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New Build Opinions

K

Kane_233

n00b
Joined
Aug 18, 2014
Messages
10
So here's my plan:

i5 4690K
Phantek aftermarket updraft 140mm cpu cooler (Air)
Gigabyte UD5H Z97
Hyper X Fury 8GB 1866
Samsung 850 Pro SSD 256GB
WD 2TB Black
Corsair 750 Full Modular PSU

This rig is mainly for gaming, web browsing, and to be overclocked (On Air - no liquid). My budget is around $1,000 for these components. I'm attempting to get a GPU over ebay or through a trade/sale in forums. My aim is to get a Radeon 290X from a vendor with third party cooling installed (Sapphire preferred).

I live in the SF Bay Area (California y'all), and it looks like the only thing I'll be reusing is my case ( Gigabyte 3DAurora ATX Tower). My monitor is a 27" AOC l2757fh with a max res of 1920x1080 (in all its IPS glory).

I'm looking to buy these parts soon (Within a month) but I have a couple questions for the more initiated (It's been a while since I've done this - current rig is an E8400 Core Duo and it's just done). Featurewise on the motherboard I'm looking for something that's got a bit of an edge in the future so I'm looking for any with an M.2 connector because that's something I could see myself playing with later. Outside of that my primary concern is performance - I don't think I'll be using a RAID array or utilizing SLI/Crossfire as my max res isn't too demanding. The UD5H appears to have that crown. I plan on using my Windows 7 64 bit license until I see what else Windows has to offer (haven't been too impressed lately).

Hopefully that's enough general background information. My biggest concern is choosing the right GPU for me. The competition between APIs annoys me greatly and it's something that's always in the back of my head. On top of this, I've always been an nVidia consumer. But looking at price/performance the newer R9's appear to have an edge. But it gets tricky when I have to weigh which games will actually run well on their API and which games won't...

I'd like to play BF4, The Witcher 3, Destiny, etc.

On top of all of that, I'm going to use air cooling as best I can to get my CPU in the 4.8ghz range (If the batch my CPU came from allows it).

Anyways, suggestions and comments are welcome. Thanks!
 
The 290x should handle anything 1080p no problems (pretty much a 280x will too) and your build seams pretty solid as well. As far as the m.2 Connector I am not really sold on the performance gains to relative enhancement yet but time will tell on that stuff.

Really the only thing I would do and this is just a personal preference, is to go itx and make it super small ;)
 
Not seeing a good reason for you to get the UD5H over something like AsRock Z97 Killer or Asus Z97-A motherboards.

The hard drive, RAM, and PSU are all bad choices for the money. The WD 2TB Black does not offer enough of a performance increase to justify that higher cost. I recommend the Seagate 4TB instead:
$130 - Seagate Barracuda ST4000DM000 4TB 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive

For the RAM, current Intel platforms don't show a noticeable performance increase with higher speed RAM or with multiple channels either. So you're fine with a single stick 8GB of DDR3 1600 RAM. For all intents and purposes, you're not going to notice a difference between the two. SO might as well save money:
$77 - Crucial Ballistix BLS8G3D1609ES2LX0 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

As for the PSU, you just stated that you weren't doing any SLI or CFX. As such, you don't need a 750W PSU in general and you're better off just going up in quality rather than power. So I recommend this Seasonic 550W instead:
$90 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU

Even if you were doing SLI/CFX, I still wouldn't recommend that Corsair since $20 more gets you a higher quality Seasonic:
$140 - Seasonic X750 Gold 750W Modular PSU

As for your case, It's pretty cramped inside and the cooling isn't all that great nor does it have the necessary mounts for a SSD. It's more cost effective and safer to just buy a new case:
$65 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Case
 
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Dangman said:
Not seeing a good reason for you to get the UD5H over something like AsRock Z97 Killer or Asus Z97-A motherboards.
Click to expand...

Performance? And to be honest, as good as the AsRock's are their shoddy build quality deter me from making the buy. I've heard great things about the extreme series.

Dangman said:
The hard drive, RAM, and PSU are all bad choices for the money. The WD 2TB Black does not offer enough of a performance increase to justify that higher cost. I recommend the Seagate 4TB instead:
$130 - Seagate Barracuda ST4000DM000 4TB 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Click to expand...

What is "enough of a performance increase?"

Dangman said:
For the RAM, current Intel platforms don't show a noticeable performance increase with higher speed RAM or with multiple channels either. So you're fine with a single stick 8GB of DDR3 1600 RAM. For all intents and purposes, you're not going to notice a difference between the two. SO might as well save money:
$77 - Crucial Ballistix BLS8G3D1609ES2LX0 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
Click to expand...

