Help with £2500 basket

[LackyT]

Hi all,

Would like to look at moving over to PC from console. I have read quite a few build threads on here and tried to put something together (as below). I need pretty much everything :S and think I will get the OC to build it.

Things I'm not sure on:

1. Different versions of GPU's and 780Ti vs R290X
2. Should I be gaming at 1440p?
3. Win 7 vs 8.1 (I am not a fan on Win8, but does it give better performance?)
4. Mouse and Keyboard (Personal preference I guess? Roccat look good..)
5. Case? I just chose a general one

Any help or feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus PG278Q ROG Swift 27" G-Sync 144Hz Gaming Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black/Red £695.99
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 780Ti HOF+ 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - Retail (78INH5DV8PXZ) £479.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £355.98
1 x Samsung 512GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD512BW) £289.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX316C10FBK2/16) £129.95
1 x Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Case - Black (CC-9011035-WW) £124.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £97.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88.00
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £56.99
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24F1ST SATA ReWriter - Black (Retail) £17.99
Total : £2,337.85 (includes shipping : ).

 

[LackyT]

I don't think you need 840 Pro, just get Evo.
PSU is huge overkill, unless you plan on SLI?
maybe worth waiting for GTX980.
are you sure you need optical?
W8.1 is rumored to get upgrade to W9 for free. you can sort out Metro by using startisback or similar.

Thanks for the reply, tweaked the SSD and PSU. Looks like the new Nvidia cards are out soon, thats a good shout. No, I am not sure I need optical, what are you referring to?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus PG278Q ROG Swift 27" G-Sync 144Hz Gaming Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black/Red £695.99
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 780Ti HOF+ 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - Retail (78INH5DV8PXZ) £479.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £355.98
1 x Samsung 500GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE500BW) £176.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX316C10FBK2/16) £129.95
1 x Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Case - Black (CC-9011035-WW) £124.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 750W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £89.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88.00
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £56.99
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24F1ST SATA ReWriter - Black (Retail) £17.99
Total : £2,216.84 (includes shipping : ).

 

[LackyT]

Tweaked PSU and drive on my original basket, I guess I will be getting games from Steam and I take it OC install the OS for you?

Case wise, the H440 is nice, but the black/red is out of stock at the moment.

Monitor wise I was pretty set on the ROG Swift, but then again I am no expert. I think a 4K screen is a bit overkill for me? What about the BenQ XL2720Z? I would like 27" as the screen be used for other things such as PS4, films, occasional work that comes back from the office etc.

@almighty15 That looks like a solid build, thanks! I actually already have a 2TB external drive I could use. Do you rate two R290X's over waiting for the new Nvidia cards?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus PG278Q ROG Swift 27" G-Sync 144Hz Gaming Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black/Red £695.99
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 780Ti HOF+ 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - Retail (78INH5DV8PXZ) £479.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £355.98
1 x Samsung 500GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE500BW) £176.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX316C10FBK2/16) £129.95
1 x Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Case - Black (CC-9011035-WW) £124.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88.00
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 650W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Roccat Kone XTD 8200 DPI Gaming Mouse (ROC-11-810) £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £56.99
Total : £2,327.83 (includes shipping : ).

 

[LackyT]

I've just made a few changes to include a normal 2460x1440 monitor as I feel a 144Hz version is pointless as you'll need monster cards to drive 144Hz at that resolution anyway and the single 780ti you picked wouldn't do it.

Thanks for your help guys, I think I will start off playing BF3 to get used to FPS on PC. Is it viable to play at a 1080p to get higher frames (~120 FPS) How much of a difference does 1440p make? Sorry for the rookie questions

Mouse and keyboard wise I highly recommend Zowie for mice personally, the FK line work great for me but which model will depend on your preferences.

If your spending that kind of money worth looking at mechanical keyboards though you'd need to work out which switch type works best for you.

Thanks, my main issue is I don't know what my preferences are! Shame I don't live closer to the shop as I could go in a try some out!

 

[LackyT]

Thanks for all the posts guys, have tweaked again based on the RAM discussion above.

I appreciate the views on the screens and understand that the ROG Swift is expensive for what it is. I am being unrealistic by trying to get 1440p @ 120Hz? Worth waiting for more screens to come to the market?

Edit: Those 290X in Crossfire are tempting, what are peoples thoughts on the new Nvidia 980 just around the corner?

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 780Ti HOF+ 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - Retail (78INH5DV8PXZ) £479.99
1 x Asus PB278Q 27" Professional LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £399.95
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £355.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Red 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY16GX3M2A2400C11R) £161.99
2 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £144.98 (£289.96)
1 x Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Case - Black (CC-9011035-WW) £124.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88.00
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 650W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Roccat Kone XTD 8200 DPI Gaming Mouse (ROC-11-810) £59.99
Total : £2,146.46 (includes shipping : £22.20).

 

[LackyT]

Again, thanks for all of the help, I really like doomed build above. The only thing I would change is to go full SSD, as I already have a 2TB I can use.

Rookie question regarding the monitor discussion, can a 1440p monitor be run at 1080p? The same way a TV can take a 1080 or 720p input?

