Is this a good gaming pc?

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Swordkd
If you are spending 30 dollars on a fan controller, why not just buy a case that has one built in?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($152.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard...
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byza

byza

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You will only need 8gb of RAM and you could get a R9 280x which has similar performance to the GTX 770 but is cheaper. You also won't need the extra fans or the fan controller.

It should run games at high-ultra with good FPS.
 
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Swordkd

Swordkd

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If you are spending 30 dollars on a fan controller, why not just buy a case that has one built in?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($152.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1261.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-27 22:12 EDT-0400

Dropped all the extra fans because you really don't need that much airflow. Went with a slightly better motherboard too. I just built my wife's pc using this case, and it's honestly extremely nice. I'd also drop the nVidia 770 for a Radeon 290x for a little bit less money, and better overall performance. I didn't reflect the changes in the build for that though. 8gb's of Ram is plenty for gaming, I wouldn't bother with 16gb's. Overall build is also kept to red/black 'cause of my relatively minor OCD.
 
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jamrockc

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Do you recommend a certain brand of r9 280x...the reason i ask is is because there is a bunch of brands and how many gb as well
Btw thx for the help
 
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JackNaylorPE

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Caviar Blue has horrendous performance ranking about 63rd in THG's hardware charts.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2013/-17-PCMark-7-Gaming,2915.html

I'd use the top ranked one, the Seagate SSHD which has provided close to SSD level performance at lower cost and headache than separate SSHD + HD

I'd upgrade the case and the PSU to handle two 770s in SLI in future. Wath sales.... Corsair 500R is like $79 every other week or so ... Phanteks is $89 and has built in fan controller (your case MoBo is just $12 less). Phanteks fans are best in business.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854004


The MSI 770 is much quiter and much faster (1137 Mhz vs. 1058 Mhz) .
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127741

PSU Choices:

$100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207028
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438025

$95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151107

$85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207015

$90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438017
 
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byza

byza

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The Sense 3 fan controller is a PWM fan controller with multiple channels, where as the built in fan controller is a single channel, voltage fan controller, so they aren't really on the same level, although I do concede that the single channel voltage fan control will do what he needs.

Sapphire are considered one of the best AMD board partners, and the dual-X is the cheapest 280x so i'd go for that for maximum savings. Otherwise the Asus has a very good cooler and gigabyte, MSI and XFX are all good too.

Also I agree that upgrading the motherboard is not a bad idea, but at $35 off, the Gigabyte you selected is excellent value. Upgrading the PSU if you think you will Xfire/SLI in the future is a good idea, but if you don't really think you will do it within the next two years than I wouldn't bother as by that time you'd probably be better off with a new card.

I personally don't like SSHD's and would rather separate drives, but thats really up to you. Some people love them, some don't.
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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1. That is not quite correct. The fan controller is the only fan controller that uses a PWM signal to control 3 pin fans saving $5 or more per fan and eliminating annoying PWM motor humming, buzzing, ticking. Best of both worlds situation .... all of the advantages of PWM and none of the disadvantages. Or you can also use it on any of the chassis headers. Not to mention it comes with the case that's been awarded "Best Case of 2014".

The MoBo comes with at least 5 fan headers all of which have speed control thru BIOS / utilities giving you 1 CPU and 3 or 4 separate chassis channels.

CPU_1 Fan Header goes to air cooler
CPU_2 goes to Fan PCB and provides PWM control of all case fans if ya like that option

That leaves 3 or 4 headers / channels free depending on MoBo. With just 8 fans on the 200R, you don't even need the controller... The MoBo alone is quite capable of handling all of them.

2. The Saphire coolers run about 37 dbA ... the MSI runs about 29....almost half as loud.

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_290_Vapor-X/images/fannoise_load.gif

3. Given the budget restrictions, before I'd invest $100 in an SSD, I'd put that into a GFX card upgrade.....I don't love or hate SSD's or SSHDs but unless benchmarks factor highly into decision making criteria, with just 0.9 seconds difference in boot times between the two, if budget is limited, the extra expense is hard to justify. We have two machines here, one with a 256 Gb Samsung 840 Pro and 7200 rpm HD and the other with the 7200 rpm SSHD and no one can tell them apart.
 
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jamrockc

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So does this look ok?
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VP4LFT
Also, just curious, is the built in fan controller of that case touchscreen?
 
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byza

byza

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1. I was referring to the fan controller in the NZXT 410, I didn't see your link to the Enthoo Pro (which is an excellent case). In my first post I also noted that I don't think he needs the fan controller.

