Building a future proofed gaming PC

[Dmshag]

Here's my build sheet:

MSI Z97 Gaming 7 ATX mobi

Intel I-5 4690K

Corsair Vengence Pro 2x8 1600 RAM

Corsair H100i GT cpu cooler

Corsair Vengeance C70 Case

Corsair CM650 psu

Windows 10 Home 64 but

7200 rpm 1tb HDD for storage/games

128 GB ssd boot drive for system and apps

Up for consideration for GPU's are:

MSI GTX 970 4G

MSI GTX 980 6G

MSI GTX 980 T 6G

$1200-1800 USD depending on GPU

I'm playing on a single 1080p monitor with no plans to upgrade to 4K anytime soon. Also, I know nothing about overclocking and have no plans to overclock any of the components in this build.

Question 1: Which GPU would be the best for my needs?

Question 2: Can I replace any of these components and save money without sacrificing performance?

[PlayStation 2]

980 Ti if you're future proofing.

[Castdeath97]

I'd rather not spend that much on 1080p to be honest, you will do better with a 1440p upgrade. I won't trust future proofing neither.

[EposVox]

Nothing is ever "future proofed" and will always be under-powered within a year or two.

 

And if you're doing anything for "Future-Proofing" (which really people should stop using the phrase) then you pretty much can only go with a 980ti/TitanX, given that the other GPUs you've listed are already underpowered.

 

But if you just want to game at 1080p, you don't really need "Future Proofing" and the 970 will do you just fine. My 970 can run games at 1440p/some at 4K no problem, so it's more than enough for most 1080p games.

[Aytex]

980 ti

[19_blackie_73]

980ti: next 5-7 years max settings 60fps+

980 up to 5 years max settings 60fps+

970 up to 2-3 years max settings 60fps+

that's my guess, think a 980 will do a good job, 970 is also enough, no need for 980ti

[Guest]

390x if you're future proofing.

Corrected you on that one

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($327.99 @ NCIX US) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($109.99 @ Micro Center) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97A GAMING 6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($149.48 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($150.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card  ($429.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer  ($17.89 @ OutletPC) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)  ($138.89 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $1655.18

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 15:46 EDT-0400

for future proof, giving you the OCing headroom for the 4790k to give it that little extra kick when the CPU becomes a few generations old

We advise you to get a key from Reddits key swap for windows 10, but if you want to buy it from a store, thats your choice 

*I know people will say go skylake I still say haswell* 

[Lethal Seraph]

I'd go for the 980Ti. It really doesn't make sense getting a 980 when you can get a cut-down Titan X which is the 980Ti for some more.

[Elardoven]

980ti: next 5-7 years max settings 60fps+

980 up to 5 years max settings 60fps+

970 up to 2-3 years max settings 60fps+

that's my guess, think a 980 will do a good job, 970 is also enough, no need for 980ti

I doubt that

But yes I'd go for the 980ti

[PlayStation 2]

 

Corrected you on that one

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($327.99 @ NCIX US) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($109.99 @ Micro Center) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97A GAMING 6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($149.48 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($150.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card  ($429.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer  ($17.89 @ OutletPC) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)  ($138.89 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $1655.18

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 15:46 EDT-0400

for future proof, giving you the OCing headroom for the 4790k to give it that little extra kick when the CPU becomes a few generations old

We advise you to get a key from Reddits key swap for windows 10, but if you want to buy it from a store, thats your choice 

*I know people will say go skylake I still say haswell* 

 

I love most of AMD's cards but the 390X isn't really worth it at its price point.

[Guest]

I doubt that

 

+1 that, still cant max GTA V on a 970. If games as intensive as GTA keep coming out, it'll last a year to two tops.

[Astralify]

For future proofing (something I don't personally believe) I wouldn't get a nvidia card. They change their architectures like every other year, stopping support and optimizations for older architectures (#KeplerGate), while GCN is one architecture that is being updated and added to. Meaning your GPU will be supported much longer period of time. just my 2cents.

[Guest]

I love most of AMD's cards but the 390X isn't really worth it at its price point.

its they're highest end card, same with the 980Ti, still horrible for price to performance. The only thing your looking at is a few extra MHz and the VRAM increase, but if they have the money to sped why not?

[PlayStation 2]

its they're highest end card, same with the 980Ti, still horrible for price to performance. The only thing your looking at is a few extra MHz and the VRAM increase, but if they have the money to sped why not?

you've got a point

[Fulgrim]

No such thing as future proofing tbh. 

[Morgan MLGman]

Here's my build sheet:

MSI Z97 Gaming 7 ATX mobi

Intel I-5 4690K

Corsair Vengence Pro 2x8 1600 RAM

Corsair H100i GT cpu cooler

Corsair Vengeance C70 Case

Corsair CM650 psu

Windows 10 Home 64 but

7200 rpm 1tb HDD for storage/games

128 GB ssd boot drive for system and apps

Up for consideration for GPU's are:

MSI GTX 970 4G

MSI GTX 980 6G

MSI GTX 980 T 6G

$1200-1800 USD depending on GPU

I'm playing on a single 1080p monitor with no plans to upgrade to 4K anytime soon. Also, I know nothing about overclocking and have no plans to overclock any of the components in this build.

Question 1: Which GPU would be the best for my needs?

Question 2: Can I replace any of these components and save money without sacrificing performance?

Here you go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($378.99 @ SuperBiiz)

CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK TRITON RED 100.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing Liquid CPU Cooler  ($94.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty X99X Killer ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($226.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory  ($129.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($150.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($688.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($98.99 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer  ($17.89 @ OutletPC)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)  ($138.89 @ OutletPC)

Total: $2091.68

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 15:57 EDT-0400

As for the GPUs, use these respectively according to your budget:

MSI R9 390 Gaming 8G - Best card in terms price/performance right now from the high-end ones.

MSI GTX 980 Gaming 6G - A good card, better than the R9 390X but it's pretty expensive.

Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming - Even more expensive than the 980, but MUCH better. Best for "future-proof" build.

But basically there's nothing called futureproof in this field man.

[Dmshag]

I can see that using term future proof was a poor choice of words. I guess what I meant was this: Excluding the GPU, Is the system I'm planning as laid out above, enough to cover me for say the next 5 years. Figuring in the need to upgrade certain hardware such as memory, cpu, storage and GPU, on an as needed basis. So, say I build this machine as listed with the GTX 980 Ti, and in two years time GPU technology renders it obsolete, do you foresee a need to build an entirely new PC just for the sake of keeping up with GPU tech, or will a simple upgrade be feasible. Same goes for the other parts. I just don't want to spend $2k on a new PC every two years just so I can keep up.