Planning new build... Motherboard?

[Jordan31]

Hi, new user here looking for some help and / or suggestions.

 

I am looking to build a gaming pc in the very near future, which will also be my first build.

 

I have a price point estimated at about $1500 Canadian, give or take

At the moment it is going to be a z97 chipset build with the i7 4790k, gigabyte gaming 7 motherboard, 8gb ram, 2 or 3 TB HDD, WiFi, gtx970 (with the interest of possible 2-way SLI in future)

 

That being said, I have only picked z97 out because of price...

Should I be looking at something like the x79 or x99? and why?

 

Or if z97 is a good platform to have for a while, how do I pick out a motherboard? (they all look similar to me)

 

thanks you for any help.

 

-Jordan

[GhostWindGamer]

if your a gamer Z97 is all you need it would be a waste of money to go x99

[Jordan31]

Sounds good to me, but could you explain a bit as to why this is?

[Leonard]

You don't need x99 or x79 for a gaming build because Z97 is capable and cost effective. You also don't need a 4790k as a 4670k will do nicely.

 

This is my quick suggestion considering you did not say if you plan on video editing or if you have a monitor and peripherals. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/y9rf23

[Gerom]

I would recommend go for Z97 and not for x99, x99 prices go to the sky and I think its not much benefit. 

And about what z97 its more about the brand, the asus ones usually are good reviewed.

[Mistersprinkles]

Sounds good to me, but could you explain a bit as to why this is?

 

DDR4 is expensive. X99 motherboards are expensive. The 5820K CPU itself is a good deal. Do you need it for gaming? No. The 2 extra cores are useless for gaming right now and for the forseeable future. You should get a 4790K based system.

My fav Z97 motherboard that is reasonably priced in the USA is the ASRock extreme 6 but since you're in Canada where this board is overpriced I would steer you towards the ASUS Z97-A. Pick up a cooler master hyper 212 and you can get 4.5Ghz on all cores no problem. 

 

This is what I'd highly suggest you build:

 

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/mistersprinkles/saved/qBLp99

 

You get a 4790K, a 256GB SSD, a 1TB HDD, and a GTX 970, which is the best bang/buck GPU of the current generation.  The motherboard has quality integrated audio and 4 phase VRM with doublers. You can play any game on ultra at 1440P with this build. 

No need to spend $1500. $1300 gets you everything you need.

 

If you want to bring it up to $1500 you can look at going to a 512GB  SSD. SSD's other than the MX100 that are good include the Samsung 840EVO and PRO, the  850PRO, Intel's 530 and 730, and Crucial's M550.   

 

Or, for $1700, if you want a true monster gaming machine, get a 2nd GTX 970. You can make that $1650 by dropping the SSD down to 128GB. It's all you need, really.

Don't forget that Win 8.1 is another $100. I suggest you get the full version (Futureshop/Bestbuy) as you can reinstall it unlimited times on an unlimited number of systems (1 at a time, of course). The OEM version, legally speaking, should only be installed on one set of hardware. MS would tell you that if you buy a new PC you need a new copy of Windows. The retail version is only $10-20 more than the OEM and is worth every penny. You'll get a free upgrade to Win 10 if you buy Win 8.1.

[Jordan31]

thanks for the info guys, and that list is very tempting, but I will still go with an i7 just so it is good for the future... hoping that the only thing needing to be upgraded over time will be the gpu.

[Mistersprinkles]

thanks for the info guys, and that list is very tempting, but I will still go with an i7 just so it is good for the future... hoping that the only thing needing to be upgraded over time will be the gpu.

 

970 will last you for the lifetime of this PC. Especially 2 970s. It's a very powerful card. Equivalent to the 780 (and then some) which was almost $700 CDN when it came out. Not bad for $369.

Having said that, if you're really a performance freak you'll be able to go to a higher end GPU in a couple of years, yes. By then the CPU may or may not be getting long in the tooth, depending on how things like AM4, Broadwell, etc turn out. 

 

The 4790K is a wise choice. I'd take it over the 4690K. Much better for stuff like video editing, rendering, Winzip, etc.

