System Builder Marathon Q4 2014: $1600 Performance PC

[dyfrgi]

I'm not sure I'd call 42dBA under load, or even 33dBA, "acoustic excellence". Look at SPCR's recent 980-based build for something that's really quiet: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1420-page8.html

They've got a slightly slower CPU in there, though the TDP is only 4W lower at 84W. Otherwise the components are very similar. They don't seem to have put much effort into economizing either. Take off $70 to go to the storage setup you're on, $24 for RAM, $85 on the motherboard, and hitting your target price seems within reach, even spending another $110 on the CPU.

 

[Crashman]

Same price, but far more high-end with a pair of 970s in SLI:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nmTRMp

A single 980 for $1600 is excessive. For the same price you can get a pair of 970s that average ~50% better performance across the board.

Great, pick that from Newegg. Wait, don't bother, it's already $1628 without a case, and I hate to see what would happen if you went with a single vender.

There's actually $1800 available, but only $1500 can be spent on "test platform" components. I believe the best way to tap into the remaining $300 is to remove the $1500 limit.

 

[Ben Archer]

I really enjoyed the changed format of this article compared to the other SMB. Hope to see it more going forward.

 

[Onus]

...
Great, pick that from Newegg. Wait, don't bother, it's already $1628 without a case, and I hate to see what would happen if you went with a single vender...

Your reply remains, to show it broke the SBM rules, which is why I deleted it.

I am a fan of tight budgets, and sticking to them. That said, inflation is an unfortunate reality. I could see adding as much as 10% to the budgets year over year, but no more please. Then, as they begin to climb, perhaps it would be appropriate to drop the top-dollar system and add one at a rock-bottom price point, before climbing again.

 

[alidan]

...
Great, pick that from Newegg. Wait, don't bother, it's already $1628 without a case, and I hate to see what would happen if you went with a single vender...

Your reply remains, to show it broke the SBM rules, which is why I deleted it.

I am a fan of tight budgets, and sticking to them. That said, inflation is an unfortunate reality. I could see adding as much as 10% to the budgets year over year, but no more please. Then, as they begin to climb, perhaps it would be appropriate to drop the top-dollar system and add one at a rock-bottom price point, before climbing again.

i wouldn't so much call it inflation, as far as im aware and i have been watching pc parts for for the better part of a decade now, the price of everything is down... and when you get competition, you get stupidly high preformance things like the 290X at 300~$ and a 295X watercooled at 740$

the only things i see go up in price are fluctuations on things due to supply and demand, or ram where its to the point its sold so cheap there is next to no profit and 1 small thing can send the price up or down... but as for a constant rise in the price... not really

though if you had to make a concession to something... separate category for reusing the case or re installing a windows version you have would be a nice one, effectively taking the cost of those two things out of the equation.

 

[f-14]

in the post with IDunno442 the 650w would have been ideal with plenty of headroom, but the price was over the price of this 750w gem providing 62amps of sheer electrical toque to force any overclock these parts could handle and mmmOOOAARRR!
homework is well done there crashman. ::at on the back:::

this build was alright, i would have stuck with an msi board just to go with the blue case (sad for being fashionable and color coordinated i know haha but the msi board would have clocked well also.) would have saved $30 there with just a single pcie slot for such a monster card that the resale price of that card 3 years from now would only be 1/2 the price of the new king of the hill and another $200 which would be less than SLI of two nvidia_70/amd _870 would be all it took to buy it.

i would have liked to seen the cooler master seidon 120 that's been sitting at $50 since spring used instead of that monstrosity cooler which would rip the board wires apart if overclocked for a month in the summer as the board melted with 4.8ghz
(would like to see what the new corsaid h90 or the coolermaster nepton 140xl or nzxt kraken X4 next time or some other never before reviewed air cooler 2 reviews of the same cooler is enough.)
for the money and the features the case is a good choice (240mm overhead radiator with exterior options [which was a shame to see wasted for that ugly heavy monstrosity phanteks] as well as two usb 3.0 front panel connector), anybody who has a problem with it can go to the store and pick up 2 cans of spray paint for $10 and make it what ever color they wish (i'm itching to try out the hammered bronze if some one else wins i'll paint it free for them, but i'd keep that blue and go blue with the whole build.)
knowing the math on the 80% for that cpu and gpu i'd like to see future builds keep it closer to their respective necessary wattage with out major headroom left over tom was right to look for 650w so his guesstimate was pretty good considering he only needed 600w to achieve 80%

over all tom good build, it's pretty much what i look for in the $1200-1600 price range when i'm building stuff.

