How's this build for gaming and HTPC?

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MunsterAbu

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Jan 26, 2015
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What do you think of this pre-built system I am about to buy from overclockers.co.uk?

It's for 1080p gaming and HTPC duties.

ForceBox Gamer Plus

- Case: BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black
- Power Supply: Super Flower 450W Power Supply
- CPU: Intel Core i5 4670 3.40GHz Haswell Processor with Turbo enabled to 3.8GHz
- Graphics Card: Palit GeForce GTX 970 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- Motherboard: Asus H81M-K Micro ATX Gaming Motherboard
- Cooler: Intel CPU Cooler
- RAM: TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW)
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD
- Sound: High Definition 7.1 Onboard Sound Card
- Operating system: Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614)
 
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MunsterAbu

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Jan 26, 2015
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Thanks. That build comes in at 933 pounds incl VAT.

I am very keen on the small form factor - it has to be living-room-friendly.

I have built a rig myself before but I would happily pay a bit for someone else to build it and more importantly to support it if there are any problems.

Any suggestions are very welcome. Thanks.
 
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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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Jun 19, 2014
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I would get something like this, which has MUCH more bang for your buck:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81N Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£59.26 @ Dabs)
Memory: Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£93.97 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£96.49 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£265.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Phenom Midnight Black Mini ITX Tower Case (£65.50 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£68.35 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.35 @ Aria PC)
Total: £887.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 22:34 GMT+0000
 
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MunsterAbu

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Jan 26, 2015
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Very interesting. Thanks a million for taking the time to pick the parts.

There's not a big difference in the price though. To me it makes the pre-built option seem like good value (for the building and the support after).

But I'm happy that it looks like you reckon that the balance of the components is OK. Thanks. :)
 
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Math Geek

Math Geek

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Oct 15, 2014
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he also added 16 gb ram instead of 8 gb raising the price some. to me ~$100 is not a bad price to have someone else build it and support it. i charge $100 for custom builds i do as well over the cost of parts.

so less than 100 premium is not bad for a prebuilt if the parts are all good quality. that is the biggest difference, i know i put nothing but quality into my builds and you can never be sure about some prebuild "custom" companies.
 
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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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My build is actually better as it has a motherboard with Wi-Fi, 8 GB more RAM (for future-proofing the computer), an SSD with 3D V-NAND and a PSU that will support the 970. 450 watts are a bit low for that card: https://forum-en.msi.com/faq/article/power-requirements-for-graphics-cards

The 4570 also has nothing over the 446 except for maybe a 0.1-0.2 GHz higher boost clock that will not even increase your performance by 3%.

If you're worried about breaking your parts, have a friend build the computer for you or check this video:
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4"][/video]
If you do everything in that video, you should be fine.
 
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MunsterAbu

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Jan 26, 2015
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Thanks. That's good to hear.

Do you think the parts in my build look decent quality?

I am keen for it to run quietly. Do you think I need to do something different with cooling?
 
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Math Geek

Math Geek

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the stock cooler will do the job but a good after market cooler will generally be quieter. i have a hyper 212 evo on my 4690k and even full speed i can barely hear it. the stock cooler was not this quiet. non oc'ed the stock cooler will do the job but if quiet is what you are after, then the $30 for the evo 212 is worth it. i don't know anything about that case so can't offer any thoughts there other than i know they make good cases.

i do agree with the 970 zeyuanfu chose and have no idea what model you will get from the pre-built. don't know about the one you would get but the evga is a great card and one of the better 970's out there.

overall though i don't see anything to complain about. the power supply is a bit low but for a non oc'ed system it is enough for the low power 970 and the stock i5. if you don't want to build, then i'd say this is not a bad option.

i do however, also agree with building your own :D it's just fun and getting to be ocd about each and every part is therapeutic for me.
 
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MunsterAbu

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Jan 26, 2015
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Wow. Thanks. I hadn't noticed the 840 v 850 SSD difference. I read a review and it sounds worth getting an 850. Upping the PSU is a good plan too. And I agree that the CPU difference is no big deal. (On the flipside, I keep reading that 16GB of ram will be unnecessary for quite some time and, as it happens, I don't need wifi.)

You are tempting me to build it myself! For comparison, I will see if they will quote me for those changes.

By the way, I am also keen for it to run quietly. Do you think I need to do something different with cooling?
 
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sora

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Oct 30, 2013
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Looks pretty good but building your own computer would save you some money! You can look at videos on YouTube for help.
 
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MunsterAbu

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Jan 26, 2015
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10,510

Thanks. I'm sold on a better cooler.

i do agree with the 970 zeyuanfu chose and have no idea what model you will get from the pre-built. don't know about the one you would get but the evga is a great card and one of the better 970's out there.
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The card in the pre-built system is a Palit. I found a couple of positive reviews. Do you think it's OK?

overall though i don't see anything to complain about. the power supply is a bit low but for a non oc'ed system it is enough for the low power 970 and the stock i5. if you don't want to build, then i'd say this is not a bad option.
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I'll try to go a little higher on the PSU.

i do however, also agree with building your own :D it's just fun and getting to be ocd about each and every part is therapeutic for me.
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Plan A was to avoid the icy grip of component OCD but you guys are doing a good job of trying to lure me over to the dark side!!

i just remembered about this site http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/ take a look around and from what i have seen, they are cheaper and you can get more with a prebuilt.

i have seen some crazy low prices there. worth the look see.
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I took a look but they are surprisingly a bit more expensive for the small form factor systems I am looking at and they are not quoting a GTX 970 in those systems at all. Odd.

Thanks for all the great input.
 
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