New build PC - Need expert assistance

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BogdanX

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Jul 1, 2013
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Hi to everyone!

As my old machine is getting older, I've decided to build a new PC that is intended to fit some of my needs: games, watching some movies and offer me the possibility for future upgrades as for sure I will not do this system build in the near future (meaning next 5 years).

Of course as I am not Bill Gates, I'm tight on a budget: ~ EUR 1,000 or ~ USD 1,350.

So, here is what I would like to buy:

• CPU: Intel® CoreTM i5 3570K IvyBridge, 3400MHz, 6MB, socket 1155 (Part# BX80637I53570K);

• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler;

• MB: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 (ATX);

• GPU:
Gigabyte Radeon HD7870 (Part# GV-R787OC-2GD); or

GPU: Asus Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition (Part# HD7870-DC2-2GD5-V2)

Both GPUs have almost same price on the market and therefore I'm a little bit confused. What to choose? Or is there a better alternative for ~ USD 220?

• DDR3: G.SKILL Sniper (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (Part# F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR)

• SSD: SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC (Part# MZ-7PD128BW)

As I am on budget, I also consider to renounce (for a while) to SSD and instead to use the ~USD 130 to the budget for a reliable Monitor or else.

What do you think? Can I wait for a while and not to buy right now the SSD?!

• HDD: Western Digital WD10EZEX Caviar Blue, 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm (Part# WD10EZEX);

• CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent (Part# FD-CA-DEF-R4-BL (ATX Mid Tower));

It is needed to buy additional case fun(s)?!

• PSU: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (Part# P1-750B-BEFX)

I'm not sure whether the 750W will be enough for the above configuration. Please advise or suggest a better quality / price.

This configuration is estimated (including SSD) to about USD 1,150 (or EUR 880). As I still need to buy a Monitor reliable for the above configuration, there is little space for more expensive components.

Therefore, I will highly appreciate suggestion for similar quality of components but more cheapest.

...and as I am not English native speaker, please excuse any grammatical mistakes. Thank you!
 
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Sangeet Khatri
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aredflyingbird

aredflyingbird

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Everything is good, however, I recommend the GTX760. It offers better performance for the price. The 750w is more than enough for your build, and if you decide to get another identical GPU, it will suffice. I would wait to get a SDD, unless your a speedfreak. 3 fans will be enough (2 intake, 1 exhaust)
 
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BogdanX

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Thanks aredflyingbird but the GTX760 is about ~ USD 50 more than HD7870. I will consider it if I would get enough deduction from others items.

Also I am appreciating your opinion about PSU. It is quite annoying as I cannot estimate the consumption of each component.

I am not a speedfreak in terms of start-up computer and most probably I will not go for SSD right now..but I will see!

Fans..you say that the already case's fans are enough?

 
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BogdanX

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Waiting for your opinion too! Thanks in advance!
 
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Obbyb1

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The 4670K is only £10 more in the UK, not sure about the US, but I reckon it would be a good choice to spend that extra for the 5-10% increase in performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($132.05 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($76.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1128.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-02 04:57 EDT-0400)
 
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BogdanX

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Thanks for your time! Unfortunately Newegg do not ship in Romania / Europe where I live. Don't know the other sellers.

I've estimated my budget using PCPartPicker, so I expect that the prices to be higher considering shipping and / or taxes.
 
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BogdanX

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I just read one review about the RAM Memory G.SKILL Sniper (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (Part# F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR) saying that the dual channel kit is optimized for Intel Z68 / P67 / P55; AMD 790 / 890. That mean will not working with my MB ASRock Z77 or will work poor?!
 
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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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Just send the link to the store where you want to buy from and also tell the budget, we might be able to put something that is good for the price, but for that we need to know where you are buying things from because prices change from country to country and sometimes from store to store.

So just give us a few more details:
1. The country where you live.
2. Your budget, both in USD and your native currency
3. Store where you are buying things from.
4. Link of the store.

That will help us a lot in helping you :)
 
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BogdanX

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Hi Khatri!

Here is the link of the store from where I will buy most of the parts: http://www.dc-shop.ro.

Initially I set a budget of around ~ USD 1,350 (Romanian Lei: RON 4,600) which is anyhow a little more than can I afford, so being happy to get something around USD 1,175 (~ RON 4,000) considering that I have to buy also a Monitor.

Also I've checked Amzon.de but very disappointing: European sellers have almost same prices like US sellers but in Euro ..so more expensive.

