Seeking help on first time gaming build.

[tyranid44]

Current parts chosen on PC Part Picker
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/wTMPGX

Budget: £1100ish and growing.
PC will mostly be used for watching videos, using Skype, reading pdfs and playing games.

I'm looking to use a smaller case than my old one so I can get it on my desktop and I'm quite taken with the design of the Lian-Li V352. Dimensions of the space on desk I'm willing to fill is about 400mm (Width/Depth)X 350mm (W/D) X 350mm (Height) Max.

I believe I have a disk reader I can take from my old computer but the rest of the parts cannot.

Looking to be able to run modern games with ease whilst running Skype in the background. Highest graphics are preferable.

I have little to no understanding of clock speeds or overclocking and so I'm just looking for a build that works without that.
Also not too interested in upgrading and replacing parts over time. I want a build now that will last me a good while with modern games.

As this is the first build I've chosen out with little to no practical or theoretical knowledge, I would appreciate input on how well it should cool and if parts will actually fit or not.

 

[ulysses35]

A lot of people will tell you that you might be better off in and Intel i5 for performance and power - leaving aside you personal preferences for now.

That PSU is a good brand, but it doesn't really have enough power to run your PC - bear in mind the 430W is going to be under certain conditions, plus any fans that you install are going to draw power also. Why so many difference retailers ?

 

[Epsilon_0EVP]

The 8370 is a pretty high temperature CPU. I'm not sure it will play very nicely with that low profile cooler you chose. Furthermore, with that CPU and a GTX 980, you're hitting pretty close to the limits I'd be comfortable with on the PSU you chose, which is also not the best unit around.

Simply because we're looking for a compact machine with good thermals, it's probably a better idea to look at Intel's offerings for the CPU. If you wished to do that, the i5 4460 will probably be good enough. I'd go with an H97 motherboard in that case, just because it is a bit more modern, but you can save a bit by going H87 or H81.

Finally, is there any reason you need the separate sound card? I'd personally rely on the built-in sound solution, unless you use very specific sound hardware. It could save you a bit if you can forgo it.

I made some quick changes to give you a quick idea of what I was talking about. Feel free to add any more information so we can refine the selection.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/X3WMrH

 

[logainofhades]

AMD for a 1.1k rig? Not a great choice. No need for a sound card. Go with a board with good audio on board. CX series is not very good. Just go with 64 bit home premium. No point in ultimate. If gaming @ 1080p, just go with a GTX 970. A 980 only makes sense for 1440p or higher. This would be better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£181.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler (£46.19 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£107.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£52.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (£58.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£449.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Lian-Li PC-V352A MicroATX Desktop Case (£66.00 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£72.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£74.95 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1110.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 22:31 GMT+0000

 

[sora]

AMD for a 1.1k rig? Not a great choice. No need for a sound card. Go with a board with good audio on board. CX series is not very good. Just go with 64 bit home premium. No point in ultimate. If gaming @ 1080p, just go with a GTX 970. A 980 only makes sense for 1440p or higher. This would be better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£181.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler (£46.19 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£107.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£52.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (£58.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£449.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Lian-Li PC-V352A MicroATX Desktop Case (£66.00 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£72.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£74.95 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1110.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 22:31 GMT+0000

+1; If you are going to spend 1000+ quids on a build you might as well go Intel since AMD is usually used for budget builds unless that is your personal opinion tyranid44.

 

[tyranid44]

Why so many difference retailers ?

Cause it's the first time I've used that site. I just picked the parts and left it to default the shops.

Finally, is there any reason you need the separate sound card?

I just put one cause I couldn't find anything on the AMD's onboard soundcard. It was just in case. But if the onboard for a CPU will be good enough for videos and games then I'll drop it.

Just go with 64 bit home premium. No point in ultimate. If gaming @ 1080p, just go with a GTX 970.

What's the difference between Premium and Ultimate?
And what's the differences between that Noctua CPU cooler and the Scythe one? It looks to me that the Noctua is quieter but the Scythe has a higher range and ceiling on it's fan rpm which sounds like a good thing. Is the Noctua going to be cool enough? And it looks chunkier so will it fit? I can't see their sizes anywhere on their info on that site.



