Second Gaming Build

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Jsmooth1992

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Jan 3, 2014
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Hey everyone! Hope you guys have had a great festive season and New Year's.

I'm looking to build my second gaming rig at the beginning of February 2014, and have been researching parts for a couple of months now. Since I haven't built a gaming rig for a while (my last build was 2006!) I'm a bit out of the loop and therefore am sitting on the fence in regards to a few components. I'd love any advice, comments or tips on the build!

So here's how I'm thinking it'll roughly pan out:

Processor - Intel Core i5-4670K ($268AUD)

CPU cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO/212 X ($37/$39AUD)
- Preferably something that's low form here so it doesn't get in the way of my RAM or any other component.

Motherboard - MSI Z87 GD65 Gaming($259AUD)
OR
- ASUS Maximus VI Hero ($305)

RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws-X\Ares\Sniper 8G Kit 2133Mhz. ($100\$100\$104AUD) OR
- G.Skill Ripjaws-Z 8G Kit 2400 Mhz ($109AD)

Graphics Card - Gigabyte OC Windforce Radeon R9-290 ($622 AUD)
OR
XFX Double dissipation Radeon R9-290 ($589 AUD or $599 AUD for the black edition)
OR
Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X OC 4GB ($579)

SSD - Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD ($105AUD)
OR
SanDisk SSD Ultraplus SATA3 128G ($95AUD)
OR
Sandisk Extreme II SATA3 120G ($129AUD)

Hard Drive - Western Digital Black 1TB 7200 RPM HDD ($95AUD)

Power Supply - Thermaltake SmartPower 80Plus Bronze 750W ($109AUD)

Case - No idea. Maybe one of the following:
- Corsair Carbide CC400R ($125AUD)
- Thermaltake A41 ($119AUD)
- I really just need a suggestion of a mid-full tower with good airflow, dust management and cable management for up to $125AUD

Optical - Don't worry about it I can figure this one out on my own. Probably a blu-ray drive from LG or Pioneer for about $50-70 AUD


TOTAL : Roughly $1600-$1700AUD


In order to help comments and any advice, here are my general usage and also details of the retailers I'll be purchasing my parts from.

1. MSY (http://www.msy.com.au) - I'll be hoping to buy most or all of my parts from here. If you don't mind, they have a parts pricelist on the front page of their website, and an online order page to check stock. Check out their parts.pdf to get an idea of Australian prices, and to see what products they offer.

2. PC Case Gear (http://www.pccasegear.com/)
I may consider getting my graphics card here, because they have 2 out of the 3 non-reference 290's in Australia that I've seen.

Before I go on, I apologise if I have inserted the links incorrectly. If all else fails just copy and paste the URL.

3. I'm wanting to play games like BF4, Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite etc on ultra settings with AA etc crancked up at 60FPS. I have pondered the 280x as a cheaper alternative (roughly $399AUD). The 280x has quite a few more non-reference models available in Australia. The reason I opted for the 290 is because I'm wanting a bit of future-proofing with this build (Yes, I know you can't "truly future-proof"). I may potentially put two 280x's in crossfire in the future. But I've seen non-reference cards that are "two-slot". Does this mean that if I buy one 280x that it will take up the adjoining slot and I won't be able to fit another in later?

4. Can I get some advice on open air cooling vs normal reference blower fans on graphics cards? I know blower fans exhaust the air out the back (still don't know how lol) where as open-air coolers dump hot air inside the case, thus making it harder for the case to manage heat levels.

5. I am wanting to do some mild overclocking on the i5-4670K. Probably up to around 4-4.2GHz is good enough for me. What's your take on the need for a CPU cooler here?


I'm open to any suggestions for parts that aren't listed here! I reaally just want the best build for around 1600-1700AUD. The only thing I probably won't budge on is the processor.

The parts I do need the most help with would be the motherboard, CPU cooler and case.

Sorry for all the questions!! If anything needs clarifying please comment on the thread and I'll do my best to be as informative as I can. Thanks in advance for advice, comments, tips.

Cheers!
 
Solution
manofchalk
Rig looks fine, only things I would change are the motherboard and PSU.
- You dont need an expensive motherboard, spending around $150 will get you all the features you need.
- Thermaltake isn't the best name when it comes to PSU's, go for a brand like Corsair or Seasonic. Silverstone are also a brand to consider, their a bit of a dark horse so they tend not to be priced as high as the more notable ones like Seasonic/Corsair.