Additional, the PSU, Memory and Case are very rare in Europe or too expensive! ..so I will look for something less :(!

Thus, so far I will stay on the followings:

• CPU: Intel® CoreTM i5 3570K IvyBridge, 3400MHz, 6MB, socket 1155 (Part# BX80637I53570K)
(RON 959 / USD 286);

• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler
(RON 233 / USD 69);

• MB: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 (ATX)
(RON 729 / USD 214);

• HDD: Western Digital WD10EZEX Caviar Blue, 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm (Part# WD10EZEX);
(RON 289 / USD 85)

IN TOTAL: USD 654 (so far)

That means it remains ~ USD 500 to be spent on Monitor, GPU, Case, Memory and PSU. :(
 
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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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The site is down from India, i do not know why? maybe they must have blocked Indian servers, i was able to open it using proxy server but then the language is not understandable for me.

Okay, so since i cannot get decent access to the site, i would suggest you to go for the LGA 1150 socket motherboard and CPU as that would make up much for the future upgrades. Get a i5 4670k with a Z87 motherboard, if you want to save some money go for i5 4670 ( non K version ) with a h87 motherboard but then you won't be able to overclock if that is fine for you.

Here are the specs you should go for :

CPU : i5 4670K | Alternate : i5 4670 (Non K Version)
Motherboard : Z87 Motherboard | Alternate : H87 Motherboard (for saving money)
RAM : 8 GB RAM . That should be plenty.
Case : Get any you like.
PSU : Go for a 600W 80 plus gold | Alternate : 80 plus Bronze (Corsair CX 600 80plus bronze)
HDD : WD Caviar Black 1TB | Alternate : Seagate Barracuda 1TB
SSD : 128GB SSD (any one you find to be good)
CPU Cooler : Corsair H80i | Alternate : Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (for Air Cooling)
GPU : Spend the rest all money left on the GPU, get the best you can get since there won't be any bottleneck so get the best you can.

Send me the prices of all these parts. Then i will see if anything is over budget or if something needs replacement.
 
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BogdanX

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Thanks for your time Khatri! Also I cannot access the site without proxy...maybe some troubles from their side!

As I saw, the i5 4670 (k or not) is based on Haswell technology which is a pretty new technology from Intel. Honestly, I'm not affording to test new technology for Intel. That do not mean that Haswell is bad but is not for me and for what I am looking for.

The i5 4670k has a similar price with i5 3570K even more expensive by few cents :na:

Also, the AsRock Z87 Extreme 6 Socket 1150 is by about 40 USD more expensive than ASRock Z77 Extreme6.

So far, as I save some monies if I will buy a Inter-Tech Combat Power CPM 750W Modular for my configuration (price about USD 75) can you tell if your recommended Corsair CX 600 80plus bronze has enough power for my future system and, of course, if compatible with LGA1155. I am ready to pay more USD 15 for that Corsair just because is a known brand.

Your recommended Corsair H80i Cooler (water cooling) is double in price than my choice Noctua (air cooling). Definitively not for my budget!

I will save USD 25 with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO but the Noctua NH-U9B SE2 has 2 fans and maybe the noise level better than Cooler Master. In this case is worth to save this USD25?

 
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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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CPU : I recommended the 4670K with the 1150 socket just because it is much more future proof. But if you are sure you do not need to upgrade then go for the old socket, but i would recommend the newer socket anytime since spending so much on a dead LGA 1155 socket is not something that i would choose. But if you want to save money, you can go for it. It is your build so the choice must be yours.

PSU : This is not the thing you want to cheap out on. Get atleast a 80 plus bronze certified or better power supply only from reliable companies like the XFX, Seasonic, Corsair and also Cooler Master upto some extent. If you do not get a good power supply then the chances of your parts dying become much higher.

And for that build get a power supply with a wattage of somewhere in between 600W - 750W. But make sure that the power supply is atleast a 80 plus Bronze, Silver, or Gold certified as it is very important. And you do not want to get a power supply less than that.

Cooler: Yeah, sure go for any cooler you like. It is your choice.

Final Note : I think spending 40 dollars more on the LGA 1150 socket would help you more in the long run, but the end choice is yours if you are comfortable with the dead LGA 1155 socket for which no new processor would be launched then go for it. But that is not something i would have got for.