I've switched out a few few things on your suggestions. I've dropped the sound card, switched to that bigger power supply and the suggested memory and changed the CPU to Intel.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WCPbxr
A friend suggested I drop from the 980 to a 750 Ti cause of the heat. What kind of drop in graphic quality could I expect from that, would it still be enough for at least High settings (he was saying people were getting Assassin's Creed: Black Flag at 90fps on Ultra and Battlefield 4 at something like 74 fps on average, again at Ultra, but extra opinion is always good) and with the switch to Intel is it even necessary anymore?

Also would it be worth considering Intel i7 for its Hyper-threading feature?

 

[Epsilon_0EVP]

Why so many difference retailers ?

Cause it's the first time I've used that site. I just picked the parts and left it to default the shops.

Finally, is there any reason you need the separate sound card?

I just put one cause I couldn't find anything on the AMD's onboard soundcard. It was just in case. But if the onboard for a CPU will be good enough for videos and games then I'll drop it.

Just go with 64 bit home premium. No point in ultimate. If gaming @ 1080p, just go with a GTX 970.

What's the difference between Premium and Ultimate?
And what's the differences between that Noctua CPU cooler and the Scythe one? It looks to me that the Noctua is quieter but the Scythe has a higher range and ceiling on it's fan rpm which sounds like a good thing. Is the Noctua going to be cool enough? And it looks chunkier so will it fit? I can't see their sizes anywhere on their info on that site.



I've switched out a few few things on your suggestions. I've dropped the sound card, switched to that bigger power supply and the suggested memory and changed the CPU to Intel.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WCPbxr
A friend suggested I drop from the 980 to a 750 Ti cause of the heat. What kind of drop in graphic quality could I expect from that, would it still be enough for at least High settings (he was saying people were getting Assassin's Creed: Black Flag at 90fps on Ultra and Battlefield 4 at something like 74 fps on average, again at Ultra, but extra opinion is always good) and with the switch to Intel is it even necessary anymore?

Also would it be worth considering Intel i7 for its Hyper-threading feature?

Switching from a 980 to a 750 Ti because of heat is absolutely bonkers. Both cards are extremely efficient, and therefore cool, but the 750 Ti is much less powerful. If you are really concerned, maybe go down to a GTX 970, a GTX 960, or a R9 285 (although the AMD card does have a higher TDP, there's been no concern about its temps that I know of). It might be a good idea to go down to at least a 970, because as was pointed out you won't really see much of a benefit from the 980 over the 970, but you do save quite a bit.

If you did go for a 750 Ti, I would not expect anywhere near the results they quoted for you. The 750 Ti is a good card, but it is only meant for entry-level gaming. It would probably run all those games at only medium settings at 1080p, and even then maybe with some drops below 60fps. If you want to game at high or ultra settings, it's definitely not the card you should be looking at.

I wouldn't consider the i7 if you're only going to be gaming. Very few games make use of more than 4 cores or the extra amount of cache, and that is unlikely to change in the near future. In the end, it would just cost you more money for essentially no performance gain. If you are also going to render videos, edit photos, or other such tasks, then the i7 would be more interesting, but for only gaming there's little to no point to it.

As for the coolers, you just need to verify the heights by googling, According to Lian-Li's site, the case you chose is compatible with coolers up to 125mm tall. The Scythe is advertised to have a height of 40mm in the Kozuti website, while the Noctua has a height of 125mm according to their website. So the Noctua might be a tight fit, but there's a good chance it will fit. Personally, I do prefer a bit more clearance, though, so I might look for something a bit smaller. Do notice, however, that the Scythe cooler has a max TDP of 95W. Since your CPU has a TDP of 84W, the fans will spin up at full load, which means the 80mm fan on the Scythe will probably spin up pretty fast, and probably make a lot of noise.

 

[tyranid44]

Do notice, however, that the Scythe cooler has a max TDP of 95W. Since your CPU has a TDP of 84W, the fans will spin up at full load, which means the 80mm fan on the Scythe will probably spin up pretty fast, and probably make a lot of noise.

I'll need that explaining to me. I only vaguely know what TDP is a measure of and I can't see the max TDP for the coolers anywhere on partpicker or the manufacter site. And don't I want them to spin up at full load (is full load being when the computer is under stress like when gaming, or am I wrong?)?

 

[logainofhades]

Why so many difference retailers ?

Cause it's the first time I've used that site. I just picked the parts and left it to default the shops.

Finally, is there any reason you need the separate sound card?