 

BTW given that my build was only about $1300, you can put some extra cash into the case and spend $200 instead of $50 and end up with something awesome like Corsair's 760T. Easily the sexiest case ever made.

 

If you want to pick your own motherboard, look up the specs of the various boards and pick a board with the specs that most suit your needs. Do you see yourself using M.2 SSD drives when they come down in price? Do you see yourself benefiting from a higher end audio solution like an ALC1150 or Creative Sound Core? Do you want the latest Intel LAN? Do you want 8 true power phases? (Won't make a lick of difference unless you buy some liquid nitrogen), etc etc. If you don't understand what the description of a certain part is, for example, one board uses an ALC1150 DSP while the other uses an ALC892, simply google "ALC1150 vs ALC892" to see a comparison. Or better yet, watch a video review on Youtube.

[Jordan31]

I went on MicroCenter website and built a PC... (American, but I'll drive to the states if I have to)

Gigabyte z97x gaming 7 motherboard $129.99 (with i7 bundle)

Intel Core i7 4790K                              $279.99

WD Black 2 TB HDD                            $149.99

Thermaltake Commander ATX mid      $49.99

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8gb ddr3-1600    $79.99

Corsair Hydro H75 liquid cpu cooler      $79.99

LG 24x DVD RW                                    $15.99

EVGA supernova 850W modular PSU   $114.99

MSI Geforce gtx 970                               $359.99 (I would prefer Zotac or Gigabyte) 

TOTAL.................................................... $1336.56 or $1718.15 with a second 970

 

Will likely have to add Windows 8.1 for another $100, which would put me right under $1500 with a single gpu.

 

oh and btw, I've never felt the need for an SSD... and some of the things you said about the motherboard are Chinese to me lol.

[PlayModeOn]

I went on MicroCenter website and built a PC... (American, but I'll drive to the states if I have to)

Gigabyte z97x gaming 7 motherboard $129.99 (with i7 bundle)

Intel Core i7 4790K                              $279.99

WD Black 2 TB HDD                            $149.99

Thermaltake Commander ATX mid      $49.99

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8gb ddr3-1600    $79.99

Corsair Hydro H75 liquid cpu cooler      $79.99

LG 24x DVD RW                                    $15.99

EVGA supernova 850W modular PSU   $114.99

MSI Geforce gtx 970                               $359.99 (I would prefer Zotac or Gigabyte) 

TOTAL.................................................... $1336.56 or $1718.15 with a second 970

 

Will likely have to add Windows 8.1 for another $100, which would put me right under $1500 with a single gpu.

 

oh and btw, I've never felt the need for an SSD... and some of the things you said about the motherboard are Chinese to me lol.

SSD is a must! You should get a SSD now and add a HDD later. How fast are you going to fill up 120GB of space?

I am also new to PC gaming and building, my PC is less than 12 months old and I only had 3-4 games in the first couple of months.

A 120GB SSD is enough to hold 3-4 games and many other applications.

You are spenting $150 on a HDD, you can easily buy a 256GB SSD with that and you can hold many games for the first 6-12 months.

 

Hell, if you are planning to upgrade your storage just get another SSD. That's what I am doing to replace my two ancient 80GB hard drive.

I only have a 120GB SSD at the moment and I use my HDDs just to store games. When I am finished with a game I cut and paste them from my SSD to my HDD as a library.

When I want to play the game I simply cut and paste them back from the HDD to my SSD again. Only takes 1-2mins to transfer 20GB files. Its like a virtual cabinet.

 

At first I thought SSD are pointless but once you go SSD, you'll never go back.

BF4 took 1-2mins to load maps, my SSD only 15secs.

 

[Sintezza]

as a side not, the Asus Z97 pro Wifi has wifi onboard.

[Jordan31]

I will easily fill around 1TB right away with my games, movies, vacation pics, music, etc.

Ideally for me it would be the other way around, with the SSD coming later

 

That SSD BF4 video doesn't look all that appealing, my laptop loads the maps faster than that (after the very first map load)

 

The added cost of that motherboard can be avoided if I buy a pci wireless card for around $20