Assesment of new build - medium budget gaming

[NotFadeAway]

Hi guys,

I am looking to build my own pc and I am rather new at this (only second time, last one 5 years ago). Since I don't follow hardware news as much as I used to, I hope that to you will help with a qualified assesment of my "draft" system build.

I won't be overclocking now or in the future and my gaming at this time is limited to online FPS' such as CS: GO. Instead of raw performance I would value quietness and low energy consumption. I live in Denmark and my budget is around 1,000 - 1,200 USD. However this is flexible.

Please assess the following setup and feel free to evaluate it as a whole and/or the individiual hardware part:

CPU: i5 4590 Box (S1150)
MB: MSI Z97 PC Mate (S1150)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 1600 Mhz 2 x 4 GB
GPU: Asus GTX 950 STRIX 2 GB
PSU: Corsair CX500M
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB
Case: Fractal Design Define S

Thanks in advance - I appreciate it,

Casper

 

[BSOD BSTD]

looks like a good build to me. That 950 is going to throttle it a bit though, if you can afford it, get a GTX 960, (or 970 even better)

edit: also higher frequency RAM - looks for 1866 or 2133 Mhz.

 

[blasc]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($175.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($339.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $847.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-17 07:28 EDT-0400


so regarding your original build:
- no need for Z97 chipset (that is for overclocking or SLI).
- CPU performance is almost the same comparing to the 4460. you can save money here. (if the price is almost the same there, get the 4590 obviously)
- Memory I went for the lowest price with decent brand, model, clock and CAS latency. real world applications don't benefit from more than 1600MHz and less than CAS latency = 9.
- Your PSU is VERY VERY low quality. You need +550W. I chose you a very good quality one, but still on budget, and with a lot of headroom to future upgrades. Also, semi modular.
- For the SSD, you shouldn't need more than 250GB, and i put you in 1TB HDD to keep documents, movies, pictures and stuff. only the OS and main programs go to the SSD.
- The GPU, you have a lot of juice. This plays all current AAA games and future ones, in very high-Max settings, with +60FPS easy.

You still have a lot of moeny for the monitor, case, and any extras you want.

 

[NotFadeAway]

looks like a good build to me. That 950 is going to throttle it a bit though, if you can afford it, get a GTX 960, (or 970 even better)

edit: also higher frequency RAM - looks for 1866 or 2133 Mhz.

Thanks for your reply.

The choice of GTX 950 was primarily because of this review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asus-geforce-gtx-950-strix,4270.html which rated it better value over GTX 960. I am not sure that I really need a GTX 970 to play CS:GO etc. Isn't that unnessecary or am I wrong here?

Regarding the RAM, I haven't completely understood the difference in Mhz means. But if there is a difference, then I can easily change to 1866 Mhz og even higher. The price doesn't change that much. But can my system utilize it or do I have to manually do some overclocking/change in BIOS etc?

 

[blasc]

if your only goal is to play CSGO, you don't need to spend 1000$. you can simply go for a 800$ build (including monitor, case, keyboard and mouse and headset)

My previous suggestion was for it to last long years while being able to play top games, and do basic stuff for work (office, some video editing, heavy excel processing, etc).


Regarding the RAM check this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWgzA2C61z4

this explains it all, and shows you don't need more than 1600MHz, and CAS Latency of 10 is very good already.

 

[NotFadeAway]

if your only goal is to play CSGO, you don't need to spend 1000$. you can simply go for a 800$ build (including monitor, case, keyboard and mouse and headset)

My previous suggestion was for it to last long years while being able to play top games, and do basic stuff for work (office, some video editing, heavy excel processing, etc).

Thank tou Blasc. I aprreciate your advice. I don't have that much free time for gaming, but I would like to have the option. However I will probably be playing mostly already made games (ones I know and love) and the occasional new "blockbuster" title. Excel processing etc. is also a must, since it relates to my work, but that isn't affected by GPU, right?

If a decide to go for a GTX 960 or perhaps 970/Radeon R9 390 - is it really necessary with a 750W PSU? I tried a PSU calculator and it seemed as though I didn't need that many watts. I will try to read up on articles regarding psu's. But again THANK YOU for your advice/suggestion.

