Thoughts on mid-range gaming build?

[nubki11a]

Hi all,

I'm currently putting together a gaming build for a friend and was wondering what you guys thought about it before I order it for him.

What I've got so far:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590
MB: ASRock Z97 Anniversary
GPU: MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming 4G / Asus DirectCU II R9 290 (same price)
HDD : Seagate Desktop HDD ST1000DM003, 1TB
SSD : Crucial MX100 128GB
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two
PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 620W

1. The PC will be used for gaming, browsing, Word and stuff like Netflix.
2. The budget is around €800,-. Can stretch to €900,- if needed.
3. He will be buying the parts from The Netherlands.
4. He will be buying the parts using this website: tweakers.net/pricewatch.
5. No specific preference, he just wants the best bang for his buck.
6. He will not be re-using any parts.
7. He does not plan on overlocking his CPU or RAM. I will help him overclock his GPU.
8. I'm not quite sure what resolution he will be running yet. We are aiming for a 1440p monitor but if that isn't possible he will go for 1920x1080.
9. He will be buying the parts within the next couple days, depending on what you guys have to say about the build

Thanks for reading, I'm looking forward to your opinions!

 

[nsafreak]

Looks like a solid build although two things I would change:

1) Go for a 250 GB MX100 instead, it's surprising how fast you can use up the space on a 128GB SSD

2) Consider a different case. I have a number of recommendations potentially but I need to know what's available from the site you're purchasing from. Have a link available we could use?

 

[nubki11a]

Thanks for your reply. The reason I went for the 128GB version was that he's already stretching his budget (price for entire build is around €880,-) and because he would only use his SSD for Windows, a few important programs and a couple games. I'll ask him if he could stretch it any further, though I doubt it because it would be €40,- extra.

The website he will be purchasing the parts from will be www.tweakers.net/pricewatch. It compares the prices of different webshops in The Netherlands.

 

[nsafreak]

Perfectly understandable on the budget. For cases some other ones that I would recommend over the 302 would be the Corsair Carbide 200R, Fractal Design 1000 (USB 3 version) and the Corsair SPEC-02. You can also free up a bit of the budget by going with a Seasonic S12II Bronze 520W power supply, it'll have plenty of juice to power the components chose.

 

[Ken g6]

No overclocking means no need for Z97. He could go for an H97 if he prefers ASRock and/or full-ATX over mATX. Edit: With the Fractal Design Core 1000, mATX is necessary.

Slightly cheaper RAM is also possible.

 

[nsafreak]

No overclocking means no need for Z97. He could go for an H97 if he prefers ASRock and/or full-ATX over mATX. Edit: With the Fractal Design Core 1000, mATX is necessary.

Slightly cheaper RAM is also possible.

True, I wasn't sure if the op was into overclocking or not so an H97 board would be fine.

 

[nubki11a]

Thanks a lot guys! Changing the PSU to the 520W version, the Antec to the Corsair 200R, the RAM to the Crucial's and the MB to the H97 version scraped almost €50,- off of the total price for the build!

 

[GoStumpy]

I have a 128gb SSD, and I need a 256.... just too small for windows AND the games you want to load fast...

 

[nubki11a]

He cannot afford to pay another €50,- for a bigger SSD. Besides, it's all about how effective you make use of the available space, I only have a 64GB SSD and it works just fine. Check out a program called SteamMover, it allows you to easily move folders of programs and games without messing them up.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Didn't you just shave off 50€ via the miscellaneous changes? Honestly, I think it would be worthwhile to sacrifice an HDD all together for just a 250GB+ SSD, and add an HDD later when the budget allows for it. 250GB still easily allows for Windows and several large programs (mine holds Photoshop, Borderlands 2, Skyrim, Oblivion, and The Witcher 2 with extra space).

 

[Ichigo]

Didn't you just shave off 50€ via the miscellaneous changes? Honestly, I think it would be worthwhile to sacrifice an HDD all together for just a 250GB+ SSD, and add an HDD later when the budget allows for it. 250GB still easily allows for Windows and several large programs (mine holds Photoshop, Borderlands 2, Skyrim, Oblivion, and The Witcher 2 with extra space).

This right here.

Nothing is worse than wanting to install just one more game on your SSD and not having the space. And loading games off an HDD is just ugh, like you're loading on a console.