Feedback on future 4k gaming/other rig

[AliasXNeo]

The build: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/aliasxneo/saved/GNMXsY

How I plan on using it:

• Gaming (QHD now, 4k in the future)
• Streaming games to a piece of crap computer (steam machine) via SteamOS
• Hosting a linux VM for my home automation system
• Hosting a PLEX VM for home media streaming of HD movies
• Minor video editing (livestreams, tutorials, etc.)

My thoughts so far:

• Two-way SLI can play some modern games at ultra settings on 4k with reasonable FPS (~40-45fps it seems). I may consider 3-way SLI in the future which means the 5930k (or a motherboard with more lanes) might be more suitable. I will be buying one 980 initially and saving up for the second one in the next few months for 2-way (when I buy my 4k monitor) and possibly a third next year for 3-way.
• I have enjoyed the past Asus ROG motherboards I've owned and so it's the first one I go to. However, it seems the X99 Deluxe has many alluring features, some which even the ROG doesn't have (which baffles me). So I'm not sure where to go here.
• I've never done liquid cooling before and so I based my choices for case/cooler purely off reviews. If anyone who's done liquid cooling could share some insight on a solid build with what I have it'd be much appreciated.

All that being said, thoughts on the current edition of this build? My budget is $2,500 FYI.

 

[notarat]

$2500 is pretty cheap for what you want. My X99 build quote came to $9270 but I was a little extravagant in a few part choices, lol.

Still considering it though...

 

[AliasXNeo]

$2500 is pretty cheap for what you want. My X99 build quote came to $9270 but I was a little extravagant in a few part choices, lol.

Still considering it though...

I have six kids, so $9k isn't even remotely a possibility

I don't think what I'm looking for is really all that much. I don't want 4k gaming at 60 FPS, 30 FPS is fine for me IMO.

 

[EarthDog]

Looks good to me outside of a couple of things...

1. Since you are not an extreme (read sub-ambient overclocking), the ASUS ROG boards are hella overkill for you. It includes options you are paying for and will never touch. Here is something a bit more appropriate for your needs - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128747&cm_re=X99-_-13-128-747-_-Product
2. 1KW PSU... That is a ton for two cards... but ok if you go three cards as you are considering. Here is 1.3KW for less and its a better PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...011&cm_re=Supernova_g2-_-17-438-011-_-Product
3. 30 FPS in FPS(first person shooters) is terrible to me... RPG's, MMO's, fine...

 

[AliasXNeo]

Looks good to me outside of a couple of things...

1. Since you are not an extreme (read sub-ambient overclocking), the ASUS ROG boards are hella overkill for you. It includes options you are paying for and will never touch. Here is something a bit more appropriate for your needs - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128747&cm_re=X99-_-13-128-747-_-Product
2. 1KW PSU... That is a ton for two cards... but ok if you go three cards as you are considering. Here is 1.3KW for less and its a better PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...011&cm_re=Supernova_g2-_-17-438-011-_-Product
3. 30 FPS in FPS(first person shooters) is terrible to me... RPG's, MMO's, fine...

Thanks EarthDog for the feedback.

I wouldn't consider myself an 'extreme overclocker' in the sense that I have swaths of experience over clocking several different rigs. However, I'm a self-admitted control freak (I work on controls across several Google data centers) and it would be against my grain if I ended up regretting my motherboard choice three months down the road when I'm still experimenting with how it all works because I can't do a few particular things. My solution is of course to just get one that has everything, but I know it's the solution of an inexperienced overclocker (which is why I'm here!). Based on the previous explanation, do you still think the ROG would be a bad choice? I'm all for saving money so long as it doesn't screw my tinkering nature in the end.

I realize the PSU was oversized and I was aiming for 3 980's in SLI sometime in the future (I really don't want to have to rebuild with another down the road). What makes this particular PSU better? I was under the impression that the PLATINUM not only provided cost savings in it's efficiency but it would also run quieter since less of the power is being converted to heat (thus less fan speed and noise). Was I wrong?

In regards to FPS, yeah 30 is terrible for first-person shooters but I live out in the country and my whopping 5mbit DSL network is enough of a PIA to stray me away from playing any kind of twitch game. Really I just want to be able to immerse myself in the next Elder Scrolls game at 4k and I don't necessarily have to have 60 FPS for that.

Thanks again for the help guys.

 

[EarthDog]

You can get the ROG, but you don't remotely need it. There will not be a missing option for overclocking with a lesser board versus the ROG for your overclocking endeavors. The ROG's options go WAY indepth for an ambient overclocker. Its the LN2 overclockers it is really aimed at. It will not screw with your tinkering in the end unless you decide to be an LN2 overclocker.

The quality is slightly better on the G2 PSU. Not that the regular Supernova is poor, its not... Think of it like A+ and A-...but
what I selected was cheaper out of the gate by a few dollars and that is not including the MIR. Im about saving money.

If you don't play FPS games, then 30FPS is ok.

 

[AliasXNeo]

You can get the ROG, but you don't remotely need it. There will not be a missing option for overclocking with a lesser board versus the ROG for your overclocking endeavors. The ROG's options go WAY indepth for an ambient overclocker. Its the LN2 overclockers it is really aimed at. It will not screw with your tinkering in the end unless you decide to be an LN2 overclocker.

The quality is slightly better on the G2 PSU. Not that the regular Supernova is poor, its not... Think of it like A+ and A-...but
what I selected was cheaper out of the gate by a few dollars and that is not including the MIR. Im about saving money.

If you don't play FPS games, then 30FPS is ok.

That makes sense.

