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Building a Gaming Rig (General Spec Check + GPU question)

FreFu

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Hi everyone!

I'm currently building a gaming desktop and did some 'research' the last few days. I am pretty much done with my specs, except for the Graphics Card.

I just found about this site/forum today and have been reading quite a lot here and since people here seem to be really friendly and competent I registered, so hello everyone, I'm happy to be here! :)



Here are the specs I got so far:

CPU: I5-4690K
Mainboard: MSI Z97-G43
RAM: G.Skill DIMM 16GB DDR3-2133 Quad Kit, RipJawsZ
Case: Fractal Design Define R4
SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB
HDD: Western Digital 1TB, Blue
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power CM L8 630W

About the RAM: I know 16GB of RAM are probably overkill, but I actually already got those. A little store next to me sadly had to close down and sold them so cheap that I couldn't resist. ;)



The thing I'm really unsure about is the GPU.
Originally with my first build I was actually thinking about a MSI GTX760 Twin Frozr(paired with a weaker CPU), then I thought about buying a MSI GTX770 Twin Frozr(paired with the 4690K).
But now I saw so many good reviews about the GTX970 that I'm really unsure about that decision.


Efficincy is the most important part about it, I saved enough for any of the options but don't want to spend too much on 'small' increases in performance.
The average prices in my country are:
MSI GTX760 OC: 200€ (about 255$)
MSI GTX770: 254€ (about 324$) (+ with this one I'd get Borderlands The Pre-Sequel, not a dealbreaker but nice nonetheless ;P)
MSI GTX970: 349€ (about 445$)
(all Twin Frozr)


There are mainly three reasons I don't go for the GTX970 immediately.
1. Since it's so new, I'm afraid of being a kind of 'beta user' and having to deal with problems that will be fixed sometime.
2. Would the rest of my parts be powerful enough to support the 970 or would my system possibly bottleneck it?
3. If I were to a the 970, which brand should I get? I heard some good stuff about MSI but I'm open to suggestions :)

Are there any improvements I could do to other parts of my setup? (I guess the PSU could get a downgrade if I buy the GTX970?)


This is the first time I'm actually building a PC from scratch, so I apologize in advance if I did any major screwups :)


Thanks in advance for your help!

Greetings from Germany
FreFu
 
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welcome to techpowerup!.
powersupply is the most important part in a build, if that part ever fails then everything else might die aswell so thats why its so important
 

Frick

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If you have the money for it and is serious about gaming the GTX 970 is a killer card. It's faster than the Titan. A smidgeon slower than the 780 ti. The 770 is about 30% slower than the 970 on 1080p.
 
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I personally would either:
1. Get a board capable of SLI in case you want to go dual gpu in the future
2. Get a matx board instead if you are going to limit yourself to one gpu and build in a smaller case

Something like the MSI G45 Gaming instead of the G43 gives you that option in the future without costing much more. The 630w PSU should be find for dual 970s as long as you don't have loads of HDDs. I would go for the 970 as they are such an upgrade for not a huge expense. Fast, powerful and efficient. I keep finding I'm running out of VRAM with 2GB so that is a big plus of the 970. Also they will be around for longer if you want to add another in a years time. I'd stick with MSI/Asus/Gigabyte. I5 will be fine, even with dual 970s.

One thing missing from your build is a CPU cooler. I would got for a top end air option like a Noctua DH15 or Phantek PH-TC14PE. This will be quieter under load and allow you to overclock the I5 easily. A red Phantek will go lovely with the red and black colour scheme of a 970 and G45!
 

Aquinus

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Efficincy is the most important part about it, I saved enough for any of the options but don't want to spend too much on 'small' increases in performance.
Even though its the most expensive, the 970 has the best power efficiency for its performance out of all of those GPUs. They'll all idle about the same.

