This all look compatible to you guys?

[profJim]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

Glad to hear that your system went together well.

Don't forget to update your PC Specs with your new hardware setup.

I'd cool it a bit (pun intended) until you get a higher end cpu cooler installed.

According to the EVGA Z97 Classified BIOS Guide, on page 22 it says that your motherboard has an mSATA/Mini PCIE socket and "This is the selector for what mode the small form factor slot runs on, either mSATA or Mini PCIE" and I don't think that this is at all similar to a full fledged M.2 setup. With your pci-e slot setup you should be able to buy and install an M.2 pci-e ssd add-in card or an add-in card that would let you install an M.2 ssd. You will need to make sure that the M.2 ssd is compatible with your motherboard's bios.

If you want a higher performing O/S boot drive you could add one or more additional ssd's for a raid 0 setup. One additional ssd for a 2 x SAMSUNG 850 EVO 500GB raid 0 setup would give you a 1TB O/S boot drive that will probably beat the M.2 single ssd setup.

If you go with an air cooled cpu cooler, using a dual fan push/pull setup will probably lower cpu core temperatures 1^o - 3^o(C). If you plan on overclocking your 4970K to 4.50 GHz or higher you will probably need a high end AIO water cooling setup in the $90 - $125 price range. The cpu cooler reviews at HardOCP usually include the Scythe Mugen 4 air cooler in the comparison but you'll find that the Mugen 4, good as it is, can't cool nearly as well as the higher end AIO water cooling kits.

You really need to do extended Prime95 stress testing using stock settings before you overclock your cpu and memory. The best way to learn how to overclock is to search for EVGA Z87 or Z97 overclocking guides or tutorials. There will be some differences with the optimal settings with different motherboard brands and/or models.

Keep in mind that a 2560 x 1440 monitor has about 3.69 Mpixels and the Acer 3440 x 1440 Predator X34 monitor has about 4.95 Mpixels and that you'll probably run the X34 with a 100Hz refresh rate instead of the standard 60Hz refresh rate.


If you don't post twenty seven 8x10 glossy pictures of your setup, I'll have to send you a $1300 consulting bill so that I can buy an X34 monitor.
Somehow I don't think that my GTX 460 SLI setup will do too well with the X34.

[profJim]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

You can check out:

• Components, SSDs, Internal SSDs, AIC, ExpressCard, Mini PCIe, Half Mini PCIe, Half-Height, Half-Length (HH-HL), PCI-E, PCI-Express 2.0 x4, PCI-Expres... - Newegg.com
• pci-e m.2 card adapter - Newegg.com

but a simple, 2 ssd raid 0 setup will give you the best bang for your bucks.

[dizzolve]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

Not the greatest pic but it's a start

[profJim]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

Just to complicate things for you, I just saw that Acer has a Z35 Predator G-Sync monitor that has a 144Hz refresh rate and can overclock up to 200Hz.

You might want to check out the ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q Monitor Review - NVIDIA G-Sync 165Hz Bliss review.

[dizzolve]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

Yeah, you know Jim -I can't find the monitor I want right now. There's just too many compromises. I think we're not quite to a plateau yet in tech and pricing. Even that predator contains compromises in addition to the price compromise lol

BUT...... I sold my reference and bought a new graphics card. I decided on the Gigabyte 980 ti Watercooled Xtreme card. It looks pretty decent. And way better than the reference 980.

Amazon.com: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti XTREME WATERFORCE Graphics Card GV-N98TXTREME W-6GD: Computers & Accessories



Not a huge fan of how it looks, but everything else looks pretty darn good to me.

[profJim]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

Your new GTX 980 Ti looks good to me because I don't like flashy looking hardware. With the video card mounted in the majority of computer cases all you can see is the thin edge of the card and its back side. With the added performance of your new Ti card you should be able to use the highest quality game settings with a WQHD monitor.

Some of the newest high end monitors will now produce much better colors and image quality compared with monitors that use TN panels. I'm not sure what compromises the top tier monitors have unless it has to do with Nvidia 3D Vision compatibility. Maybe you can "get by" with a mid-range WQHD monitor until an ideal monitor comes along that meets your needs.

[dizzolve]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

Just to complicate things for you, I just saw that Acer has a Z35 Predator G-Sync monitor that has a 144Hz refresh rate and can overclock up to 200Hz.

You might want to check out the ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q Monitor Review - NVIDIA G-Sync 165Hz Bliss review.

Wow that is quite a monitor. I'd probably buy it if it were available....... but it's not........ -anywhere at the 'reasonable asking price'

[profJim]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

What I find appalling is that monitor manufacturers seem to have major quality control issues when shipping new high end monitors. It's not just Asus that is guilty, ACER and others are shipping brand new high end monitors with little or no quality control. It looks like the manufacturers are cherry picking the units they send to reviewers because the reviewers are not complaining about quality control issues with the newly released high end monitors.

Now comes the hard part, when the next batch of monitors is available do you jump in quickly to buy one, hoping that the new batch has excellent quality control. Or do you wait to see if user reviews report that QC problems are a thing of the past. Currently the number of 4 and 5 star reviews at Newegg and Amazon is very low for the October batch of monitors. The question is will buyers be happy with their $800 purchase when the next batch arrives?

