You have a budget of £1250 - Build me a small form factor PC that can play 4K :)

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Nicarius

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May 9, 2014
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I know that this is a hard one! But it doesn't have to run games at ULTRA at 4K

My suggested spec is below but really would like to know what you would build

RULES:

1. You must spend every penny
2. You can't go over budget
3. You can pick any parts you want i am open to ideas
4. Not sure about Crossfire or sli as worried about the problems they bring

Thanks for your responses

This is my current thinking but i may be missing something

CPU : i5 4670k
Cooler : H75 Watercooled
Ram: 16GB Corsair Pro 1866Mhz
Motherboard : Asus Gene VII (Z97) new board out this month
Graphics : Either Sapphire 290x OC 4GB or MSI GTX 780 Ti gaming 3GB (Geforce kicks ass at most res but at 4k the 3GB worries me?)
Case: Aerocool Dead Silence Red
PSU : Corsair CS750M 750W Semi modular Gold rated
SSD : 120GB Samsung Evo

I still have my 2TB HDD and my 70GB SSD not sure if i can make use of the latter?
 
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Diox55
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J

juve9le

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Apr 16, 2014
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Hey Nicarius,

6£ above budget (SORRY COULDNT reach the 1250 exacly!! ;)

You have extra memory (8GB)
You have a 250GB SSD
You have an XFX PSU FULLY modular (better than those Corsair)
You have the new amazing Z97 Mobo
You have the 290x BOOM BOOM BOOOM

Same case as required and same watercooling system

Oh and an I7 4770K ;))

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£60.29 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£108.77 @ Dabs)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£55.96 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£132.98 @ Novatech)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£407.03 @ Aria PC)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£68.30 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1256.67
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 14:11 BST+0100)
 
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Diox55

Diox55

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Feb 21, 2014
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£119.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£106.24 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£407.03 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1140.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 14:24 BST+0100)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CC-9011047-WW-Obsidian-Windowed-Performance/dp/B00HFRTF5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400073162&sr=8-1&keywords=corsair+mini+itx

This build is going to be plenty overkill in my opinion. 24 gigs of ram is not needed, 16 is plenty enough. Also, I added a Corsair H100i water cooler. Also the 250D, while freshly released is an epic mini itx case.

Edit- I added this this Z97 mobo, although their freshly released, so you never know what could happen with them.

Edit again- Added 1866 mhz ram, some people were hating on the 1600 >.>
 
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G

gopher1369

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Jan 20, 2012
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I think that you have to go multi-card. There is no single graphics cards that can push 4K to a satisfactory level. Not even the 780Ti. Even dual cards can struggle, realistically you need triple and quad SLI to have a good experience at 4K. 4K is completely pointless if you are having to play at low detail settings at 25FPS.

I'm at work, will have a look later when I get home. Sounds like a fun challenge!

 
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J

juve9le

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Apr 16, 2014
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OP wants Z97 brah!!

And 24 ram, never killed anybody :O
Also, 1600ram ? REELY ?

He can just removed them
 
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Diox55

Diox55

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Honestly, I think if we were going to crossfire, then we should go for nvidia cards and sli them. Crossfiring has had some issues lately.
 
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Rationale

Rationale

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Actually, the R9 290X holds up pretty well. Not 60 fps ultra settings in everything, but 40+ ultra. It's odd how these cards scale. At 1080p the GTX 780 TI is actually stronger than the R9 290X, but at 4K the R9 290X maintains its performance a lot better, I'm guessing due to the higher bandwidth and more VRAM.

The obvious downside is that the R9 290X is going to generate a ton of heat for a compact build compared to Nvidia's more efficient cards. Overheating may be a real issue here.
 
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cdrkf

cdrkf

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Mar 18, 2013
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Imo for 4K you need the R9 295X2 to ensure good frame rates (and thanks to the built in pacing mechanism it's fairly consistent unlike earlier dual gpu cards)...

It's a shame its so expensive though, at £1000 for the card alone there's no way to fit one in.

On the other had the 7990 might be worth it as it's "only" about £400 now. The tricky bit is it only has 3gb ram per gpu, although the frame pacing is now much better since AMD sorted their drivers out.

It's faster than any single card:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2013/11/27/battlefield-4-performance-analysis/6

The GTX 690, although generally considered a better dual gpu card only has 2gb ram per gpu so can't play at 4k.
 
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Diox55

Diox55

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Feb 21, 2014
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£119.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£106.24 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.45 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (£529.96 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1263.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 14:26 BST+0100)

Adding onto your suggestion, I've been thinking about that. While the 290x's are cheaper they are known for heat issues. The 780 Ti is better for overclocking and gaming, plus somewhat future proofing..
 
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Nicarius

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May 9, 2014
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Yeah was a bit worried about the heat but thats why i picked the sapphire 290x triOC as it's much cooler

Could add 2 fans on the top of the case to pull in cold air?

Love how everyone's getting involved thanks guys :)
 
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N

Nicarius

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May 9, 2014
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Missing the case though :)

SO using all that has been said so far i have put this together and leaves room for case fans in budget?

[PCPartPicker part list](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3JPCu) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3JPCu/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3JPCu/benchmarks/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74770k) | £227.99 @ Aria PC
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-cw9060015ww) | £60.29 @ Aria PC
**Motherboard** | [Asus MAXIMUS VII GENE Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-maximusviigene) | £155.96 @ Scan.co.uk
**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmy16gx3m2a1866c9r) | £122.91 @ Dabs
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw) | £98.45 @ Amazon UK
**Video Card** | [Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-112260050g) | £389.00
**Case** | [Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/aerocool-case-en52339) | £68.30 @ CCL Computers
**Power Supply** | [XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1750bbefx) | £96.90 @ Scan.co.uk
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | £1219.80
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 15:11 BST+0100 |

Views?
 
