First time (nervous) builder, looking for help and advice!

[cosmofx]

Hi guys,

I will apologise in advance for being dumb with my questions but this is my first time building a desktop and i'm slightly nervous!

I'll start off with a simple question and show you guys both of the builds i've created, basically one is a more budget version of the other and i'd just like to know of any issues with any of the parts i've chosen. Also, how much better is the more expensive build compared to the budget one?

Budget build:

CPU - Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core £167.50
CPU - Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing £23.82
Motherboard - MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 £106.00
Memory - Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 £61.04
Storage - Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" SSD £154.94
Video Card - MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V £267.99
Case - Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower £43.48
Power Supply - Corsair 500W ATX12V £39.99
Optical Drive - LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer £14.89
Sound Card - Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z 30SB150200000 OEM £47.57
Wireless Network Adapter - Intel 7260HMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 £35.82
Case Fan - Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm £13.07

Total: £976.11


Expensive build:

CPU - Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core £233.94
CPU Cooler - Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing £23.82
Motherboard - Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 £154.92
Memory - Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 £61.04
Storage - Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" SSD £154.94
Video Card - Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX £288.72
Case - Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower £69.59
Power Supply - Corsair 500W ATX12V £47.60
Optical Drive - LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer £14.89
Sound Card - Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z 30SB150200000 OEM £47.57
Wireless Network Adapter - Intel 7260HMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 £35.82
Case Fan - Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm

Total: £1145.92


If it helps, I have no interest in overclocking manually, i'll mainly be using it for uni work, listening to music, browsing the web, watching movies/tv shows and playing current and upcoming games at high settings.

Any advice/tips will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys,

Alex

 

[sadams04]

CPU - Since you aren't overclocking, there is no reason to get a CPU "above" the i5-4460. The 4460 is Haswell Refersh just like the 4690k, however the 200MHz difference in speed will not be noticed. The i7 doesn't really make sense with your workload, however you have the extra budget to spend here.
CPU Cooler - Not needed if not overclocking.
MB - H97 chipset. The Z97 board would be for overclocking as well as multiple GPUs.
SSD - 500GB is pretty large. Consider a 250 / 256GB with a HD to supplement. It is a great balance between fast storage and mass storage. The 840 EVO is a great choice as is the MX100 below.
CASE - Either of the ones you listed would be fine. Also consider the NZXT lineup.
SOUND CARD - Not needed. The onboard digital / optical sound will be just fine.
CASE FANS - Only needed if the case you buy doesn't already have at least two fans. Just be sure you have at least one intake fan (front), and one / two exhaust fans (rear / top).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£129.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.74 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£57.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£275.58 @ CCL Computers)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£65.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.61 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.46 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£12.57 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £792.37

 

[logainofhades]

Here is the build I would go with. You get i7 performance, for less. Depending on the uni work you are doing, the extra threads will be helpful. If this system has to last till you are out of your schooling, then that would be another reason.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£199.62 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£275.58 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.61 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.46 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Intel 7260HMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£35.82 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £887.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-11 16:27 GMT+0000