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[cdyhybrid]

Motherboard and CPU cooler are here, waiting for my CPU/GPU/PSU still

Newegg ships so much faster than Amazon.

 

[HoosTrax]

That's a hell of a good price!

Now, that packaging, goddamn!

ikr? Someone needs to tell Amazon that taco spice is not a padding material.

 

[Nicktals]

So here's my list, still hoping to somehow trim 200-300...Is there a cheaper motherboard that would work, or a graphics card that might be similar, but cheaper??

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.55 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($192.55 @ Newegg)
Wired Network Adapter: Intel EXPI9301CTBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x1 Network Adapter ($27.70 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1001.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 15:58 EST-0500)

Thanks for ANY input! I'm hoping to get this set and ordered in the next day or so!

 

[Anton668]

EDIT: Is there no reason for a wired adapter? Isn't that an ethernet port? Might it be worth it if my desk is right next to the router? Is it easy to add one later? Or is it not necessary/completely redundant?

already built into the motherboard
some even have wifi built in

 

[Nicktals]

already built into the motherboard
some even have wifi built in

Ohhhh, thanks...removed it!

Down below 1k! only 200 or so to go!

 

[Azulsky]

Whats the cheapest/lowest wattage computer I can run a Vent or Teamspeak server on?

For Ventrilo I see they have vent binaries for i386 but not ARM

For Teamspeak I am seeing x86/amd64 only

Currently running a Mumble server on a Rpi but Mumble seems to do things like reset attentuation and echo cancellation randomly for all users.

Want low power so i can run it 24/7. Hoping for some ultra low power Atom solution.

 

[NoRéN]

So here's my list, still hoping to somehow trim 200-300...Is there a cheaper motherboard that would work, or a graphics card that might be similar, but cheaper??

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.55 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($192.55 @ Newegg)
Wired Network Adapter: Intel EXPI9301CTBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x1 Network Adapter ($27.70 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1001.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 15:58 EST-0500)

Thanks for ANY input! I'm hoping to get this set and ordered in the next day or so!

remove the wired network adapter. Go with one of the motherboards listed in the OP.

 

[Nicktals]

remove the wired network adapter. Go with one of the motherboards listed in the OP.

Which motherboard(s) in particular? The ones in the spreadsheets? Also, does onboard USB 3.0 header(s) matter much??

 

[nicjac]

Hey guys,

been looking to order a pre-built PC as I do not have the time or will to go through the stress of building it myself. After looking around for quite a long time, it appears that Scan has a pretty good reputation here in the UK.

Here are my requirements:
- First and foremost a gaming PC
- Needs to be used for heavy scientific computations (image processing, machine learning)
- Run on a NVIDIA GPU (part of my work requires MATLAB GPU computations, which is only compatible with CUDA devices for now).
- Be relatively affordable

Here is my Scan build (more details here: http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/ddf0c28c-640b-4b5f-ba4b-37818c5dc625).

£78.48
Fractal Design Define R4 [R4 in Black Pearl]
£157.04
Asus Z87 Motherboards [Asus ROG Maximus VI Hero - SLI & Crossfire Support]
£230.60
Intel Core i7 4770, 3.4GHz Quad Core with HT, 8MB Cache
£59.40
Corsair H80 Hydro - High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
£133.92
16GB Corsair Vengeance LP - 1600MHz, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
£389.74
3GB EVGA GTX 780 SC ACX, 967MHz GPU, 2304 Cores, 6008MHz GDDR5
£94.50
750W Corsair RM, Modular, Silent, 80PLUS Gold - Any Dual Graphics Cards
£153.89
240GB Solid State Drives [240GB Corsair Force LS - 560MB/s Read, 535MB/s Write]
£62.15
1TB+ System Hard Drives [2TB Seagate Barracuda, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache]
£13.18
Samsung SH-224DB - 24x DVD Reader & Writer
£70.57
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit

Total: ~£1552 (including delivery and 3-year warranty)

I did a quick comparison with the best prices on pcpartpicker and there's a difference about £100, which I am more than fine with.

What do you guys think? Any obvious flaw with that build? I am willing to change anything really. I have no idea if the case, RAM or CPU cooling solution I have chosen make sense or not.

Thanks!

 

[RkOwnage]

I have a monitor with 2 ports but no built in speakers, and I'm trying to hook my PS3 up through the monitor with my PC.

