2015 PC Refresh

[dizmo]

So, instead of building up a new computer this year I'm just going to refresh the one I currently have on loan to a friend. I'll be getting it back when he builds his rig around November.

I know I should look at pricing closer to the purchase time but I'll be buying used, older hardware so it's still valid.

 

Here's my current set up:

 

Intel 2700k

Gigabyte P67A-UD5 motherboard (pretty sure at least)

8GB of some kind of RAM

60GB SSD (OS)

100GB SSD (Games)

GTX 480

 

Planned upgrades:

 

2 240gb SSD's in RAID 0 or 1 500GB SSD, whichever I find cheaper

2 R9 280x's, or 1 R9 290.

 

Monitor:

 

Either a pair of U2414H's, or an AOC 34" 1440p 21:9. I'm leaning heavily towards the AOC but we'll see what pricing turns out to be like.

 

The only real question I have is in regards to the video cards. I know with 1080p the clear choice is the 290, or even a 780 if I find one cheap.

What of 1440p though? Is it better to go with the 2 280x's?

 

I'll be getting the cards used, so pricing is generally as follows:

 

290: $325

280x $180

 

I'm assuming the 2700k will last me until Intel's next Tock chip comes out. By then DDR4 should be cheaper, and faster.

[BaconComputing]

This year? Are you saying you usually do a new build every year?

[helping]

I'd still go for the 290 and AOC monitor. 

 

And yes, you still have a good bit of mileage left on that 2700k as long as you're taking advantage of it's retarded OC potential. 

[Aniallation]

lol two SSD's in RAID 0 is quite overkill, one SSD is already plenty fast, just get a bigger single SSD if it costs less then twice as much as one 240gb

 

I would go with the two 280X's if you have the cooling and enough power to juice them up with. They'll smoke a 290 at 1080p. The 290 might come close in VRAM heavy games at 1440p or 4K, but it still won't get really close to two 280X's. 

 

Personally I think 21:9 monitors are awesome, that's what I would get.

 

Finally stick a good cooler on that 2700K and overclock it

[dizmo]

Would the 290 be able to handle 1440p at 80 fps at max settings on most titles?
I have a feeling it would almost need to be CF'd in order to achieve that.

 

The games I care most about are Star Citizen, No Man's Sky...honestly that's about it right now.

 

 

This year? Are you saying you usually do a new build every year?

Narp, computer is redone every 3 - 4 years. I was going to build a completely one this year but I'm going to wait until next year.

 

I'd still go for the 290 and AOC monitor. 

 

And yes, you still have a good bit of mileage left on that 2700k as long as you're taking advantage of it's retarded OC potential. 

I, sadly, have not.

 

lol two SSD's in RAID 0 is quite overkill, one SSD is already plenty fast, just get a bigger single SSD if it costs less then twice as much as one 240gb

 

I would go with the two 280X's if you have the cooling and enough power to juice them up with. They'll smoke a 290 at 1080p. The 290 might come close in VRAM heavy games at 1440p or 4K, but it still won't get really close to two 280X's. 

 

Personally I think 21:9 monitors are awesome, that's what I would get.

 

Finally stick a good cooler on that 2700K and overclock it

The SSD's are more in regards to what I'm able to find. I'll likely be buying from Craigslist or eBay, but new items. I've found that say M500's in 240gb flavor can be found really, really cheap.

Two of those mediocre drives in RAID0 would be about as fast as a good 500gb drive, but a fair bit cheaper. They'll be loads faster than the ancient drives I have in there now.

 

Yeah, I use tonnnnns of tabs so the 21:9 is a definite plus for me.

 

Sadly the only overclocking I've done is with Gigabytes panel...it's just three buttons, green yellow and red. I usually press the green one and leave it there...

[Aniallation]

Would the 290 be able to handle 1440p at 80 fps at max settings on most titles?

I have a feeling it would almost need to be CF'd in order to achieve that.

 

The SSD's are more in regards to what I'm able to find. I'll likely be buying from Craigslist or eBay, but new items. I've found that say M500's in 240gb flavor can be found really, really cheap.

Two of those mediocre drives in RAID0 would be about as fast as a good 500gb drive, but a fair bit cheaper. They'll be loads faster than the ancient drives I have in there now.

 

I doubt that the 290 will be able to max many titles at 1440p and get even >50 average framerates. Two 280X's will perform noticeably better.

 

Since RAID 0 effectively doubles performance, so two mid-range SSD's in RAID 0 like the M500 will still be faster then the highest end SSD with twice the capacity. That being said when it's already SSD speeds, it's a neglectable difference. When your PC boots in 10 seconds with one high-end large SSD vs 7 seconds with two mid-range SSD's in RAID 0... it becomes un-noticeable of a difference after a while

[dizmo]

I doubt that the 290 will be able to max many titles at 1440p and get even >50 average framerates. Two 280X's will perform noticeably better.

 

Since RAID 0 effectively doubles performance, so two mid-range SSD's in RAID 0 like the M500 will still be faster then the highest end SSD with twice the capacity. That being said when it's already SSD speeds, it's a neglectable difference. When your PC boots in 10 seconds with one high-end large SSD vs 7 seconds with two mid-range SSD's in RAID 0... it becomes un-noticeable of a difference after a while

RAID doesn't quite double performance. There was a bunch of tests done with some Samsung drives and they concluded that RAID0 in 2 lower capacity drives vs the higher capacity one is on par, if not worse in most scenarios and in day to day use would likely go unnoticed.

 

Yeah I think the 2 280x's would be better. I only fear for games that don't support Crossfire, as they'd take a pretty substantial hit.

[Aniallation]

Yeah I think the 2 280x's would be better. I only fear for games that don't support Crossfire, as they'd take a pretty substantial hit.

True, but a lot of the games that don't support Crossfire nowadays aren't demanding titles, and they'll run perfectly fine on just one of the 280X's, even at 1440p