Did I go overboard with my new pc?

[Heat-Wave]

I think he's comparing the top end 8 core amd which was around $300 I think with the top end new x99 i7 chipset with a 20mb L3 cache which is actually $1,000.00.

 

Good point...

 

Many people are under the mistaken belief that AMD's 8 core CPU actually is a real 8 core CPU.

 

Ok, it does have 8 integer units, but frankly, outside of a few specific situations, the Intel 4 core CPUs beat it.

[jagertharn]

So say all I'm doing is gaming. will this config be able to put out a solid 60+fps. I'm just playing on a 1920x1080 monitor.

[MillionsKNives]

So say all I'm doing is gaming. will this config be able to put out a solid 60+fps. I'm just playing on a 1920x1080 monitor.

 

If all you are doing is gaming you bought at least twice the necessary RAM and PSU. I would also agree that the AMD chip was not a good buy in comparison to an Intel chip.

Edited October 13, 2014 by MillionsKNives

[jagertharn]

Good point...

 

Many people are under the mistaken belief that AMD's 8 core CPU actually is a real 8 core CPU.

 

Ok, it does have 8 integer units, but frankly, outside of a few specific situations, the Intel 4 core CPUs beat it.

 

I know that its a false 8 core. And yes I was comparing the $1000 intel i7 5960x

[Raansu]

So say all I'm doing is gaming. will this config be able to put out a solid 60+fps. I'm just playing on a 1920x1080 monitor.

 

Yes it will run just fine, just down the road that cpu is going to bottleneck. You really should have dropped down to 16gb ram and a cheaper psu and gone with an i5 or i7 though. 32gb ram is completely unnecessary for gaming right now and can always be upgraded easily later. I tend to go all out on the cpu since that's always a pain to upgrade when a new chipset comes out. New cpu new board etc....meh. Get an overkill cpu and upgrade the rest over time.

[iamef]

So say all I'm doing is gaming. will this config be able to put out a solid 60+fps. I'm just playing on a 1920x1080 monitor.

 

I have an i7 4790k and a GTX 770, with no OC. With graphics settings in swtor at Very HIgh @ 2560 x1440 I will get 100+ fps if I turn off vsync. I'm sure you'll do fine!

[Malastare]

I just ordered a new desktop. Currently playing on an old 2011 Alienware laptop. Here are the specs, tell me what you guys think.

 

I think the most important thing is that you like your build, and that you think it was worth your time. You should ignore anyone else's judgment about what you should have done.

 

That said, for anyone else looking for build advice based on this info:

 

Processors: AMD FX 9590 Octa-Core 4.7GHz (5.0GHz Turbo), 8MB Cache

Graphic Cards: Single 4GB NVIDIA GTX 980

 

This is a slightly odd pairing. The GTX 980 is a performance leader for hardcore gaming, but an Intel i5 4670K has better gaming performance, lower heat generation, better overclocking potential and a lower price than the 9590. The 9590 only really shines in video encoding. It's certainly not a bad chip, but it's advantages aren't used in gaming.

 

While the GTX 980 is far more than SWTOR needs, I can't complain about it as a gaming board. It's got good performance and efficiency, but the 970 (and the forthcoming 960) will be far more popular for single-display gaming. It's just odd to pair this with a CPU that is outperformed by chips that are a year old. If anyone is looking to build a new gaming desktop, the Devil's Canyon CPUs (or Haswell-E series, if you're trying to get rid of cash) are currently the best performance you'll find.

 

Memory: 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866Mhz (4x8GB)

 

I can't complain too loudly about having 32GB of memory, as that's what I'm targetting for my next build, but I plan to be running multiple virtual machines. For gaming, even 16GB is excessive.

 

Also, for other people interested in building, the clock speed of DDR3 memory doesn't matter as much as you think. Getting 1866MHz RAM instead of 1333MHz RAM will likely give you a less than 5% improvement in performance. Currently, unless you're researching overclocking behaviors, there's no point in spending extra to get 1866MHz RAM over the standard 1600MHz RAM.

 

Power Supply: 1.3 Kilowatt EVGA Supernova 1300 G2

 

This is ridiculously overpowered. Higher wattage isn't better. The Supernova is a good build, but there are PSUs at lower wattages that would fit your usage better, with better build quality, and for drastically lower prices.