My Asus PB278Q 27" WQHD monitor came out in 2012 with a PLS panel. In mid 2014 they changed the monitor's panel to an AHVA panel and made some additional minor changes where the new model has the exact same model name and this new model is better in several areas and not quite as good in a two areas. The bottom line is that the updated model had been available for about 15 months when I bought mine and I'm happy with my monitor upgrade.

B&H Photo - Video (ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q 27" Widescreen LED Backlit LCD PG279Q) has the following info on their website:

• Back-ordered
• Ship Time: Not available
• Expected availability: January 11 2016
• Free Expedited Shipping

I guess that it's time to hurry up and wait

[dizzolve]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

I had to RMA the mobo unfortunately. It's actually just arrived back to EVGA on Friday. Currently it's pending. I'll know for sure tomorrow what they decide to do, but I expect to be shipped a replacement. Long story short, it just stopped working after I adjusted some system fans, and it wouldn't come back....... tried lots of stuff but to no avail

But anyhow, I bought a stopgap off craigslist for 30 bucks. It's an ASRock H97M Pro 4. Nothing to write home about but it at least allows me to play with my new toys till the real backbone is shipped back to me. What new toys? Well there are a few new things to report. I ended up returning the RAM I initially bought. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but I just wanted what I wanted. It's something I've always wanted so I changed my mind and sent back the GSkill and got me some Corsair Platinum Dominator ram. I got 4x16. It looks sweet. And it is sweet.

But the big news is that I did end up buying an X34 Predator after all. I was looking for the monitor you cited just above as well as the x34 for a week and a half and noone had it in stock or those who did were price gouging ...... but finally Amazon was selling it for a fair price so I wen't ahead and ordered it. When I saw it there were 15 available. By the time I went to sleep that night they were sold out. It really is quite a monitor. It's too new for me to give you any kind of meaningful review but it sure does make an impact when it arrives. WOW

The x34 has had tons of issues early in it's release as you know - and maybe exactly what you were talking about. I don't know if I got lucky or if they tightened up their qc but everything seems ok on mine. There is some IPS glow, but you're just going to have that. There's a touch of backlight bleed on the bottom right but it's noticeable unless I'm looking for it.

Gsync gaming really is awesome. I've never had this kind graphics firepower before and it's quite nice. That 980 ti is a sweet gem too...... thing does exhaust some heat, but the monitored temps are as low as I've ever seen on systems of mine. That's not saying too much - but point is, it's doing it's job. It's taking the heat from the die and getting rid of it. It doesn't go over 60C on stock settings and that's with the fan barely moving.

Hope to check back in when the mobo gets back. I got lucky that the 2nd hand mobo I decided to buy was EVGA because they allow RMA's based on shipped date. whew

[dizzolve]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

It's been a little while since I updated. I finally have the final system all here - assembled - in working order - and have a moment to thank you guys (especially Jim) for the advice and guidance. I've been able to count on Jim for years now with advice on PC parts, compatibility, etc ...... and just plain trustworthy guidance.

Here are some pics of the system. I'm no photographer so it's nothing special. And compared to some of the systems users around here have, this aint much of anything at all. But for me it's pretty damn nice PC with a touch of style.

This videocard is really nice. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I never have to worry about it overheating (unless the water cooling fails) - but overclocking it and general use- it stays cool at all times. I will say though the backplate gets VERY hot to the touch, but the sensors never report anything worrisome. There are cons though. The rigid stiff tubes are pretty stubborn to manage. They're a bit short too. In the pix I had to tie off a tube so that it wouldn't bend my cpu cooler fins. Short tubes are probably great for some cases. A large case made mounting this card limit my options.

The mobo is decent. I had to RMA it because it stopped working all together (as said above). So I can't really give it too much of a positive nod. It looks great and when working is fine.

Power Supply is decent. It's reviews have come back VERY positive and I can't say anything too bad about it. I could - but not worth mentioning.

RAM is very nice. I paid somewhat of a premium for it but I feel very comfortable with it. I'm thinking about trying a RAMdisk set up since I have 32Gb of really nice rammage.

The case is really pretty. The quality isn't quite what I expected but again, it has a ton of features - looks great - is big enough to sleep 3.

The monitor is the icing on the cake. The x34 Predator really does deliver satisfaction. All the money I spent on the guys of the system is able to be enjoyed because this monitor can deliver it. You all know about it - I don't need to go into details. I'm VERY happy with it.

My final specs of the main pieces:

4790K
Dominator 8x4GB =32
EVGA Classy
Gigabyte 980ti Waterforce
Corsair RM1000x
2 Samsung 500GB SSD
2TB Seagate HD
X34 Predator gsync 34"curved gaming monitor












Thanks Tweakers!

[dizzolve]

Re: This all look compatible to you guys?

After looking at my own pix, I decided to try and mount my rad at the bottom of the case behind the PSU. Still not the optimal place to mount it but it ~~~just~~~ made it to the center floor mount. This way I didn't have to tie off a hose to keep it from interfering with the cpu cooler. Also dusted lol. Shame I didn't do that stuff first but oh well. You get the idea