Need advice on i5 4460 build for gaming, streaming and PS

zed720 · Nov 24, 2015

Hello

I bought these 3, they were on sale so I acted fast - no time to ask in here:

i5 4460 ~ 144 $
240gb ssd kingston ~ 72$
8gb(2x 4gb)ram dual channel 1600mhz/CL9 kingston ~ 41$

I'm trying to build a budget system for Twitch streaming while playing on the same machine and some Photoshop

Now prepare for lots of dumb question, since it's only my second build!

#1 I did good on these 3 parts which I've picked or got ripped off?

#2 What mobo to buy? Is Gigabyte H81M-S (46$) good enough? I fail to understand the difference between cheap and expensive boards, other than more slots, more ports and better OC. Are the cheap boards reliable and good enough if you don't plan to OC and you don't need all those extra options? If not, please help me choosing one. Also, in my region, Asus's boards are praised all the time but are a little bit more expensive because of that.

#3 It's my first time with an SSD and while browsing through the mobo offers I noticed SATA speed, 300 and 600 - if I buy a board with only 300 SATA speed I'll bottleneck my SSD's speed? (Mine have 450 mb/s)

#4 I have some old and no brand PSU and I know it's a bad thing, but it's okay to keep my new system running with that garbage (without discrete graphic card ofc) or at least to test the parts to see if they're working until I get my new PSU? (1-2 weeks)

#5 Are Segotep SG-500AE, 500W, ATX 2.31, PFC Activ or nJoy Titan 500, 500W Real Power, PFC Activ, 80 Plus Bronze good PSU's/Brands or they suck compared to a lower Corsair? (I ony ask these because this two, compared to Corsair and other top brands are on sale everytime in my region and would be a good deal)

#6 What GPU should I get? I would like 1080p/60 fps gaming, but I'm not picky about the ultra/high settings, I'm the kind of guy that preffer to play on native resolution and lower the details and play on steady 60 fps rather than eye candy picture and 20-30 fps. Can someone suggest me the best value ($ per FPS) card but also the top tier card for my 4460? I don't know which one is too much for my somewhat modest CPU, I would hate to pay so much for a 970 and bottleneck it with my non OC-CPU.

#7 Is 4460 @3,2 ghz stock speed, 8gb ram and 9 upload mb/s good enough for 720p twitch streaming, keeping in mind that I'm gonna play/stream for the same machine?

Thanks a lot guys!

Forever Oleg · Nov 24, 2015

#1: Yes, you got a nice little discount on them

#2: Get H97 Asrock Anniversary or 4PRO

#3: Most modern boards offer SATA 3 so make sure the board has SATA 3 connectors

#4: It would be better to get the new PSU right away. Don't use the old one, even if it's just for test. Start fresh

#5: I have never heard of any of those PSUs which probably means they are junk. Anything from XFX TS series, EVGA SUpernova G2, GS, B2 series, Corsair RM series are good PSUs. Get whatever fits your budget.

#6: GTX 960 2GB would be a good card for running med-high high FPS on new demanding games. GTX 960 is also enough to max out anything 2013 and earlier. If you want eye candy, you can pick up GTX 970 or R9 390.

#7: It is enough even for 1080p streaming if your internet speed is enough.

Good luck

zed720 · Nov 24, 2015

Forever Oleg :

Hi,

I checked the H97 Asrock Anniversary board, it's like ~ 83 $ here - I'm not trying to be cheap, just to squeeze every $ so I can use them for a better GPU, why do I need a 85$ motherboard since there are options like Gigabytes for half the price?
It's the motherboard chipset important, does the motherboard can affect the general performance? The cheap ones tend to have Intel H81 Express chipset.

Also, what about Corsair Builder Series CP-9020046, 80 PLUS® Bronze, 430 W, PFC Activ, ATX 2.3, 12 cm fan? I searched for your suggestion, but EVGA's are pretty rare in my region.

