Part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/sifferz/saved/MZ8Pxr
Notes: Aiming for 60fps steady 1080p gaming, (mostly) fire and forget max settings. As for RAM, I'm just pulling 8 of the 16 gigs out of my current system and planting them in this one, as the idea is for my current rig to go to my wife. I have a case picked out that isn't on part picker, and I'm mostly just after any advice or ideas before I pull the trigger, as multiple perspectives are always wise.
My wife and I both have monitors already, so I'm not planning on an upgrade in that department for the time being - mostly just hoping that G-Sync monitors come down in price in the next year or two, as that looks outstanding.
The CPU cooler should be quiet enough and the psu has enough headroom to OC the 970 as much as you want.
You should check if your case supports your CPU (over 30cm large). Also check how many fans it comes with, you might want to add one or two to get some airflow going.
His aim is 1080p constant 60fps max settings, an APU isnt going to cut it. The video shows mid settings 1080p with an average of 27 fps and a min of 20. A 970 can handle high 1440p just fine, Max settings 1080p on very demanding games should get him a min fps of around 60 and average fps of about 70-80.
btw you should downsample from 1440p or so in medium demanding games with a 970.
Probably the case I'm going with - not a final choice, but it looks to fit my needs and have plenty of fan slots. I think you're all right about removing the closed loop cooler - too much money, overkill, and I really have no intention of OC'ing this processor (nor can I, for that matter) - so I'll get a $20-$30 third party one
Mainly went with that PSU due to the promotional price/rebate putting it right on par in price with one more in line with my actual needs. If the price goes up at buying time, I'll step it down.
Downsampling was definitely part of the plan - and I am also aiming for framerates beyond 60. So an APU would be the wrong choice and then some for my current goals, yes.
Personally i would probably get this smaller case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811345012&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID= and add 2 bitfenix spectre for the front (window panel version comes with an extra free fan)
For a gaming machine you should not be using a B85 chipset. You'll get much better performance out of a z87 or z97. Respectfully, most of this build is garbage and low end. If your serious about gaming, you shouldn't be gaming over WiFi.
Whats wrong with B85? It still has full PCIE lanes for a single gfx card so anything from a 980 to Titan Z or R9 295x2 will run at full speed. It's still an I5 running at full speed, no gimping from the chipset at all. There is nothing in the chipset that should make it a single frame lower then a z97 rig. If your overclocking then there's a difference but thats a whole new price bracket and I'll bet $20 that an I5 and Gtx 970 can run anything at 1080% full details and all. Doesn't matter the chipset. And you can be a serious gamer over WiFi. If you had your pc in your basement and a powerful router upstairs that got you full signal down in the basement, would it make you any less serious then if you were right next to the router? Seriously Trinkah I'm guessing you consider yourself hardcore, so would that change if your rig was connected via wifi? A good WiFi router and WiFi router deliver just as good as wired performance across the span of a normal house. My Asus ac1700u gives me full 5/5 bar signal to my basement via an Asus AC68 WiFi card in my basement pc. If i do speedtest on the upstairs wired computer I get the EXACT same 50 ping, 60 down, and 10 up that I get downstairs over the WiFi.
+1. In fact, b85 is a business class chipset - which usually means more stable drivers as businesses require stability. If you've got poorly written drivers, DCP latency can occur - and the majority of computers out there don't use a Z series chipset due to most people not needing the features.
Zoltan discusses it here: https://teksyndicate.com/forum/inboxexe/dpc-latency-lesson/187050
I don't really see how the entire build is garbage - care to elaborate? Nothing wrong with the B85 set since I don't plan to SLI and it certainly won't be gimping the processor or GPU, and I'm not really after overclocking. Past that, I'm using that exact wifi chip in my current rig and it nets me just the same down/up speed as all the wired stuff in the house (30/5 here)