New gaming build - Gimme your opinions!

[push]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
Primarily gaming/software development/playing with VMs

2. What YOUR budget is.
1200ish

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
Will be buying from local microcenter

5. IF YOU have a brand preference.
Must be Intel

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
None.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Eh, prolly default.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
1920*1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Tonight

vid EVGA GTX 770 Superclocked w/ACX Cooler - http://*******/ToSzYz
mobo Asus Maximus V1 Hero - http://*******/aUE6Gv
ram Corsair XMS3 8x2 - http://*******/MMM7le
hd1 Samsung 840 EVO 250gb - http://*******/IxnJ8F
hd2 WD green 2 tb (for songs/videos/pictures) - http://*******/4zNkA
psu Corsair CX750M although I may opt for the HX750 - http://*******/mfBjoL
case Corsair carbide 300R (will likely change, least important) - http://*******/xC8hGz

was thinking of maybe doing the intel bundle at microcenter with the gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H, thoughts?

 

[Jaydip]

Solid build, unless you prefer NV you can get a 7970 for less(None of your links are working for me though). What about monitor and os? do you already have them?

 

[Termie]

Your links aren't working, but generally speaking, that's a pretty good start.

No reason to go with the Maximus Hero if you're not going mATX, although I'm a big fan of mATX myself. Why not go for one of the Asus ATX boards, like the Z87-Plus?

Also, you're way overbudget - you don't even have a CPU in there, and I estimate you're already over $1,100. What I suggest is a 4670K, 8GB, not 16GB of RAM, and an HD7970 in place of that GTX770. You'll still be a bit overbudget, but at least you'll have a CPU!

 

[lehtv]

Good budget for a 1080p build. Optimal in fact.

Some comments...

GPU 7970 is much better value... but I don't see any for sale in MC. This MSI GTX 770 is cheaper and better cooled than EVGA
Mobo Way overkill, all you need is a basic since you're not even OC'ing. Are there any specific needs here that you know are not part of typical LGA1150 board specs? How about MSI Z87-G41 + i7-4770K $345
RAM Crucial Ballistix 2x8gb low profile 1.35V 1600mhz $125
SSD decent
HDD decent but a 7200RPM seagate is only $18 more
PSU too much capacity, too little quality. You'll want a unit with decent caps and 5 year warranty to guarantee longevity.. but frankly, the selection and prices in MC for power supplies is just horrible.
Case alright... I'd buy Define R4 $90

Do you have to pay sales tax for online purchases? If not I think it'd be much better to buy just the mobo+CPU from microcenter and order the rest from newegg.

 

[push]

Good budget for a 1080p build. Optimal in fact.

Some comments...

GPU 7970 is much better value... but I don't see any for sale in MC. This MSI GTX 770 is cheaper and better cooled than EVGA
Mobo Way overkill, all you need is a basic since you're not even OC'ing. Are there any specific needs here that you know are not part of typical LGA1150 board specs? How about MSI Z87-G41 + i7-4770K $345
RAM Crucial Ballistix 2x8gb low profile 1.35V 1600mhz $125
SSD decent
HDD decent but a 7200RPM seagate is only $18 more
PSU too much capacity, too little quality. You'll want a unit with decent caps and 5 year warranty to guarantee longevity.. but frankly, the selection and prices in MC for power supplies is just horrible.
Case alright... I'd buy Define R4 $90

Do you have to pay sales tax for online purchases? If not I think it'd be much better to buy just the mobo+CPU from microcenter and order the rest from newegg.

What about the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H, they are running a combo with that and a 4770k for $419?

As far as power supplies, what are the good brands? It seems like anytime I do a build the recommended brand shifts?

As far as budget I just say $1200 just to have a dollar figure. Realistically the $$ doesn't matter too much.

Comparing MC with Newegg seems like the price difference is pretty negligible, so if I can support a local brick and mortar store then I'll definitely do that.

 

[lehtv]

You said you're not OC'ing so why do you need a board with 12 phase power? Apart from that, the only major difference to the MSI board is SLI/Crossfire support. But you're gaming on 1080p, I don't see SLI/Crossfire being likely at all. It's not worth paying a lot of extra on the motherboard and PSU just to have the option.

Corsair is a good brand, the CX series is also good in terms of bang for buck, but they are budget units with mediocre capacitors and only 3 year warranty.

