Build advice

[Dawelio]

Heya lads,

So this will be a build that a friend of mine will be doing and he asked me for some advice on it, but I thought I'd post it here for even more and better advice.

His from Belgium, and he said that they have a 21% tax over there and that he has a budget of max 2000 Euros.

The list he has gotten up so far is this:

Case: Corsair Obsidian 750D
Motherboard: ASUS B85-PRO GAMER
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790k 4GHz
Graphics card: EVGA GeForce GTX970 Superclocked
Watercooling: Corsair Hydro Series H110i GT
SSD: Corsair CSSD-F240GBGS-BK 240GB
HDD: Western Digital Black WD2003FZEX 2TB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600
Power Supply: Cooler Master G750M 750 watt

Since he's been out of the game for some time, I did mention the Vram thing with the 970 and he got a bit off on that part and wanted some more suggestions on that front...

Thanks,
Chrazey

 

[NeverBackDown]

Motherboard/CPU:
With a lower end board like that B85, I would be inclined to say drop the K and get the 4790 to save little more. Or get a cheap z97 board. Would get more quality and could keep the 4790k.

SSD: That's a pretty old SSD. I would highly recommend updating to something like a Crucial MX100/200 for reliability's sake. Could also go Intel, Samsung, or Kingston. Adata/Toshiba is pretty good too in my experience.

GPU: Not sure where he shops in Belgium, but a R9 390 is just as fast as nearly every GTX 970 at the same price. You also get the added bonus of 8GB VRAM. An extra 4.5GB over the 970 per say. Nearly every single 300 series card has an amazing cooler. I'd go with the best looking one or one that matches the color theme. If he prefers Nvidia, then the chosen 970 outta do it fine.
If he ever decides on Freesync or Gsync, something to keep in mind is Freesync is quite a bit cheaper. The AOCG2460VQ6 is extremely cheap and if he only cares for pure gaming, it should be an amazing yet cheap and effective Freesync build

 

[Dawelio]

Awesome NBD, I'll forward your post to him and see what the replies to it. Thanks bud!

 

[NeverBackDown]

Awesome NBD, I'll forward your post to him and see what the replies to it. Thanks bud!

Don't mention it, we're all helpful here. I'm just awake unlike everyone else

 

[Feronix]

Don't mention it, we're all helpful here. I'm just awake unlike everyone else

I'm still debating if I am...

But yeah as NBD said. If it's purely for games he could easily drop down to an i5 and 980/390x, especially if he's not overclocking he can save some good money there. For 1080p though, the 970s are still perfect cards and the 3.5GB VRAM limit shouldn't really be an issue.

The 750D is a bit expensive for what it is, and especially for what he wants to do with it. It's going to look empty and a bit silly. Imo, he'd be better off with something like an Enthoo Pro, which is also ~€50 cheaper.

As for the SSD, MX100s are some of the cheapest around (at least here in the Netherlands) while having performance up there with the big guys (850 Evo, etc) and Crucical are known to be super reliable so I'd really recommend them to anyone.

Also Caviar Blues are nearly as fast as Blacks these days as they're both 7200RPM with 64mb cache (on the 1TB versions at least) so that too is a good part to replace and save 2 or 3 tenners on.


Edit;
I'd also recommend him to skimp out a little less on the power supply and pick up a 650 Watt Seasonic/SuperFlower/Corsair RMi unit.

 

[Kushiro]

Hey Chrazey,

Pretty much in line with what everyone else has been saying about the SSD etc.

However. I do advise you look at something like the G1 gaming or something if you end up going with a 970 the EVGA one isn't very good.

 

[NeverBackDown]

I swear I didn't even see that he posted a 750D.. must have edited? Otherwise I would have said earlier most definitely get a smaller case. Could get something like a R5 or a Define S or heck even a NZXT H440/S340. But in the end I agree with Feronix. 750D kinda a waste.

I didn't mention the i5 for gaming argument like Feronix did, mostly because people just want it because 7>5 and I'm tired of trying to convice other's of why.. but doing so could mean a better GPU. All up to what he uses it for.

