Please suggest changes or improvements to CPU/Mobo/GPU combo

[dnut_00]

Hi all.

I am planning a build that will be used:

1. moderate gaming (Diablo 3, Path of Exile and the likes)
2. coding and office work

I am good with my HDD/SSD and RAM choices (which are also less important to the question at hand) and have all the perfirials and OS.

This is the combination I currently have:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 GT Rev. 2 28.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($7.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB Video Card ($153.57 @ Newegg)
Case: Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $566.52

Now, taking prices here as baseline, I'd love to hear suggestions on what can I improve (price or performance wise) within $100 of the price above (not including deals on the same components)?

Thank you, and let me know if this question is too wide.

P.S.

To be within the rules:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. moderate gaming, coding and office work

2. What YOUR budget is. for the parts above - $500 - $600

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. US ( for the sake of discussion) - newegg prices are fine

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds. no

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using? IPS Dell 24" 1980 X 1200

9. WHEN do you plan to build it? this or next week

 

[bononos]

Why don't you follow the mid range sticky?
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2192841
Its way way better for $612 (Only counting the cpu+mb bundle, gpu, case). You can use the included cooler which comes with every boxed cpu, or get the 212evo which isn't expensive if you think the boxed heatsink is too loud which is unlikely if you aren't overclocking.

 

[Seba]

Replace the graphics card with a GTX 650 Ti Boost 2 GB (or better). GTX 650 TI (non-Boost) is a poor choice.

I would choose a cheaper motherboard. The money could either be saved, or spent towards a GTX 760.

No need to waste money on that CPU cooler. The included cooler in the boxed version of the CPU is good.

Do you already have the RAM? If not, then add 8 GB of RAM.

You also need a power supply.

 

[dnut_00]

Thank you for your replies.

1. I have RAM: Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz 1.5V CL11
2. The case comes with 650W PSU, pretty decent one too AFAIK (FSP RAIDER)

Questions with your permission.

1. Do I need to upgrade GPU for the games I mentioned? Upgrading GPU to be better is not a target in and by itself, as I predict very little other gaming (if at all).

2. Would this be loud? I don't need it to be dead silent, I'd say something like 7 on 1 - 10 scale, 1 being the lodest... And evo 212 is that much better?

3. When you suggest using the http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2192841, do you mean the latest suggested build?

 

[Seba]

2. The case comes with 650W PSU, pretty decent one too AFAIK (FSP RAIDER)

The case from your link does not have a power supply included.

Power Supply Sold Separately

1. Do I need to upgrade GPU for the games I mentioned? Upgrading GPU to be better is not a target in and by itself, as I predict very little other gaming (if at all).

To buy today any graphics card below GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB is a waste of money. Just go with integrated graphics if you do not need much. Besides, you can buy the Boost version (GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB) for the the same price as non-Boost GTX 650 Ti from your link (both made by Gigabyte). In fact, the Boost version is $10 cheaper because of the rebate.

 

[dnut_00]

The case from your link does not have a power supply included.

Yeah. :biggrin: Noticed that now. Thank you.

My version does, however. May be its regional thing.

 

[dnut_00]

To buy today any graphics card below GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB is a waste of money. Just go with integrated graphics if you do not need much. Besides, you can buy the Boost version (GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB) for the almost the same price as non-Boost GTX 650 Ti from your link (both made by Gigabyte). The non-Boost is $10 cheaper only because of the rebate.

OK. What would be the optimal GPU here, within $50 of the 650, besides Boost? 7790? R7?

Does it make sense to downgrade CPU to, say, i5 4440?

 

[Seba]

Please note that I edited the above post to correct the mistake of mixing up the $10 rebate. In fact, Boost version is cheaper than non-Boost (the rebate is for Boost version).

Radeon 7790 (rebranded as R7 260x, with minor changes) is slightly below GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB.

Radeon 7850 2GB is slightly above GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB.

Above that level you have:

GTX 660

Radeon R9 270 (and R9 270x, which is an overclocked R9 270) and Radeon 7870.

More powerfull cards are more than $200 (usually).

Does it make sense to downgrade CPU to, say, i5 4440?

