Help! I want to make my build a little bit cheaper!

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Huang Ray

Reputable
May 3, 2014
688
0
5,060
I want to make my parts cheaper! Please Help which parts should I change?

My build
Case- NZXT h440
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I44ES4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Motherboard- Asus z97 pro (WiFi)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132117
CPU- I7-4770k
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CO8TBQ0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
CPU cooler- Corsair H110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181035
RAM - Corsair Vengeance Pro (16gb)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233536
GPU- GTX 770 (2gb)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D3F7CFK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Storage (Drive)- Samsung Electronics 840 EVO (250gb)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E3W1726/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
PSU- Corsair RM750
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EB7UITQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Other Parts Included
Monitor- Asus VS247H-P 23.6-Inch
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BZNDS0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Keyboard and mouse- Mk520
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VANO7C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Speaker- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0027VT6V4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Altogether price - 1862.54 (included taxes(8%))

Things that I do not want to change -
MB - because I want to have a mb with WiFi
SSD - because I think 250gb is enough for me, and right now, I have a 1.5 TB external drive. Also, I want SSD because I heard it is much faster.
PSU - I search a long time, and I think Corsair RM 750 best suit for me
Keyboard and Mouse - It's cheap, and it's wireless (which is GREAT)
Speaker - It's also cheaper, and I heard it is loud!

For CPU, CPU cooler, GPU, RAM, monitor, and other parts, I want to make them cheaper.

I am going to use the PC for a little bit gaming, and working. I do not want to have crappy parts, because I want it to last about 3 to 5 years.
My budge is around 1500 to 1900.
The cheaper, the better, ofc.
I want to save money for other uses.

Do you think I should make my parts cheaper, or no?

Thanks for everyone!

Please Help!

P.S. do you guys think I can survive without DVD drive? IDK
 
Solution
You really could get a cheaper graphics card because you don't play any graphically intense games. You would be getting overkill with a gtx 730- 750ti. And I will point out that for videos a graphics card like the gtx 780 would not have any better 2d performance than a cheaper gtx 740. And low quality 3D games would run with over 60 fps on both cards. I think you should get a good CPU though because if you do any multitasking or run any intense programs it will be nice to have a CPU that won't get overloaded and cause you system to stop responding. Stick to a quad core (4 physical cores) and I prefer Intel even though they are more expensive.


So, do you think i5 4690k is fine?
 
The GTX 760 is a faster card than the R9 270x so it's your call. you can likely find a cheap GTX 760 on sale. Are you looking for a reference design(typically uses a blower fan) or a non reference design(usually has 2 fans upgraded heatsink and sometimes redesigned PCB)

I heard somewhere that if you're getting an AMD card you should get one with a non reference PCB but citation needed
 
I've been reading a little on hyperthreading but all the things I could find were from 2012 so it might be a little outdated. Most games don't use hyperthreading with the exception of a few like battlefield 4. which if they optimize it for your CPU you shouldn't have a problem running it even with an i5 which does not have the hyper threading.

I might as well explain hyperthreading just in case some readers don't know. it's when the CPU tells windows and programs it has eight cores when really it has four cores. each core has two parts one that processes simple math and on that processes more complicated stuff. the CPU also has a controller so when the data is sent to each core it separates the workload so that all 8 cores(4 physical but each with 2 threads) gets full. This will only improve speeds if the program is made with this objective in mind. this is usually only used when compressing/decompressing files and some financial modeling programs. for general use it will not improve performance much and I personally don't think it's worth the steep price increase.
I just looked and it is still $100 so yea go with the i5
 
The case looks cool. It's too big for me but it looks really nice and leaves you a lot of room to do whatever. you could even buy a second GPU and sli/crossfire at some point in the future.

yes to the anti static wristband. in most cases static won't break any parts in a build but it's a good tool for computer building because it does happen sometimes. they cost about 20 dollars and if it saves a $300 part from damage it's done its job.
 


Can you explained more? I never heard of "a reference design(typically uses a blower fan) or a non reference design(usually has 2 fans upgraded heatsink and sometimes redesigned PCB)"

Anyway, I think I will just buy GTX 760, because many people (website) said it is better?

