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[eBay Huckster]

Just one question ... would Haz's current Enthusiast build be suitable for games on the horizon for another 2-3 years @1080p? Espesh the Witcher 3 ...

(would be considering 4K after that and would most likely have to upgrade anyway)

at 1080p? yeah, someone can correct me if i'm wrong, but that build should certainly continue to beat the hell out of everything you can throw at it for about that span of time, especially if you're going 780/290X and up on the GPU front

(i personally wouldn't recommend going 4K with a single-GPU setup unless you're willing to play at medium settings @ that res)

Lol, me too.

i actually added it to my cart on the site right after i saw that post to see what the tax was calculated to be. turns out it's $21 (for a subtotal of $300.99), exactly $1.39 more than i expected

 

[kharma45]

Yeah that looks much better really, bigger SSD. The only thing really, I do a lot of video editing/photoshop work for my job. I would probably need 16GB of RAM... should I just go for the corsair vengeance 16GB?

Whoops didn't notice the RAM was 16GB, sorry about that!

You'd be talking this sort of money then

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£160.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.25 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£118.66 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£76.91 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£58.72 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£228.95 @ Ebuyer)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£26.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Other: CoolerMaster Silencio 352 Black Matt Edition USB3 MicroATX Mini-ITX Case (£45.63)
Other: be quiet! BN181 Pure Power L8 530W CM Modular 80+ Bronze QUIET Power Supply (PSU) (£48.64)
Total: £868.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

You could go for a full ATX board and the case you originally had, the Fractal R4, but it'd be another £60 or so off the top of my head.

 

[Pachimari]

Hmm, I have a GTX 780 which I can connect 4 monitors to but I can also connect more screens to my motherboard right?

 

[Vlaphor]

Alright. I have items in the shopping cart right now, about $600 worth, and I just want to be sure that I'm not making a huge mistake. My current cpu is a I7 930 that I've oc'd to 3.9. In my cart is a I7 4690k (decided not to get the 4790k after reading some reviews of it for gaming compared to the 4690k) as well as a motherboard, new ram, and a new case.

Is this a good investment, or can my overclocked i7 last another year?

edit: and I'll be getting a new cpu cooler later. I'll just switch over the Hyper Evo 212 that I'm using right now.

 

[kennah]

Is stick it out with what you have. What gpu do you currently use?

 

[The Llama]

Probably gonna buy this later this week.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($147.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($139.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($369.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (Gunmetal) ATX Full Tower Case ($149.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1427.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Only thing I'm not 100% sure about is whether to hold off on buying the GPU and to just reuse the 6850 from my current desktop for a few months until either the 880 series comes out or until I can pick up one of those 290x's from the Amazon Warehouse.

And obviously let me know if there's anything I should change out. I think this is a pretty solid build though.

 

[Vlaphor]

Is stick it out with what you have. What gpu do you currently use?

GTX 770 2gb

My thing is that I'd be ordering from Microcenter, which has the 4690k and 4790k on huge discounts (4790k for $279) and my cpu is four years old.

 

[kennah]

Four years old doesn't mean anything when it is still a competitive cpu. I have ten year old computers that still work fine.

But hey it's your money. I understand the wanting to upgrade bug . Money might be better put into a 780.

 

[Vlaphor]

Would I notice any notable improvements in games? I have to imagine that cpu's have upgraded in more ways than just speed (and I do plan to oc this new cpu as well...why I bought the new faster ram) Also, I just got the 770 a few months ago, so I'm not going to upgrade that (wish I got the 4gb version though).

Also, I'll go ahead and ask the people here. For an extra $90 (80 plus 10 more for the protection plan) should I got with the 4790k over the 4690k? Just a thought.

 

[The Teachinator]

Would I notice any notable improvements in games? I have to imagine that cpu's have upgraded in more ways than just speed (and I do plan to oc this new cpu as well...why I bought the new faster ram) Also, I just got the 770 a few months ago, so I'm not going to upgrade that (wish I got the 4gb version though).

Also, I'll go ahead and ask the people here. For an extra $90 (80 plus 10 more for the protection plan) should I got with the 4790k over the 4690k? Just a thought.

