Gaming rigs 1000-1200euro

Erin

New member
Hey everyone!

First time poster and long time lurker here asking for some advice.
I will be building two more or less identical Haswell rigs in about a month and would like your opinions on the parts that I selected and perhaps some suggestion for parts I am not sure of. (I only recently got into hardware a bit more so my knowledge is still somewhat limited. I have not built a comp from scratch before.)

Here are the specs with the prices from stores listed on http://tweakers.net/ (Live in the Netherlands)

PC#1
Intel Core i5-4670k 192e
MSI GTX 770 280e
MSI z87-g45 Gaming 125e
Crucial Ballistix Tactical DDR3-1600 8GB(2x4GB) 65e
Seasonic G Series 650W 100e
Corsair H100i 95e
Corsair Carbide 540 Air 115e
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 70e
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 140e
Total=1182e

PC#2
Intel Core i5-4670k 192e
MSI GTX 770 280e
MSI z87-g45 Gaming 125e
Crucial Ballistix Tactical DDR3-1600 16GB(2x8GB) 130e
Seasonic G Series 650W 100e
Corsair H100i 95e
Corsair Carbide 540 Air 115e
Total=1037e

PC#1 will be used mainly for gaming, browsing and just every day use, PC#2 will be used mostly for gaming but also AutoCAD/Revit/3dsMax/V-Ray (mostly AutoCAD, the rest more on side projects).
Budget wise I want to stay under 1200euro, but the closer to 1000e the better, generally I'm just looking for value for money and something that will last me for some time without going over the top with parts I don't really need. The second PC won't need a SSD nor a HDD since I have relatively new ones already.
I plan on doing some overclocking on the CPU but I likely wont touch the ram so that's one spot I would like to save on, also would I be cutting it close if I went with 8gb iso 16gb on PC#2?
I'm not really an expert on mobos so with this build I went for compatibility/harmony with the gpu, but I would be open for other options or upgrades on the current one if that's the better/smart thing to do.
Love the look of the H100i but do I really need to include it or is it just overkill? Since silence doesn't really matter much for these builds. I'm also not sure about the PSU and even if it will be enough for the system so would love some feedback there as well.
Oh and before I forget, on the first pc we'll be playing at 1920x1080 and on the second at 1920x1200, don't plan on going Crossfire/SLI on either.

That should be all, sorry for the wall of text , hope it wasn't to exhausting :)
Any feedback is appreciated!
 
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PC1 looks find. If you can find a 280x for same price or cheaper i say get it over the 770. Its faster more often than not.

PC2 on the other hand.. get the i7 4770k. That software will make use of the hypthreaded cores. Keep the 16GB as it will be needed but on this one keep the 770. unless they all utilize OpenCL then in that case use a 280x(OpenCL only runs well on AMD cards with GCN).. but i don't think they do so should be fine there.
 
I can get a 280x for about 20e less or the same as the 770, but my experiences with AMD cards are pretty bad so the 770 was more of a personal preference.
Was considering the i7 4770k before I made the list, seems like a good upgrade, I'll definitely look some more into it.

Do you think I should stick with the H100i? I honestly don't know what temps to expect with either CPU and it was one of the spots I thought I could potentially save some money by downgrading.

Thanks for the feedback!
 
AMD drivers have come a long way and i honestly think you should give them a try if it saves you money. I got two different AMD cards and neither have ever given me problems.

Temps will be fine and i would say look into the H75 or something else in that price range to save a little. Also if you did downgrade to the H75 and switched the 280x then it should be about enough to only spend just a tad extra for the 4770k.
 
Sounds like an idea, thanks!

Also after doing some more digging and some basic math I decided to change the PSU to the Seasonic G Series 650W. I was also considering the XFX Pro 650W XXX but the 80 Plus Gold rating on the Seasonic won in the end even though the reviews for both were pretty good.
 
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Make sure to use the cables in the Seasonic box ONLY. If you use different cables it won't boot up. From expeirence this is what works.
 
Make a build log? Would be very cool and many others can chime in and give you advice for the future and such. Or just compliment your work as well:)
 
I won't be ordering the parts for a couple weeks so will take a bit, but when I start I certainly will, atm I'm still exploring options so my list might change some still ^^

Btw. swapped out some other parts:
H80i instead of the H100i
Graphite 230T instead of the Air 540 (just like it more than the Arc Midi)-might be a bit tight on future expansion options but it will allow me to grab the i7-4770k and I dont plan on going for more sophisticated (read: bigger) AIO/water cooling option for this build anyway
 
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