TechPowerUp 4K Gaming Build Guide

[btarunr]

With 4K Ultra HD displays fast becoming essential to high-end gaming PC builds, we take a crack at building a 4K gaming desktop ready for the DirectX 12 generation of games.

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[badtaylorx]

one little thing you forgot. Skylake does not come with a stock cooler....

 

[erixx]

Great article, like it a lot. And yes, if it is all about gaming, the z110 platform is the right choice. (I just swapped to a X99 from z97 knowing that, but - as expected - office work, data bases, large graphics and pdf editing and also overall feeling is faster now.
Not sure if true 16x full speed SLI would be stronger on X99 or not...

 

[dwade]

Meh. I wouldn't pair up a highend PC that's intended for 4k gaming with a crappy monitor. PC monitors are extremely overpriced for the crappy picture quality they offer. Get a huge 4k TV instead.

 

[Rowsol]

4k on a 28'' is dumb, and a waste of pixels. If it's not at least 40'' it's not worth it.

 

[Xzibit]

Meh. I wouldn't pair up a highend PC that's intended for 4k gaming with a crappy monitor. PC monitors are extremely overpriced for the crappy picture quality they offer. Get a huge 4k TV instead.

4k TVs are more of a joke. You need to spend 8k or more for a proper 4k TV (one that will actually handle the signal bandwidth and is capable of displaying it). I doubt someone spending 3k on a system will want to do that. They are more then likely going to buy a better monitor.

 

[KarymidoN]

one little thing you forgot. Skylake does not come with a stock cooler....

I was going to say that.

 

[commander calamitous]

4k looks amazing on regular monitors through DSR. That would actually be interesting for me, and I prefer the direction of this article. Not looking for low pixel density

 

[qubit]

This is a good rig using current technology, but I'm not going to upgrade until hardware can do better. Hardware that isn't available yet.

I'm gonna wait for Pascal (or maybe even later) and also 4K monitors that offer the same 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rates as my current 1080p ones. G-Sync/FreeSync versions of these will be a bonus. Therefore, a suitably powerful single card to drive them at these framerates is a prerequisite, hence I'm not totally convinced that even Pascal will be enough until I see reviews of the finished product on TPU.

Anyone that's seen the difference between 60Hz and those higher refresh rates in an FPS game will tell you that the difference is dramatic. Even on the Windows desktop the improvement is noticeable. The motion is so much more fluid and lag very noticeably reduced to the point that it's a must-have feature.

I'd like to see faster CPUs, something which can blow away my aging 2700K to help hit those sky high framerates, not just incremental performance improvements like we've been seeing. Unfortunately we're not going to see this anytime soon.

 

[qubit]

@btarunr Just seen that this article has gone from the Latest Reviews strip on the home page and letting you know in case it's a glitch rather than intentional.

 

[W1zzard]

@btarunr Just seen that this article has gone from the Latest Reviews strip on the home page and letting you know in case it's a glitch rather than intentional.

glitch, fixed

 

[btarunr]

4k on a 28'' is dumb, and a waste of pixels. If it's not at least 40'' it's not worth it.

Yeah, get a 40-inch display, and suffer cervical osteoarthritis in one year.

 

[deemon]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/DIY_Shopping_Lists/4K_Build_Guide/6.html

G.Skill Trident-Z DDR4-2800 MHz 16 GB Dual-Channel
(2x 4 GB, DDR3L-1600)

so is it 16GB or 2x4GB (=8GB)?
Also is this DDR4 or DDR3L as you have in ( ) ?

ViewSonic VG2860MHL-4K
(23-inch, IPS, 5 ms)

it's 28" monitor

 

[deemon]

Yeah, get a 40-inch display, and suffer cervical osteoarthritis in one year.

How so? Noone asked you to attach your 40" monitor to ceiling. Use it on table please. On case of large monitors you don't use high stands and the monitor bezel can basically sit on the table itself.
Also have been using 3 monitors side-by-side (making it like 21"+27"+22" = 70" total (true, it's like (16+16+16):9 => 48:9, not 16:9, but still )) like 7 years now... no neckpain due to that so far.