I have this mobo: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us...op-motherboards/desktop-board-dz77bh-55k.html

Is it possible to hook my PS3 through optical into the mobo of my PC and somehow configure sound to come through the speakers? I don't want to buy a monitor with speakers, and I want my PS3 in the game room, but want to be able to game while watching TV or what not.

I'm not very smart about this stuff, what are my options gaf?

 

[kharma45]

So here's my list, still hoping to somehow trim 200-300...Is there a cheaper motherboard that would work, or a graphics card that might be similar, but cheaper??

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.55 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($192.55 @ Newegg)
Wired Network Adapter: Intel EXPI9301CTBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x1 Network Adapter ($27.70 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1001.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 15:58 EST-0500)

Thanks for ANY input! I'm hoping to get this set and ordered in the next day or so!

This doesn't make it cheaper but value for money wise you're much, much better off with a 3570K

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.55 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($175.66 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $935.11
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 18:29 EST-0500)

Saves you a bit of cash.

Hey guys,

been looking to order a pre-built PC as I do not have the time or will to go through the stress of building it myself. After looking around for quite a long time, it appears that Scan has a pretty good reputation here in the UK.

Here are my requirements:
- First and foremost a gaming PC
- Needs to be used for heavy scientific computations (image processing, machine learning)
- Run on a NVIDIA GPU (part of my work requires MATLAB GPU computations, which is only compatible with CUDA devices for now).
- Be relatively affordable

Here is my Scan build (more details here: http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/ddf0c28c-640b-4b5f-ba4b-37818c5dc625).

£78.48
Fractal Design Define R4 [R4 in Black Pearl]
£157.04
Asus Z87 Motherboards [Asus ROG Maximus VI Hero - SLI & Crossfire Support]
£230.60
Intel Core i7 4770, 3.4GHz Quad Core with HT, 8MB Cache
£59.40
Corsair H80 Hydro - High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
£133.92
16GB Corsair Vengeance LP - 1600MHz, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
£389.74
3GB EVGA GTX 780 SC ACX, 967MHz GPU, 2304 Cores, 6008MHz GDDR5
£94.50
750W Corsair RM, Modular, Silent, 80PLUS Gold - Any Dual Graphics Cards
£153.89
240GB Solid State Drives [240GB Corsair Force LS - 560MB/s Read, 535MB/s Write]
£62.15
1TB+ System Hard Drives [2TB Seagate Barracuda, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache]
£13.18
Samsung SH-224DB - 24x DVD Reader & Writer
£70.57
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit

Total: ~£1552 (including delivery and 3-year warranty)

I did a quick comparison with the best prices on pcpartpicker and there's a difference about £100, which I am more than fine with.

What do you guys think? Any obvious flaw with that build? I am willing to change anything really. I have no idea if the case, RAM or CPU cooling solution I have chosen make sense or not.

Thanks!

Overkill motherboard, drop to the Gigabyte UD3H. Get a 4770K. Swap SSD to the 840 Evo or Kingston HyperX 3K

 

[mkenyon]

I don't understand...
...but I'm going to assume they were trying to find any flimsy excuse not to ship by air.

Or maybe it's special magnetized taco spice mix?!

HoosTrax.... cmon now.

Upgrade that seasoning.

 

[CRS]

Not a big fan of pre-made seasonings but this is the best.

 

[Nicktals]

This doesn't make it cheaper but value for money wise you're much, much better off with a 3570K

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.55 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($175.66 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $935.11
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 18:29 EST-0500)

Saves you a bit of cash.



Overkill motherboard, drop to the Gigabyte UD3H. Get a 4770K. Swap SSD to the 840 Evo or Kingston HyperX 3K

Thanks! How does the GTX 660 compare to the Radeon HD 7850? Sorry for all the questions, this is kind of intimidating if you aren't super familiar!

EDIT: So here's what I have now. I downgraded my SSD to 120, figuring I can use an external for documents. Is this a decent line of thought? What should be put on the SSD, in terms of priority? Anyways, here's the new list. Thanks so much for the help so far!

[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sWN0]PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($82.02 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $845.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 18:59 EST-0500)[/URL]

EDIT: Only 50 to go until I feel comfortable bringing this set to the wife! What sort of performance can I expect on graphically impressive (new retail) games with this set-up?

