PC setup for Fallout 3 and New Vegas modded heavily

[Skipjack647]

Thanks for the post FMod. I will still get the 4690K, as I saw similar tests and they both performed the same. I dont do or want to do heavy editing, if I did do editing, it would be simple stuff for YouTube.

 

How do you know the MSI has better cooling? The fans didnt look any bigger. After reading reviews, the cards actual VRAM for gaming is only 3.5 gb, and the other .5gb is used for something else(dont know what). Is the EVGA the same and do all cards do this?

 

The small price difference between the XL and the Midi makes me want the XL. Fans are cheap, I can get cooling, I can crank up those fans to whatever they need(the noise doesnt bother me and I use a headset usually anyway), and the room in which my PC would be has many fans and is cold, and the case is huge. The only thing deterring me is the actual size, but I dont think it would get in the way.

 

Also, Ive been looking at PSUs, but I have no idea what amount of wattage I need or even how to calculate how much, and brands I have no idea about. What tells you guys how much wattage you need and cant I just get a big 1000w PSU and be done? Just guessing, but it seems like there wont be 1000w constant, so would it matter how much if it is more then it needs? Less strees, right?

[Skipjack647]

What about the the ASUS Pro Gamer?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132412

 

It seems to be a well made board and it has all the slots I need plus more.

 

It seems my lit is shaping up. Provided this is a good board, all the things going on it will be of good quality.

 

Do yall want a revised list for further revision?

[hoofhearted4]

the Arc Midi is a few years old now, i believe they made an R2. could even be further then that, im not sure....I could easily fit 2 cards in there, but it is smaller then an XL (duh). ive never had a problem with air flow. i have 2x140mm fans in the front, 1x140mm in the back, and 4x120mm on an H100i in push/pull in the top. silent. never any problems. i think there is even room for a fan on the bottom of the case too haha. I'm not saying dont go with the XL, but ill say the midi is a big case on its own. i can post pictures if you like, to get a sense of size.

[FMod]

The cooling system MSI uses is better, it's not a guess based on the descriptions, I'm familiar with them. Its advantage is providing enough cooling for some o/c at less than 100% fan speed, so it might not matter if you wear headsets and no one else is around to care. But if nothing else it's cheaper in this case as well, if there's no difference, take the cheaper one.

 

Memory allocation is a property of the 970 itself. Nvidia makes the chips, OEMs in china solder them on standard boards, EVGA and MSI just slap the coolers on and package them up. All of the 4GB is for gaming (not that you'd ever notice if it was only 3.5!), it's internal interface having slower access to the last 512MB. Anyway it's not something any end user should be concerned about, let the engineers do their jobs.

 

The Asus board is all right, there are cheaper options that are just as good, but that's a few bucks anyway. For this CPU the board matters very little.

 

 

hoof: I used to think there was such a thing as a case being large enough, but have been proven wrong every time I thought "Well, *this one* has to do it". Not everyone has my upgrading habits, but a case being too large isn't likely to hurt you, while a case being too small is a couple hours of reassembling things to squeeze one more part in.

Also, some things are difficult to cool in a constrained space (HDD arrays, CFX/SLI setups), and to unconstrain it you have to have a lot of excess of space, because they don't make intermediate mounting options just for you.

 

 

Edit: Forgot the PSU. It's not wattage that matters as much as quality. I'll look up on pcpartpicker tomorrow (assuming you're buying this week) which good PSU are on sale currently. Basically you want an 80+ Bronze or better PSU, but not just any, there's a lot of of OEMs and lines and models, some are good, others not.

Edited May 7, 2015 by FMod

[Skipjack647]

Ok. I may just get the Midi.

 

Pics would be nice.

[Skipjack647]

Sorry for double post, but thanks for the clarification FMod. Ill get the MSI then. i will post a new list in a few minutes.

 

All I really want to know now is MOBOs then PSUs. What is a good MOBO for my setup I want? Im looking but I cant tell whats what. I thought the ASUS was pretty good but according to FMod there is better.

[FMod]

Read above, I've updated the post.

There's "arguably better", mostly there's as good but cheaper, seriously speaking it's not worth the time trying to pick out the perfect board.

 

Take the XL if you plan to ever do SLI/CFX or mount a lot of HDD storage. For a single card it doesn't help.

[Skipjack647]

I read your updated post just FYI.

 

now knowing that, I'll just get the ASUS I linked. I'll get the standard Midi. I dont pan on SLI because of price and heat, and I wont more than 1tb to start off as I'll have a SSD as well and my dad has a button of HDDs from work at home.

 

So wattage doesnt matter? I see what your saying with the 80+ rating, but what wattage is needed? Could I just get a big ole 1000w of good quality and be done or is there math to do?

 

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EDIT: Ok, Im looking at PSUs and I have no idea what wattage. I read that 80+ Bronze is pretty much bare minimum, but i dont know if i need a specific wattage, like if my rig draws 600x i need a 750x PSU, or if I can get a big 1000w PSU and be done. need help here.

 

 

 

Also, monitors. From what Ive read and know, I'll need 144mhz because of my graphics card. I want 1080, but i dont know a good size. I was think 26 to 28 inches, but I dunno.

 

suggestions?

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EDIT 2: After looking, it seems Corsair has the better end of PSUs. I looked at there CX series, which is their step up from the basic ones, and this one is modular, has sleeved cables, and is 850 watts. Again, i dont know what wattage I need, whether it needs to be specific, get a little extra, etc. So bear with me.

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/cx-series-cx850m-modular-atx-power-supply-850-watt-80-plus-bronze-certified-modular-psu

 

I looked at some monitors and this ASUS seems to have what i want. It is 1080p, has a 144hz refresh, and is a good size of 26 inches. Is this good or is there something else that is better?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236313

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Edited May 7, 2015 by Skipjack647

[Sniper24]

The 4790K is considerably more expensive and generally I can't think of a game where it makes any improvement.

Watch Dogs and Crysis 3 come to my mind, but in general you're right. For gaming alone the i5 is a great choice.

 

 

For PSUs: 850W is way too much for a single GTX 970. Even with running Prime and Furmark at the same time, an OC i5 + GTX 970 build won't draw more than 400W out of the outlet, so any PSU above 650W is a waste of money IMHO.

Furthermore, the Corsair CX are of rather poor quality. A cheap sleeve bearing fan, mediocre capacitors, group regulated etc.

 

Take a look at this review:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=416

The 850W uses the same platform, so the (poor) results should be more or less the same.

 

I'd recommend a smaller 550-650W DC-DC-unit with higher efficiency and better internal components, such as one of these:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=24443591

 

 

Considering the mainboards, I'm not too much of an expert when it comes to OC, but both the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 and the Asus Z97-PRO GAMER are two of the standard recommendations for good, reliable and solid OC platforms.

As the Gigabyte is cheaper than the Asus (at least in the US, over here the Asus is a bit cheaper), I'd go for the Gigabyte.

[Skipjack647]

Sorry. I just dont know anything about PSUs. I thought Corsair was of good quality.

 

so 550-650w will be alright? How will extra wattage effect the machine? Is it okay to have some extra but not a lot?

 

What about this? It is a step up from the CS series, certified 80+ Gold, and is a plentiful wattage.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139060

 

I choose the ASUS over the GIGABYTE simply because the ASUS seemed more compatible for more things, specifically expansion slots and RAM OC. I may be wrong but I think it is better from my ignorant point of view.

 

 

Everything seems to shape up now. I think I have the actual box setup, case and all after the PSU. Next is peripherals, which is really just a good 1080p, 144hz monitor. I dont care too much for Keyboard and mouse.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Skipjack647