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blue_smoke

blue_smoke

Honorable
Nov 10, 2013
720
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11,160
OK guys,

So I don't particularly like the noise level that comes from my current build, and the platform I'm running on is 9 or so years old. I am also in need of a complete refresh of my peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse, monitor, wireless adapter, etc.). This is the log of the acquisition of the items needed to complete a modest, mid-ranged 1080p PC, as well as a new setup to revamp my space.

So, what are my thoughts?
Well, I am currently running in the core 2 duo, sata ii, pcie 1.1 stages and i need a full upgrade to a new platform. I am choosing 1150 as my platform because 1151 is coming out soon and unless 1151 is going to cost the same, I will be able to get a 1150 i5 for around 175 or so hopefully when 1151 comes out. I am looking to get a locked i5 (not interested in OC at all), 16gb of ddr3 (I can't handle running on 2, 4, and I feel like I'd run out on 8gb of ram), a GTX 960 (will this be suitable for 1080p gaming on high with frame lock to 60fps?) and a few other things. This will make sure I am getting the best gaming experience I can get for a little under 1500 dollars. I am using amazon.com components for this build as newegg doesn't carry the right peripherals (or they're way more expensive) and I only want to be purchasing from one place.

How do I want it to perform?
At 1080p, I am expecting a frame locked 60fps on high settings, with any CURRENT (not bf5, the next AC, etc) AAA and any other titles. I did not say ultra settings, so high settings should be doable with most every game except those that require a MASSIVE amount of video memory. I also want Windows to start quickly. Time is money, and I want to get gaming as fast as possible.

Component list for system
Here is the list I am looking at as well as why i am looking specifically into these items.

Monitor - Dell UltraSharp U2414H - varies from $239.99-$189.99 - 24", 1080p60 screen with brilliant color accuracy. I've always loved Dell monitors for their color accuracy, and it will look very nice on my current ikea desk. Will be using the displayport connection for maximum efficiency and color accurateness.

Keyboard and Mouse - Cooler Master Storm Devastator LED Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo - $29.99 - Sure, flame me for liking this set. I've used it many times for gaming before and I don't care that it isn't mechanical and that the mouse doesn't have macros or weight to it. Most of my games support an xbox controller, and for those who don't, I simply deal with it.

Display Cable - Cable Matters® Gold Plated HDMI TO HDMI Cable - $9.99 - HDMI cable since none of the things in this list come with a quality one, or one at all. 6 ft, gold plated. What's not to like?

Wireless Adapter - TP-LINK TL-WN822N Wireless N300 High Gain USB Adapter - $14.99 - My house only has 300mbps wireless N networking components that work flawlessly, so I'm not going to take suggestions for this. My room is upstairs and I will need a high gain adapter to get a 100% solid connection to the router downstairs. It's cheap, and it works. Again, what's not to like?

Headset - Turtle Beach Ear Force X12 Gaming Headset - $36.00 - Turtle beach has released new stuff over the years, but everyone I know says their new stuff is crap. I don't need a wireless headset, but I have tried and used this headset for multiple gaming sessions and found it to be somewhat comfortable and I love the touch of an adjustable bass boost setting.

Computer Case - Thermaltake Core V1 ITX Cube - $47.99 - The Core v1 is a cube style case that looks pleasing to me. I can put a 200mm fan in the front, and put 2 80mm in the back, as well as fit the thermaltake l31 in the case and still be great on airflow. Will keep my components somewhat cool as well because it is chambered and power supply is on bottom.

200mm Fan - Cooler Master MegaFlow 200 - $16.32 - The Cooler Master Megaflow works brilliantly with this case because you need simply airflow, not so much static pressure, to move air out of this case. It spins at a low RPM, and I'm sure if it was on max I could feel the air from this fan go out the back of the case. Relatively inexpensive 200mm, might look for noctua's upcoming 200mm fans if they make one instead of this megaflow, but only time can tell.

80mm Fans - Arctic F8 80mm fans - x2 - $7.19/ea - The Arctic F line of fans gets good reviews wherever I look because they move a lot of air and they are quiet. This is the airflow and noise level I want in my system, so these are one of the only pretty clear choices for this type of a build.

Power Supply - Antec VP-450 - $34.71 - The Antec VP-450 is said to be able to draw a maximum power load of 550 watts, even though this system won't come close to that. I used it in another build and it worked flawlessly. Good efficiency even though Antec didn't pay to get it tested for 80+, it is said to have 80+ continuously.

CPU Cooler - Thermaltake l31 - $29.99 - Great performing cooler that Thermaltake themselves believes will be the best cooler for the system. Great thermal performance at a tiny price, fitting in the ITX cube case! What more do you want?