I just put one cause I couldn't find anything on the AMD's onboard soundcard. It was just in case. But if the onboard for a CPU will be good enough for videos and games then I'll drop it.

Just go with 64 bit home premium. No point in ultimate. If gaming @ 1080p, just go with a GTX 970.

What's the difference between Premium and Ultimate?
And what's the differences between that Noctua CPU cooler and the Scythe one? It looks to me that the Noctua is quieter but the Scythe has a higher range and ceiling on it's fan rpm which sounds like a good thing. Is the Noctua going to be cool enough? And it looks chunkier so will it fit? I can't see their sizes anywhere on their info on that site.



I've switched out a few few things on your suggestions. I've dropped the sound card, switched to that bigger power supply and the suggested memory and changed the CPU to Intel.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WCPbxr
A friend suggested I drop from the 980 to a 750 Ti cause of the heat. What kind of drop in graphic quality could I expect from that, would it still be enough for at least High settings (he was saying people were getting Assassin's Creed: Black Flag at 90fps on Ultra and Battlefield 4 at something like 74 fps on average, again at Ultra, but extra opinion is always good) and with the switch to Intel is it even necessary anymore?

Also would it be worth considering Intel i7 for its Hyper-threading feature?

For a gaming rig, Home Premium is enough. Ultimate isn't necessary for most of the population. Even pro is used more than ultimate. Home Premium is limited to 16gb, for ram, but gaming rigs do not need more than that. Also, in the first year, Win 7 and Win 8 users are going to get Win 10, for free, anyway. The ram limitation was removed in Win 8, for 64 bit. 32 bit will always be limited to 4gb ram. Do not drop to the 750ti. It is vastly inferior. A GTX 970 is a good choice, to drop down to, if 1080p gaming. The Noctua is a far better cooler. It has more surface area, to dissipate heat. Fan speed isn't everything. For longevity's sake, as the future will be more multithreaded, the i7 4790k is an ok idea.

Since you do not want to overclock, you might want to consider A Xeon 1231v3. It is essentially an i7, without the integrated graphics. It will perform similar to that of an i7 4770. They also run cooler, since they lack IGP. Now that I really think about it, since you do not intend on overclocking, the stock Intel cooler is good enough. Do you intend to run dual graphics cards, at some point? If not, we can change the motherboard to an H97 one. Here is a non overclocking, single GPU, system, with i7's hyperthreading. I added an SSD, but kept the CPU cooler, in case you wanted better than stock cooling.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£206.69 @ CCL Computers)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler (£46.19 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£66.17 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£52.82 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£79.48 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (£58.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£279.98 @ Novatech)
Case: Lian-Li PC-V352A MicroATX Desktop Case (£66.00 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£61.62 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£74.95 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £992.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-24 15:32 GMT+0000

 

[Epsilon_0EVP]

Do notice, however, that the Scythe cooler has a max TDP of 95W. Since your CPU has a TDP of 84W, the fans will spin up at full load, which means the 80mm fan on the Scythe will probably spin up pretty fast, and probably make a lot of noise.

I'll need that explaining to me. I only vaguely know what TDP is a measure of and I can't see the max TDP for the coolers anywhere on partpicker or the manufacter site. And don't I want them to spin up at full load (is full load being when the computer is under stress like when gaming, or am I wrong?)?

TDP measures the maximum power an electrical component is designed to handle safely. It is not how much power it consumes, but it gives you a rough idea of what the most power the device can consume. Since more power generally means more output heat, it's also used to rate coolers and other cooling equipment.

The TDP is hard to find for a lot of coolers. The Scythe does have it listed in the product website in the description of the cooler. The Noctua does not have it listed as prominently, but since it is a larger cooler with more heatpipes and cooling area, it is sensible to assume it will have more capacity. You usually only find TPD ratings on low profile coolers, since those are the ones that are most often limited.

Full load is a bit of a relative term. I use "full load" to mean 100% CPU and GPU load. Most programs, even high end games or productivity software, will never achieve full load. It is usually measured by running a CPU and GPU torture test at the same time, like Prime95 with Kombustor. Even though it rarely happens, it is a good idea to consider full load as an upper bound for your cooling, since if your cooling can handle full load well it should handle day-to-day activities perfectly. So if we make sure that the cooler you pick is still relatively quiet at 100% CPU load and with ambient temperatures made higher by 100% GPU load, then the cooler should be pretty silent under normal operation.

