New gaming rig advice/opinions - $1.5k, maybe more - Sydney, Australia

Daece

Honorable
Nov 22, 2014
10
0
10,510
Hey team, hoping to get some input on the below build, pros/cons etc. and alternative recommended parts - Please indicate why an alternative is suggested though... Looking at building in the next 1-2 months, also overclocking at some stage (nothing huge, low 4's on the 4690K, maybe higher depending on stability, but won't push limits). Have also done some research on the parts but am now over all of the reading and would like some third party input while I kick my heels up =)
Price wise, I tend to tap out just as prices start to go up exponentially vs minimal return.

Current proposed build: - Prices in AUD
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($250 @ Amazon (delivered) or $279 @ ARC.com.au)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i ($115 @ Amazon (delivered) or $149 @ ARC) Could go the X61 if I buy locally, only $6 more...
Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC (Already owned - was staring down the Asrock Z97 Extreme6 @ $215 but got the G9AC for $200 brand new @ MSY.com.au on clearance sale)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X 2400 2 x 8GB ($212 @ MSY)
SSD (boot disk only): OCZ Agility 3 60GB (RMA'd a Vertex 2 and never used the replacement)
Storage: WD Black 2TB and a couple Greens (Already owned)
Video Card: MSI Gaming GTX 970 ($438 @ Amazon (delivered) otherwise $520 locally)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe - White ($189 @ PCCG, plus an extra 2m Led strip for $25 & maybe some red sleeve cable extensions for $39 - Delivery adds another $40 incl. insurance though =(
Power Supply: Corsair HX1000i (oooverkill, but should be nicely efficient at 50-75% - $269 @ ARC)

Notes: Building around the Gaming 9 as it's already purchased.
Case - First choice was the FT02, but can't justify ~$250 on a case that should really come with 3 x AP182's standard for that price... Normally I like understated cases, but the luxe struck a spark.
GPU - Will SLI once the 970 gets to EOL and can pick up a cheap one from Amazon...
Resolution - Currently 27" 1920x1080 (Crappy S27B750), might go to 3xmonitor rig or 4K when I SLI.
RAM -Only need 8gb, but would rather get 2dimm 16gb now, instead of adding another 8gb of non factory matched sticks later, hence the Tri-X over the Rip-Z as they don't have a 2x8gb kit I think. I'm a corsair fanboy, but surprised at the higher cas available in 2400 (not that it really makes any RW dif), so going G.Skill this time.
Cooling - Really unsure, would prefer air, but the DH14/15 or TC14PE would impact my ram selection... Plus unsure whether I'll be LANing with this rig and would rather not have over a kilo hanging off the board during transport.
Shipping from US for the GPU/Cooler/CPU - Concerns about doing this, unsure about warranty etc. and whether I can RMA locally if need be, but saving ~$80 on the GPU, $35 on the cooler & $30 on the CPU... Tough decision.
Optical drive - Going to use my current Asus or LD DVD RW and see how painting the bezel white goes before I try my hand at a new BR RW drive.
OS - Have a retail copy of Win7, may upgrade to 8.1 pro and shell it back.

Reason for upgrading - Old school gamer who's not playing newer titles due to currently running a 10yr old E7400, 4GB DDR2, GTX475 (upgraded from an 8800GTX some time ago). It still gets the job done, but feel like something new.

Any input would fantastic - Have at me, all productive comments welcome =)
 
To start with, that case sucks. Nah, just kidding. Actually, that's a very nice choice. Just wanted to say thumbs up on the choice of case before I picked your build apart. Nah, just kidding again. Let's take a look.
 
About the only thing I see that might be improved is the SSD. I have four different OCZ SSD's. Two are Vector 150's @ 240GB. One is an Octane @ 256GB and the other is a 256GB Vector. Now, I never had any performance issues with them at first but each of them except one of the Vector 150's has had to be RMA'd at some point and none of them have ever performed close to advertised specs despite being properly aligned and having clean installs (When used for the OS). They just didn't do that great.

I bought a Samsung 840 Pro and have never had any issues with it at all. Plus, it's very fast. I still use the Vector in my gaming rig as the drive doesn't really affect gaming performance aside from loading maps and levels and crap and the replacement units that were RMA'd didn't fail a second time, but one failure is enough. Just saying, maybe a second look at SSD reviews might be a wise thing to do before pulling the trigger. I'm not personally familiar with the Agility series so I can't comment on that, but as whole, OCZ has had some issues. I do realize they've been improving and the ownership change and all, but I bought all mine after that so I dunno.
 

Daece

Honorable
Nov 22, 2014
10
0
10,510
Thanks for the quick response =)



Agreed, the only reason I'm using it now is to save $100 and see how it goes - if it fails, I'll just replace with my original build choice, which happens to be the 840 pro, or even an Intel 530.

It hasn't been used since OCZ replaced the V2 (I'd bought a Corsair 60GT in the mean time). I vowed never to use an SSD as storage again, only boot, or to buy OCZ again =))

 
Well, I don't see where you could really improve anything. Especially since you've already got half the hardware and the other half are all top shelf choices. Good luck with the build and final product.
 

Daece

Honorable
Nov 22, 2014
10
0
10,510
I might reconsider the PSU after checking out dottorrent's: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html.

HXi seems to be relegated down the ranks, when I can pick-up an EVGA SuperNova G2 1000W for $249 ($255 delivered with my case =), over the HX1000i @$269. Stability means more to me than efficiency as I won't be running the thing 24/7. Or I could get the P2 from Amazon for an extra $20... 10yr warranty is kind of amazing too...
 
The G2 is a very good unit and there are no other Tier 1 units available in your area for a lower price, that I'm aware of. Definitely a better PSU than the Corsair. Of course you do realize, as you mentioned, that it's way overkill since that card will run with that system on a 550w PSU. A 750w Tier 1 PSU would give you plenty of headroom and would meet the bare minimum if you decided to add a second card later. An 850w would even give you headroom for a second card, beyond the bare minimum. With an 850w Tier 1 PSU you would never exceed about 66% at full GPU load. With the 1000w you would never exceed 55% at full GPU load.
 

Daece

Honorable
Nov 22, 2014
10
0
10,510


My main concern is future proofing. I may go to SLI, or I could even change cards altogether... Considering the ridiculous amounts of power the 290X's suck down, I wanted to keep my options open, without potentially needing to buy another PSU down the track (esp. with a 10yr warranty =))

Hopefully GPUs keep getting more efficient, but I'd hate to have to fork out another few hundred dollars because I didn't spend the extra $65 now. Don't know if that's a legitimate argument to up the PSU, or if I should just go with the EVGA SN G2 850W for $189... Very tempting as I'm very budget conscious despite wanting the best parts I can afford.