 

[kharma45]

Thanks! How does the GTX 660 compare to the Radeon HD 7850? Sorry for all the questions, this is kind of intimidating if you aren't super familiar!

EDIT: So here's what I have now. I downgraded my SSD to 120, figuring I can use an external for documents. Is this a decent line of thought? What should be put on the SSD, in terms of priority? Anyways, here's the new list. Thanks so much for the help so far!

[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sWN0]PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($82.02 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $845.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 18:59 EST-0500)[/URL]

EDIT: Only 50 to go until I feel comfortable bringing this set to the wife! What sort of performance can I expect on graphically impressive (new retail) games with this set-up?

660 is roughly on par with a 7870. If you can find a good 7850 at reasonable money go for it but I was unable to. If you are beside a router and can use ethernet drop the wifi card.

Dropping the SSD down would be a decent move to cut costs. The 120GB version of that one you're looking at is ~$70 iirc.

 

[Nicktals]

660 is roughly on par with a 7870. If you can find a good 7850 at reasonable money go for it but I was unable to. If you are beside a router and can use ethernet drop the wifi card.

Dropping the SSD down would be a decent move to cut costs. The 120GB version of that one you're looking at is ~$70 iirc.

Thanks. The set you quoted has the 120 at $82. For 15 more I might go with the 660 compared to a 7850...it's sooo hard to keep yourself from getting carried away building your own, because every step up is just a few extra dollars...

 

[kennah]

Thanks. The set you quoted has the 120 at $82. For 15 more I might go with the 660 compared to a 7850...it's sooo hard to keep yourself from getting carried away building your own, because every step up is just a few extra dollars...

Those few extra dollars now will add a year to your rig.

 

[Nicktals]

Those few extra dollars now will add a year to your rig.

I know, and that's what so tough! Any advice of where I could cut something that won't affect the lifespan? Or, something that will get me decent performance now and can be added to/upgraded in a year or so?

I guess my biggest question is, what kind of performance can I expect right now? Can it run AAA games?

EDIT: I should have prefaced all this by saying that I've never been a PC gamer...Aside from FTL, Binding of Isaac, and Risk of Rain (which crawled at about 2 FPS towards the end-game), I've never played a game on PC in the last 10 years. Which is why I need, and appreciate, all the help!

 

[badblue]

I've been getting more and more into PC gaming as of late, and my Asus G74sx isn't cutting it. So 2014 will be the year I build a desktop gaming PC.
This is what I'm thinking...


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($348.25 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition EATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($515.31 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($155.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($156.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($479.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $1736.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 19:33 EST-0500)

 

[kennah]

I know, and that's what so tough! Any advice of where I could cut something that won't affect the lifespan? Or, something that will get me decent performance now and can be added to/upgraded in a year or so?

I guess my biggest question is, what kind of performance can I expect right now? Can it run AAA games?

EDIT: I should have prefaced all this by saying that I've never been a PC gamer...Aside from FTL, Binding of Isaac, and Risk of Rain (which crawled at about 2 FPS towards the end-game), I've never played a game on PC in the last 10 years. Which is why I need, and appreciate, all the help!

What Kharma recommended is the 'sweet spot'. The best price to performance ratio. If you go down you will dramatically reduce the effective life of the computer. You could potentially go down to a Haswell i3 to cut $100. Or you could wait a month and risk on the new AMD APUs being worthwhile. Or you could keep your eye on the buy sell trade thread for a good used computer. Nothing wrong with used. I personally use more used parts than new.

 

[Nicktals]

What Kharma recommended is the 'sweet spot'. The best price to performance ratio. If you go down you will dramatically reduce the effective life of the computer. You could potentially go down to a Haswell i3 to cut $100. Or you could wait a month and risk on the new AMD APUs being worthwhile. Or you could keep your eye on the buy sell trade thread for a good used computer. Nothing wrong with used. I personally use more used parts than new.

Thanks so much man. So anything on this list jump out at you as "NOOOO" worthy? Otherwise I'm just going to offer to sell some games to make up the price difference.

Does Crossfire support matter?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($82.02 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($175.66 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $861.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 20:11 EST-0500)

 

[Moral Panic]

I've been getting more and more into PC gaming as of late, and my Asus G74sx isn't cutting it. So 2014 will be the year I build a desktop gaming PC.
This is what I'm thinking...


