£600-£700 Streaming / Music Build, Storage Not Needed

FatBlokeYeah

Reputable
May 26, 2015
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4,510
Hi! I'm looking for some help with a build that I can use for games, streaming, recording, video editing and music creation.

I already have a 60gb SSD for OS and 2x 1TB WD Blues on the way so storage doesn't need to factored into the cost.


Approximate Purchase Date: This week

Budget Range: £600-700 After Shipping

System Usage: Streaming/Recording, Gaming, Video Editing, Music Creation

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: CPU+Cooler, Mobo, RAM, PSU, GPU, Sound Card, DVD drive. Case

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference

Location: UK

Parts Preferences: Tend to prefer AMD GPU's for price. Thinking this card is a good deal:

Gigabyte GV-R929WF3-4GD graphics card - Radeon R9 290 - 4 GB
http://www.ballicom.co.uk/gvr929wf34gd-gigabyte-gvr929wf34gd--graphics-card--radeon-r9-290--4-gb-gddr5--pci-express-30-x16--2-x-dvi-hdmi-displayport

Overclocking: Maybe if needed

SLI or Crossfire: The option is nice but not essential

Why Are You Upgrading: Currently have a stock i5-2500k, HD 6870 and 8GB RAM. When I stream using this setup my framerate gets pretty low, I have an LGP and it's stream engine takes some of the load, but I'd prefer to be able to use OBS window capture and be somewhere near 60fps if possible.

I make music and could really use a new sound card, right now I'm running an old SB Audigy2 ZS, a new card needs to work well with Asio4All and have connections for a MIDI controller.

The case for this build doesn't need to be fancy, just a plain black (preferably matte) one. It'll sit under my desk so no need for big windows, logos or lights. Tooling isn't important either, I don't intend to pull it apart much after it's built.

Keeping the build near £600 is preferable but I can stretch to around £700 if the performance increase is justified.

Thanks in advance for any responses.
 
Solution
For a newer SSD there would be a performance gap. On a regular HDD, not so much. No need for aftermarket cooler. Older 1150 chipsets may need a bios update to run Haswell refresh chips, such as the 1231v3, so you will want H97 or Z97. Here would be my suggestions.

If you want to run dual graphics cards, at some point.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£199.21 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£83.24 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU...

FatBlokeYeah

Reputable
May 26, 2015
4
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4,510


Thanks for the respone! The other specs, the motherboard is a bad one, Asus P8H61/USB3 Rev 3.0, skimped on that the first time round. The ram is 2x4GB G-Skill Ripjaws at 1333 if I remember right. PSU is a Corsair Builder Series CX600. Also an aging 500GB Sata HDD and the 60GB SSD which I will be salvaging. So what would be worth saving if I were to go that route? The CPU and maybe the RAM?

Was kind of hoping to put a new system together so I could donate this one to a friend.
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
Well, you could upgrade the CPU, to a Xeon E3 1230v2, just might need a bios update first. That would give you performance similar to an i7 3770. For streaming, you really should have an i7 class chip. I would change the PSU to an XFX 650w. CX series PSU's use poor capacitors and I wouldn't risk pairing up an R9 290 with one.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H61USB3/HelpDesk_CPU/

 

FatBlokeYeah

Reputable
May 26, 2015
4
0
4,510


Interesting, thanks again. Couple of problems however, the 1230v2 seems to be discontinued and I realised my old board must go since it's only capable of SATA 3Gb/s and the WD Blues I bought are SATA 6Gb/s. I don't know if that really matters but I'm guessing if there is any backwards compatability it is detrimental to performance?

With your suggestions in mind I made a couple of amendments and put together a 1231v3 based system on pcpartpicker. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3yBvQ7 I would be grateful for your thoughts on this build if it's not too much trouble.

 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
For a newer SSD there would be a performance gap. On a regular HDD, not so much. No need for aftermarket cooler. Older 1150 chipsets may need a bios update to run Haswell refresh chips, such as the 1231v3, so you will want H97 or Z97. Here would be my suggestions.

If you want to run dual graphics cards, at some point.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£199.21 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£83.24 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (£209.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: BitFenix Neos Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.74 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£74.99 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£9.59 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £695.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-26 22:22 BST+0100

If not. I only chose a Z97 board here, due to UK's odd motherboard pricing. The minor price difference between H97 and Z97 is so small, that using Z97, for 1866 ram support, is worth the extra cost.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£199.21 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£83.24 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (£209.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: BitFenix Neos Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.74 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£62.48 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£9.59 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £659.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-26 22:26 BST+0100
 
Solution

FatBlokeYeah

Reputable
May 26, 2015
4
0
4,510


Okay great, that's very helpful. I also realised the memory I selected was the wrong speed for the cpu, so I'll have to change that. I'll take your suggestions onboard and go about putting this thing together. Thanks for your advice, cheers!

Edit: I posted before your edit haha. Apparently the max memory speed of the CPU is only 1600 so maybe it's not worth the extra cost for the Z97. Have to find some different RAM I guess.