New Build/1440p res/~1500$

[Hampster Dance]

- UPDATE - I went to Micro Center and purchased the bundle combo 4770K/Asrock Z87 Extreme4 for ~$310 with tax last night. Too good of a deal to pass up.


1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
I currently use a PC that I made back in late 2008 with a few upgrades along the way. It's running an E8400 C2D/Crucial 128GB SSD C300/GTX 480. I'm finding that the CPU is severely limiting my ability to do the things I would like to do in my free time. I intend to stream games/encode video with the new build. My primary monitor's resolution is 1440p and my secondary is 1080p. My internet connection is 30 down/5 up.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
As everybody says, the less money spent the better. I have around 1500$ budgeted this season to spend on ALL of my upgrades. I would like to spend closer to 1000$ if possible.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
United States

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from. We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.
N/A

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Intel/NVIDIA. Never used an AMD card and would prefer to stick NVIDIA with this upgrade.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I would like some input in this area. The only 2 parts I currently plan to reuse are my power supply and SSD. Please let me know if I should be looking to replace these parts as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005
My PS is the CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX. I see that the +12V rail is 54A w/ 2 6+2 pin PCI-Express connectors. I'm under the impression this should be sufficient to power my new build along with a newer model video card. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148348
Is this SSD (Crucial 128GB SSD C300) acceptable to reuse? I am by no means opposed to buying a newer SSD as I have seen how much they can improve system speed. Since I have been planning on rebuilding for the past 6 months, I haven't sat down and t/s any issues I am currently facing. I can't pin anything specifically on this SSD, but my computer overall is very sluggish and requires frequent reboots to sustain an acceptable computing experience. I haven't reloaded Windows in over a year either so that may be part of the issue.

On a side note, If there are any Wireless A/C guru's out there I would greatly appreciate recommendations on a new router. We currently run 6-8 wireless devices (including my desktop) at all times on an old A/B/G router. Should I be looking to connect my desktop via USB adapter or on board wireless? This factor would affect my choice of motherboards. Is A/C wireless something I should jump on now? Or just I just go with N?

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I plan to perform a mild O/C on the CPU/GPU. Nothing major, just a little extra performance.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
Primary 1440p Secondary 1080p. My GTX 480 currently runs full bore @ ~80C when I do anything due to a bug in the drivers. It's extremely annoying and I'd like to avoid this issue with my new upgrade.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it? Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
This week.

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor - Purchased for $199.99 @ Micro Center
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Cooler - Purchased for $29.95 @ NCIX-US
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 Motherboard - Purchased for $89.99 @ Micro Center
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB DDR3 - Purchased for $109.99 @ Newegg
Storage (SSD): Crucial 128GB SSD C300 - Salvaged from previous build
Storage (Mech): Toshiba 3TB - Purchased for $109.99 @ Micro Center
Video Card: EVGA 8800GTS (Waiting for BF/CM to get SLI 770's)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Black - Purchased for $79.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 850W Modular - Purchased for $159.99AR @ Newegg
Optical Drive: Lite-ON DVD Burner - Purchased for $14.99 @ Newegg
Operating System: Already Own Windows 7
Total = ~$830 w/o GPU's

I greatly appreciate any input you have to provide!

 

[Torn Mind]

Are you actually near a Micro Center? I welcome you to the club if you are(I am near one), but make sure you're near one first, because their CPU deals are in-store only. Sometimes their web store has deals on other things, but the CPUs there are likely sold under cost, so you have to go there to get one.

 

[Hampster Dance]

Are you actually near a Micro Center? I welcome you to the club if you are(I am near one), but make sure you're near one first, because their CPU deals are in-store only. Sometimes their web store has deals on other things, but the CPUs there are likely sold under cost, so you have to go there to get one.

Indeed I am near one, thanks for the heads up though!

