Suggestions for improving my build

Jupy · May 12, 2014

Hi I just wanted to post my build and see to see other people opinions on it before I actually buy the parts, this is the first PC I'm building.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3GOCh

My budget is 1000$
Please suggest and improvements or upgrades I could make within the budget.

Thanks in advance.

VincentP · May 12, 2014

You can save $20 on your power supply with the Seasonic G 550:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ssr550rm

Similar quality if not better (Seasonic are the best brand on the market). More than enough power for this system.

Hard drive with much better performance and twice the capacity with the Seagate Barracuda 2TB:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001

Don't go above 2TB because you then need to get UEFI boot working.
These drives are the equivalent of the Western Digital Caviar Black. Blue are "budget" models.

The rest looks fine within your budget.
8 GB memory is enough at the moment, 16GB would be more future proof
An R9 280X would be a big step up in performance.
Both of these are dependent though on you spending more.

HiTechObsessed · May 12, 2014

Seagate has high failure rate. I wouldn't use that as your sole drive.

You can get the upgrade to a 280x with a good budget cooler for overclocking as well, and stay under budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($289.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Orange ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ ZT 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $996.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-12 09:36 EDT-0400)

maddogfargo · May 12, 2014

I've had no issues with Seagate but there was a period where their quality plummeted. Should be fine now.

I wouldn't use that particular WD Caviar Blue HDD either. We've had an unusually high number of the 500GB and 1TB drives fail after 1yr here.

Go with a different size for different batch or get a Black series instead.

HiTechObsessed · May 12, 2014

maddogfargo :

I guess that's why they say it's all luck lol I myself have a 1TB Barracuda and a 160GB Barracuda and have not had any problems with them. They both still show 100% healthy. Just when recommending to someone I don't know, I like to use hard numbers to back up what I'm saying as opposed to personal experience if I can.

Vic 40 · May 12, 2014

If you really want to be able to overclock would i get a motherboard that imo is better for it,

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master RR-T612-20PK-R1 82.9 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: AMD Radeon R9 Gamer Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($71.72 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($221.10 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Orange ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $992.17
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-12 13:58 EDT-0400)

i also put a nice cooler in and upgraded the gpu to a r9 280 which isn't as good as the r9 280X that's in the previous build from HiTechObsessed.
My choice of psu will support crossfire and is cheaper plus also a very good choice for less money.

HiTechObsessed · May 12, 2014

I wouldn't try running dual 280s with an overclocked CPU on a 750w power supply. A pair of 280s in SLI with an overclocked CPU will pull around 700w at peak draw, which is pushing it on a 750w PSU.

And for the kind of overclocks a 212 EVO will get, there won't be a difference in overclocking between those boards (though the Extreme4 is no doubt better overall)

Vic 40 · May 12, 2014

I didn't use an evo in my build.

I can't say for sure,but i've seen a review in which the sytem with a crossfire of two r9 280X's doesn't go over 600watts,that's measured at the wall,efficiency still comes into play.
That system used a i7 3960X@4.7ghz which will use a lot more than a i5 4670K even when you overclock it.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5826/msi-radeon-r9-280x-3gb-twin-frozr-oc-in-crossfire-video-card-review/index23.html

I think that with 750watts you will be fine even with crossfire and overclocking.Just don't go running prime95 and furmark together,just to be sure.

HiTechObsessed · May 12, 2014

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7492/the-geforce-gtx-780-ti-review/15

I trust Anand more, but at any rate, 750w is pushing it VERY close. And why would you risk it when for the same $90 you can get the Antec HCG850m?

Vic 40 · May 12, 2014

That's another good choice,if the ts wants that one is that fine with me.

Also looking at that anandtech review does the r9 280X (x2) not go over 600watts,again that's measured from the wall efficiency still needs to be applied.
In the case of anandtech is that,
570watts:100x90=513watts used by the system with crysis 3(i took 90% for the use of a gold rated psu)
671:100x90=603watts system usage for furmark
They use a Intel Core i7-4960X @ 4.2GHz which will use more than a i5 4670K even when overclocked.

VincentP · May 12, 2014

HiTechObsessed :

There is one article floating around showing a data centre using desktop drives in a commercial RAID environment showing Seagate had a higher failure rate than Hitachi or Western Digital. None of the drives they were using were designed for the purpose. Seagate has copped a lot of unnecessary criticism because of the fools that wrote that article and because people read the heading and not the detail.

If you really hate Seagate, the Western Digital Caviar Black is a suitable alternative. The Caviar Blue is slow.

HiTechObsessed · May 12, 2014

I'm not strictly referring to that article. And the Caviar Black is $25 more expensive. It's a great drive, and I would recommend it over the Blue, but to stay under $1000 - the Blue it was.

And Vic 40, that's all fine, you can do what you want, but the 280X draws a lot of power, especially in Crossfire, and for a long-term setup, I would like as much head room as possible for degradation without making it stupidly over the top. Like I said, Why go for 750w when you can get an 850w unit for the same price?

Vic 40 · May 12, 2014

The caviar black is imo to expensive compared to the seagate.

CTurbo · May 12, 2014

Here is my take. It's $4 over because I didn't want to change your case.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3IK7w
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3IK7w/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3IK7w/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($289.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Orange ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($47.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1004.33
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-12 17:37 EDT-0400)

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