Final Spec check please!

Blinkz

Blinkz

Blinkz

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,183
Location
Frimley, Surrey or 38,000ft
Hey folks,

Looking to finalise my new build, still a little unsure on a few options so any suggestions welcome! Its for an all-round PC but want it future proofed for a good few years! Budget was £1500 but paying a little more for the 4k display.

I don't know how to post the basket so as best I can :


EPIC BUNDLE: Intel 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7, Kingston 16GB 2400MHz Kit, Superflower 750W PSU & FREE STUFF!! **£50 SAVING** EPIC £557.98

Dell P2815Q 28" 4K Widescreen LED Monitor - Midnight Grey Dell P2815Q 28" 4K Widescreen LED Monitor - Midnight Grey £395.99

Powercolor Radeon R9 290X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
(£194.99) £233.99

Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £154.99

Western Digital Caviar Red 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD40EFRX - OEM HDD
£129.95

Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £89.99

Phanteks Enthoo Pro Mid Tower Enthusiast Case without Window £79.99

Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99

Cherry Black CyMotion Expert (USB/PS2) Keyboard - Black £19.99

Sub Total : £1,450.71
Shipping cost based on delivery to Home, with:
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping :
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £290.14


Total : £1,740.85

A few questions!

1. I'm keen to get as decent a display as possible, hence would like to go 4K. Is the screen ok and will it work ok with the GFX card? or am I just wasting money?

2. I'm getting a WD Red HDD, but will swap this with a HDD in my NAS. So will actually have a 2 year old 2tb WD Green in the system. I assume there shouldn't be any problems with reliability?

3. Is an AIO water cooler necessary? I won't be doing any overclocking. I assume it will be quieter then stock tho? Any opinions to stock or not?

4. Don't need a mouse hence none there!

Answers and suggestions much appreciated! As well as how to post the basket! :D

Thanks
 
#1 - Grab a GTX 970, apparently the dell has bad input lag, the AOC was better recommended*
#2 - Grab a faster HDD, Red is good for NAS, greens are slower eco drives.
#3 - Why would you not want to overclock in the future? However if not, grab a small quiet heatsink.
#4 - Would pick a better Keyboard personally.

*Not 100% Sure, but read something from someone that mentioned that.
 
Personally, I'd be going 1440p. I think 4k is too young to have decent GPU support.

If you look at some benchmarks, the only card that gets near to 60fpsv(on Max/ultra settings) @4K is the 295x2. Everything else is around the 30 mark. On lower settings a 290x/970 should perform well.
 
would agree with doomedspeed

if going 4k you need to have minimum 2x r920x or single 295x2 to have a reasonable gaming experience.

i would stick to 144p or 1080 144hz
 
Thanks for the replies, appreciate them.

Is there any major difference between the r950 and gfx 970? I've always used ATI/AMD so tend to stick with what I know!

The WD green is only going to be for storage, does it need to be faster? The SSD will have windows and programs on it?

I'm not interested in over clocking as I like things to be simple and minimal hassle!

Is there any major pros and cons to 1440p and 144hz 1080p?

How is the spec look other then that?

Thanks!
 
Did you mean 7950 or R9 290x (vs the 970)?

Let's go 290x first. Against the 970 they basically perform the same, mostly the 970 has the edge but its slight.. That is before OC though. The 970 seems to OC better too. But that's subjective..

Vs the 7950. Put it this way the 280(non x) is a rebranded 7950.. So you'll be gaining a fair bit on either choice.

Monitor wise its a personal choice. 144hz produces a smoother picture, as it displays up to 144 frames per second. (The hobbit films were filmed and shown in 120hz - fact).

1440p gives a clearer picture due to increase number of pixels. Most of them are 60hz.

Graphical the challenge of achieving 144fps on 1080p is similar too 60fps on 1440p..

Personally, if I was going over 24" I'd go for a 27" 1440p monitor. If I was happy at 24" ( which I am currently) I'd go for a 24" 144hz display..

As said 4k is a bit above and beyond currently..
 
I would fully recommend the 970GTX, Nvidia has produced some stupidly fast cards with tiny power usage this gen, I'm normally an AMD guy due to the value but even the 980GTX runs of 2x6pin thats pretty insane.
 
Another vote for the GTX970, it's very similar to the 290X in most benchmarks but has lower power consumption and is cooler.

