Hi guys, I'm building a new gaming pc and I wanted to run my initial thoughts past you... Asus Z97-A £107 i7 4790K £260 Zalman LQ310 £50 Crucial Balistix Sport 2x4GB £62 GTX 770 £229 weighted towards cpu, but then it's so easy to update GFX and RAM in a few years, I'd like to keep mobo and cpu for longer. Any thoughts? Also - can of worms time - I'm wondering whether to move up to Win 8.1 I'm very happy w Win 7 but heard rumours support was ending in 2015 (can't really believe this - my office is just about to upgrade to 7 ) But also heard 8.1 has better performance under the hood. Any thoughts? Is it worth me trying to get past that horrible looking UI or should I stick with what I know and like? Cheers
I'd go Windows 8.1, update 2 is due shortly (possibly 12 August, which is the next patch Tuesday). This would be worth it. You can use ClassicShell (just install the Start Menu component), and the theme patcher to use an alternative theme. You can actually get a Windows 7 look with Aero Glass (taskbar has the effect applied if you disable taskbar transparency in Windows, such as through ClassicShell). So, look wise, there isn't any excuse . If you want me to elaborate on the process let me know.
Looks like a good build to me. 4790K is huge over the Q6600 (it's what I came from). I hope you're looking at a SSD if you don't already have one. Look at the Crucial MX100 512GB. I wouldn't worry much about Win 8.1. Otherwise, go for it.
I'd only go with Win8 if it isn't limiting the budget on other components, otherwise stay with what you have.
Hi guys. It's kind of a new build w the ssd going across from my current pc but a new os. So I need to buy win 7 or 8
Sorry for so many replies.... Is on board sound ok? My sound card is very old and I always struggle with drivers. In fact after last install it's just being driven by windows. Wondering whether to ditch it for simplicity's sake Thx
Parts look good but a link would help, may be able to suggest other options. If you are buying new, may as well go with 8. I ditched my old sound card from this build, after giving the on board audio a chance I decided it wasn't worth for me to up-grade.
I'm using a 10yr old Audigy 2. Have you tried DK's drivers? If you're already happy with W7 stick with it. Otherwise u could go with 8.1.
Get an i5 and spend the extra money on a better graphics card like the AMD 290 imo. Stick with Windows 7 imo.
The i7-4790K doesn't really perform much better per clock than the i5-4690K (if at all) when you take into account the price difference. It's why people are recommending the i5-4690K, since most games fall into the category of 'if at all'. With things like Mantle and Directx 12 next year this probably won't change any time soon. Hyperthreading basically allows for the processor to be more fully loaded, and to run a greater number of threads parallel but with reduced performance on each thread. This is depending on the load between the two threads sharing the core. The main performance benefit comes from the reduces latency penalty of switching between threads, and also because the CPU can be more fully loaded. It's a good idea in principle, but seemingly there should be no reason why the i7-4790K should command such a hugh price over that of the i5-4690K. In all honestly, you would probably still be paying too much if you only had to pay $30 extra. I'm not sure about the validity of this claim, but apparently there has been a greater overclocking success with the i5-4690K than the i7-4790K...
Thx guys, I also use After Effects a lot and some of it is intensive renders. Would the i7 be an advantage there?
Thought so. Thanks for all your help everyone. I found an 'as new' Sapphire TriX 290 for £230 so I got that and stuck w the i7. All ordered now One more question, should I get some thermal paste for the CPU and cooler? If so, what's a current favourite? Cheers
looks good and get win8.1 Although I would chose a little faster ram, at least 2133mhz CL9 if you can. EDIT: Noctua NH-T1 is good paste, one of better ones, those top quality are usually only 1-2C cooler.
hmmm... £7....So I could just stick w the paste that comes w the Zalman LQ310 and it might just be 1C difference?
Or that, you can check how other cpus act at similar voltage/freq., if they're a lot cooler then it could be weak paste.