Building a gaming PC - best graphics card and is it worth going Intel??

[TheTechFish]

I'm building a compact (mini ITX) gaming rig for my friend. It also needs to run adobe/Autodesk products.

Firstly how does the current spec list look?

Secondly is the R9 290 worth getting over the R9 280X? (or is there a better Nvidia card for the price?)

Lastly - Is it worth going for the i7-4770k over an AMD FX8350? The 8-Core is important for 3d Rendering for Architectural work (I realize it makes little difference for gaming).


So after a bit of deliberation here is the current specs:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/kg9JRB

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£219.95 @ Aria PC)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo 43.1 CFM CPU Cooler (£15.98 @ Scan.co.uk)

Motherboard: MSI B85I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£58.59 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£114.71 @ Ebuyer)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£90.00 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.00 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card (£217.99 @ Amazon UK)

Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case (£64.79 @ Aria PC)

Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£78.12 @ Scan.co.uk)

Total: £909.13



The Total budget is £1000 and needs to include a monitor and keyboard/mouse as well (so it's already a bit over).

Thanks for your help.

Joe

 

[Barney6262]

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

Bit over your budget but a really nice system.
As a side note, I did not include a keyboard as that is kinda personal preference...

I replaced the I7 with an I5 as it is much cheaper but you can still overclock the I5 (which should be more than enough even at stock speeds)

The 970 is just a better card than the 290.

If you wanted a smaller system: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Ljq3dC

 

[TofuLion]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.54 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-Gaming 5 Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£57.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.95 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.59 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£259.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case (£62.75 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.09 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.35 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (£88.79 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£24.36 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1011.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-27 21:49 GMT+0000

 

[TofuLion]

if the extra threads on the i7 are that important, i recommend dropping the ssd and adding a high performance hard drive.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£219.95 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.54 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-Gaming 5 Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£57.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£55.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£259.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case (£62.75 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.09 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.35 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (£88.79 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£24.36 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1025.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-27 22:31 GMT+0000

 

[sora]

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

Bit over your budget but a really nice system.
As a side note, I did not include a keyboard as that is kinda personal preference...

I replaced the I7 with an I5 as it is much cheaper but you can still overclock the I5 (which should be more than enough even at stock speeds)

The 970 is just a better card than the 290.

If you wanted a smaller system: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Ljq3dC

+1; also, 16GB is not needed for gaming.

 

[TheTechFish]

i know that i7 and 16gb RAM are not needed for gaming - however they are needed for 3DS Max

 

[Barney6262]

i know that i7 and 16gb RAM are not needed for gaming - however they are needed for 3DS Max

They are certainly not NEEDED. But if your budget allows it then it can be useful.
In your case I would not reccomend it as the extra money spent on the I7 will take away from other parts of the build which could just limit the I7... The I5 will be more than enough.