Help and feedback on my computer build

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NunoAntunes

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Hello everybody! :)
I am thinking about building a computer for myself, mainly aimed for gaming. I have a baseline of parts I have in mind but since I am kind of a newbie in computer hardware, I thought I should ask for help, especially in buying something this expensive.
So this is the build I've came up with:
[[Case]]: Corsair Vengeance C70 or 500R or NZXT Phantom (don't know if there's really any difference other than aesthetics between them).
[[PSU]]: Rosewhill Hive 750W (I believe I only need a 600W PSU, so I'm thinking about Corsair CX 600W instead)
[[Mobo]]: Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z87 (not sure if I should get a Z97, maybe ASUS Z97-A).
[[CPU]]: Intel Core i5-4670k
[[Cooler]]: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
[[GPU]]: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB O2G-P4-3765-KR or Asus GTX 770-OC2OC-2GD5
[[RAM]]: 2x4GB G.Skill Ares Series or 8GB Corsair vengeance DDR3 1600mhz Low Profile (Is it ok to go for the cheapest or is there any difference?)
[[SSD/HDD]]: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB and Seagate Barracuda 1TB.
[[OS]] Probably Windows 8.1
This build was originally from a well-known website but I felt like I didn't agree with some things (like the PSU, GPU and RAM), so that's mainly why I decided to ask in here. These are the parts I've thought about but since, as I said, I am a newbie in the matter, if you think some of these are just utterly ridiculous, feel free to suggest others :)
I appreciate any help that you can provide.
~ Nuno

EDIT: I am trying my build not to go over about 1230$ / 900€.
 
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Leonell12
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
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A very reasonable build.
To answer your questions:
Any case that fits your motherboard and appeals to you will be fine. It need not be expensive.
If it has two 120mm fans as intake, or the equivalent in output you will have adequate ventilation.
I would spend less on a Antec GX500:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129191

GTX760 only needs 500w.
I have no problem overprovisioning a PSU a bit. Say 20%.
It will run cooler, quieter, and more efficiently in the middle third of it's range.
A PSU will only use the wattage demanded of it, regardless of it's max capability.
I suggest a 600-650w quality unit.
I might suggest this seasonic 620w unit for $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CLramY6Qp78CFUIQ7AodARsAPg&Item=N82E16817151096&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Power+Supplies-_-N82E16817151096&ef_id=U7Q9pwAAACV3d3cI:20140702171311:s
Such a psu will give you options to upgrade your graphics card to a card as strong as a GTX780ti.

Buy a Z97 motherboard. Asus Z97-A is good. Z97 gives you the option of a future 14nm broadwell upgrade.

Opt for the i5-4690K(aka devil's canyon). It is the same price, is clocked higher, and has better heat characteristics.

Either ram kit is good. do pick low profile Ram speeds mean little to haswell cpu's.

Try windows 8 if you can. I do not much like the interface and prefer 7.
 
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sadams04

sadams04

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Nov 23, 2010
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.25 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.69 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£78.10 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£221.72 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£34.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£66.58 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.73 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £759.77
 
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tomosh22

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Here are my thoughts on this rig:

Case: All of the cases you have chosen are fine, just go with the one you think looks best.
PSU: Get the CX600.
MB: There is no need for Z97 with a 4670k so get the sniper.
CPU: No problem there, I use it in my rig.
CPU Heat-sink: You didn't have to think twice there did you, great cooler for the price, get it.
GPU: This depends on what you are going to play, I have the asus 770 OC'ed to 1250/7750 and I can run pretty much everything maxed out (except with anti aliasing,lowered to 2x), I haven't played crysis 3 in a while but last time I played it there were some rare situations where it would drop to roughly 20-25 fps for a few seconds. Bottom line is, if you are playing crysis 3 (or in fact metro 2033) get the 770, if you aren't playing either of those games get the 760.
RAM: For gaming RAM doesnt matter a whole lot so just go with the one that is cheaper right now. My only advice is to read the reviews and make sure there are not too many reports of failing/bad DIMMs.
Storage: 2 great choices, no problem there.
OS: Pretty much required for gaming, go for it.

There is my advice, if you have any questions, just ask :)
 
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NunoAntunes

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Guys, thank you all so much for your help, it really helped a lot and I am definitely gonna take your advice!
First of all, thank you for the response, chimera201. I was thinking in a NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT, cause Newegg is doing a nice discount on it, but I don't know if it is worth it.
Also, Since I don't know anything about PSU's and the online build I based on had the Rosewhill Hive (which I was not happy about), I just picked a "cheap" and highly rated by users on pcpartpicker. Do you have any recommendation on a good, reliable and with good quality price ratio for this build? Is the seasonic 620w any better or maybe the SeaSonic S12II 620? Thank you so much!

Geofelt, thanks for the advice. I am thinking about using that psu and I'm most likely gonna use the 4690K instead. I am also gonna go for the low profile RAM.

Sadams04, I am also gonna consider the PSU you picked and I'm probably gonna go for the Crucial M500 instead of the samsung, because it´s 20€ cheaper and equally reliable.

Tomosh22 thank you so much for the answer man, it really helped! I'm probably still gonna go for the GTX770, even though I don't play crysis, I believe in a long term, it will last more without getting totally obsolete.