This I've heard but I'm not just gaming. I'm going to have multiple tabs open a lot while on the web/running active X elements/java apps/flash/etc in the background.

Dangman said:
As for the PSU, you just stated that you weren't doing any SLI or CFX. As such, you don't need a 750W PSU in general and you're better off just going up in quality rather than power. So I recommend this Seasonic 550W instead:
$90 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU

Even if you were doing SLI/CFX, I still wouldn't recommend that Corsair since $20 more gets you a higher quality Seasonic:
$140 - Seasonic X750 Gold 750W Modular PSU

As for your case, It's pretty cramped inside and the cooling isn't all that great nor does it have the necessary mounts for a SSD. It's more cost effective and safer to just buy a new case:
$65 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Case
Click to expand...

Why is a Seasonic considered a better build quality? I've honestly never heard of them. Outside of that, my case is actually pretty large. It's a full tower. It's this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233002

I was just going to jimmy rig the SSD.
 
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Kane_233 said:
Performance? And to be honest, as good as the AsRock's are their shoddy build quality deter me from making the buy. I've heard great things about the extreme series.
Click to expand...
Their PCBs are thin I'll give you that but lately a lot of their mobos have been pretty damn solid. Just a FYI, just a few years ago I was very vocal against recommending AsRock:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038972106&postcount=13
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038704906&postcount=15

But after reading several more recent HardOCP reviews and actually playing with some AsRock mobos, I'm no longer hesitant in recommending ASRock.

Kane_233 said:
What is "enough of a performance increase?"
Click to expand...
Something actually noticeable in your every day use. You're seriously not going to notice a difference between that Black and a Seagate unless you're doing 24/7 file transfers.

Kane_233 said:
This I've heard but I'm not just gaming. I'm going to have multiple tabs open a lot while on the web/running active X elements/java apps/flash/etc in the background.
Click to expand...
Yeah, still not going to make a difference. Photoshop is generally very very RAM demanding yet it's been shown that higher speed RAM doesn't actually make a noticeable difference there:
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CS6-Memory-Optimization-182/


Kane_233 said:
Why is a Seasonic considered a better build quality? I've honestly never heard of them.
Click to expand...
Seasonic is actually one of the biggest names in PSUs actually due to their generally better overall quality. Even Corsair has/had a few PSUs that are built by Seasonic. To see the difference between the two, read these two reviews:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/11/13/corsair_rm750_750w_power_supply_review/#.U_VRkvldXt8
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/01/09/seasonic_gseries_g550_power_supply_review/#.U_VR0PldXt8

As you can see from the above reviews, Corsair kinda failed a bit with the RM750.

Kane_233 said:
Outside of that, my case is actually pretty large. It's a full tower. It's this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233002

I was just going to jimmy rig the SSD.
Click to expand...
Internally, it's actually closer to a current generation mid-tower than a current generation full tower case. It's technically only a full tower in the sense that it's tall. But these days, many mid-tower and full tower cases have PSUs on the bottom and a single rear fan rather than two. Hence the lower overall height.

Anyway, the increase in height is not a huge factor since length is the bigger factor. Here's a picture I dug up of a Gigabyte 3D Aurora with a system in it:
http://users.tpg.com.au/adsludki/q9450/IMG_6995.jpg

Compare the lack of space to the cheap $50 NZXT Source 210 Elite:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/dangman4ever/IMG_1513_zps64c00c4e.jpg
 
Ok, so I'm getting this PSU now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

I'd go lower on the watts if I could but I want a full modular PSU. It reduces clutter.

In terms of HD I've settled on this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148844

I've looked into the 230T and decided I'd buy one with the money I'm saving by getting these components.

The difference in cost between an 1866 and 1600 stick is negligible and the same goes for configuration so I'm just sticking with two 4GB 1866 sticks for $93.

I'm just stuck on motherboard.

I'm looking at the ASRock Extreme 6, the Fatality Z97X Killer, or just sticking with the UD5H. How's the bios' on ASRock's end?

Alternatively, I know you've recommended the Asus series but my last mobo was Asus and while it served me well I'd like to try a different brand this time around to broaden my horizons.
 