You probably don't need it but you're already wishing you'd chosen a higher end GPU.

I'd jump on it.

 

[Vlaphor]

I did it. Still haven't paid for it, since I'll have to drive an hour and pick it up in store, but I clicked the buy button.

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 $79.99 (replacing 12gb of slower ram that I had to downclock further just to do the oc)

NZXT Crafted Series Phantom ATX Full Tower Gaming $114.99 (replacing a case I've had for nearly 7 years that's kind of banged up, doesn't have very good fan placement, and one of the usb ports in front is broken)

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 LGA Mobo $139 (part of a bundle with the cpu, old mobo didn't support 1150)

Intel Core I5 4690k $199 (with $20 protection plan).

I can still cancel some of this when I pick it up in person in a few hours, or make changes. I will probably get the H80i cooler as well, provided they match Amazon's price (sold and fulfilled by Amazon, so they should).

 

[kennah]

Would I notice any notable improvements in games? I have to imagine that cpu's have upgraded in more ways than just speed (and I do plan to oc this new cpu as well...why I bought the new faster ram) Also, I just got the 770 a few months ago, so I'm not going to upgrade that (wish I got the 4gb version though).

Also, I'll go ahead and ask the people here. For an extra $90 (80 plus 10 more for the protection plan) should I got with the 4790k over the 4690k? Just a thought.

It's hard to say, your computer is already pretty high end, so you're hitting reduced gains for the money spent. CPUs now are more power efficient, but maybe 25% faster than the CPU you have now. Depending on the cooler you have, it may or may not be any quieter.

Also faster ram is irrelevant for an over clock on current boards.

I'm personally very annoyed with the 760/770. Rebadges of 2012 cards with a slight bump in clocks. 780 is awesome though. As I've said before, people who bought a launch 670 and still have it are laughing.

If you do any sort of media production then sure the $90 can be worth it (why are you buying a protection plan). But for games there probably won't be an appreciable difference (~10-15% on multi threaded games) for a while - and by then new better stuff will be out anyway.

But - if you wanna spend the money, go for it, just don't go into it expecting a massive increase in performance.

 

[Vlaphor]

You probably don't need it but you're already wishing you'd chosen a higher end GPU.

I'm only wishing I'd chosen the higher end GPU because everyone's research said that it gave minimal fps speed increases, but games are starting to require it for higher res textures (or Watch Dogs is anyway, though that isn't the paragon of pc game versions)

 

[Sickbean]

Any consensus on whether the 6GB 780s are worth the small amount extra yet?

 

[The Teachinator]

Any consensus on whether the 6GB 780s are worth the small amount extra yet?

I don't think you need it unless you're going 4K or multimonitor.

I'm using a stock version right now and haven't had any issues at 1440p.

 

[teiresias]

It's probably worth noting that the fairly large base and boost clock bump of the 4790k (without having to do the overclock lottery) is fairly large if you do any emulation.

 

[Vlaphor]

It's probably worth noting that the fairly large base and boost clock bump of the 4790k (without having to do the overclock lottery) is fairly large if you do any emulation.

I do emulation, but Dolphin PCSX2 both run pretty good right now (in most cases)

 

[Lkr]

i figure i'd try to get an answer in here first before making a thread:
what do you guys do with your old parts? my parents are moving and i still have old systems lying around the house and they're asking me if they can get rid of them. i don't care about them, but i'm under the impression you can't just throw them away. only 1 or 2 of them are complete systems with OS, the others are missing a hard drive or an OS or something here and there.
can i gut them for parts and sell some of it still? is there a market for P4s or PDs or Phenom IIs? Is there a market for older nvidia cards? DDR ram?

 

[joe250]

Trying to decide between purchasing a 27" 2560 x 1440 Korean monitor or an LG 29" 2560 x 1080 ultrawide monitor. Running a 2GB 770. Will the 770 struggle at 1440p? And are the IPS panels on the Korean monitors supposed to be better than the LGs? Haven't seen either in person and I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on one.

 

[SHADES]

I also sometimes have this. It doesn't really odor a "burn smell", but just like a strong plastic smell. Anyway, my real question is:

What are the best cleaning methods? Which areas require special attention? And how often etc etc etc...