 

By my calculations, this system will top out at about 600W, maximum. You could have used a 650W PSU ...and I know loads of people are going to say "I leave room for capacitor wear..." and "But if you choose SLI later...". The number of people who move to SLI after-the-fact are very small, and most of them are still better served by putting the money into a newer single card. Also: Good PSUs don't run into load problems due to capacitor wear. Instead of buying a larger PSU to account for low quality components, you should just buy a better PSU. The EVGA supernovas are excellent PSUs, but so are Seasonic S12G's, and even a 750W S12G is half the price of the supernova.

 

The supernova will certainly work... you just could have saved some money.

 

Now this setup is probably overkill just for this game, but I'm tired of 15-25 fps everywhere.

 

It's important to understand why you were getting framerates like that in the first place. In most cases, the framerate drops that annoy people are caused by there being simply too much processing work to do while the CPU is handling network requests. You really want to focus on single-core CPU performance. Video cards are easy to buy (for this game) right now, because it was made before the GTX 600 and R9-200 series. Any modern gaming video card can handle the game.

 

What you've got should be about as good as you can get. Still, don't be surprised if you're not running at 60fps 100% of the time. That's not how games work, and some problems simply cannot be solved by current processors. The game has only 16ms to do all the game calculations for a single frame at 60fps. Even with the fastest CPUs on the market, that's not always an easy task.

 

....and now you should forget everything I said and go have fun with your new system. There are no problems with it. It can certainly handle the task of playing SWTOR. The fact that it doesn't match what I value should be of very little concern to you. Seriously. I've been building for a while, and everyone's build can be nitpicked. Please, do not take this as personal judgment. Go. Stop reading and have fun with your new PC.

[BuriDogshin]

I know that its a false 8 core. And yes I was comparing the $1000 intel i7 5960x

Why? That's a server/workstation chip designed for multi-threading performance. SWTOR is well-known to be single-thread CPU performance dependent.

 

Therefore, the i7-5960K isn't the appropriate CPU to compare the AMD chip. Instead you should have compared your AMD chip to the $390 i7-5820K or the $590 i7-5930K, and that's only if you are fixated on the X99 platform. Both those Intel chips usually have higher single-thread performance than the i7-5960K, and both of those would have provided better SWTOR performance than any AMD CPU. And with the money you would have saved on the PS and cooling system, you could have got the Intel chips.

 

Didn't you do any research before configuring your system? Go look at sites like Anandtech (who enjoys a sponsorship from AMD BTW) and you will find they recommend nothing but Intel chips for high-end gaming rigs. And they have the numbers to back those recommendations.

[BuriDogshin]

and everyone's build can be nitpicked. [/b]

... and if a person goes online to brag about how much money they have spent on a substantially sub-optimal configuration, it richly deserves to be.

 

After all, we must think of the children (who might otherwise emulate such behavior)!

[Heat-Wave]

Why? That's a server/workstation chip designed for multi-threading performance. SWTOR is well-known to be single-thread CPU performance dependent.

 

Therefore, the i7-5960K isn't the appropriate CPU to compare the AMD chip. Instead you should have compared your AMD chip to the $390 i7-5820K or the $590 i7-5930K, and that's only if you are fixated on the X99 platform. Both those Intel chips usually have higher single-thread performance than the i7-5960K, and both of those would have provided better SWTOR performance than any AMD CPU. And with the money you would have saved on the PS and cooling system, you could have got the Intel chips.

 

Didn't you do any research before configuring your system? Go look at sites like Anandtech (who enjoys a sponsorship from AMD BTW) and you will find they recommend nothing but Intel chips for high-end gaming rigs. And they have the numbers to back those recommendations.

 

^ This, times 2...

 

And frankly, the i5 4590 (non K version) is plenty for this game... want to kick it up a notch? Sure, get the i7 4790k. That will, in all honesty, be faster than the 6/8 core server CPUs, it has a higher single threaded performance.

[jagertharn]

So okay then, I see you guys hate amd. Here is a new config, cost about the same. not liquid cooled though.

Power Supply

SilverStone® 750 Watt Modular

Motherboard

Asus® X99 Rampage V Extreme

Processor

Intel® Core™ i7 5820K 3.3GHz

Memory

16GB - 4x4GB - 2133MHz - DDR4

Video Card

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980 4GB

[Raansu]

So okay then, I see you guys hate amd. Here is a new config, cost about the same. not liquid cooled though.