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R

rhysiam

Splendid
Mar 24, 2013
4,366
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26,990
OK, PCPartPicker is screwing with me so I'll do this oldschool...

CPU: i5-4670K @ £160.79 - http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Intel+Core+i5-4670K+3.40GHz+%28Haswell%29+Socket+LGA1150+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=55828&source=skinflint
Cooler: CM Hyper 212 EVO @ £25.45 - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/mr/scancouk/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2
MB: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 MATX 1150 @ £108.77 - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/mr/dabs/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97mxgaming5
RAM: Corsair 2x4GB (1866) @ £63.82 - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/mr/ebuyer/corsair-memory-cmz8gx3m2a1866c9r
GPU: 2 (YES TWO!) Sapphire AMD R9 290 Tri X OC 4GB @ £677.50 - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-sapphire-radeon-r9-290-tri-x-oc-28nm-6200mhz-gddr5-gpu-1000mhz-2560-streams-dport-dvi-hdmi
PSU: Corsair RM 850W Gold @ £99.98 - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/mr/ebuyer/corsair-power-supply-rm850

SO, that's £1136.31 WITHOUT storage or a case.
TO be honest, you're going to fall a little short of your 1250 budget. I'd suggest getting a decent case (you'll need it for 2x290s) and using your 70GB SSD for now. It's enough for your OS. Then save up down the track if you want a bigger SSD. There are decent clone tools and going from SSD -> SSD is easier as you don't to mess with any of the windows stuff when it think it's been installed on a mechanical HDD.

That build above will destroy any single card solution and is probably the only way to get playable frame rates at 4K with decent settings.

edit - noticed I added an extra "1" to the total... it's £1136 not £11,136!
 
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Rationale

Rationale

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Mar 21, 2014
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You know, not to detract too much, but if you went to 1440p this would be a lot easier...
By the time you hit crossfire rigs you'll have to deal with scaling issues and may be limited to only one of your cards in certain games.

I would strongly advise against getting 2 cards. All semblance of efficiency gets abandoned and it might be impossible to prevent a compact PC from overheating without liquid cooling (more work and money) with 2x 290s in a compact form factor instead of a single 290X.
 
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J

juve9le

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Apr 16, 2014
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Hey Nicarius,

As it has been said, I do not think 2 GPUs will work on a small factor form. Moreover you'd be out of budget and will have to "sacrifice" other characteristics.

I went through the initial build I proposed you and made a few changes.

Moreover, I kept the red color factor in mind (I know, not so relevant... but with the PSU being fully modular you can buy red connectors!!)

Anyway here is it

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.52 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£150.35 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£103.68 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB Video Card (£407.15 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£68.30 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1251.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-15 08:17 BST+0100)
 
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G

gopher1369

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Knocked this up quite quickly, so apologies if I missed something:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3KrbY

About £75 under the budget but I'm sure I can get it up to the £1250 with a bit of tweaking.




CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£160.79 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£87.50 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£49.98 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.90 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£281.69 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£281.69 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 ATX Mid Tower Case (£95.25 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1178.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-15 14:12 BST+0100)
 
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Diox55

Diox55

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Feb 21, 2014
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.52 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£106.24 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.90 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (£529.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1257.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-15 14:13 BST+0100)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CC-9011047-WW-Obsidian-Windowed-Performance/dp/B00HFRTF5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400073162&sr=8-1&keywords=corsair+mini+itx

I know a red theme is wanted, but comeon. The 250D is the pimp of all the Micro ATX cases. It's designed to fit a 590x or 780 Ti, and an H100i. I think it's more beneficial to do the 780 Ti simply because it's know to be alot cooler, and easier to overclock if wanted.


 
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Diox55

Diox55

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See though gopher, he really want's a Mini ITX build. I just don't know if the 4 gig 770's sli'd will be enough to output 4k really good. Thats why I go with the build I just posted, it'll be cool and will perform awesomely.

 
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J

juve9le

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Apr 16, 2014
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You sir don't like to listen or read other people.
He said 1250£, case included, and specified the case. You go 1250£ with no case included and offer to buy.. ANOTHER CASE.

It is almost IMPOSSIBLE to fit enough graphic power in a small form factor to run smoothly on 4K. But it is still possible to have a very decent build for that amount.
 
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Diox55

Diox55

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Feb 21, 2014
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.52 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£106.24 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.90 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (£529.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£68.30 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1325.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-15 14:28 BST+0100)

I had a case, and that was the 250D. But if he want's a specific case, then here it is. It maybe over budget, but the 780 Ti is a much cooler card and easier to overclock than a 590x.

 
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Diox55

Diox55

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But if your going to insist that I'm over budget, then this is going to be as well, but only 5 quid.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.52 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£106.24 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.90 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card (£459.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£68.30 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1255.32
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-15 14:31 BST+0100)
 
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juve9le

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Which is exactly the build I proposed ?

Thanks :)
 
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Diox55

Diox55

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Actually, no. You had a blower on yours, and I think that would cause alot of issues. The Sapphire is a highly rated 290x, and the 4 fans are going to help pull air into it, and keep airflow going. The blower design, is just going to pull in whatever air it can get and put out hot air..

 
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Diox55

Diox55

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Feb 21, 2014
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.52 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£106.24 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.90 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£407.03 @ Aria PC)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£68.30 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1202.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-15 14:44 BST+0100)

Also, if your going to argue with me, it's better to be 1 quid over the budget and have that gpu, then here is a Gigabyte Windforce 290x which has fans vs a blower design. Plus, it's still cheaper than your build.
 
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juve9le

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My bad Diox!

Then Diox55's build seems to be your best option!
 
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