 

[blasc]

for what i understand then you don't need to spend that much money (unless you want to ^^).

here is a link for the minimum recommended for each card:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

here is a link to the main thread regarding PSUs and the basics:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html


I chose that PSU not based not only on the wattage, but from all that exist that are +550W, semi modular and good quality. The one i suggested was the cheapest that met these requirements (maybe you can find other on the shop you are going to buy the components).

Since you are from Denmark, i recommend ordering from something like Amazon or germany computer stores. Or maybe even in this spanish shop:
http://pccomponentes.com/

Regarding work, all is based ONLY on CPU. I gave you that GPU because it fitted your budget. But since your main objective will be work and not so much gaming, maybe you should invest more on the CPU and less in the GPU. But that is something you have to balance.

The 4460 is already pretty powerfull for anything CPU related (excel for example), unless you are going to do rendering or streaming or professional video edition, then you will need more. For gaming, the 4460 is also pretty good.


So my final conclusion is to leave the build i suggested you like it is, only changing (maybe) 2 things, just to save money:
- GPU (if you don't plan to play AAA games maxed out, you can go down. I play CSGO with the GTX 970 @350 FPS lol)
- PSU (it will depend where you are buying. It's best for you to tell me the shop, and i suggest you some 2 or 3 PSUs)


Bear in mind that my main objective here is to make you a build that suits your needs (no need to go overkill), with maybe a bit of overhead thinking about the future, while at the same time saving as much money as possible.

 

[NotFadeAway]

for what i understand then you don't need to spend that much money (unless you want to ^^).

here is a link for the minimum recommended for each card:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

here is a link to the main thread regarding PSUs and the basics:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html


I chose that PSU not based not only on the wattage, but from all that exist that are +550W, semi modular and good quality. The one i suggested was the cheapest that met these requirements (maybe you can find other on the shop you are going to buy the components).

Since you are from Denmark, i recommend ordering from something like Amazon or germany computer stores. Or maybe even in this spanish shop:
http://pccomponentes.com/

Regarding work, all is based ONLY on CPU. I gave you that GPU because it fitted your budget. But since your main objective will be work and not so much gaming, maybe you should invest more on the CPU and less in the GPU. But that is something you have to balance.

The 4460 is already pretty powerfull for anything CPU related (excel for example), unless you are going to do rendering or streaming or professional video edition, then you will need more. For gaming, the 4460 is also pretty good.


So my final conclusion is to leave the build i suggested you like it is, only changing (maybe) 2 things, just to save money:
- GPU (if you don't plan to play AAA games maxed out, you can go down. I play CSGO with the GTX 970 @350 FPS lol)
- PSU (it will depend where you are buying. It's best for you to tell me the shop, and i suggest you some 2 or 3 PSUs)


Bear in mind that my main objective here is to make you a build that suits your needs, with maybe a bit of overhead thinking about the future, while at the same time saving as much money as possible.

I found the two links after your first reply, but this answer confirm that at least I'm searching the right places.

I completely understand and agree with your post. In light of your input and my revised perception of future usage I am considering changing the PSU to a EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550 W (based on a tomshardware review and your links). Furthermore I will probably go with a GTX 960 as GPU. I don't think my needs demand a higher GPU. Do you see any discrepancies between this addon and your previous suggestion (CPU, MB, Storage etc.)?

Again I really value your inputs and appreciate you taking the time to help me. I will probably be buying it all from www.happii.dk - PSU is called Strømforsyning in danish if you want to have a look around on the site. Otherwise the search function at the top of the site works pretty well.

 

[blasc]

Ok I will then take in mind you will get the GTX 960 (get the 2GB version. 4GB version is waste of money, unless the difference is very low).


in terms of price, the cheapest PSU in that store that meets the quality requirements and has a decent power output for your build:
https://www.happii.dk/Stroemforsyning/TS-Bronze-Series-550W-PSU/2273209?fv~stromforsyningerups_80-plus-certificat=400-550&o=1028

Then with a bit more, you can get modular:
https://www.happii.dk/Stroemforsyning/XTR-Series-550W-PSU/2471399?fv~stromforsyningerups_80-plus-certificat=400-550&o=1028&pn=2

Basically, this second choice is almost the same as the EVGA you said. But EVGA wins by a veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery small margin in the reviews i just searched.

 

[sora]

Get an XFX 550W power supply or a Seasonic 520W power supply.