Power Supply

SilverStone® 750 Watt Modular

Motherboard

Asus® X99 Rampage V Extreme

Processor

Intel® Core™ i7 5820K 3.3GHz

Memory

16GB - 4x4GB - 2133MHz - DDR4

Video Card

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980 4GB

 

I don't hate amd (and I didn't get the impression anyone else here does either), I just think if you're going to put money down, don't bottleneck your system with a weaker cpu. AMD cpus are great for the budget conscious person though. They run great and do what needs to be done, its just you gotta pair them correctly with the rest of your system.

 

This build is good. If you wanna save money drop the ram to 8gb as you can always upgrade later when ddr4 ram eventually gets cheaper. If you're not worried about it then ya keep the 16gb. A bit overkill but eh, why not right? lol. Same with the GTX 980 really. If you're doing single monitor the 970 is nearly on point with the 980. Probably the closest I've ever seen 70/80 series card ever be from the GTX series. I've been seeing people go for two 970's instead. Costs near the same as a single 980 and pumps out more power, but if you don't want to deal with possibly stuttering and SLI in general then the 980 is beast right now.

 

As for liquid cooling....I personally don't care for it nor find it necessary unless you plan on doing crazy overclocking. I had liquid cooling once and it was incredibly annoying. Every 6 or 8 months I had to take the pc apart to clean the radiator and the tubing and what not and replace the water coolant etc....Just a PITA.

[KTap]

I think the most important thing is that you like your build, and that you think it was worth your time. You should ignore anyone else's judgment about what you should have done.

 

That said, for anyone else looking for build advice based on this info:

 

 

 

This is a slightly odd pairing. The GTX 980 is a performance leader for hardcore gaming, but an Intel i5 4670K has better gaming performance, lower heat generation, better overclocking potential and a lower price than the 9590. The 9590 only really shines in video encoding. It's certainly not a bad chip, but it's advantages aren't used in gaming.

 

While the GTX 980 is far more than SWTOR needs, I can't complain about it as a gaming board. It's got good performance and efficiency, but the 970 (and the forthcoming 960) will be far more popular for single-display gaming. It's just odd to pair this with a CPU that is outperformed by chips that are a year old. If anyone is looking to build a new gaming desktop, the Devil's Canyon CPUs (or Haswell-E series, if you're trying to get rid of cash) are currently the best performance you'll find.

 

 

 

I can't complain too loudly about having 32GB of memory, as that's what I'm targetting for my next build, but I plan to be running multiple virtual machines. For gaming, even 16GB is excessive.

 

Also, for other people interested in building, the clock speed of DDR3 memory doesn't matter as much as you think. Getting 1866MHz RAM instead of 1333MHz RAM will likely give you a less than 5% improvement in performance. Currently, unless you're researching overclocking behaviors, there's no point in spending extra to get 1866MHz RAM over the standard 1600MHz RAM.

 

 

 

This is ridiculously overpowered. Higher wattage isn't better. The Supernova is a good build, but there are PSUs at lower wattages that would fit your usage better, with better build quality, and for drastically lower prices.

 

By my calculations, this system will top out at about 600W, maximum. You could have used a 650W PSU ...and I know loads of people are going to say "I leave room for capacitor wear..." and "But if you choose SLI later...". The number of people who move to SLI after-the-fact are very small, and most of them are still better served by putting the money into a newer single card. Also: Good PSUs don't run into load problems due to capacitor wear. Instead of buying a larger PSU to account for low quality components, you should just buy a better PSU. The EVGA supernovas are excellent PSUs, but so are Seasonic S12G's, and even a 750W S12G is half the price of the supernova.

 

The supernova will certainly work... you just could have saved some money.

 

 

 

It's important to understand why you were getting framerates like that in the first place. In most cases, the framerate drops that annoy people are caused by there being simply too much processing work to do while the CPU is handling network requests. You really want to focus on single-core CPU performance. Video cards are easy to buy (for this game) right now, because it was made before the GTX 600 and R9-200 series. Any modern gaming video card can handle the game.

 

What you've got should be about as good as you can get. Still, don't be surprised if you're not running at 60fps 100% of the time. That's not how games work, and some problems simply cannot be solved by current processors. The game has only 16ms to do all the game calculations for a single frame at 60fps. Even with the fastest CPUs on the market, that's not always an easy task.