Personally, about every 2 weeks I disconnect everything for 30mins, remove filters/bezels and brush away any dust build up inside my case and around fans and Hoover that out, then use a can of compressed air around my cpu,fan,mobo,gpu.

Not had issues with that method, yet.

 

[teiresias]

I do emulation, but Dolphin PCSX2 both run pretty good right now (in most cases)

I'm just speaking relative to what you get for that upfront cost of going with the 4790k vs another CPU right now. I have an overclocked 870 that I'll be replacing and PCSX and Dolphin tend to run fairly well with hiccups sometimes. I'm willing to put more money into the CPU to possibly kill some of those hiccups (and also give Lightroom a little boost too to give a non-gaming application example).

 

[SHADES]

i figure i'd try to get an answer in here first before making a thread:
what do you guys do with your old parts? my parents are moving and i still have old systems lying around the house and they're asking me if they can get rid of them. i don't care about them, but i'm under the impression you can't just throw them away. only 1 or 2 of them are complete systems with OS, the others are missing a hard drive or an OS or something here and there.
can i gut them for parts and sell some of it still? is there a market for P4s or PDs or Phenom IIs? Is there a market for older nvidia cards? DDR ram?

Have you tried ebay? Search completed listings for the parts you have to see if they have any resale value, that's what I'd do.

 

[kharma45]

It's probably worth noting that the fairly large base and boost clock bump of the 4790k (without having to do the overclock lottery) is fairly large if you do any emulation.

It's not just the clock speed that's the benefit in emulation, it's the new instructions Haswell gained. It creams even Ivy Bridge in emulation clock for clock.

 

[notoccupanther]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Gene Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£142.60 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£139.21 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£193.58 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£363.50 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Silverstone PS07B MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£65.06 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: CoolMax 900W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£104.09 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-208DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (£59.21 @ Amazon UK)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z 30SB150200000 OEM 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card (£49.31 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1344.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Hi GAF .. so I spent the day putting this together. Preparing for the advent of CDPR's Witcher 3 (amongst others). I've tried to keep it as close as possible to Haz's Enthusiast model in the OP, with a few bells on, but for some reason it's coming out hella more expensive.... (I'm putting it down to European pricing as opposed to US ... dunno really)

This would be part of a sitting room setup connected to a Panny 1080P TV, used for Browsing, Gaming and Movies via JRiver ... hence the small form factor.

Any suggestions where I could shave off a few pounds?

 

[The Llama]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Gene Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£142.60 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£139.21 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£193.58 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£363.50 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Silverstone PS07B MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£65.06 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: CoolMax 900W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£104.09 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-208DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (£59.21 @ Amazon UK)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z 30SB150200000 OEM 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card (£49.31 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1344.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Hi GAF .. so I spent the day putting this together. Preparing for the advent of CDPR's Witcher 3 (amongst others). I've tried to keep it as close as possible to Haz's Enthusiast model in the OP, with a few bells on, but for some reason it's coming out hella more expensive.... (I'm putting it down to European pricing as opposed to US ... dunno really)

This would be part of a sitting room setup connected to a Panny 1080P TV, used for Browsing, Gaming and Movies via JRiver ... hence the small form factor.

Any suggestions where I could shave off a few pounds?

I'm not that familiar with UK prices, so maybe you found some great deals, but you could probably go with cheaper RAM (you don't need DDR3-2133) and a cheaper (~700 watt) power supply. Sound card is also pretty optional and unnecessary (someone correct me if I'm wrong on this for "living room PC's" though). Could go with a cheaper optical drive too.

 

[yatesl]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Gene Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£142.60 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£139.21 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£193.58 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£363.50 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Silverstone PS07B MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£65.06 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: CoolMax 900W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£104.09 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-208DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (£59.21 @ Amazon UK)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z 30SB150200000 OEM 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card (£49.31 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1344.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Hi GAF .. so I spent the day putting this together. Preparing for the advent of CDPR's Witcher 3 (amongst others). I've tried to keep it as close as possible to Haz's Enthusiast model in the OP, with a few bells on, but for some reason it's coming out hella more expensive.... (I'm putting it down to European pricing as opposed to US ... dunno really)

This would be part of a sitting room setup connected to a Panny 1080P TV, used for Browsing, Gaming and Movies via JRiver ... hence the small form factor.

