New build to replace PC friend by lightning, thoughts?

[Ime]

This is what I settled on to replace a i5-3570k/GTX 670 build that got destroyed by lightning.

I'm really torn on the GPU. Before the GTX 670 I had a Radeon HD 6950 that was great, I intially tried to replace the Radeon HD 6950 with a Radeon HD 7970 and the card and drivers were garbage, stuttering even in older games. So I swapped it for a GTX 670 and it ran wonderfully, no hardware/software issues to speak of.

The R9 390 seems like a great deal, similar performance to a GTX 970 but twice the VRAM.

Have AMD sorted out the driver issues, or should I stick with NVidia?


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($111.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($164.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed ATX Mid Tower Case ($86.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($86.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1219.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-14 07:34 EDT-0400

 

[riversend]

Do you have a way to test out any of your current components like your CPU or RAM? And you could have your current HDDs checked out as well in a friend's computer.

Gaming at 1080p?

 

[Ime]

Do you have a way to test out any of your current components like your CPU or RAM? And you could have your current HDDs checked out as well in a friend's computer.

Gaming at 1080p?

I push the power button on it, the fans spin for a few seconds then stop. No lights, no beeps. Swapping out the PSU yields the same results. I'm presuming the CPU and/or mobo is toast, and consider the rest of the components suspect. I fully intend to try to salvage what I can and use it to upgrade my wife's old PC, or possibly build a seperate media server for something like Plex, but I've already made the choice to spec out a new build for gaming.

And yes it'll be 1080p gaming!

 

[Ancalagon44]

Is this for you or your friend?

It's unlikely that the hard drives, GPU, CPU or RAM is damaged.

 

[Ime]

Is this for you or your friend?

It's unlikely that the hard drives, GPU, CPU or RAM is damaged.

The build is for me. Good to know that it may only be the MB, I'll check that out after I build myself a new system.

Once I have myself a new PC built, I'll go through the process of salvaging the old system. My wife's PC is 5 years old now, so if the old 256GB SSD drive survived I'll put it in her computer. If I have enough surviving pieces left over maybe I'll spend a few hundred and build out a media server.

 

[mfenn]

The build looks reasonable to me, I just have a few comments:
- The Freezer 7 Pro will keep the CPU cool and will be quiet at stock, but it won't handle a big overclock
- $95 is a lot to spend on a 750W Gold PSU. The Antec TP-750C is $55 AR.

 

[lehtv]

The EVGA PSU does have some considerable advantages though:

Warranty. EVGA has 10 year warranty, Antec has 5 year warranty.
Modularity. EVGA fully modular cables, while the TP-750C is not modular at all. At this wattage, modularity is really handy, unless you get a particularly spacious case.
Fan noise. EVGA's fan is much quieter:




Background noise is 30 dBa in TPU's anechoic chamber, so the delta dBa is roughly so
Watts - EVGA vs Antec
100W - 0 dBa vs 0 dBa
200W - 0 dBa vs +1 dBa
300W - 0 dBa vs +4 dBa
400W - +5 dBa vs +12 dBa
500W - +13 dBa vs +21 dBa
600W - +18 dBa vs +22 dBa

Efficiency. EVGA is 0.5 percentage points more efficient despite having the same certification. (Links embedded in the above images.)

Antec's hard to argue with strictly in terms of what you get for what you pay, but IMO the extras you get with EVGA are worth the premium.

OP - I would stick with NVIDIA. A single GTX 970 4GB is a better pick than an R9 390 8GB for 1080p gaming. E.g. Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce $320 @ Amazon. Not only is it slightly faster, but is uses much less power which decreases running costs by about $10-20 in a couple of years, even more if you play a lot or leave the computer on for long periods of time, or if you pay more than average for electricity.

For higher resolutions, the extra VRAM may be justified, but GTX 980 Ti or Fury (X) would be an even better pick for 1440p or 4K.

750W is perfect for GTX 970 SLI, should you ever go that route. For R9 390 Crossfire, I would prefer to have 850W to ensure the unit doesn't get too noisy at load.

As for the other parts -
1. grab a better cooler for the 4690K so you can overclock it properly without worrying about noise/temps, e.g. Scythe Mugen 4 $45 @ superbiiz
2. I don't really see a need for 16GB of RAM for a gaming setup. I'd rather just get 2x4GB DDR3-2133 if there's nothing that requires more RAM, such as HD video editing. Can always add more RAM later.
3. Crucial BX100 500GB is better and cheaper.
4. $87 is just way too much for a 300R. Three options depending on how much you want to spend here:
- budget: Corsair 200R $50 AR @ newegg
- mid-range: Fractal Design Define R4 Blackout $80 @ newegg
- "all-out": Phanteks Enthoo Pro $101 @ Amazon

 

[Puffnstuff]

When considering the warranty the evga ps makes good sense over the antec and their rma process is painless should you require service.