PC build 900euros/1,200$/750pounds - help needed - beginner

[Robotmutt]

Hi,

I have been playing games a lot recently and was looking to invest my money in a good/worth the price custom built pc as it seems to be better doing and funner. Also this means the possibility of customization and removal of certain parts in the future. I am not very experienced in this sector and require assistance and suggestions. I have about 900euro/ $1,200/750pounds to spend. I do not mind whether it slightly exceeds my money limit, I am looking for the best build I can get with that money NOT including any monitors/peripherals .etc. I have looked at PCPartPicker and do not have much of a clue where to start, I've looked at videos and have the general idea of what I need - I would prefer Nvidia over ASD. Whatever suggestions and must haves will be a great help! I am not sure what the average price for each component should be and how to balance everything out. Not to forget, I do little work, only microsoft word .etc. I will also be watching bluray films, at the moment I have a DVD drive to use and plan to buy a bluray drive in the future, I don't mind whether it is included in the overall build for the moment. At the moment I play Rust, DayZ, Metro, Bioshock, Borderlands, Skyrim and a whole list of similar games quite similar. I will also be looking to keeping this for 2 years or more and be playing games such Titanfall and possibly other mainstream games.

 

[Robotmutt]

maybe they edited the design or something? i dont know. however, if nzxt says it fits, it will fit. and if not sue them for a lot of money

just kidding, but also if it doesnt fit by a few millimeters you can sand it down a little, maybe put some green paint on it?

anyway, id say go for it now. your protected if it doesnt fit

yeah that's exactly what I thought about: 'sand it down' to make it abit less thick in case it does prevent the side panel from fitting on. And I did consider painting it green myself as they didn't have green as an option sadly 🙁 What conclusion did we come to with the water cooler? A 240mm rad would be good the H105 looked nice but was abit pricey, I 140mm rad should fit in the back of my case above the motherboard I'll look around if people have done so. Let me know which 140mm watercooler is the best or not even the best but best for the price. Also if I mount the H90 at the back of my case I will have to reaarange my airflow right? I can't have the H90 140mm fan exhausting air into the rad...I would need it so that it is intake through the back, probably intake through the top 120mm fan and then exhaust out the front from the 230mm.

 

[jshoop]

nope, exhausting through the rad is perfectly fine. thats what most people do. it wont affect temps much, (2 or 3 degrees), and fits there easier in builds.

heres the 2 options i found that will fit:

h90: http://www.amazon.it/Corsair-CW-9060013-WW-Series-Sistema-Raffreddamento/dp/B00B4OCWDE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403569900&sr=8-1&keywords=h90

nzxt kraken x40: http://www.amazon.it/NZXT-RL-KRX40-01-Kraken-X40/dp/B00A3J1N4K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403570003&sr=8-1&keywords=kraken+x40

the x40 is really expensive, si id go with the h90. it has good cooling power too. it should do fine

 

[Robotmutt]

nope, exhausting through the rad is perfectly fine. thats what most people do. it wont affect temps much, (2 or 3 degrees), and fits there easier in builds.

heres the 2 options i found that will fit:

h90: http://www.amazon.it/Corsair-CW-9060013-WW-Series-Sistema-Raffreddamento/dp/B00B4OCWDE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403569900&sr=8-1&keywords=h90

nzxt kraken x40: http://www.amazon.it/NZXT-RL-KRX40-01-Kraken-X40/dp/B00A3J1N4K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403570003&sr=8-1&keywords=kraken+x40

the x40 is really expensive, si id go with the h90. it has good cooling power too. it should do fine

Yeah I'll definitely go with the H90, and sounds good I will have the fan mounted in front of the rad so the rad is mounted to the case then the fan on the rad and is exhausting out the back I think I will order the g10 first and see whether it fits in the case to save the hassle of having to send back the H90 as well. Also if it turns out well and I do install everything I will look into spray painting the tubes green and probably the bracket too Oh and I'm abit of confused about wiring..the pump will need to be connected to the motherboard or psu? And then I'm not sure where to plug the 140mm fan into...I would have to remove the top 120mm fan to be able to plug the 140mm fan in. So that leaves me the 230mm intake at the front, then 140mm exhaust at the back, but I guess I shouldn't worry too much about airflow as the gpu will be getting cooled properly now.

