Which motherboard for this 4K build

Is the ASUS X99-S going to be sufficient for the below build or is it worth me spending a bit more on the Motherboard bearing in mind what the PC is packing. I can't see any features that I need on the higher end models but is there something I'm missing that will effect performance with this build? Certainly don't need any more USB ports and the soundcard is irrelevant as I'm running an external Focusrite interface.

Coolermaster Haf-X

i7 5930x with Corsair H80i cooler

16GB kingston Hyper-X Predator

240 GB Kingston Hyper-X 3K SSD

WD 3TB Caviar Black HD

3 x GTX 970 SLI

Corsair RM1000

***Before anyone says I'm wasting my money the processor and 4k screen are not solely for gaming purposes! As I'm getting these already why not treat myself to a few 970's. ;)

@bulby_g:

X99-S is fine

Great, thank you. What is the difference between this and the higher end boards? Other than a few minor inputs and what not I can't see one. Not sure how it warrants such a jump in price unless I'm missing something.

Better cooling, eg; 3, 4, 5, 6 phase cooling.

Better OC'ing potential, more options in UEFI and better/easier load balancing between RAM/CPU and/or support faster RAM.

Better arrangement of PCIe slots to enable SLI/Crossfire setups, also speed of slots depending upon how many GPU's, eg; 16x/8x, 16x/16x, 16x/8x/8x and so on

Better overall layout of things to allow the maximum possibilities of combinations to work together, eg; A large CPU cooler may block the RAM slots.

More features basically, WIFI, BT, Extra LAN ports, mSATA etc etc

Why the hell are you getting 3 way SLI? I hope you're into benchmarking.

About that 4K, I hope you're getting 50' + monitor.

750-850Watts PSU will be enough for your build, don't forget it's Maxwell you're using there.

About the main part of the topic, if you see features that you don't need - don't waste money, that's my moto.

The 4K screen is 32". I know that it makes a difference as I've tested one for the sort of work it'll be used for and having that much more on screen hugely improves my workflow. I'm sure it'll be noticeable in games too, 2' is the recommended viewing distance from a 32" 4k screen to get the best benefit which is around the distance I have my monitor. 3 way 970 SLI may be overkill but it gives my plenty breathing space to max at 4k and a bit of future proofing for more demanding games, VR, etc. It's only £800 odd which seems pretty modest to get 4k running very smoothly. It's cheaper than 2 x 980's so seems a good way to go.

Cheers for the heads up on the PSU. I was going to go with an 850W but the price difference didn't seem much so just decided on a 1000W. Is that massively overkill then?

I don't know if I need them or not, that's my query. ;) Sounds like I don't though.

OK so in real world performance it isn't going to make much difference to this build then? More for extreme overclockers, benchmarks, etc.?

Well for 4K gaming yes it's the only way to maintain above 60fps, actually it's the 1st time I see that 4 GPUs are used for gaming and you actually gain a benefit going above 2 GPUs, well there's 1st time for everything.

A 1000Watts if you decide to go with 4x 970, actually it's a good thing - maybe you'll end up buying 4th GPU,

I can recommend on on different MOBO for the same price: Gigabyte GA-X99-GAMING 5

or any of these MOBOs: http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#sort=a8&qq=1&c=101&l=4

Umm not quite, personally I like the 2nd LAN port that the deluxe version has, bridging connections is a nice feature, then again not to everyone.

Also, you have 3x GPU's, so you would ideally like full bandwidth of the PCIe lanes, ie; 16x/16x/16x which that mobo has, some offer less.

You also only have SATA SSD, you cant upgrade to PCI SSD (which is even faster) because your GPU's are in the way.

Ah, I see. Definitely shouldn't need a second LAN port and I've no real need for a PCI SSD. I still find a 7200rpm HD offers enough speed for most things! I guess it depends what sort of things you're looking to set up then.

As long as it doesn't bottleneck my GPU's or anything like that, can handle some modest overclocking later in the processors life and some extra RAM I'll be more than happy.

OK I'll probably stick with the PSU then. Adding another would be a handy option down the line. I'll have a look at the other motherboards, cheers. I've always purchased ASUS so haven't even looked around really!

I believe it's better to get 2 x GTX 980 instead of 3 x GTX 970. Also go with the i7 5820x insted of the i7 5930x those 12 extra lanes are not going to benefit you in any way at least for current gen GPUs

After using the SSD, you will dread a HDD's speed. People that use SSD's hate going back to a slow HDD.

Oh just for info, those 3x 970's that you will be getting are the slowest parts of your rig lol

If you are seriously going 4K then dont discount AMD

AMD beats out intel @4K with SLI. (8350 vs 4930K)

Yes, what!? The main use of this PC is not gaming and I know the Intel Processor is my best bet but I'm pretty sure it's better for gaming as well regardless of resolution and SLI. Happy to be proven wrong though with some legitimate benchmarks.

Perhaps. I just don't find anything takes much time to load at present anyway and with Windows 8 booting is super fast now too (my laptop takes around 8 seconds on a 7200rpm HD). Actually having an SSD may change my mind though! I'l probably be swapping it out for a bigger one a few weeks after building this. ;)

Yeah, gaming is only the secondary use for it really. Should be quite capable in that respect though haha.

Really, have you got any benchmarks for that? From what I've seen the 3 x 970 would beat out 2 x 980 in most instances and it's £100 less. The 5820k would limit my future options though, I'd rather pay the extra now than regret the choice later. If I regret the 5930k then so be it, It'll be a cheaper mistake.

@bulby_g:

I wasn't talking about gaming either ;) the 970's are still the slowest :p

Anyways, are you sure your other programs use CUDA or is it just CPU grunt that's needed?

I'm sure you already know this, but, your aware that the GPU's are still limited to the 4GB vRAM they have? you don't just add them up.

Yeah just CPU and RAM needed, it's for music production. The GPU's are only for gaming.

Yes, the GPU's are what hold me back at present. Waiting for information on the rumoured 8GB versions really. I don't think 4GB is really enough for high resolutions going forward?

That's hard to answer, the obvious answer is yes, but look at consoles, they have lots of vRAM and they struggle to hit 1080p. Also this new architecture is insane, the 980 uses half the power of the 780Ti, but it performs better, Who knows what's next, maybe 4GB GPU's will be capable of 4k...

Wat?!

Is that why every Major bench tester uses a 8350?.....Ahem

@bulby_g: Anyway if you're going to go X99 then I recommend the Rampage or the X99 Deluxe. Spending all that you may as well get the best.

http://www.tweaktown.com/tweakipedia/56/amd-fx-8350-powering-gtx-780-sli-vs-gtx-980-sli-at-4k/index.html

More at Link. It may be marginal in some cases, but it doesnt stop it still being a viable option.