 

[Torn Mind]

I think you're better off taking advantage a Microcenter combo deal and getting an Asrock Extreme4, as the only significant feature that board is lacking compared to the Extreme6/ac is the WiFi, which you can get separately for less. Or get the regular Extreme6 and get the mini-PCIe card separately. The Extreme4 is $90 after combo discounts and the Extreme6 is $130 after combo discounts, which amounts to a significant amount of savings.

Your SSD certainly can be reused, just make sure to have an hard disk backup image when it does die. Something like Clonezilla will do the trick.

 

[Hampster Dance]

I think you're better off taking advantage a Microcenter combo deal and getting an Asrock Extreme4, as the only significant feature that board is lacking compared to the Extreme6/ac is the WiFi, which you can get separately for less. Or get the regular Extreme6 and get the mini-PCIe card separately. The Extreme4 is $90 after combo discounts and the Extreme6 is $130 after combo discounts, which amounts to a significant amount of savings.

Your SSD certainly can be reused, just make sure to have an hard disk backup image when it does die. Something like Clonezilla will do the trick.

I think you are definitely correct. I'll start looking into the A/C market myself for a non-integrated solution. Where can I look at the Microcenter combo deals? Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Torn Mind]

I think you are definitely correct. I'll start looking into the A/C market myself for a non-integrated solution. Where can I look at the Microcenter combo deals? Thanks for the suggestion.

Micro Center has a bundle page subcategory listing some of their combo deals on mobos and CPUs, but that page is not all-inclusive. Pretty much, combo deals exist for the CPUs listed on that page and any compatible motherboard. You just simply need to add the two components to your cart to see the final price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...131118234113:s
This card is likely the card that is in the Extreme6/ac, so you could simply just buy the regular Extreme6 and add that card.

 

[mfenn]

I think you are definitely correct. I'll start looking into the A/C market myself for a non-integrated solution. Where can I look at the Microcenter combo deals? Thanks for the suggestion.

I would run a wire if at all possible. 802.11ac is nice, but 802.11n is good enough if you are reasonably close to the router and only really care about speeds to and from the Internet.

By the way, the standard is 802.11ac, (abbreviated ac), not A/C. We aren't talking about air conditioning here.

 

[mfenn]

$200 for an i7 4770K is a stupidly good deal. At that price there is no reason to get anything else. You can also combo it with the mobo for additional savings.

i5 4770K + ASRock Z87 Extreme4 combo $290 @ MC
Crucial DDR3 1600 8GB $60 AP
GTX 770 $315 AR
Reuse SSD $0 - secure erase it and performance should be like-new
Toshiba 7200RPM 2TB $85 AP
Lite-ON DVD Burner $15 AP
Reuse PSU $0
Corsair 400R $70 AR
Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 $40
Intel 802.11ac PCIe adapter $55
Total: $930 AR AP

Now, you could certainly upgrade the RAM to 16GB and stay within budget, but it's not required. You could also do GTX 770 SLI and really push your 1440p panel if you wanted to go all the way to $1500 (you'd need a new PSU as well).

 

[Hampster Dance]

Micro Center has a bundle page subcategory listing some of their combo deals on mobos and CPUs, but that page is not all-inclusive. Pretty much, combo deals exist for the CPUs listed on that page and any compatible motherboard. You just simply need to add the two components to your cart to see the final price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...131118234113:s
This card is likely the card that is in the Extreme6/ac, so you could simply just buy the regular Extreme6 and add that card.

Wow thanks for finding that, i'll take a look into it today.

 

[Hampster Dance]

$200 for an i7 4770K is a stupidly good deal. At that price there is no reason to get anything else. You can also combo it with the mobo for additional savings.

i5 4770K + ASRock Z87 Extreme4 combo $290 @ MC
Crucial DDR3 1600 8GB $60 AP
GTX 770 $315 AR
Reuse SSD $0 - secure erase it and performance should be like-new
Toshiba 7200RPM 2TB $85 AP
Lite-ON DVD Burner $15 AP
Reuse PSU $0
Corsair 400R $70 AR
Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 $40
Intel 802.11ac PCIe adapter $55
Total: $930 AR AP

Now, you could certainly upgrade the RAM to 16GB and stay within budget, but it's not required. You could also do GTX 770 SLI and really push your 1440p panel if you wanted to go all the way to $1500 (you'd need a new PSU as well).

