Advise on a Custom Build...

[Sam Needham]

Hi,

Some of you may have spoken to me before, and I'm back again! I'm really just coming back to seek some advice from people who have maybe used some of these products before. I'm planning on building a Custom PC in a budget of £2000 (just under) and have come up with this build so far...

CPU: Intel i7 4770k (3.5GHz, Quad Core, Haswell)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i
Thermal Compound: Artic Silver 5
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VI Formula (LGA1150, Republic of Gamers Series)
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum (16GB, 1866MHz - I do plan to upgrade to 32GB in the future)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro SSD (256GB)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 780Ti Superclocked
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Window, Black Pearl)
PSU: Corsair AX860i (860w, Modular)
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24F1ST
Fans: Corsair SP120 High Performance Edition (x6)

Peripherals:
Headphones: Turtle Beach EarForce DPX21
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Quick Fire TK (not decided on the key type yet)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65
Mouse Mat: Corsair Vengeance MM200 Mouse Mat

Build: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3ePW

I'm going to be using this build for a range of things... Including gaming, 3D modelling, video editing, as well as for some other things. Feel free to make some person opinions!

 

[badboyrog2]

the build link you given doesnt reflect the build you put on your message??

if your build is this...
CPU: Intel i7 4770k (3.5GHz, Quad Core, Haswell)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i
Thermal Compound: Artic Silver 5
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VI Formula (LGA1150, Republic of Gamers Series)
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum (16GB, 1866MHz - I do plan to upgrade to 32GB in the future)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro SSD (256GB)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 780Ti Superclocked
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Window, Black Pearl)
PSU: Corsair AX860i (860w, Modular)
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24F1ST
Fans: Corsair SP120 High Performance Edition (x6)

THIS IS A PERFECT BUILD SO FAR!!

 

[Sam Needham]

Sorry, for some reason - I made a slight typo in the original message! Check the build HERE!

Still, I will obviously plan on putting 32GB RAM and a 4TB HDD in there in the future - and in the more distant future; but some nice big monitors and some new GPUs and run in 3-Way SLI

 

[Adroid]

My only suggestion is to buy 16 GB (4x4GB) of quad-channel RAM, IF your motherboard will support it. If you are building that for playing games, 4x4gb will be faster than 32GB (2x2x8GB) of Dual channel RAM.
It's well established that currently, 8GB of RAM is all modern games need to run. I'm not opposed to a little "future-proofing" personally, but quad channel will be a better option than purchasing double what you actually need in dual channel.

 

[badboyrog2]

about the memory........
Supports 4 modules inserted into both the red and black
slots as two pairs of Dual-channel memory configuration

so no quad memory channel support

 

[Sam Needham]

Unfortunately though, funds do not mean I'll be able to get the RAM I want at this time! I'll most likely sell the RAM at a future date so I can at lease get some of the money back!

 

[oldmansaur]

Hi,
I am relatively new to this and wanted to make some small comments.
Wouldn't it be more reasonable to go with the xeon E3-1230v3, since it is almost the same cpu as the i7-4770 just without overclocking.
Also about the motherboard. I do not see how this is better than a ASRock Z87M Extreme4, which is about 100$ cheaper.
Seems to me as if you could save 150$.
On the quad-channel: Wouldn't you need a Xeon E5 to use quad channel memory?
Kind regards,
oldmansaur

 

[coolcole01]

looks pretty awesome

 

[Sam Needham]

Hi,
I am relatively new to this and wanted to make some small comments.
Wouldn't it be more reasonable to go with the xeon E3-1230v3, since it is almost the same cpu as the i7-4770 just without overclocking.
Also about the motherboard. I do not see how this is better than a ASRock Z87M Extreme4, which is about 100$ cheaper.
Seems to me as if you could save 150$.
On the quad-channel: Wouldn't you need a Xeon E5 to use quad channel memory?
Kind regards,
oldmansaur

Hi,

I wanted to go with the 4770k mainly because of its overclocking capabilities. Also, the 4770k will be able to take advantage of newer programs and games that will benefit with the Haswell Architecture. With the motherboard, I've wanted to go with the ASUS board partly because I've had many good experiences with ASUS and want a reliable board. As well as that, I want my build to look good and the ASUS ROG Boards with the black and red to fit the colour scheme I want! With this build, I'm really only wanting to go with hardware from companies that are well proven to have top grade products. Also, with the Quad Channel - you can occupy as many RAM Slots as you want - but you must not exceed the Maximum Recommended Voltage of your CPU.

Thanks for replying!

 

[oldmansaur]

Hi,
I am relatively new to this and wanted to make some small comments.
Wouldn't it be more reasonable to go with the xeon E3-1230v3, since it is almost the same cpu as the i7-4770 just without overclocking.
Also about the motherboard. I do not see how this is better than a ASRock Z87M Extreme4, which is about 100$ cheaper.
Seems to me as if you could save 150$.
On the quad-channel: Wouldn't you need a Xeon E5 to use quad channel memory?
Kind regards,
oldmansaur

Hi,

I wanted to go with the 4770k mainly because of its overclocking capabilities. Also, the 4770k will be able to take advantage of newer programs and games that will benefit with the Haswell Architecture. With the motherboard, I've wanted to go with the ASUS board partly because I've had many good experiences with ASUS and want a reliable board. As well as that, I want my build to look good and the ASUS ROG Boards with the black and red to fit the colour scheme I want! With this build, I'm really only wanting to go with hardware from companies that are well proven to have top grade products. Also, with the Quad Channel - you can occupy as many RAM Slots as you want - but you must not exceed the Maximum Recommended Voltage of your CPU.

Thanks for replying!

Hi,
First of all I totally understand that if you want to oc that you go for the i7. But the argument of the benefits of Haswell Architecture, I do not get because the xeon 1230V3 is part of the Haswell family.

Regarding the quad-channel: I do realize that I can occupy all 4 RAM slots, but if the cpu only is only capable of dual channel, then it will only be able to access 2 RAM slots at a time. If it was quad-channel capable it would be able to access all 4 RAM slots at a time. Or am I missunderstanding the quad-channel argument?

I am also looking to build my first PC, so in personal matters my question would be, if the Z87 chipset is really necessary for better performance or features? I was thinking of going with the xeon and a B85 chipset motherboard and was wondering if changeing to a Z87 board would improve the performance? If yes are there benchmarks that confirm such claims.

Thanks for anwsering. And sorry if there are any problems understanding what I wrote. I had to write it in a hurry and english is my second language.

Kind regards,
oldmansaur

 

[Raul_McCai]

Is that PSU Haswell certified? If not you may find your CPU cycles on and off every couple of seconds.
DAMHIKT
I can't say for sure but I suspect that all Corsair Haswell compliant PSUs are HX designated

The difference is all about voltages to the CPU and yours is a 4th gen CPU that wants to see the 0.6VDC where the older PSUs would be supplying 6

 

[Sam Needham]

Is that PSU Haswell certified? If not you may find your CPU cycles on and off every couple of seconds.
DAMHIKT
I can't say for sure but I suspect that all Corsair Haswell compliant PSUs are HX designated

The difference is all about voltages to the CPU and yours is a 4th gen CPU that wants to see the 0.6VDC where the older PSUs would be supplying 6

I think the AX PSUs should be fine! Saying LinusTechTips did a build with an AX1200i and a 4770k with no issues.
Check that video HERE