Semi-New PC Build. Trying cheapest route with good hardware.

Shiggy · Oct 19, 2013

What I will be keeping from the old rig(Made in 2008):
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932

RAM: 1333 2 x 4GB(that's all I know)

PSU: Corsair 850W

CPU Cooler: Hyper N520(Big guy, supports LGA1155)

Note: I'm assuming that RAM and PSU will be reliable knowing they have lasted for about 5 years. I wouldn't know if I should be replacing them as well or to use them until they die. Also gives me the worry if they do die, any of the new hardware will take the damage as well.

What I will say good bye to:
CPU: Intel Core i5 750(@ 2.67 GHz)

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+
Was strong, now too old and weak.

Motherboard: P55A-UD4P
This guy is LGA1156. Can't do anything at this age.

HDD: WD Cavair Green 1TB SATA

What's new:
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO $180 OR GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H $145

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz $290
LGA 1155 Quad core. 3770(not 3770k) because not interested in overclock. Cheaper by about $40 than 3770k.

GPU: EVGA GTX 780 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 $660
Definitely wanted to go for GTX780. Couldn't find a cheaper choice at GTX780, most are close in price range.

SSD: SAMSUNG 840 EVO 500GB SATA III $340
Cheaper by $160 than my initial choice of 500GB SSD. Original choice was SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series 512GB SATA III.

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium(OEM) $100
Home Premium can support up to 16GB of RAM. Plenty for me. OEM because price is half, and as far as I know even the retail version is only 1 install on 1 PC(motherboard).

Some other Add-on:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Lifetime 1 PC - OEM $30

BELKIN 12 Outlet 3780 Joules Surge Protector $24

WD My Passport 500GB USB 3.0 External HDD $70

4 x 120mm fan, 1 x 140mm fan, 1 x LED light $83

Total Price: +-$1777

Any other improvement to reduce the price, or any suggestion to help me out is welcome. I will be doing minor editing, gaming(Guild wars 2, C&C), video viewing(YouTube etc.), regular tasks. On the old(current) rig I cannot run the games on max settings. The PC will freeze.

UPDATE

Switching SSD: SAMSUNG 840 Pro 128GB $133

HDD: WD Black 1TB $90

Total Price: $1660 OR $1625(depending on Motherboard)

kirilmatthew · Oct 19, 2013

I included a 256Gb SSD in the parts I put together. This is a lot, but why don't you also reuse your old HDD? I replaced the 780 with a R9-290x. It is not yet released, but will be a a couple weeks and can beat a titan in performance at a cost of around $600. Let me know what you think or if you have more questions!
Here it is: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/kirilmatt/saved/2gsL

Shiggy · Oct 19, 2013

kirilmatthew :

I'm trying to avoid reusing my old HDD as I have heard that formatting the HDD is difficult. Maybe not the process of formatting, but to actually clear all of the data including the OS is what I heard difficult. (small bits and pieces could still remain?)

Also after formatting the HDD are they considered "brand new" taking in the factor of what is left in the HDD? if there is anything left of course after format.(I never formatted)

So I might as well only use SSD if that is an option, unless this is considered unsafe, unstable, then I would consider going for smaller SSD, and a HDD for other data. Possibly about 126GB on SSD, and rest on HDD using the current 1TB that I have if formatted HDD is reliable and safe. If not I may go for a 500GB HDD considering the fact that I didn't fill up quarter of the 1TB HDD after about 5 years.

Never knew about R9-290x. At this point in time though I may stick to the 780 as there are reviews already made by plenty of people, while I don't know how reliable a brand new GPU may be.

I looked at your Motherboard choice and I added that to my list as another Motherboard option. Cheaper than my choice so, yeah.

kirilmatthew · Oct 19, 2013

Shiggy :

The radeon r9-290x is the best GPU by far at the price range. It will beat the 780 by around 15% in games. AMD is also releasing mantle, promising up to 9x performance in optimized games, though the only one anouced so far is BF4. Quality shouldn't be a problem, reviews will probably be out the day the card is released or so. The HDD can probably be easily formatted. I have done it to old OS hard drives and have never had a problem. There should be nothing left on the HDD. Finally, if you really won't consider the r9-290x, you could get two 7970s for cheaper than the 780, or two 760s if you want to stick with nVidia. I highly recommend the r9-290x. Even the $500 r9-290 is going to be faster than the $650 780. The two GTX 760s cost less than a 780 and run as fast as a titan, or faster. I cannot recommend the 780.

Shiggy · Oct 20, 2013

kirilmatthew :

Thank you for your suggestion, I've chosen to go with 128GB SSD, and 1TB HDD. Much cheaper.

On the GPU however, I am still in debate. If I choose to go with the dual option on the 7970 or 760, they may outperform the single 780 but down the road they will definitely be out of date much faster than the 780. Plus, if I choose to go with the 780 now, then down the road I have the option to go dual 780 to upgrade performance.

Of course this is the same with the R9-290 and R9-290x, so I will still wait for reviews on those two GPUs before deciding my final GPU choice.

For now, it's down to GTX 780, R9-290, and R9-290x.

For Motherboard I may stick with ASUS choice as I heard GIGABYTE Motherboard is not as stable(odd though as my current Motherboard is GIGABYTE lasting 5 years).

kirilmatthew · Oct 20, 2013

Shiggy :

kirilmatthew :

Thank you for your suggestion, I've chosen to go with 128GB SSD, and 1TB HDD. Much cheaper.

On the GPU however, I am still in debate. If I choose to go with the dual option on the 7970 or 760, they may outperform the single 780 but down the road they will definitely be out of date much faster than the 780. Plus, if I choose to go with the 780 now, then down the road I have the option to go dual 780 to upgrade performance.

Of course this is the same with the R9-290 and R9-290x, so I will still wait for reviews on those two GPUs before deciding my final GPU choice.

For now, it's down to GTX 780, R9-290, and R9-290x.

For Motherboard I may stick with ASUS choice as I heard GIGABYTE Motherboard is not as stable(odd though as my current Motherboard is GIGABYTE lasting 5 years).

Well the dual GPU option shouldn't get out of date faster, but if you do plan go upgrade and get another card, obviously go with the single card option. Gygabyte is good enough, if you aren't OCing you don't need a very expensive MB. That's what I'd do with GPUs, from the leaked benchmarks the 290x trades blows with the titan and quite easily beats the 780 in every benchmark.

Edit: here are some leaked benchmarks: http://videocardz.com/46929/official-amd-radeon-r9-290x-2160p-performance-17-games

Shiggy · Oct 20, 2013

kirilmatthew :

Thank you for the benchmarks. I'm surprised how much greater the 290X is. I'll just sit here and wait for the 290X to be released. Then my final decision will be made after seeing the actual price of 290X, and how the price change on the 780.

I'm glad I asked here and did my research as initial price of my rig was going to be $2238(not written on this thread), now down to about $1650 and maybe even more depending on the GPU. Spec wise there really isn't much difference compared to my initial choices.

kirilmatthew · Oct 20, 2013

Well let us know if you have any more questions! According the rumors the 290x will be priced around $600-$650, but you don't have long to wait! Remember to pick best answer when you've got all the info you need.

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