 

[CRITICALThinker]

For the user that commented about SLI 970s I priced up this build around the same budget. the only part that I cannot say is comparable is the cpu cooler, and I do not know too much about coolers anyway to get a better one for the price.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hFvkRB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hFvkRB/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS10B ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1614.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-29 22:16 EST-0500

 

[Onus]

I still think an optical drive is needed, especially in an all-around PC. Afford it by cutting RAM back to 8GB, which is still sufficient. Otherwise, that looks nice.

 

[Crashman]

For the user that commented about SLI 970s I priced up this build around the same budget. the only part that I cannot say is comparable is the cpu cooler, and I do not know too much about coolers anyway to get a better one for the price.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hFvkRB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hFvkRB/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.98 @ Newegg)

I'd rock it, only you're having one of the same problems as me: The board isn't available. I can't even tell if that's a MIR or instant rebate because, now that the board is gone, Newegg doesn't say. MIR's don't apply, instant rebates do.

And the cooler...I doubt it can even hold this CPU at 4.40 GHz. The stock Intel cooler couldn't. Intel doesn't care because as long as it stays over 4.0 GHz, it meets their stated specs.

 

[g-unit1111]

I still think an optical drive is needed, especially in an all-around PC. Afford it by cutting RAM back to 8GB, which is still sufficient. Otherwise, that looks nice.

After using an NZXT H440 the last few months I can't see why optical drives are necessary anymore. Use an external drive or USB if you really need one.

 

[RazberyBandit]

Thomas: "For the extra $40, PNY reduces the warranty from three years to one year."

And since you're in the United States, you register it with PNY for a LIFETIME warranty!

Per PNY's website: "1-Year (will be extended for the lifetime of the original purchaser upon completion of a registration form on PNY's website)"

http://www.pny.com/GTX_980_4096MB_GDDR5_PCI-E_3_0?sku=VCGGTX9804XPB-CG

 

[Crashman]

Thomas: "For the extra $40, PNY reduces the warranty from three years to one year."

And since you're in the United States, you register it with PNY for a LIFETIME warranty!

Per PNY's website: "1-Year (will be extended for the lifetime of the original purchaser upon completion of a registration form on PNY's website)"

http://www.pny.com/GTX_980_4096MB_GDDR5_PCI-E_3_0?sku=VCGGTX9804XPB-CG

Can't believe I missed that

 

[RazberyBandit]

Nobody's perfect... Amend this article and the Value Compared article where you mention the shortened warranty and all will be forgiven.

 

[Crashman]

Nah, that's OK, I fixed it in the ten minutes it took you to respond.

 

[alidan]

I still think an optical drive is needed, especially in an all-around PC. Afford it by cutting RAM back to 8GB, which is still sufficient. Otherwise, that looks nice.

After using an NZXT H440 the last few months I can't see why optical drives are necessary anymore. Use an external drive or USB if you really need one.

pretty sure windows installs off a disc, not a thumb drive, and unless you have a computer already, you dont get to make that bootable windows thumbdrive.
physical movies don't come on thumb drives
thumbdrives also aren't great for archival storage, i have had more of these die than i had discs die due to age or use.
you want to burn off some files so they are off the computer but not get rid of them, a dvd is cheaper than a thumb drive, and a blu ray disc when you account for space is cheaper than dvds now too.
you dont have a great internet connection, or are heavily throttled, playing games requires discs or you go over a monthly limit.

i honestly cant see one reason not to have an optical disc even if its just a thing you may only use once

as for use an external one... those thing are unreliable crap at best. for a month this year when my internal drive was going bad i used a usb2 external, spinning a disc up was enough of a power draw the drive shut itself off, thankfully if the thing slowly spun up apposed to already having video loaded and resuming, the drive didn't just shut down.

 

[deadlockedworld]

This is stupid. Why would you put a budget case, a budget PSU, and a budget motherboard in a high end gaming build with a $600 GPU? Saving $10 on a case is completely trivial if you can afford to blow $600 on a GPU.

These should not always be about getting every ounce of performance for the dollar -- high end builders care about quality, reliability, ease of use, looks, etc.

 

[Crashman]

This is stupid. Why would you put a budget case, a budget PSU, and a budget motherboard in a high end gaming build with a $600 GPU? Saving $10 on a case is completely trivial if you can afford to blow $600 on a GPU.

These should not always be about getting every ounce of performance for the dollar -- high end builders care about quality, reliability, ease of use, looks, etc.

I would agree if not for the fact that you're completely wrong. It's a high-end power supply. It's a mid-grade case. It's a replacement for a $560 card. And anybody who would downgrade their graphics card to get a case in a different color is NOT a performance enthusiast.