PCI-E Extension Cable - Silverstone Tek Sleeved Extension Power Supply Cable - $7.49 - This will be needed to get rid of the ugly adapter the videocard includes for the 8 pin connection I need.

Motherboard - MSI H81-I - $63.99 - H81 chipset, fully black. Can support sata iii and 16gb of ddr3 1600. Works with the i5 flawlessly because I never wanted to overclock to begin with. Has good power handling. Perks of being a MSI board. Intel chipsets. What's not to like?

Memory (RAM) - Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB Kit - $86.99 - The Ballistix series from Cruicial is a tried and true ram stick platform. 16gb of it should do me just fine, and lots of people have determined that it doesn't have BSOD problems. Flawless, ready to use kit. Why use anything else?

Processor - Intel Xeon E3-1231v3 - $253.99 - Expensive, but its Intel. AMD has been lacking in the CPU department for years now, so Intel is the only clear choice. 4 REAL cores, 4 logical cores, 3.4ghz base clock speed, but with my cpu cooler, it will boost up to 3.8ghz frequently while gaming. Supports most instruction sets, and will be good for autodesk applications.

Video Card - 4GB Gigabyte Mini-ITX GTX 970 - $289.99 - Again, expensive, but AMD has been lacking in the GPU department for years now, and NVIDIA is the clear choice. Tons of CUDA cores and boosts on its own just like the cpu. Will be safe to overclock. Supports gsync and displayport out. Should be overkill for 1080p, but I want the full PC experience which means I want ultra settings at frame locked 60fps

SSD - Samsung 850 EVO 250GB - $99.99 - Relatively inexpensive and extremely well-performing SSD on the market today. Thousands of people say its the only ssd they will buy, and they say it lasts a very long time. This can store my windows, programs, basically everything except my steam library and downloads.

HDD - WD Black 2TB Performance Desktop Hard Drive - $121.49 - 2tb of performance based storage. Not like a green drive that is slow, but a drive I can actually use as a gaming drive to only run games off of. This will SIGNIFICANTLY reduce loading times in any games. Fast transfer speeds as well. Will be used as a secondary drive to the system.

Total Cost - $1394.38 not including shipping or tax. So I'm assuming I will be spending around 1500 over time. Not too bad for an entirely new and nice looking setup.

Breakdown of how purchases will be going.
Depending on the hours I get at work, I will be purchasing $100 worth of things towards this build every 2 weeks. With that in mind, that's 200 dollars a month, and let's just say it's going to take 6 months to get everything to build it. Here's how the purchases will go.

Purchase 1
Wireless Adapter, Headset, Keyboard and Mouse and Displayport Cable - Around 100 dollars

Purchase 2
200mm fan, 80mm fans, PCI-E Extension Cable, CPU Cooler, Power Supply - Around 115 Dollars

Purchase 3
Computer Case, Motherboard - Around 100 Dollars

Purchase 4
RAM - Around 100 Dollars

Purchase 5
SSD - Around 110 Dollars

Purchase 6
HDD - Around 125 Dollars

Purchase 7
Video Card - Around 325 Dollars

Purchase 8
Display - Around 225 Dollars

Purchase 9
Processor - Around 275 Dollars

I have layed the purchases out this way because that way I won't have the system built and nothing to use it with, or vice versa. This way I won't be tempted to use it with my old setup, and by buying the videocard first before the processor I will avoid the temptation of booting the system. I will be putting "purchased" by the purchases I have completed as the months go on.

What do you guys think?
 
Your PSU has a single 6 pin PCI-e connector. Will the run your GPU?

I love that case. Here's what we have done with it at school http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2625445/build-log-consolidated-middle-school-builds.html

You may not need the 80mm fans on the back (or the extra 200mm fan either)
You probably do not need an aftermarket CPU cooler either. Run it on stock and see how it goes first.
We have used the ASRock H97M-ITX/ac with build-in WiFi. The total cost will be cheaper than your selection.

I look forward to watching your progress. Post lots of photos :)
 


the 200 mm i will be buying is supposedly much quieter and moves more air at max speeds. I run my fans tethered to the psu at all times so they will all be running on max. I want the rear two fans to make sure all heat escapes accordingly and not though 100 different places. I want to do the l31 because I'm a freak about temps and I live in a climate where we see 80+degrees with humidity sometimes rain or shine. The only times it drops below 80 is from 11p-6a then it warms quickly. I also need the positive pressure because I have carpeting in my house and we live in a mostly dry area.

And yes, it will run my gpu. As you saw above (I'm sure you read the whole thing), the gtx 960 comes with the 2 molex to 6 pin pcie connectors. I will use one of them from the box and get a psu extension cable so I don't see the horrid wiring from the gpu adapter. NVIDIA is stating that 400w is the minimum on the 12v rail, and the vp450 is rated at 450w on the 12v+60 or so watts on the other rails. It should be fine, but what do you think? NVIDIA recommendations are based on the 4970k and 64gb of ram on a z97 mobo i believe.
 
