First Build Advice (£800-£900)

Spoonerism

Honorable
Feb 11, 2014
15
0
10,510
Hey guys I'm looking to build my first rig in the next month or so (summer holidays) and just wanted to get some general advice as to what you all think of an initial mock up.

While I remember I also want to note the current price of the parts listed is as near as makes no difference £900, so please don't adjust anything that increases the price without trade offs, unless it's very important, as the current mock up is already a big stretch in terms of budget.
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PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zK6ndC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zK6ndC/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zK6ndC/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.24 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£96.70 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.98 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.50 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£49.93 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.74 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£25.98 @ Dabs)
Total: £899.01
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-05 11:52 BST+0100)
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I mainly want to ask what people think about the MSI motherboard, since I heard the support from MSI is terrible, and I don't know if I'm better with alternatives around a similar price? Basically, I'm just not sold on a motherboard that has "gaming" in the name, and suggests it's a but gimmicky and might not last.

I was originally looking at a 760 but I decided I could probably stretch to a 770 if thats a good choice? I've heard good things about Asus and their 770 being made if high quality components

I have picked Windows 8 and I know lots of people hate its guts but I've gotten to grips with it on my laptop so if anyones going to complain about the aesthetics of 8 or user friendliness then that won't affect my decision. Of course performance or incompatibility can easily sway me but I heard 8 does actually have a slight performance boost over 7.



Aside from that theres some general info below about the budget and such.


The budget is around the £800 mark up to £900 (around $1400-$1500 in US $ if thats easier) but I wouldn't like to go over £900 as it's quite a push as it is.

This is a gaming PC primarily as I have a laptop for general word processing but I would hope the rig would be pretty versatile.

I'm from the UK so please keep that in mind but aside from just trying to find an equivalent part in Britain I don't see why this would be an issue.

I'm not currently looking ti overclock but I like the option, hence the i5 4670K. Also, its unlikely I'll be running SLI anytime soon. I don't need the performance boost and it isn't viable un my price range anyway.

Thanks and sorry for the long post, most of its probably useless but better than giving no context whatsoever.
 
Solution
Build with a R9 280X and an ASUS Z97 A motherboard. Asus quality is better than the MSI. Yes it is still compatible.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.24 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£56.71 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue...
Any reason why not go for R9 280X? it is cheaper and offers the similar performance of a GTX 770.
Minor changes, Swapped to a better quality power supply. Corsair CX power supply aren't good to use for gaming systems.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.24 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£93.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£56.71 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.50 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.98 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£60.06 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.74 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN3800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£19.91 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £898.09
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-05 12:48 BST+0100)
 
Build with a R9 280X and an ASUS Z97 A motherboard. Asus quality is better than the MSI. Yes it is still compatible.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.24 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£56.71 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.50 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£204.34 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.98 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£60.06 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.74 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN3800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£19.91 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £882.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-05 12:49 BST+0100)
 
Solution

Spoonerism

Honorable
Feb 11, 2014
15
0
10,510
Thanks for telling me about the PSU, you've helped me avoid a potential disaster. Theres tons of alternatives listed there but any that you could recommend at a similar price? As a first time builder a list of models just looks daunting to me haha.
 


That XFX 650W PSU will do the trick.