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I'm making my first custom PC and am looking for advice.

Tags:
  • Playstation
  • PC gaming
  • Build
  • Motherboards
  • SSD
  • Cases
  • Water Cooling
Last response: in Systems
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July 17, 2014 1:38:59 AM

About two years ago me and my group of friends switched over from our PS3's to PC gaming(All hail Gaben) I wanted build my own PC but my parent's didn't want me to so I ended up buying a pre-built PC for 900$. I got this model http:// and now I'm looking to upgrade and finally build my own PC. I am going to get this PSUhttp://, keeping my i5(for now at least), along with the 10GB of RAM and the 2TB of HDD. What I don't know anything about is the motherboard and case size that I should get. This is what I want my final specs to look like.

    PSU: 750W
    CPU: i7-4790k
    GPU: GTX 770 EVGA(2GB)
    RAM: 10-12GB DDR3
    HDD: 2TB
    The rest of this is stuff I know little or nothing of and would like help in.
    Fans/water cooling: ????
    Case: ????
    Motherboard: ????

Should I keep my old motherboard, just how crappy is it? Which motherboards would you recommend? What size should my tower be full or mid? Should I get a bigger PSU or is it overkill? Should I wait for the 800 series or just go ahead and get the 770? I didn't put on the list but is an SSD really worth the money? Any helpful tips and advice for a newbie would be greatly appreciated and welcome. Thanks in advance.

More about : making custom advice

a c 86 V Motherboard
July 17, 2014 1:49:09 AM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.90 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $809.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

ok, so i chose that cpu because it is an i7 4770 without the igpu, but much cheaper, but if you want to be able to overclock, the i7 4790k is just fine, and if you can afford it, the h100i is an amazing cpu cooler. i went with a pretty cheap mobo, but if you want the i7 4790k, get a Z97 board. as far as the ram goes, idk what the config is, but if there are 2x4gb in it, just keep those and leave out the 2gb stick. i got that case because it is a good quality case for the price, and that psu is very high quality, can supply plenty of power, and is semi-modular. also, i chose the 290 over the 770, because it is about the same price, but it is faster, has twice the vram, and the only drawback is that the 290 is slightly louder and hotter.
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a b V Motherboard
July 17, 2014 2:03:29 AM

If you want to keep your current i5 2320 then you will need a 1155 socket motherboard (like your current one) which means you cannot upgrade to the i7 4790k later on without changing the motherboard

The cheapest way to upgrade your computer would be to buy another graphics card, power supply and maybe a case as your cpu is still good
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Related resources
July 17, 2014 2:07:03 AM

i actually had that pc..the 8 gb model. first thing i did was take out the psu and gpu. put in a antec 80+ 450w and a 650ti. 6 months later i had a catastrophic hard drive failure. i found out hp had a huge amount of harddrive warrenty replacements and they were using inferior seagate barracuda's. actually hp used good MSI motherboards with good upgrade options. so i wouldnt change the mobo. that would require a new os. and hassle. your psu choice is poor. dont need that much watts. youd be fine with a antec/corsair/seasonic 550w 80+. an ssd would be a good idea as hp has a expansion bay for it.
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July 17, 2014 9:51:49 AM

Scremin34Egl said:
If you want to keep your current i5 2320 then you will need a 1155 socket motherboard (like your current one) which means you cannot upgrade to the i7 4790k later on without changing the motherboard

The cheapest way to upgrade your computer would be to buy another graphics card, power supply and maybe a case as your cpu is still good


Since I do plan on keeping the i5 for a while, due to the heavy price tag on the i7, are there any motherboards you'd recommend that would fit an i5 and be a substantial upgrade?

colonelblake said:
i actually had that pc..the 8 gb model. first thing i did was take out the psu and gpu. put in a antec 80+ 450w and a 650ti. 6 months later i had a catastrophic hard drive failure. i found out hp had a huge amount of harddrive warrenty replacements and they were using inferior seagate barracuda's. actually hp used good MSI motherboards with good upgrade options. so i wouldnt change the mobo. that would require a new os. and hassle. your psu choice is poor. dont need that much watts. youd be fine with a antec/corsair/seasonic 550w 80+. an ssd would be a good idea as hp has a expansion bay for it.


