AMD man joining the Dark Side

[DragoXT]

My last 2 custom build rigs that i have done myself have been AMD, with my current rig in my sig which i put together in 2010. It is slow and i need to upgrade to a modern computer with an SSD. I have run plenty of air cooling in my past rigs and im inclined to try out the AIO watercooling kits and work on a build that is quieter than my last two noisy systems.

Here is my pcpartpicker list http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hfDmBm

I am open to suggestions on most things but keep in mind that i change out my rig about every 5 years. I game on this computer and dabble in OCing from time to time. I am also trying to keep the color theme black and white. Id like to keep the cost of the machine around $1500-$1700. I will be reusing my 22" Asus VW224U, Roccat Isku KB, and Logitech G700s mouse. I will tackle my monitor later on this year or next.

I put in the GTX 970 due to there not being a 960 and from the specs it is rumored to have i am mortified. I would love to have a $250 gpu but Nvidia doesnt have one of their current gen up yet. I will NOT purchase an AMD gfx card so please do not suggest them.

I have my Seasonic X650 from my current build and am curious if i could keep it and use it. I did buy it in 2010 and idk if much has changed or if that is still a good PSU for todays computers.

For the SSD i am kinda torn and put the Intel 730 in because i do like its performance from reviews and i am leary of samsung. I have worked with their evo ssd for laptop replacement drives and tbh my seagate hybrid drive is faster with less issues.

The motherboard is kinda a toss up. MSI has a very good looking black and white board Z97S Krait, but the only review on it shows it to be pretty bad for gaming. I have always been a fan of Asus and Gigabyte and i usually go with Gigabyte for my personal computers because they dont have the poop brown pcb that Asus insists on using for the last 8 years. MSI was a good brand back in 2005 but when i was putting my last rig together MSI was in the same realm as ECS for quality at least on the AMD side. IDK if MSI is better on the Intel side or not but i would appreciate opinions and facts to prove or disprove my thinking.

Please impart your knowledge on me you Dark Siders

 

[EarthDog]

How is a mobo bad for gaming?

 

[Mandrake4565]

My Two suggestions:
Asrock Z97 Oc formula not in your color scheme but a darn good board for the same money.
Crutial M500 480Gb Just to save money.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

How is a mobo bad for gaming?

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/msi_z97_sli_krait_motherboard_review/12

 

[DragoXT]

How is a mobo bad for gaming?

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/msi_z97_sli_krait_motherboard_review/12

This is the only review on the motherboard that i can find on the internet. The 3dmark, unigine valley and gaming results put this board at the bottom. IDK if it is something with their testing setup that caused the issue or not. It seems suspect that it got so low but that is why i am asking here hoping that someone with the board can provide some light on the real world performance. I also am curious about MSI mobos on the intel side and how they are rated since on the AMD side they would have one board in an entire family that wasnt complete trash. To clarify complete trash i am talking blowing caps trying to run a 125w Phenom2 X4, VRMs burning out trying to run an X6, and this is at stock. Those that tried OCing had super mixed results to the point where they could change mobo's and gain several hundred mhz in an overclock.

 

[Theocnoob]

My last 2 custom build rigs that i have done myself have been AMD, with my current rig in my sig which i put together in 2010. It is slow and i need to upgrade to a modern computer with an SSD. I have run plenty of air cooling in my past rigs and im inclined to try out the AIO watercooling kits and work on a build that is quieter than my last two noisy systems.

AIO/ALC does not = quiet. If anything it = loud because the fans become louder, particularly in a pull configuration, when pulling/pushing through a radiator. Not much louder, just a bit, but the difference is there. Also, the pump makes noise. Not much noise mind you, but the sound is there. Don't let that discourage you from getting an AIO. They are very good. You just have to have reasonable expectations and use either quiet fans or fans with quiet profiles.

