How can I reduce the cost of my gaming/editing PC build?

John Alexandropoulos · Apr 9, 2014

Here's my setup. I live in Greece, and this is where I buy my parts: www.skroutz.gr
Sorry it's in greek, but the price should be pretty obvious... So, parts:
i5 4670
ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCu II OC
Gigabyte G.1 Sniper B5
Samsung 840 Evo series SSD 120GB
Corsair CX600 600 watt PSU
Corsair Carbide 300r
Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2x4GB)
Arctic silver 5 thermal paste

is there anything I can omit or change to lower the price? I don't want to make any compromise with the GPU, and I also want a Haswell i5 (I think?).Generally, I don't see much I can change, but I want to keep the cost under 900 euros. No ODD and I think I can get a free 1TB HDD from a relative...

Shneiky · Apr 9, 2014

No, you even have to spend more. That power supply is a piece of thin, uses low quality capacitors. If you spend the money on a 780, get a descent power supply. 600-700W is enough, but take something from Seasonic, XFX, Rosewill Capstone series, Corsair AX (not CX), be quiet! or so. It will be a shame to get that 780 taken out by a cheap power supply.

noise · Apr 9, 2014

Drop the 4670 to a 4440 and ditch the thermal paste (it doesn't make enough difference to warrant the cost).

Nice GPU!

SethJPC · Apr 9, 2014

Why do you have arctic silver paste for a start? I can not see a CPU cooler on your list. 8Gb of ram is a sweet spot but is not an absolute necessity you would be fine with 4Gb. Do you really need that motherboard as there are cheaper options that offer the same functionality such as the MSI B85-G41 PC Mate

singlejm · Apr 9, 2014

If your only gaming at 1080P there is zero need for the 780 a 770 would do just fine, and I have been using a cx series for 3 years they are perfectly fine PSU's.

Poprin · Apr 9, 2014

Not sure I 100% agree with Shneiky's assessment of the Corsair CX. I know they haven't been reviewed fantastically well but I don't think they are as bad as you are making out. There aren't a rash of reports of people blowing up their rigs with Corsair CX power supplies.

IMO if you want to save money I would change the motherboard. Without a K series CPU and only running a single graphics card do you need the Sniper B5?

Shneiky · Apr 9, 2014

1.5/2 years ago, the CX was manufactured by Seasonic, now it is done by CWT.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Corsair/CX600M/11.html

The CX is in tier 3. I would not trust any high-end piece of hardware on a tier 3 PSU. Under the load of that configuration, the PSU will not last long. The cheap capacitors will not hold for long

From techpowerup:
"They were, instead, looking to offer the best possible price/performance ratio, so some compromises had to be made. Although the maximum temperature at which the unit can deliver its full continuous power is restricted to only 30°C, all of my test sessions went smoothly at a considerably higher ambient, but the CapXon caps on the secondary side most likely won't keep their good performance if they work at above 40°C constantly, which I suspect to be the reason behind Corsair's conservative temperature range, at least for full continuous power output."

Poprin · Apr 9, 2014

Shneiky :

Hey man I know what you're saying, I run a seasonic myself and I'm a big fan of Be Quiet! as well. I personally would not use a CX in my own machine BUT I find it hard to not recommend it to someone on a tight budget. Yes they aren't as good as they used to be, but is it likely to blow up your machine? Not very likely, Corsair might have cheaped out on the CX but they aren't likely to throw their reputation down the toilet selling power supplies that will fry your rig. It's not a great power supply, it's the cheapest power supply I would consider lets put it that way.

Shneiky · Apr 9, 2014

I do agree, but I will put a CX 600W in a 250-300W build. Not in a 400W one. If you go 780 - better get a good PSU. If I it was me - I would go down on the CPU, Motherboard, GPU to pull in the PSU.

John Alexandropoulos · Apr 9, 2014

SethJPC :

I'm going to assemble the PC myself, so doesn't this mean I need a thermal paste? Also, I am looking for a 2-way SLI-compatible motherboard since I might add another of these 780 bad boys in the future (along with a better PSU). About cooling, do you know any decent cpu air coolers around or (better yet) under 30 euros?

