build help - $500 while reusing some parts

[se4b4ss]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

90% web browsing and email, 10% gaming. I rarely run high settings even when I can.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

~$500 after tax and shipping.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Dallas, TX. I'm an Amazon Prime member and work near the Dallas Microcenter.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

For sure:
MB, CPU, memory, SSD, HDD, GPU

Maybe:
Case, PS

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Reusing for sure:
KB, mouse, monitors

I'll reuse these unless I can make the budget work to get better stuff or they aren't compatible:
Case - Antec LifeStyle SONATA II
PS - CORSAIR 450VX

6) Will you be overclocking?

Not since my Celeron 300A was the only one ever not to make it to 450Mhz.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

2x Acer x223w @ 1680 x 1050

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Buying this week.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

Nothing fancy, just the standard stuff like USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Yes, Windows 7 64 bit.

I'd like to keep the power used/heat/noise to a reasonable level.

Current specs are in my signature but here they are again:

Intel C2Q 9550
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 800
BFG GeForce GTX 260 896MB
OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD
250GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
LITE-ON Black 12X BluRay Burner
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II
CORSAIR 450VX

Here is what I put together today, but would really appreciate some feedback:

CPU:
Intel I5-4590 - $160 + tax

MB:
MSI Z87-G41 - $80 + tax ($70 after rebate)

MEMORY:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $83 - 10%? code: EMCPDHF34)

SSD:
Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5-Inch SATA III - $80 + tax

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch - $53 + tax

GPU:
Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB GDDR5 - $120 + tax ($110 after rebate)

 

[defaultluser]

That's a well-specced out build with no obvious weak points. But if I were to make a single suggestion, it would be to step-up to this 256GB SSD for $110:

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX100-adapter-Internal-CT256MX100SSD1/dp/B00KFAGCWK

Crucial is just as reputable a brand as Samsung and Intel, and while you won't get the same peak performance the EVO will, this drive is not far behind:

http://www.storagereview.com/crucial_mx100_ssd_review

Also take into account that the 256GB EVO model featured in the review I linked is much faster than the 128GB model, due to having twice the flash chips to address. The write IOPs drop by half for the 128GB model, and that is why Samsung didn't send out review samples to anyone:

So for $30 more you get twice the capacity and similar performance. It's a helluva deal!

 

[Dangman]

Since you actually work near a MC, you might as well get the motherboard from there to take advantage of their CPU + mobo combos as seen here:
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/303c10a3#/303c10a3/33

I'd probably look at the Core i5 4670K with the Asus H97M-Plus, MSI Z97-G55 SLI, or the AsRock Z97 Extreme 4.

As for the SSD, I would highly recommend reading this review as well:
http://techreport.com/review/26532/crucial-mx100-solid-state-drive-reviewed

 

[se4b4ss]

Is it generally true that you get better performance from a larger SSD or is that just in this case? I may still stick with the smaller one since it's still an SSD and I suspect faster than the one I have and it feels fast to me.

What about the GPU I selected? Is that a solid performer at that price point?

Are there any parts that I can save a few bucks for about the same performance? I'd really like to pick up this case:

Corsair 200R - $60 + tax

 

[defaultluser]

SSDs are designed to take advantage of the multiple channels on the controller (usually eight), so that minimum number of chips is needed to keep things fed. There is some additional benefit to adding more chips than channels, but there is an upper-limit on those.

Your GPU is an impressive value. It's also low power!

 

[se4b4ss]

MC has the 4590S for just $10 more than the 4590. What are your thoughts on the 4590S? I'm reading ~25% less power consumption (presumably less heat and noise) with the same performance.

 

[E4g1e]

MC has the 4590S for just $10 more than the 4590. What are your thoughts on the 4590S? I'm reading ~25% less power consumption (presumably less heat and noise) with the same performance.

Not really the same performance. Although the maximum Turbo clock speed for both the i5-4590 and the i5-4590S is equal at 3.7GHz, the maximum Turbo speed applies only when only one of the four CPU cores is in use (and thus only in single-threaded applications). But the 4590S has a 300MHz lower stock clock speed than the 4500 (3.0GHz versus 3.3GHz), and its maximum Turbo speed with all four cores in use is still 200MHz lower than the plain 4590 (in this case, 3.3GHz versus 3.5GHz). In fact, with all four cores in use, the i5-4590S with Turbo set to maximum only performs equal to the plain i5-4590 with Turbo disabled. (In other words, Intel has capped the maximum usable multicore-utilized speed of its S CPUs in order to save just a few watts of load power consumption.)