I'm curious, do you know how the 5820k would do with the ROG versus a board with extra dedicated lanes like the one you linked in 3-way SLI? Also, the preliminary reviews for that board shows a few people having trouble getting a stable OC on it (but they could just be inexperienced).

Also, I've never bought a MOBO with onboard wifi before. It looks like Gigabyte has two versions of the one you linked (one with integrated wifi and one without). Do you have an opinion on if it's better to go for integrated or adding a card in yourself?

 

[EarthDog]

There are non ROG boards that have the PLX chip (what makes the extra lanes). As far as a breakdown without one and using a 5820K, you are relegated to x16/x8/x4. How that compares to 3x x16 lanes, I don't imagine there is a lot of performance loss considering a single card is 1% slower going from x16 to x8.

Depends on the wifi that they use... I have used a couple and had no problems with them. Of course, YMMV.

 

[AliasXNeo]

There are non ROG boards that have the PLX chip (what makes the extra lanes). As far as a breakdown without one and using a 5820K, you are relegated to x16/x8/x4. How that compares to 3x x16 lanes, I don't imagine there is a lot of performance loss considering a single card is 1% slower going from x16 to x8.

Depends on the wifi that they use... I have used a couple and had no problems with them. Of course, YMMV.

That's kind of what I've been reading and I haven't quite justified to myself putting in the extra $200 for the 5930k.

 

[Theocnoob]

That's kind of what I've been reading and I haven't quite justified to myself putting in the extra $200 for the 5930k.

ED, it's not 16/8/4 it's 8/8/8 across essentially all boards with the 5820K.

OP- I suggest you build the following for 4K gaming

4790K
ASUS Z97-A or ASRock Z97 Extreme 6
2x8GB DDR3 2133 Cas9 (*you only need 8GB for gaming but future proofing never hurt anyone)
GTX 970 G1 windforce (Gigabyte) X2 (SLI)
500GB Samsung 840 EVO
2TB WD Caviar blue
EVGA Supernova NEX 750
Your choice of case

 

[EarthDog]

It does vary by vendor/board. MSI (Gamg 9/7) is 8/8/8 while ASRock (Ex 4/6/Killer) are 16/8/4. ASUS X99 A is 16/8/4, while the RVE is 8/8/8. Not sure about Giga though.

 

[Theocnoob]

It does vary by vendor/board. MSI (Gamg 9/7) is 8/8/8 while ASRock (Ex 4/6/Killer) are 16/8/4. ASUS X99 A is 16/8/4, while the RVE is 8/8/8. Not sure about Giga though.

I will recite 100 hail Marys for my error.

 

[AliasXNeo]

ED, it's not 16/8/4 it's 8/8/8 across essentially all boards with the 5820K.

OP- I suggest you build the following for 4K gaming

4790K
ASUS Z97-A or ASRock Z97 Extreme 6
2x8GB DDR3 2133 Cas9 (*you only need 8GB for gaming but future proofing never hurt anyone)
GTX 970 G1 windforce (Gigabyte) X2 (SLI)
500GB Samsung 840 EVO
2TB WD Caviar blue
EVGA Supernova NEX 750
Your choice of case

The 4790k robs me of 2 cores which the linux VM would love to have and it performs just as good as the 5820k with most games. Why two 970's?

Also, going with the 4790k isn't future proofing because it puts me back on Z97. Not too ideal for what I'm looking for.

 

[Theocnoob]

The 4790k robs me of 2 cores which the linux VM would love to have and it performs just as good as the 5820k with most games. Why two 970's?

Also, going with the 4790k isn't future proofing because it puts me back on Z97. Not too ideal for what I'm looking for.

I like X99 better too but that's going to run you an extra $200-350 depending on what kind of board and RAM you go with.

Why 2 970s? They support direct X 12 and 2X 970 is Nvidia's minimum recommendation for 4K gaming. No single card will really cut it at 4K across all game titles. Except for Titan Z and R9295X2.

 

[AliasXNeo]

I like X99 better too but that's going to run you an extra $200-350 depending on what kind of board and RAM you go with.

Why 2 970s? They support direct X 12 and 2X 970 is Nvidia's minimum recommendation for 4K gaming. No single card will really cut it at 4K across all game titles. Except for Titan Z and R9295X2.

I see. When I was reviewing benchmarks it looked like 2 X 980's consistently got 15-20 FPS more on 4k titles. I think they scale a bit better than trying to shove in 3 970's down the road. I certainly understand that right now two 970's are the better deal in terms of money, but I won't be getting the second 980 till later down the road when the ratio is hopefully better. This build originally started with two 970's but I switched because of the previous explanation.

 

[Theocnoob]

I see. When I was reviewing benchmarks it looked like 2 X 980's consistently got 15-20 FPS more on 4k titles. I think they scale a bit better than trying to shove in 3 970's down the road. I certainly understand that right now two 970's are the better deal in terms of money, but I won't be getting the second 980 till later down the road when the ratio is hopefully better. This build originally started with two 970's but I switched because of the previous explanation.

Of course 2 980s will be better than 2 970s, it's just that the price/performance ration of the 980 is worse than the 970. I try to only suggest parts that are good bang for the buck.

 

[Theocnoob]

LOL $9270....must be nice

apple computer for gaming

Would you stop with these links to "bestcomputerforgaming"? We are custom system builders here. You have posted links to that website in the past 4 threads I have visited. Stop it please. Thank you.

 

[manu2b]

^Yep, he could go **** himself instead of posting crap...

 

[Theocnoob]

^Yep, he could go **** himself instead of posting crap...

Language!

Seriously though his posts are highly non-helpful and are off topic. What does a $10,000 computer have to do with this build? Nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a bot or just a jerk and that site has malware on it.