Game playing/development build advice please

ng93

ng93

ng93

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Hi all,

My current system is getting a bit slow so I'm looking at upgrades. I mainly use it for playing and making games (so similar requirements to a normal gaming build but with more emphasis on CPU and RAM). Also, being that it'll be running at fairly high load for 60+ hours a week, having something cool/quiet/not too power hungry would be nice. Not sure about budget, being a workstation it's more what I can justify then any specific limit, but say about £1500 ideally. I only need the tower, can re-use everything else.

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 980 "Reference Design" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £439.99
1 x MSI X99S SLI Plus - TeamGroup 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 Intel X99 Motherboard Bundle **£40 OFF** £249.98
- 1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £329.99
1 x Silverstone Fortress FT02 USB3.0 Case - Black (SST-FT02B USB 3.0) £169.99
1 x Crucial BX100 500GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT500BX100SSD1) £149.99
1 x Corsair CS850M 850W Semi-Modular 80+ GOLD Certified Power Supply (CP-9020086-UK) £104.99
1 x Prolimatech Blue Series Armageddon Intel CPU Cooler £52.99
Total : £1,497.92 (includes shipping : ).



Questions:
  • I probably won't buy it until mid/late May, are the 390X/980TI likely to be out around then? Sounds like they might be worth waiting for (but of course it's all rumors at this point).
  • If when I need more RAM in future, can I just add it and it'll work, no reinstalling the OS or anything?
  • I was going to use the MX100 512GB but it seems to have vanished from OcUK, is the BX100 a decent alternative?
  • Not sure on the cooling setup, I think the case/cpu heatsink/reference card should provide good airflow, but is it worth going with the Fractal Define R4 (cheaper and better noise insulation), and spending the difference on an aftermarket card and a AIO watercooler?
  • Will this support a second card in future?
  • Do the current generation cards have full DX12 support? I can't find a definitive answer anywhere, and part of me thinks this is Nvidia/AMD wanting to prolong sales by not telling anyone the bad news until the last possible moment.
  • Is this setup good for a mild CPU overclock, say 3.8-4Ghz?

BTW: This all needs to power dual 2560x1440 DP monitors (work) and a 1920x1080 HDMI TV (gaming), plus an Oculus Rift eventually.

Thanks guys and girls,
ng93
 
• The 390X is supposedly due around Computex time which is June.

• RAM yes, same stuff and its plug+play.

• The BX100 is a suitable alternative, An Samsung 850Evo/Pro is the best SATAIII SSD you can buy.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung 512GB SSD 850 PRO SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-7KE512BW) £269.99
1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU) £199.99
Total : £469.98 (includes shipping : ).




• That heatsink needs a fan purchased for it.

• It will support a 2nd SLI or crossfire card.

• DX12 errr, not sure, there is a tier system and Im not sure if the GTX980 is full DX12 support or partial support.

• yes you can overclock it to that level.


-------------------------------------------------------------

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 980 "Reference Design" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £439.99
1 x MSI X99S SLI Plus - TeamGroup 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 Intel X99 Motherboard Bundle **£40 OFF** £249.98
- 1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £329.99
1 x Crucial BX100 500GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT500BX100SSD1) £149.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £114.95
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £94.99
1 x Noctua NH-U12S Ultra-Quiet Slim CPU Cooler with NF-F12 Fan £52.99
Total : £1,432.88 (includes shipping : ).



With a silenced case (sound dampening and a door etc much like the R4/R5) and a quiet cooler.

The EVGA PSU is made by Superflower and has a 10yr warranty.


------------------------

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 980 "Reference Design" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £439.99
1 x MSI X99S SLI Plus - TeamGroup 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 Intel X99 Motherboard Bundle **£40 OFF** £249.98
- 1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £329.99
1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU) £199.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £109.99
1 x Antec Performance Series P280 Midi-Tower - White £89.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1250 Liquid CPU Cooler £55.99
Total : £1,475.93 (includes shipping : ).




With the better SSD and a rather well priced water cooler.
 
Thanks stulid.

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 980 "Reference Design" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £439.99
1 x MSI X99S SLI Plus - TeamGroup 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 Intel X99 Motherboard Bundle **£40 OFF** £249.98
- 1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £329.99
1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU) £199.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black (CC-9011015-WW) £119.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £109.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1250 Liquid CPU Cooler £55.99
Total : £1,505.93 (includes shipping : ).



What do you think of the 550D? Don't really like the P280s design and the 550 has some good reviews.
 
Hi,

After going some more research it turns out I need 32GB of RAM, I remember back in the old days it was recommended to go with fewer sticks to put less stress on the memory controller when overclocking, is this still recommeded?

Also, probably a stupid question, but I was going to buy everything except the graphics card now and use my current card until the 390X is released. Would a 6950 be compatible?

Thanks,
Nathan

Edit: also, am I right in thinking the only benefit to getting a 3930K 5930K would be if I was going multi GPU?

Edit 2: another question (sorry), will this motherboard allow variable turbo/voltage when overclocking? My current motherboard when overclocked the voltage and clock speed are locked no matter the load, so it's using excess power (and producing excess heat) when under low load. (I did try googling this but not sure what the proper name is).
 
Last edited:
Yes it has more PCI-E lanes so better for more than 2 gfx cards, it also has a slight core speed advantage.

You can set the turbo ratios to go up to what you require on the board and use offset voltage to add the extra voltage to the base vcore when needed. thus preserving the speedstep function (throttles down the speed and voltage) when not needed.

Would a 6950 be compatible?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
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