Hey everyone,
I've been trying to do my own research over the past few weeks and thought it was time to to make a post to finally ask some questions.
My target budget is around 1200$ Canadian and that's without a monitor for now (will use my TV ). My objective is to be able play upcoming games like The Witcher 3, GTAV and Unreal Tournament in 60fps/1080p and also have it be future proof. I want to have the option to SLI the GPU in the future, expand the RAM, and if needed upgrade the cooling system also (things to consider when choosing a case?) The only parts I’ll be re-using will be 2 500GB WD Blue SATA HDDs, everything else will be brand new, and I have Windows 7 pro already.
I don’t really have a deadline but I’m getting anxious (will probably buy everything over the period of the next month or so) I decided to go with a K cpu, and Z97 mobo with over clocking in mind because I think it fits in with the idea of being future-proof.
Really hoping to get some feedback, I'm getting excited, here’s what I’ve been looking at so far:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor - 280$
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler - 35$
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard - 110$
RAM: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory - 95$
SSD for OS: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive - 95$
GPU: I believe I've decided on a 970 but would consider a 290x or others
(but have NO idea which one to get) and I expect it to run me a max of 430$
My questions are for suggestions on the Case + Power supply to facilitate this build, while keeping nice cable management and the future in mind. Anything I should be weary of? Any better/cheaper suggestions for any of the parts?
This would currently run be about 1245$ (1045$+200$ roughly for Case + PSU) before taxes so going over my target budget by a bit, but not a deal breaker. Thanks!
Where in Canada are you? If you live in BC lower mainland or around Toronto, there's local NCIX and Memory Express retailers and they do pricematching, which makes it handy to get most of your parts from one or two retailers and keep the best possible pricing.
Future proofing is a bit hard. If you can wait until I'm guessing September-ish this year, Intel will be releasing their new Skylake processors and Z170 socket 1151 platform which is going to be the new line for consumers. The current consumer Z97 platform will get Broadwell later this year and then that will be it, socket 1150 is on the way out after that.
If you plan to buy soon then the current Haswell parts you have are fine, they won't be instantly made obsolete by Skylake. Just keep in mind that there will be no CPU/motherboard upgrades after this year's Broadwell processors. That said, the 4690K should last you 3+ years from this point on easily, even longer with overclocking.
If you want to keep your options open for dual graphics cards in the future, you should consider what kind of power supply to get.
GTX 970 SLI will run just fine on 700-750 watts, while
R9 290 crossfire will run on 800-850 watts. Going with the R9 290 will save you some money even after budgeting for a slightly stronger power supply, but the GTX 970 is newer, slightly faster, more efficient, and some people like Nvidia more for drivers or support. The R9 290X is much more expensive yet more or less matched by the GTX 970, so I don't think it's worth going for.
Anyway, I have some parts recommendations:
I found faster
G.Skill DDR3-2400 RAM for $82 from NCIX. The fact that it's 2 x 4GB shouldn't be a problem because even if you fill up four RAM slots, you'll get 16GB which is more than most people ever need unless they do heavy video editing or something. Unless you're doing heavy workstation processing and plan on filling all the slots with 8GB sticks for a total of 32GB, I kind of doubt you'll ever need that much RAM.
As for the power supply, I have 2 recommendations each for 750 and 850 watts. They are all good quality and reliable, I'll also link reviews.
XFX 750 watt bronze rated non-modular for $65 after $20 rebate - This model
P1-750S-NLB9 had multiple high scoring reviews from multiple reviewers.
XFX 850 watt bronze rated non-modular for $100 - Same as above, just the 850 watt version.
Corsair CS750M gold rated semi-modular for $115 - The
650 watt version had good reviews, the 750 watt should be just as good.
EVGA Supernova G2 850 watt gold rated fully modular for $125 after $20 rebate - Pretty much one of the best power supplies you can get, but with a matching price tag. It's been as cheap as $110 when on sale, but unfortunately not at the moment.
One of the highest rated power supplies reviewed by Jonny Guru.
As for the case.. what do you want? Full tower with more room to expand? Mid tower to save space but still well featured? Do you want sound proofing in the case? Side window? Color?
Some cases that I can recommend in general:
Cooler Master HAF 912 ($60) - Decent midrange mid tower case. Gets the job done no fuss, but the design includes nice touches that keep it from being totally spartan in terms of features. A bit dated but still good.
Tweaktown review.
Antec P100 ($82) - Very recently released. Reviews seems very good. A nice in-between model that costs less than $100 but offers good quality.
Techpowerup review.
Phanteks Enthoo Pro ($100) - Full tower for lots of expansion room, great feature set and premium design closer to what you might expect in a more expensive case.
Tweaktown review.
Fractal Define R5 ($130) - Expensive mid tower, but it's very new and has a modular interior for accommodating just about anything. Soundproofed as well. Windowed versions available for a higher price.
Tweaktown review.
or the Asus Z97M-PLUS (100€
