Post Wedding Gaming Rig

[neo019]

Hello everyone!

Firstly let me say that I have been a longtime fan of LTT and admire what you do... For me you are what makes the PC Gaming world what it is and I enjoy every second of watching your videos... infact I refresh the page in wishful thinking that a new video might suddenly appear seconds after the last one uploaded! O_o

 

Ok so, now let's get to the Topic here shall we...

 

First some background to the me...

 

Since I was born, I have been gaming...

having started with an Atari 2600... I soon moved to a ZX Spectrum... following which I found out about Windows...

and the road goes on from there... 286, 386, 486, Pentium, Athlon, Pentium...

 

So to give you a clear picture, I have built my systems since the Athlon era and decided that this was the way to go.

 

In the last 3 years or so, I had a requirement for mobility during my gaming sessions and as such given I was moving to my own house, needed to use a laptop...

If you can call an MSI GT780DX a laptop... then that is what I have been using for the last 3 years. Obviously given my background, after the first 2 years i upgraded the GFX to a 770M.

 

The above transition also involved going through the 'FPS era' of my childhood ie. the COD days... and nowadays I'm more settled on the 'Strategy, some MOBA, no time for MMOs and Spacesims' mindset.

Currently my main interest is Elite:Dangerous.

 

And now to my main subject...

 

I have recently put my eyes on setting up a proper Gaming Rig, and this will involve the below:

Part 1)

Buying, shipping, setting up and preparing an Obutto R3volution (thanks @LinusTech for the awesome overview) given that nowadays I can understand that for the best ergonomic experience this is the only way to go at it. This especially when one considers Space/Flight Sims' use of H.O.T.A.S. and advantages of triple monitor setups.

 

Part 2)

Planning of PC Build as follows:

 

Please note that this will be purchased around end September/start October 2015

 

Budget for PC+Displays+Peripherals (approx. €4000 to €4500 tops)... I rarely buy sub par items so the budget reflects, secondly this is not an upgrade so I have to factor in everything needed.

Location Europe... I live on Malta... a tiny island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. As such, this means I have to ship almost EVERYTHING given the lack of serious gaming oriented outlets and their insane profit margins.

Aim As stated above, uses are Gaming, Movies, Productivity... re. Gaming I want to leave my options open to FPS and 3PS

Monitors I want a 3 27" Monitor 1440p setup... I would think that GSync/Freesync should be included given that running 3 Displays will almost surely create some fps dips as should the capacity for 75hz+

Peripherals This is the only part which can be left out of the equation here... I will use my trusty Deathadder, X-55 HOTAS and buy a mechanical keyboard further down the line. OS is not required as well.

 

 

Components I currently have in mind: (please consider that I am open to any suggestions and that this is still a plan including unreleased products)

 

• Case: Corsair Carbide Air 240 (A large case with good Airflow and serious Rad possibilities? Yes pls)
• Processor: Skylake LGA1151 (i5-6700K ?)
• Motherboard: Skylake Z170 (MSI or Asus preferred)
• Memory: 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)
• GPU: R9 Fury Xfire, possibly pre-OCed versions if possible (MSI preferred)
• SDD/HDD: Small SDD (but with decent Wr/Rd speeds... possibly M.2?) for OS and some Game installs with a 2/3TB HDD for mass storage
• PSU: 1000W Fully Modular (Superflower preferred)
• CPU cooler: Corsair 110i GTx
• Monitors: 3x Asus MQ279Q Eyefinity setup (will this work with Freesync on?)

...

hopefully Part 3) will be a build log for system and rig

 

Hope you all enjoyed and keep tuned for more

 

Also, please do post your feedback!

[TheSLSAMG]

I wouldn't go with the Air 240 and two R9 Fury Xes, it simply won't fit with the CPU cooler. Either go for Furys, GTX 980 Tis or get an Enthoo Evolv mATX?

[Duskie]

Carbide 240 is pretty small. I think you meant Carbide 540 

[MaxTheMonster]

Welcome to the forum!

 

With that budget, I would go with a better CPU, maybe an i76690k when they come out. I noticed you  are using Skylake, note that does not come out until August.

[BigDay]

• amd gpu's will require more power than nvidia. go with nvidia unless you want to buy a psu over 1000w

seasonic psu's are good too

i wouldn't go with 4ms, 1ms is preferred for gaming and does make a difference

[neo019]

Apologies, my bad Air 540 was the original plan

 

Also, I meant Fury Crossfire not the Fury X...

 

Thanks Max, that might be an option, however given that it might not result in better gaming performance am reluctant to 'waste' budget unless it's going to be used... given this though games might start being optimized for more cores but if taht occurs there's always the chance of an upgrade down the line.

[neo019]

Hi BigDay, my biggest issue with your 3rd point is the usual dilemma right now...

 

Go IPS or go TN?

Currently I do not know of a Freesync/Gsync IPS monitor supporting 1ms...

[BigDay]

Hi BigDay, my biggest issue with your 3rd point is the usual dilemma right now...

 

Go IPS or go TN?

Currently I do not know of a Freesync/Gsync IPS monitor supporting 1ms...

 

unfortunately, there are none at the moment. i have a 5ms panel and i hate it for gaming. it's an ips too. if you're building a system like that, go with 144 hertz and 1ms, IMO

 

some people don't care and just get 4ms...

 

the rog swift is an awesome gaming monitor

[Dzzope]

For 3 x 1440 screens I'd be looking at more Vram than a fury gives... or at least specific benches vs 980Ti.. 

