Evaluate my build

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Schmapple

Reputable
Nov 10, 2014
5
0
4,510
Hi there, I've just signed up and to be honest, a complete newbie when it comes to hardware. I was wondering if anyone could assist me with my custom build as listed below. I intend to use this PC to play games, and additionally use it for Photoshop and After Effects (however, editing is not a priority). Is there anything I could improve in this build? How could I avoid potential bottle-necking for this build? Thanks a lot for your help! :wahoo:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790S 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Total: $1499
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
Being in Australia and not wanting to overclock changes things. Try this:

[PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($399.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($108.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower...
Sort by date Sort by votes


For you i chose a mini monster, which means it is small...and a monster...here you go:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.94 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($154.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($148.50 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($75.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($348.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1248.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Depending on what country you're in, this rig does have an i7 for those non-gaming tasks but will game better or equal to pretty much anything out there that doesn't have a GTX 780 Ti, GTX 980 or dual card setup.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($203.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($157.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($86.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Fan ($36.33 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Fan ($36.33 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1159.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-10 03:09 EST-0500
 
Upvote 1 Downvote


Once again, you didn't read his post. He wants an i7 for the graphical capabilities, not necessarily rendering, but other stuff like the Adobe apps, and while the i5 will run them, the i7 kicks it's ass in these kind of tasks.

Plus, he didn't make any mention of wanting a media center mini-ITX build, so basically, sorry to say, that build is pretty much worthless for it's intended use. Great build for a media center. Absolutely garbage as a desktop. Sorry, but it's the truth. If you paid attention to the OP's outline of what he wanted and then looked at the hardware he already outlined, you'd have guessed that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

Thank you so much for your input darkbreeze, and also thank you Radion. I am residing in Australia. If I got an i5 instead, what would the longevity of that build be compared to the i7? Was there a reason why you increased both my SSD and HDD capacities? If . Also, I am not intending to overclock or anything like that--at the moment--so should I really need a CPU cooler? Even though my total was $1,499 in my OP, I'd like to aim for a budget between $1,000-1,300. Thanks again!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Being in Australia and not wanting to overclock changes things. Try this:

[PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($399.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($108.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case ($96.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Fan ($26.00 @ CPL Online)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Fan ($26.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $986.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-11 04:35 EST+1100



Or if you think the i5 is sufficient, this will work. In either case you can add a cpu cooler later if you want to overclock, which I'd highly recommend if you go with the i5, but it may work fine for you as is.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($108.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case ($96.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Fan ($26.00 @ CPL Online)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Fan ($26.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $866.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-11 04:34 EST+1100
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
I would possibly suggest a cooler master hyper 212 evo CPU cooler. I'm guessing your room temps are fairly high and the better cooler will help with CPU thermals. It is pretty cheap but offers much better cooling than the stock cooler.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote


He clearly said he didn't want to overclock. How you might guess his temps are "fairly high" when the rig hasn't even been built yet is beyond me but the stock cooler will be fine for stock clock speeds. An aftermarket cooler would certainly be a nice addition, but is by no means essential. If you're going to post a reply to a thread, at least take the time to read ALL of the posts first.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
In regard to your PM, the 4890S only has a 3.2Ghz clock speed while the 4790K has a 4.0Ghz clock speed. So even if you don't plan to overclock, the base clock speed is a major improvement from the S version. Although the K version DOES give you the option to overclock at some point if you decide to, the increase in performance from the clock speed is the main benefit in this case. You could get close to the same performance with the i5-4690k, but it would require you to get an aftermarket cooler and OC it up to at least 4Ghz if not 4.5.

Also, the GTX 970 is not absolutely essential, provided you are ok with a reduction in gaming performance and don't mind playing some titles at medium settings as you would be with the 770. I'm only seeing about an 80.00 difference or thereabouts between the two so if gaming is a priority for you, it's advisable to stick with the 970 but that's a financial decision you'll have to make for yourself.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote


power supply, up it.. that machine will quite happily crunch any game, after effects i have a lot of experience with and it will eat it for breakfast..

my question to you! do you like drinking tea when your using a computer to do the things you want to do.. you wont get much time to drink tea with that machine
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


When he is spending $1499 (Aimed budget $1000-$1300) an extra $30 for a quieter cpu cooler isn't going to break the bank. The CPU would be cooled better by the EVO which could be a factor as he lives in Australia (High-ish temps if you didn't know). But I would assume he has aircon.

As for graphics cards. You provided very little information to the OP to make an informed decision between a 770 and 970. To rectify this here are various sources of comparison between the two cards:

Fairly technical specs: If you don't understand it don't worry:
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-970-vs-GeForce-GTX-770

To compare FPS, you can read this article on toms hardware:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-970-maxwell,3941-8.html
Or just have a quick look at this image for BF4 FPS:
811647530c.png



As you can see, the 770 has an average fps of 59 while the 970 has an average fps of 77, an 18fps difference. This is where you decide if any price difference that exists between the two cards where you live is worth about 20fps (varies between games)

As a final note: There really is no need to be so aggressive. I did read the whole post, how do you know I didn't? This forum is to help people, acting like a child is not going to help anyone. If you insist on being abrasive to other members of this community, please find somewhere else to annoy people. You are a fool to say that the Hyper EVO would not be a good choice over the stock cooler. Especially when the build is a high budget. The OP noted he was going to be doing CPU intensive tasks (graphic design/rendering) and for an extra $30 it may just help keep noise level down and make the CPU last that little bit longer.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Really? Thanks. I feel much smarter now. I never said using an aftermarket cooler wasn't a good idea, just that it isn't necessary with a stock build. Mostly I was responding to your assumption of high temps, which you could not possibly have any idea about since the system has yet to be build, and I certainly never said the EVO was not a good choice over the stock cooler, I simply said it wasn't essential. Plenty of systems, most in fact, run fine with the stock cooler as long as there is sufficient case cooling. And without sufficient case cooling, even the best cooler won't help. Don't put words in my mouth, and watch yours. In fact, meh, never mind, you probably wouldn't get it anyhow.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


No, it is not absolutely build-breaking if this isn't bought with the system. However, neither is the $52 of noctua fans you included in your build suggestion. Assuming those fans are for the front two fan intakes, two sp120's would be sufficient at a fraction of the cost. You see, system building at this budget is all about getting the best features while trying to minimize cost increase. Going stock on the cpu cooler while spending $52 on case fans is just not a good idea.



Temperatures depend on the external environmental temperatures. The higher the default temperature of air in the case, the higher the temperature of the cpu. Like I already said, Australia is a fairly hot environment and some people don't have air-conditioning to cool the surrounding air. This is why I said the system may experience high temperatures.



Mind explaining how I 'put words in your mouth'? When I said:
"You are a fool to say that the Hyper EVO would not be a good choice over the stock cooler. Especially when the build is a high budget."
It is clear from the last sentence that I was referring to the fact you were discouraging the OP from getting the EVO.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom