New PC. Budget: £2200

[Juusuhako]

Hey people,
my best friend is finally getting a stationary PC after having dealt with laptops for years. He needs all pieces from A-Z, with the budget listed in the title.

The PC will be on the ground, so a "windowed" side is not a must, if anything it has to be as quiet as possible. I will build it for him.

The part im kinda stuck at is the new Hashwell. Should he be getting it, or is a 3770k still a better option for gaming? Know that he wont actually be overclocking, he needs everything to work "out of the box", since hes no good with the PC technical stuff.

Remember: silent as possible. I saw a chassis not long ago that had foam in it, but I forgot its name.

Feel free to ask anything, link lists of complete items and what not.

 

[Edge]

Is £2200 covering monitors/peripherals too? Either way, I'd wager getting an i7 4770k is worth it if he's splashing that much.

As for the case, I believe the Fractal Define R4 is the sweetspot. Silent, pretty, and with all the space you'd need. You could also look at an NZXT H440, but it's more expensive and I'm not sure about the airflow. Pick up some Corsair silent fans (AF quiet edition?) and an RM 750 and you won't really need to worry about sound.

The rest is just preference I guess. You can easily fit a 780Ti into that budget, but it depends want he wants it to do. You never told us if it's for gaming or what

Does he have any preferred brands? What will he be using it for? Does he need mouse/keyboard/headset/speakers/monitor? I'm sure we can all attempt to string together some builds that suit his needs if we have a little more information

 

[barnsley]

Does this include peripherals?

-edit- didn't see edge's post.

If its just for gaming he doesn't need an i7.

 

[Juusuhako]

Is £2200 covering monitors/peripherals too? Either way, I'd wager getting an i7 4770k is worth it if he's splashing that much.

As for the case, I believe the Fractal Define R4 is the sweetspot. Silent, pretty, and with all the space you'd need. You could also look at an NZXT H440, but it's more expensive and I'm not sure about the airflow. Pick up some Corsair silent fans (AF quiet edition?) and an RM 750 and you won't really need to worry about sound.

The rest is just preference I guess. You can easily fit a 780Ti into that budget, but it depends want he wants it to do. You never told us if it's for gaming or what

Does he have any preferred brands? What will he be using it for? Does he need mouse/keyboard/headset/speakers/monitor? I'm sure we can all attempt to string together some builds that suit his needs if we have a little more information

Sorry, forgot to add that.
He needs a monitor and a keyboard. Ill figure out about the keyboard (if the PC will be in his bedroom he has to respect his GFs sleeping - so I guess brown switches are ideal). In regards to the monitor, more and more are getting 1440p monitors. Doesnt BenQ have a 1440p 144hz monitor?

I will note down the 2 chassis' you mention, is the Fractal the one with the foam? (cant find anything on google pictures).

It is definitely for gaming. I did plan to get the 780TI, question is if he should Sli, with a 1440p monitor? He doesnt have any preferred brands.

Does this include peripherals?

-edit- didn't see edge's post.

If its just for gaming he doesn't need an i7.

He may not need it, but he wants it. It may be "the right thing to do" to get something cheaper, but hes not interested in this, he doesnt wanna save a dime here and there... except for the Titan, thats too expensive.

 

[Edge]

Sure, he could SLI 780Tis, it'd be pretty awesome for 1440p. Let me finish some work and I'll get back with a build plan

EDIT: As for 1440p and 144hz, atm it's a choice between the two. No monitors come with both, afaik.

You could get a ROG SWIFT PG278Q which is 1440p and 120Hz+, but it's not released yet.

 

[Juusuhako]

Sure, he could SLI 780Tis, it'd be pretty awesome for 1440p. Let me finish some work and I'll get back with a build plan

Awesome, thank you.

 

[barnsley]

Here is my attempt. Case is just a suggestion, not concrete. Left ~£400 for a monitor.
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3Ri0SCPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.40 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£63.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard (£119.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£110.69 @ Dabs)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£203.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£54.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£295.19 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£295.19 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT H630 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case (£80.08 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£139.98 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £1659.14

 

[MadShadow]

No point in a "K" Cpu. If he isn't overclocking, just get a locked cpu, and even an H87/97 motherboard. That will save money for SLI possibilities.

