£800.00 New Build - Gaming

[nball1987]

Can any body offer me any advice/input on my proposed new build system?

Approximate Purchase Date:

Next Month

Budget Range:

£800.00 after shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important:

Gaming, Videos, Internet, Work

Are you buying a monitor:

No

Parts to Upgrade:

Entire System

Do you need to buy OS:

No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/GqNNxr

Location:

Liverpool, England

Parts Preferences:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/GqNNxr

Overclocking:

Maybe

SLI or Crossfire:

Maybe

Why Are You Upgrading:

Current system has failed

Any input that you can offer will be much appreciated.

Regards

 

[Suztera]

Here my suggestion, some items was down to my preference i.e. the case
Forget the Corsair CX series power supply. They are simply not good enough for gaming pcs. The XFX 650W is a good brand. It's OEM is Seasonic.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£157.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.25 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£129.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£58.53 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£59.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.70 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£189.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£58.74 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£60.06 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.74 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £789.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[nball1987]

Suztera, this seems like a solid set up and I am considering going with this now. I like the look of the case too.

Just a couple of questions.

1. How does the XFX Radeon R9 280X differ from the Asus GeForce GTX 760 that I originally included.

2. The recommended XFX Power Supply for the Radeon is the XFX 850W PSU. Will the 650W you suggest suffice?

3. I have not heard of the RAM that you suggest. How is this rated?

4. What difference does the upgrade from the Kingston SSD to the Samsung one make?

Many thanks for the help.

Regards

 

[nball1987]

TomSkini, when I change it up to include the ASRock Z87 PRO4 I get the compatibility comment that some Intel Z87 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Haswell Refresh CPUs?

Should I be concerned by this?

Many thanks

 

[Graphiicz]

I'd recommend you don't overclock. The money spent does not give you a good enough performance boost for it to be worth it. Especially at this budget.

This would max out any game at 1080p.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£127.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£305.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£91.20 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.11 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer (£14.89 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £755.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[Suztera]

Suztera, this seems like a solid set up and I am considering going with this now. I like the look of the case too.

Just a couple of questions.

1. How does the XFX Radeon R9 280X differ from the Asus GeForce GTX 760 that I originally included.

2. The recommended XFX Power Supply for the Radeon is the XFX 850W PSU. Will the 650W you suggest suffice?

3. I have not heard of the RAM that you suggest. How is this rated?

4. What difference does the upgrade from the Kingston SSD to the Samsung one make?

Many thanks for the help.

Regards

1. R9 280X is more against a GTX 770 than a GTX 760.
2.Exaggerated power requirements. Actual power draw is roughly 240W on its own. A good quality 650W like 650W XFX pro is enough.
3. G Skill ram are good brands to use. I rate them amongst Corsair.
4. Kingston SSD V300 is not a good SSD. It uses cheap flash memory which doens't meet its advertised speed. Samsung is the better option in most SSDs compared to others.

Yes getting a non-overclocking pc build will be nicer as you can get a R9 290 but A R9 280X is already good for 1080p gaming. Ultimately it's down to you to choose what you spend with your money.
If you already experienced the speed of a SSD then ask yourself if you are willing to return back to the slower speed of a hard drive, if you are then you can drop the SSD in favour of a better component in your build. Note I would not want a 550W with a R9 290 really. You want a 650W for the long term especially when overclocking the gpu.

 

[Graphiicz]

Suztera, this seems like a solid set up and I am considering going with this now. I like the look of the case too.

Just a couple of questions.

1. How does the XFX Radeon R9 280X differ from the Asus GeForce GTX 760 that I originally included.

2. The recommended XFX Power Supply for the Radeon is the XFX 850W PSU. Will the 650W you suggest suffice?

3. I have not heard of the RAM that you suggest. How is this rated?

4. What difference does the upgrade from the Kingston SSD to the Samsung one make?

Many thanks for the help.

Regards

1. R9 280X is more against a GTX 770 than a GTX 760.
2.Exaggerated power requirements. Actual power draw is roughly 240W on its own. A good quality 650W like 650W XFX pro is enough.
3. G Skill ram are good brands to use. I rate them amongst Corsair.
4. Kingston SSD V300 is not a good SSD. It uses cheap flash memory which doens't meet its advertised speed. Samsung is the better option in most SSDs compared to others.

Yes getting a non-overclocking pc build will be nicer as you can get a R9 290 but A R9 280X is already good for 1080p gaming. Ultimately it's down to you to choose what you spend with your money.
If you already experienced the speed of a SSD then ask yourself if you are willing to return back to the slower speed of a hard drive, if you are then you can drop the SSD in favour of a better component in your build. Note I would not want a 550W with a R9 290 really. You want a 650W for the long term especially when overclocking the gpu.

The 290 is dropping in price so it's a good idea to buy one rather than spend the money on overclocking. Crucial MX100 series is a better choice of SSD. 550W is fine. Especially as it's a high quality unit.

 

[LucoTF]

I'd recommend you don't overclock. The money spent does not give you a good enough performance boost for it to be worth it. Especially at this budget.

This would max out any game at 1080p.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£127.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£305.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£91.20 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.11 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer (£14.89 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £755.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

This guy gets it, less CPU moar gpu for a solid bang to buck ratio

(needs moar PSU tho)

 

[Graphiicz]

I'd recommend you don't overclock. The money spent does not give you a good enough performance boost for it to be worth it. Especially at this budget.

This would max out any game at 1080p.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£127.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£305.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£91.20 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.11 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer (£14.89 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £755.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

This guy gets it, less CPU moar gpu for a solid bang to buck ratio

(needs moar PSU tho)

It would probably be okay, but if not I'd recommend the Seasonic 620W PSU.

 

[Graphiicz]

The Z87 pro4 is an awful motherboard anyway.

 

[Graphiicz]

What do you use it for exactly?

 

[Graphiicz]

It suits my needs perfectly for a cheap price; ocerclockable with easy settings to do so in the bios as well as all the other normal settings to tweak. I know its standard but to say that it's 'awful' doesn't really make sense. Maybe for somebody that's used to something more advanced but if your someone with a haswell chip and wants to do a bit of moderate overclocking you can't go wrong with this, surely?

It's lower quality than other similarly priced motherboards but seems to be worshipped on this forum. Probably because nobody has any idea about VRM info and just think that phase count is proportional to overclocking performance.

Overclocking with that motherboard and a 212 Evo on Haswell is literally pointless. The benefits from this tiny overclock do not warrant the price you have to pay for it.