Any suggestions where I could shave off a few pounds?

You don't really need 16GB - 8GB of DDR1600 would be fine.
Do you need 512GB of SSD? I'd recommend 128 (or 256)GB, and then a 1 or 2TB HDD. Install Windows and common games on SSD, HDD for everything else.
You don't need a 900W power supply. 700W (or 650) would be enough.
Do you need a sound card?

 

[Hazaro]

For the sake of making a $400 build, would it make any sense to tweak the Budget build on page 1 by instead using a ~$40 micro ATX case with a 300w PSU (saving $35 on a PSU), switching to a 500GB HDD (saving ~$10), and switching to a 2GB GTX 750 (same price) for a total of $400?

Dropping to a Logisys case/PSU and dropping half of storage is pretty hurtful just to hit the $399 price point. Not a fan of it.

 

[kharma45]

For the sake of making a $400 build, would it make any sense to tweak the Budget build on page 1 by instead using a ~$40 micro ATX case with a 300w PSU (saving $35 on a PSU), switching to a 500GB HDD (saving ~$10), and switching to a 2GB GTX 750 (same price) for a total of $400?

Dropping to a Logisys case/PSU and dropping half of storage is pretty hurtful just to hit the $399 price point. Not a fan of it.

Agreed. Without trying to sound condescending it's worth saving a bit more. Have a few less drinks at the weekend or something and stick that towards the build.

 

[notoccupanther]

You don't really need 16GB - 8GB of DDR1600 would be fine.
Do you need 512GB of SSD? I'd recommend 128 (or 256)GB, and then a 1 or 2TB HDD. Install Windows and common games on SSD, HDD for everything else.
You don't need a 900W power supply. 700W (or 650) would be enough.
Do you need a sound card?

Thanks for feedback. Haz had recommended any PC over $700 these days to have a 500GB SSD .. so was going with that option. I'll revisit this tho'. I chose the 900W in case I look into overclocking the CPU. Would a 750W still cover this? The sound card was chosen as I didn't see any mention of 7.1 surround anywhere in the MoBo specs .. but looking at a review it is mentioned, so sound card is out too, thanks.

 

[yatesl]

I'd say so, although someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Get a 900w if you're looking at having 2 graphics cards, but as it's a media PC I doubt you are. And I'm sure a 500GB SSD would be great, but I just see it as an unnecessary expense, when you can get a 120GB drive for around £50. For what it's worth, I have a 120GB SSD, a 3TB HDD and a 2TB HDD. Completely overkill, but I have a lot of media - and I get along with it just fine. 120GB SSD is enough space for Windows, programs (even Adobe products), as well as a game or two from Steam.

 

[The Llama]

I'd say so, although someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Get a 900w if you're looking at having 2 graphics cards, but as it's a media PC I doubt you are.

AFAIK you never need more than a good 750w for a single GPU setup, and even a 650w is fine 99% of the time.

 

[Stubo]

256gb crucial mx100 ssd and an evga 600b psu are probably the best value options.

 

[Dunbar]

So here is my final build.:

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 ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.96 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($499.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master GXII 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($91.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($60.97 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1474.82

I am pretty happy with everything, and I have it all in hand ready to assemble... except a case. So I'm here to solicit suggestions on good cases. I've seen a few like the R4 that I like, but I'm willing to look around a bit since I won't be building another PC for many years. Does anyone have a favorite they'd like to recommend? I don't have any restrictions as far as space or anything else, except I'd like it to look neat and fit all the stuff I bought. This is going to be my first new gaming PC since 2008 and I am really looking forward to putting it all together over the 4th of July weekend and then messing around with it.

 

[kharma45]

AFAIK you never need more than a good 750w for a single GPU setup, and even a 650w is fine 99% of the time.

~500w for a single GPU

 

[notoccupanther]

I'm not that familiar with UK prices, so maybe you found some great deals, but you could probably go with cheaper RAM (you don't need DDR3-2133) and a cheaper (~700 watt) power supply. Sound card is also pretty optional and unnecessary (someone correct me if I'm wrong on this for "living room PC's" though). Could go with a cheaper optical drive too.