Moreover, only at or near full load will you see much of a difference in power consumption between the two CPUs. At or near idle, the two CPUS consume practically equal wattage.

As such, the 4590S is only worth it if you have a cramped case with relatively poor airflow.

 

[se4b4ss]

That's good info, thank you sir. I'll go with the 4590.

I'm going to go with the bigger SSD and no new HDD. I use about 180GB of combined SSD and HDD space. ~85GB of that is family pictures. If I do a 256GB SSD and use my current 250GB HDD just for family pictures, I'll still be using less than 1/2 of the SSD's 256GB capacity. Plus, this saves about $25.

So, current build list looks like this:

CPU:
Intel I5-4590 - $160 + tax

MB:
ASRock Z97 Extreme 4 - $105 + tax ($145 - $40 w/ CPU combo, $85 after rebate)

MEMORY:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $83 - 10%? code: EMCPDHF34)

SSD:
Crucial MX100 256GB - $110 + tax

GPU:
Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB GDDR5 - $120 + tax ($110 after rebate)

CASE:
Corsair 200R - $60 + tax

That's about $638 before taxes, shipping, and rebates, $600 if 10% code works and rebates come back. A little above budget, but this build should last quite a while for me.

 

[se4b4ss]

Bah. That GPU won't work because I need dual DVI for my monitors.

Any suggestions for GPUs in that price point? I need dual DVI and need to power the whole system with a Corsair 450VX.

 

[se4b4ss]

Maybe this guy?

EVGA GeForce GT 740 4GB GDDR5 Dual DVI - $120

 

[E4g1e]

So, current build list looks like this:

CPU:
Intel I5-4590 - $160 + tax

MB:
ASRock Z97 Extreme 4 - $105 + tax ($145 - $40 w/ CPU combo, $85 after rebate)

Unfortunately, that CPU does not qualify for the $40 combo discount. You will need to purchase the i5-4670K (or the i5-4690K when available) if you want the i5 and the $40 combo discount. That alone actually makes the i5-4590 and motherboard combo more expensive overall than the i5-4670K with that same mobo (or equal in price to that same motherboard with the i5-4690k).

 

[se4b4ss]

Unfortunately, that CPU does not qualify for the $40 combo discount. You will need to purchase the i5-4670K (or the i5-4690K when available) if you want the i5 and the $40 combo discount. That alone actually makes the i5-4590 and motherboard combo more expensive overall than the i5-4670K with that same mobo (or equal in price to that same motherboard with the i5-4690k).

Haha, you are correct sir. I just got back from MC and they confirmed the same.

I ended up getting a bundle deal on the CPU and Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 for $10 off the already discounted price, so $70.

Looking for another motherboard now.

 

[se4b4ss]

Placed an order with Amazon for the remainder of the gear. Here is my final parts list:

CPU:
Intel I5-4590 - $160 + tax
http://www.microcenter.com/product/432161/BOX_INTEL_CORE_I5-4590

MB:
GIGABYTE GA-H97-D3H - $100
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K7807MQ

MEMORY:
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 - $70 + tax
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...l_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_4GB_Memory_Modules)

SSD:
Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5" - $110 + tax
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KFAGCWK/

GPU:
EVGA GeForce GT 740 4GB GDDR5 - $120 + tax
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJGYOGG

CASE:
Carbide Series 200R - $58 + tax
http://www.microcenter.com/product/404779/Carbide_Series_200R_Mid_Tower_ATX_Computer_Case

Thanks everybody for the help!

 

[Dangman]

GPU:
EVGA GeForce GT 740 4GB GDDR5 - $120 + tax
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJGYOGG

This is a bad choice for the money. You could have gotten the faster R7 260X for $5 more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150689

Even if you wanted to stick with Nvidia, that GT 740 is still a bad choice since the faster GTX 750 was only $10 more:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JSI7VUC/?tag=extension-kb-20

In terms of price to performance, the extra $5 to $10 is well worth it.

 

[E4g1e]

This is a bad choice for the money. You could have gotten the faster R7 260X for $5 more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150689

Even if you wanted to stick with Nvidia, that GT 740 is still a bad choice since the faster GTX 750 was only $10 more:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JSI7VUC/?tag=extension-kb-20

In terms of price to performance, the extra $5 to $10 is well worth it.

I agree with this assessment, especially since the GT 740 is not a Maxwell GPU at all - but is instead basically a renamed GTX 650 (non-Ti). In fact, the GT 740 really is what the GT 640 should have been all along.