Kane_233 said:
Ok, so I'm getting this PSU now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

I'd go lower on the watts if I could but I want a full modular PSU. It reduces clutter.
Click to expand...
Not a good choice. It's actually of lower quality than the Seasonic I posted earlier. IN addition, it's not any more modular than the Seasonic I posted earlier: Yes the Seasonic M12II has modular 24Pin and 8Pin EPS12V connectors but those are the two parts you absolutely need to connect to power the computer. SO it doesn't matter if those two connectors are modular since they have to be connected no matter what. So you're essentially paying more for lower quality and performance at the end of the day. Not to mention that at $95, it's also badly priced since $13 more gets you an even higher quality and higher amperaged (54A on the +12V rail VS 48A on the +12V for the M12II) Seasonic:
$108 - Seasonic G Series SSR-650RM 650W Modular PSU

Kane_233 said:
The difference in cost between an 1866 and 1600 stick is negligible and the same goes for configuration so I'm just sticking with two 4GB 1866 sticks for $93.
Click to expand...
Negligible? Ahh that RAM I posted went up in price. Well here's another cheaper set of RAM:
$77 - Crucial Ballistix BLS8G3D1609DS1S00 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

So with the above price in mind, a $16 increase in price for a 1% performance increase under most circumstances is not a smart choice. Not to mention that it also limits your future RAM upgrades to only 24GB of RAM max before needing to replace RAM. With that said, you could use that $16 towards a second 8GB set of RAM as DDR3 RAM pricing is only going to go higher in price as Intel transitions to DDR4 RAM and the significantly high demand for smaller RAM. SO I recommend this RAM:
$155 - Crucial BLS2CP8G3D1609DS1S00 Ballistix Sport 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

If your web usage is even remotely similar to mine, you're really going to want that 16GB of RAM. Hell there have been times when my current 24GB of RAM isn't enough.
Kane_233 said:
I'm just stuck on motherboard.

I'm looking at the ASRock Extreme 6, the Fatality Z97X Killer, or just sticking with the UD5H. How's the bios' on ASRock's end?

Alternatively, I know you've recommended the Asus series but my last mobo was Asus and while it served me well I'd like to try a different brand this time around to broaden my horizons.
Click to expand...
ASRock's UEFI is pretty solid as is Gigabyte. The UD5h is a good motherboard but like I said earlier I'm not seeing a good reason for you to get it. To me, it's akin to seeing someone trying to buy a brand new BMW when all they can and should afford is a Civic.
 
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LOL, ok so here's my revised list so that I can get more bang for my buck per Dangman's good advice:

Corsair Graphite Series 230T CC-9011036-WW Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s

SeaSonic SSR-650RM 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS

Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I54690K

Phanteks PH-TC14CS_BL 140mm UFB (Updraft Floating Balance) CPU Cooler

SAMSUNG 850 Pro Series MZ-7KE256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

So one of my last questions is basically what to do SSD wise. I want the fastest SSD available within financial reason (Paying over $300 for 256GB seems....egregious to me right now).

I'm also on the fence re the motherboard. I'm torn between the Z97 fatality killer and the Extreme 4 from ASrock.
 
Kane_233 said:
So one of my last questions is basically what to do SSD wise. I want the fastest SSD available within financial reason (Paying over $300 for 256GB seems....egregious to me right now).
Click to expand...
Speed isn't everything. You'd also have to factor in software/firmware support, customer support, warranty, and quality. There are some pretty fast SSDs out there that aren't the best in terms of firmware and software support, etc. If you can afford it, stick with the Samsung 850 Pro. If you want really bang for the buck at the expense of long term longevity (longer than 5 years or so), then go with the Samsung 840 Evo.
Kane_233 said:
I'm also on the fence re the motherboard. I'm torn between the Z97 fatality killer and the Extreme 4 from ASrock.
Click to expand...
In your specific case, flip a coin. If this system was for me, I'd go with the Extreme4 since it has two extra SATA ports and an Intel NIC.
AP514 said:
Hey...I love my NZXT Source 210 Elite http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/AP514/media/Computer SLI/computerSLI2.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
I Have case open to clean..got the lower card a few weeks ago....see some one tried to install the card in a case that was too small and a fan dented the pipes (I assume)
Click to expand...
It's a very solid case. However, since a lot of Crucial and Samsung SSDs do not come with 2.5" to 3.5" adapters and some people don't want to leave the SSD on the floor ot the case for whatever reason, the 230T is a solid choice in that regard.
 
The Seagate x000DM001 hard drives are junk. When they made the move to 1TB/platter they introduced an annoying head parking behavior that's loud and annoying. You'll hear this every 10 minutes or so on a good number of drives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt6asKkMJq0

I wrestled with Seagate support and forums trying to correct this behavior for months. Updating firmware did nothing; their forums are now defunct and the company literally did nothing about the issue for years since it goes back to 2012. Eventually, I just got another drive.

If you're one of the people that doesn't hear or mind the noise, great. Otherwise, stay away from their current entry-level offering (which sucks, because they're such a bargain).
 
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