Hope that you find this answer helpful. :)
 
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BogdanX

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Of course! That is the reason for why I am here! :lol:


Your assumption is 100% correct for those who will look to improve their systems in the next 1 - 2 years! But hey....I am not intending to change the CPU in the next 5 years but in the worst case just to overclock it in order to accommodate whatever new things will appear in the gaming / media field for a reasonable period of time.

Presently I hold an Intel D (Dual Core) CPU on the pre-built E-Machine with a Intel D101GGC MB maximum accommodating 2 x 1 GB DDR, onboard GPU from AMD. I think is older than 6 years but I cannot do much with it in terms of upgrades vs. performance vs. price.

Therefore, after 5 years either I will buy a completely new built machine (like now) or I will be too old to care about it! ;)


The price is almost following the wattage: increasing wattage will lead to an increase in price. Of course I prefer to choose a well known brand but I don't want to pay supplementary just for a name and for a certification like 80.

I saw that Inter-Tech Combat Power CPM 750W has good reviews and what I am appreciating most, seems to be made in Germany. Well... I'll see!

Overall, thank you for sharing with me your thoughts!
 
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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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I don't want to pay supplementary just for a name and for a certification like 80.
Click to expand...

What the fu#$??? It is not just a name, it is something that tells about the efficiency of the Power Supply. It is not just name and it is not just stupid certification. It is very important to get at least a 80 plus bronze power supply when building a good gaming PC. Power supply is not something to cheap out on.

You should definitely see this 3-4 minutes video explaining power supplies efficiency. This video is made by Linus Sebastian who is a PC building guru, so it is definitely 100% correct. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOXTZizoknc

It supplies power to all the components by converting it from the power from the wall to the power that the components in your computer can use.

So if the PSU is not converting the current correctly or it is not good enough then there are more and more chances of the parts getting damaged.

So, if the PSU is bad then your computer would soon die. Hence anyone who is aware enough spends his money on a good power supply and never cheaps out on it.

I personally would get atleast a 80 plus gold power supply but the 80 plus bronze power supply should be good enough.

I am sure this post cleared your doubts on Power Supplies and it's use and importance.
 
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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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If you are completely sure that you would not upgrade soon then go for these specs:

CPU : i5 3570K if you want to overclock
or
much cheaper 3570 or 3470 if you do not want to overclock.
They all should offer similar performance. I like the 3470 more as it has much better price to performance ratio and is very close to the 3570K at stock speeds in terms of performance, something that any normal user won't ever notice.

Motherboard : If you are getting the 3570K then go for Z77 motherboard, if you are going for 3470 or 3570 then go for the H77 motherboard

RAM : Get 8GB 1600Mhz RAM. Should easily be fine. (or get 16GB if you feel like)

PSU : As mentioned in the earlier post, get a good power supply, it is not something to cheap on. And for this build i think getting a 650W PSU would be good enough. Get a good power supply in between 600 - 750W range. For more information refer to my earlier post in the same thread.
And please do not cheap on the PSU, it is a very important component which really needs quality, get something from good brand only.

HDD : Get a WD Caviar Black 1TB. It is the fastest HDD and it is really cheap.

SSD : Do your research and get any good 128GB SSD (I do not have much knowledge about SSD's as never researched much on them.)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler which you selected should be fine, but if you are going for the non K version of the CPU then the stock cooler would be okay but having a cooler is always good.

Case : The Fractal Design Define R4 that you selected is good. I do not have anything else to say.

GPU : Spend all the money that is left on the GPU, any GPU would run easily with this CPU and still the CPU won't be a bottleneck, not even with the 780. The CPU can handle it all.

So i think that pretty much sums it up. Enjoy your build. If you want to ask anything else feel free to ask me anything below. Also before finally getting the GPU, you can consult me. It might be better. Anyways your build looks good enough.
 
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BogdanX

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Thanks again Khatri!

Right now I'm trying to figure out how hard will be affected my budget & other components if I will choose Haswell.

As I just debated this issue (LGA 1150 vs LGA 1155) with one of my colleague, I am reconsidering my option because as you said LGA1155 has no more future but I can easily change only the CPU after 5 years and still to have a good PC for another 3 or 4 years....

Let's see!
 
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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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I might help a bit in choosing if i may, go for the i5 4570 and a H87 motherboard, that is comparable to i5 3570k in performance (haswell one is a tad better) and it won't cost you as much as a Z87 motherboard + haswell unlocked processor.
 
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BogdanX

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Sangeet Khatri thank you for your advice: I chosen LGA 1150 for my first PC built ever.