 

....and now you should forget everything I said and go have fun with your new system. There are no problems with it. It can certainly handle the task of playing SWTOR. The fact that it doesn't match what I value should be of very little concern to you. Seriously. I've been building for a while, and everyone's build can be nitpicked. Please, do not take this as personal judgment. Go. Stop reading and have fun with your new PC.

 

Very good info in here

[BuriDogshin]

So okay then, I see you guys hate amd. Here is a new config, cost about the same. not liquid cooled though.

Power Supply

SilverStone® 750 Watt Modular

Motherboard

Asus® X99 Rampage V Extreme

Processor

Intel® Core™ i7 5820K 3.3GHz

Memory

16GB - 4x4GB - 2133MHz - DDR4

Video Card

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980 4GB

 

It's not about hating AMD. It's just that they are not competitive with Intel CPUs in high-end gaming at present

They do produce some good low-end APUs.

 

Your latest system is still a waste of money if SWTOR performance is your goal. An X97-based Haswell system will have fewer cores but higher clocks, thereby giving higher SWTOR performance at a lower cost and a lower power dissipation. It will overclock better too. Look at some benchmarks, you will see that X97/Haswell is better for gaming than X99/Haswell-E even for games that take advantages of multiple cores, which SWTOR at present does not. Some games do a little better (very little) in an X99/Haswell-E/SLI setup than in a X97/Haswell/SLI setup, but only recent games can do so. SWTOR will not.

 

You seem to be operating under the delusion that more expensive = better. That just isn't the case. Haswell-E and the X99 platform are better than anything else for some applications. SWTOR is not one of them.

 

Try using something other than a price sheet to make your PC configuration decisions. Like maybe, benchmarks?

With the money you save, you'll be able to upgrade again next year instead of getting left behind the curve.

 

Also, get a fast SSD, 240GB or bigger (in SSDs, bigger usually means at least as fast). I like the Samsung 840 EVO Pro myself, but there are other good options. The difference the reduced load times make is a huge improvement in SWTOR enjoyability.

Edited October 13, 2014 by BuriDogshin

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I think the core question that needs to be asked is what else do you intend on using your PC for? If you are a hardcore, die hard SWTOR fan and don't see yourself playing anything else then you can save yourself a ton of cash over what you have planned thus far ( spend it on CC or something ).

 

I guess where people trip up is they may research current games and what makes them tick the best and work from there ( though I don't think you've done that either on your 2 build choices thus far ) however for most MMOs that won't work because they are generally quite old and aren't very GPU dependent at all, usually GPU dependent in just raw processor speed. As previous posters have pointed out, they do not take advantage of multiple cores/threads well if at all, heck not even many AAA games do currently and they may not need to with the speed of advances of GPU technology and some upcoming api architecture ( check out Mantle and I think there's a new directx in the works ).

 

Another thing that can help with your component purchasing is to use pcpartpicker.com - thus you can link in your current build and price etc. of the exact components and easily change it out as you change your mind. Makes discussing builds like this a bit easier.

 

All I am running myself is an i5 4690K at 4.3 on aftermarket air ( pretty low overclock for this chip, should get 4.5 if you get one from a better batch ), r9 290 bit over stock, 8gig of Kingston DDR 1600 ram (pump this up to 16 shortly so I can do away with my pagefile hopefully ), couple of SSDs, 750w PSU ( bout to upgrade to a new PSU as it's old but I'll actually drop down to 650w as I don't need more power than this ) all plugged into a asrock z97 killer.

 

Kind of a mid - high end build but nothing super top of the line. Built it about 2 months back now and it will run SWTOR with everything maxed except that shadow mapping, that slows it down ( and everyone's build ) for little to no perceivable increase in how the game actually looks that I've noticed.

 

Without doing an in depth analysis based on prices I would pay in my country the rig you want to buy would cost you double what mine cost me and give you pretty much no perceivable increase in performance for SWTOR. Do you really want to waste cash like that? Even in more modern games - only one I'm playing right now is Shadow of Mordor - I am running at Ultra ( yet to test ultra texture pack, they recommend 6gig video memory due to the uncompressed textures which your card wouldn't have either ) so again your twice the price build would see little to no perceivable boost in even one of the newest games out.