As for the hard drive, seeing as you're getting an SSD and presumably putting Windows on that, you won't notice a great deal of difference between the WD Green or Red if it's just being used for storage. You do get an extra years warranty with the WD Red though, so if you are happy spending another £10 for another year's warranty, it might be worth it.

I'd agree with the others about monitor choice too. Currently, there aren't enough games etc that will really take advantage of 4k, and very little in the way of video content.
 
Yup I'm looking at the R9 290x. Is the benefit of the Nvidia just that its lower power/heat?

Hmm it's going to be tough to decide which screen! I'd probably be leaning towards 27" 1440p I think.

Glad to hear that the WD green won't be an issue, would 2 years in a NAS will mean the WD green mean reliability problems?

Any other suggestions on the rest of the spec?

Cheers!
 
Yeah it looks like 27" is your best choice at 1440p, so it depends how much you are willing to spend really.

There's this Asus one that gets good reviews:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-043-AS&groupid=17&catid=1120

Or this Dell Ultrasharp, again well reviewed:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-060-DE&groupid=17&catid=1120

Or if you want to spend more, there's this Asus monitor that is both 1440p and 144hz:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-070-AS

The final monitor would benefit from an Nvidia GPU because it has G-Sync built in. Personally, I'd go for the GTX970, but if you really want to stick with AMD then you won't go too wrong with the R290x. I know you say you don't want to overclock, but the benefit of the 970 being cooler running and having a lower power draw is that if you changed your mind, you'll get a better overclock out of the 970 than you would the 290x.

The rest of the spec looks good, the Phanteks Enthoo Pro is a great case, the Corsair H105 is a quiet, efficient and easy to install liquid cooler, the CPU+Mobo+memory bundle is a good deal, and that's a solid SSD you've gone for. The only other thing I'd consider improving is the keyboard. Also, what mouse have you got? If you've got a basic one, you'll definitely benefit from getting a dedicated gaming mouse.
 
Blinkz said:
Yup I'm looking at the R9 290x. Is the benefit of the Nvidia just that its lower power/heat?

Hmm it's going to be tough to decide which screen! I'd probably be leaning towards 27" 1440p I think.

Glad to hear that the WD green won't be an issue, would 2 years in a NAS will mean the WD green mean reliability problems?

Any other suggestions on the rest of the spec?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I would spec but I have a feeling that your bank manager wouldn't like to be honest, but an SSD and the GTX 970 get's my vote as well.
 
stulid said:
The powercolor 290X at £235'ish?
Click to expand...

But thats the reference cooler version. We all know the problems with that (loud as hell and just as hot).

The next cheapest 290X i'd have (disregarding the MSI due to oil issues) is £275, that is 970 country.. With the 970's having the slight edge aswell, id be leaning that way..
 
Doomedspeed said:
But thats the reference cooler version. We all know the problems with that (loud as hell and just as hot).

The next cheapest 290X i'd have (disregarding the MSI due to oil issues) is £275, that is 970 country.. With the 970's having the slight edge aswell, id be leaning that way..
Click to expand...

I actually think he will be better of with a cheaper MSI 290 that is overclocked ans just as quick as the 290X
 
With free delivery getting very close to £1500.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AOC Q2770PQU 27" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £359.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £347.99
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £214.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Corsair Obsidian 450D High Airflow Mid-Tower Case (CC-9011049-WW) £91.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £89.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2666HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £61.99
1 x CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle - USB Keyboard & Mouse £29.99
Total : £1,538.54 (includes shipping : £14.75).

 
Doomedspeed said:
I think you're right, an absolute bargain at £215 and will crash through 1440p pretty well too.. And if we leave the option of Xfire open.. :)
Click to expand...

Will agree with this!!

My quite reference 290 tears through all my games at 1440p. Battlefield 3, Borderlands 2, Batman Arkham Origins and COH2.
 
Doomedspeed said:
With free delivery getting very close to £1500.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AOC Q2770PQU 27" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £359.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £347.99
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £214.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Corsair Obsidian 450D High Airflow Mid-Tower Case (CC-9011049-WW) £91.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £89.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2666HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £61.99
1 x CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle - USB Keyboard & Mouse £29.99
Total : £1,538.54 (includes shipping : £14.75).

Click to expand...

Needs a black edition bundle.
 
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