 

[Edge]

Here is my attempt. Case is just a suggestion, not concrete. Left ~£400 for a monitor.
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3Ri0SCPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.40 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£63.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard (£119.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£110.69 @ Dabs)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£203.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£54.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£295.19 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£295.19 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT H630 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case (£80.08 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£139.98 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £1659.14

You sure it's worth going 290 without watercooling? They are a fair bit noisier than their 780 counterparts, no? D:

 

[barnsley]

You sure it's worth going 290 without watercooling? They are a fair bit noisier than their 780 counterparts, no? D:

lol nope ^_^. Thats stock cooled 290s. These are PCS, which are one of the best aircooled 290/290x. Here is a graph from Tom's review.

 

[Edge]

lol nope ^_^. Thats stock cooled 290s. These are PCS, which are one of the best aircooled 290/290x. Here is a graph from Tom's review.

Wow those are fantastic. I retract my previous statement, and want a pair myself! xD

 

[barnsley]

Wow those are fantastic. I retract my previous statement, and want a pair myself! xD

Those cards and the ones that Sapphire make (aka the tri-x,Toxic and the Vapor-x) are fantastic ^_^. MSI's lightning one is supposedly the best of the bunch though.

 

[Edge]

Those cards and the ones that Sapphire make (aka the tri-x,Toxic and the Vapor-x) are fantastic ^_^. MSI's lightning one is supposedly the best of the bunch though.

I'll keep that in mind. I'm using a Vapor-X 270x right now which I'm extremely happy with, but I think I need to keep my eyes on those Lightning 290s ;D

 

[barnsley]

I'll keep that in mind. I'm using a Vapor-X 270x right now which I'm extremely happy with, but I think I need to keep my eyes on those Lightning 290s ;D

If I had a case that supported one I'd be all over it ^_^.

 

[Juusuhako]

Here is my attempt. Case is just a suggestion, not concrete. Left ~£400 for a monitor.
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3Ri0SCPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.40 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£63.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard (£119.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£110.69 @ Dabs)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£203.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£54.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£295.19 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£295.19 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT H630 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case (£80.08 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£139.98 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £1659.14

Sorry for the late reply, I had to find the parts on a danish website. Heres what I came up with (total price: £1.670): Link to basket

They dont have the PowerColor GPUs or the Fury Rams. He doesnt need a regular HDD. The NZXT case seems a tad expensive, and many recommend the Define R4 (I like the soundkilling foam, lol). He doesnt need OS.

I admit im an Nvidia guy, but the Ti-models are very expensive compared to the AMDs (but I dont know them, I never had AMD). Are the R9 290 on par with non-ti 780s? Whats the difference of the 290 and 290X models? Arent Physx Nvidia-only, and you need an Nvidia card to use it?

 

[barnsley]

Sorry for the late reply, I had to find the parts on a danish website. Heres what I came up with (total price: £1.670): Link to basket

They dont have the PowerColor GPUs or the Fury Rams. He doesnt need a regular HDD. The NZXT case seems a tad expensive, and many recommend the Define R4 (I like the soundkilling foam, lol). He doesnt need OS.

I admit im an Nvidia guy, but the Ti-models are very expensive compared to the AMDs (but I dont know them, I never had AMD). Are the R9 290 on par with non-ti 780s? Whats the difference of the 290 and 290X models? Arent Physx Nvidia-only, and you need an Nvidia card to use it?

Right, the basket link doesn't work so I can't see what you chose. The Define R4 is alright for single cards on air, not two. Physx is pretty much dead so pointless. The 290 is slightly better than a 780.

 

[Juusuhako]

Right, the basket link doesn't work so I can't see what you chose. The Define R4 is alright for single cards on air, not two. Physx is pretty much dead so pointless. The 290 is slightly better than a 780.

Odd, heres a picture instead. (MINOR UPDATE: He has a Samsung 245B, so he doesnt need a monitor. Like I said hes no technical person, so he doesnt know what 120hz means nor how it looks - im sure the Samsung is more than fine for him).

Now this is within the 20.000DKK (only keyboard missing). And its with 2 780Ti. But what chassis would you recommend for 2 780Ti's then?
Im sorry im looking "away" from your AMD cards, but if I can get with Nvidia I will. Is the PSU enough for 2 Ti's? (he wont OC anything).

 

[barnsley]

The ram and cpu cooler won't work. You'll want low profile ram if you want to use that cooler.

 

[Juusuhako]

The ram and cpu cooler won't work. You'll want low profile ram if you want to use that cooler.

Are either of these 2 fine? I have no idea what the difference is, they look identical but the NH-U12DX is more expensive.

Cooler 1
Cooler 2

 

[barnsley]

Either one will take up a ram slot. Why don't you get the H80i?