Thanks a lot for your input, cheers!

Forever Oleg · Nov 24, 2015

1) the sub $50-$60 mobos are made cheap for low quality parts but won't cut it for what you are getting. H97 is a good chipset if you are not overclocking. Try to find a good H97 mobo where you live.

2) CX series from Corsair are trash. Don't buy them

3) EVGA G2, GS, B2, P2 are very good. XFX TS series is nice. RM Corsair series is good. What region is it?

zed720 · Nov 24, 2015

I found a pretty good deal on the H97 Asrock Anniversary.

I can't find good prices on EVGA PSU's in Eastern Europe - what about other good brands like Seasonic, be quiet!, Chieftec, Antec, Cooler Master, Thermaltake?

Seasonic S12II-430 Bronze 430W has many positive reviews on the site where I buy my stuff, but then again, the users aren't as critic as the amazon/newegg's users, would it be enough? (I'll get a 960 GTX in a bit)

yoshimania · Nov 24, 2015

You can get the H97 Motherboard for around $60 right now from Newegg. You can get a 600w PSU Corsair CX 600 currently from Neweeg as well. As for the graphics card I am currently running an R9 380 with my i5 4590 and I can max out The Witcher 3 and get around 45-50 FPS.

Forever Oleg · Nov 24, 2015

Corsair CX series are trash. Don't listen to the dude above.

Also, here's a link to a better H97 mobo I found: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128731&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
Or this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97mpro4

But because its price is awfully close to the Z97 board you can get the Z97 board: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97pcmate

Seasonic, Superflower and Antec PSUs are usually good. It depends on the model. What do you guys have there? Link?

Forever Oleg · Nov 24, 2015

Oh and btw H97 ASrock Anniversary is trash. Just figured that out. That's because some mobos are now produced in Vietnam.

Sanic · Nov 24, 2015

Use as much as you can from my build, I game and twitch broadcast/gaming and it works perfect:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4zf3P6

Forever Oleg · Nov 24, 2015

Sanic :

I don't think an i7 fits his budget though. Oh and btw getting an NEX PSU was a mistake on your part. Just sayin'

Sanic · Nov 24, 2015

I didn't see he listed a budget sorry. That's really funny to me because someone else on Toms told me to go with NEX over the GS... >.<

zed720 · Nov 25, 2015

Forever Oleg :

Oh, so that means that my SSD is trash too? It says assembled in Taiwan though, not produced

I checked what I can buy with the H97 chipset: MSI H97M-E35, ASRock H97 PRO4, ASRock H97M, GIGABYTE GA-H97M-HD3, MSI H97 PC Mate, GIGABYTE GA-H97M-D3H, ASUS H97M-E, they price varies from 92$ (the first in the list) until the last one, the Asus, which is 110$

I can get some with Z97 too, like
ASRock Z97 Anniversary, MSI Z97 PC Mate, GIGABYTE GA-Z97M-DS3H, GIGABYTE GA-Z97P-D3, ASRock Z97 Pro3, they are from ~95 $ to 110-115$.

Also, I must ask, most of this boards have mATX version and ATX version too, which should I pick? (the prices varies with ~10-15$, ATX being cheaper)

Can I ask what does the motherboard chipset do and what's the differences between them? In GPU/CPU it's easy to tell why X card it's better or Y cpu, but as a fairly noob guy, I fail to understand the whole motherboard thing, My thinking was always: you OC = buy expensive mobo, you don't OC, get the cheapest or a cheaper mobo since it basically adds no real performance to the machine.

On my old system I picked the parts without asking and I kinda messed up at the PSU/mobo combo, I got an AsRock, like a 30$ board, it was somewhat reliable, lasted for years but my system was always stuttering from time to time, in HD movies, while listening to YouTube music in HD quality, little stutters in games, especially in some Electronic Arts games. I tested almost every part in a different system and they worked "better", without hiccups. So can the mobo really affect the way a component perform?