Cheers for the comments ... optical and Sound Card removed. Will look into the memory too ... DDR3-1600 maybe?

 

[yatesl]

Defiantly no faster than 1600, if you're just using it for a media player, web browser and games.

 

[Subtervotion]

So heres what I want to do. Run modern games, skype, and any recording software such as fraps/dxtory/razer gamebooster/etc buttery smooth. I tried this on my current set up and had a tiny bit of choppiness. It honestly wasn't even that bad. Playback of the video was fine, very smooth. I'm thinking I only need a new CPU (and by extension mobo if I go Intel).

[Basic Desktop Questions]

• Your Current Specs:
  CPU / AMD FX-4100 Zambezi Quad-Core 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX
  RAM / Currently have: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11D- Used to have: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-
  Motherboard / GIGABYTE GA-880GM-USB3 AM3+ AMD 880G USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
  GPU (Graphics) / Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB PCI-E Video Card (100315L)
  PSU (Power Supply) / Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus - 500W Power Supply
  Case / Rosewill R218-P-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
  HDD (Hard Drive) / 1x Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive AND 1x 1TB Simpledrive HDD (used to be external, converted it to internal when its power supply went south) AND 1x 3TB external WD HDD
• Budget: I'd like to keep it under $500 + USA
• Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: Gaming, Emulation (Wii/GB/DS), Video Editing, Recording games in HD, General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback). I want a 4 or 5. Ratings are kind of subjective though. Basically I want to run buttery smooth for all the above.
• Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? generally I play 1680 x 1050 (my monitors) but will play w/e res works. Are you going to upgrade later? One day in the distant future. Are you buying a new monitor? Not yet.
• List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Left 4 Dead 2, Fraps/dxtory, modern games in general. Is 30FPS acceptable? 60? 120? 60 is a good benchmark but 30 is just fine. How important is PhysX / SuperSampling / CUDA to you? No idea what that is.
• Looking to reuse any parts?: If I go the dual set up idea that some have suggested I could re-use my old 4 GB RAM thats listed above.
• When will you build?: No real deadline
• Will you be overclocking?: Maybe

 

[yatesl]

Hi GAF .. so I spent the day putting this together. Preparing for the advent of CDPR's Witcher 3 (amongst others). I've tried to keep it as close as possible to Haz's Enthusiast model in the OP, with a few bells on, but for some reason it's coming out hella more expensive.... (I'm putting it down to European pricing as opposed to US ... dunno really)

This would be part of a sitting room setup connected to a Panny 1080P TV, used for Browsing, Gaming and Movies via JRiver ... hence the small form factor.

Any suggestions where I could shave off a few pounds?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.25 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£82.08 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£51.98 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.79 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£359.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Silverstone PS07B MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£65.06 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£65.99 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (£40.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £1029.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

That's my personal recommendation, but I'm sure others can come in and change it. Get rid of the £25 CPU cooler if you're not going to overclock - but if that's the case, then you could look at saving more money and getting the non-K version of the 4770 and getting a H87 motherboard instead. Those are 100% unable to overclock, though.

 

[SDJGreen]

I'd say the 4460 is worth the extra £7, I would also prefer an evga 500b over the corsair psu and you can shave a few quid off with a gigabyte gpu. An extra £20 would get you a sapphire 280x though.

Extremely solid recommendation though!

My changes

Edit: hmm, not sure about the bios update note regarding using Haswell refresh cpus. Maybe best to go 4440 if there's no confirmation on that.

Thanks for the help guys.
What sort of performance would I expect out of that? Does it also leave room to upgrade parts further down the line? What do I do for things like cooling and making the machine run quietly?
Also regarding the optical drive, I have boxed copies of a few games so I would need one, I should have mentioned that really - I assumed they were a standard. Would it be difficult to add one of those on?

Also, I have no idea what you mean about the bios updated thing haha.

Edit: Also what's the difference between AMD and NVidia? is one preferable over the other?

How does that build compare to this for example? http://www.ebuyer.com/580734-chillblast-fusion-sword-gaming-pc-cbfusword ?