That looks like the road map I set out for myself last night before I went to Micro Center. Good stuff. I'm not looking to run maxed out everything on my 1440p panel, but I would like to turn on the flashy stuff and run most stuff on high for a year or two. Could a single 770 handle that job okay? Or should I be factoring SLI as a primary option for this build? The 780 seems like the price/performance isn't quite there. Thanks mfenn.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I'm suspicious of that $199 for the Haswell i7...that's a sick nasty price, even for MC.

If you check their website, it appears that it is the same price as the i5-4670k (!) and $50 cheaper than the i7-3770k (!). Moreover, the listed price for the MoBo bundles is higher for the haswell i7 than for the i5, even though the MoBo's are identical.

Something is fishy. Probably a typo. :hmm:

 

[Hampster Dance]

I'm suspicious of that $199 for the Haswell i7...that's a sick nasty price, even for MC.

If you check their website, it appears that it is the same price as the i5-4670k (!) and $50 cheaper than the i7-3770k (!). Moreover, the listed price for the MoBo bundles is higher for the haswell i7 than for the i5, even though the MoBo's are identical.

Something is fishy. Probably a typo. :hmm:

I talked to the sales rep last night @ Micro Center and asked him why they are selling the 4770k for ~$150 below MSRP. He said that they offer these deals strategically from time to time to get people into the store. They take a loss on the CPU but make up for it on the other parts they eventually convince people to purchase. He said most people end up buying their entire builds from them if they can get them into the store to buy the CPU

 

[Joeydubbs]

Wow, I'm not quite ready to build yet but that $199 for that chip maybe too good to pass up.

 

[Hampster Dance]

Wow, I'm not quite ready to build yet but that $199 for that chip maybe too good to pass up.

Yea I don't see the 4770k getting any cheaper this year or the next for that matter... The mobo's/ram will get cheaper if you do end up waiting for a year though.

 

[Torn Mind]

I'm suspicious of that $199 for the Haswell i7...that's a sick nasty price, even for MC.

If you check their website, it appears that it is the same price as the i5-4670k (!) and $50 cheaper than the i7-3770k (!). Moreover, the listed price for the MoBo bundles is higher for the haswell i7 than for the i5, even though the MoBo's are identical.

Something is fishy. Probably a typo. :hmm:

It's legit. I knew about it via email and ordered one myself so I can pawn one(JUST ONE) off for profit . The prices of the mobos don't correspond to their current prices since they probably didn't update the bundle page. The Asrock Z87 Extreme4, for example, was $120 before combo discounts, which is absolutely cheap even with tax. Combine it with the i7, and it's $90.

 

[Torn Mind]

Wow thanks for finding that, i'll take a look into it today.

mfenn's build is better value for the money with that discrete PCIe card.

 

[Termie]

I'm suspicious of that $199 for the Haswell i7...that's a sick nasty price, even for MC.

If you check their website, it appears that it is the same price as the i5-4670k (!) and $50 cheaper than the i7-3770k (!). Moreover, the listed price for the MoBo bundles is higher for the haswell i7 than for the i5, even though the MoBo's are identical.

Something is fishy. Probably a typo. :hmm:

The deal is real. I got one. In fact, I felt bad that I didn't need a new motherboard, because I knew MC was losing money when I walked out with a $200 4770K.

And apparently the OP got in on the same deal. Given that he saved so much money on the CPU/MB, I would advise that he step up the video card a bit. SLI is a bit expensive to fit in the budget, but an R9 290 would be great at 1440p. If you can wait for the aftermarket coolers to arrive next month, that would be ideal.