I suggest buying from PC Case Gear over MSY. I have bought from both (and other retailers around Melbourne) and found that they easily have the best service and range of stock. Getting a broken Razer Deathadder refunded by MSY was like trying squeeze water from a rock, and even then they would only replace it...
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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May 11, 2012
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Rig looks fine, only things I would change are the motherboard and PSU.
- You dont need an expensive motherboard, spending around $150 will get you all the features you need.
- Thermaltake isn't the best name when it comes to PSU's, go for a brand like Corsair or Seasonic. Silverstone are also a brand to consider, their a bit of a dark horse so they tend not to be priced as high as the more notable ones like Seasonic/Corsair.

I suggest buying from PC Case Gear over MSY. I have bought from both (and other retailers around Melbourne) and found that they easily have the best service and range of stock. Getting a broken Razer Deathadder refunded by MSY was like trying squeeze water from a rock, and even then they would only replace it. PCCG was a lot simpler when a cable extension I got from them broke.

3. Good luck trying with the AA turned up.
Near all graphics cards take up two PCIe slots, including reference design cards. Motherboards have appropriate slot-spacing so that you can set up Crossfire/SLI, no problems with that.

4. If your considering the 290, you want a custom design cooler. Reference design coolers have always been fairly bad, but on the 290/X are particularly inadequate.
A reference blower design cooler does have the advantage of ejecting hot air from the case, which make them particularly good in situations where there is poor case airflow, which really should only ever happen with small form factor builds or if your upgrading a brand-name machine. If your case is halfway decent, you will have good airflow and a custom design cooler will better serve you.

5. A cooler like the 212 EVO should do fine for an overclock like that.
 
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S

Shocking777

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Oct 31, 2013
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I would go with the G.Skills Ram especially if you want to overclock it, the Sapphire R9 290 because i lean on Sapphire for AMD cards and also the Samsung SSD because they're currently the fastest SSD right now.
 
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Jsmooth1992

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Jan 3, 2014
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Hey Chalk.

Thanks for your insights, appreciate it.

Just in response to your comments, what's your take on gaming motherboards vs standard motherboards? The only real differences I keep seeing are better audio solutions and supposedly faster LAN chipsets with gaming motherboards, so any pointers regarding gaming vs standard mobo's would be awesome. Also....MSI boards - are they duds or is this just an urban myth?

In relation to PSU's, duly noted. Corsair was my other option vs Thermaltake. Do you think 750W is too much for this build?

Hmmm....unfortunate that you're another victim of MSY's notorious "customer service". I'm from Sydney so I can't confirm the same service you've received. I do see the dilemma here. Cheap prices compared with pretty much rubbish warranty/no guarantees on refunds etc. PCCG is definitely right up there on my list of places to buy, but they have at least $5-20 premium on each part compared to MSY. When you factor in shipping, that's going to add almost 100-150 bucks to the system cost I think, which is quite a lot.

Maybe a solution would be to buy from both vendors? I don't think a case from MSY is going to "fail" on me so to speak. It's just a matter of what computer part do I buy from where?

Anyways....the 280x isn't that bad is it hahaha? =P
I will most likely go for a non-reference 290. There's been a few models already hitting our shores so hopefully the next month brings more.


Once again, appreciate your help manofchalk! I'll leave the thread open for another day or so, so others can comment, but thanks for your tips! You'll most probably get my best solution.

:)
 
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J

Jsmooth1992

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Jan 3, 2014
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Cool, thanks for those pointers Shocking. I'll also keep that in mind.
 
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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May 11, 2012
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Eh, I just see "motherboard". Whether the word gaming is slapped on its packaging is down to marketing, it doesnt matter compared to what it says on the back of the box.
For a gaming rig, basically you want a Z87 (Intel of course) motherboard that has dual PCIe 8x slots, which means you could potentially Crossfire/SLI with it. These usually start around the $150 pricepoint, hence my recommendation :p
From there its just weighing up features against each other, usually basic stuff like the number of SATA ports, fan headers, USB port count and board aesthetics. Stuff like VRM's, audio are all going to be roughly the same at this pricepoint so isnt too much of a concern.
MSI boards are fine, though they used to be fairly mediocre.

750W is good if you plan on/want to leave the option of Crossfire/SLI open later on, 550W is enough if you don't.

I use a HD7970, which was rebranded into the 280X. No, it isn't that bad a card :)
 
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