2. MSI do have very quite coolers, but they don't have the best cooling performance of all the board partners. I'm not saying they are a better or worse card overall, I think all the major board partners have their advantages and disadvantages. I said I would get the Sapphire Dual-X because it is the cheapest, not because I think it's the best, I then listed all the board partners I would trust, but to say one is better is subjective to what factors you consider most important.

3. I agree that money could be better spent than on an SSD in a budget build. Personally I just don't like SSHD's. There seems to be a lot of reviews from people that have had trouble with them (more so than HDDs or SSDs) so I just don't really trust them. I'm not telling anyone not to get one, just that I wouldn't get one myself and would rather a standard HDD.
 
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Swordkd

Swordkd

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I think the last build is pretty solid. My only possible quibble would be the Psu. I think it's adequate though, but I'd feel safer going with a SeaSonic, Xfx, Corsair TX, HX, or Antec HCG. Not a bad choice for what you are getting though, so prolly not worth actually changing. I'll let others who have better opinions on that chime in though.
 
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jamrockc

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So would this build be able to play dayz standalone at high+ quality at 50+ FPS?
 
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JackNaylorPE

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Byza:

2. MSI takes a different approach to cooling than the other manufacturer's do. Their approach to cooling is a bit different which is outlined in the TPU articles....given the choice between 78C and 30 dBA and 74C at 39 dbA, they will go with the former. We know there is no impact on the hardware at temps under 82-84C so whether the card runs at 78C or 74C is of no consequence to anyone. But going from 39 dbA to 30 dbA halves the sound which has a huge impact on the user. I have found that Asus and MSI run neck and neck on overclocking, and performance even tho Asus now ridiculously underclocks their cards. If I set up the fan speeds to produce identical temps, the MSI is only 1-2 dbA quieter.

3. Well the main thing is to get off the atrociously slow WD Blu. I'm on my 4th & 5th SSHD (desktop has (2) 256 GB 840 pros and (2) 2 TB 7200 rpm SSHDs .... no issues yet.

Most of the ones I have had are these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837

They get just 11% 1 egg ratings and 78% 4 or 5 egg ratings compared to the WD Black getting twice as many 1 eggers and 70% 4 and 5 eggs.

With the 4 Gb desktop models, we have 15% giving 1 eggers to the WD black compared to just 6% for the SSHD. The Black gets 77% at 3 or 4 eggs to the SSHDs 72%

At 1 GB and 2 GB sizes, the Black fares better but it's more expensive too. the desktop SSHDs are 1st generation so I expect we'll see some improvements down the line.

Best thing I like about SSHDs tho as a system builder.....I refuse to do any builds with less than a 120 GB SSD but i still get those "my C;\ drive is full calls ....with the SSHD builds I get no calls asking me to come over and clean off the C:\ drive cause they have no more room :)
 
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byza

byza

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@ jamrockc, Yes it will get 50+ fps in the wild, but probably drops in the cities, but theres nothing you can do about it as everyone suffers from this.

@ JackNaylorPE, I didn't know that about MSI but makes sense. Asus probably underclock their cards to make it seem like they overclock more. Mind games :pt1cable:

You're probably right, it doesn't matter what you look at, there's always a few that have problems. Fortunately I won't have to worry about it till they improve as I use my desktop exclusively for gaming so space isn't much of an issue. I can see why as a builder SSHDs would be good. Unless you're mindful of where you install/save stuff, a 120, or even 250 can fill up pretty fast. Less than 120 is ridiculous.
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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Funny story .....

At the office, in addition to having my name "on the building" or stationary so to speak, I'm the IT manager. So when someone's C drive gets full, guess who has to take time outta their day to clean it. Now an employee (let's call him Darryl ...as in "the other brother Darryl") was bugging me for a SSD so he could "increase his productivity". So I said "show me". In answer to "whaddya mean" I answered, "calculate the time saved and what I'd save on labor and compare that to the cost of a SSD" (they were running about $300 then). Weeks went buy and never got anything so I calculated myself:

Potential Maximum SSD Cost Savings :
Boot time w/ SSD = 15.6 seconds
Boot time w/ HD = 21.2 seconds

So 5.2 seconds x 220 work days a year x $30 an hour / (60 secs per minute x 60 min per hour) = $9.53

Payback Period = $300 / $9.53 = 31.47 years

It gets better :)

Potential Darryl SSD Cost Savings :
Boot time w/ SSD = 15.6 seconds
Boot time w/ HD = 21.2 seconds
Time from when Darryl gets back to his desk after making coffee and chatting with the girls about what was on radio during drive into work = 10 - 15 minutes.

Payback Period = Infinity
 
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