Looking for advice on my new PC build

Secret Identity

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Dec 8, 2015
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4,510
Hey. After bearing with a laptop for 4 years I got the money to finally get my desired super PC, but having null hardware knowledge, I could use some help from you guys to build my optimal PC. I´d mostly use it for heavy gaming, but I´d need it for my computing studies too, Above all, I want a build that´ll last a lot of time before getting outdated. My maximum budget is aproximately 800 €.

These are the builds I´ve found so far:

1 -

CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K
MB: Asrock Z87 Pro4
GC: ???
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8Gb DDR3/1600 (1x8 Gb)
HDD: WD Caviar Blue 1.000Gb, 7200RPM Sata-3 (6Gb/s)
PSU: Tacens MP700 700W
SSD: SanDisk Ultra II SSD 240 GB (SATA III, 2.5", 550 MB/s read)
Box: NOX NXCBAYSX

That´s a total of 703 €, but not including the graphic card.

2 -

CPU: AMD FX 8350 X8 Black Edition 8 x 4,0 GHz (4,2 Turbo mode)
MB: Gigabyte 970A-DS3P
GC: Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce GTX960 OC 4Gb
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8Gb DDR3/1600 (2x4 Gb)
HDD: WD Caviar Blue 1.000Gb, 7200RPM Sata-3 (6Gb/s)
PSU: Tacens Radix VII AG 600W
SSD: SSD Samsung 850 Evo 250Gb
Box: NOX NXCBAYSX

That´s a total of 830 € including everything


I´ll apreciate any comment over these, as I´m lost in the vast world that is computer components.


 
Solution
This is a decent balanced Intel system using German Euro prices.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (€346.20 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK THEMIS 65.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€32.29 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€110.68 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€46.91 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€79.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€49.99 @ Amazon...
This is a decent balanced Intel system using German Euro prices.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (€346.20 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK THEMIS 65.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€32.29 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€110.68 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€46.91 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€79.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€49.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card (€215.96 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case (€46.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€69.90 @ Caseking)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (€15.45 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1013.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-09 11:13 CET+0100

It has a good PSU, I don't know enough about the unit you selected to recommend it, and the case is cheaper. although cases are a personal choice, 10% of your budget on a case is too much, especially in a budget limited build. You have chosen an unlocked CPU, so you need the parts to overclock it.

If this is a gaming system, overclocking is of very limited value, and generally not worth the cost with Intel CPUs. 1 x 8 memory is slower than 2 x4 and saves very little.

This gives most of the advantages of the i7, four powerful cores and hyperthreading, at the cost of slower CPU and clocked multiplier, but is idnificantly cheaper.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (€267.84 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€93.62 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€46.91 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€79.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€49.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card (€215.96 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case (€46.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€69.90 @ Caseking)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (€15.45 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €886.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-09 11:20 CET+0100

Dropping to a powerful four core CPU give this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€191.94 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€93.62 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€46.91 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€79.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€49.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card (€215.96 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case (€46.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€69.90 @ Caseking)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (€15.45 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €810.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-09 11:22 CET+0100

The i5 is the 'standard' Intel gaming CPU at the moment.

Configured as an AMD system.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (€139.90 @ Caseking)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK PALLAS 56.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€48.76 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard (€86.38 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€46.91 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€79.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€49.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card (€215.96 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case (€46.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€69.90 @ Caseking)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (€15.45 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €799.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-09 11:24 CET+0100

You almost must overclock an AMD CPU for great gaming performance. The 8320 is the same silicon as the 8350 and is likely to reach similar speeds for less money. The motherboard I have chosen is the cheapest available that it robust enough to overclock a 125W four module AMD CPU on, as far as I am concerned. I would not use anything cheaper.

 
Solution

Secret Identity

Reputable
Dec 8, 2015
3
0
4,510
I´m gonna stick with the AMD build you gave me, its CPU is a bit worse than my initial proposal but it gets compensated by a lower price and an extra cooler, which my build didn´t include :)