 

[g-unit1111]

pretty sure windows installs off a disc, not a thumb drive, and unless you have a computer already, you dont get to make that bootable windows thumbdrive.
physical movies don't come on thumb drives

Nope, Microsoft actually has Windows .ISO files available for download off the official site and even includes instructions on how to install via USB. And I take it you've never used iTunes or Google Play to download movies?

thumbdrives also aren't great for archival storage, i have had more of these die than i had discs die due to age or use.
you want to burn off some files so they are off the computer but not get rid of them, a dvd is cheaper than a thumb drive, and a blu ray disc when you account for space is cheaper than dvds now too.

You don't use USB thumb drives for archival storage, you use them for temporary storage.

you dont have a great internet connection, or are heavily throttled, playing games requires discs or you go over a monthly limit.

I have 5MB/S cable internet from Time Warner, I really have only had problems with my router.

i honestly cant see one reason not to have an optical disc even if its just a thing you may only use once

Yeah that is one thing I will agree with - they're kind of going the way of the dodo, and I say this as someone who has a rather large media collection.

as for use an external one... those thing are unreliable crap at best. for a month this year when my internal drive was going bad i used a usb2 external, spinning a disc up was enough of a power draw the drive shut itself off, thankfully if the thing slowly spun up apposed to already having video loaded and resuming, the drive didn't just shut down.

Unreliable crap? Ha. Yeah there are some rather cheap drives out there but I use one from LG and one from Plextor and have never had a single problem with either of them. Plus Z97 and Z87 motherboards allow you to set your external burner as a primary boot device, so you can install the operating system from your external device.

 

[cmi86]

This is stupid. Why would you put a budget case, a budget PSU, and a budget motherboard in a high end gaming build with a $600 GPU? Saving $10 on a case is completely trivial if you can afford to blow $600 on a GPU.

These should not always be about getting every ounce of performance for the dollar -- high end builders care about quality, reliability, ease of use, looks, etc.

I would agree if not for the fact that you're completely wrong. It's a high-end power supply. It's a mid-grade case. It's a replacement for a $560 card. And anybody who would downgrade their graphics card to get a case in a different color is NOT a performance enthusiast.

So then what do you call someone who would sacrifice quality in every single aspect of their build simply to facilitate a GPU that is going to be overkill for 99.99% of gaming situations? I know you are going to snap back with some snide remark but the fact of the matter is this build at this price point needs to have a 970/290X and the differential invested into higher quality components. A Biostar motherboard in a $1,600 PC... Need I say more ?

 

[Crashman]

This is stupid. Why would you put a budget case, a budget PSU, and a budget motherboard in a high end gaming build with a $600 GPU? Saving $10 on a case is completely trivial if you can afford to blow $600 on a GPU.

These should not always be about getting every ounce of performance for the dollar -- high end builders care about quality, reliability, ease of use, looks, etc.

I would agree if not for the fact that you're completely wrong. It's a high-end power supply. It's a mid-grade case. It's a replacement for a $560 card. And anybody who would downgrade their graphics card to get a case in a different color is NOT a performance enthusiast.

So then what do you call someone who would sacrifice quality in every single aspect of their build simply to facilitate a GPU that is going to be overkill for 99.99% of gaming situations? I know you are going to snap back with some snide remark but the fact of the matter is this build at this price point needs to have a 970/290X and the differential invested into higher quality components. A Biostar motherboard in a $1,600 PC... Need I say more ?

Every top-budget PC for the past several cycles has had a target of 30FPS at 5760x1080 and ultra-quality details, a GTX 970 wouldn't have likely gotten there in at least one game.

I admit that I could have used a smaller power supply for the single card What's with the hate for Biostar?

 

[cmi86]

This is stupid. Why would you put a budget case, a budget PSU, and a budget motherboard in a high end gaming build with a $600 GPU? Saving $10 on a case is completely trivial if you can afford to blow $600 on a GPU.

These should not always be about getting every ounce of performance for the dollar -- high end builders care about quality, reliability, ease of use, looks, etc.

I would agree if not for the fact that you're completely wrong. It's a high-end power supply. It's a mid-grade case. It's a replacement for a $560 card. And anybody who would downgrade their graphics card to get a case in a different color is NOT a performance enthusiast.

So then what do you call someone who would sacrifice quality in every single aspect of their build simply to facilitate a GPU that is going to be overkill for 99.99% of gaming situations? I know you are going to snap back with some snide remark but the fact of the matter is this build at this price point needs to have a 970/290X and the differential invested into higher quality components. A Biostar motherboard in a $1,600 PC... Need I say more ?

Every top-budget PC for the past several cycles has had a target of 30FPS at 5760x1080 and ultra-quality details, a GTX 970 wouldn't have likely gotten there in at least one game.

I admit that I could have used a smaller power supply for the single card What's with the hate for Biostar?

