SecroNiTE

Vessel Username: Secro https://www.vessel.com/videos/JemZ8O7Hy https://www.vessel.com/videos/G-DUjgUyY

I read about the 840 EVO TLC degradation issue like 2mins after I finished this list. :lol: Samsung are looking into a fix for the issue but I don't want to risk it. I've heard heaps of others recommend the MX100 so I'll give that a shot. I'm picking the Ducky Shine 3 over the Corsair K95 because I don't use macro keys, the shine 3 is more durable (albeit slightly), I don't like the aluminium look of the K95 and the Shine 3 is $15 cheaper. I want to be able to get the most out of my 144Hz monitor, if I'm maxing games like ArmA 3, BF4, and future AAA titles then I'll need more than a 970 to keep things smooth as silk 100% of the time won't I? As SLI set-ups are not well received by most games, I'd rather take the 20% performance boost that the 980 has over a single 970. Twin 970s were an option previously, but I'm not so sure now. @lolbry9 Is the 760T really worth the $70 or so extra when compared to the Shinobi XL? And will the H105 give me a huge cooling performance increase over the H60? Because it's like $65 more expensive.

This build is a combination of me asking questions on the forums, doing my own research and asking my other gaming mates. I was going to go with a 970 SLI option but will instead be purchasing a 980. I can SLI with a second 980 once I feel my rig needs the extra juice ie. when 2K/4K becomes more affordable. Budget & Location I'm located in Australia. My budget is around $3000 AUD Aim First and foremost this will be a gaming PC. The game that I'll be playing the most will be ArmA 3, I have future AAA titles in mind though. I want to make my games look really pretty at max settings in 1080p. Why are you upgrading? My current rig is almost 3 years old, you can find the specs for it on my profile or in my signature below. I've also had the urge to do a new build for the past 6 months or so. *NOTE* I'll be buying most of this stuff locally as it's cheaper than the prices shown below from CLP & Scorptec etc... It also eliminates the risk of some rookie Australia Post employee ruining my hardware. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($395.00 @ Centre Com) CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($95.00 @ Centre Com) Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($214.00 @ CPL Online) Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($103.50 @ Centre Com) Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($265.00 @ CPL Online) Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card ($729.00 @ CPL Online) Case: BitFenix Shinobi XL (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($179.00 @ Scorptec) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($155.00 @ Scorptec) Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.00 @ Mwave Australia) Monitor: BenQ XL2420Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($429.00 @ CPL Online) Keyboard: Ducky DK9008 Shine 3 White LED Backlit (Brown Cherry MX) Wired Standard Keyboard ($148.00 @ CPL Online) Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($44.00 @ CPL Online) Total: $2776.50

That's news to me, I read that people were having problems with G-Sync when their PC couldn't hold a consistent frame rate, maybe it was only if things dropped under 60fps? Anyway I'll almost certainly be going 2k or 4K in my next build so I'll look into G-Sync then. Thanks for your help mate

I'm not interested in G-Sync, I don't think it's worth the price they're asking for unless you've got an uberpowerful system tbh. As I stated above, the dynamic contrast ratio in the BenQ monitor is more than twice as good as what I've got right now and it can display the same number of colours as my current screen too. I don't think I've got anything to lose here.

I'm in research mode for my new gaming pc and I'm looking for a 1920x1080 monitor that is better than what I am using now. Currently I've got a Samsung SyncMaster SA300 23" monitor running in 1920x1080 @ 60Hz. It's a TN panel with a dynamic contrast ratio of 5M:1 and a 5ms response time. I'm looking at the BenQ XL2420Z which more than doubles the contrast ratio and the refresh rate and quintuples the response time of my current screen. I'll most likely be gaming with a 970 SLI configuration so I should have absolutely no issue getting plenty of fps in 1080p with most games maxed out. I've heard tell that the ASUS VG248QE is the other go to monitor with similar specs, as it has PWM I think I'll give it a miss. Teh only other question I have is in regards to the Black eQualiser feature, can it be turned off so that shadows look like proper shadows when I'm watching videos and not gaming?

I think I'll be going with the 970 SLI configuration now, thank you all for your input

Whoops! Thanks for that, 1GB of extra memory is still a good though right? I think I'll still take the VRAM over some extra frames, I can always overclock to squeeze some extra performance out. And like I said earlier, I'm just waiting for 4K or even 1440p to become a bit cheaper to run, by the time I'm ready we will be on 16nm cards. I just did a quick search for this previously unknown keyboard brand, these things look superb! Cheers for putting me onto them.

Excellent! I'll have to read up on what sort of overclocks people have been getting with these puppies. Saving money is always a bonus. I think that I could spend the $120 on a new keyboard and/or mouse instead.