You won't bottleneck the 970, driver support gets better the older a card gets, so that's no reason to wait IMHO (unless you're doing 4k, which you're not), and lastly MSI has always made a good GPU for me. Both of my 6870s are MSI, one is reference one is TwinFrozr. It's important to note that the twinfrozr is quieter and idles lower however the reference cooler overclockers better as it doesn't recycle hot air back into the case like the twinfrozr (just like every other custom cooler.)

With fresh paste, they're about the same but the paste dries out twice as fast on the TwinFrozr, another thing worth mentioning.
 
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what @DinaAngel said......PSU THEN the rest
(seasonic...Cosair...etc.)"bequiet" SHOULD be named "BE CAREFUL"....970 IS VERY good. not cheap, but good stuff never is.
 

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FreFu

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Thanks for all the answers :)

I personally would either:
1. Get a board capable of SLI in case you want to go dual gpu in the future
2. Get a matx board instead if you are going to limit yourself to one gpu and build in a smaller case

Something like the MSI G45 Gaming instead of the G43 gives you that option in the future without costing much more. The 630w PSU should be find for dual 970s as long as you don't have loads of HDDs. I would go for the 970 as they are such an upgrade for not a huge expense. Fast, powerful and efficient. I keep finding I'm running out of VRAM with 2GB so that is a big plus of the 970. Also they will be around for longer if you want to add another in a years time. I'd stick with MSI/Asus/Gigabyte. I5 will be fine, even with dual 970s.

One thing missing from your build is a CPU cooler. I would got for a top end air option like a Noctua DH15 or Phantek PH-TC14PE. This will be quieter under load and allow you to overclock the I5 easily. A red Phantek will go lovely with the red and black colour scheme of a 970 and G45!

Didn't even think about getting a SLI-capable Board. Nice idea though! I found 2 different models of the G45, the Gaming 3 and the Gaming 5. Are there any real differences between those or is it just mainly the number of ports?

Thanks for the reminder for the CPU cooler, I completely forgot that. I never saw Phantek coolers here so I'll probably need to get a different one. I'll take a look at the the Noctua ;)




what @DinaAngel said......PSU THEN the rest
(seasonic...Cosair...etc.)"bequiet" SHOULD be named "BE CAREFUL"....970 IS VERY good. not cheap, but good stuff never is.

Like Frick said, Be Quiet has quite the good reputation over here and you will find their PSUs in a lot of setups, I didn't realize that they are not that known outside of Germany :)


Even though its the most expensive, the 970 has the best power efficiency for its performance out of all of those GPUs. They'll all idle about the same.

You won't bottleneck the 970, driver support gets better the older a card gets, so that's no reason to wait IMHO (unless you're doing 4k, which you're not), and lastly MSI has always made a good GPU for me. Both of my 6870s are MSI, one is reference one is TwinFrozr. It's important to note that the twinfrozr is quieter and idles lower however the reference cooler overclockers better as it doesn't recycle hot air back into the case like the twinfrozr (just like every other custom cooler.)

With fresh paste, they're about the same but the paste dries out twice as fast on the TwinFrozr, another thing worth mentioning.

Seems like everyone is leaning towards the 970. Yeah, just using 1080p and not planning to change that in the near future.
I can't really find the MSI 970 without TwinFrozr over here, is the difference really noticeable? I have no real issue with putting new paste on more often.




So here's my current setup of choice:

CPU: I5-4690K
CPU Cooler: Appropriate one (Noctua or maybe Alpenföhn?)
Mainboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 5 (or 3)
RAM: G.Skill DIMM 16GB DDR3-2133 Quad Kit, RipJawsZ
GPU: MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G
Case: Fractal Design Define R4
SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB
HDD: Western Digital 1TB, Blue
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power CM L8 630W


Any suggestions? :)
 

rtwjunkie

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I think that will be a solid rig!

Although I did not know what @Aquinus said about Twin Frozr GPU paste drying up quicker, I wouldn't let that deter you. It's a great cooler! And you'll be fine with the Be Quiet! PSU. It's a good brand, from all I have heard,

And welcome to TPU!
 
