Help complete my build?

FriedSalmon · Jul 27, 2014

Ok, so I already have some parts in my old pc, but it's time to move on from that. This PC will be used mainly for gaming, but also some school stuff, and maybe editing. The parts I plan on keeping are:

SAPPHIRE HD 7850 1GB OC GDDR5
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1160&pid=1644&lid=1

Thermaltake TR2 TR-700 700W ATX 12V V2.3 & EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153167

TOSHIBA MQ01ABD100 1TB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149377

I have a budget of between 300$-500$ to complete this build. I want to have some flexibility, where I'll be able to run games pretty well, and leave the option open to possibly crossfire in the future. I also will need an OS, so I was planning on getting the hard copy of Windows 8.1, which will leave the budget between 200$-400$ for the rest of the build. I was looking at the Xeon processors, and was wondering how that would work out? Thanks for the help in advance!

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I don't need a monitor, keyboard, or mouse.

tiny voices · Jul 27, 2014

That PSU is trash. replace it with an XFX, Seasonic, Antec.

FriedSalmon · Jul 27, 2014

Don't mean to be rude, but that doesn't really help me :/ I'd willingly replace the PSU, but I need to know opinions on a build completely, not just on my PSU. That'd also be an extra expense. Thank you, though

pizzahead911 · Jul 27, 2014

Honestly I would just recommend pretty much an overhaul considering your psu isn't very good. I made this as an example: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CPWQcf . Pretty cheap build capable of crossfire that seems like a pretty decent all purpose machine. Depending on the gaming the i3 should be fine but if your willing to dish out the extra money go for an i5. Xeon's seem like very pricey CPU's considering the budget you are trying to fit them in and don't seem like very good gaming cpu's. I couldn't find one for under $200.

FriedSalmon · Jul 27, 2014

Thank you pizzahead! I like the build, although I must ask why you picked a Z87 with an i3? They can't be overclocked, correct? And, I've actually read at quite a few places that the Xeon 1230 v3 is a basically a locked 4770k

tiny voices · Jul 27, 2014

pizzahead911 :

This PSU is also not good. Stick with Antec, XFX, Seasonic. Corsair doesn't make anything quality until about $75+

pizzahead911 · Jul 28, 2014

Although I disagree about the PSU the reason I went with the z87 board is because it was one of the cheapest boards I could find that supported crossfire while still being somewhat reliable. If you wanted to not have crossfire capabilities i'm sure you could find a cheaper board.

FriedSalmon · Jul 28, 2014

pizzahead911 :

Ok, thank you both. Do you think I'd be able to run games at 1080p with decent frames (40 fps?) on decent settings with your build?

tiny voices · Jul 28, 2014

Sorry, but the Corsair CX units are NOT good PSUs. This is a very well known fact. THey are made with junk capacitors that easily fail when warm. Please get a better quality PSU. It is the single most important part of the PC.

Also, you CANNOT SLI or CF on that board as the second PCI lane only runs at 4x.

Get 2x4gb RAM. Single channel RAM is ALWAYS slower than Dual channel. It costs the same or less. DO NOT get a single stick.

FriedSalmon · Jul 28, 2014

Could you recommend a PSU and board then?

tiny voices · Jul 28, 2014

I recommend an i3 4150 (newer Haswell Refresh CPU) and if you REALLY much have SLI/CF you will need a z97 motherboard with 2 PCI lanes that can run at x8/x8.

For the PSU use Antec, XFX, Seasonic.

FriedSalmon · Jul 28, 2014

For RAM I chose this because it's 2x4GB sticks, CAS is 9, and DDR3-2133

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231689&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

tiny voices · Jul 28, 2014

That RAM is perfectly fine.

FriedSalmon · Jul 28, 2014

And this board? It's Z97 , like you said, and has two PCIE x16 slots.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130779&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

tiny voices · Jul 28, 2014

No that board does not support CF or SLI as the second lane only runs at x4 when using 2 GPUs.

FriedSalmon · Jul 28, 2014

Could you help me find a board then? And this PSU is XFX, 650W, and 80+ Bronze.

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=59616&vpn=P1650SNLB9&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1031

tiny voices · Jul 28, 2014

That PSU is very good.

Honestly I do not think you will need SLI/CF. Your 7850 is a decent middle of the road card and it would be foolish to get a second one. It would be WAY better to just get a single more powerful card.

FriedSalmon · Jul 28, 2014

So either of the above boards would be fine? Thanks for all the help man!

tiny voices · Jul 28, 2014

As long as you have an H97 or Z97 board, it will be fine. Not all support CF/SLI, but I do not think you will need it.

FriedSalmon · Jul 28, 2014

Thank you!

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