Here is my pcpartpicker list http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hfDmBm

I would go with the ASRock Z97 Extreme 6 instead of the UD5, personally. I feel it's a better board and most people on this forum will agree with me. Also, the price you're being quoted for an OEM Win 8.1 X64 is higher than the full version price. I'd suggest you just go to bestbuy and purchase the full version. Less hassle when reinstalling/moving the install to a new system/swappin mobos etc.


I am open to suggestions on most things but keep in mind that i change out my rig about every 5 years. I game on this computer and dabble in OCing from time to time. I am also trying to keep the color theme black and white. Id like to keep the cost of the machine around $1500-$1700. I will be reusing my 22" Asus VW224U, Roccat Isku KB, and Logitech G700s mouse. I will tackle my monitor later on this year or next.

5 years is a little long. It's possible that the CPU will last that long but you will definitely need a GPU upgrade at some point during that time period.

I put in the GTX 970 due to there not being a 960 and from the specs it is rumored to have i am mortified. I would love to have a $250 gpu but Nvidia doesnt have one of their current gen up yet. I will NOT purchase an AMD gfx card so please do not suggest them.

I have my Seasonic X650 from my current build and am curious if i could keep it and use it. I did buy it in 2010 and idk if much has changed or if that is still a good PSU for todays computers.

If the PSU is working properly you can re-use it.

For the SSD i am kinda torn and put the Intel 730 in because i do like its performance from reviews and i am leary of samsung. I have worked with their evo ssd for laptop replacement drives and tbh my seagate hybrid drive is faster with less issues.

Your 840 EVO is running slow because you didn't apply the fix. There were some 840 EVOs for a while there that were slowing down due to a firmware error. That has since been fixed and all new 840 EVOs coming out of production do not have this flaw. You can apply the fix to your current 840 EVO and get it back up to full speed. Google it. Do not be afraid of samsung. Their 850 EVO is one of the most advanced SSDs on the market.

The motherboard is kinda a toss up. MSI has a very good looking black and white board Z97S Krait, but the only review on it shows it to be pretty bad for gaming. I have always been a fan of Asus and Gigabyte and i usually go with Gigabyte for my personal computers because they dont have the poop brown pcb that Asus insists on using for the last 8 years. MSI was a good brand back in 2005 but when i was putting my last rig together MSI was in the same realm as ECS for quality at least on the AMD side. IDK if MSI is better on the Intel side or not but i would appreciate opinions and facts to prove or disprove my thinking.

The Z97 Krait is a pretty garbage motherboard. Don't build a computer based on form before function. Always build for function first and take form as a secondary possibility. You think ECS boards are quality? ECS is the equivalent of turning used coffee grinds and a rotten canteloupe into a motherboard. Garbage. So what if ASUS and ASRock use "Poop brown PCB's?" They make good boards. Better than MSi, that's for sure. And in a lot of cases better than Gigabyte too. I stand by my suggestion of the ASRock Extreme 6.

 

[EarthDog]

You'd better find another review to confirm those results. I've never seen anything that off!

 

[Theocnoob]

You'd better find another review to confirm those results. I've never seen anything that off!

When thou dost not useth ye olde quote function, Ye people dost not knoweth to wnom thou dost speaketh.

 

[caddi daddi]

I think at this point i would get the 970 and a good cooler at this point, broadwell is due to be released mid year so why buy two cpu's in one year.
The 970 will move with you to intel at that point and so will the cooler.
using the cooler on the denab will get it to higher clocks and that should tie you over till mid year.

 

[Theocnoob]

I think at this point i would get the 970 and a good cooler at this point, broadwell is due to be released mid year so why buy two cpu's in one year.
The 970 will move with you to intel at that point and so will the cooler.
using the cooler on the denab will get it to higher clocks and that should tie you over till mid year.

He's already at 3.8Ghz. Those Deneb chips don't like anything much over 4Ghz so he won't really gain much with a different cooler. I agree that buying a 970 now will be a massive improvement, but the 970 will not provide the same framerates paired with Deneb as it will with Devil's Canyon.

