First ambitious build with i7-4790 - best mobo & value GPU to stop bottleneck?

Haydeez West · May 30, 2014

Hey guys, first post here, avid browser for years! I feel a bit silly asking, because this site seems to be inundated with similar post's, but I've always noticed that everyone is very helpful and knowledgable, so before I commit to spending some mega bucks on a rig, I thought I'd get some advice!

Upgrading some a self built Phenom X4 850, 8gb 1600mhz, and a GT 520 that's had a good run, but time for an upgrade now I've got the cash, and it's starting to appear on cave paintings....

I'm thinking along the lines of an i7 4790, over the 4770k as not planning on overclocking with this build, maybe next time

but I've heard the 4770k has better single core processing over the xx90.

going to keep my HyperX 2x 4GB 1600 for now, as I'm also looking at buying a nice big moniter, and trying to keep everything under £800 (+ new case, PSU, decent fan, and maybe a few case fans)

I'm getting a bit confused with the differences between the Socket 1150 subdivisions for motherboards, (H81, 87, 97, z87, z97 etc...!) as I'm always build AMD systems with AM3 socket.

I'm also wondering about a GPU, I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I have been playing BioShock infinite, Napoleon Total War, Assassins Creed Black Flag, & Max Payne 3 recently, which I know use the system differently, So it would be nice to not have to play anything on lowest settings (I know now the GT vs GTX difference, but last time I had a spare £50 for a spur of the moment purchase of a cheap Palit GT 520 1GB) but obviously I'm looking to future proof this machine over the next 4/5 years. I've been reading up on bottlenecking, and don't want to waste money on creating one, as I'm also a dual monitor user, image editing on Photoshop, and music production with a DAW and multiple VST's displayed.

So far, I've come up with this list (for the important pieces at least), based on my knowledge, can anybody spot any problems with the build, or recommend any advice please? I'm not looking to overclock so avoiding superclocked cards, and lower wattage CPU (which is why I'm avoiding the AMD FX's, as I'm keen to keep the system air cooled, and power friendly, but I will be beefing up a nice fan and a case with some decent air flow)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Haydeez_West/saved/HY97YJ

Thanks in advance everyone, and just as a welcome, the name's Hayden, and I've been looking at throwing myself into the TH community since I've been building PC's since a teen!

Suztera · May 30, 2014

Next time, use pcpartpicker. it is easier to link products into a list.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

Haydeez West · May 30, 2014

Suztera :

Thank you, I haven't come across this before! I like that it's adding up my Wattage usage as well, doing it now cheers

Suztera · May 30, 2014

Whilst AMD cpu seems to consumer a lot more power than Intel cpu. Is it worth the difference of paying for an Intel cpu for a slightly lower TDP? Well it depends on how long you plan to run your pc for per day and per year. If you calculate the wattage difference between an FX 8350 and an Intel i7 electricity cost for 4 years the difference might not be worth it. For a single user perhaps it is not worth it, for global scale if everyone uses Intel maybe it could be a valid point in sustainability but its needs more research in this direction first.
But the performance between the two is not factored in.
This video kinda explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBeeGHozSY0

Here my suggestion. I didn't know the budget so, i make assumptions.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£219.59 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H97 GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£87.53 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£175.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£227.72 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2 (Titanium Grey) ATX Full Tower Case (£91.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£62.69 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £864.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-30 23:12 BST+0100)

Haydeez West · May 30, 2014

Suztera :

Thanks for the help Suztera, My PC will probably be on for a good several hours at a time, either idling on a torrent, or a gaming session, or some revision all night, so mixed purpose, but I am glued to my PC whenever I'm not glued to my son haha! So I was thinking a lower TDP might be better to ensure less heat emmisions and therefore a less noisy fan, as I'd hate to fry my new baby! My budget is about £800-900 (Including >150 for a 21.5" LED Monitor) I found a few more of the parts I've been looking at and adjusted my PartPicker:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Haydeez_West/saved/HY97YJ

with a Gold certified PSU, and a 23" inch monitor, what do you think? Thanks for going through the time to do a Part Picker for me, I've just read several posts over the past half hour of people saying they have got tired of doing so for people!!!!

