Planning a new system sometime this Fall. Have built a list of the components and looking for feedback. Would welcome any feedback or suggestions:

 

Motherboard: MSI ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Z97-G45 Gaming

Processor: Intel i7 4790K 4Ghz (~4.4Ghz) Devils Canyon Quad Core

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 2400MHz

Video Card: EVGA GTX970 4GB DDR5 Super Clocked ACX 2.0

SSD -1: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III

SSD  -2: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III 

HDD: Seagate 2TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 B1

Cooling fans: Noctua NH-U14S  cooling fan

DVD: ASUS 24X DVD RW

Windows 10 Home 64 bit

 

I have not settled in on a case at this time. Looking for one with at least (2) hot swap SATA/SSD drive bays accessible without opening the case. I am spoiled by that feature with my 4 year old off-the-shelf gateway fx6860 computer UR20P. It has made monthly drive cloning a snap!

Looks like you have the makings for a solid system. Some personal picks I would choose would be Gskill Trident ram kit at 2400, and at least an EVGA supernova 850 supply, just in case you want to add a second 970gtx down the road. I'm partial to Asus ROG mobo, but I'm told the MSI is a winner too.

Gskill Trident ram kit at 2400

 

Thank you Rhys. Much appreciated.

 

What influences you to make that particular choice? I'm currently adding up the prices from Amazon and NewEgg and nearing $1,800. I may need to shoot a small plateau lower on some choices, like a 960 instead of the 970, or an i5 4670K instead of the i7, etc.  One SSD instead of two.  Those would save about $100 each.  Gskill Trident memory you mentioned is about $50 more. Where do you see it making the $50 difference? Not a challlenge, just learning here.

 

I am looking ahead to migrate from FSX to P3D or SE. If I need to level off one flight level lower but shoot high on any one item what would it be? Processor, vid card, mem speed?

If you are shooting for p3d, the video card will be more critical, 960 good, but 970 better. When I I bought my last Gskill kit, the price delta was only around $10, so if they are indeed that much more now sticking with the corsair would be wise. I've never had a problem with Gskill and the warranty is excellent, that is what drives my choice. They are stable and extremely high quality. Now if you are going with p3d, the i5 may see slightly lower scenery loading times, but this is not the case with fsx. (Not positive on this, only what I've heard). If you must cut back, I would personally eliminate one SSD to save a bit of money.

 

 

If you must cut back, I would personally eliminate one SSD to save a bit of money.

 

Thanks again. $1,800 is my budget, but I wanted to upgrade from my 22" to a 27" monitor as well. So may try to cut from the current CPU-box list above the price of the monitor. I looked at your profile and note the brand and size monitor you are using. Doesn't say the model #. Are you running at 1920 x 1080? Or do you have a way to run 2440?

It's a Qnix 2710, the Korean import with the Samsung pls panel! It runs 2560 * 1440, and I love it. Adding another 970gtx soon to help offset the increased resolution, but you can easily select 1920 * 1080 as well. They can be had really cheap, but its been a while so check amazon for current prices.

What Onewhoknocks said.  If you are cutting back, lose the SSD not the i7 or 970

 

 

Windows 10 Home 64 bit

 

Ok, do you have win7 or win8 now?  Because if you do you can skip buying an OS, stretching your budget.  Build your new system, install whatever OS you currently have.  Run the windows update to get Win10 for free.  Then use the key extraction tool to get your new windows key.  Format your system drive, clean install win10 and activate with your new key code.  You just saved $100+!  (That is if you currently have windows 7 or 8.)  

Ok, do you have win7 or win8 now?  Because if you do you can skip buying an OS, stretching your budget.  Build your new system, install whatever OS you currently have.  Run the windows update to get Win10 for free.  Then use the key extraction tool to get your new windows key.  Format your system drive, clean install win10 and activate with your new key code.  You just saved $100+!  (That is if you currently have windows 7 or 8.)  

 

Rhys, I have clone that I migrated from Windows 7 to Windows 10, but there were a couple of quirks, and of course it was not a clean install.  But if I extracted the key would it be usable on a new system build?

But if I extracted the key would it be usable on a new system build?

 

I'm sure you could, you will just need to use the phone activation system. And only use that keybon your new build.

1. Drop the HDD

2. Drop the DVD

3. Replace Noctua NH-U14S (especially if you have a vertical mounted motherboard) with Corsair 110

4. Look for a monitor that works at 30Hz just as well as it does at 60Hz  (stutter free options) - this is where I'd spend an extra cash

5. Don't migrate, do a fresh Win10 or Win7 install using bootable Win10/7 USB stick (your new Mobo will support this)

 

DVD are not very useful these days, but if you really need one salvage your existing one.  SSD's continue to get cheaper and cheaper, if you need more space expand when you need it (they'll only be cheaper and even faster).

 

My 2 cents, but either way you go, enjoy your new build.

 

Cheers, Rob.

...I would choose Gskill Trident ram kit at 2400...

 +1.  I just built a Devils Canyon system and originally ordered the 16GB Corsair Vengence kit.  After a week of not much luck overclocking that memory some G.Skill Ares went on sale at the 'Egg, and they allowed me to swap kits.  The G.Skill clocks better than the Vengence, and indeed I'm running the Ares 2400 at 2600 with stock clocks right out of the box.  The Vengence just wouldn't overclock (Devils Canyon/Z97 loves fast memory).

 

I built with various vendor's memory, and had good luck with Corsair, but G.Skill offers great performance at a great price and with great support.

 

HTH

 

Greg

Rob, 

Watched as you built your system earlier this year. PM'd you with a couple of questions.