Advise on build

[Spinks]

I'm quite new to building machines.

I'm currently upgrading my PC and I've currently got left over:

• Kingston SSD HyperX 120GB x
• WD Black Edition 1TB x2
• XFX Radeon 7950 3GB
• Corsair H100 Hydro
• 12GB DDR3 Triple Channel
• Nzxt phantom 410

My new PC build:

• Asus Z87-PRO - £139.99
• Corsair CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600mhz - £126.00
• Intel Core i7 4770 - £219.81

I was thinking about 750Watt Gold Corsair modular PSU.
I just checked on PSU calculator that system should use 492Watts.

So, my question is;
Is there a better/equal motherboard or PSU or RAM I could get for similar price? So, I can save abit of cash.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Hard to say, since we don't know your vendor, what they have, and at what price.

Link to your vendor or vendors?

Do you have access to a Seasonic or XFX power supply in the sub 600 watt range?

 

[Spinks]

Hard to say, since we don't know your vendor, what they have, and at what price.

Link to your vendor or vendors?

Do you have access to a Seasonic or XFX power supply in the sub 600 watt range?

I don't mind buying from any UK website.
Currently looking at Amazon as I've got a prime account for free next day.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/
http://www.ebay.co.uk/
http://scan.co.uk/
http://www.cclonline.com/


I don't currently have access to any PSUs.

I was currently looking at a corsair gold 750w:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FG9FTDI/ref=gno_cart_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1V6Z2X9I7KSQG

After checking PSU calculator at:
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
Made me think maybe I'm getting too high parts for my build so could potentially save few £s.

Thanks for your response.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Most of those PSU calculators are notoriously inaccurate. I ran your stuff through one of them and it came up with 319 watts minimum, 369 recommended.

I took a brief look at your links and saw several XFX and Seasonic PSUs in the 500 to 550 watt range that I'd rather have than the Corsair. BUT i didn't check to confirm they have whatever connectors you might need for that video card.

Do you know if your existing 12 GB of RAM is for some reason unusable on the new PC? It appears you are figuring you need to buy 16 GB of new RAM and I'm wondering why? Maybe you do---I'm just asking.

You don't appear to be overclocking, so I wouldn't think you'd need that motherboard with a Z87 chipset unless you need some particular feature on that board. You could easily shave 30 to 50 pounds off that by dropping down a bit. Asus is a good brand though. Consider Asrock and Gigabyte also.

 

[Spinks]

Most of those PSU calculators are notoriously inaccurate. I ran your stuff through one of them and it came up with 319 watts minimum, 369 recommended.

I took a brief look at your links and saw several XFX and Seasonic PSUs in the 500 to 550 watt range that I'd rather have than the Corsair. BUT i didn't check to confirm they have whatever connectors you might need for that video card.

Do you know if your existing 12 GB of RAM is for some reason unusable on the new PC? It appears you are figuring you need to buy 16 GB of new RAM and I'm wondering why? Maybe you do---I'm just asking.

You don't appear to be overclocking, so I wouldn't think you'd need that motherboard with a Z87 chipset unless you need some particular feature on that board. You could easily shave 30 to 50 pounds off that by dropping down a bit. Asus is a good brand though. Consider Asrock and Gigabyte also.

Yeah, I noticed on some of the 600w PSUs only had 6 pin x2 which concerning. The 750w PSUs had 6 pin x4. I'll have a good luck though. Thanks.

Well, my old board was triple channel and new board is dual channel.
So, I'm guessing due to one stick of RAM been in single channel by itself would cause a bottle neck on performance? Then If I take 1 RAM out to make it 8GB not really enough RAM for my requirements.

No, I won't be overclocking. Is there anything I should be looking out for when choosing a board? Is this board more expensive due to supporting high OC RAM 3000mhz? I've never really known what to look for in a motherboard other than interfaces that I require like x amount of SATA and PCIe for GPU etc.

Thanks.

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, I noticed on some of the 600w PSUs only had 6 pin x2 which concerning. The 750w PSUs had 6 pin x4. I'll have a good luck though. Thanks.

Well, if your GPU only needs 6+8pin and you don't plan to go for Crossfire (wise move), then whether or not the PSU has one 6+8pin or two doesn't really matter.

Well, my old board was triple channel and new board is dual channel.
So, I'm guessing due to one stick of RAM been in single channel by itself would cause a bottle neck on performance? Then If I take 1 RAM out to make it 8GB not really enough RAM for my requirements.

Yes, the highest memory addresses will be single-channel and yes they will theoretically be slower. However, you'd be hard pressed to notice a difference in practice.

Speaking of requirements, what are yours? What will you be using this PC for?

 

[Spinks]

Well, if your GPU only needs 6+8pin and you don't plan to go for Crossfire (wise move), then whether or not the PSU has one 6+8pin or two doesn't really matter.



Yes, the highest memory addresses will be single-channel and yes they will theoretically be slower. However, you'd be hard pressed to notice a difference in practice.

Speaking of requirements, what are yours? What will you be using this PC for?

I'll be using my PC for:

• Programming
• VMware (Testing code and security on multiple machine platforms)
• Security (IDA PRO, OllyDbg, CE, CDA etc)
• Games (Dota 2, COD etc)

During security and programming generally using about 8-9GB up.
During games very little RAM just 2-3GB.


Ok, before I order new RAM I'll test my old RAM and see how it goes. Thanks.

 

[mfenn]

Since you're not planning to overclock, you can save some money by getting a Xeon processor and a non-overclocking board. A good quality ~650W power supply is more than sufficient for your system.

Xeon E3-1230 v3 £202
ASRock H87 Performance £81
Seasonic S12II 620W £60
Total: £343