Should thank Feronix for covering topics I didn't. Like him, I'm barely awake too lol

 

[Doomslayer]

IMO the 750D is not very good build quality compare to the likes of the FD R5, Define s or the NZXT H440 or S340.

plus the other 4 cases should be cheaper than the 750D

 

[SeanAngelo]

Heya lads,

So this will be a build that a friend of mine will be doing and he asked me for some advice on it, but I thought I'd post it here for even more and better advice.

His from Belgium, and he said that they have a 21% tax over there and that he has a budget of max 2000 Euros.

The list he has gotten up so far is this:

Case: Corsair Obsidian 750D
Motherboard: ASUS B85-PRO GAMER
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790k 4GHz
Graphics card: EVGA GeForce GTX970 Superclocked
Watercooling: Corsair Hydro Series H110i GT
SSD: Corsair CSSD-F240GBGS-BK 240GB
HDD: Western Digital Black WD2003FZEX 2TB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600
Power Supply: Cooler Master G750M 750 watt

Since he's been out of the game for some time, I did mention the Vram thing with the 970 and he got a bit off on that part and wanted some more suggestions on that front...

Thanks,
Chrazey

This is what I came up with

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€241.70 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€123.97 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G1.SNIPER Z97 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€111.10 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€50.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€85.79 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€56.33 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (€700.54 @ Mindfactory)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (€99.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: SeaSonic EVO Edition 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€127.85 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1598.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-02 11:51 CEST+0200

 

[Dawelio]

Right, so after falling asleep for a few hours (didn't sleep well during the night), I woke up to a hiroshima bomb of messages from him... so he initially meant the 550D and not the 750D lol.

It also looks like he has fallen in love with the ASUS Maximus VIII Hero. And that one is 1151, so not sure if a 4790K will work on that board, due to being 1150?.

He's also looking for SLI in the future and 1080p. Now in my mind, a single card will be more than capable of handling 1080p though, like an 980, 980Ti etc... but what do you guys reckon?.

He also stated he wants to be "future proofed" for some time with this upgrade.

This is what I came up with

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€241.70 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€123.97 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G1.SNIPER Z97 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€111.10 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€50.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€85.79 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€56.33 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (€700.54 @ Mindfactory)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (€99.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: SeaSonic EVO Edition 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€127.85 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1598.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-02 11:51 CEST+0200

Thanks SeanAngelo for that, highly appreciated!

 

[Wraith]

Right, so after falling asleep for a few hours (didn't sleep well during the night), I woke up to a hiroshima bomb of messages from him... so he initially meant the 550D and not the 750D lol.

It also looks like he has fallen in love with the ASUS Maximus VIII Hero. And that one is 1151, so not sure if a 4790K will work on that board, due to being 1150?.

550D fair enough.

Correct the 4790K will NOT fit an 1151 socket, the 1151 is for Skylake CPUs.

And 980 will work fine for 1080.

 

[Feronix]

Nah, wouldn't recommend the 550D tbh. It's a bit obsolete now imo. Shame Corsair never did another silent case, but people have already recommended things such as the H440 and R5/ Define S.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Nah, wouldn't recommend the 550D tbh. It's a bit obsolete now imo. Shame Corsair never did another silent case, but people have already recommended things such as the H440 and R5/ Define S.

Yep I'd get one of these over the 550D. Really dated now.

He's gonna end up paying and immesne amount more for the Hero and a Skylake CPU. It'll probably bump him down in the GPU department. I would aim for a 390x or 980. But with these upgrades he'll probably only be able to get a 390 or 970. Or if he really wants a super high end GPU, then may need to sacrifice some other parts as well. Anything more than 390Xfire/970 SLI at 1080p is extreme overkill though. One card would be more than enough.

 

[JR23]

The 550D is sick, it's only major shortcoming is clearance above the motherboard for an AIO. A H100i fits fine with most boards though. Arguably one of the best Corsair cases ever built at it's respective price point. Nobody should under-estimate how nice the push to remove side panels are and the bi-folding solid aluminium fascia. If he likes it, still buy it even now.

Fractal R4/R5 are nice alternatives, the fact they have a window available is nice and they are a little cheaper these days.

JR

 

[SeanAngelo]

Right, so after falling asleep for a few hours (didn't sleep well during the night), I woke up to a hiroshima bomb of messages from him... so he initially meant the 550D and not the 750D lol.

It also looks like he has fallen in love with the ASUS Maximus VIII Hero. And that one is 1151, so not sure if a 4790K will work on that board, due to being 1150?.