I'm still not 100% sure on the PSU and the Motherboard.
In what concerns the PSU, since chimera201 said the ones I have are not that great, I am looking for an alternative.
About the motherboard, I am even more confused and not so sure about my inicial choice. I don't want to do SLI. And also I can't understand the prices of Mobos. Would the ASRock Z97 Extreme4 be a better choice? Because it's like 50$ cheaper than the Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 and it belongs to the new generation. Should I stick with the sniper, pick a Z97 one or get an H97 like Asus H97-Plus or H87 like the AsRock H87 Fatality?
Also, Since i'm buying an overclocked processor ( 4690K ), wouldn't I need the Z series instead of the H series?
Thank you all so much! I will keep up voting everyone and later on, I will make sure to pick the best answer :)
 
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tomosh22

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For the PSU, it is true that the 2 units you chose aren't amazing, but corsair makes some fantastic PSUs and even their lower end "CX" units are still extremely reliable. My grandparents wanted a rig for £400 and I didn't have to think twice about the CX430. That was roughly 2 years ago now and while it hasn't been put under a whole lot of stress it is still running strong.

For the motherboard: I'm 99.99% sure that as long as you aren't pushing a chip beyond its stock clocks, even if said clock is 100Ghz, then all of the chipset versions (i.e Hxx Zxx) will be fine. As far as those 2 boards go, I would say get the asrock, they are very good budget orientated boards that are stable but don't have oodles of features, whereas gigabyte boards are kind of half and half, they have more features than asrock but less than asus, and the prices are the same. Also the asrock board comes with the Z97 chipset over the Z87 chipset on GB's board, this means that you get all the benefits of this newer chipset like more SATA3 ports.
 
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chimera201

chimera201

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Apr 19, 2012
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($328.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($52.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1121.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
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Leonell12

Leonell12

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Apr 8, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($142.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($77.24 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($479.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($120.65 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1322.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available


btw, DO NOT get the CX series power supply, they are low-end tier 3, in other words they're moot, the XFX pro series are a high tier 2, very nice for the price
Also, with such a nice case, you might want some internal lighting, for that the NZXT hue would be nice www.nzxt.com/product/detail/98-hue-case-accessory
one more thing, the reason for choosing a hybrid over a ssd+hdd config is that windows 8/8.1 boot times are only 1 second faster on a ssd than a hybrid, plus hybrids can achieve upto about 2/3 of ssd performance for a fraction of the price

EDIT, btw this case is also nice for a silent enclosure, no optical drives though so no place to mount the nzxt hue https://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-cah440wm1 ANNND one more thing, the reason for choosing a 750w psu is sli-compatibility, this build is totally ready to add in another gpu without any changes, just in case in the future you decide to upgrade it
 
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NunoAntunes

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I took everyone's advice in consideration and I came up with this build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($128.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($328.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.99 @ Mwave)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Other: NZXT HUE ($34.00)
Total: $1264.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria

I did some research on Hybrid and I'm still not sure uf Hybrid is a good solution, since many people had or are still having problems with that particular model of Seagate. So hands off that!
I changed my Mobo to an AsRock (still not sure if I should get the Z or H) and my PSU to that SeaSonic, because I felt I didn't needed a 750W solution for now (not planning in SLI in the future) and I felt 450W gives my setup a very slim margin.
Is this PSU a good solution? Should I spend some extra bucks on a better solution?
 
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Leonell12

Leonell12

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1) the G 550 is a very good psu, so no worries there
2) dont get 1x8gb stick, get 2x4gb ones, gives you better bandwidth, the G.skill one in the build i posted is faster than the corsair you chose and it has 2x4gb sticks
3) the z97 extreme4 is a very good motherboard, this is also a choice for maybe a different colour scheme http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97gaming5 , reportedly it has one of the best on-board audio solutions as well
4) this is entirely upto you, but the gtx780 is about $100-ish above the gtx770, the performance difference between them is quite a bit, so what you could do is get a phantom 530 instead of the 630, get a XFX psu http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9 , dont worry even though its bronze and non-modular, its very very good, and get a crucial m500 120gb ssd, the money you save on all these could get you a gtx 780...all this is only if you want to do it
...apart from that, your build is fine :)
 
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NunoAntunes

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Thank you for the quick answer!
Leonell, the RAM was one of my big doubts in the beginning. I think I'm gonna go with the 2x4GB G.Skill Ares Series instead of the Ripjaw X series, mainly because the color scheme matches my Mobo :3 and I believe it's all the same (at least the specs look the same...).
Actually I do care a lot about the on-board audio solution but I believe I'm gonna stick with the AsRock one, mainly because it rocked in the TomsHardware tests and because Blue>Red. :p
Also, I don't believe I need the GTX780, since I'm only gonna be using one monitor and I believe the 770 will do the job just fine. :)
 
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NunoAntunes

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Yeah, I know I didn't put the OS price. That's because I'm not sure if I, as an University Student, get special benefits in the price, like discounts or something. I've heard or read somewhere that, and that's why I didn't included that price in my build. I know at least the offer from Microsoft to students is 59.99€ for the Windows 8.1 pro. Not sure if I get a better price or even a free copy of Windows in my University.
 
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