 

[jshoop]

the pump should be connected to the psu, you always want it at 100% or else the liquid wont move as fast. the 140mm fan on the corsair should be on the splitter cable you have, and if you can figure out a way you can put the 120mm fan on the radiator too, which would improve temps more.

 

[Robotmutt]

the pump should be connected to the psu, you always want it at 100% or else the liquid wont move as fast. the 140mm fan on the corsair should be on the splitter cable you have, and if you can figure out a way you can put the 120mm fan on the radiator too, which would improve temps more.

I will only be able to set up the pump to the psu, and then the 230mm and 140mm fan to the mobo using the splitter. That's as far as I can go.

 

[jshoop]

thats gonna be fine anyway, you have an exit and an exhaust. maybe rig the 120mm to the radiator and connect it to the psu? this is purely for a push-pull configuration on the radiator, it isnt that important

 

[Robotmutt]

thats gonna be fine anyway, you have an exit and an exhaust. maybe rig the 120mm to the radiator and connect it to the psu? this is purely for a push-pull configuration on the radiator, it isnt that important

Yeah ok. I will order the nzxt kraken g10 first when I can which and will be able to test it around July 5th so I will let you know if it fits, if it does I will then order the corsair H90! I just hope it does fit..

 

[andrei65]

go on nzxt.com , search for nzxt kraken g10 and make sure your gpu is a reference version of it and you're 100% sure it'll fit
as for the h90 it will definetly fit in the g10 , so no problem there .

 

[jshoop]

oh yea, thats a good point. we have to make sure the asus 780 will fit. i'll see if i can find anything. if its a reference pcb it will no matter what, and if its a custom pcb it might fit. its just the screw holes lining up

 

[jshoop]

gosh, im just giving you all the bad news. the dcuii cooler uses a custom pcb design.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/GTX-780-DirectCU-II-OC,22908.html

i tried the pcpartpicker compatibility but it said unknown:

"UNKNOWN The Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card and NZXT Kraken G10 Video Card Cooler compatibility could not be evaluated."

here are the other notes:

"Compability Notes:
Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card support for the non-reference PCB on the NZXT Kraken G10 Video Card Cooler could not be verified. Fit will depend on PCB component and mounting hole mounting layout."

 

[Robotmutt]

gosh, im just giving you all the bad news. the dcuii cooler uses a custom pcb design.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/GTX-780-DirectCU-II-OC,22908.html

i tried the pcpartpicker compatibility but it said unknown:

"UNKNOWN The Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card and NZXT Kraken G10 Video Card Cooler compatibility could not be evaluated."

here are the other notes:

"Compability Notes:
Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card support for the non-reference PCB on the NZXT Kraken G10 Video Card Cooler could not be verified. Fit will depend on PCB component and mounting hole mounting layout."

Soooooo it won't fit on the gpu at all? :/

 

[jshoop]

it might, the only way to know for sure is to see someone with the g10 on it or buy it and see if it fits. i'll look around and try to find if anyone has put it on the dcuii card, (most people havent cause the temps are usually so low, but then again they arent in mini itx cases

 

[Robotmutt]

it might, the only way to know for sure is to see someone with the g10 on it or buy it and see if it fits. i'll look around and try to find if anyone has put it on the dcuii card, (most people havent cause the temps are usually so low, but then again they arent in mini itx cases

I was just doing the same - seeing if people put it on a dcuii card, does it have to be my model or can it can be any from asus?

 

[jshoop]

is has to be from nvidia, the 780 and 780ti are identical except for the gpu itself. i think the 770 is different. any amd card is definatly gonna be different.