He's also looking for SLI in the future and 1080p. Now in my mind, a single card will be more than capable of handling 1080p though, like an 980, 980Ti etc... but what do you guys reckon?.

He also stated he wants to be "future proofed" for some time with this upgrade.



Thanks SeanAngelo for that, highly appreciated!

No, unfortunately a 4790k will not work with that board. You're looking at the Skylake CPUs (i5 6600k or i7 6700k) However, there is a similar board to that in the Z97 platform. Is he just planning on staying on 1080p? If so, a single card is more than enough. If he is moving to 1440p in the future, then I suggest getting a 980Ti (you'll pretty much max some games on 1080p) for now, then SLI in the future.

 

[Dawelio]

Sorry for the late update people, but I've got some updates for him that he wanted me to share with you and I apologize for being quite confusing with it all...

So this is his updated specs:

PSU: Corsair AX760i 760 watts
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO
RAM: Kingston HyperX 16GB DDR3-2400 Kit ( 2 x 8 GB)
Processor: Intel Core i7 4790k
Watercooling: Corsair Hydro Series 110i GT
GPU: ASUS Strix GTX 980 OR GTX 980Ti (Second GPU in the future)
Case: Fractal Design R5
SSD: Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB

He also currently has an ASUS VG24QE 144hz, 24", 1080p monitor, but seems interested in the 1440p area and thinking of maybe upgrading down the road.

He's also thinking about the 980Ti for 1440p, to put it to it's fullest potential.

He's also going to register here very shortly to start posting his updates on his own, so you guys get a more direct contact with him.

Thank you all so far for all the help, highly appreciated as always!

 

[The_Mard]

Heyyo,

@Chrazey , does your friend care about overclocking your CPU at all? If not? I'd get an Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3. It's essentially the same as an Intel i7-4770 but cheaper and slightly lower TDP which is good. That also means you could drop the CPU watercooler and just stick with the stock cooler and save even more cash. Once again, only matters if your friend wants to save cash if he won't overclock.

For PSU? I'd recommend EVGA, Seasonic or Thermaltake as other brands to look for. They have longer warranties. I think Corsair is only two or three years where as the brands I just mentioned do five years. Corsair still has good rebranded PSU's... it's just they don't have as good of guarantees on lifespan eh?

Also, get an 800W minimum PSU please. If he plans on SLI in the future? You'll want lots of headroom to not risk running the PSU on full load. If you look at the nicely put together machine that @SeanAngelo put together? Add in a second GTX 980 Ti for Two-Way SLI and the estimated Wattage jumps up to 707W. You always want a MINIMUM buffer of 10% since you never want your PSU to be running near 100% load... so 707 * 1.1 = 777.7. So that means 800 Watts should be the bare minimum. If you want to keep your PSU happy? Heck, go for an 850 Watt PSU so your PSU is sitting around 80% load which will allow it to run a little more efficiently and also draw less power from the wall. Admittedly, the power draw from the wall won't save your friend much money in the long run... but a PSU generating less heat will help it live a longer lifespan.


That Asus Maximus VII Hero? Once again, unless he's into extreme overclocking trying to essentially set overclocking records? There's no need to waste so much budget on that motherboard. The Gigabyte Z97 G1.Sniper that @SeanAngelo mentioned is perfect for normal overclocking needs whilst maintaining Two-Way SLI compatibility (tbh I wouldn't bother with three-way SLI unless DirectX 12 truly delivers on native Multi-GPU support and it's too early to tell as NVIDIA and I think AMD both don't have multi-GPU drivers for Dx12). You can dig around the net and stuff or YouTube if memory serves me correctly that Linus Tech Tips even did some Z97 board overclocking comparisons and found that Asus's highest end boards barely overclock better than the cheapest Z97 boards. You essentially pay a crapton for better capacitors and stuff, but the base architecture is still the same. It's still a Z97 chipset.

I've also ran Gigabyte motherboards for years and they've always been good to me.

For GPU? You mention GTX 980 or GTX 980 Ti... just remember, if you plan on SLI? You can't mix a non-Ti with a Ti. The core of the GPU is different which would make them incompatible for SLI. With that in mind and since your friend is thinking of going up to 2560x1440? Get a GTX 980 Ti. The MSI Gaming Edition is fantastic and would compliment the red build you have... but the Gigabyte G1 Gaming Edition is the superior card when it comes to cooling and overclocking abilities.