By the way, I just moved up to 802.11ac, which was a huge jump from 802.11n 5GHz, which was a huge jump from 802.11n 2.4GHz. If you're seriously still using an 802.11abg router, you have a huge jump in throughput available to you. Just keep in mind that you'll need to invest in a router and new adapters as well.

Just as an example, I run a Linksys AC1900 router with a Western Digital AC bridge, and get 32MB/s (256mbps) throughput on my intranet from two rooms away. I'm betting that you get closer to 2MB/s (10-15mbps) on your 802.11g router. So you're looking at a good 15x jump in speed, with the right equipment. Even an 802.11n dual-band adapter should get you close to 10-12MB/s.

 

[Hampster Dance]

The deal is real. I got one. In fact, I felt bad that I didn't need a new motherboard, because I knew MC was losing money when I walked out with a $200 4770K.

And apparently the OP got in on the same deal. Given that he saved so much money on the CPU/MB, I would advise that he step up the video card a bit. SLI is a bit expensive to fit in the budget, but an R( 290 would be great at 1440p. If you can wait for the aftermarket coolers to arrive next month, that would be ideal.

By the way, I just moved up to 802.11ac, which was a huge jump from 802.11n 5GHz, which was a huge jump from 802.11n 2.4GHz. If you're seriously still using an 802.11abg router, you have a huge jump in throughput available to you. Just keep in mind that you'll need to invest in a router and new adapters as well.

Just as an example, I run a Linksys AC1900 router with a Western Digital AC bridge, and get 32MB/s (256mbps) throughput on my intranet from two rooms away. I'm betting that you get closer to 2MB/s (10-15mbps) on your 802.11g router. So you're looking at a good 15x jump in speed, with the right equipment. Even an 802.11n dual-band adapter should get you close to 10-12MB/s.

I am definitely still using a 802.11abg router from 2008... I don't really have a file server yet so I haven't prioritized an upgrade for my router until now. The wife wants to start streaming media to the TV so I figured I should include 802.11ac into my desktop upgrades even though the TV (along with the rest of our devices) are only 802.11abgn capable.

I'm not a believer in the term "future proofing" but in this case adopting the new standard seems to make sense. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be looking to pick up a 802.11ac router/adapter over the next week or two.

 

[Termie]

I am definitely still using a 802.11abg router from 2008... I don't really have a file server yet so I haven't prioritized an upgrade for my router until now. The wife wants to start streaming media to the TV so I figured I should include 802.11ac into my desktop upgrades even though the TV (along with the rest of our devices) are only 802.11abgn capable.

I'm not a believer in the term "future proofing" but in this case adopting the new standard seems to make sense. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be looking to pick up a 802.11ac router/adapter over the next week or two.

Remember that you can use an AC bridge to connect your AV equipment, including your TV. If it has an Ethernet jack, you're good to go, as the Bridge provides a hard-wired connection to each device. If, however, the TV has only wireless and no wired connection (which would be rare), you'll be stuck with 802.11n, likely 2.4GHz band, which is only slightly better than 802.11g (at most twice as fast, real-world, despite the huge jump in theoretical bandwidth).

 

[Hampster Dance]

Remember that you can use an AC bridge to connect your AV equipment, including your TV. If it has an Ethernet jack, you're good to go, as the Bridge provides a hard-wired connection to each device. If, however, the TV has only wireless and no wired connection (which would be rare), you'll be stuck with 802.11n, likely 2.4GHz band, which is only slightly better than 802.11g (at most twice as fast, real-world, despite the huge jump in theoretical bandwidth).

I really like that techguru website in your sig.

The TV has a wired option. When you say bridge are you talking about an Ethernet cable plugged into dongle device that creates a "wireless tunnel" to the router? I am familiar with what a hardware bridge is (very old). Are you referring to the Ethernet ports typically on the back of routers when you say bridge? Not sure what a wireless bridge is. Please enlighten me?