For who is interested, my ~ EUR 1,100 new rig is as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4 GHz Socket 1150 Box
MB: Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H Socket 1150
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD7870 2GB DDR5 256bit
DDR3: Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Dual Channel Kit [ KHX1600C9D3B1K2/8GX ]
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA3 64MB 7200RPM
PSU: Corsair CX750M Modular
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl
Monitor: LED 22 LG 22EN43T-B Full HD (+ bonus Microsoft wi/fi keyboard & mouse)
DVD-RW: LG (nothing special, just to read/write some DVDs)

...DDR3-1600 Memory operating voltage exceeds the Intel Haswell CPU recommended maximum but who knows what I'll need in the future in terms of a new CPU :D...

...i am aware that the monitor is only DVI and not HDMI for my GPU and also, I didn't took a separate CPU's cooler as I run out of my budget! :D

At first boot all hardware works fine, no failure, no errors!

Windows system rating: 5.9 (due to my HDD)

..as for:

CPU: 7.7
GPU: 7.9
DDR: 7.8
HDD: 5.9 (I'll go for a SSD later when more monies will be available)

That's it...my first PC built! :)


 
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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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A nice build indeed. Could have gone for an even better GPU, but nevermind.. the 7870 is still a fantastic GPU. Good build indeed.

Anyways whenever you have the extra money, then do these minor things :

1. Get the aftermarket CPU Cooler and overclock the CPU to like 4.5 Ghz. If you are lucky then you might be able to get upto 4.8

2. Get a SSD. I have finally learn more things about the SSD and I would recommend the Samsung 840 Pro whenever you feel like upgrading to an SSD.

3. Overclock the GPU to get even better performance. The 7870 has quite some overclocking potential. So, you do not want to waste the free potential it has. Unlock the potential of that card.

Anyways a very good build. Can I know what frame rates you are getting and at what settings? Just curious.

Also can you just take a picture of your rig and share it. I quite want to see how your build looks like. The Fractal Design Define R4 is a master at clean looking builds.
 
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BogdanX

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Hey, I know that there is place for more improvement but the problem is the budget. I have NO MORE MONIES! :no:

Overclocking is not necessary for what I'm using the rig in the present but when it will be requested you can bet that I will do it! :D

About the frame rates I wasn't yet curios to note such info. So far I have just played World of Tanks and StarCraft II, both on Extreme graphic settings: to say "smooth" is not enough!

These days I'll try to open the Case and take some pictures. The Fractal Case I had to bought from Amazon as in Romania the R4 type is not yet available.




 
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DarkSable

DarkSable

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Just throwing out there two things:

1) I don't get why people whine about LGA 1155 being dead but think that LGA 1150 isn't. Intel's sockets last through ONE tick-tock cycle, which means in five years any cpu that isn't the generation RIGHT after haswell is going to require a new socket. So no, you won't be able to just buy a new CPU in the future and plunk it in there.

2) I'm glad you listened to Khatri about the power supply. It's actually THE MOST important part of a computer, because a cheap power supply (i.e. not paying for the name, not 80+ certified at all, even though sometimes that's iffy anyways) can quite easily fail catastrophically... i.e. set itself on fire, fry not only itself but your motherboard and other parts too, or even explode. You should never never never cheap out on the power supply, and unfortunately, pre-builts and new builders do exactly that all the time.
 
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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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The socket makes sense when getting the i5. Becuase you can upgrade to a next gen i7 if you ever need to.

If you are buying a Z77 socket with i7 3770k then the older socket it fine, but getting the i5, one should have the option to at least upgrade later in the future to the next gen i7 if he feels like doing so.

This is the reason why I recommended the newer socket.
 
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BogdanX

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1) My old PC is a pre-built LGA 775 socket, with an Intel D101 GGC MB and Pentium D CPU. It was bought somewhere in year 2005 and is still working but cannot accommodate today games & media but only some office stuff. That means it serve me almost 9 years.

If my new rig will be good enough for the next 5 years and then will be good enough for another 5 years with some overclocks and minimal upgrades, then I will be more than satisfied. Maybe after 10 years any computer will be an old gadget, like today the gramophone...who knows?

2) Come one....my old computer as well as the computer from my working place have some PSU that not even the producer name cannot be read on them and both seems to be made before I was born ...and still working, no fire and failure at all.

I don't want to say that 80+ PSU is not good but sometimes, in 80% of cases is just marketing. ;)
 
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