My current build is here: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/zDgqnQ - These are the only parts I need, no OS or peripherals.
Intel i5 4960k with a GTX 970 SSC.
Currently using an old HP 1680 x 1050 monitor, hoping for an Ultrawide 1080p in the future, wanting to play at 60fps, High settings.
Since my post on /r/buildapc was ignored, I thought I'd post here.
This is my first PC build, though I have disassembled and reassembled a few PCs, but I haven't dual booted Windows and Linux before with two hard drives. I'm not sure what the best way to do this is and am having trouble finding a guide. Also I'm not completely confident in the parts I have chosen, and I don't know if the PSU has the correct wattage for my build. Finally the motherboard is $134.99 on the Canada Computers website, not sure why PC Part Picker is wrong.
Thanks in advance.
1080p ultrawide really isn't worth it, you'd be better off just getting a 1440p korean monitor
And if I'm not mistaken you can just dualboot the SSD, perhaps getting a 240gb one, and use the hard drive for both OSes as the secondary drive, assuming the filesystem on it is compatible with both.
Well it's a bit overbudget, by 32 CAD, but it now has a 256gb SSD, an 8 thread xeon CPU, and a 390 over the 970, which costs a bit more and uses a bit more energy, but has 8gbs of VRAM, and is overall faster than the 970. if the bit of extra money is really going to kill ya, then just get the 970 I suppose, though then you could get away with dropping the PSU to a lower wattage one as well.
Course if any of those mail in rebates work, which they never do from my experience, than you're all set
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/ftmJ99
You might as well get the xeon over the i5, I'd only recommend the i5 if you were to attempt a hardware passthrough, otherwise you get 4 more threads for only 20 bucks more than the 4960k
I would actually say a 1080p ultra wide is totally worth it. If your already used to 1080p monitors the ultra wide makes it even more epic. Especially since your using a 970. It can drive 1440p but will have a much easier time at ultra wide 1080.
That Xeon isn't the 8 thread one, thats the 4 core 4 thread I5 version of the Xeon E3. The 1231-v3 and higher are the only E3's with Hyper Threading.
Fixed it, gotta change something else though, most likely the PSU, and the case apparently
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/cpxPqs You get a powerful 4 core and 8 thread Xeon system thats highly capable of gaming and getting work done. The R9 390 is a great card for the money, that should allow you to max out games at 1050p and 1080p for for next couple years.
I don't know the korean monitor situation in canada, but if it's anything like here a korean 1440p costs the same as a 21:9 1080p monitor, ya get more pixels for the same amount of dough, plus the vertical space is great.
Might just have to go 21:9 in canada then, or somehow acquire the shimian 1440p monitor that might still be on the US amazon
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-monitor-25um57p
21:9 IPS, 1080p
I agree that 1440p is nice but I don't think it's a good idea for one 970. Especially in a year or so when games are using even more vram. But I guess it depends on the kind of games he will play
Also right now it kind of does suck buying a Korean monitor with the Canada to US exchange rate at the moment.
The E3 Xeon's are great as desktop chips because you can get them for less then an I7 and get all the functionality plus more features if you want to upgrade down the line.
Skylake is already released one, and two it is way more expensive then Haswell and doesn't offer any noticeable jump in gaming. He'd be paying $50 CAD more for almost no bump. Haswell is on fire sale right now and he can cash in on that.
Never really thought about using a Xeon. But it ends up being cheaper than the 4960k + the cooler I had.
Why don't we see more people using Xeons in there builds if the prices are so similar? How much better is it really?
It's basically an i7 with no integrated graphics, people kinda forget it exists. I'd also imagine the pricing has gone down at some point.
@kevindavid3
While that is true, could just get the 390 over the 970.
And if not assuming the 21:9 1080p and 1440p monitor cost the same, there's no reason not to get the 1440p monitor and just run games at a lower resolution.
The vertical space is just a god send.
That looks pretty good, thanks. What makes the one @Streetguru put together any different though? I don't know much about motherboards, does Micro ATX and ATX have any difference in performance? The specs look pretty similar.
Aside from additional PCI slots, and possibly memory slots, the size of the PC will be smaller with micro ATX + micro ATX case.