In this case, for around $20 more than i5 4570, I would go the other way and choose i5 4670 Haswell (any later CPU upgrade would be much more expensive than the price increase that you would have to pay now).

If you really want a cheaper CPU, then go for i3, Pentium or Celeron (or AMD).

 

[dnut_00]

Thank you. This was very helpful.

 

[RayTheKing]

http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx
i7 4770k+Z87 board for $345 / i5 4670k+Z87 board for $265

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127722
Never seen a HD 7870 go so low.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103099
A bit nicer than a 212 EVO for a buck less (Free Shipping)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186058
Very silent

BTW: I'd rather get a Corsair 300R for 50 bucks: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811139011

-and a modular, good quality Rosewill PSU for another 50:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182132

 

[mfenn]

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. US ( for the sake of discussion) - newegg prices are fine

When working with a tight budget, it is always preferable to see the actual product selection. Based on this statement and a few others in the thread, I take it that you aren't in the US. Can you let us know the actual shops you will use?

 

[mfenn]

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 GT Rev. 2 28.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($7.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB Video Card ($153.57 @ Newegg)
Case: Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $566.52

- CPU: Good for a non-overclocking build
- HSF: Basically no better than the stock cooler, skip.
- Mobo: Too expensive for a non-overclocking, single GPU build. You want to be looking at B85 and H87 boards.
- GPU: A 7850 2GB should be very inexpensive around $110 or so (assuming your prices really do match US prices). It's also faster than the GTX 650 Ti as an added bonus.
- Case: Good

Let me know the exact place you'll be buying from (see above) and I'll link you some specific parts.

 

[dnut_00]

Thank you all for your replies.

Not in US, true. Local shops won't help you, trust me.

I actually am not sure what will I get from where, however. Some might be brought in from US, some purchased over newegg.

The budget is also not that tight. I am OK with $50 - $100 here or there, as long as it serves a purpose.

As I said, we can assume newegg prices, that should give us a nice base (skipping rebates and bundles, naturally) to work with.

I composed a bit different build (below are things I ponder upon):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.97 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 GT Rev. 2 28.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($7.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87-D3HP ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($125.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($174.00 @ Mac Mall)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($84.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $1054.85

Comments:

1. The CPU comes as tray - so no cooling is included (I assume). If it were, I'd skip the cooler, indeed.
2. I like Z87 boards due to, mostly, better LAN chip and more USB3 connectors. Would be happy to be wrong.

What I am not sure about:

1. Should I upgrade CPU?

To i5 4670 or i5 4570? May be even consider future OC (doubtful) and go 4670K (I am still not sure whether I'd do it and how it would benefit my workflow/gaming, but it may be nice to have an option). I plan to use the machine for coding and office work much more than for gaming, but I assume (?) CPU won't bottleneck me in anyway here.

2. Motherboard is not SLI compatible. Should this be a concern?

3. Which GPU?

Do I even need it that expensive? For Diablo 3 and Path of Exile and may be something similar?

4. Would I need additional cooling for the GPU (no OC)?

I hope this is not too much to ask and thank you again.

 

[Seba]

1. The CPU comes as tray - so no cooling is included (I assume). If it were, I'd skip the cooler, indeed.

In your link it is the boxed version, with the cooler (heath-sink and fan) included. Check the description on the shop page.

 

[dnut_00]

I know. Mine doesn't. Thanks.

 

[Seba]

If you are not actually going to buy from the shops from your links, then it would be better to either not put any link, or to link to the product page on the manufacturer web site.

 

[mfenn]

If you are not actually going to buy from the shops from your links, then it would be better to either not put any link, or to link to the product page on the manufacturer web site.

Agree 100%.

Dnut, this is why we need to see the exact place you're going to be buying from. Otherwise, we're just shooting in the dark and will waste our time on useless recommendations that don't apply.

We have done builds in Japan, Singapore, India, Qatar, Poland, Germany, Latvia, Brazil, and so on. What makes you think we can't do a build given a link to the appropriate shop or price list?

 

[dnut_00]

Because I am not sure I am going to buy it from one store, like I've mentioned before. Some things I might get delivered from US.

I understand the issue here, but really, I am OK with just going off pcpartpicker.com or something (just as I said in the original post), because for me, it's much more important to understand the reasoning of a suggestion then to see if it fits the budget.