On this budget I would buy a Gold rated Seasonic G series or a Rosewill Capstone. Bronze is fine too if you want to pay a bit less, as long as it's a 5 year warranty unit known to be reliable, like Rosewill Hive, Seasonic M12II

Newegg definitely would end up being cheaper... it isn't, if you compare the exact same items, but there are other things to consider. You have a greater selection of brands so you're more likely to find a comparable item for less; you have newegg's promos and rebates on select items which would otherwise cost the same as in MC; and you have newegg combo deals that can also save cash.

But if you're set on actually buying everything today then newegg is out. If you change your mind I can make you a mock-up build and you can judge for yourself

 

[push]

I've just had better luck with boards that are designed to be overclockable because they seem to just be built a bit better. I mean, if they are built to be overclockers it makes sense, right? Sure, I'll pay a slight premium, but to me it's worth it in terms of longevity. It may all be in my head, but in my past few builds I've sprung for the slightly more expensive boards ($50ish more) and not had a single problem. I can't say the same with the cheaper boards. All that being said, overclocking and SLI isn't out of the question either, so I'd like to leave it open for that as well.

When I was looking at mobos cpus MC definitely cheaper
vid cards - about the same, i'd save in sales tax, not a big deal
ram - about the same
power supplies - definitely more selection on newegg, but brand for brand about the same
case - meh, may even use an extra i have around the house

When I looked even with rebates it really was a difference of mayne $100, which like I said, supporting a local brick and mortar with good prices is worth it to me. That way if\when I do break something I have a good local place with fair prices and don't have to wait 3 days for newegg.

That being said, if you want to throw something together for me, that'd be great for comparison sake.

 

[Termie]

It looks like lehtv has put together a great build for you. But you are still overbudget, and if that matters to you, I'd drop from a 4770K to a 4670K, and from 16GB to 8GB.

If SLI down the road is important to you, then you'll need to step up to an ASRock Extreme 4 or Asus Z87-A, or other equivalent boards. They cost about $30-40 more, and are probably worth it for you.

 

[push]

It looks like lehtv has put together a great build for you. But you are still overbudget, and if that matters to you, I'd drop from a 4770K to a 4670K, and from 16GB to 8GB.

If SLI down the road is important to you, then you'll need to step up to an ASRock Extreme 4 or Asus Z87-A, or other equivalent boards. They cost about $30-40 more, and are probably worth it for you.

Yea, not really concerned on the budget. I had actually just took what I had in my cart and used it as the budget here, I mistakenly left off the CPU. So really, it's around $1500. It also looks like the hero board is on sale at MC for $174 which makes it that much easier.

 

[Termie]

Yea, not really concerned on the budget. I had actually just took what I had in my cart and used it as the budget here, I mistakenly left off the CPU. So really, it's around $1500. It also looks like the hero board is on sale at MC for $174 which makes it that much easier.

Got it - then you are all set. That's a very good $1500 build.

Do you need Windows? If so, don't forget to add that in.

Also, you might stick with the idea of going with a new case rather than using an old one - there have been big advancements in the way cases are designed in the past few years. They look better, they're easier to work with, they stay cooler and quieter, and they have USB3. One or more of these features may win you over, and the 300R is a good choice at a nice price.

 

[push]

Got it - then you are all set. That's a very good $1500 build.

Do you need Windows? If so, don't forget to add that in.

Also, you might stick with the idea of going with a new case rather than using an old one - there have been big advancements in the way cases are designed in the past few years. They look better, they're easier to work with, they stay cooler and quieter, and they have USB3. One or more of these features may win you over, and the 300R is a good choice at a nice price.

Yea, I probably will just get a new case. The one I have sitting around is newer (6 months) but I definitely like the looks of some of these newer ones better.

No windows necessary, MSDN

 

[lehtv]

Microcenter
i7-4770K + Z87 Extreme4 $385
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB $190
WD Green 2TB $83
Fractal Design Define R4 $90
+tax

Newegg
Gigabyte 7970 + 2x8GB Kingston HyperX 1600 $372 AR (save about $180 after tax vs 770+2x8gb from MC, and get nearly the same gaming performance as 770, with 1GB more VRAM)
Rosewill Hive 750W $76 with promo code EMCXLXP27 (modular, 5yr warranty)

= $1226 ($1196 AR) + MC tax

Best of both worlds. You support your local store and you get the best bang for buck.