 

Where you are going wrong is in a few areas. The main issue if you think buying the newest, brand new most expensive items = the best. In a way you may be right there but you have to wonder if paying double/triple the price

of a component compared to an older component for a 5-10% boost in performance ( IF you are LUCKY ) is worth that sort of money? I can answer this, it's not.

 

So more in depth:

 

Video card. Total overkill for a start and the price is not worth it for those cards considering the performance boost you get over other cards imo ( 5-10 FPS over the 290x which is a couple of hundred dollars cheaper ). SWTOR is NOT a gpu bound game, even my R9 290 is overkill. Now if you are buying that rig for other games also then yes that can be good future proofing though I still think it's a bit too new and pricey for the boost you get over say the r9 290x.

 

CPU: Complete waste of money for gaming. I think others have touched on well why with the lack of use of multiple cores/threads on MMO gaming ( and MOST gaming in general ). The Devils Canyon i5 4690K is the go to card for price vs performance imo. If you really want to go for the extra multi threading possibilities then go for the i7 4790K

though even then its another $100 for little extra performance ( I used this article http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k and some forum research on tomshardware and anandtech in my decision to stick with the cheaper i5 myself ).

 

Motherboard: Now if you are following and counting all that extra money you're saving you'll see you don't need the x99 chipset anymore and thus can go for the z97 instead saving yourself a bundle. Also if you aren't getting crossfire or SLI now then don't buy a board that supports it ( certainly not a bloody 4way sli board! ), you are wasting money. By the time you do decide you want SLI/crossfire you will find you can get better performance for money out of a single card solution. With the card you have chosen if you are set on it you don't need it unless of course you are planning on buying another one ( or 3 with the board you've chosen lol ) at the get go in which case I recommend referring to my spiel on videocards above.

 

Ram: Downgrade what you have in mind for DDR3, if you change motherboard to z97 it won't support DDR4 anyway. Remember what another poster mentioned in this thread though that the extra speed in ram won't really translate to any noticeable performance boost in games. Thus without a x99 board you won't need DDR4 and you will save even more money ( there are no benchmarks showing DDR4 gives any significant extra performance boost over DDR3 so far in gaming that I can find ).

 

PSU: That seems fine.

 

Case/cooling: Whatever floats ya boat. Case cooling isn't as big of a deal as people make out imo. Aslong as you have got good intake and exhaust fans and maybe 1 or 2 more generating good flow throughout the case that's more than enough. Videocards these days stock cooling more than will handle their designed load and quite a bit extra ( you could always throw on an aftermarket cooler if you wanted but I doubt it's necessary ) and you always want aftermarket cooling for your CPU ( you wouldn't buy a K model if you didn't ) and good air will do you well here though you could go water if you want to really attempt to push it but some chips just won't go stable higher regardless of the cooling put on it, just the lottery of the batches. Which cpu cooler? Do some research yourself here, the prices aren't overly restrictive or different between them and I've been happy with my old xigmatek for quite a long time now and that I'm not too sure what the best coolers are at the moment.

 

Now you've saved a fortune and still run the game as fast as is possible stock up on CC's and if you enjoy throwing money away as some of your initial build ideas seem to imply feel free to throw them CCs to those in the thread that have helped ya out

[jagertharn]

I do plan on playing other games. Here is what I went with finally.

Power Supply

SilverStone® 750 Watt Modular

Motherboard

Asus® X99 Deluxe

Processor

Intel® Core™ i7 5960X 3.0GHz

Memory

16GB - 4x4GB - 2133MHz - DDR4

Video Card

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980 4GB

Hard Drive

Crucial® M550 SSD 512GB

64-Bit Operating System

Microsoft® Windows 8.1 Pro

[jagertharn]

Now you've saved a fortune and still run the game as fast as is possible stock up on CC's and if you enjoy throwing money away as some of your initial build ideas seem to imply feel free to throw them CCs to those in the thread that have helped ya out

I probably spent close to $10000 on CC already lol. Love being a single guy with no bills.

[Raansu]

You really wanted that DDR4 huh? lol. Should have gone with the higher clock rate one though. The 5960 is more of a workstation cpu for video editing and such. The z97 haswell-e 4790 series probably would have been the more optimal cpu to go with in terms of just game. but on the bright side that x99 cpu will last you for years so its definitely future proof....

[BuriDogshin]

I do plan on playing other games. Here is what I went with finally.