Even with the pump fix I cannot suggest a fury over a 980Ti at the same price.. they trade blows at stock but the 980Ti overclocks like a beast, the Fury doesn't.

 

 

 

Also freesync does not work in CF or in eyefinity.. (unless there was an update I missed)

[PineappleHolidays]

Hi BigDay, my biggest issue with your 3rd point is the usual dilemma right now...

 

Go IPS or go TN?

Currently I do not know of a Freesync/Gsync IPS monitor supporting 1ms...

I would go with the MG279Q and dual fury's ( non X )  but you might fill the 4gb vram

The difference in 3 ms isn't big, and actuall responce times are quite different than the advertised ones

 

Ips is really a good experience ( but the problem with triple MG279Q is that they would be very expensive )

[ZetZet]

 

 wouldn't go with 4ms, 1ms is preferred for gaming and does make a difference

 

no it doesnt stop spreading lies

[PineappleHolidays]

 

• amd gpu's will require more power than nvidia. go with nvidia unless you want to buy a psu over 1000w
• seasonic psu's are good too
• i wouldn't go with 4ms, 1ms is preferred for gaming and does make a difference

 

Even dual R9 290x's aren't over a 1000w,

 

Dual fury's and a i7 wouldn't pull near 1000,w so you would be fine

[PineappleHolidays]

no it doesnt stop spreading lies

+1 

[rhyseyness]

 

• i wouldn't go with 4ms, 1ms is preferred for gaming and does make a difference

 

unfortunately, there are none at the moment. i have a 5ms panel and i hate it for gaming. it's an ips too. if you're building a system like that, go with 144 hertz and 1ms, IMO

 

some people don't care and just get 4ms...

 

the rog swift is an awesome gaming monitor

Hi BigDay, my biggest issue with your 3rd point is the usual dilemma right now...

 

Go IPS or go TN?

Currently I do not know of a Freesync/Gsync IPS monitor supporting 1ms...

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/278610-display-technology-faqmythbuster/

The "4ms response time" really doesn't matter at all.

Personally, for the 27" monitors, I'd go with the U2715H

[neo019]

Ok so main stumbling blocks:

 

1) GPUs

• vRAM issues at 7680x1440... won't this be irrelevant with DX12 (total vRAM is 8GB afterall)? Also as far as I saw in benches the extra bandwidth of HBM avoids this unless textures continue to increase in size... but by then DX12 would be available...
• Fury Crossfire vs 980Ti... firstly 980Tis are (much) more expensive than Furys (non-X) and secondly HBM cards bench immensely better at 4K than the 980Ti...
• To add to second point above, Gsync monitors cost more...
• Link to info.: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2947547/components-graphics/amd-radeon-fury-crossfire-review-2-fast-2-furious.html

2) PSU

• If you see the link, total system Wattage rated at 760 W with 2xFury... I guess that answers the question...

3) Monitors

• While the real fact is that this will stay pending until purchasing time and we could go over it a million ways...
• In my case, FPS and 3PS is not the primary use but 1ms would always be nice to have (obviously backed by a proper scientific review from tftcentral or so)
• Cost of MG279Q is relatively cheap next to a PG278Q... due to Gsync module... I hate wasting money unless im getting serious performance difference out of it...

 

Other than the above, my main concern right now is getting Freesync to work on an Eyefinity setup... I really can't find anything about this other than that it did not work in March...

Hopefully AMD will update their drivers...

[neo019]

Ok, so plans have begun (Skylake released!!!)...

 

Following plans except monitors on which i'm still waiting for the release of new GSync IPS panels...

Also, scrapped the Fury Crossfire with a 980Ti SLI... After seeing more benchmarks I think that this is also a safer bet given NVidia's driver track record and Surround gaming support (Also Tis should cover 7680x1440 nicely)

 

Below current plans update:

MSI Z170A Krait Gaming, Intel Z170 Mainboard​

Team Group Dark Series White, DDR4-3000, CL16 - 16 GB Kit​

Super Flower Leadex 80 Plus Gold, black - 1000 Watt​

Samsung SM951 SSD, PCIe M.2 Typ 2280-D3-M (NGFF), bulk - 256 GB​ (using the extra 4 PCI 3.0 lanes )

 Seagate Desktop HDD, SATA 6G, 7200RPM, 3.5 inch - 2 TB

Corsair Carbide Air 540 ATX Cube - white

Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H110i GT

Intel Core i5-6600K 3,5 GHz (Skylake) Socket 1151 - tray

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti Gaming G1, WindForce 3X, 6144 MB GDDR5

(cheapest of the properly OCed models found for Euro749 each! Might choose MSI Gaming6G or ZOTAC Extreme AMP depending on price)

 

Any comments welcome

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimakos234]

I would say go for it. (if you have the extra money, get the 6700k)

[neo019]

I would say go for it. (if you have the extra money, get the 6700k)

Would you spend that extra on an i7-6700k or on getting better ips panels tough... I guess for gaming its gotta be the panels

[neo019]

If someone can give some advice... I was thinking on whether or not a 1000W PSU is actually required or if an 850W PSU should be enough...

Obviously the processor will be OCed in this build but even that should not add up to more than 800W at the most should I win the silicon lottery...

Please do note I mean the best branded PSUs here (ie. 80Gold+ & Superflower, Seasonic, EVGA or Antec)

 

 

What do you guys/ladies think?

 

There are two things I am sure of which are pushing me to this reasoning:

- Given trends, PSU requirements should keep going down

- PSUs perform better at around 85% load

[neo019]

And so here comes an update for y'all

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qhvpcf

 

Waiting on 2 screens and 2 Fury X s to complete build...