Please rate my (I hope) final build

[miha2]

People, please click here for the list of my details, or read below.

First of all, I'd like you to critique each part that I chose, to say if one is good or bad, fits or not, and why.

Here's my config:

CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K - $299.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - $108.99
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB DDR3-1866 MHz - $81.99
Hard drive: WD BLACK SERIES 1TB - $69.99
Graphics card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X - $269.99
Case: Cooler Master HAF XM - $99.99
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Platinum 550W 80+ Platinum - $89.99
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE - $19.99
Monitor: Asus VX228H - $129.99
Keyboard: ROCCAT Isku FX - $87.99
Mouse: Thermaltake Level 10 M - $59.99

It all totals to $1328.89, but I'd like to build for no more than $1220-ish.

A few questions:

Been to Sapphire website, it says recommended power supply is 750W. Since this power supply is only 550W, and considering 750W power supply should be 80+ bronze, which would give us 600W, while the Antec's can only give 495, which is 105W less than recommended, will the specified power supply be efficient? Can it handle?

I mean, I'm buying a decent CPU and graphics card not to play C&C Red Alert 2 or StarCraft; I'm buying it for BF4, Watch Dogs, Tomb Raider, and who knows what else games. At Ultra/highest possible to play at 45+-ish FPS.

Why this motherboard? I'm not going to CF it (even though the name says SLI, lol) at least not now. I chose this motherboard because it's pretty cheap and it requires 8-pin ATX, which says to me, I can OC my CPU. Once again, I'm not going to OC right now, but maybe later.

 

[potroasted1]

It's a fine build. You don't mention video editing, so you won't benefit much from an i7. You could save around $90 by getting an i5 instead. 650W should be enough, especially since it's platinum.

 

[MT6Anime]

Here you go though this build does not include peripherals you add them in http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VvYVbv

 

[miha2]

potroasted1, I will do a little of video editing, a little of 3d modeling, a lot of gaming. Also, 650W or 550W? If 650W, it'll be a little more expensive...

MT6Anime, with peripherals removed, I have about $1098 build...

Update:

Case: Thermaltake Chaser A21, Keyboard: Gigabyte K7. Total now: $1261.90

Would be amazing to save about $40-60 more. However, if can't - that's pretty much OK. Thanks anyway who responded, and don't forget - you still have a few days before Thu 4PM to comment...

 

[synphul]

Looks like a good build to me. Ditto on the i5 unless you're doing video editing or heavy rendering type stuff. I would lean toward a 650w as well over a 550. Other than about the only thing I might consider is 2x8gb ram but it's not necessary.

Normally I'm not a fan of antec psu's, maybe they've improved over the years. I noticed the platinum's are made by fsp though and they're usually a good brand.

 

[MT6Anime]

potroasted1, I will do a little of video editing, a little of 3d modeling, a lot of gaming. Also, 650W or 550W? If 650W, it'll be a little more expensive...

MT6Anime, with peripherals removed, I have about $1098 build...

Update:

Case: Thermaltake Chaser A21, Keyboard: Gigabyte K7. Total now: $1261.90

Would be amazing to save about $40-60 more. However, if can't - that's pretty much OK. Thanks anyway who responded, and don't forget - you still have a few days before Thu 4PM to comment...

You'll most likely save those $60 through the black friday and cyber monday sales. I honestly wouldn't down grade anything because this build is at the perfect sweet spot for power/price ratio. Just remember to shop smart. Parts are interchangeable for example if you find 8 GB of RAM cheaper from corsair than get it from them.

 

[miha2]

synphul, I still prefer to use i7, for several reasons:

1. Right now I have 1-core 1-thread AMD 2.4 GHz CPU for laptop, underclocked manually through Control Panel's Power option to 1.8 GHz. If I raise it, all it does is more noise, no use of having it raised.
2. Having said that, sometimes I love to open several tabs at once, and that slows my current CPU to no response for about 2-3 minutes. I just can't wait for one tab to open to open another, because it might take about 30 seconds to load one tab...
3. So I need really, like, really powerful CPU. Why? Really, does 4790K benefit in games? Video editing? Rarely, but will do, will definitely do. 3d modeling? I always wanted to, but once again, my half-dead laptop can't handle much. Games? Well, still, a lot of work to do.

If you still believe I should get i5 instead, I'd like to know more about it: why you recommend it to me, its performance... 4 threads is good, but 8 threads is... better?

Yeah, I'm going to Fry's on the Black Friday, to see where I can save there... Hope to save a lot.

Also, do you guys know which parts are cheaper/on which parts I can save on Black Friday, on which - on Cyber Monday?

Thanks a lot.

 

[MT6Anime]

If having tabs open and keeping the speed up is your concern an i5 will be more than enough. Honestly the thing you would want more of is RAM. I have 16GB and I've only ever seen it go up to 7GB use when I had about 30 tabs open. And 3D modeling will still work the only reason you would need an i7 is if you do that for a living. Most games right now also only support single threaded gaming although we are slowly moving towards multi-thread. As far as Video Editing goes the i5 will have no problem again you'll see your RAM being used more than the CPU. And the sales should be roughly the same.

 

[miha2]

If having tabs open and keeping the speed up is your concern an i5 will be more than enough. Honestly the thing you would want more of is RAM. I have 16GB and I've only ever seen it go up to 7GB use when I had about 30 tabs open. And 3D modeling will still work the only reason you would need an i7 is if you do that for a living. Most games right now also only support single threaded gaming although we are slowly moving towards multi-thread. As far as Video Editing goes the i5 will have no problem again you'll see your RAM being used more than the CPU. And the sales should be roughly the same.

Thanks. So, I guess if you say I'll do good enough with i5, I'll get that. But... final question.
Some games' system requiements state they need i7 CPU. Will I be able to run those games at max settings? If so, you saved my year, lol! I will not upgrade for about 5 years or so, so I need best parts to play games on this config for 5 or more years.

Forgot to add: I'll be using Virtual Machines. So I guess I'll get 16gb of memory if I get a chance instead.

 

[MT6Anime]

I know this is gonna sound weird but for some reason these companies don't know what their saying when they list the requirements. For example the Evil Within and Wolfenstein the Last Order both say they require an i7 but they really don't. Also the new game AC:Unity says it requires a GTX 680 minimum which is also not the case. That build I made will be able to handle any game you throw at it also the CPU on it is overclockable so if you ever feel like you need a faster CPU just over clock it.

 

[miha2]

This might be the case: they don't mean Haswell, they mean Sandy Bridge?

Visited Anandtech, I trust that website, compared 4690k and 4770k, both 3.5ghz, no enormous difference programs-wise and game-wise. Some games even win from 4670k. So... if the 4790k/470k will be expensive, I'll buy the 4690k. Thanks a lot.

 

[MT6Anime]

This might be the case: they don't mean Haswell, they mean Sandy Bridge?

Visited Anandtech, I trust that website, compared 4690k and 4770k, both 3.5ghz, no enormous difference programs-wise and game-wise. Some games even win from 4670k. So... if the 4790k/470k will be expensive, I'll buy the 4690k. Thanks a lot.

No problem glad to have had helped you Have fun with your new gaming PC