Desktop Build Advice

Ilium

Member
Hello All,

I am looking to invest in a new desktop primarily for heavy gaming with some light music production. Planning on also purchasing a 1440p monitor to accompany it which from what I have read the GTX 980 should be more than capable of maximizing.

I would appreciate a sense check of the below build and any opinions on potential changes. Budget is flexible another hundred or so but ideally wouldn't want to spend much more unless there is a significant benefit.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z97P-D3: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 - 1 DVI, 1 mHDMI, 3 mDP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT Game with Select GTX 9 Series GPUs!
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler (£29)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Firewire
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Windows 10 Upgrade
FREE Upgrade to Windows 10 with all Windows 7 & Windows 8.1 Purchases*
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,347.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/TOmYWYPE8N/
 

Tom DWC

Moderator
Moderator
Looks like a very well put together system to me. I would be inclined to go for 16GB of RAM and run in dual channel from the get-go but it's no biggie and you can always add another stick later.

Yep the 980 will be absolutely fine at 1440p, I get by with a 970 though the 980 will give you a little more room for maneuver. It really is the ideal resolution as far as price to performance is concerned at the moment.
 

Ilium

Member
Thank you Tom. I have toyed for a long while between 8 or 16GB ram and after plenty of reading came to the conclusion 8 would be sufficient for my needs. However due to the relatively small price difference I may just opt for the 16.

My only concern was cooling as I have had bad experiences with overheating in custom build pcs before - do you think the case and cooling options are sufficient for this system?

Thanks again for your help, it is much appreciated.
 

Tom DWC

Moderator
Moderator
In regards to the RAM, having two sticks of an equal capacity allows the memory to run in "dual channel" for a slight performance bump, which is my main reason for suggesting it (rather than the amount). It's only a small difference though.

You've selected a good quality case and a decent aftermarket cooler so given that the system isn't overclocked, there should be no issues when it comes to cooling.
 

Ilium

Member
I am having a little trouble finalising my motherboard choice and would appreciate some advice.

I do not plan on overclocking or running SLI cards and the system will be used mainly for gaming so which would be the best motherboard choice out of the four below:

Gigabyte Z97P-D3
Asus Z97P
Asus Z97A
Asus Z97 PRO GAMER

I have tried to research this as much as possible but am slightly confused due to the minor differences which would be preferable.

Thanks in advance
 

Cadwah

Rising Star
With no overclocking needs or need for SLI then you should just get the cheapest one, they are all very good motherboards.
 

Ilium

Member
Hello again guys.

I have been debating whether instead of the GTX 980 to go for the Titan X but had a few questions around this.

Firstly, do you think the price increase justifies the performance gain particularly with gaming at 1440p? And secondly, what additional changes would be required to accomadate the Titan? I understand I would need to increase the PSU to 750w but what about the case or the cooling options?

Thanks in advance
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Hello again guys.

I have been debating whether instead of the GTX 980 to go for the Titan X but had a few questions around this.

Firstly, do you think the price increase justifies the performance gain particularly with gaming at 1440p? And secondly, what additional changes would be required to accomadate the Titan? I understand I would need to increase the PSU to 750w but what about the case or the cooling options?

Thanks in advance

The Titan x would only make sense to me if you are gaming at 4k. No need to make any adjustments in your set up in terms of case and cooling options
 
Top