I chose that PSU cause I am going to get the GTX 770 and the minimum recommended power supply is 600W and I've online that you want to go at least 100 over the minimum.
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July 17, 2014 9:56:31 AM

MT6Anime said:
Scremin34Egl said:
If you want to keep your current i5 2320 then you will need a 1155 socket motherboard (like your current one) which means you cannot upgrade to the i7 4790k later on without changing the motherboard

The cheapest way to upgrade your computer would be to buy another graphics card, power supply and maybe a case as your cpu is still good


Since I do plan on keeping the i5 for a while, due to the heavy price tag on the i7, are there any motherboards you'd recommend that would fit an i5 and be a substantial upgrade?

colonelblake said:
i actually had that pc..the 8 gb model. first thing i did was take out the psu and gpu. put in a antec 80+ 450w and a 650ti. 6 months later i had a catastrophic hard drive failure. i found out hp had a huge amount of harddrive warrenty replacements and they were using inferior seagate barracuda's. actually hp used good MSI motherboards with good upgrade options. so i wouldnt change the mobo. that would require a new os. and hassle. your psu choice is poor. dont need that much watts. youd be fine with a antec/corsair/seasonic 550w 80+. an ssd would be a good idea as hp has a expansion bay for it.


I chose that PSU cause I am going to get the GTX 770 and the minimum recommended power supply is 600W and I've online that you want to go at least 100 over the minimum.


ya i meant that as a money saving thing...cant have too many watts if ya got the money

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July 17, 2014 9:57:19 AM

Danbuscus25 said:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.90 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $809.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

ok, so i chose that cpu because it is an i7 4770 without the igpu, but much cheaper, but if you want to be able to overclock, the i7 4790k is just fine, and if you can afford it, the h100i is an amazing cpu cooler. i went with a pretty cheap mobo, but if you want the i7 4790k, get a Z97 board. as far as the ram goes, idk what the config is, but if there are 2x4gb in it, just keep those and leave out the 2gb stick. i got that case because it is a good quality case for the price, and that psu is very high quality, can supply plenty of power, and is semi-modular. also, i chose the 290 over the 770, because it is about the same price, but it is faster, has twice the vram, and the only drawback is that the 290 is slightly louder and hotter.

Would you mind explaining how that CPU is the same as an i7? I mean there has to be some drawback for such a huge price difference.
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July 17, 2014 10:12:30 AM

didnt toms do an article on xeon gaming? if i remember it was horrible
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a b V Motherboard
July 17, 2014 10:15:47 AM

You could keep the current motherboard as it does fit that i5 and later on when you get more cash upgrade the motherboard to a z97 and cpu to an i7 or i5 devils canyon. It would be a waste of money to buy a 1155 motherboard now and then change it again for the i7 4790k

I would also consider changing that psu to something like this
http://

Or if you're fine with mail in's
http://



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a b V Motherboard
July 17, 2014 10:28:27 AM

MT6Anime said:
Danbuscus25 said:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.90 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $809.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

ok, so i chose that cpu because it is an i7 4770 without the igpu, but much cheaper, but if you want to be able to overclock, the i7 4790k is just fine, and if you can afford it, the h100i is an amazing cpu cooler. i went with a pretty cheap mobo, but if you want the i7 4790k, get a Z97 board. as far as the ram goes, idk what the config is, but if there are 2x4gb in it, just keep those and leave out the 2gb stick. i got that case because it is a good quality case for the price, and that psu is very high quality, can supply plenty of power, and is semi-modular. also, i chose the 290 over the 770, because it is about the same price, but it is faster, has twice the vram, and the only drawback is that the 290 is slightly louder and hotter.

Would you mind explaining how that CPU is the same as an i7? I mean there has to be some drawback for such a huge price difference.


It's basically an i7 without the integrated graphics and overclocking
http://
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a c 86 V Motherboard
July 17, 2014 4:40:15 PM

colonelblake said:
didnt toms do an article on xeon gaming? if i remember it was horrible


what xeon did they use? because the xeon E-3 1230 v3 performs about 95%-99% of the i7 4770, the only reason its a tiny lower is the slightly lower clock speed.
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