CPU, GPU AND Motherboard under $700

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

Hello, i am gonna upgrade my pc and use the old components to build another pc. Currently i have RAM, PSU and HDD so i want your help to choose a Decent CPU, GPU and Motherboard under the price range of around $700. I can increase my budget a little and also i have DDR3 RAM. Thanx for your time

TofuLion · Jul 12, 2015

what PSU do you have? and what monitor resolution?

JackNaylorPE · Jul 12, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($329.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $699.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-12 19:27 EDT-0400

The why's ....

1. MoBo...see below. Outperforms $300 boards and components list comparable to several $200+ boards

2. The CPU .... no explanation necessary

3. Lowest dissatisfaction level on newegg / along with Gigabyte, the best OC performance and components list (chokes, VRMS etc)

You will want at least a 500W PSU, preferable one of decent quality, 750 watts is you think you might want SLI

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

TofuLion :

I have Corsair RM 750w PSU and gonna buy a new 1080p monitor soon

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

JackNaylorPE :

Thanx for your suggestion but can u please suggest me non MSI products because in India, MSI after sale service is very poor (personally i like ASUS in motherboards)

TofuLion · Jul 12, 2015

here ya go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($334.99 @ B&H)
Total: $722.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-12 19:31 EDT-0400

if you can spend a bit more, get a better cooler like a Noctua NH-D14, NH-U14s, NH-D15 or Phanteks PH-TC14PE

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

TofuLion :

here ya go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($334.99 @ B&H)
Total: $722.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-12 19:31 EDT-0400

if you can spend a bit more, get a better cooler like a Noctua NH-D14, NH-U14s, NH-D15 or Phanteks PH-TC14PE

Please suggest a non MSI product sir.

TofuLion · Jul 12, 2015

sure:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($334.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $739.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-12 19:37 EDT-0400

JackNaylorPE · Jul 12, 2015

We used Asus boards almost exclusively until 2012-13 ..... main reason we dropped them has been consistently poor support, hardware bugs, excessive pricing and low performance compared to competition and sinking quality (as evidenced by newegg user reviews). The Gigabyte Gaming 5 is almost as good (see above chart) . The Hero is $60 more and provides a comparable component list and lower gaming performance.

The Gigabyte G1 970 more often than not tops the MSI in overclocking. The Asus and EVGA don't even come close. While EVGA has corrected the heat pipe issue missing the GPU as described her, the other cooling, power delivery and component deficiencies noted in this article remain.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/3

Examining the PCB reveals a 4+2 phase power design – four phases near the rear I/O for the GPU, and two in the bottom right corner for the memory. This is a slight upgrade from the 4+1 stock specification but unlike MSI and ASUS, EVGA does not use any specially crafted components.

The GPU MOSFETs are directly cooled by the main heatsink, which has a thermal strip on to draw heat up into the fin stack. On the other side of the GPU is a metal contact plate that partially cools two of the four memory chips on this side, leaving the other two exposed. It also cools the MOSFETs of the power phases serving the memory, but no thermal pads are used, so heat transfer is likely to be limited.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($358.89 @ Amazon)
Total: $693.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-12 19:47 EDT-0400

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

Seems like EVGA is currently not available in India

(Can you suggest an asus or zotac card instead please)

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

JackNaylorPE :

Thank you for your explanation

TofuLion · Jul 12, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($329.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $734.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-12 19:45 EDT-0400

JackNaylorPE · Jul 12, 2015

GAGAN 55 :

See above edits

Pick a 970 that is available.... while in the 6xx series, Asus was king of the hill performance and component wise, thy just don't put those components in any more .... I'd take the Zotac and Galaxy before the Asus ....

As for the MoBos, look at alternatives at the top of the above chart ....

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

TofuLion :

nice recommendation but is it ok to not buy the cooler now because i am gonna use an liquid cooler after some months

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

JackNaylorPE :

these recommendations are nice too but i am now a little bit confused between your and Mr. Lion's recommendation

JackNaylorPE · Jul 12, 2015

When in doubt go to the numbers....

Both MoBos are in the above chart so you can compare their performance

You can compare the GFX cards here:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_970_strix_review,26.html
Strix gets:

Core Clock 1264MHz
Boost Clock: ~1443MHz
Memory Clock: 8002 MHz

Bioshock Infinite - 120 fps
Tomb Raider - 141 fps
Hitman Absolution - 89 fps

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_970_g1_gaming_review,26.html
G1 gets

Core Clock 1328MHz
Boost Clock: ~1516MHz
Memory Clock: 8002 MHz

Bioshock Infinite - 123 fps
Tomb Raider - 146 fps
Hitman Absolution - 90 fps

GAGAN 55 · Jul 12, 2015

these are the 970's available in India

http://www.flipkart.com/zotac-nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-4-gb-gddr5-graphics-card/p/itme2w4hn4mn28ev?pid=GRCEY7N4BUVSVJZN&ref=L%3A-7615322374078313446&srno=p_1&query=zotac+nvidia+geforce+gtx+970+4+gb+gddr5+graphics+card&otracker=from-search

http://www.flipkart.com/gigabyte-nvidia-gtx-970-4-gb-gddr5-graphics-card/p/itme5e3ukz3ndfpk?pid=GRCE5E3SRZR2REGF&ref=L%3A7294627406479772333&srno=p_10&query=gtx+970&otracker=from-search

http://www.flipkart.com/asus-nvidia-strix-gtx-970-4-gb-gddr5-graphics-card/p/itmef97fpjvwpghg?pid=GRCEF97EV9URN7FH&ref=L%3A4100578366130570121&srno=p_1&query=asus+gtx+970&otracker=from-search

JackNaylorPE · Jul 12, 2015

Are those the only Zotac and Gigabyte cards ? Reason I ask is they don't match up with cards most often seen.

That site carries 4 different Zotac cards (1 out of stock) and 3 different Gigabyte 970s (2 out of stock) ... the better ones are currently sold out. If unwilling to wait, I'd choose whichever is faster .... of those 3 it looks like the Asus out of the box.....

I'm not familiar with that Guga model and despite the huge cooler, I can't say if it will OC as high as the G1 model. The other Gigabyte models are better.

That particular Zotac is a small model with not that big a cooler. The other Zotac models on that site are better.

GAGAN 55 · Jul 13, 2015

JackNaylorPE :

dont worry about that out of stock thing. i am able to find those cards in the market. You just recommend me the one you think is the best

CPU, GPU AND Motherboard under $700

Honorable

Admirable

Titan

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Admirable

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Titan

Honorable

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