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($348.25 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition EATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($515.31 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($155.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($156.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($479.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $1736.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 19:33 EST-0500)

MOBO too big (EATX wow) and expensive. GPU too weak.

 

[AJLma]

I've been getting more and more into PC gaming as of late, and my Asus G74sx isn't cutting it. So 2014 will be the year I build a desktop gaming PC.
This is what I'm thinking...


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($348.25 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition EATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($515.31 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($155.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($156.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($479.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $1736.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 19:33 EST-0500)

I'm no expert but I think that you could save $200 or so on that motherboard, seems a bit overkill. The PSU, too. All you probably need is a 650 Watt for that setup. Pocket or reinvest that cash into a GTX 780.

 

[IllumiNate]

Hey guys,

been looking to order a pre-built PC as I do not have the time or will to go through the stress of building it myself. After looking around for quite a long time, it appears that Scan has a pretty good reputation here in the UK.

Here are my requirements:
- First and foremost a gaming PC
- Needs to be used for heavy scientific computations (image processing, machine learning)
- Run on a NVIDIA GPU (part of my work requires MATLAB GPU computations, which is only compatible with CUDA devices for now).
- Be relatively affordable

Here is my Scan build (more details here: http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/ddf0c28c-640b-4b5f-ba4b-37818c5dc625).

£78.48
Fractal Design Define R4 [R4 in Black Pearl]
£157.04
Asus Z87 Motherboards [Asus ROG Maximus VI Hero - SLI & Crossfire Support]
£230.60
Intel Core i7 4770, 3.4GHz Quad Core with HT, 8MB Cache
£59.40
Corsair H80 Hydro - High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
£133.92
16GB Corsair Vengeance LP - 1600MHz, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
£389.74
3GB EVGA GTX 780 SC ACX, 967MHz GPU, 2304 Cores, 6008MHz GDDR5
£94.50
750W Corsair RM, Modular, Silent, 80PLUS Gold - Any Dual Graphics Cards
£153.89
240GB Solid State Drives [240GB Corsair Force LS - 560MB/s Read, 535MB/s Write]
£62.15
1TB+ System Hard Drives [2TB Seagate Barracuda, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache]
£13.18
Samsung SH-224DB - 24x DVD Reader & Writer
£70.57
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit

Total: ~£1552 (including delivery and 3-year warranty)

I did a quick comparison with the best prices on pcpartpicker and there's a difference about £100, which I am more than fine with.

What do you guys think? Any obvious flaw with that build? I am willing to change anything really. I have no idea if the case, RAM or CPU cooling solution I have chosen make sense or not.

Thanks!

Very nice rig, but if you scroll up to my previous post you'll see the PC I just ordered that's slightly better and for cheaper then the one you have built.
Most online PC part shops have an option to build your parts for you for like $50 extra. Better then purchasing a pre built.
Just do some research on compatibility between parts.

 

[DrBaalzamon]

Can anyone recommend a small external drive in the 50-100$ range? I only need 1-2TB max. Its just to offload files. Would it be just fine to buy a bare drive/case? Thank you in advanced!

 

[kharma45]

I've been getting more and more into PC gaming as of late, and my Asus G74sx isn't cutting it. So 2014 will be the year I build a desktop gaming PC.
This is what I'm thinking...


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($348.25 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition EATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($515.31 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($155.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($156.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($479.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $1736.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 19:33 EST-0500)

Needs to be quad channel RAM for Socket 2011, not dual channel. So you'd need 4x4GB.

If you're just gaming I'd go with Haswell over IB-E. 4770K and the UD3H is a top combo.

 

[HoosTrax]

I've been getting more and more into PC gaming as of late, and my Asus G74sx isn't cutting it. So 2014 will be the year I build a desktop gaming PC.
This is what I'm thinking...


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($348.25 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition EATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($515.31 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($155.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($156.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($479.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $1736.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 19:33 EST-0500)

No SSD, and overkill on the motherboard.

 

[Lkr]

i'm trying to use the steam tools in the OP with no luck. i have existing libraries at D:\steam and F:\steam but they won't work with existing libraries. I just want to move games around with my new SSD. is there a better tool to use?

 

[Erebus]

Under normal usage, is there any significant difference between the durability of the 840 Pro and the 840 EVO SSDs?