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red and black colour scheme of a 970 and G45!
Actually, the G45 is red/black/bown. I recommend the Gaming 5. (the Gaming 3 is NOT SLI compatible) Here's where you can compare their products. (and no, all of the different models don't make sense to me either:oops::laugh:)

Nice build. With that case, GPU and appropriate CPU cooler, it will be very quiet, even under load. If you're getting the R4 with a window, think about how the CPU cooler will look. Maybe a be quiet!' Dark Rock Pro 3?
 
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Don't get a quad kit, get a dual channel ram kit. Get the 970, skimp money on your ram if you have to. Buy 8 GB of ram (2x4GB), 1600 or higher 1.5v. Buy the SSD later if you don't have the cash for the 970.
 
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Thanks for all the answers :)



Didn't even think about getting a SLI-capable Board. Nice idea though! I found 2 different models of the G45, the Gaming 3 and the Gaming 5. Are there any real differences between those or is it just mainly the number of ports?

Thanks for the reminder for the CPU cooler, I completely forgot that. I never saw Phantek coolers here so I'll probably need to get a different one. I'll take a look at the the Noctua ;)






Like Frick said, Be Quiet has quite the good reputation over here and you will find their PSUs in a lot of setups, I didn't realize that they are not that known outside of Germany :)




Seems like everyone is leaning towards the 970. Yeah, just using 1080p and not planning to change that in the near future.
I can't really find the MSI 970 without TwinFrozr over here, is the difference really noticeable? I have no real issue with putting new paste on more often.




So here's my current setup of choice:

CPU: I5-4690K
CPU Cooler: Appropriate one (Noctua or maybe Alpenföhn?)
Mainboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 5 (or 3)
RAM: G.Skill DIMM 16GB DDR3-2133 Quad Kit, RipJawsZ
GPU: MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G
Case: Fractal Design Define R4
SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB
HDD: Western Digital 1TB, Blue
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power CM L8 630W


Any suggestions? :)

Well it comes down to how long you want your machine to last and what your resolution for gaming is. Based on the fact you said 1080p I can safely say that any of them will do just fine in that area with of course as being stated the 970 being the best of them all. I am a bit shocked by your prices though on the 970 as that is a bit much considering what the other prices are (Albeit the prices are a bit inflated right now). Might wanna shop around on that and see if you can get a better deal on that part otherwise your paying quite a premium. On that note you might be able to find some other GPU's on sale cheaper or around that spot from AMD or last gen Nvidia's that will perform better or as well for less (Depending on the site).

As for a cooler on the CPU, depends on the budget but if you want air I would say a Hyper 212 is a good value. But it will depend on your budget.
 

Aquinus

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I think that will be a solid rig!

Although I did not know what @Aquinus said about Twin Frozr GPU paste drying up quicker, I wouldn't let that deter you. It's a great cooler! And you'll be fine with the Be Quiet! PSU. It's a good brand, from all I have heard,

And welcome to TPU!
I thought I was just going nuts, but every single time I've replaced on both of my 6870's thermal compound, the TwinFrozr always ends up drying up faster. Not only faster, but in half the time as the reference cooler. The first sign is AMD drivers cutting out because the GPU is exceeding 80*C. It's nuts because when you replace the compound, I can pump 1.28v through it an get almost 1Ghz on the core and still get get manageable temperatures. I suspect it has something to do with how open the area around the die is versus the reference cooler. The reference cooler is much closer to the board and leaves only the smallest of gaps.

I will say this for my reference 6870. It might be loud as hell at 100% fan speed, but it can handle *anything* I throw at it, which includes 1.3v and 1Ghz core. The TwinFrozr... not so much. It limits me to about 970Mhz @ 1.25v tops.

All in all, if you want a quiet rig, get the TwinFrozr. If you want to OC like a banshee and not give two craps about how loud the fan is, the reference cooler will do wonders with a custom fan profile.

I should also note that I love my Zalman cooler. Not only does it work great, tall and narrow ensures that none of my 8 DIMM slots are covered by a cooler, so I have no limitation on what kind of DIMMs I can use with it.
 
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