 

[crooked spin]

Having trouble committing to a GPU for my build. It will be used for 3d animation/2d motion graphics (and a bit of gaming) so a card with CUDA would make the most sense but I'm certain that in the not-distant future Adobe programs will support OpenCL (they gotta since the new Mac Pros only come with AMD cards). Plus AMD seems like a better value, power/dollar-wise. Should I go GTX 780? R9 290? FirePro? Am I overthinking this?

 

[Stubo]

Thanks for the help guys.
What sort of performance would I expect out of that? Does it also leave room to upgrade parts further down the line? What do I do for things like cooling and making the machine run quietly?
Also regarding the optical drive, I have boxed copies of a few games so I would need one, I should have mentioned that really - I assumed they were a standard. Would it be difficult to add one of those on?

Also, I have no idea what you mean about the bios updated thing haha.

Edit: Also what's the difference between AMD and NVidia? is one preferable over the other?

How does that build compare to this for example? http://www.ebuyer.com/580734-chillblast-fusion-sword-gaming-pc-cbfusword ?

+ 200Mhz faster CPU (4460) / 100Mhz faster CPU (4440)
+ 280 is LOTS better than 260X
+ 256Gb SSD
+ Higher quality PSU and case
+ £50 cheaper

- No 1TB hard drive (WD Blue 1TB = £38.70)
- No optical drive (can be added for ~£12)
- No included keyboard and mouse

= Individual part warranty instead of 2 years across the whole unit

If you can spend £600 then you could improve things further with a self-build of course!

Edit: Made a £600 build, I've put the 4440 in because of the uncertainty about the motherboard supporting the Haswell refresh without a BIOS update:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£120.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£29.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£55.95 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.40 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.70 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card (£200.59 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.18 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.99 @ Amazon UK)
Other: windows (£15.00)
Total: £602.80

 

[mkenyon]

Having trouble committing to a GPU for my build. It will be used for 3d animation/2d motion graphics (and a bit of gaming) so a card with CUDA would make the most sense but I'm certain that in the not-distant future Adobe programs will support OpenCL (they gotta since the new Mac Pros only come with AMD cards). Plus AMD seems like a better value, power/dollar-wise. Should I go GTX 780? R9 290? FirePro? Am I overthinking this?

IMO, don't make a purchase decision on a possible future change. If it turns out in that AMD cards make more sense for you a year down the road, then you can always sell your card and upgrade.

780 seems like it'd be a great fit for your purposes.

 

[NotLiquid]

Hey guys. I'm mostly completely new to PC stuff but the OP's been of real help and I'm starting to look for a new rig to do stuff. Problem is my income is low so I'm trying to manage a simple budget. Frankly at this point though I assume any cheap desktop can beat out my 2009 laptop.

Either way a store nearby me which I really trust has specialized builds with "user build mentality" and they come in a lot of iterations for mostly affordable prices. At the lower end of my budget I can afford this build which goes for around about $850 if I'd take a guess (exchange rates).

• Intel Core i5-4430 - 4 Threads / 3,0GHz (3,2GHz Turbo) / 6MB / Socket 1150 (Boxed) (84w)
• ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB PH (GTX750TI-PH-2GD5)
• Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) (2x4GB)
• Seagate Internal Hard Drive Barracuda 1TB (Cache 64MB / 7200RPM / Sata 6Gb/s) ST1000DM003
• ASUS H81-PLUS - ATX / H81
• Corsair PowerSupply (PSU) CX500 500W 80+ Bronze
• ASUS DVD±RW (DRW-24B5ST/BLK/B/AS) 24X SATA Bulk Black
• Corsair Obsidian 550D - Svart

Just for reference I'm not that much of a PC gamer but I'd hope for a setup that can run most games at an acceptable rate. I mostly use my computer for work/production purposes, and I'd also be willing to replace any parts that might be iffy. Does anyone think this kind of build is good enough for me and for the asking price?

 

[mkenyon]

It's about $100 over what it would be if you built it yourself, but it should serve the purposes you're talking about. It won't be a screamer, but it'll be solid enough for most games.

 

[crooked spin]

IMO, don't make a purchase decision on a possible future change. If it turns out in that AMD cards make more sense for you a year down the road, then you can always sell your card and upgrade.

