reviews and thoughts?

[Xalindor]

I'm building a new gaming PC!!!!!YAY 

 

I submit to you my selected parts for the interwebs to review. I have poured over this lovingly so be gentle. My primary question is should i select a different motherboard? do you think two cards will fit easily into this board with space to cool? are there certain PCI e slots on the board that the SLI cards should go into. like 1&3? I have a samsung 840 EVO 256 that i will be using from my current build in the the new one. 

 

Primary (only) function:   gaming

monitors: 2

reason for build. the i7 950 x58 doesn't cut it anymore.

 

Thank you so much

 

Xalindor

 

 

 

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Gx2CNG) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Gx2CNG/by_merchant/)

 

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80662i76700k) | $419.99 @ Amazon 

**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-cw9060021ww) | $104.20 @ Amazon 

**Motherboard** | [EVGA Z170 FTW ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-motherboard-140sse177kr) | $189.99 @ Amazon 

**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmk16gx4m2a2666c16) | $84.89 @ OutletPC 

**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $49.98 @ OutletPC 

**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp43975kr) (2-Way SLI) | $317.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp43975kr) (2-Way SLI) | $317.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Case** | [Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-air540) | $129.79 @ Amazon 

**Power Supply** | [EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr) | $95.98 @ Newegg 

**Optical Drive** | [LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-optical-drive-wh14ns40) | $39.89 @ OutletPC 

 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |

 | Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1770.69

 | Mail-in rebates | -$20.00

 | **Total** | **$1750.69**

 | Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-01-04 17:19 EST-0500 |

[don_svetlio]

Go for a 980 Ti. Vastly superior to SLI or CF

[The Official Czex]

Go for a 980 Ti. Vastly superior to SLI or CF

 

This. Plus, if you get a good overclocking 980 Ti, you can beat dual 970' s or 390' s in SLI/CrossFire.

[DocSwag]

I like your mobo. It seems fine.

Don't get a GTX 970 sli. As the people above me have said, go with a GTX 980 ti instead. The GTX 970 only has 3.5 gb vram (technically 4, but the last half gig is super slow...), and many newer games don't even support sli (such as fallout 4).

Otherwise looks great!

[Xalindor]

You guys really thinkg that one 980 ti would be better than 2 970 in sli? I have never done SLI before (or xfire for that matter) but that is amazing to me that it would be that different. never the less ill look more into it. i'm also considering going with the 6600k instead but i have read lots of reports that more and more games are beginning to support hyper-threading as well as side by side comparisons that yield results 15% higher frames per second in games. Not just because of the hyper-threading but also 2MB more L3 cache 4Ghz processor speed.

 

I'll look more into the 980ti. and again thanks for the guidance Preferred brands and variants? also i dont really understand why so many variants....evga has like 4 cards??? i welcome any and all Links

[DocSwag]

You guys really thinkg that one 980 ti would be better than 2 970 in sli? I have never done SLI before (or xfire for that matter) but that is amazing to me that it would be that different. never the less ill look more into it. i'm also considering going with the 6600k instead but i have read lots of reports that more and more games are beginning to support hyper-threading as well as side by side comparisons that yield results 15% higher frames per second in games. Not just because of the hyper-threading but also 2MB more L3 cache 4Ghz processor speed.

 

I'll look more into the 980ti. and again thanks for the guidance Preferred brands and variants? also i dont really understand why so many variants....evga has like 4 cards??? i welcome any and all Links

In games that support sli the 970s might perform better, but they do have that limited amount of vram which can be hurtful in the future. I have a 970 and on my 2560x1080 monitor it uses around 3.2 gb vram, which is really getting close to the 3.5. As well, as I said before many new titles aren't supporting sli (such as fallout 4) so then it will basically just be like using one 970. If you are playing 1440p and higher then the gram might really hurt ya. As well, going with a 980 ti gives you a better upgrade path (if you don't have enough speed you can add one more gpu) whereas with the 970s you can't(your mobo doesn't support 3 way sli).

If you plan on keeping the CPU for a long time (as long you kept your last one) I would consider the 6700k. Direct X 12 is adding options for the CPU to help speed up tasks for the gpu. This would mean the hyper threading would make a difference, and if you can get more oc out of the 6700k it would help as well. If you have the extra budget get the 6700k, if not, the 6600k is good too. But don't buy the 6700k yet, it is supposed to retail for only around 350 bucks but is going for 420 right, so you should wait until more supply comes in and when it goes below 370.

[Xalindor]

Thank you so much for the info on the price!! I did not know that. I probably wont actually order parts till mid Feb anyway (income tax). i play games at 1920x1080. should I not be doing that...the more and more i read everyone seems to play games at lower resolution. this may be blasphemy but i don't really count Fallout 4 as its a dirty dirty port. 

[Suika]

As well, as I said before many new titles aren't supporting sli (such as fallout 4) so then it will basically just be like using one 970.

I've been using SLI in FO4 for the past week, where have you been?

 

Launch day compatibility is an issue I agree, but drivers and profiles are eventually developed to allow for SLI in major titles that don't have it on launch.

[DocSwag]

I've been using SLI in FO4 for the past week, where have you been?

 

Launch day compatibility is an issue I agree, but drivers and profiles are eventually developed to allow for SLI in major titles that don't have it on launch.

Oh my bad... I just know they didn't support it on launch. However, there still is the vram issue of 3.5 gb vs 6 gb. As many tech tubers such as Linus and jayztwocents have said, if you have the choice between two weaker Gpus or one stronger gpu always go for the stronger one unless there is like a huge performance difference between 2 Gpus and one.

[Suika]

As many tech tubers such as Linus and jayztwocents have said, if you have the choice between two weaker Gpus or one stronger gpu always go for the stronger one unless there is like a huge performance difference between 2 Gpus and one.

Linus has also said that he's often misquoted as saying that, and that it's usually better to purchase two of the second-to-highest-end graphics cards if they're made from the same GPU. For example, before the 980 Ti, he would recommend 970 SLI before a 980, considering a 970 SLI was significantly more powerful but only a little bit more expensive. 

[DocSwag]

Linus has also said that he's often misquoted as saying that, and that it's usually better to purchase two of the second-to-highest-end graphics cards if they're made from the same GPU. For example, before the 980 Ti, he would recommend 970 SLI before a 980, considering a 970 SLI was significantly more powerful but only a little bit more expensive.

That is probably true... Just as two 980 tis only cost a little more than a Titan X but perform much better. Of course, as you said, this case is a little difference since one is a gm200 gpu and the other is a gm204.

[ristan99]

980 Ti or 970 SLI is overkill for 1080p. You're better off going with a single 980 and putting the saved money towards a 1440p monitor.

[Xalindor]

980 Ti or 970 SLI is overkill for 1080p. You're better off going with a single 980 and putting the saved money towards a 1440p monitor.

 

I play games at 1920x1080 tho. I have a BENQ XL blahblahblahblah