 

[Hampster Dance]

I'm considering moving up in GPU because I was able to save so much on my CPU/mobo.

The more and more I read about which GPU to purchase I am lead to believe I should wait for an aftermarket cooled 290. They are on par with the 780 and much cheaper. I guess there is a flaw in the cooling solution that causes the card to drop its clocks to keep it cool/quiet.

It's either that, or find a sweet deal on some 770's and SLI. What do you guys think?

 

[Termie]

I really like that techguru website in your sig.

The TV has a wired option. When you say bridge are you talking about an Ethernet cable plugged into dongle device that creates a "wireless tunnel" to the router? I am familiar with what a hardware bridge is (very old). Are you referring to the Ethernet ports typically on the back of routers when you say bridge? Not sure what a wireless bridge is. Please enlighten me?

Thanks!

So a bridge is a device that "bridges" a wired network (say, an AV rack where no wired Internet is available) to a separate wired network (your desktop/router/modem). Many routers have a "bridge" mode, meaning you could just use two wireless routers to create your bridged network, but using a dedicated bridge is often a bit more straight-forward. Here's an example of a reasonbly-priced dual-band bridge: http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-450Mb...ref=pd_sim_e_6

If has four Ethernet ports to offer hard-wired connections for your equipment - perfect for Blu-Ray players, game consoles, TVs, etc. At this point, I would not invest in any new networking equipment unless it at least offers dual-band 802.11n support. That means 2.4GHz (congested) and 5GHz (not congested). And if you have the budget for it, AC equipment is probably an even better long-term investment. It only works on the 5GHz band, which of course will ultimately become congested too and then we'll need to use the 10GHz band or whatever else is available in the future!

I'm considering moving up in GPU because I was able to save so much on my CPU/mobo.

The more and more I read about which GPU to purchase I am lead to believe I should wait for an aftermarket cooled 290. They are on par with the 780 and much cheaper. I guess there is a flaw in the cooling solution that causes the card to drop its clocks to keep it cool/quiet.

It's either that, or find a sweet deal on some 770's and SLI. What do you guys think?

770s in SLI will be much, much faster than a 290, but of course they'll be around $800. I wouldn't get the ~$330 2GB versions for a 1440p monitor. You'll want the ~$380-400 versions with 4GB. Of course, two R9 290 cards for $800 are very tempting, but they use far more power and will create far more heat and noise. The aftermarket versions should help with a lot of this, but you'll still need a case with great airflow and an 800W+ power supply. 770SLI will comfortably run on 700W.

 

[Hampster Dance]

Thanks for the explanation. I'll take a look in to the wireless bridges, seems perfect for me as my desktop is upstairs and the router will be downstairs. I don't own the house I live in so I couldn't get authorization to have COMCAST run cabling upstairs to connect the modem.

I'm attempting to sell my old computer to a coworker to get a few hundred dollars extra for a new PSU/GPU upgrade. If that goes through I'll almost certainly end up with an SLI'ed system this go around.

Appreciate the info, as always.

 

[Hampster Dance]

For RAM, assuming I only wanted to get 8GB... Will the performance take a big hit if I only get one 8GB stick and run it single channel? Should I really buy 2 4GB sticks for the benefit of dual channel?

 

[Termie]

For RAM, assuming I only wanted to get 8GB... Will the performance take a big hit if I only get one 8GB stick and run it single channel? Should I really buy 2 4GB sticks for the benefit of dual channel?

If it's the same price, then get two sticks. The only time you'll see a hit from running in single-channel mode is in synthetics and some very specific CPU-intensive situations, like strategy games or encoding, but given that the later is one of your uses, I'd go with two sticks.

From what I'm seeing, 2x4GB sticks are typically within a few dollars of single 8GB sticks.