I'm not going to have to water cool them am I? Because I've heard that custom card coolers like to blow heat all around the inside where as stock coolers blow it out the back. Could I just plan my case fans with this in mind and avoid potential heat pockets? I'm a bit concerned about the VRAM though, I'm wondering if 6GB will hold the line when it comes to future AAA titles that have higher textures. 8GB VRAM would give me some peace of mind, knowing that I'm future proofed against devs who don't know how to optimise pc games when porting them. Or is this only and issue with resolutions higher than 1920x1080? I've got my eyes on the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz Edition 3GB which is AU $200 off at PCCG, however It's still a good $60 more than the most expensive GTX 970. So will the $120 give me a performance boost that warrants the extra price tag?

So I'm doing a new build and have done some thinking about 4K, I've decided that I'll wait for a while before making the leap into 4K glory. Instead I'm looking for an SLI config that will enable me to play future AAA titles at max settings, in 1080p, with enough FPS to make a 144Hz monitor well worth it. I think that the dual 970's will be enough for my gaming needs, the extra 2GB of VRAM should help with future proofing as well right? All of the 970's are within my price range so if there are any particular brands that work well, let me know. The big question is: Would I be making a terrible mistake if I went with the 970's over the 780ti's?

Are you planning on over clocking? If not then I wouldn't buy the liquid cooler, go for a Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus or even the evo instead (as JEman99 has done). You'll find that it's quieter than the liquid cooler you're already looking at if fan noise is a problem for you. How old is the HDD you are reusing? It might be worth getting another HDD or even an SSD if you are willing to dish out some more cash. These upgrades can wait however if you feel that they aren't needed immediately and are happy with your current HDD performance, you don't want to start stretching you budget too much (it's a very slippery slope).

Go for an i7 as it's got hyper treading which will give you a boost when you're rendering. Be aware that the 5820K does not come with a CPU cooler so you will have to purchase an after-market one, I suggest the Cooler Master Hyber 212 Plus. 16GB of RAM is fine, however if you are running multiple instances of maya or you are using Photoshop, FX and Maya at the exact same time then I'd consider getting 24GB. I'm curious as to why you are choosing wireless over a hard-wired connection. A wired connection will be more reliable and faster.

Hi All! This is my first ever post on these forums, so I've put together a huge post with a heap of info which will hopefully result in me getting the best possible hardware combo for my needs. If you could check for bottlenecks and make sure that I've calculated my power needs correctly that'd be amazing. Have a look at my PC Part Picker system build here: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/ Do note that I will not be purchasing every part from the same store (I'm thinking a mixture of online shopping and brick n' mortar stores is called for). What I'm looking for is a solid build which has every possible compatibility issue ironed out and is as close to my budget target as possible. Also note that this is the first time I've considered a Nvidia GPU and an AMD CPU, I have no loyalties to any particular brand, I will get whatever is not going to fail and has a great price/performance ratio. That said I'm still a bit nervous going into previously uncharted territory. I don't want you to go and make precise postage calculations for me, if the postage takes me over my budget then I won't care too much, I'd rather pay a bit extra for a PC that I know will run like a dream. 1. Budget & Location I'm located in Australia. My budget is around $3000 AUD, I am willing to spend a little bit more if you can argue your point. 2. Aim First and foremost this will be a gaming PC. The game that I'll be playing the most will be ArmA 3, I have future AAA titles in mind though. I want to make my games look really pretty with max settings at 1080p. I may possibly get back into video editing but it would not be intensive stuff where I care about rapid rendering times to meet deadlines. 3. Monitors Currently I'm running a single 24" 1080p Samsung monitor at 60Hz. :wacko: Anything is better than what I've got (even modern TN panels have better colour reproduction). I'm looking at gaming at 144Hz on a 1920x1080 screen that is either 24" or larger. The BenQ XL2420Z looks very enticing. 4. Peripherals This is secondary to my main task of building a sick rig. I'd like to replace my terrible CoD MW3 themed keyboard, mouse and mouse pad set-up (it was free so don't judge!). Logitech G105 Keyboard and G9x mouse. Never had a mechanical keyboard before but from what I've read the Cherry MX brown switch is right for me (the sweet spot between coding, gaming and everyday use). Any gaming mouse I get needs to be large enough for me to palm grip with ease, I also need 1-2 extra buttons for VoIP binds. 5. Why are you upgrading? My current rig is almost 3 years old, you can find the specs for it on my profile or in my signature below. I've also had the urge to do a new build for the past 6 months or so. Please discuss, critique and make suggestions