780 seems like it'd be a great fit for your purposes.

Word, I just start to second guess myself when I'm about to spend a bunch of money.

 

[Dries]

Hey guys, do you know what's going on? The last couple of weeks I've been getting this message randomly on start up. Sometimes the message appears, sometimes it doesn't. I've got a small OC going (3.7Ghz), so no extreme voltages or temps. All is basically well within any sort of danger range. What's going on?

 

[NotLiquid]

It's about $100 over what it would be if you built it yourself, but it should serve the purposes you're talking about. It won't be a screamer, but it'll be solid enough for most games.

Thanks a bunch. I think I might attempt to do this kind of build myself if that's the case since that might give me some extra money to splurge a bit on some better parts.

 

[maxagombar1]

Guys I have a problem I think only gaf can solve. I've looked online everywhere and no one seems to have had the same issue as this...

Basically, when I play a game that's demanding, after a certain amount of time my frame rate will spike suddenly from 60 down in to the teens. After this happens once it will spike every minute or from 60 down to the teens (for a few seconds) and then back again. I took my pc to a specialist and ended up buying a new cpu and mobo, but the problem is still there in a more mild form. An example of a time this happens to my pc is playing watch dogs on ultra settings, wherein the game averages 30-35fps for the first 30 minutes and then starts spiking. When the spikes occur, MSI afterburner shows my gpu usage spiking wildly, however my temperatures are always stable and never above 70...

Have any of you guys had this issue or do you know what part of the hardware could be causing this?

Sapphire 280x
Fx 8320 (new)
MSI 970a mobo (new)
Corsair 600 bronze standard
2 X 4gb ram (not sure manufacturer)
Cooler master case

 

[mkenyon]

Hey guys, do you know what's going on? The last couple of weeks I've been getting this message randomly on start up. Sometimes the message appears, sometimes it doesn't. I've got a small OC going (3.7Ghz), so no extreme voltages or temps. All is basically well within any sort of danger range. What's going on?

Give it some volts? If you have an aftermarket cooler, you should be fine up through 1.3ish.

Guys I have a problem I think only gaf can solve. I've looked online everywhere and no one seems to have had the same issue as this...

Basically, when I play a game that's demanding, after a certain amount of time my frame rate will spike suddenly from 60 down in to the teens. After this happens once it will spike every minute or from 60 down to the teens (for a few seconds) and then back again. I took my pc to a specialist and ended up buying a new cpu and mobo, but the problem is still there in a more mild form. An example of a time this happens to my pc is playing watch dogs on ultra settings, wherein the game averages 30-35fps for the first 30 minutes and then starts spiking. When the spikes occur, MSI afterburner shows my gpu usage spiking wildly, however my temperatures are always stable and never above 70...

Have any of you guys had this issue or do you know what part of the hardware could be causing this?

Sapphire 280x
Fx 8320 (new)
MSI 970a mobo (new)
Corsair 600 bronze standard
2 X 4gb ram (not sure manufacturer)
Cooler master case

List of games outside of Watchdogs where this is happening? Is there anything happening in game that relates to this?

 

[riflen]

Guys I have a problem I think only gaf can solve. I've looked online everywhere and no one seems to have had the same issue as this...

Basically, when I play a game that's demanding, after a certain amount of time my frame rate will spike suddenly from 60 down in to the teens. After this happens once it will spike every minute or from 60 down to the teens (for a few seconds) and then back again. I took my pc to a specialist and ended up buying a new cpu and mobo, but the problem is still there in a more mild form. An example of a time this happens to my pc is playing watch dogs on ultra settings, wherein the game averages 30-35fps for the first 30 minutes and then starts spiking. When the spikes occur, MSI afterburner shows my gpu usage spiking wildly, however my temperatures are always stable and never above 70...

Have any of you guys had this issue or do you know what part of the hardware could be causing this?

Sapphire 280x
Fx 8320 (new)
MSI 970a mobo (new)
Corsair 600 bronze standard
2 X 4gb ram (not sure manufacturer)
Cooler master case

Who says it's hardware? Run a full system sweep with Malwarebytes in order to be at least partly confident there's no malware on your system. If it's clean, then you can start looking at hardware.