 

[Tommy DJ]

No, not really assuming you're not writing a crapload of stuff to the SSD day in and day out.

 

[kharma45]

Under normal usage, is there any significant difference between the durability of the 840 Pro and the 840 EVO SSDs?

No.

http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/417...-with-final-conclusion-final-update-20-6-2013

http://techreport.com/review/25681/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-testing-data-retention-at-300tb

 

[Fallout-with-swords]

I'm thinking of building my first PC, just want to get a general critique of what I have here: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/2t0CK.

I'm hoping this will be pretty good but also not super expensive gaming pc that can hopefully play games like Titanfall, Skyrim, Civ V, and stuff like Tomb Raider or AC4 on high settings in 1080p.

If anyone can let me know if this could meet those expectations that would be great!

 

[NoRéN]

I'm thinking of building my first PC, just want to get a general critique of what I have here: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/2t0CK.

I'm hoping this will be pretty good but also not super expensive gaming pc that can hopefully play games like Titanfall, Skyrim, Civ V, and stuff like Tomb Raider or AC4 on high settings in 1080p.

If anyone can let me know if this could meet those expectations that would be great!

overkill on the PSU. get the bp550 from the op. I'm pretty sure that I've seen 2 sticks of ram recommended over 1.

 

[badblue]

No SSD, and overkill on the motherboard.

I have an SSD already.

MOBO too big (EATX wow) and expensive. GPU too weak.

I'm no expert but I think that you could save $200 or so on that motherboard, seems a bit overkill. The PSU, too. All you probably need is a 650 Watt for that setup. Pocket or reinvest that cash into a GTX 780.

the 850 PSU is a little bit of future proofing. Maybe I want to dual or triple SLI in a year or two.

Needs to be quad channel RAM for Socket 2011, not dual channel. So you'd need 4x4GB.

If you're just gaming I'd go with Haswell over IB-E. 4770K and the UD3H is a top combo.

That was supposed to be 32gb of ram (4x8gb)

Yeah, the videocard is a little on the "ehh" side, I may end up with a 780

I'm still in the reasearch stage, and the build won't take place for another 4 months. So there will be changes. Maybe.
The mobo is overkill. I want overkill. But if there is a better option cost/performance wise, I'm willing to consider it.

Hell, I would have put a titan in there for the video card, but I feel thats a little too much. I have no problem dropping $500 each on the CPU, MOBO, and video card. but $1000+ on just the video card.... that's too much.

 

[Fallout-with-swords]

overkill on the PSU. get the bp550 from the op. I'm pretty sure that I've seen 2 sticks of ram recommended over 1.

Thank you, will do!

What about an optical drive, I can't see any reason I'll need it other than to install the OS. Is there a way to purchase windows 8.1 and install it on a USB stick?

 

[kennah]

Literally anything is a better cost to performance ratio than that motherboard.

Literally.

Anything.

 

[NoRéN]

Thank you, will do!

What about an optical drive, I can't see any reason I'll need it other than to install the OS. Is there a way to purchase windows 8.1 and install it on a USB stick?

havent done it myself but yes, there is. Actually, I'm pretty sure that was widely recommended and is quicker as well.

Literally anything is a better cost to performance ratio than that motherboard.

Literally.

Anything.

lol

with that said, I guess you can go with the biostar in the OP.

 

[Nicktals]

Alright guys, last chance before I pull the trigger! I'm excited to be able to play some PC games (although I fully admit I still have no idea what I'll be able to play or how well, but I know that isaac and FTL should be fine lol). If you see anything that will really fuck me up, please say something! I'd like this to last at least 2 years for gaming!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($82.02 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($175.66 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $861.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 22:07 EST-0500)

 

[M3z_]

The BE ROG Extreme board is goddamn gorgeous, but your motherboard should not cost more than your graphics card if you are building a gaming rig.You will literally use like 0% of the features that Black Edition upcharges you for, on the other hand if you went with a GTX 780 TI or R9 290/290x you would take advantage of it continuously.

 

[HoosTrax]

I have an SSD already.




the 850 PSU is a little bit of future proofing. Maybe I want to dual or triple SLI in a year or two.


That was supposed to be 32gb of ram (4x8gb)

Yeah, the videocard is a little on the "ehh" side, I may end up with a 780

I'm still in the reasearch stage, and the build won't take place for another 4 months. So there will be changes. Maybe.
The mobo is overkill. I want overkill. But if there is a better option cost/performance wise, I'm willing to consider it.

