAM slot closest to the CPU, and maybe just barely touch the RAM in the second closest slot. Still depends on which CPU cooler you get. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo will definitely fit.

 

[Oxn]

A lot of incorrect information here in the last few posts.

Both 3 pin and 4 pin fans/headers allow temperature vs fan speed curves.

The difference is 3pin is modulated via voltage, 4 pin is modulated via PWM. The PWM fan will run lower rpm without spin up problems since it sends 12v pulses at different duty cycles to modulate the speed, whereas the 3 pin header uses a lower voltage to adjust the fan speed.

3 pin fans work on 4 pin headers, 4 pin fans work on 3 pin headers but won't get PWM control.

It's not always 3 vs 4 pin that dictates a pwm header, it's the motherboard maker. The power pin is always the same on both header, just depends if the manufacturer used PWM or RPM readout on the 4th pin. Most only have CPU headers with PWM and other 4 pin system headers as voltage controlled with RPM readout (sneaky).

You must check the motherboard manual for the actual pin configuration!

Ok, so my Mobo has a 4 pin, and a 3 pin CPU head.

I plugged the new fan into the 3 pin one and it seems to be working fine.

 

[Dmax3901]

So I'm looking at getting a new mouse, mouse pad and keyboard. I'm also thinking of buying some ram.

Here's my current rig

7970 3gb

2500k overclocked to 4ghz

Z68XP-UD3 Gigabyte mobo

And 8gb ram.

Other than my GPU, would the ram be the bottleneck?

Looking at the Logitech g502 mouse, what should I be looking at for keyboards?

 

[RGM79]

So I'm looking at getting a new mouse, mouse pad and keyboard. I'm also thinking of buying some ram.

Here's my current rig

7970 3gb

2500k overclocked to 4ghz

Z68XP-UD3 Gigabyte mobo

And 8gb ram.

Other than my GPU, would the ram be the bottleneck?

Looking at the Logitech g502 mouse, what should I be looking at for keyboards?

Depends on what you do with the computer, like what games you play or if you do media production.

 

[matrixman92]

This might be a really dumb question, but it is a GTX 670 better than a 760? The Dying Light specs came out and I am worried I wont be able to play it at all lol. My 760 is 4 gb, if that matters in the end

 

[RGM79]

This might be a really dumb question, but it is a GTX 670 better than a 760? The Dying Light specs came out and I am worried I wont be able to play it at all lol. My 760 is 4 gb, if that matters in the end

Look at these benchmarks. The 670 and the 760 perform very similarly. You should be fine.

 

[matrixman92]

Look at these benchmarks. The 670 and the 760 perform very similarly. You should be fine.

Thanks!

 

[Aztechnology]

Shit this seems expensive :/

Ok so I came up with this build for Gaming, Video & Image editing, 3D model work such as Maya, UDK work.

CPU Intel i7 4790K- $300
Motherboard- ASUS Z97-Pro $190
RAM 2 x8GB (16GB) $125
Graphics Card GTX 760 $200
SSD 240GB $130
HDD 1TB $60
Power Supply SeaSonic M12II 620 $90
Case Corsair 400R $90
Optical Drive LG Bly-Ray $60
Heatsink NH-U12 $60
OS Windows 7 $130

Total- $1435 (ノಠ益&#3232ノ彡┻━┻




So can someone help me trim some fat? I'm not super tech savvy and I dont know for sure what I need. I dont have the cash at the moment so I will be saving up for this build and will purchase a few things every paycheck from now on. But first I need to know what I do and dont need.

Yea that is expensive, you can shave off some money by getting a cheaper Mobo, unless you need the Wifi option I don't see you needing that Mobo. Also look at the buy/sell/trade thread there's a guy in there with a Microsoft agreement with his business or school and can sell you Windows 7/8 at a fraction of the cost. Would you be willing to get a Micro-ATX Board or do you feel you need the extra PCI slots etc?

Take a look on Newegg and Amazon for a cheaper PSU. You can get a better PSU at a lower price, it will still be modular just not 100% modular which is usually fine since usually the only non modular cables are to the ATX mobo.

Edit: Unless you're completely set on getting an Nvidia card, I would also recommend you take a look at the AMD R9 280x which performs similarly to the 770 for only a little bit more than the 760.

 

[Dmax3901]

Depends on what you do with the computer, like what games you play or if you do media production.

Gaming. Getting acceptable performance in games like Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age. But I'm always looking for better fps etc. Just wondering if more RAM would see much of an improvement.

As for keyboard and mouse, yes just gaming.

 

[opticalmace]

Any suggestions for a bluetooth mouse? It's for my laptop. I could go USB if there's nothing good but it would be nice to not use up a USB slot for it.

 

[Aztechnology]

Gaming. Getting acceptable performance in games like Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age. But I'm always looking for better fps etc. Just wondering if more RAM would see much of an improvement.

As for keyboard and mouse, yes just gaming.

8GB of RAM is fine, so unless you're constantly multi-tasking while playing, adding more won't give you the fps you're looking for. Only a new GPU/CPU(Minor increase) will.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

Got a Fractal Design Define R5 today, don't think it's officially released until next week in many European countries. Haven't installed all stuff in it yet, but really nice quality and I'm really happy with it. If someone has any questions about measurements or similar, ask away. I never had the R4 with the magnets for the door, but I don't think the "new" way of opening the door is as bad as it was described in reviews. But it could be because I never was used to the magnets.

Pics?

Is there enough room in there for a SLI / Tri-SLI setup? I've been thinking about picking an R5 up.

 

[RGM79]

Gaming. Getting acceptable performance in games like Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age. But I'm always looking for better fps etc. Just wondering if more RAM would see much of an improvement.

As for keyboard and mouse, yes just gaming.

What's your budget?

I'd check your RAM usage before deciding to buy another 8GB or a new set of 16GB. Run the most intensive stuff you would normally do (maybe browser with multiple tabs, video playing, gameplay at same time) and see what your RAM usage is like. If you're hitting 80% and above, I'd spring for more RAM.

More RAM won't give you a framerate performance increase as it's mainly for better multi-tasking, although higher speed RAM can boost framerate. That largely depends on the game, though. Some games see a large improvement, and some don't. I'm not sure if Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age Inquisition do.

 

[Rafy]

Guys I am having a serious problem. I got BF4 in the Origin sale and the damn thing keeps glitching on me. Every few seconds the game freezes like a record getting stuck, and the sound stutters. I have tried re-installing drivers (clean install), putting setting all the way down to low and even closing any other programs while it's running including my AV.

I am running a 4690k stock with an EVGA 970 SC ACX 2.0. It only happens with BF4, no other game stutters at all, no issues whatsoever.

Please help me, I need it to work because I am reviewing a mouse.