First Build in Many Years

[Dog-Target-Appears]

When are you purchasing the parts ? Less than one month.

What is your budget ? About ¥8,000 (CNY) About $1,300. Feel free to use dollars. I don't expect you guys to use Chinese Yuan.

What are your needs ? I'd like a good gaming computer what will remain relevant for as long as possible.

Your expectations from the PC : I'd like it to run quietly and have dual monitor, and HDMI support.

Your location : I'm in Shenzhen, China (on the mainland, just across the border from Hong Kong)

Your preferred sellers/websites : I will buy locally.

Your part choices : I'm looking for longevity. It seems Corsair is making good PSUs and RAM. Western Digital Cavar Black seems like a good choice for an HDD, though, I'd like an SDD.

Are you upgrading or taking parts from any older PC/laptop ? No.

Do you plan to upgrade this PC ? Yes.

Do you need a OS or any other software ? Yes. I'm currently using a netbook running XP. I'd like to get Windows 8 for its speed and stability, though, I must admit, I have some trepidation about game compatibility. It should work with anything that runs on 7, but I've just read that the 8.1 update fudged things up for some people.

Do you need any Monitor ? No. I'll probably upgrade later.

Do you need any peripheral ? No.

Any other notes : none.

 

[TheBigTroll]

just run to hong kong. the computer stores there tend to have a better selection.

to be honest, i would have just went on a chinese forum as they would give you more local advice on what deals there are. me here in canada doesnt help you out that much

anyways some components id suggest

-i5 4670k
-hyper 212 evo or noctua nh-d14. they should be widely avaliable the last time i checked
-8gb 1600mhz 2x4gb cl9 1.5v ram
-gigabyte z87x-d3h or ud3h. pick one. they are about the same for the most part
-a 120/128gb SSD. most of the brands such as kingston should be avaliable
-get a caviar blue 1tb 64mb or a seagate 1tb 64mb barracuda
-a gtx 770 should be within reach of your budget. something from asus, msi, or gigabyte will be fine. avoid reference blower coolers
-a corsair or fractal case will be a good choice to go with
-id get a xfx 750w 80+ gold psu or a hx750 from corsair
-windows 7 is every where so you will have no problem finding that

 

[sam_p_lay]

Would you be overclocking? If not I'd recommend an i5 4570 (4670K and Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo if you overclock). GTX760 for graphics and for SSD a 250GB Plextor M5S, Sandisk Ultra Plus or Samsung 840. Tricky to say what's the best value though because obviously your prices will be different and there will be different deals. Maybe a useful thing would be a chart for comparison and then you can decide what value performance differences are worth:

www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_760/27.html

EDIT: The best PSUs are Seasonic-built. Some of Corsair's units are by Seasonic but XFX use Seasonic exclusively so always a solid bet.

 

[jinayhvora]

check this out http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1faWV

 

[TheBigTroll]

i know for a fact that you cant get the bottom half of what you recommended

also note that the 770 isnt even powerful enough to drive the 4gb of vram. its essentially useless

 

[sam_p_lay]

PSU wattage is a bit excessive there. A quality 450 watt PSU could power this.

 

[jinayhvora]

i added it for the possibility of future SLI, and even without that 450W won't cut it, u need about 550-600

 

[TheBigTroll]

a quality 450 will do it but then if you want some overclocking, you will want the 550

 

[sam_p_lay]

i added it for the possibility of future SLI, and even without that 450W won't cut it, u need about 550-600

Based on what? How much power exactly do you think these components draw?

 

[sam_p_lay]

GTX770 won't draw more than 230 watts at extreme load. Double that and add a generous 200 watts for the CPU, motherboard and the rest and you end up at 660 watts, not 850 watts 😛 Like I say, a quality 450 watt is ample for single GPU.

 

[Dog-Target-Appears]

just run to hong kong. the computer stores there tend to have a better selection.

to be honest, i would have just went on a chinese forum as they would give you more local advice on what deals there are. me here in canada doesnt help you out that much

anyways some components id suggest

-i5 4670k
-hyper 212 evo or noctua nh-d14. they should be widely avaliable the last time i checked
-8gb 1600mhz 2x4gb cl9 1.5v ram
-gigabyte z87x-d3h or ud3h. pick one. they are about the same for the most part
-a 120/128gb SSD. most of the brands such as kingston should be avaliable
-get a caviar blue 1tb 64mb or a seagate 1tb 64mb barracuda
-a gtx 770 should be within reach of your budget. something from asus, msi, or gigabyte will be fine. avoid reference blower coolers
-a corsair or fractal case will be a good choice to go with
-id get a xfx 750w 80+ gold psu or a hx750 from corsair
-windows 7 is every where so you will have no problem finding that

I usually go to HK to buy my phones and notebooks, but I can't lug a new system across the border without getting taxed. Not only that, but it's expensive in both time and money just to go there. And, the last time I went there for a GPU, the shop owner had the card delivered to his shop... so I had to wait 2 hours for that, and when it arrived, it wasn't the one I'd asked for.

Hopefully I'll be able to get what I want without too much trouble on this side of the border, but yeah, I may end up heading there if I have to.

About the Chinese sites, my Chinese just isn't good enough to use their sites (without a lot of help from Google).

Anyway, thanks, Troll, you confirmed some directions I was leaning.

 

[TheBigTroll]

well id highly suggest a chinese friend to help you out. if you cant speak chinese, its the best way to get screwed

 

[Dog-Target-Appears]

No worries there. My spoken Chinese, while still poor, is good enough for that.