So I just realised that it's been 5 long years since my last PC build and I figure it's time for a new one.
Unfortunately, I've been way (way) out of the loop when it comes to what's good and what's not these days.
So, here's a preliminary build; something I threw together that sounded somewhat like a decent gaming PC within my price range.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/np7DTWv.png[/IMG]
I was looking for some advice.
1. I have no idea when it comes to which hardware is compatible with which hardware. Will everything here work together properly? (ie. The graphics card will actually fit into the mobo and inside the case?)
2. I gather that much more than a 600W PSU would be overkill for a build which I [b]do not plan to go SLI/Crossfire/overclocked[/b]. Is 600W enough?
3. I have no bias when it comes to brand name, case design, etc. Any ideas to shave a few bucks off without sacrificing quality? Any case with decent cooling that will fit everything inside is fine by me.
4. This graphics card is only based on a recommendation I read. I woulnd't even know where to look to compare its performance to cards in a similar price-range. Any input?
5. General advice? Anything you'd change? Needs something more? Could save a few bucks here or there?
Yeah, as you can tell I'm so out of the loop it's not funny. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT: Yeah as you can tell I'm Australian. I used [url]http://www.pccasegear.com[/url] to get prices for this build, and will likely order through them unless something better is suggested.
The 4670 isn't overclockable while the motherboard is an overclockable Z-series chipset. Either downgrade the motherboard to a B or H-series or switch to a K series processor.
While i'm on motherboards, the motherboard you've picked is a micro-atx size motherboard for a case that fits ATX-sized ones. There's no real reason not to get the ATX-version of that motherboard(The Z87-D3HP or ideally the Z87X-D3H if you're overclocking)
As for the rest, you've made a really good build, and form factor aside, your choice of motherboard is good too. There's not much i can comment on, this is actually really well done
Get an MSI G41 Z87 motherboard and an i5 4670k for overclocking
Thanks for the input. I really have no intention of overclocking, so my processor choice was deliberately to get one that wasn't made for it. The motherboard, however, was an oversight! Thank you!
Would the "Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H" be suitable? [url]http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19859&cPath=1183[/url]
That alone will save me $40. Sweet.
[editline]7th March 2014[/editline]
Also one of my mates thinks I should go WD over Seagate. I'd probably agree except for the $30 price difference.
He says it'd be worth it in the long run. Thoughts?
[QUOTE=Jebus;44160126]Also one of my mates thinks I should go WD over Seagate. I'd probably agree except for the $30 price difference.
He says it'd be worth it in the long run. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
The seagate is faster than even the WD Black and for the drives there's a warranty difference on, the warranty won't bring back your lost data regardless of which drive you picked
True, wasn't aware of the speed but I was thinking the same about the warranty.
He also thinks that 600w won't be enought for this build and suggests a 750w, but I believe that would be overkill. What do you think?
The GPU has a TDP of 250W while the processor has 84W, leaving around 250W for the rest of the system. This is more than enough for an overclockable build, nevermind one that you can't
There's a misconception about how much power GPU's use because online stores usually say that they need 500-600W of power to run them. This isn't the single GPU's usage, but a rating for the entire system, and it's extremely generous to make sure that someone won't sue them for following the suggestion when their system exceeds it, even with 220W processors and tons of drives.
[editline]7th March 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=Original User;44159705]Get an MSI G41 Z87 motherboard and an i5 4670k for overclocking[/QUOTE]
Why would you suggest a budget motherboard for a build like this?
[editline]7th March 2014[/editline]
As for overclocking, i would really recommend getting an overclockable processor and motherboard. It'll let you get a "free" speed-boost later down the line, making it useful for a few generations more
It's not hard to do at all, and most motherboards can do a decent overclock for you.
You'd need the 4670K processor(with the K appendix) and the Z87 chipset of the motherboard, alongside a cooler for the processor. A Hyper 212 EVO or 212X would do and it's usually not too expensive.
If you intend to make it last for 5 years, it's probably a good idea, but if you prefer saving money right now, i can't exactly change your mind
[QUOTE=Jebus;44160126]Thanks for the input. I really have no intention of overclocking, so my processor choice was deliberately to get one that wasn't made for it. The motherboard, however, was an oversight! Thank you!
Would the "Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H" be suitable? [URL]http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19859&cPath=1183[/URL]
That alone will save me $40. Sweet.
[editline]7th March 2014[/editline]
Also one of my mates thinks I should go WD over Seagate. I'd probably agree except for the $30 price difference.
He says it'd be worth it in the long run. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
If you are getting the 4670 I would suggest a Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H, I have it and it is a great board since you do not plan on overclocking. [URL]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gah87d3h[/URL]
As for the "free" performance gain from overclocking, you are going to spend about $25 more for a processor to overclock, about $30-50 more for a motherboard worth anything, and at least $30 for a cooler, so it's really "spend $100 more to unlock for a little bit of a performance gain" So if you don't think you want to overclock, I would steer away from it as I do not think the performance gain is worth about $100 more, the 4670 is more than capable of all your processing needs on its own. Don't get me wrong I am not against overclocking, I just don't think you should do it [I]if[/I] you don't really want to. But it's up to you whether or not you think it's worth $100 more.
Since you've got quite a bit of money for that build, a Hyper 212 evo would be a nice luxury. It cools unoc'd cpus very well.
Hm, I guess I should keep the overclocking idea in mind. I'll branch out to two potential builds, one overclockable and one not and weigh up the differences.
But NPC_Hydra, that motherboard is more expensive than the overclockable one I'd selected! Any particular reason for this?
Thanks to everyone for your input.
Depending where you are you can get a good deal on microcenter if you pick it up in store [url]http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx[/url]
I'm in Australia.
Can someone explain the differences here?
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/zD80C4y.png[/IMG]
Why would you pick one of these over another?
So I hopped on pcpartpicker and got this [url]http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/360oD[/url]
Seems like PC case gear has pretty standard prices, so you should be good ordering everything from there. My only suggestion would be to get that H87-DH3, and everything else you had is grand.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/C0fYrbR.png[/IMG]
Here's what I've got so far.
Help me knock a few bucks off that motherboard, it seems way over the top.
Also, would you downgrade that GPU at all? Feel like there could be something still pretty decent for a bit less?
You don't need 250gb of ssd space. You should keep your OS and programs on it, and everything else that takes up space on your hdd. At least that's what I would recommend. Unless you're using dual monitors or doing intense rendering you won't need a 3GB card, so if you wanna bring down the price you could always buy a 760
Well I had the idea of keeping Steam on it, too.
And then I realised that my Steam folder alone is over 200GB at the moment.
I guess I could knock that back down again, it would save me a bit but... I like the idea of super-fast Steam :(
[editline]8th March 2014[/editline]
Oh and sorry Levelog I missed that last post of yours. Yeah, I did end up throwing that motherboard in but I still feel like it's a bit much, I just don't know enough about them.
[QUOTE=Jebus;44164694]Hm, I guess I should keep the overclocking idea in mind. I'll branch out to two potential builds, one overclockable and one not and weigh up the differences.
But NPC_Hydra, that motherboard is more expensive than the overclockable one I'd selected! Any particular reason for this?
Thanks to everyone for your input.[/QUOTE]
The H87 have the same build quality as the Z87, really the only difference is overclocking ability and SLI capability. And here in the US it's only $100 so I don't know about the price difference.
[QUOTE=Jebus;44165384]Well I had the idea of keeping Steam on it, too.
And then I realised that my Steam folder alone is over 200GB at the moment.
I guess I could knock that back down again, it would save me a bit but... I like the idea of super-fast Steam :(
[editline]8th March 2014[/editline]
Oh and sorry Levelog I missed that last post of yours. Yeah, I did end up throwing that motherboard in but I still feel like it's a bit much, I just don't know enough about them.[/QUOTE]
You really should keep with that motherboard. Best not to cheap out on the backbone of the system.
Yeah, I'm slowly reading up on different motherboards and learning about what they do/don't do. I'm starting to lean towards keeping it as well.
My only dilemma now is the SSD... Drop back to a 120GB, save $80, and keep Steam on my HDD? :(
Put steam itself on your ssd, and the bulk of the games on your hdd. The ssd will mainly just help with load times, so you can fit Windows, basic programs, and around 4 games that would benefit most from load times on your SSD
I keep forgetting that you can install Steam games into different directories. I guess I can get away with the smaller SSD then.
I've been doing some research and I've decided to swap out that case with something else. I've been looking through catalogues of the bigger brand names but not much jumps out at me.
I need something that can obviously fit an ATX board, but I'd also like USB 3.0 internals, spaces for cable management, and (preferably toolless) seating for at least one 2.5" drive.
This is just one I've come across, does anyone have any opinions on the matter?
[url]http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_961&products_id=27048[/url]
I can recommend the Fractal Design R4, should be about $100. It's a really nice case and I think that, except the toolless 2.5" drive installation, it has everything you need.
I don't know if you're still trying to decide what to buy for your gaming build, but I came across a pretty nice bundle on newegg and from my perspective, it looks really solid. It's quite a bit cheaper and you can get the same CPU you want but it's unlocked. The CPU cooler is top quality for air cooling as well.
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1567183[/url]
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