Biostar is 2nd rate. Their products might not always be total junk but at the end of the day it is still a Biostar. It's like Kia, their cars aren't totally terrible anymore but it's still a kia and spending Range Rover money I certainly don't expect a kia to be sitting in my driveway when it's all said and done. The standards be them as they may are entirely unrealistic. No one minus the ULTRA minority games at 5760x1080 and no one I know considers 30 FPS acceptable, playable yes but acceptable no. I and most others rooted in practicality would much rather run a lower (still minority) res and hold 60 FPS. I know you are just working within budgets so maybe you are not the one to be upset with, I apologize for seeming rude. I am upset with the fact that every year the budget goes up and every year these systems are built to adhere to some COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC performance level while sacrificing quality at every turn simply to achieve these levels that the overwhelming majority of your readers can't even imagine to relate to.

 

[Crashman]

Biostar is 2nd rate. Their products might not always be total junk but at the end of the day it is still a Biostar...I am upset with the fact that every year the budget goes up and every year these systems are built to adhere to some COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC performance level while sacrificing quality at every turn simply to achieve these levels that the overwhelming majority of your readers can't even imagine to relate to.

Every year the budget goes up...since 2008 maybe?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/computer-price-performance,1956.html

Maybe we're just trying to stay on top of the performance curve with an ever-decreasing budget?

 

[Onus]

I haven't bought Biostar in a long time, and I submit it is because 2/3 cheap Biostar G41 boards I bought in the S775 days developed problems (the third was given away after an upgrade; I do not know its final fate). That's a tiny sample, and years old. Remember all the MSI capacitor problems? I think some concern is warranted, but maybe they've turned a corner?

 

[Onus]

pretty sure windows installs off a disc, not a thumb drive, and unless you have a computer already, you dont get to make that bootable windows thumbdrive.
physical movies don't come on thumb drives

Nope, Microsoft actually has Windows .ISO files available for download off the official site and even includes instructions on how to install via USB. And I take it you've never used iTunes or Google Play to download movies?
============
Very good point about the Windows ISOs. Not everyone cares to infect his system with iAnything though, and see below about throttling and/or data caps. Physically-purchased movies are simply not available on thumb drives (yet).
============

thumbdrives also aren't great for archival storage, i have had more of these die than i had discs die due to age or use.
you want to burn off some files so they are off the computer but not get rid of them, a dvd is cheaper than a thumb drive, and a blu ray disc when you account for space is cheaper than dvds now too.

You don't use USB thumb drives for archival storage, you use them for temporary storage.
============
Right, so as he says, you need the optical media for archival storage.
============

you dont have a great internet connection, or are heavily throttled, playing games requires discs or you go over a monthly limit.

I have 5MB/S cable internet from Time Warner, I really have only had problems with my router.
============
But perhaps he has this problem, or knows that others do. If I used Comcast, I'd have this problem also.
============

i honestly cant see one reason not to have an optical disc even if its just a thing you may only use once

Yeah that is one thing I will agree with - they're kind of going the way of the dodo, and I say this as someone who has a rather large media collection.
============
You're agreeing that having one can't be a bad idea, even if it's rarely used. Ok, I agree too. The SBM value calculations were amended not long ago to not penalize systems for including them.
============

as for use an external one... those thing are unreliable crap at best. for a month this year when my internal drive was going bad i used a usb2 external, spinning a disc up was enough of a power draw the drive shut itself off, thankfully if the thing slowly spun up apposed to already having video loaded and resuming, the drive didn't just shut down.

Unreliable crap? Ha. Yeah there are some rather cheap drives out there but I use one from LG and one from Plextor and have never had a single problem with either of them. Plus Z97 and Z87 motherboards allow you to set your external burner as a primary boot device, so you can install the operating system from your external device.

============
Personal anecdote? I have an external drive that has given me no grief, although I don't use it regularly (my little X140E laptop doesn't have an optical drive). YMMV on this one. I'm inclined to think that external drives ought to work, but remember too I'm the guy that thinks that ALL PSUs available for purchase should be good for 100% of their labeled wattage on an average day.

 

[deadlockedworld]

Maybe we're just trying to stay on top of the performance curve with an ever-decreasing budget?

Agreed. I think if you polled your readers you would find the top tier of PCs cost a lot more more than $1600. Perhaps the budget is too low.

Also challenging is that purchasing a whole system like this is rare -- in reality its piecemeal upgrades over the life of the machine. For example, I view the ~$250 spent on my Silverstone FT02 as a worthwhile investment -- because I work in the case regularly and will probably build the next PC in there too. (I also have visual constraints imposed by the wife that require me to purchase classy high-end aluminum cases rather than blue ones)

Happy new year.