Gaming PC spec check

Swi1ch

Swi1ch

Swi1ch

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19 Nov 2008
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Current rig is 8 years old and rocking a Q9550. Finally time to upgrade. After reading the RPS thread, I've been tempted by the 5820k, although after speccing it up, balked a touch at the price before aftermarket fans/controller and regular HDD.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £479.99
1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £319.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit (BLS4C4G4D240FSA) £169.99
1 x MSI X99S SLI Plus Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 ATX Motherboard £169.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £162.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Black (CC-9011030-WW) £114.95
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £114.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H110 280mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060014-WW) £91.99
Total : £1,624.80 (includes shipping : ).



Did a spec with the 4970k for comparison.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £479.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £162.95
1 x MSI Z97 MPower Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £134.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX21C11BRK2/16-OC) £119.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Black (CC-9011030-WW) £114.95
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £114.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H110 280mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060014-WW) £91.99
Total : £1,495.79 (includes shipping : ).



Thoughts on either? I'm really tempted by the 5820 build, because 'futureproofing' and other cool buzzwords (and it's shiny new!). For a £150~ difference between the two, i'd almost certainly go with the 5820, but i'm guessing the price on the 4970 build could be dropped a fair bit on the RAM/PSU and maybe motherboard side. I haven't really looked at the AMD offerings for GPUs, because i've heard that Nvidia are 'just better right now'. Will be used almost exclusively for gaming, a little photoshop/music stuff, and the pride of a new toy.

TLDR; 5820 vs 4970. Improvements to preferred build?
 
Z97+i7 is a beast for gaming.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £479.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£25 Saving** £379.98
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £162.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Black (CC-9011030-WW) £114.95
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £114.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Savage Red 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/16) £95.99
1 x Cooler Master Nepton 240M AIO Cooling Solution £79.99
Total : £1,443.79 (includes shipping : £12.50).




YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Superclock ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (04G-P4-2983-KR) £469.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK - Devil's Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£15 Saving + Gigabyte Free Upgrade ** £403.98
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £162.95
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £114.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Black (CC-9011030-WW) £114.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11T3K2/16) £109.99
1 x Cooler Master Nepton 240M AIO Cooling Solution £79.99
Total : £1,471.80 (includes shipping : £12.50).



This black edition bundle has a 5yr warranty and a free exchange of board within 3yrs - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18631511
 
Oh that sounds nice, and somewhat helps with my 'am I futureproofed' worries.

I'm assuming that right now the 1150 socket CPUs are better for gaming than the 2011. Is it just because of clock speeds? What you have spec'd is still pretty close in price to the 5820k build, but i'm willing to bend to wisdom.
 
I think my brain is going to melt trying to decide between the two. I might sleep on it and flip a coin in the morning.

Edit.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I plan on streaming/recording games. Would that affect the decision at all?

Edit 2.

I also put in the above build into (maybe competitor?) site for formatting purposes for reddit. It told me; "The Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory operating voltage of 1.65V exceeds the Intel Haswell Refresh CPU recommended maximum of 1.5V+5% (1.575V). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1.5V voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the Intel recommended maximum."
 
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1.65v will be ok for running on Haswell / Devils Canyon builds, pretty much anyone runnig one will have the memory at 1.65v.

Devils Canyon is more than powerfull for your needs, also don't forget to overclock!
 
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Cool, I think i'll go with the 4970 then. Will I need any aftermarket fans for the AIO cooler or the case? Heard a lot of good things about the SP120 PWM fans from Corsair, and some mixed opinions about the stock fans on the H1xx and the 540.

Would it be worth investing in a fan controller too?
 
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