Here's what is in my first cart to be purchased and the totals.

First%20Cart_zpsjgfh3wii.png
 


The PSU is fine, wattage wise. I run a GTX970 from a good 450W PSU. It's a bit cheap, but you are not overclocking or running anything crazy on it.

Otherwise, your money, your choice.

We're in Florida and the AC is turned off when students are not in the building. Stock fan and stock cooler worked for us, but YMMV.

Have you considered paying a little more and getting a Xeon 1231v3? Decent speed, four cores, and Hyperthreading
 
I love the Xeons but something tells me it's not optimized for gaming. I will probably go ahead and change it to the 1231 because don't they turbo pretty high if temps are good?
 
Upon further research the Xeon seems to be the clear choice. 8 total cores with a turbo speed of 3.8ghz which I should be hitting all day with only a 80w tdp and a cooler that can dissipate 130w.
Only bumps the price up about 60 dollars total and I can easily make that in a few days.
 


There's only 3 games there but basically it is on par with a 4770k which is what I'm going for. Thanks!

I will post pictures as soon as I can come up with the money for these purchases.
 


I have the 960 lined up :)

If you want to sell the 970 I'd be more than happy to hand you 200 via paypal when I start working more. The purchase will be made in the next few months, and since it was free to you, I guess it would be a my gain your loss situation, but if ya wanna help someone get a little more oomph out of a 1080p screen be my friend and at least consider the offer :)

Nah no ECC, leaves too many possible errors that would have otherwise blue screened a gaming pc. I need stability without thinking I will run out of usable memory due to errors. Good for server environments, but in gaming environments, I need the threshold of error to be higher.
 


Correct LOL
I'll stick with the regular non ECC

and to the 970, 🙁
 
Alright guys... Huge damper of $$$ on this build now because I went to start my car to go to an eye doctor appointment and I needed to check my AC pressures because I just recharged it and it turns out that I have a pinhole leak in my radiator... Gonna cost me 507.32 to fix it. This means I will be putting away another months paychecks to get back to where I was to start being able to save for this pc and start spending money on it. I'm so irritated, but this way I don't gotta worry about the car anymore because the whole cooling system has been revamped and all i need is a new belt.

I don't know what I'm gonna do. I need to see my hours next week to see how much I can afford to put towards this computer.

I also need to get a damn oil change (I'll probably do it next month or something...
 
Well what you could do is go for a 2500k/7950 combo on the cheap. That is what I have. It can play most games around 60 FPS high to maxed, just that the most demanding/poorly optimized ones have a FPS range around 45 on high settings. Going mITX also tends to be more expensive than regular mATX or ATX. I believe the case you have listed can only fit mITX motherboards while the cheap h81 board you have is mATX.

Definitely a way to go if you need a gaming build on the cheap. Performance wise the 2500k is very similar to the latest CPUs once overclocked, same goes for the 7950 which is similar to the R9 280. Asides from drivers it has the exact same specs. It should come out to around half the price of what you have planned.
 


Oh hell no. Sorry for my opinion. I need a completely current build as I am one of those that only builds once every 5 years.

had my c2d rig for 8 years now (all peripherals are from then too) I need a complete, brand new, overhaul.
 
OK guys so as you might have seen I changed the CPU plan, I decided I'm going to go with a Xeon E3-1231v3. Thus way I basically have an i7 and with my thermals I will be in turbo mode all day long. I might decide to change the gpu to a 970 simply because with the 970 I'll definitely be able to frame lock literally any game at 31fps with the 1080p ultra settings.

I read a review on my monitor and they said that windows NVIDIA drivers don't use the full RGB setting when connecting via HDMI or display port, but there's a tool out there that forces full RGB. The tool only works on HDMI connections, so I switched the cable to an HDMI cable.

Any questions feel free to ask and I'm open to discussion.
 
OK so as many of your guys know I buy the items that won't technologically evolve first, then the least likely to evolve, up to the most likely. My plans will drastically change because of the release of the 1151 socket. This was going to be a 4+ month build anyway, so putting together an itx 1151 platform shouldn't be much more costly or in the way. If I go the 1151 route I'm going for a locked i5 because there's no reason for an unlocked one nowadays. Just the motherboard, memory and processor will be changed as they get released unless the pascal gpus show up which I would go for a GTX 1060 (if they're going to stick with their naming) because I'd feel confident that it would frame lock at ultra in 1080p for 31fps.

So the only thing changing would be mobo, ram, processor or gpu. If they release everything in time that would be great.
 
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