I am just thinking that 1440p looks great quality wise, but if I wanted high frames for say CounterStrike, my frames would be locked at 60FPS due to almost all of the 1440p monitors being 60Hz?

Apologies if that is a stupid question! I really appreciate everyones input!

 

[LackyT]

@OP: Yeah 60FPS at 1440p will stilllook class, getting 1440p at 144hz a tough feat, possibly managable by the 295x2 but still tough. If you did want a better monitor the Swift isn't a bad shout, shame you'd have to opt for 2 x 780's over the 295x2 due to Gsync though..

Or you can go for a 1080p 144hz monitor they are awesome and just as cheap. YOu could also run it off a single 290(X) too.. So more money saved.

Any questions OP?

Thanks for all the info guys

Let me weigh up my options monitor wise:

1. ROG Swift 1440p @ 144Hz - Probably wait to see the new GTX 980?
2. Either the Asus or LG 1440p @ 60Hz - Run the Crossfire 295's and forget about frames
3. Something like the BenQ XL2720Z - 1080p @ 144Hz - Still run 2 GPU's (Can run Nvidia or AMD?) and wait until more 1440p monitors come onto the market and upgrade my monitor to 1440p knowing that my rig is set

Last but not least the case, the Corsair Obsidian seems a bit bland. As mentioned previously the NZXT cases look good, any recommendations there?

Thanks again for all of the help!

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 295 X2 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £729.95
1 x EPIC POWER BUNDLE: Intel 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7, Kingston 16GB 2400MHz Kit, Superflower 1000W Platinum PSU & FREE STUFF!! **£50 SAVING** £625.97
1 x BenQ XL2720Z 27" TRUE 144Hz 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red £349.99
1 x Roccat Ryos MK Pro Mechanical Keyboard - Black Keys (ROC-12-852-BK) £149.99
2 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £144.98 (£289.96)
1 x Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Case - Black (CC-9011035-WW) £124.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88.00
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Roccat Kone XTD 8200 DPI Gaming Mouse (ROC-11-810) £59.99
Total : £2,520.47 (includes shipping : £22.20).

 

[LackyT]

27'' at 1080p is too blocky for me when sat closer to the screen. Wether it is 60/120/144 it don't matter. The pixels are too big. If you find the same too, well, that is a big waste of your budget.

So you might as well spend half as much on a 22" 120/144 monitor, which is the sweet spot the screen looking less pixelated when you are sat closer.

You could spend £1500 on this and be perfectly happy for gaming, a much more bang for buck approach...

Thanks again, I guess I am trying to spec a rig that will be ready for 1440p when there are some more monitors on the market. From looking on the Monitor sub-forum, it seems like these are not too far away. Re 1080p monitor, I currently have a 27” TV on my desk for PS4 uses (sorry to mention a console!), so I was trying to kill 2 birds with one stone.

I reckon you’re still going to advise against it And say forget about including a PS4 in the discussion and just get a nice 1440p 60hz monitor and maybe upgrade it later. In which case I need I’m going to need a bigger desk!

You will get a lot of different opinions here,

It's all down to personal preference on peripherals, have a good read up on mouse/keyboards. The case is definitely a good choice.

Looks like it will be a good build when its done.

Good luck

Thanks, I have done quite a bit, I like the look of Roccat so far!

With a z79 board, you might as well take advantage of the M.2 internal slot, and get a 256gb SSD M.2 card for the boot drive. Better than SATA3.

So run the 256 SSD to boot from and then one 512 SSD as internal storage?

 

[LackyT]

Wouldn't bother with M.2 right now. The price/performance is bang on with the Mx100's atm. Wait untill there's some better M.2 stuff out, at better prices.

Kind of the same with the monitor, if you already have something you can use for now... then this would be the time to wait and see what comes over the horizon.

But again, 24'' 144hz can be had for cheap. I'm not disagreeing with you, just saying that will more than do you and you can buy another kind of monitor in the future, whatever pops up.

I already have a 120hz monitor you see, and I would not replace it, it's great for the things I do on it (FPS games for the most part) I also love having a high refresh rate on my desktop too, and when playing java type games.

But I would add to it you see. I'm currently saving for the LG or whatever pops up over the horizon.

Like others have said, it is hard to get the perfect monitor, so you end up with more than one monitor...and it can end up getting expensive... this is why I am pleading you spend it wisely to start with,

so I would either go with the 1440p 144hz and part with the £££ now (I'm getting the hint you don't like the LG ), or get a cheap 144hz 1080p and keep your options open.. or just wait, and see! (hardest option tho),

Thanks for the reply dude, I think I am going to go with a cheap 144hz 1080p and keep my options open. Just seen that the ROG Swift's only input is 1x DisplayPort too.

Another question, the Nvidia GPU would be the best bet for the ROG Swift due to G-Sync. I assume that the upcoming competitor 1440p 144Hz monitors will be more GPU neutral? The dual AMD's do look like good value, and I can see the new Nvidia 980's being pricey to run two of them...

 

[LackyT]

Just browsing cases again, what are peoples thoughts on the Corsair Graphite 780T Full Tower Case? Looks better than the Obsidian IMO