 

[tyranid44]

Here is a non overclocking, single GPU, system, with i7's hyperthreading. I added an SSD, but kept the CPU cooler, in case you wanted better than stock cooling.

I don't plan on using two graphics cards no and I like all those changes. Doing those. I do still think getting a different cooler than the stock would be better just to make sure the cooling is right.

So if we make sure that the cooler you pick is still relatively quiet at 100% CPU load and with ambient temperatures made higher by 100% GPU load, then the cooler should be pretty silent under normal operation.

Well I don't mind a bit of noise. I usually have headphones on rather than using speakers so unless it's rather quite loud I probably won't notice.


Now I'm still not sure on the suggested Noctua's size. At 125mm that's hitting the max limit the case says I can have and I think I'd like to have some space if possible.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rrgmm416pkr2%2Cnoctua-cpu-cooler-nhl12%2Cnoctua-cpu-cooler-nhu9bse2%2Cscythe-cpu-cooler-scbsk2100/

Are any of those any good? I've put the Noctua in there for comparison. Reviews put the Scythe and the GeminII at being pretty good and they are much lower than the first Noctua. But I'd like to get your opinions on that. Do you think any of these would be good enough fans whilst giving me less height?

 

[Epsilon_0EVP]

Here is a non overclocking, single GPU, system, with i7's hyperthreading. I added an SSD, but kept the CPU cooler, in case you wanted better than stock cooling.

I don't plan on using two graphics cards no and I like all those changes. Doing those. I do still think getting a different cooler than the stock would be better just to make sure the cooling is right.

So if we make sure that the cooler you pick is still relatively quiet at 100% CPU load and with ambient temperatures made higher by 100% GPU load, then the cooler should be pretty silent under normal operation.

Well I don't mind a bit of noise. I usually have headphones on rather than using speakers so unless it's rather quite loud I probably won't notice.


Now I'm still not sure on the suggested Noctua's size. At 125mm that's hitting the max limit the case says I can have and I think I'd like to have some space if possible.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rrgmm416pkr2%2Cnoctua-cpu-cooler-nhl12%2Cnoctua-cpu-cooler-nhu9bse2%2Cscythe-cpu-cooler-scbsk2100/

Are any of those any good? I've put the Noctua in there for comparison. Reviews put the Scythe and the GeminII at being pretty good and they are much lower than the first Noctua. But I'd like to get your opinions on that. Do you think any of these would be good enough fans whilst giving me less height?

Those are all pretty good options, I think. The Big Shuriken looks interesting, because it is pretty low profile and it has a 120mm fan. Larger fans are usually quieter, and with a solid amount of heatpipes it looks like this cooler can handle your needs. The nicest part is that you can even add a better 120mm fan in the future to the same cooler, which can improve noise (and even performance, slightly).

The NH-L12 is also a good option, since it is also a 120mm cooler, but it has the extra 80mm for extra cooling. However, there are two slight issues: using only one fan gives us the same 95W TDP, so we probably want to use two (which is not a huge issue), and it's almost twice as expensive (more of an issue 😛). Noctua has an excellent reuptation, though, so if you're unsure and you don't mind the extra cost, I doubt this cooler will disappoint you.

The GeminII looks to be very similar to the Shuriken, but I have not heard about it as much before. It's still a viable option, but I just have not seen it around a lot.

In the end, though, all three of those will probably be good for you, specially since you don't mind some noise. They are all from reputable, known brands, and the specs say they should handle your requirements well. And in the end, you could always spend a tad more in the future to upgrade the fans on the Scythe or the Cooler Master coolers and still spend less than the Noctua, so the fan quality compared to Noctua isn't an issue.

 

[tyranid44]

In the end, though, all three of those will probably be good for you, specially since you don't mind some noise. They are all from reputable, known brands, and the specs say they should handle your requirements well. And in the end, you could always spend a tad more in the future to upgrade the fans on the Scythe or the Cooler Master coolers and still spend less than the Noctua, so the fan quality compared to Noctua isn't an issue.

I think in that case I'll go for the Shuriken.Which I believe is the last part I needed.

So it looks like I'm done! Thank you both for your help, I very much appreciate you taking the time to not only offer part ideas but run me through with explanations too.
I'm going to get to ordering these parts in.