It's OK if this deters you from helping me, I understand.

 

[schmuckley]

Thank you all for your replies.

Not in US, true. Local shops won't help you, trust me.

I actually am not sure what will I get from where, however. Some might be brought in from US, some purchased over newegg.

The budget is also not that tight. I am OK with $50 - $100 here or there, as long as it serves a purpose.

As I said, we can assume newegg prices, that should give us a nice base (skipping rebates and bundles, naturally) to work with.

I composed a bit different build (below are things I ponder upon):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: http://www.microcenter.com/product/413255/Intel_Core_i5-4570_32GHz_Boxed_Processor ($160 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...max-_-35214023 ($35@ Newegg)
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138381 ($100@ Newegg)
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313080($53 @ Newegg)
Storage: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA2W014K5302 ($64.00 @Newegg) Plenty for current programs
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-n760tf2gd5oc ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182200($60 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $1054.85----$877

Comments:

1. The CPU comes as tray - so no cooling is included (I assume). If it were, I'd skip the cooler, indeed.
2. I like Z87 boards due to, mostly, better LAN chip and more USB3 connectors. Would be happy to be wrong.

What I am not sure about:

1. Should I upgrade CPU?

To i5 4670 or i5 4570? May be even consider future OC (doubtful) and go 4670K (I am still not sure whether I'd do it and how it would benefit my workflow/gaming, but it may be nice to have an option). I plan to use the machine for coding and office work much more than for gaming, but I assume (?) CPU won't bottleneck me in anyway here.

2. Motherboard is not SLI compatible. Should this be a concern?

3. Which GPU?

Do I even need it that expensive? For Diablo 3 and Path of Exile and may be something similar?

4. Would I need additional cooling for the GPU (no OC)?

I hope this is not too much to ask and thank you again.

Maybe you could add 4670k? If not..still be OK.I did some fixing

 

[dnut_00]

Thank you.

 

[escrow4]

I don't overclock anymore. Personally I have an i7 4770 + H87M-D3H in my gaming box and I am currently building a 4670 + H87-D3H office box. Going full ATX for maximum future upgradeability if required, plus the full ATX Gigabyte H87 has an Intel NIC, which is nice. I wouldn't go 4570, seeing as these chips are locked you'd want as much speed out of the box as possible.

The CPU cooler I chose for both builds is a Noctua NH-U14S. Quiet, cool, superb quality. The stock heatsink is junk. The i7 was easily hitting around 35-40 celsius ish idling from memory. Aftermarket dropped it to 30, and loads to around 52 celsius. Will also see the temps from this i5 build.

You won't be bottlenecked much in single player games, more so in multiplayer games. If that matters is up to you. I don't really care anymore.

 

[dnut_00]

Wouldn't getting Z87 get you a better upgradeability? Seeing as they provide more features, normally, thus giving you, theoretically, more flexibility with your future parts?

 

[mfenn]

Wouldn't getting Z87 get you a better upgradeability? Seeing as they provide more features, normally, thus giving you, theoretically, more flexibility with your future parts?

Z87, H87, B85, and H81 all support the same set of CPUs and you can get H87 boards with pretty much every feature of a Z87 board save for overclocking and dual-GPU. See the ASRock H87 Professional for an example. So unless you're talking about upgrading to dual-GPU (not recommended), no a Z87 board doesn't necessarily give you better upgradeability.

 

[dnut_00]

I must be missing something. No ATX H87 board I've looked into has more than 6 USB3 ports except for ASRock Fatal1ty H87 Performance. This seems like something pretty limiting to me, but I am willing to be convinced otherwise.

Should I be looking in mATX as well? I always thought that using such a board for ATX is limitin, am I totally wrong?

 

[Seba]

H87 chipset allows for 6 USB 3.0 ports + 8 USB 2.0 ports (it is the same as Z87 in this regard). If there are more than 6 USB 3.0 ports, those extra USB 3.0 ports are provided by an additional chip. But I only see the same 6 USB 3.0 on the motherboard you mentioned (ASRock Fatal1ty H87 Performance).

If you do not need the extra slots provided by (full) ATX boards, then there is nothing wrong with choosing a mATX board.