1440p Gaming Build - Intel

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Dwarflord369

New member
Here's a build I'm thinking of putting together for desktop use with my Asus PB278Q 1440p monitor. My goal is to be able to play all modern games at Ultra settings at a minimum of 45 FPS (60 would be better though), one of the main games I'll be spending my time with is heavily modded Skyrim (ENB and 100+ mods).

Build
Case: Corsair C70 Vengeance in Gunmetal Black
PSU: Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 1200W
Optical Drive: Lite-On Black 12x Blu-Ray Burner
Fan Controller: NZXT Sentry Mix 2 (6 Channels @ 30W each)
Front Intake Fans: 2x AeroCool Shark 120mm Red LED
Rear Exhaust Fan: Corsair Air Series 120mm
Top Exhaust Fans (Radiator): 2x Corsair Air Series 140mm
Side Exhaust Fans: 2x AeroCool Shark 140mm Red LED
Bottom Intake Fan: Corsair Air Series 140mm
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
CPU: Intel i5 4670K
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60
GPU: MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming (SLI @ a later date)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X 2x4GB 1866MHz 9-10-9-28
OS Drive: Samsung 840 Evo 120GB SSD
Steam Drive: OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB SSD
Media Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB HDD
Cache Drive: OCZ Vertex 3 60GB SSD
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Cost
Corsair C70 - $119.99
NZXT Sentry Mix 2 - $29.99
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming & Intel 4670K & G.Skill Ripjaws X (Combo) - $486.99
MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming - $759.99
2x AeroCool Shark 120mm - $29.98
2x AeroCool Shark 140mm - $33.98
Corsair Air Series 120mm - $15.99
3x Corsair Air Series 140mm - $53.97

Subtotal - $1,530.88
Shipping - $45.56
GST - $78.82
PST - $110.35

Total - $1,765.61

Anything not listed under cost I already own. Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
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Edge said:
Would a 290 not serve you better for 1440p?
Click to expand...

290 and 290x are better at higher resolutions in most games. Some games just perfer Nvidia and they do much better at those.

I would get the Sapphire R9 290x tri-X GPU over the 780ti you listed.
You sure upgrade the case entirely. Any case using 80mm fans is a no no. 80mm fans are loud and move little air even at high speeds.
 
All looks good. The PSU unit is more than ample for the spec and you've already clarified why you're using that particular one. The 80mm fans I don't really see a use for, just seems like rather unnecessary clutter. The case is more subjective considering you're air/aio cooling the system and so don't need to worry about fitting custom water cooling systems. If it works and you like it go for it but personally I'd not use it.

If you game with cans then the 290x is definitely worth considering. Or go for a custom cooled 290x, cheapest I've found in the UK is £439.99 ($725.5). But I'd still go for a 780ti personally for a little more. Checking on newegg (US) actually shows the same price for the two cards before rebates. GTX 780ti seems the better buy!
 
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Well, since the Litecoin miners have driven the price of the 290X up to be on par with the 780 Ti there isn't much reason to go the AMD route. If I was playing at 4K the extra Vram would be a boone. At 1440p though, 3GB is more than sufficient for my needs.

If you have a suggestion for a case I'm all ears. I already own the NZXT Kraken X60 though, so I need a case it is compatible with. I'd also like something small, and light, that I can easily transport and will fit nicely under my desk. I'd also like to spend no more than $140 on the case.
 
Dwarflord369 said:
If you have a suggestion for a case I'm all ears. I already own the NZXT Kraken X60 though, so I need a case it is compatible with. I'd also like something small, and light, that I can easily transport and will fit nicely under my desk. I'd also like to spend no more than $140 on the case.
Click to expand...

It's just the looks that I don't agree with. It fits the spec and your requirements so that is excellent. Cases are very subjective so what I suggest you might consider crap.
 
I may like it, I may not. I cannot however make the right choice if I don't know all the possible choices, and I'm sure there are cases you know of that I haven't even considered :)
 
I don't know what your running at the moment and exactly what you intend to do with it but i'd want slightly more than a 780Ti for 1440p if your looking to enable all the eye candy possible. Get a case with a fair amount of fans included and maybe hold off on the cpu upgrade and go for two 780's/290's or at least work it out so you have the scope to do that in the future. Whatever you do don't spend $45 on a 200m and two 80mm fans because they will be pretty poor, it would be better invested in nice coherent 120mm cougars/noctuas/corsairs or get something like a Corsair Air 540 which already has 3 fans, nice room for your rad, maybe a cube isn't for everyone but you get my point.
 
