Gaming build feedback

[liquefiedvapor]

Hello everyone,

Been pricing out a new computer than I'm looking to purchase the parts for in the next day or two. Wanted to post what I was thinking and gather some feedback. I've linked everything to newegg to keep it simple but I'll be getting most of my parts from either newegg or Amazon (live in the US). Price listed is the lowest out of those two places.


CPU - Intel Core i5-4670 Haswell Quad-Core 3.4GHz BX80646I54670 $209.99
MB - ASRock Z97 Extreme3 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 $104.99
GPU - MSI R9 280 GAMING 384-bit GDDR5 $199.99
RAM - Team Vulcan 8GB (2x4GB) $69.99
SSD - Crucial MX100 256GB SATA $108.99
HDD – Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM $52.92
DVD – ASUS DVD-Writer 24x FRW-24F1ST $14.99
PSU - SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V $64.99
Case – Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel $49.99
CPU cooler – Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO $24.99
OS – Windows 8.1 64-bit Pro $129.99

Total - $1046.82. Includes shipping, but not tax which is ok.

Also considering these CPU’s:
Intel Core i5-4590 Haswell Quad-Core 3.3GHz $189.99
Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell Quad-Core 3.4GHz $234.99
Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Quad-Core 3.5GHz $238.99

Honestly if I’m going to bump up to one it would probably be the 4690K for $5 over the 4670K. I know the K is for overclocking and I didn’t see much price difference between the 4690K and the 4690.

Other Mobo’s considered:
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H $139.99
ASUS z97-A $ $139.99

Originally had the ASUS in the build but didn’t seem like I was giving much up switching the ASRock above and saved some cash.

GPU’s: At the current price the one I have listed in the build is the only one I’d consider as the Nvidia counterpart doesn’t seem comparable. If I move up a step these two I was considering:
MSI Gaming N770 (GeForce GTX 770) 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI $309.99
GIGABYTE GV-R928XOC-3GD REV2 Radeon R9 280X 3GB $289.99

Trying to stay between $1000 and $1100 but willing to be somewhat flexible for right parts.

Thanks!

 

[brevin]

Are you going to OC? If so I'd get the 4670K instead.

 

[liquefiedvapor]

Honestly I'm not sure. I've never done it before with my other builds I've done over the years, but that's more because it just works and I never wanted to take the chance and mess something up. Would it be nice to have the option? Sure. Is it worth the extra money? Not so sure. I know the K versions of the processors are for OC'ing so I'll keep that in mind when it's decision time.

Any thoughts on the other parts?

 

[nsafreak]

Overclocking a K based processor is pretty easy for the most part until you try and hit the high overclocks where you have to fiddle with voltages a bit. Overall your parts list looks solid. The two GPUs you list really wouldn't be a step up from the one you're already looking at. The 280X is just a minor clock speed boost and a standard 280 can easily be overclocked to meet the speeds of a 280x and a 770 performs at about the same level as a 280x. In order for it to be an upgrade where there would be a difference in speed you'd have to go with at least a 290 or a 780.

 

[liquefiedvapor]

I guess I should look into overclocking the K based processors a bit more. It's a little bit more to get the K but could be worth it.

As for the GPU's I thought it would be more of an upgrade for that. Maybe I'll take the extra money I was considering for it and get a larger SSD. 512Gb instead of 256Gb.

Is the motherboard good enough if I want to look into overclocking a K processor and the video card?

 

[nsafreak]

Yep, the motherboard will do just fine for overclocking a K processor and the video card. Although overclocking a video card is more reliant on what the card manufacturer makes available to adjust (voltage settings being key among them).

 

[liquefiedvapor]

I appreciate the feedback. Glad to hear that mobo works well. I'll have to look into overclocking the video card as well. When you say manufacturer, you talking more Radeon and Nvidia, or more like MSI, GIGABYTE, etc?

 

[nsafreak]

I'm referring to the card manufacturer ie MSI, Gigabyte, Sapphire, etc. MSI and Sapphire cards generally overclock pretty well although it's going to vary from card to card.

 

[mfenn]

Overclocking a K based processor is pretty easy for the most part until you try and hit the high overclocks where you have to fiddle with voltages a bit. Overall your parts list looks solid. The two GPUs you list really wouldn't be a step up from the one you're already looking at. The 280X is just a minor clock speed boost and a standard 280 can easily be overclocked to meet the speeds of a 280x and a 770 performs at about the same level as a 280x. In order for it to be an upgrade where there would be a difference in speed you'd have to go with at least a 290 or a 780.

This isn't really true. I think you're probably thinking of the distinction between the 270 and 270X, which is just clock speed. The R9 280 and R9 280X are both Tahiti chips, but the R9 280 has 1792 shaders enabled and the R9 280X has 2048 shaders enabled (14% difference).

Between the clock speed and shader count differences, the real-world performance difference between the R9 280 and R9 280X is about 20%. Whether or not that's worth the 40% price difference is up to the buyer, but straight up price/performance isn't in the R9 280X's favor (though it rarely is for higher-end cards).

The rest of the OP's build is solid. However, I would recommend dropping down to an H97 motherboard if he decides to stick with the non-overclocking CPU. The ASRock H97 Performance for $85 AR saves $20 over the Z97, and you can't overclock the non-K processor anyway.