Hell, I would have put a titan in there for the video card, but I feel thats a little too much. I have no problem dropping $500 each on the CPU, MOBO, and video card. but $1000+ on just the video card.... that's too much.

The thing is, if you're going for "overkill" factor, then your relative price brackets are out of whack.

A $500 video card would fit into the price/overkill bracket of $200-$300 motherboards and CPUs.
A $500 motherboard would fit into the price/overkill bracket of multiple >$500 video cards.

You're going for "extreme", meanwhile you're running with the people in the "high/performance" bracket in terms of actual gaming performance.

It's kind of like those guys at the gym who have massive upper bodies and chicken legs.

 

[Hazaro]

I'm still in the reasearch stage, and the build won't take place for another 4 months. So there will be changes. Maybe.
The mobo is overkill. I want overkill. But if there is a better option cost/performance wise, I'm willing to consider it.

But Mobo overkill doesn't give you any performance which is why it's a terrible choice.

Also shit will be different in 4 months, come back then.

 

[BrLvgThrChmstry]

Is it worth picking up a R9 270x for 200(+8% tax) bones?

Note: the last card I owned was a GTX 670 OC'd (Twinfrozr). How would it compare to that card?

Edit: gotcha.

 

[kennah]

Is it worth picking up a R9 270x for 200(+8% tax) bones?

Note: the last card I owned was a GTX 670 OC'd (Twinfrozr). How would it compare to that card?

670 is faster.

 

[Jharp]

So I bought the Asus x550lb-NH52 and I don't think I can install windows 7 on it (pro x64) because I don't think that asus has drivers for W7. Do I have any options here? I don't want to install the os and find out I can't access my usb ports or dvd drive because of it. I'm sure I could download the graphics chips drivers direct from NVidia, but I'm worried about PC functions. Can you guys help me out or lend me advice? I already took care of the UEFI bullshit, and I'm ready to go, I just don't want to pull the trigger yet out of fear of incompatibility issues.

 

[Anton668]

whats the goto GPU driver sweeper program?

 

[Hazaro]

So I bought the Asus x550lb-NH52 and I don't think I can install windows 7 on it (pro x64) because I don't think that asus has drivers for W7. Do I have any options here? I don't want to install the os and find out I can't access my usb ports or dvd drive because of it. I'm sure I could download the graphics chips drivers direct from NVidia, but I'm worried about PC functions. Can you guys help me out or lend me advice? I already took care of the UEFI bullshit, and I'm ready to go, I just don't want to pull the trigger yet out of fear of incompatibility issues.

Problem is Chipset drivers, you could try installing 7 and then copying the drivers from an extracted .exe if you like

8.1 is alright enough after the tweaks and ClassicShell, depends how much time you wanna spend on it. Win 7/8 should install pretty quick.

whats the goto GPU driver sweeper program?

I used to safemode driver sweeper, but now I'm lazy and stuff works so I just overinstall new drivers.

 

[Jharp]

Problem is Chipset drivers, you could try installing 7 and then copying the drivers from an extracted .exe if you like

8.1 is alright enough after the tweaks and ClassicShell, depends how much time you wanna spend on it. Win 7/8 should install pretty quick.

I used to safemode driver sweeper, but now I'm lazy and stuff works so I just overinstall new drivers.

If I do so, will I be screwed out of Windows 8? The laptop didn't come with an installation disc, just a turn on and activate.

 

[Nastrodamous]

I've been getting more and more into PC gaming as of late, and my Asus G74sx isn't cutting it. So 2014 will be the year I build a desktop gaming PC.
This is what I'm thinking...


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($348.25 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition EATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($515.31 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($155.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($156.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($479.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $1736.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 19:33 EST-0500)

Dunno why would you get that motherboard and then get a 4gig 770

 

[Hazaro]

If I do so, will I be screwed out of Windows 8? The laptop didn't come with an installation disc, just a turn on and activate.

Might be worth it to boot it up first and create some recovery media then if it wasn't included or there isn't a recovery partition.

 

[DTKT]

In terms of pure performance jump from a 670, it seems that my sub 500$ or somewhat limited right? It seems to be either the 280x or the GTX 780.