Upgrading gaming PC

[maloviv]

I live in israel and in less than two weeks I'm going to the U.S.
I would like to upgrade my current PC and buy the small parts in the U.S because it's cheaper.
I use my PC for gaming, I'm not looking to run everything at best settings 60FPS but I wanna upgrade to run stuff at decent quality.
I use 2 1080P monitors and plan to get windows 10 when it's out if there are no problems.
I don't have a set budget but try to keep low.
big stuff like a case and motherboard give me a model and I'll buy it here.

I would like to get a new CPU, so a new motherboard.
I don't see a reason to get an I7 so I'll go with an I5 unless the difference is worth the price

I would like 16GB of RAM, I don't know what the standard speed but I'm sure it's more than my 1333HZ, so I don't really know where to aim with RAM.

I would like to get an 240GB or 256GB SSD.

I wan't case because my current one is very small, I don't the sizes exactly but I want at least a mid tower, to fit everything inside and not crumbed.

what I currently have and plan to use is an ENERMAX NAXN 600W PSU (if I need to get a stronger one do tell), a 1TB HDD, a GTX770, disk drive.

after reading through the thread I came up with this build, how is it? (if I get a GPU it's probably gonna be a 970)

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $638.95

 

[maloviv]

looks fine by me!

PSU?;3

I'd take an XFX/Seasonic psu at 650w which will allow for overclocking headroom.

I have an ENERMAX NAXN 600W PSU, and atheus said it should be fine

 

[-HH-]

If you plan on overclocking, when you grab a cooler I'd consider replacing it.

 

[atheus]

To clarify - while 600+ watts is far more than enough wattage for the system (by about double), high end overclocking goes much better when your PSU provides extremely stable and clean, precise power. If the power supply voltages are a bit too low, too high, or have too much ripple, you'll have a hard time getting every last hz out of your CPU. If all you're doing is a basic ~4.2 Ghz overclock, though, you're probably fine with the PSU you've got (just be a touch more generous with your vcore).

 

[maloviv]

If you plan on overclocking, when you grab a cooler I'd consider replacing it.

should I grab a cooler master hyper 212 evo too?
from what I read it's very good for the price.

 

[atheus]

If you plan on overclocking, when you grab a cooler I'd consider replacing it.

should I grab a cooler master hyper 212 evo too?
from what I read it's very good for the price.

For the price is the key. It's a solid performer, but it's not a crazy powerful air cooler like the Noctua NH-D15 or a massive closed loop radiator etc. You'll have no problem overclocking to 4.2 Ghz, maybe 4.4 is within reach if your room is nice and cool. You'll have to blow a lot more air through that relatively small cooler than you would with a larger one to get the same cooling. It's just a question of how much you want to overclock, and how quiet you want your system to be.

 

[-HH-]

The 212 is a good cooler and should be quite quiet with a bit of overclocking ability.

 

[maloviv]

what motherboard is better, ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 or MSI Z97 Gaming 5?

 

[-HH-]

I'd personally take the MSi

 

[maloviv]

how is this memory instead?
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/vengeance-pro-series-16gb-2-x-8gb-ddr3-dram-1866mhz-c9-memory-kit-cmy16gx3m2a1866c9

 

[-HH-]

That's great but I'd personally prefer G.Skill

 

[maloviv]

I had a bit change in plans and I can afford a solid cooler, this is what I'm going with now:

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $638.95

I'm thinking of buying the noctua NH-D15, will it fit in my and everything else?
and how much the weight of it affect the motherboard?
and how is it compared to h100i? in terns of performance and noise

 

[atheus]

The NH-D15 is basically the standard of comparison for most CPU cooler reviews, so just google h100i review and you'll find plenty of reviews comparing the power and noise of that against the NH-D15 directly.

Regarding the fit, I know the NH-D15 fits in the Define R4, so I'd be gobsmacked if it didn't fit in the R5. The thing to worry about with that cooler is how it fits with your RAM modules. It seems to be designed with the fins cut out to allow room for tall DIMMs on the exhaust side (which is not typically where people would want it). I guess you can mount it backwards and have both fans in a pull configuration, but that's a bit weird too. Take a look at http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-D15/5.html to see what I mean. With your tall Vengeance DIMMs you'd have to figure out what to do about fitting them next to/under the CPU cooler.

The weight of the NH-D15 is substantial, but it isn't a problem until you start moving your computer around. If you are shipping your computer, or putting it in your vehicle, you'll want to remove the NH-D15. When you're moving the computer around the house, you'll want to treat it very carefully.

All that said, though, for the Define R5 I'd be looking at the H110i GT rather than the H100i. 280mm radiator has 36% more area, and bigger fans which can do more work with less noise. Looks pretty badass too.

 

[maloviv]

The NH-D15 is basically the standard of comparison for most CPU cooler reviews, so just google h100i review and you'll find plenty of reviews comparing the power and noise of that against the NH-D15 directly.

Regarding the fit, I know the NH-D15 fits in the Define R4, so I'd be gobsmacked if it didn't fit in the R5. The thing to worry about with that cooler is how it fits with your RAM modules. It seems to be designed with the fins cut out to allow room for tall DIMMs on the exhaust side (which is not typically where people would want it). I guess you can mount it backwards and have both fans in a pull configuration, but that's a bit weird too. Take a look at http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-D15/5.html to see what I mean. With your tall Vengeance DIMMs you'd have to figure out what to do about fitting them next to/under the CPU cooler.

The weight of the NH-D15 is substantial, but it isn't a problem until you start moving your computer around. If you are shipping your computer, or putting it in your vehicle, you'll want to remove the NH-D15. When you're moving the computer around the house, you'll want to treat it very carefully.

All that said, though, for the Define R5 I'd be looking at the H110i GT rather than the H100i. 280mm radiator has 36% more area, and bigger fans which can do more work with less noise. Looks pretty badass too.

I watched a video about the NH-D15 and he said there is a 64mm gap between the heatsink and ram, I checked on corsair site and the ram is 52.2mm, so there shouldn't be a problem.

the H110i is 25$ more where I'm gonna buy it, worth it?

 

[atheus]

Sure, though in case you don't know there is no H110i. The H110 was updated just recently and is now called the H110i GT. The H110 is pretty close in performance under most circumstances, but the H110i GT is a bit better across the board. If it's not going to take food off your table then I'd say go for it, though. It would be a bit of a waste to go with a 240mm radiator when your case has room for a 280mm.

 

[-HH-]

The Kraken X61 is still the best AIO cooler out there but if you wanted something unusual to bring to the table then the SilverStoneTD02-E is a great cooler and works like a charm.