Detail check on $1100-$1300 Gaming Rig

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RDTTKA12

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May 20, 2013
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Community:

I am honing on my new gaming machine. Few key points here.

Already have a DVD/CD burner, 600 GB WD HDD, two 24" Samsung monitors, keyboard/mouse, Astro A50 Headphones, Windows 7 Home.

Goals for this rig: The ability to play upcoming PC gaming titles on the high end of settings, in particularly EQ Next and Titanfall. Going with Haswell socket for future upgradability. I do not Overclock.
Also I added a small soundcard as I want get away from onboard audio to enhance my gaming experiences.

Any and all thoughts are welcome, I have built several machines but am not very update to date on the newest hardware. I am almost certain this build is not getting the most bang for my buck.

MAX BUDGET - $1400




Intel Core i5-4670 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670
$219.99 $219.99

SAPPHIRE FleX 100352FLEX-2 Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ...
$319.99 -$10.00 Instant $309.99

G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C10D-16GAB
$134.99 $134.99

ASRock Z87M OC Formula LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
$189.99 $189.99

ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
$99.99 $99.99

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$59.99 -$10.00 Instant $49.99

CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$79.99 -$10.00 Instant $69.99

SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
$149.99


Subtotal: $1,224.92

 
Solution
R
Poorly balanced.
-You don't need 16gb of RAM for gaming. 8gb is still plenty.
-PSU is too expensive for what it is. The CX series are decent quality at best and it's generally used for low-budget builds. At this budget, I wouldn't trust that psu near your high-end components.
-You don't need sound card unless you have a high-end headset/speaker. Normally the built in audio on the motherboard is good enough for gaming.
-Case is meh. I have it. Cable management is horrible. You could get a better case for the price.
-You don't need that motherboard. The Z87 chipsets are used for overclocking. If you're not overclocking, grab the H87 as they perform the same as the Z87 except it can't overclock.

PCPartPicker part list / Price...
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RDTTKA12

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May 20, 2013
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Additonal Notes: Cannot seem to get my wishlist to go public on Newegg, which is where I located all these parts.
I am open to other websites for all components.
 
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tardis42

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Jul 7, 2013
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Generally, this looks like a well-balanced build to me. If you were going to spend more on any component, I would suggest upping the graphics card to a 7970 or GTX 770, or getting a bigger SSD. In regards to the latter, 128GB is plenty for an OS drive, but not enough if you want to run your games and applications from it as well, which can give a boost in start and loading times. Either upgrade would add $100-$150 to your build, so it would not take you over budget.
 
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realchaos

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Jan 30, 2013
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Poorly balanced.
-You don't need 16gb of RAM for gaming. 8gb is still plenty.
-PSU is too expensive for what it is. The CX series are decent quality at best and it's generally used for low-budget builds. At this budget, I wouldn't trust that psu near your high-end components.
-You don't need sound card unless you have a high-end headset/speaker. Normally the built in audio on the motherboard is good enough for gaming.
-Case is meh. I have it. Cable management is horrible. You could get a better case for the price.
-You don't need that motherboard. The Z87 chipsets are used for overclocking. If you're not overclocking, grab the H87 as they perform the same as the Z87 except it can't overclock.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($405.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1128.84
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-09 02:44 EDT-0400)

-Processor the game as you listed except the 400mhz difference in speed. You won't really notice it.
-Motherboard has all the features you did and doesn't allow for overclocking.
-2x4gb for dual channel ram, still more than enough for gaming (games only use 4-6gb).
-Bigger SSD. Plextor is an extremely reliable brand.
-Much better gpu. It should max nearly every game at 1080p.
-Extremely better case, in terms of noise level and cable management. The sound-dampening pads inside the case will really reduce the noise level and it will be extremely silent while providing great airflow. This case is generally the best for its price.
-High quality PSU. It's made by Seasonic, one of the best psu makers out there. If you want, you can grab a 750w psu for future SLI: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1750bbefx

 
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RDTTKA12

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May 20, 2013
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Alright that is some great information. Couple things here.
First, I chose Samsung Pro SSD as the IOPS seemed higher, also with random write speeds.
Are these factors I would notice?

I have a set of Astro A50 wireless gaming headsets, would a sound card not benefit a headset of this caliber?

Would 16GB of RAM not be better for future titles? or does the technology of the RAM dictate it's effect while gaming?

Thanks for all the replies so far(especially realchaos), learning alot!!
 
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RDTTKA12

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May 20, 2013
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Also, the motherboard explanation helped a lot as I do not plan on OC'ing.
However if WLAN capabilities and cloud type software were available I would utilize them. Not something that would make or break the deal but if the price fits I would target these types of mobo's.
Preferably 2 HDMI ports as I use two 1080p 24" samsung monitors
 
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realchaos

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Jan 30, 2013
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In SSDs, the difference between speeds isn't very noticeable as all of them will be fast with a little difference in speed between them. What I would look at is the reliability, and both the Plextor and Samsung 840 Pro are very reliable. Both are good choices.

16gb of ram will not benefit future titles. By the times games will start to use over 8gb of ram, you will probably want to upgrade your system anyways.

The Gigabyte 770 only has one HDMI port. You can connect the other monitor via DVI. They both carry the same signal so it will be basically the same thing.

That's a pretty expensive headset you got there. If you feel like you want to utilize it to it's full potential, then you can grab a sound card.
 
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RDTTKA12

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May 20, 2013
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Any suggestions on sound cards? Would like to keep it around $100.

i5 4430 vs i5 4670 - $30 dollar difference not worth the little bit of extra clock speed I am guessing?

The motherboard you suggested is nice, I will def go with something along that route.

Once again I appreciate the feedback. Any and all feedback is welcome and I would like as many opinions as possible.

Would AMD be a feasible route or is the technology just not there like the i series intel cores?
 
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realchaos

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The 400mhz difference isn't worth the extra $30, IMHO.
Here's a decent sound card, if you're willing to go a bit above: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102048&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

The problem with AMD processors is that their single-threaded performance can't touch Intel's. Games are single-threaded programs. Therefore, even the best AMD processor (FX-8350) can't beat the i5. However, AMD is still a very viable option if you plan to do rendering, photoshop, editing, etc.
 
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RDTTKA12

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May 20, 2013
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I am willing to go a bit above, and that card has solid reviews.
I am unfamiliar with 5.1 vs 7.1 and whether 7.1 is worth the money/can be fully harnessed.
Any thoughts on that topic as I notice this card is only 5.1.
Once again chaos I really appreciate the feedback, this is very helpful and I am feeling much more comfortable creating this build with your help.
 
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