PC Gaming & Rendering Build

The_Predator · October 15, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Below, is my updated build of which I have been planning; I am now finalising this build:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pKpNBm

Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pKpNBm/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased)

CPU Cooler: H240-X CPU Liquid Cooling AIO (£140.00)

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII FORMULA ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£251.96)

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£133.88

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£133.88)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£155.94)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£439.97)

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (Purchased)

Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£118.00)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) (£113.84)

Case Fan: Aerocool DS 140mm Black 93.4 CFM 140mm Fan (£12.17)

Other: Silverstone SST-LS01R, LED Light Strip, Red (Purchased)

Total (Not Yet Purchased): £1988.29

Total (Purchased): £386.83

Please Note:

Maximum Upgrade Allowance: £2000

I am finalising a relatively 'High-End' PC, which can be both used for Gaming as well as for 3D Rendering.
In the aforementioned build, I have previously purchased several components, which I plan to use in this build, these components will be stated are stated as "(Purchased)".

Location: United Kingdom (UK)
Aim: Gaming, Web Browsing and 3D Rendering
Peripherals: Not Included. Only the Operating System is included in the price

Wireless IS required

All feedback will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance.

SimpleG · October 15, 2014

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Non-refrence 980, maybe raid two 256 gb SSD's?

MasterRaceFanBoy · October 15, 2014

max £2000? Why would you post a £2.3k+ build and ask for less? I think you can go for x99. not sure tho..

Edit: Do you need a cpu cooler as well or do you have one alrdy?

The_Predator · October 15, 2014

Non-refrence 980, maybe raid two 256 gb SSD's?

Thank you for your response.

1) I have considered non-reference GTX 980s, what would you suggest?

2) Good idea.

I shall take this into consideration.

max £2000? Why would you post a £2.3k+ build and ask for less? I think you can go for x99. not sure tho..

Maximum upgrade allowance of £2000. I already have several components from a previous build (accounting to around £300), which I most likely will be using in this upgrade. What are the benefits of which X99 provides over Z97?

Thank you.

The_Predator · October 15, 2014

max £2000? Why would you post a £2.3k+ build and ask for less? I think you can go for x99. not sure tho..

Edit: Do you need a cpu cooler as well or do you have one alrdy?

I currently do not own a CPU Cooler.

PhantomDragon · October 15, 2014

You can save some money on the motherboard by choosing the VII Hero over the VII Formula. Even Linus calls the Formula a "luxury" board and I've read it's mostly targeted at builders who would use custom-watercooling with it.

NumLock21 · October 15, 2014

X99 6 cores / 12 threads. DDR4 quad channel.

Don't get 32GB in 2 separate kits. Get them in single package. You can save by getting yourself GTX970s.

Well the Luxe has a built in changable light stripe.

Asus Z97 WS has a PLX chip, so it can do SLI in x16/x16

October 15, 2014

Thank you for your response.

1) I have considered non-reference GTX 980s, what would you suggest?

2) Good idea.

I shall take this into consideration.

Maximum upgrade allowance of £2000. I already have several components from a previous build (accounting to around £300), which I most likely will be using in this upgrade. What are the benefits of which X99 provides over Z97?

Thank you.

X99 platform has beefier cpu's such as the 6 core 5820K. If your programs can use the extra cores then it would be faster. The i7 4770K is still a very good cpu though, and it will cope fine with rendering. As you already have it, then you might as well use it.

If you need that much Ram, then get a Quad channel kit instead as they are a matched set.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx321c11t3k432

The EVGA Supernova G2 750W is a cheaper power supply and it has a 10 year warranty.

The GTX 970 cards are far better value than the GTX 980. I don't think the 980 is worth the extra for the smallish performance increase.

The_Predator · October 15, 2014

X99 platform has beefier cpu's such as the 6 core 5820K. If your programs can use the extra cores then it would be faster. The i7 4770K is still a very good cpu though, and it will cope fine with rendering. As you already have it, then you might as well use it.

If you need that much Ram, then get a Quad channel kit instead as they are a matched set.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx321c11t3k432

The EVGA Supernova G2 750W is a cheaper power supply and it has a 10 year warranty.

The GTX 970 cards are far better value than the GTX 980. I don't think the 980 is worth the extra for the smallish performance increase.

Much appreciated, Lee32uk. I have chosen to go with the 32GB Quad Channel Ram Kit, as well as the EVGA Supernova G2 750W PSU.

Updated Build: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/bBWP7P

I currently own a Palit GeForce GTX 780 Super Jetstream 3GB; I was considering upgrading to dual GTX 980s. Would you recommend that I upgrade from the single GTX 780 to dual GTX 970s?

Once again, thank you!

October 15, 2014

Much appreciated, Lee32uk. I have chosen to go with the 32GB Quad Channel Ram Kit, as well as the EVGA Supernova G2 750W PSU.

Updated Build: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/bBWP7P

I currently own a Palit GeForce GTX 780 Super Jetstream 3GB; I was considering upgrading to dual GTX 980s. Would you recommend that I upgrade from the single GTX 780 to dual GTX 970s?

Once again, thank you!

If you already have a GTX 780 then it seems a waste not to incorporate it into your build. Why not buy another 780 instead ? They are still very good cards, and the prices are dropping now that the 900 series are out.

This GTX 780 is a very good price - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-044-KF&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

Or this Zotac which has a 5 year warranty with it - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-073-ZT&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

If you go for another 780 then maybe swap the psu for the 850W version so it gives you a bit more headroom.

What resolution Monitor are you using ?

With a single GTX 780 added it would look something like this:

(The gpu from overclockers isn't on pcpartpicker so the EVGA is for price reference)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For £230.00)

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII FORMULA ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£251.96)

Memory: Kingston Beast 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£266.42 @ More Computers)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£155.94 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For £48.68)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB ACX Video Card (£239.41 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (Purchased For £88.33)

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£97.88 @ CCL Computers)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) (£113.84 @ Ebuyer)

Case Fan: Aerocool DS 140mm Black 93.4 CFM 140mm Fan (£12.17)

Other: Silverstone SST-LS01R, LED Light Strip, Red (Purchased For £9.91)

Other: H240-X CPU Liquid Cooling AIO (£140.00)

Total: £1713.13

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 00:53 BST+0100

That is quite a nice saving.

brob · October 16, 2014

If you want 32GB of memory you should get a single 4x8GB kit. XMP profiles are based on the kit density. When buying two kits there is a small chance that you will have to fiddle around with memory parameters to get them running at the advertised speed and timings. See the Addendum on http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell/10

RAID 0 ssd are not generally a good idea. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485-13.html