 

[push]

lehtv, thanks for doing that. I just can't do an radeon card. I play a lot of battlefield, and they seem to just choke consistently there. With my revised build with the corsair hx750 is about 1500 out the door with tax, and about $50 in rebates. We'll see, I may end up waiting, my i7 920 is holding up pretty well along with my 5850.

 

[lehtv]

I play BF3 perfectly smoothly with a 7950 myself... 1080p, ultra, 60fps constant - or 1080p, medium-high, 80-120fps. Just to give you some objective numbers: Techpowerup. Stock vs stock, you get 12% more performance. Buying the 770 and the RAM from MC is 50% more expensive.
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_770_TF_Gaming/images/bf3_1920_1080.gif
I wouldn't get a HX750 since the Hive is such a good deal. But if you must have Gold, I'd recommend the Seasonic-built XFX 750W for $90 AR @ NCIX

 

[Termie]

An HD 7970 certainly won't choke as hard as your HD 5850 in BF3!

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with Radeons. BF3 is not their strongest game, but a 7970 still provides more performance/dollar than a 770.

You could always upgrade the video card first, by the way, especially if you can overclock the 920 a bit. But wow, that MC deal on the Extreme4 is just amazing. No reason not to upgrade at that price!

 

[lehtv]

BTW I had an i7-920@3.36 with a 7950@1100 for a while. It went down to 35-40fps at times in BF3 64player Conquest. upgrading to i7-3770K removed the bottleneck altogether... so if you're a big battlefield player, upgrading just the graphics card just won't do. Even at 4GHz, you're going to leave the GPU underutilized in BF3.

 

[Termie]

Oh, I agree, but if he's getting nervous about spending this much, he could start with the video card, which is an awesome deal on its own.

 

[push]

I'm not nervous about spending too much or I would have gone with a lesser card in the first place I'll take a closer look at the 7970.

Edit: aren't there still some frame latency issues with the radeon series?

 

[lehtv]

Not with a single card. With dual cards, frame latency is still quite a bit higher than with NVIDIA, but with the recent crossfire frametime patch, it's playable, as in you don't really notice much difference between AMD and NVIDIA unless benching. Chances are AMD is still working on improving Crossfire but there's no knowing how long it will take for the next patch.

The chances of you upgrading to dual cards during the usable lifetime of that 7970 are pretty low since you're on 1080p. I would not even think about crossfire performance as a factor when buying a single card, because if the time to go dual GPU comes, it's rather easy to just sell the current card and buy two next gen cards. That is, dual GPU performance is a factor only when buying dual GPUs.

 

[push]

Makes sense. Back to the cx750 vs hx750, what is the difference other than efficiency rating and hx having 2 extra years warranty? It's rather confusing.

 

[lehtv]

HX750 has 4 extra years of warranty as it is covered by 7 year warranty.

- It uses higher quality components, the most important being the capacitors used; this improves lifetime
- The temperature rating for continuous operation is higher which makes it more suitable for high heat output builds like a gaming PC with dual internally exhausting GPUs
- It also probably has a bit better power stability, but this should not matter in practice since the CX is sufficiently stable
- It has a quieter fan (a side effect of the higher efficiency)
- It has more SATA and Molex cables

Some have complained of coil whine with them but it's probably a very small minority. I would still do a testbed build first to determine everything's working OK and there's no annoying coil whine.

All points in the list also apply to the XFX unit, although the warranty on it is 5 years, and it is fully modular instead of semi-modular. Neither of these really matters

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

... my i7 920 is holding up pretty well along with my 5850.

Have you considered an L5639 Xeon, 6 core, 32nm, 1366 socket, ~90$ off of ebay?


Thread about the Xeon L5639

It's a nice chip :wub:

 

[push]

Think I'm gonna stick the i7. Although now I think I may wait and build my machine after the Hawaii announcement. I'll see what it has to offer and if it drops prices down a bit more.

 

[push]

Thinking of SLI'ing two 770s now haha. Would a 770 watt be good enough for SLI, ssd, hd, 4700k, and a burner? It seems like the two cards would be about 500ish watts at peak, the CPU at 100ish? Maybe go up to an 850?

 

[lehtv]

It would be enough, but I think SLI from the beginning definitely not a good idea for 1080p. Buy one GPU, see how it goes, then if you're still wishing for more performance, buy another one.

The GPUs would peak at about 400W