Otherwise? The rest of the build looks fantastic.

 

[Fhraiks]

Heyyo,

@Chrazey , does your friend care about overclocking your CPU at all? If not? I'd get an Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3. It's essentially the same as an Intel i7-4770 but cheaper and slightly lower TDP which is good. That also means you could drop the CPU watercooler and just stick with the stock cooler and save even more cash. Once again, only matters if your friend wants to save cash if he won't overclock.

For PSU? I'd recommend EVGA, Seasonic or Thermaltake as other brands to look for. They have longer warranties. I think Corsair is only two or three years where as the brands I just mentioned do five years. Corsair still has good rebranded PSU's... it's just they don't have as good of guarantees on lifespan eh?

Also, get an 800W minimum PSU please. If he plans on SLI in the future? You'll want lots of headroom to not risk running the PSU on full load. If you look at the nicely put together machine that @SeanAngelo put together? Add in a second GTX 980 Ti for Two-Way SLI and the estimated Wattage jumps up to 707W. You always want a MINIMUM buffer of 10% since you never want your PSU to be running near 100% load... so 707 * 1.1 = 777.7. So that means 800 Watts should be the bare minimum. If you want to keep your PSU happy? Heck, go for an 850 Watt PSU so your PSU is sitting around 80% load which will allow it to run a little more efficiently and also draw less power from the wall. Admittedly, the power draw from the wall won't save your friend much money in the long run... but a PSU generating less heat will help it live a longer lifespan.


That Asus Maximus VII Hero? Once again, unless he's into extreme overclocking trying to essentially set overclocking records? There's no need to waste so much budget on that motherboard. The Gigabyte Z97 G1.Sniper that @SeanAngelo mentioned is perfect for normal overclocking needs whilst maintaining Two-Way SLI compatibility (tbh I wouldn't bother with three-way SLI unless DirectX 12 truly delivers on native Multi-GPU support and it's too early to tell as NVIDIA and I think AMD both don't have multi-GPU drivers for Dx12). You can dig around the net and stuff or YouTube if memory serves me correctly that Linus Tech Tips even did some Z97 board overclocking comparisons and found that Asus's highest end boards barely overclock better than the cheapest Z97 boards. You essentially pay a crapton for better capacitors and stuff, but the base architecture is still the same. It's still a Z97 chipset.

I've also ran Gigabyte motherboards for years and they've always been good to me.

For GPU? You mention GTX 980 or GTX 980 Ti... just remember, if you plan on SLI? You can't mix a non-Ti with a Ti. The core of the GPU is different which would make them incompatible for SLI. With that in mind and since your friend is thinking of going up to 2560x1440? Get a GTX 980 Ti. The MSI Gaming Edition is fantastic and would compliment the red build you have... but the Gigabyte G1 Gaming Edition is the superior card when it comes to cooling and overclocking abilities.

Otherwise? The rest of the build looks fantastic.

Hi there, i am Chrazey's friend and first of all i want to thank everyone for the advice so far. It is really appreciated!

I will have a look at the PSU and decide over a new 850W+ PSU.
Im not going for extreme overclocking so i will consider getting the Gigabyte Z97 G1.Sniper motherboard.

I will go for the GTX980 Ti GPU and will game in 1080p on it for some time, until i can get myself a new monitor to go 1440p.

Once again, thank you for all the advice so far and have a good day

 

[Doomslayer]

Hi there, i am Chrazey's friend and first of all i want to thank everyone for the advice so far. It is really appreciated!

I will have a look at the PSU and decide over a new 850W+ PSU.
Im not going for extreme overclocking so i will consider getting the Gigabyte Z91 G1.Sniper motherboard.

I will go for the GTX980 Ti GPU and will game in 1080p on it for some time, until i can get myself a new monitor to go 1440p.

Once again, thank you for all the advice so far and have a good day

With the PSU yes you could get the Corsair AXi series but you could look at a RM850i or even a Superflower.

 

[Fhraiks]

Okay, so in terms of the PSU im thinking of picking either the Corsair RM850i or Corsair RM850. I saw that the RM850 has 2% more efficiency, but is it really worth it?