John Alexandropoulos · Apr 9, 2014

singlejm :

I just picked this card because of my need to COMPLETELY OWN any modern PC game, especially since I am currently running a 650 ti.

John Alexandropoulos · Apr 9, 2014

noise :

I actually use blender 3D for some basic 3D modeling and rendering, would there be a noticeable difference between the 4670 and the 4440?

John Alexandropoulos · Apr 9, 2014

Shneiky :

How about a Coolermaster G650M?
Would that be a safer option? I would buy a better Corsair 650, but I am on a veeery tight budget...

singlejm · Apr 9, 2014

Getting a 770 you will "own " all new games, nothing will run under 60fps on 1080p with that card. Then you could save 200 dollars on this build and wait till the 800 series comes out and then maybe bump up to 4k gaming since the 800 should do that much more effectively than the 700 series is doing now. "Own" now AND the future, do not invest too much in a technology (the 700 series) that will be replaced in 6 months or so. Buying anything above a 770 with a 1080p monitor at this point is just the Epeen talking. That would be what I would do but again just an opinion.

John Alexandropoulos · Apr 10, 2014

singlejm :

I agree on that, but I won't upgrade for a long time. Although I get your point, isn't the 770's G104 architecture already outdated? Isn't a G110 gpu more future-proof, since I won't be upgrading any time soon? Also, I really won't be gaming in 4K in the near future (that is, at least the next 2-3 years).

singlejm · Apr 10, 2014

There really is no future proofing in GPU's honestly, most of the time they just recycle the architecture and give it a bit of a bump (hence the 770 being a 680 basically) The only reason I say that is Maxwell (800) series will actually be new architecture, which only happens every 2-3 gens of cards typically. If your not looking at doing anything definitively for 3-4 years sure go 780 (g110) it gives your 20% boost or so over the 770. When you are looking to cut costs getting 20% or so more performance for almost double the price is hard to justify when you have a budget like you do. Basically all I'm saying is that price vs performance, which is what you need to look at when you are operating on a budget and you are trying to maximize the money spent, the 780 vs the 770 is the biggest loss by far in that category. But like any other thing in life each individual sets their personal priorities and the GPU being one of yours is certainly understandable. Is it a big enough priority to justify a 20% bump for double the cost of your most expensive piece of hardware....only you can make that call. Both cards are great and either one would not be a bad choice, simply a decision of how to allocate your funds.

John Alexandropoulos · Apr 10, 2014

singlejm :

There really is no future proofing in GPU's honestly, most of the time they just recycle the architecture and give it a bit of a bump (hence the 770 being a 680 basically) The only reason I say that is Maxwell (800) series will actually be new architecture, which only happens every 2-3 gens of cards typically. If your not looking at doing anything definitively for 3-4 years sure go 780 (g110) it gives your 20% boost or so over the 770. When you are looking to cut costs getting 20% or so more performance for almost double the price is hard to justify when you have a budget like you do. Basically all I'm saying is that price vs performance, which is what you need to look at when you are operating on a budget and you are trying to maximize the money spent, the 780 vs the 770 is the biggest loss by far in that category. But like any other thing in life each individual sets their personal priorities and the GPU being one of yours is certainly understandable. Is it a big enough priority to justify a 20% bump for double the cost of your most expensive piece of hardware....only you can make that call. Both cards are great and either one would not be a bad choice, simply a decision of how to allocate your funds.

It's ok, I get your point. Thanks to your help, I decided to buy an EVGA 770 sc acx, since their customer service is legendary, and maybe add another one later on.

singlejm · Apr 10, 2014

I think that is a nice solution, maybe when the new gen comes out here in a few months the prices will drop and you could scoop one up on the cheap and have a sick SLI setup. Congrats man Evga is a solid choice. Your gonna be happy with your new rig!

John Alexandropoulos · Apr 11, 2014

thanks... I'M SO EXCITED! AND I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT!

How can I reduce the cost of my gaming/editing PC build?

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