 

[W1zzard]

so is it 16GB or 2x4GB (=8GB)?
Also is this DDR4 or DDR3L as you have in ( ) ?

fixed both

 

[64K]

Nice build. imo a 27" or 28" monitor is the perfect size for gaming. I've been using a 27" for years now. First at 1080p and now at 1440p. I can never go back to a smaller monitor now and I don't want a larger monitor.

 

[fearun]

That Viewsonic monitor is actually with a TN panel and not an AMVA according to the Viewsonic website.

 

[trog100]

4k is the new market buzzword.. hardware creeps up in small incremental stages then along comes 4k..

i think i will stay in the past for a while yet.. my 1024 24 inch monitor set up run at high fps and ultra settings still looks pretty enough for me..

the suggested 4k build is about right though.. as for screen size.. that all comes down to the viewing distance.. my viewing distance is about two feet.. 24 inches is plenty big enough at two feet and for that i dont need 4k

a totally enclosed 3D gaming helmet is for tomorrows dedicated gamer i recon..

trog

 

[btarunr]

4k is the new market buzzword.. hardware creeps up in small incremental stages then along comes 4k..

i think i will stay in the past for a while yet.. my 1024 24 inch monitor set up run at high fps and ultra settings still looks pretty enough for me..

the suggested 4k build is about right though.. as for screen size.. that all comes down to the viewing distance.. my viewing distance is about two feet.. 24 inches is plenty big enough at two feet and for that i dont need 4k

a totally enclosed 3D gaming helmet is for tomorrows dedicated gamer i recon..

trog

Trog? TROOOG! It's been a while

 

[LiveOrDie]

The per-core performance of the i7-5930K is lower than the i7-6700K

2% faster isn't much. not even really worth talking about lol, You could pick up a older 3770K for this same 4K machine then price per performance is now redundant to for the 6700K as there is hardly any worth while boost if FPS.

 

[GreiverBlade]

one little thing you forgot. Skylake does not come with a stock cooler....

I was going to say that.

everybody who pay attention to what's written at a etailer description or who followed Skylake launch know that

PS: 6600K instead of 6700K is also valid? (since the HT is not really a huge bonus for the huge premium you pay )
not that i am interested in a useless resolution (maybe with the upcoming cards from both brands ) for the moment 1600p/1440p and even 1080p are way enough (ok ... i DSR 1323p and sometime 4K )

 

[The Quim Reaper]

The CPU choice doesn't make sense.

X99 5820 or 5960 with 6 cores is a far more future proof choice than a 6700K.

The (very) slight reduction in IPC over Skylake i7 will be more than compensated for by having 50% more cores with DX12 titles.

 

[_Flare]

2% faster isn't much. not even really worth talking about lol, You could pick up a older 3770K for this same 4K machine then price per performance is now redundant to for the 6700K as there is hardly any worth while boost if FPS.

THAT is what we call a GPU-LIMIT

 

[GreiverBlade]

The CPU choice doesn't make sense.

X99 5820 or 5960 with 6 cores is a far more future proof choice than a 6700K.

The (very) slight reduction in IPC over Skylake i7 will be more than compensated for by having 50% more cores with DX12 titles.

nah even a 6600K would be enough to a Haswell-E is overkill even for 4k, and we don't really know now what advantage will give DX12 on a hex over a quad ... 1%...2%....10%? no need to pay a huge premium for a X99 setup (wait for the X179 then xD )

conclusion: the (extremely) slight augmentation in FPS from a X99 platform versus a Z170 in opposition to the cost is hardly worth it, even later i suspect

 

[L.ccd]

I am a bit surprised to see the Logitech G710 being recommended, given the fat that its keycap's stems have a tendency to break. For a barely superior price tag, a Filco or a Ducky (depending on whether you want fancy backlight or not) would be a far more reliable choice. The Cooler Master Trigger Z, which sells for a bit less, would be a great choice too (with macro keys and palm rest, unlike Filco and Ducky keyboards).

I would have expected the 850 EVO to be your pick, but maybe the MX200 is cheaper ? I admit I have not compared SSD prices for a few weeks.

Also I have mixed feelings about a Thermaltake product being recommended, but why not. Perhaps this case is not a ripped-off design — I did not check that either.