Help with a new build!

[DotDotBoom]

Hi guys, I'm looking for a new build around the Fractal Design R4 or R5 case (black) and would like your advice if possible.

Approximate Purchase Date: This week

Budget Range: up-to £800 including the OS.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: surfing the internet, gaming and web design.

Are you buying a monitor: Yes (separate budget to the tower build)

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference just wherever is the cheapest!

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Newcastle, England.

Parts Preferences: No preference just whatever is best for the price.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: Probably 1920 x 1080

Additional Comments: I would like a quiet, efficient PC which is great at multi-tasking but can also run games great aswell and as stated above built around the Fractal Design R4 or R5 case. The color scheme (I know it's a bit of a nightmare!) is black/white.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Derza10]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI H97 GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£76.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£50.77 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.34 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£274.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£72.48 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£51.54 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£9.96 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.95 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £787.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 16:43 BST+0100

EDIT This is a black/red theme - just noticed you wanted black/white... I'll see what i can change.

 

[Derza10]

Here is a more black and white build, although i'd suggest going with the other one i listed:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£55.84 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.34 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£255.00 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£72.48 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£51.54 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£9.96 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.95 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £785.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 16:39 BST+0100

 

[sadams04]

R4 case with a black & white color scheme... This is a single GPU system and the XFX 450w PSU is plenty of power for a GPU upgrade to the GTX 970. If you want to go with an R9 290 / 290x, you will need to bump the PSU up to a 550w unit (from either XFX or Seasonic).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£63.11 @ Dabs)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.90 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£89.10 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.34 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card (£167.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£72.48 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£38.94 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.50 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Total: £756.85

 

[Bossyfins]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£63.11 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£54.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.95 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£275.94 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£81.26 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£69.70 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Total: £807.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 16:48 BST+0100

 

[DotDotBoom]

Both are great builds, thanks very much!

 

[DotDotBoom]

Would the R9 290 be a better investment over the other GPU's put forward? just curious.

 

[Bossyfins]

970 > 290

970 runs cooler
uses less power
more performance

290 sadly can't compete with the 290.

 

[DotDotBoom]

Ah right, to be honest thinking about it the only games I'm going to be playing regularly are the likes of CS:GO, Far Cry and Battlefield really, so I'm not sure if i'd be going overkill on the 970.

 

[Derza10]

For farcry and battlefield ultra settings the 970 will be nice to have (assuming you mean the newer titles), CS:GO a gtx 970 is overkill.

 

[DotDotBoom]

For farcry and battlefield ultra settings the 970 will be nice to have (assuming you mean the newer titles), CS:GO a gtx 970 is overkill.

CS:GO is probably the game I play the most where as the others I play every now and then, I'm not too fussed on ultra settings, as long as I can run it fine I'm happy!

 

[Derza10]

I'd suggest getting the best video card you can afford so you don't have to upgrade as soon, you will get much longer use out of a GTX 970 vs a GTX 960, and with your budget you can afford the 970. If you feel you would rather cut your budget back by about 100, then dropping to a r9 280/x or gtx 960 would work fine for you right now.

I'd get either one of these:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card (£174.17 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £174.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 17:12 BST+0100

OR

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card (£167.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £167.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 17:09 BST+0100

DOH! forgot this was the black/white theme thread! - edited the cards

 

[logainofhades]

White and black build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.34 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£255.00 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£79.30 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£61.76 @ More Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Total: £793.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 17:17 BST+0100

 

[DotDotBoom]

Great builds and thanks a lot for the help.

 

[DotDotBoom]

I'd suggest getting the best video card you can afford so you don't have to upgrade as soon, you will get much longer use out of a GTX 970 vs a GTX 960, and with your budget you can afford the 970. If you feel you would rather cut your budget back by about 100, then dropping to a r9 280/x or gtx 960 would work fine for you right now.

I'd get either one of these:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card (£174.17 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £174.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 17:12 BST+0100

OR

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card (£167.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £167.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 17:09 BST+0100

DOH! forgot this was the black/white theme thread! - edited the cards

Thanks! I'm liking the idea of the XFX Radeon R9 280X at the minute because it keeps me under my budget for now and also sounds like a great card, but what sort of mobo should I get to pair up with the R9 280 and 4460? I have a decent idea on most stuff but motherboards just confuse me!

 

[Derza10]

This is a good motherboard that fits your black/white theme - it will also give you the option to upgrade your CPU to a K version for overclocking if you ever want to do that and/or add a second video card.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97sslikraitedition

 

[DotDotBoom]

This is a good motherboard that fits your black/white theme - it will also give you the option to upgrade your CPU to a K version for overclocking if you ever want to do that and/or add a second video card.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97sslikraitedition

Sounds great! you know if this support wireless adapters? can't find anything on it.

 

[logainofhades]

Yes, it will support a PCI-E x1 WiFi adapter.

 

[DotDotBoom]

Ok, so I've tried to take snippets of each build given as I had no idea which one to go for or which one would give me the best performance!

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/sCq9Q7 - any other suggestions would be great.

 

[Derza10]

Looks like a very good build.

 

[DotDotBoom]

Looks like a very good build.

Thanks, just need to build it now (first timer) so pretty nervous about knacking it up.

 

[sadams04]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.34 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£255.00 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£79.30 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£61.76 @ More Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Total: £793.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 17:17 BST+0100

Why the Z97 board with the 4460? No SLI, right?

 

[Derza10]

Because he wants the black/white color and that is the only decent ATX motherboard that is either h97 or z97 and black/white. It also gives him a lot of upgrade paths at a decent price point.

 

[logainofhades]

Because he wants the black/white color and that is the only decent ATX motherboard that is either h97 or z97 and black/white. It also gives him a lot of upgrade paths at a decent price point.

That is exactly why I chose it. It is the only board that is decent, and matches the color scheme.

 

[DotDotBoom]

Color scheme aside what would be the best motherboard to use?