Power Supply

SilverStone® 750 Watt Modular

Motherboard

Asus® X99 Deluxe

Processor

Intel® Core™ i7 5960X 3.0GHz

Memory

16GB - 4x4GB - 2133MHz - DDR4

Video Card

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980 4GB

Hard Drive

Crucial® M550 SSD 512GB

64-Bit Operating System

Microsoft® Windows 8.1 Pro

 

Anyone with a clue could build a faster gaming PC, for SWTOR and every other game, for way less money.

You spent more to get less, and do you think that gives you bragging rights?

 

And you didn't even get ECC, did you?

 

By the way, wanna buy a bridge in NYC? I can give you a great deal.

Edited October 14, 2014 by BuriDogshin

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I have to agree, if money wasn't an issue you could have built a real custom beast ( or even on a budget for the same money that would have cost you ) that would well out perform in benchmarks than what you've gone for. That CPU choice for price is pretty much the stupidest way you could have gone, why even ask for advice or whatnot if you will just ignore it and do the opposite?

 

Perhaps a somewhat troll thread?

[Raansu]

To be fair....that system isn't exactly weak. The 20mb L3 cache more than makes up for the low clock rate. For right now a 4790 may have been a better choice but moving onto ddr4 and x99 is future proof at the very least.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Hmm maybe I am missing something but how is that cache going to make up for the loss in raw processor power in terms of gaming? Not that I was calling it "weak" per se anyway, just weak compared to what could have been purchased.

 

Based on newegg ...

 

4790k = $340

5960X = $1050

 

Noting in most benchmarks I've seen comparing those chips there's at best a 5 fps difference with the 4790K winning it in some games ( tomb raider, bioshock infinite )

 

Heck even if dead set on the x99 boards for DDR4 there is always the 5820k and 5930K. Again very little to separate all 4 of these chips in terms of FPS performance. Price however differs a lot.

 

5820K = $390

5930K = $589

 

There is just no point in a 5960X for gaming purposes.

[Raansu]

I'm not disagreeing, but it is what it is. I can't really say anything negative because I'm rebuilding my rig with the 5820 and going with DDR4, but at the same time, a $1,000 cpu is kinda insane for gaming.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Yeah for sure and with the 5820k vs the 4790k the price difference isn't so great to not adopt the newer technology except the increase in cost of the memory and motherboard. Motherboard would be fairly future proof but buying the DDR4 ram now will set you back quite a bit for little gain and no doubt prices will start dropping drastically soon as mass production and take up kicks in.

 

Gaming wise for the money he spent on the CPU he would be better grabbing that 5820K also and going for a truly top of the line combo - either SLI 2 980's or grab the 295x2. Either way you would be forming your own group to "giggle" at Gomla earlier who mentioned a Titan with his inferior hardware at double the price. I think the Titan must have been ( still is ) the biggest joke in GPU history once AMD rolled out the 295x2 and out benching it. You still pay over $1000 for the black and like $3000 for the Z heh.

[Raansu]

Yeah for sure and with the 5820k vs the 4790k the price difference isn't so great to not adopt the newer technology except the increase in cost of the memory and motherboard. Motherboard would be fairly future proof but buying the DDR4 ram now will set you back quite a bit for little gain and no doubt prices will start dropping drastically soon as mass production and take up kicks in.

 

Gaming wise for the money he spent on the CPU he would be better grabbing that 5820K also and going for a truly top of the line combo - either SLI 2 980's or grab the 295x2. Either way you would be forming your own group to "giggle" at Gomla earlier who mentioned a Titan with his inferior hardware at double the price. I think the Titan must have been ( still is ) the biggest joke in GPU history once AMD rolled out the 295x2 and out benching it. You still pay over $1000 for the black and like $3000 for the Z heh.

 

I actually managed to get a pretty good deal on an asus x99 atx board on a columbus day sale. Normally $224 and I got it for $140. DDR4 memory wasn't too bad either. Got two 4gb sticks for $60 each and I can always up that later, but really 8gb is more than enough.

 

The big purchase was the i7 and the gtx 970. I almost went with the 980 but the difference between the two with the 900 series is impressively close so I just saved a few hundred and got a 970. I'll SLI it like a year from now or something with another 970. Save some cash and get more power than a 980 out of it.

 

If it wasn't for that sale I probably would have gone with the 4790, especially since my current PC has 16gb DDR3 that I could have swapped out lol, but as it stands I'm just gonna sell my old PC on ebay.