EDIT: to clarify, any gtx 780 or 780ti

 

[jshoop]

do you remember what the temps were with the vented side panel were? or can you try gaming with the vented side panel on or just no side panel?

 

[Robotmutt]

is has to be from nvidia, the 780 and 780ti are identical except for the gpu itself. i think the 770 is different. any amd card is definatly gonna be different.

EDIT: to clarify, any gtx 780 or 780ti

If we can't find any evidence I will order the bracket and cross my fingers and test it out on my gpu hoping it does fit.

 

[Robotmutt]

do you remember what the temps were with the vented side panel were? or can you try gaming with the vented side panel on or just no side panel?

I can't remember the temps and currently I have had remove all my games so I can't test the temps with gaming but I can test with the vented side panel or no side panel.

 

[jshoop]

yea, hopefully amd didnt change where the screw holes are.

for the temps, can you run some benchmarks with kombuster? run kombuster for a few minutes to get the gpu to warm up, then let it idle for a few minutes. Then with the window on run it for 10 minutes or so and record the temps. Change the window with the vented and do the same thing. the last test would be no side panel. i just want to make sure the temps issue is specifically airflow. if the temps dont change for the 3 tests, i think theres something wrong with the card

 

[Robotmutt]

yea, hopefully amd didnt change where the screw holes are.

for the temps, can you run some benchmarks with kombuster? run kombuster for a few minutes to get the gpu to warm up, then let it idle for a few minutes. Then with the window on run it for 10 minutes or so and record the temps. Change the window with the vented and do the same thing. the last test would be no side panel. i just want to make sure the temps issue is specifically airflow. if the temps dont change for the 3 tests, i think theres something wrong with the card

Yeah ok. And how come you said ''hopefully amd didnt change'' why amd?

 

[jshoop]

haha oops, i meant asus. since its a custom pcb design, the screw holes may not line up with the g10, which is the issue

 

[Robotmutt]

haha oops, i meant asus. since its a custom pcb design, the screw holes may not line up with the g10, which is the issue

The only screw holes I would need to screw are the 4 bases around the gpu and then also connects to the water cooling block right? Because if it's just those 4 I think there is a good chance they will align.

 

[jshoop]

yea, those are it. there is a good chance they will align but its not an 100& chance. i think it would fit

 

[Robotmutt]

yea, those are it. there is a good chance they will align but its not an 100& chance. i think it would fit

Fingers crossed mate xD Oh and uhh how easy is it to transer from a mini itx to a full tower case or mid tower? It's a crazy thought which I was wondering and highly doubt is easy but I dunno, anyway basically I know a person that was given as he says 'an extreme Ci7 MB' I believe it is ATX but he said it was given to him from intel and he has no use for it and said I could have it....anyway if it is i7 then I can't use my cpu on it but I have yet heard of more information about the motherboard but I will most likely be getting it and was wondering if there is anything I could do with it..

 

[jshoop]

the transfer itself is easy, you just take everything out of the case now and rebuild it in the new case.

for the motherboard, it only depends on the socket type. you can put an i7 into your motherboard if you wanted. you'll want his motherboard to be the same socket, lga-1150.

by the way you have a cool friend

 

[Robotmutt]

the transfer itself is easy, you just take everything out of the case now and rebuild it in the new case.

for the motherboard, it only depends on the socket type. you can put an i7 into your motherboard if you wanted. you'll want his motherboard to be the same socket, lga-1150.

by the way you have a cool friend

ahahaha yeah he's a friend of my dad, so yeah the transfer part would be easy, I would have to buy another case and I'll try find out more about the specific type of motherboard it is, because I will get this motherboard and for christmas maybe ask for a big case so I can choose to use a larger case with that mb and just put my psu, gpu and storage in there. Then I could swap from my mini build to the larger one whenever 😛 So for my i5 4570 to work on that mb it needs to have a Iga-1150 socket? If it isn't Iga-1150 then I would need another cpu which I don't have the money for xD but I could wait.