 

[EarthDog]

Glass ceiling. Isn't much though. Worth it.

 

[caddi daddi]

I agree, but he's the buy and hold type, 4790k will be great for him but why bother spending that money when a better cpu is nearing the horizon?

 

[EarthDog]

Because there is always something near on the horizon. People now are considering skipping broadwell for skylake later in the year. If he's ready now, buy now as even broadwell is months away.

 

[Theocnoob]

Because there is always something near on the horizon. People now are considering skipping broadwell for skylake later in the year. If he's ready now, buy now as even broadwell is months away.

http://wccftech.com/intel-14nm-broa...haswell-2nd-generation-fivr-20-compute-units/

http://wccftech.com/intel-broadwell-push-gpu-performance-40-haswell/

^OP, have a read there so you can make an educated choice between Haswell and Broadwell.

Looks like Broadwell will have a 5% IPC increase and up to a 40% GPU perf increase, depending on the particular igpu your chip comes with.

 

[baris_]

14nm will probably also make it a better overclocker, right?

 

[bob4933]

I put in the GTX 970 due to there not being a 960 and from the specs it is rumored to have i am mortified. I would love to have a $250 gpu but Nvidia doesnt have one of their current gen up yet. I will NOT purchase an AMD gfx card so please do not suggest them.
P

Why?


Anyway, gtx 965 ti should be interesting, depending on what price it comes in at. Id wait a couple weeks to see.

And for the "250$ gpu" mark, nothing will touch the r9 290 for a long time I think.

 

[Theocnoob]

14nm will probably also make it a better overclocker, right?

Die shrinks tend to have the opposite effect, unless TDP is lowered. The tighter the transistors are packed together the more difficult it is for them to be efficiently cooled. What you want is a lower TDP to allow for more overclocking headroom, assuming they don't lower the TJMax on the chip at the same time. Another factor is the IHS placement. If they use crappy TIM, the temps will be higher than if they solder it.

 

[DragoXT]

Why?


Anyway, gtx 965 ti should be interesting, depending on what price it comes in at. Id wait a couple weeks to see.

And for the "250$ gpu" mark, nothing will touch the r9 290 for a long time I think.

Well i have been burned by ATI/AMD ****ty hardware and ****ty drivers enough that i really dont want to go away from my beloved nVidia cards that have served me so well and the fact that Nvidia's performance right now is way better than AMD at most price points plus about half the TDP compared to AMD as well.

http://wccftech.com/intel-14nm-broa...haswell-2nd-generation-fivr-20-compute-units/

http://wccftech.com/intel-broadwell-push-gpu-performance-40-haswell/

^OP, have a read there so you can make an educated choice between Haswell and Broadwell.

Looks like Broadwell will have a 5% IPC increase and up to a 40% GPU perf increase, depending on the particular igpu your chip comes with.

5% really isnt all that much, and i could care less about igp. Those links are quite old and that type of information changes weekly till the product is released.

I think at this point i would get the 970 and a good cooler at this point, broadwell is due to be released mid year so why buy two cpu's in one year.
The 970 will move with you to intel at that point and so will the cooler.
using the cooler on the denab will get it to higher clocks and that should tie you over till mid year.

Just so you know my chip can do 4ghz+ but at temps that are borderline with air. With water i would be fine but lets be honest even an extra 1200mhz on Deneb still will not get me close to the core i7 4790K. My issue currently in the games i play is not my gfx but my cpu bottleneck. I have even thought about keeping my current card and getting everything else but i really just want to get everything new and not have to switch stuff.

 

[bob4933]

At the 350$ price point, yeah the gtx 970 is the card of choice for sure. At the 250$ price point the r9 290 is unbeatable and will be for a while I'd imagine. Your money though of course.

 

[sparkey247]

I use a Rampae Hero with the same cpu for my gaming rig, i can't complain its a great board only thing missing is the sata express, might be worth a look