P.S. Please tell me when gtx 760 is on sell ! Ty
 


So, in short, you think it's not worth to get i7 because I do not use that many cores?

I think I will stick with i5 4690k or i5 4670k!

 


Which cases do you mean? (Rosewill thor v2 or Nzxt h440?)

So, you think I should buy an anti static band? (BTW it costs only 5 USD in Amazon.com)
 


Which cases do you mean? (Rosewill thor v2 or Nzxt h440?)

So, you think I should buy an anti static band? (BTW it costs only 5 USD in Amazon.com)
 
The motherboard looks good. It has an ac wireless card. I will point out that you need to have an ac router to make use of that performance increase. It's got two PCIe 3.0 ports so you can potentially SLI in the future if you feel like the card isn't good enough, so it leaves good headroom and it's ASUS so it should be good quality.

I have the 4670K i5 processor and it's fast. from what I read the 4690K has better cooling technology but I don't know if you need that when you're using an aftermarket cooler. mine has a corsair H60 closed loop cooler with two fans on it and it hits 60C under a constant full load. you shouldn't get a liquid cooler because with a big case like you are getting, a large air cooler is better.(I'm using an ITX mobo and case)

I've used the 212 evo heatsink before and it works. when I put it on I used way too much thermal paste and it messed up the cooling so be sure to watch a youtube video on that when you use it or it will work as well as the intel heatsink.

As far as the case is concerned get whatever you think looks the best because that's really all that counts the ventilation is good in both of those.
 
yep go for the anti static wristband it is a good tool to have in your computer building toolkit. you don't have to use it all the time but definately use it when installing the CPU and to be safe use it when putting the GPU and mobo in. hdd's and ssd's have static shielding so the wristband is not needed for those.
 


So, in short, You think Asus Z97 Pro (WiFi AC) is suitable for me.

i5 4670k and i5 4690k has only like 4 USD differences on Amazon, so do you like it's worth the extra "4 dollars"?
I am still NOT SURE WHICH CASE SHOULD I CHOOSE (sorry for cap)...
So, any suggestion on case that is best suitable for my parts? (less then 150 dollars will be great)
I am still not sure whatever I should get H110(or H80) OR CM evo 212. I think I will just get CM evo 212 because it's much cheaper 😀
But, if the pc is still hot, I will need to buy extra fans.
I was going to buy the Nzxt h440, but it doesn't have top fans. If I use CM evo 212 as Cpu cooler, there will be no top fans, which might cause overheating. So, please help me to find a good case with top fans and front fans included, and it does not have eSATA port or firewall on the font panels because I do not personally like it 😀

About the Thermal Paste, I think I will just put one dot (pea) in the central (I think I misspell), this way, when I press it, it will expend and will not have bubble or air.
 


So, I should buy the anti static band.

Also, is my monitor good for that price? Is there other monitor you recommend that is less then 200?
 
Get the CM evo 212

and for only 4 dollars more why not get the 4690K

Case companies will try and tell you, you need tons of high powered fans to get low temps but the truth is once you hit a certain point the temperature difference is very small and will not affect anything. when you pick a case just make sure it has 3 or 4 case fans and MOST importantly it looks amazing and you wouldn't mind showing it off to people. personally I think the Thor 2 looks better but as far as your temperatures are concerned they will be about the same.

case companies will try and tell you that they will make your temperatures cooler than any other case out there, but usually as long as air is flowing around every heatsink and component they will be about the same temperature. really adding a second fan to your CPU heatsink will do more in terms of cooling than adding two fans onto your case.

 


So, if I buy i5 4690k with the CM evo 212 and I buy NZXT h440, is the top fans necessary? or I should add fans later if the temp. is too high? Also, can you give me some case's names that I can refer? I'm not experience, so I only know few cases that is suitable for me. Ty
 


I already have a monitor at home btw. (Asus LS221h) I'm not sure about it's frame rate, so can you check it for me?
http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/LS221H/

Should I bother to buy another monitor? I saw Asus VS247H-P 23.6-Inch Full-HD LED-Lit LCD Monitor on amazon.com. It's $156.44! (Which is kind of cheap 😀)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BZNDS0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I'm not sure it's fps so please help me more 😀