TechPowerUp 4K Gaming Build Guide

[TheDeeGee]

I am a bit surprised to see the Logitech G710 being recommended, given the fat that its keycap's stems have a tendency to break.

Got my G710+ for over 2 years now and the only thing that gave up 2 months ago is the Volume Control, but that's fine cuz i got my ZxR ACM.

Not sure how you're using your Keyboard.

 

[LiveOrDie]

THAT is what we call a GPU-LIMIT

My point to a tee why upgrade or spend more on a CPU when the GPU will always be the bottle neck.

 

[W1zzard]

Also I have mixed feelings about a Thermaltake product being recommended, but why not. Perhaps this case is not a ripped-off design — I did not check that either.

Several vendors use that base chassis and it's fantastic. I have personally built a system recently with it, best case I ever used, in that price region

 

[L.ccd]

Got my G710+ for over 2 years now and the only thing that gave up 2 months ago is the Volume Control, but that's fine cuz i got my ZxR ACM.

Not sure how you're using your Keyboard.

Check the internets, it's a known issue with Logitech mechanical keyboards (much like dying LEDs in Corsair keyboards, albeit less widespread). Of course the majority of owners won't experience this, but why not opt for a keyboard with no recurrent flaw when you put $100+ in it?

Several vendors use that base chassis and it's fantastic. I have personally built a system recently with it, best case I ever used, in that price region

I am sure it is a more than decent piece of equipment, I just thought that a comparable case from a company not known for macking bucks off ripped-off designs could be recommended instead, but I get your point.

 

[Footman]

Dedicated sound card. Small investment, big difference!
I gave away my Audigy many years ago and then tried a Xonar more recently. The Xonar drivers were so bad I went back to onboard sound and tbh I thought I was satisfied until I recently purchased a Creative Sound Blaster Zx. The difference between onboard sound and dedicated sound card was huge. I run with a HeroVll motherboard that is supposed to have decent Supreme ll sound, however, I couldn't have been more mistaken. All of the background hissing and popping and reduced sound stage that I had put up with was eliminated with the new sound card. I am listening to music again and enjoying games, even my stupid K/D ration in BF4 has improved as I can determine more easily where people are by sound!!!

Anyhow, point I'm making is that I believe that budgeting for a basic sound card should be integral with these builds. Yes I realize that the focus was 4K, however good sound will balance the build a little better. Budget $100 for something like the Creative Sound Blaster Z or Zx, even the Win 10 drivers are solid!

 

[Footman]

Several vendors use that base chassis and it's fantastic. I have personally built a system recently with it, best case I ever used, in that price region

Oh, BTW the Thermaltake cases are terrific. Good value too.
Here is my current case Thermaltake core V71 with a pair of GTX 970's. I have now swapped them out for a single GTX980Ti and added Sound Blaster Zx.

Without mods, or the need to remove drive cages I can slot a 360 at the front and up to 420 at the top!

 

[AlderaaN]

The Thermaltake Core V31 case recommendation is horrible when taking into account the amount of heat 2 x GTX 980 Tis produce while gaming.

Even more so when taking into consideration said GPUs coolers' form-factor, which will basically throw all that heat straight at the plastic window, practically baking it while adding lots of heat to the entire system in the process.

 

[Musaab]

If I had to pay all this money I would pay extra 40$ and buy G.SKILL RIPJAWS KM780 RGB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823828001

 

[Musaab]

Oh, BTW the Thermaltake cases are terrific. Good value too.
Here is my current case Thermaltake core V71 with a pair of GTX 970's. I have now swapped them out for a single GTX980Ti and added Sound Blaster Zx.

Without mods, or the need to remove drive cages I can slot a 360 at the front and up to 420 at the top!

How did you fit the fans and fittings for the radiator in the front. hard job and great clean build.

 

[Footman]

How did you fit the fans and fittings for the radiator in the front. hard job and great clean build.

Thanks. The V71 and V51 have a space between the front panel and drive cages, specifically for a slim rad I believe up to 28mm. The fans site on the other side of the panel under the dust cover. There is just enough room at the bottom for the barbs to stick straight out. I was not able to get compression fittings there due to them hitting the bottom of the drive cage. I guess if you don't have many drives you can just get rid of the drive cages altogether and mount the SSD/HHD on the other side of the motherboard panel. There is plenty of room there...
It's pretty big case, but easy to work with. The rad at the top is a Swiftech 240 with integrated reservoir and pump, so that neatens up the entire build.

 

[Musaab]

I a

Thanks. The V71 and V51 have a space between the front panel and drive cages, specifically for a slim rad I believe up to 28mm. The fans site on the other side of the panel under the dust cover. There is just enough room at the bottom for the barbs to stick straight out. I was not able to get compression fittings there due to them hitting the bottom of the drive cage. I guess if you don't have many drives you can just get rid of the drive cages altogether and mount the SSD/HHD on the other side of the motherboard panel. There is plenty of room there...
It's pretty big case, but easy to work with. The rad at the top is a Swiftech 240 with integrated reservoir and pump, so that neatens up the entire build.

I am planning to go with Case Labs for my next build. They are expensive but strong, ageless and like bat mobile can do everything.

 

[Footman]

I a
I am planning to go with Case Labs for my next build. They are expensive but strong, ageless and like bat mobile can do everything.

They are great cases. I wish I could afford one. My problem is that I get bored quickly with the look of my computer and an expensive case makes no sense to me.
I am already looking at this for a new build!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=thermaltake_v51-_-11-133-281-_-Product

Bit of green Mayhems pastel fluid and away I go.

 

[BigMack70]

4k TVs are more of a joke. You need to spend 8k or more for a proper 4k TV (one that will actually handle the signal bandwidth and is capable of displaying it). I doubt someone spending 3k on a system will want to do that. They are more then likely going to buy a better monitor.

8k for a proper 4k TV? Huh? It's not 2012 anymore. 4k TVs are very affordable. High quality options are available for $1000-2000 that can do 60 Hz 4:4:4 chroma, and nearly all of them have a PC mode which reduced input lag etc to levels which are acceptable.

4k at under 40" is a gigantic waste of money.

 

[Xzibit]

8k for a proper 4k TV? Huh? It's not 2012 anymore. 4k TVs are very affordable. High quality options are available for $1000-2000 that can do 60 Hz 4:4:4 chroma, and nearly all of them have a PC mode which reduced input lag etc to levels which are acceptable.

4k at under 40" is a gigantic waste of money.

You probably mean 60hz 8bit 4:4:4 which makes the jump to 4k irrelevant if your staying at HD color level.

 

[BigMack70]

You probably mean 60hz 8bit 4:4:4 which makes the jump to 4k irrelevant if your staying at HD color level.

lol what the heck are you talking about? You do realize 10-bit color is irrelevant except for professional graphics work, right?

 

[Xzibit]

lol what the heck are you talking about? You do realize 10-bit color is irrelevant except for professional graphics work, right?

Might want to tell BDA or ITU-R

 

[btarunr]

Next week I'll cover a $2250 build for smooth 1440p@120 Hz gaming.

 

[GreiverBlade]

funny tho ... the price of your MSI 980Ti's is almost same as the value of my ASUS 980 Poseidon Platinum at a retailer/etailer
were i am a Ti cost more the price of a Titan Black than the price you list (example 659$ for your Ti and 639chf/664.22$ for my 980 and the lowest price in Ti is stock cooler and 729chf/757.77$ even with the VaT or toll taxes i doubt it would make the difference that huge ... )

 

[Musaab]

In my country there are two shops sales 980Ti and price is 200$ higher than US prices. So I buy them from Amazon.

 

[deemon]

2% faster isn't much. not even really worth talking about lol, You could pick up a older 3770K for this same 4K machine then price per performance is now redundant to for the 6700K as there is hardly any worth while boost if FPS.

This is true only for GPU-bottlenecked/limited games. Not all games rely only and heavily on GPU, some actually need CPU also.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Get a huge 4k TV instead.

Good god, that's the worst idea I've seen for a long time.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Dedicated sound card. Small investment, big difference!
I gave away my Audigy many years ago and then tried a Xonar more recently. The Xonar drivers were so bad I went back to onboard sound and tbh I thought I was satisfied until I recently purchased a Creative Sound Blaster Zx. The difference between onboard sound and dedicated sound card was huge. I run with a HeroVll motherboard that is supposed to have decent Supreme ll sound, however, I couldn't have been more mistaken. All of the background hissing and popping and reduced sound stage that I had put up with was eliminated with the new sound card. I am listening to music again and enjoying games, even my stupid K/D ration in BF4 has improved as I can determine more easily where people are by sound!!!

Anyhow, point I'm making is that I believe that budgeting for a basic sound card should be integral with these builds. Yes I realize that the focus was 4K, however good sound will balance the build a little better. Budget $100 for something like the Creative Sound Blaster Z or Zx, even the Win 10 drivers are solid!

Honestly, at this point I would reccomend a USB dac/amp so you don't ever have to worry about pcie interfaces, driver shenanigans, and more modular/upgradable. Just use optical out to something like an E5 if you don't want USB. Electrically isolated and an infinitely better DAC with the amp of your choice, since most high end sets will require a dedicated device to be driven properly.

 

[deemon]

Good god, that's the worst idea I've seen for a long time.

By now you should be old enough to know, there is no god and santa claus. Forget your pipedreams.

Also the idea is not that bad... if you can get somewhere low-latency 4k TV.

also be wary of this particular TV he is using there and read below it comments like:
"NO chroma 4:4:4 as well input lag is huge, i bought myself Philips BDM4065UC omg so much better...". So just in case check the TV manuals before and reviews etc.

This explanation seems better (what the PRO-s and CON-s are when using TV as monitor and also what info to look for before you buy one):

 

[Xzibit]

By now you should be old enough to know, there is no god and santa claus. Forget your pipedreams.

Also the idea is not that bad... if you can get somewhere low-latency 4k TV.

He forgot to read his manual and just like most of the 4k TVs out there. They don't support full 4k. 8 bit / YCbCr 4:2:0. Low end chip. The 4k monitor he was using is doing a better job displaying the image then the TV will ever do. A $350 4k TN 28" 6-bit+FRC monitor will beat it and have better latency.

 

[xorbe]

I'm probably the only person that wants a 24" 4K screen (with proper OS font/icon scaling). I don't want more text, just sharper text. Though I want it in 16:10 ratio.