Build Opinion Required

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MalteseWolf

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Sep 5, 2013
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Hello everyone,

I am currently attempting to build a decent PC for my girlfriend. She's not a hardcore gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but would like a computer capable of running recent/current games efficiently (not necessarily at the highest graphics settings).

The following is what I came up with. I would appreciate any criticisms and suggestions regarding possible changes to be made to it, or if it is good as is.

In particular I would like an expert opinion on whether all of the parts I selected so far will work when they're put together (particularly the 2 monitors with the graphics card) and also whether the UPS I list below will provide enough power to run the thing properly.

CPU: Intel Core i5 4430 Haswell 3.0GHz S1150
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87-HD3 S1150/ DDR3/SATA3/ ATX
Memory: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC-1333 Memory
Hard Drive: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 3.5" 7200rpm SATA3 64mb
Video Card: 2GB EVGA GT640 Single Slot PCIe 3.0
Power Supply: 600W Cooler Master B Series ATX
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus Black Mid Tower
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB 24x SATA DVD Writer
UPS: 850VA Scan Centralion UPS
Sound system: Creative A250 2.1 Black Speakers
Card Reader: Icybox IB-864-B 3.5 6x Slot Card Reader w/ 3xUSB
Displays (x2): 21.5" Acer S220HQLBrbd Full HD LED Monitor
Mouse: Lexma M720 Crystal Lighting BlueTrace 2000DPI USB Mouse
Keyboard: Logitech K200 Thin Profile Keyboard

Thanks in advance,
MalteseWolf
 
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Kelthar

Kelthar

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Mar 27, 2013
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I personally prefer Ivy Bridge over Haswell as 4th generation heats up more than the 3rd. If you want to follow my advice, then dial the CPU down to a 3rd gen, and the motherboard to a Z77.

Now, if you're not going to overclock then you can switch to an H77 (or H87 if you're using Haswell anyway), and if you are overclocking then you need a Z77/Z87 and the CPU needs to have a K at the end of the model.

With that rig I find it a little waste not to get a better GPU (and if necessary to cut down on the UPS), a GTX660 is a good mid-end card and should handle most games although not on maximum settings.
 
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ps3hacker12

ps3hacker12

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If you look at reviews, the haswell processors run cooler, use less power and are about 9%~ faster than ivy bridge.

The heat issue comes into play under high overclocks, when a third gen i5 is overclocked to 4.6~ Ghz and a fourth gen i5 is OCed to 4.6~Ghz the fourth gen runs hotter in some processors.
 
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Kelthar

Kelthar

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I've read about people getting over 80ºC with stock, using stock cooler, whereas I've never seen anything like that for Ivy Bridge.

They also heat up more when overclocked than their Ivy Bridge counterparts: that's a known fact.
 
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ps3hacker12

ps3hacker12

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Haswell runs hot when under high overclocks because IPC adds heat as well as the on die VRM's. Its all about the silicon lottery really when it comes to overclocking, but yes as i said, when OCed the haswell processors generate more heat BUT at stock as long as the processor isn't faulty or the user hasn't set it up wrong, they run slightly cooler.

Those guys who have 80C with the stock cooler are most likely doing something wrong or have a faulty processor.

and anyway the third gen i5's are EOL, to me it doesn't make sense to buy an EOL processor.
 
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Kelthar

Kelthar

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Well, I'll back off in this Haswell vs Ivy Bridge discussion, kind of pointless as I do not have much information to back my statements other than data which can be considered "outdated" as it is from June.

I, however, still keep my recommendation to get a GTX660 to get better performance.
 
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ps3hacker12

ps3hacker12

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From 2 minutes on that site, i have found it annoying to navigate :S

but within your budget you could switch these parts:

mobo for this since your processor is non-overclockable anyway:
http://www.scanmalta.com/eshop/asus-b85m-g-intel-b85-s1150-pcie3-ddr3-sata3-motherboard.html

ram to this:
http://www.scanmalta.com/eshop/8gb-2x4gb-corsair-xms-ddr3-pc1333-9-9-9-24-memory.html

PSU to this:
http://www.scanmalta.com/eshop/500w-corsair-builder-series-cx-80-plus-bronze-atx-power-supply.html

graphics card to atleast this:
http://www.scanmalta.com/eshop/1gb-evga-gtx-650-ti-ssc-gddr5-pcie-3-0-video-card-1.html
or this version if thats not in stock:
http://www.scanmalta.com/eshop/1gb-evga-gtx-650-ti-ssc-gddr5-pcie-3-0-video-card.html

That site has such limited parts, its fairly annoying.
 
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MalteseWolf

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Ironically enough that is one of the (if not THE) best computer store in the country. Downside of living on a tiny island I guess.

Two questions (coming from a hardware newbie so please excuse my ignorance):

1) What do you mean by the CPU not being over-clockable? I don't intend to overclock it or anything of the sort, but I am curious as to how one can tell whether a processor can be overclocked or not.

2) Should I change the UPS if I change the PSU to the one you're suggesting? Is it enough power? Or too much/little?
 
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Kelthar

Kelthar

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If the CPU has a "K" at the end of the model (i5-3570K for example) it is overclockable. If it doesn't have that K, then it isn't.

You don't need a new UPS, your computer will simply last less time running on the UPS than it would otherwise.
 
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ps3hacker12

ps3hacker12

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Sangeet Khatri

Sangeet Khatri

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May 26, 2013
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Well.. I would like to point out that the 'K' in the end is valid only for Intel. For AMD almost every CPU is overclocking capable and for them 'K' means fully unlocked, meaning no limitations at all. But their non K CPU's can be overclocked like beast.

I thought this should be important.
 
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MalteseWolf

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Sep 5, 2013
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Nah I don't intend to overclock it, so not worth getting overclockable hardware.

We've decided to go for the modified build you suggested earlier. Many thanks to both you and Kelthar for your much appreciated suggestions and explanations. :wahoo:
 
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