Finally finished my build, need quick opinions before I start ordering

[Dresgeve8710]

I finally finished piecing together a build. It's primarily for gaming and general entertainment. It'll be hooked up to a 1080p 42" HDTV. I'll also do some lighter programming and hardware experimentation on it, but nothing too insane. Trying to keep the total build under or around $1000. Right now, two things that aren't listed are a hard drive and a disk drive. I should have both of those here already from old builds or just as spares, so I won't be ordering them unless I need them.

Anywhere I could cut back with similar parts, or maybe a better deal on the OS or something? (it would allow wiggle room on things like cooling or more/better hard drives and such. Student discounts are a massive plus 😛 ) Any parts on there scream death threats to their owners?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/23jXu


So far this forum has been insanely helpful, so thanks a lot to those who have given me advice so far!

 

[Amit Parmar]

Use pcpartpicker.com it finds the cheapest prices for you automatically.

This Newegg link is broken.

 

[Dresgeve8710]

D'oh, hang on... I fis' it...

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/23jXu


I had put a lot of parts on here before, but I couldn't find the mobo the first time for some reason, so I did it on Newegg. Anyway, THERE it is. Must have just passed over the mobo first time 😛 I'll update the link in the original post too.

 

[Amit Parmar]

You should get a CPU cooler because the stock will not be enough. Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. Get a (2x4) ram because it is much faster than just 1 stick. The 6xx series will soon be outdated like 5xx so you should get a 760 instead.

 

[Ronaldspiers]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($225.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $964.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-16 16:13 EST-0500)

Kept pretty much everything the same except a better GPU, 2x4 sticks of RAM and a CPU cooler. All comes up under your $1000 max.

 

[Dresgeve8710]

Ah, I had wondered about a cooler for the CPU. Good thing to add. So two simms is actually better than one? That'll be an easy swap.

As for the GPU, I picked the 670 because it seems to perform just barely a step behind the 770 (the GPU I originally picked before my price range got slashed by a hundred or two), but the 760 performed a step or so behind the 670, at least in the things I found here on THW. I had also gotten the impression that the 760 was one of those "halfway between" cards that was being phased out quickly. Any tips on this? I fully admit I could be (and probably am 😛 ) very wrong, haha, so I'd appreciate your 2 cents! I've honestly been rather unsure of my GPU choice since I had to cut the 770 (man, so wish I could grab one of those. But it's just barely out of my range...maybe. Out of curiosity, should I find out that my price range expands to the 770, would it be an obvious choice, or would I still be better off with the 670 or 760?)


EDIT: A question about Radeon cards, since one has now been suggested. I had a Radeon 9800 Pro back when I built my last desktop (10 years ago). It was a good card, but MAN, it was a maintenance hassle. Updates were time consuming, settings were tricky and didn't really function all that well, etc. It was still a good card, but it didn't perform any better than Nvidia at the time, and the Nvidia cards at the time were the easiest things in the world to mess with. Is this still the case, or has the change to AMD really made a huge difference? I'm ok with taking a Radeon if it's better performance for the price, but I definitely didn't appreciate my last one all that much. But like I said, that was 10 years ago, haha.

 

[Amit Parmar]

The 760 ti will be out soon and that will be a rebadge of the 670 with a higher clock rate so you should consider that.

 

[Ronaldspiers]

Ah, I had wondered about a cooler for the CPU. Good thing to add. So two simms is actually better than one? That'll be an easy swap.

As for the GPU, I picked the 670 because it seems to perform just barely a step behind the 770 (the GPU I originally picked before my price range got slashed by a hundred or two), but the 760 performed a step or so behind the 670, at least in the things I found here on THW. I had also gotten the impression that the 760 was one of those "halfway between" cards that was being phased out quickly. Any tips on this? I fully admit I could be (and probably am 😛 ) very wrong, haha, so I'd appreciate your 2 cents! I've honestly been rather unsure of my GPU choice since I had to cut the 770 (man, so wish I could grab one of those. But it's just barely out of my range...maybe. Out of curiosity, should I find out that my price range expands to the 770, would it be an obvious choice, or would I still be better off with the 670 or 760?)

The R9 280x i stuck in my build performs the same as a GTX 770 pretty much and comes with a cheaper price point than most 770s.
If you would rather go Nvidia then yeah 760/670 your best bet. Will still handle most games on max easy.

 

[sora]

Ah, I had wondered about a cooler for the CPU. Good thing to add. So two simms is actually better than one? That'll be an easy swap.

As for the GPU, I picked the 670 because it seems to perform just barely a step behind the 770 (the GPU I originally picked before my price range got slashed by a hundred or two), but the 760 performed a step or so behind the 670, at least in the things I found here on THW. I had also gotten the impression that the 760 was one of those "halfway between" cards that was being phased out quickly. Any tips on this? I fully admit I could be (and probably am 😛 ) very wrong, haha, so I'd appreciate your 2 cents! I've honestly been rather unsure of my GPU choice since I had to cut the 770 (man, so wish I could grab one of those. But it's just barely out of my range...maybe. Out of curiosity, should I find out that my price range expands to the 770, would it be an obvious choice, or would I still be better off with the 670 or 760?)

The R9 280x i stuck in my build performs the same as a GTX 770 pretty much and comes with a cheaper price point than most 770s.
If you would rather go Nvidia then yeah 760/670 your best bet. Will still handle most games on max easy.

+1; either get the 760Ti/770 or the 280x.

 

[sora]

You should get a CPU cooler because the stock will not be enough. Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. Get a (2x4) ram because it is much faster than just 1 stick. The 6xx series will soon be outdated like 5xx so you should get a 760 instead.

This, an extra fan will definitely help keep your system from overheating + the Hyper 212 EVO is the best cooler IMO.