LGA1150, Z97, i7 4790k/i5 4690k First Time Build - Need Advice on Possible Parts to Pick

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SpetsnazBeaver

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Mar 25, 2015
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Hi, my 5 year old HP Pavilion Elite 9290f's MOBO (Pegatron IPMTB-TK) got bricked due to a CPU fan error. Likely, BIOS minimum CPU fan speed was set too low. I used to be able to press F2 to bypass but now it won't even allow me to pass anymore so I decided to build a new PC to upgrade the dated hardware (although a solution to this issue could be useful, I still am leaning more towards using as excuse to upgrade). The old hardware I want to transfer over to the new build is:
- Rosewill Armor Evo case with 6 fans (5x12" and 1x23")
- Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO cooler
- ASUS GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 2GB OC
- Thermaltake TR2 600W PSU
- possibly some memory sticks I could carry over (the HP had 3x2GB and 3x1GB sticks DDR3-1066) though I am open to replace memory completely

My needs:
- Work (I'm a business student) but also a LOT for gaming on a single 1050p 60hz monitor most games maxed out more or less (aa can be downed). Not sure if finance programs like stock market clients are intensive and would benefit from hyperthreading.
- 8GB DDR3 RAM.
- SLI support for future and OCing ability to push as much life as possible.
- Will get an SSD at some point so should I need M.2? Don't care for USB 3.1 since due to no chipset implementation revision MOBOs takes away from PCIe. Doesn't seem like any existing SSD focused ports are going to be longtime standards so lack of either M.2 or Satae not a big deal.
- Enough fan headers for most if not all 6+1(cpu) fans.
- Looks don't matter since case is mesh not see through.
- NOTE for pricing I'm in Canada.

CPU
$365 Intel Core i5-4790K
$255Intel Core i5-4690K

MOBO
I have narrowed down to these few boards:

$115 Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xsoc
$130 Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xsli
$130 MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97sslikraitedition
$140 Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xud3h
$140 MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97g45gaming
$154 Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xgaming5
$160 Asus Z97-A
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97a

Asrock is getting better still don't trust them.

MEMORY
Heres a list of DIMMS I've narrowed down by specs/price ratio, I used the CAS/Speed calc to find best value:

2x4GB
$100 G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series DDR3-2400 CAS 10 1.65V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f32400c10d8gzh
$85 G.Skill Sniper Series DDR3-2133 CAS 9 1.65V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f317000cl9d8gbsr
$70 G.Skill Ripjaws X Series DDR3-1600 CAS 7 1.5V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl7d8gbxm

1) Is there even a need to upgrade, can my described issue with the old mobo be solved?

2) Given my needs is this a good build or overkill?

3) Feel free to suggest other MOBOs and RAM but also please recommend which of these to get.

4) Are the DIMMS I've linked a good price or a bit high? I tried to sample DIMMs with the best speed to latency ratios.

5) I might also need an extra hdd at least 1tb, would appreciate a recommendation for a good not too expensive hdd..

Thanks for the help and sorry for the wall of text, wanted to be detailed. If any of this looks familiar it's because this post is the culmination of all my previous research and your guys' input.
 
Solution
MarkW
6 Fans is severe over-kill. All you need is 1-2 at the front of your case pulling in cool air, and one on the back of the case pulling out warm air. Air flows much like a river. It works its way through your system starting out low and cool, and as it pulls heat away from your devices, it rises up to the exhaust fan at the rear. If you start blowing air down from the top, or in from the side, you disrupt that natural airflow that the case is designed to use.

Both of those CPU's are good.
Any of those motherboards would work for you.
DDR3-1600 RAM is all you need. Beyond that, the increases to games is minimal, and lower each step up. 1866 is a minimal upgrade in some high bandwidth apps and games, 2133 is a tiny improvement to many of...
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cleanshot911

cleanshot911

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Get the i5 4690k, and either the Asus z97-A or the Gigabyte udh3, with the G. Skill Ripjaws X Series 1600 RAM. Hyperthreading can help you in some applications, but if you're just using finance applications for work, I can't hink of any that would be all that intensive. The only situation where hyperthreading could help you in your line of work is if you had a dozen separate finance applications open while laying crysis 3 at max settings. Granted I may be exaggerating slightly, but I don't think hyperthreading will benefit you greatly. As for the motherboards, botht he udh3 and the z97-A are exellent boards, they go for about the same price last time I checked, and you get the same quality and performance out of them for the most part, just go with which one's cheaper, if they're the same price, I would go with the udh3, but that's my personal opinon. As for the ram, the i5 4690k can only use RAM with stability if the voltage is 1.575 or lower. Granted you're pc wouldn't explode if you tried to use the other RAM you listed, but believe me you should just go with the cheapest 8gb of RAM at DDR3-1600 or above. Plus, money you save on all of these parts could help you if you're saving up for a nice graphics card, like say, I don't know a GTX 970 or r9 290x, which are some beautiful pieces of graphics technology.
 
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MarkW

MarkW

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6 Fans is severe over-kill. All you need is 1-2 at the front of your case pulling in cool air, and one on the back of the case pulling out warm air. Air flows much like a river. It works its way through your system starting out low and cool, and as it pulls heat away from your devices, it rises up to the exhaust fan at the rear. If you start blowing air down from the top, or in from the side, you disrupt that natural airflow that the case is designed to use.

Both of those CPU's are good.
Any of those motherboards would work for you.
DDR3-1600 RAM is all you need. Beyond that, the increases to games is minimal, and lower each step up. 1866 is a minimal upgrade in some high bandwidth apps and games, 2133 is a tiny improvement to many of those same apps and games, and after that, its bragging rights. All 3 of the name brands you picked have really good reputations and memory.

As for maybe fixing your old HP, I don't know anything about it. But I will say that in the computer industry, 5 years is a lifetime. Especially for hardware.

Is this overkill... Thats something you have to decide. Buying what you've selected will get you up to current model motherboards, CPU, and memory. I think you will probably be surprised how well your software runs on this new hardware.

Using pcpartspicker.com pretty much assures that you are not over-paying for the items you have selected. They check vendors all over the country, and show you were the best deals are.

Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO cooler <--- I use the same CPU cooler.

Cut back on the fans, get modern memory, pick any one of the motherboards, look at the features they offer that you think you will use and enjoy having, and in the end, get the one you like best.

Your old video card should be able to handle what you do for awhile. And if you do decide later on that you need a more powerful one, there are lots of them out there.

I think you have a pretty good handle on whats going on. You've made mostly good choices on the hardware. Fans and memory speed are really the only things I would change up there.

Enjoy. If you come up with anymore questions, post in this same thread and it will come to my attention automatically.
 
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SpetsnazBeaver

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Mar 25, 2015
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So just doing a bit more of an in depth apples to apples between the mobos in a spreadsheet and came up with some more questions.

1) What's up with power phases? Some of these mobos have 4, one 6, the rest 8 (that's counting the square blocks under heatsinks right?). What's the real world effect of this?

2) Does the presence of M.2 matter? All these have the fast SATA but not all have M.2. From what I've found, seems like both of these are stopgap standards until a faster, better ssd connection standard comes around.

3) What sort of LAN is better? From what I've heard for all the hype Killer gets, Intel is better. Is this true or the other way around?
 
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MarkW

MarkW

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Power phases are used to keep voltage levels stable. Business and some low end gaming might show 4+ 1 phases. As you move up the food-chain, you get to higher numbers. There have been some motherboards produced that have had 24 phases. Those were mainly either for bragging rights, or extreme overclocking with liquid nitrogen.

For a normal person who just wants to do some business work and some gaming, anything between 6 and 8 phases and up should work well for 99% of the users.

On SATA and M.2, we are in a transition. M.2 provides a new way for users to have a new high speed device in their system. It provides direct links to 2 or 4 lane PCIe lanes, SATAe, NVMe and some other protocols, all on a relatively small surface space on your motherboard. The M2 PCie lanes provide 10Gb or 32Gb of throughput, and most of us are drooling at the prospect of dropping a nice SSD into that slot.

A much more complete explanation is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2 and they even have some pics of M.2 devices.

And finally, on ethernet ports. My motherboard now has the Killer ethernet chip. I see no difference between this and any Intel ethernet port that I have ever used. There might be differences, but you would most likely need some kind of benchmarking setup in a lab setting to actually see the difference. I've been happy with this Killer chip, and was always happy with the Intel based ports. I mean as long as it works, are you going to go back behind your computer and watch the lights blink? :p
 
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SpetsnazBeaver

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Alright thanks for all the help. Looks like I'll be going with:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K for futureproofing, there are already a few games that benefit from hyperthreading, if I really cheap out I will get the Intel Core i5-4690K instead as you reccomended.
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790k or https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 because this seemed to have best feature balance and was listed in tier 1 class b in rankings.
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xgaming5

RAM: one of these due to color (pretty much settled for black/red) and CAS/Speed ratio.
Mushkin Redline DDR3-2400 CAS 10 1.65V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/mushkin-memory-997083f
G.Skill Sniper Series DDR3-2133 CAS 9 1.65V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f317000cl9d8gbsr
G.Skill Sniper Series DDR3-1866 CAS 9 1.5V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl9d8gbsr

REST: Same GFX, PSU, Case and Cooler cause these are good enough already and might only need a new PSU if I SLI.

Whaddaya think? Seems like a pretty solid build. Not too expensive but not too shabby. Will appreciate more feedback.
 
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SpetsnazBeaver

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Mar 25, 2015
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Alright thanks for all the help. Looks like I'll be going with the following. Whaddaya think? Seems like a pretty solid build. Not too expensive but not too shabby. Will appreciate more feedback.

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K for futureproofing, there are already a few games that benefit from hyperthreading, if I really cheap out I will get the Intel Core i5-4690K instead as you reccomended.
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i7479... or https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i5469...

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 because this seemed to have best feature balance and was listed in tier 1 class b in rankings.
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-g...

RAM: one of these due to color (pretty much settled for black/red) and CAS/Speed ratio.
Mushkin Redline DDR3-2400 CAS 10 1.65V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/mushkin-memory-997083f
G.Skill Sniper Series DDR3-2133 CAS 9 1.65V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f317000c...
G.Skill Sniper Series DDR3-1866 CAS 9 1.5V
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900c...

REST: Same GFX, PSU, Case and Cooler cause these are good enough already and might only need a new PSU if I SLI.
 
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