As for PSU I'll list a few in my budget range (I will get a Nvidia card, something in the range between 950 GTX to 970 if I get lucky) so: be quiet! System Power 7, 80+ Bronze 300W bulk, be quiet! System Power 7, 80+ Bronze 400W, Seasonic S12II-350 Bronze 350W, Aerocool KCAS 500W, Seasonic ECO Series 430W, 80+ Bronze,
Seasonic S12II-430 Bronze 430W, Chieftec A-135II Series APS-400SB, 80+ Bronze 400W, Seasonic S12II-520 Bronze 520W.

Thanks a lot, it really helps

Forever Oleg · Nov 25, 2015

I'm not saying that things made in south Western Asia are bad, it's just Asrock's quality slipped on that model (Anniversary).

Z97 PC MATE, H97 PC MATE, 4PRO, and GIGABYTE GA-H97M-HD3 are good boards. Get the Z97 if you plan to upgrade to an i7 and overclock. Other than that, choose whichever one is cheaper. Asrock is not a very reliable brand with their H97 and Z97 boards So ya know - decide. Mobo is the skeleton of the system. If the skeleton is weak, the whole body is gonna be clumsy and stutter.

mATX vs ATX: http://youtu.be/3_t7sZs8XBs

As for the PSU, S12-II 520W would be the best. It's is a solid unit + it's 520W.

NVIDIA cards from 950 to 970 is a pretty big performance and price range. Make up your mind, man

Good luck

zed720 · Nov 25, 2015

Forever Oleg :

I'll get the Z97 PC MATE so I can have the option for the i7 + OC upgrade in the future. The prices are pretty bad here so it's bascially the same price as H97 or a few bucks more.

That Seasonic PSU looks solid, you think it can hold my actual system and even a potential upgrade to i7 + OC + GTX 970 in the future?

I'm almost positive I'll get the ASUS GeForce GTX 960 STRIX DirectCU OC 2GB DDR5 128-bit, it's there any GPU brands that I need to avoid?

Thanks a lot, man, without you I would've bought some junk mobo and PSU and my system would suck lol

Forever Oleg · Nov 25, 2015

The Seasonic one I'm telling you to get is a Tier 2 PSU which is decent with overclocking and is high quality. If you don't Overclock too much as to not consume over ~470-480W, you will be fine. I'm not at home so simply check if it has the necessary power connectors.

GTX 960 2GB Strix is one the best out there 960's out there. You can get the EVGA SSC version for $180 (it's on sale), it's also good and a little tiny way to save some more money.

I see you want NVIDIA so you probably will be using ShadowPlay and some cool NVIDIA perks and their very comfortable GeForce Experience. However, I don't want to be biased so I'll throw it out there that the R9 380 from AMD is a good competitor at that price point.

Z97 PC MATE is a no frills board without any colors and crap like that. It is a solid board and is decent in overclocking. It can handle an i7 alright. Make sure you don't Overclock it to heaven with the i7 though, it's not a $200+ board

Yes it can hold your system no probs (if you don't get a defective one which is entirely possible with any Mobo but let's just hope you get a good one) *cough* PC builder's nightmare *cough*

Yep, you look good. Just to make sure once again that you get all the performance you need, what games and at what resolution and at what graphic settings do you want to play?

zed720 · Nov 25, 2015

I'm playing things like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Fifa & NFS series (Ignite engine, so Fifa can't be played on toasters anymore

) and I'll try some triple AAA titles from time to time. I only care about 1080p, I want to be able to use the native resolution in every game, I don't care so much about settings, I have no problem with medium settings and eye candy effects being off. Just 1080p, some antialiasing and 60 fps in multiplayer/competitive games and 30fps in cinematic games like Crysis 3 etc.

Forever Oleg · Nov 25, 2015

GTX 960 2GB and R9 380 will be your choices then for the GPU.

You are good

Need advice on i5 4460 build for gaming, streaming and PS

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