Haydeez West · May 30, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£219.59 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer i11 74.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£16.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI H97 GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£87.53 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial M500 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£164.66 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£139.44 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£56.99 @ Dabs)
Monitor: Acer H236HLBmjd 60Hz 23.0" Monitor (£146.88 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £831.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-30 23:28 BST+0100)

Bigger screen and cheaper list than I put together myself on Scan.co.uk! Props for the heads up about Part Picker

Think I've just found a new window to shop haha, maybe I could charm a supplier with my PP quote to beat it hehehe...

Suztera · May 30, 2014

Why not go for a GTX 760 or GTX 770. You don't really need the cpu cooler. The stock is fine. If you really want a cpu cooler, the Cooler Master hyper 212 EVo is a better choice.
I prefer Samsung over Crucial SSD but it should be fine. You lose 20GB compared to the 500GB Samsung 840 EVO although 10% is lost for the SSD to maintain its speed.

Of course you don't have to get the more expensive ASUS monitor as it is kinda a premium monitor. But getting a GTX 760 is not a bad idea either.
Also you don;t have to get the i7 4790. The i7 4770 would still be fine as well. Whilst the i7 4790 may be quicker, the difference is not that noticeable in gaming and general uses. It might be more noticeable in video rendering and video transcoding but if you are willingly to pay the price difference then go ahead.

Here another revision which is slightly more expensive:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£219.59 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.24 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£74.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£175.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£176.11 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.98 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: Asus VG23AH 23.0" Monitor (£160.11 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £877.62
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-30 23:45 BST+0100)

As to answering your question with Intel chipsets, The H** series are aimed for locked multiplier cpu, so no overclocking, whilst the Z** chipsets offers overclocking.
H81 is very basic and offers limited features. H87 has almost all the same feature form Z87 expect it has no overclocking.

H81, H87 and Z87 was the first series to support Haswell cpu with the socket 1150. H97, Z97 currently support Haswell with socket 1150 but offers upgradability to Broadwell cpu in the future.
Link to more info: http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/What-is-new-in-Z97-and-H97-561/

Haydeez West · May 30, 2014

Suztera :

Perfect answer thank you very much

I can see you use a Samsung SSD already, I'm new to that side of things, but noticed massive response time improvement on my Lenovo Yoga with it's SSD and i5, which garnered me away from AMD, and I'm going to add my 1tb Sata drive for pictures & video's etc in my new build. Good point about the motherboards, that's just the advice I needed, and to be honest, for roughly the same price with a much better graphics card, shaving off the CPU cooler as well, I think you've just made my day Suztera - if there was a thank you button I'd click it! Thanks for your time and advice, definitely knew I was turning to the right place

Suztera · May 30, 2014

Not sure if you saw this above but i put it here as well if you want to save a bit more:
Also you don't have to get the i7 4790. The i7 4770 would still be fine as well. Whilst the i7 4790 may be quicker, the difference is not that noticeable in gaming and general uses. It might be more noticeable in video rendering and video transcoding but if you are willingly to pay the price difference then go ahead.
Also regarding the motherboard, the MSI gaming motherboard wasn't worth it really when the Asrock H97 Pro 4 would do the same features.

Haydeez West · May 30, 2014

Suztera :

That seem's to be the web consensus that the 4770k is pretty much the CPU of choice at the minute, and as it's unlocked, with a nice new rig to play with, I could always have a look at OC'ing at a later date if I opted for a Z board, more food for thought! So much choice isn't there, I take pride in my knowledge, but always humble enough to ask for help, and this will be the first build I've actually got the cash to go out and buy what I want, so making sure I have all the right information, and not just what I've self learnt from the back of boxes and 5 year old information on forums, I've no real depth of the Intel I series, and my mobo knowledge was limited to what motherboard I could afford, based on what CPU I could afford, but as I said with the money I'm looking to spend, I want to do this right! Looking at the CPU benchmarks on CPUboss with my Phenom vs the 4770k and i'll be getting 3x as much raw power, plus the L3 cache, and higher L2, coupled with the GPU you've recommended I'm looking forward til I save up my budget over the next few months and boot a fresh OS for the first time

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