Apparently the Arc Midi R2 isn't compatible with the NZXT Kraken X60, the Arc Mini R2 is though. How about the Corsair C70 Vengeance or Carbide 300R? Any thoughts on that case?
 
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on the PDF of compatible cases i see is where you came to that conclusion..

I'm sure it could fit if you modded a little bit.

Instead of those cases i would look at the NZXT H440. Cheaper than the C70 yet in my opinion far better.
 
I love my C70, and the handles make it great moving it back and forward.

ideally chose a few cases you like that meet the standard you want/need then post them up here and see what people say, and i agree going for 780's and sli'ing
 
remember300 said:
I love my C70, and the handles make it great moving it back and forward.

ideally chose a few cases you like that meet the standard you want/need then post them up here and see what people say, and i agree going for 780's and sli'ing
Click to expand...

I would get whatever is cheaper really for 780 SLI or 290 Xfire.. and in the US at least a 290 is cheaper and OP lives in the Sates iirc.

Nothing wrong with the C70 though.. IMO it just looks ugly.
 
The R9 290 and GTX 780 both go for $550 here in Canada.

As for cases:
HAF XB fits the bill, but I wish it had more 120/140mm fans
Corsair Carbide looks good, but no carrying handles, and not a fan of the cheap mesh
Corsair C70 Vengeance would work, just the styling is a tad aggressive for me personally
 
As for cases my first suggestion would be the Bitfenix Phenom. I'm currently messing around with a build in said case and its beautiful. However since you're going to be moving the computer about I would most likely go for the bitfenix prodigy instead for the handles. Surprising how much you can squeeze in those cases when you get your hands on them.

Corsair Carbide series cases all look great IMO, the 300r window version looks fantastic, a beaut if not for those fan mounts in the acrylic. But considering your portability requirements your original choice seems better.

Other cases I've worked with recently would be the Fractal Arc midi r2 and the Corsair 540 air. The corsair 540 air case isn't that nice to port about the place as my brother can attest to [lumbering it from Cheltenham to London wasn't fun!]. It however was very easy to build in and has plenty of options. The window side panel seemed a bit too flimsy for my liking however the quality of the case outer plastic to the eye and touch is nothing short of excellent.

The Fractal Arc midi r2 for air flow (especially to gpu's) is absolutely superb. Makes using R9 290's in xfire less of a chore. Again like the 540 air plenty of options for various build specs and later for watercooling as well. Easier to hold and move about compared to the 540 but the feet of the case do come off rather easily if slid about too much across either wooden or carpet floors.

Some food for thought and I hope somewhat useful. But like I said, all subjective :wiggle:
 
Dwarflord369 said:
Well, since the Litecoin miners have driven the price of the 290X up to be on par with the 780 Ti.
Click to expand...


Erm. What? The 780Ti is over £100 more here in the UK, and everyone I have found in the US is at least $100 difference.

If you want the best experience at 1440p you are best off with 2 280X/290's imo, good price to performance, and the scaling of the 290(X) is the best in multi-GPU history. A single card (even the 780Ti) isn't enough to max absolutely everything at 1440p 60FPS sadly. I have 2 R9 280X and play at 1440p. I can run everything at maximum at 60FPS apart from crysis 3 and metro last light. 2 R9 280X is quite a bit faster than a 780Ti, so that should give you a performance comparision
 
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Okay, well, for arguments sake:

MSI R9 290X Gaming - $800 - 1040MHz - 4GB
MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming - $760 - 1020MHz/1085MHz - 3GB
MSI R9 290 Gaming - $600 - 1007MHz - 4GB
MSI GTX 780 Gaming - $550 - 954MHz/1006MHz - 3GB
MSI R9 280X Gaming - $500 - 1000MHz/1050MHz - 3GB
MSI GTX 770 Gaming - $420 - 1137MHz/1189MHz - 4GB

Those are the prices on all the high end cards on Newegg Canada. I will not buy a card with a stock cooler, just much too loud. I honestly prefer nVidia to AMD for their drivers, and I prefer a strong single GPU to an SLI setup. A lot of you think I could do better for the money though, so have at it. What do you think would get me the best FPS for under $1000? Please back-up your answer with facts, benches are appreciated. Honestly, if I were to go SLI I'm thinking GTX 770 4GB would be my best bet.

Also, the more I look at the Corsair C70 Vengeance, the more I like it. I think that's going to be my case.
 
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