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New PC

C

Callumz

n00b
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
4
Basically building this as I need a high end system now as my reasonably priced computer of 6 years is no longer cutting basic processes, I want one that will last a while again and be able to play all modern games on ultra settings.

Budget £1300 excluding a new monitor.

Any help and opinions on my current build appreciated.

Thank you!


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, high end.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
£1300
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
England
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.
Full build from scratch, I have a build please evaluate and let me know if everything is compatible & if any better options are available.
http://www.ebuyer.com/lists/list/337669
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
no reuse of anything.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Likely, will decide if it's needed.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
21 inch standard VGA, not sure on the resolution, would be looking to upgrade outside of the budget though.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP.
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.
don't need onboard graphics, USB 3.0 would be nice, SLI support preferred.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, 64 bit.
 
There are multiple problems with your setup.

You don't need a socket 2011 platform for gaming. Socket 1150 (Haswell) is plenty with either an i5-4670K or i7-4770K. You really don't even need the extra threads on the i7 for gaming. You actually already chose a Haswell chip, but the i7-4770S is a thermally restricted chip. You need one of the chips mentioned earlier with a K suffix to be able to overclock. These are the ones you want to optimize cost/performance for gaming.

You also chose an ATX motherboard for a mATX case. The Z97 boards just came out, so this is a good opportunity to jump on the new SATA Express feature. I don't see any mATX Z97 boards available on that vendor's website, so you should consider getting a larger case. For ATX Z97 boards, I'd just get the Asus Z97-PRO which is on pre-order for May 20 (it's their cheapest Z97 offering atm). The top end Gigabytes are excessive because few people need the extra PLX chip for tri-SLI or x8/x8/x8/x8 lanes while the OC Force board has OC features a gamer will never use. You clearly have not OCed before, making it an even more inappropriate choice.

You will need a CPU cooler if you plan on overclocking. Depending on the size of the cooler, you may have to change your RAM for ones with lower profile heatspreaders. I have the Ballistix Elites, and the DIMM in slot1 literally touches the fan on the HSF.

For a truly modern system, the one critical piece you need is an SSD. You can keep the 500GB HDD for media/data storage, but for the primary drive, a newer 240/250/256GB SSD is recommended for gaming (modern games eat space). Unfortunately, M.2 form factor SSDs that can take advantage of SATA Express on the new Z97 chipset, are extremely rare in the consumer space right now, but they will surely be out soon.

For that reason, I advise you to give it another month or so. In the mean time, read up on socket compatibility and chipset features to understand what you are actually buying. It will save you a lot of trouble when you begin building and need to troubleshoot.

It would also help if you listed some of the game titles you plan on playing and the resolution of the monitor you intend to upgrade to.
 
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We definitely need to know:

- What resolution you're currently using for games.
- Which games you want to play, now and in the near future.
- When are you planning to buy the new monitor.

We need those answers to recommend a video card suitable for your immediate needs. Since video cards have the fastest refresh rate, it may be better for you to buy a cheaper card now and reevaluate things once you buy the new monitor.

As rastaban mentioned earlier, your build is all over the place. But I need to ask a few more questions before I make my recommendations:

11) Can you wait a couple of weeks to see what the Haswell refresh brings in terms of processors and motherboards?

12) What's the priority for you: Overclocking, small size (mATX/mITX), or quiet operation?

13) Are you using Windows 7 or 8? Which edition?
 
1280x1024 is the resolution I am currently using, I can wait a couple weeks but will it make that much difference?
I am playing WoW, Gw2, but I usually multibox on WoW which is what eats alot of Process power & slows my capabilities down a lot.

I can buy a new monitor as and when if it's recommended I buy one along side a kick ass Graphics card you know of. I'm fairly amatuer when it comes to keeping up with the technology, however I know how to put the parts together, I just lack the upkeep of knowledge.

Overclocking is not a massive priority however I wouldn't mind doing it for the extra boost in performance in future releases so that would be the preferred option, whether that be Crysis, or Call of duty/battlefield releases, overall small scale.

Windows 7, Pro.

Basically the question im overall asking is if you had £1300 to build a rig with the best performance what would you build?
Please be kind. :)

Thank you.
 
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I needed a little time to come up with a completely different build for you:

£164 - Intel Core i5-4670K Socket 1150 quad-core processor
£48 - Noctua NH-U12P SE2 CPU cooler
£110 - AsRock Z87 Extreme4 Socket 1150 ATX motherboard
£116 - Corsair Vengeance LP (Blue) 2x8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
£298 - Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB video card
£86 - Crucial M500 240GB SSD
£45 - Seagate Barracuda 1TB OEM HDD
£12 - Samsung SH-224DB OEM DVD burner
£72 - XFX TS 750 watt power supply
£52 - Corsair 200R ATX mid-tower case
£143 - Asus VE247H 23.6" 1920x1080 LED monitor
======
£1146 - Total before shipping and other charges

Your £1300 budget allowed me to fit in a few items:

- An LED monitor with a greater resolution than your current monitor
- An SSD, which is much faster than a hard drive in loading games and programs
- A CPU cooler that offers better-than-stock cooling and (somewhat) quieter operation
- A larger capacity hard drive for a bit more than your choice

To fit those things in, I swapped out your choices for mostly cheaper-yet-effective components. Without going into a part-by-part breakdown, your eBuyer list was overpowering in certain areas (e.g., motherboard, RAM) while underwhelming in others (processor, HDD).

Right now, I don't believe that the new Intel Z97 motherboards and the "fifth generation" Intel processors are worth pursuing over the current Z87 boards and "fourth generation" Haswell processors. The new processors can work on the most of the old boards, with a BIOS/UEFI update beforehand, and the Z97 chipset seems to be more of a transition to Broadwell, which is expected to arrive in 2015, than a direct improvement over Z87.
 
Thank you very much! Only 2 minor problems with it is the CPU cooler is no longer stocked by ebuyer, what would be a suitable replacement? & is there enough fansor should I look at ordering more?
 
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The Corsair 200R comes with one 120mm intake fan and one 120mm exhaust fan. There are many mounts for additional fans on the case, but they are not terribly necessary to fill, especially if you won't be overclocking right away. The main problem I have with that case is the vented top without dust filters, so if you don't add extra exhaust fans there, you should cover it up. Also, there is no active airflow over your harddrive cage, so you may want to pick up a cheap 120mm fan to fill the lower front fan mount.

For alternative CPU coolers, the options on ebuyer are extremely limited. For a good balance of cost/performance/acoustics, I'd get the BeQuiet Dark Rock Advanced. Note that you cannot add a second fan to the exhaust end of it due to it's fan mounting system. The next step up would be the Noctua U14s.
 
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Callumz said:
the CPU cooler is no longer stocked by ebuyer, what would be a suitable replacement?
Click to expand...

I recommend the Corsair H80i if you're serious about overclocking. Otherwise, stick with the BeQuiet cooler.

Callumz said:
is there enough fans or should I look at ordering more?
Click to expand...

Order two 120mm fans. Use one of them as a front intake fan and the other as a top exhaust fan. (If you buy the Corsair H80i, however, buy only one 120mm fan -- for the front intake -- and move the rear 120mm fan to the top of the case. The H80i comes with two 120mm fans.)
 
I would recommend looking at prices on scan.co.uk.
I would also take the build down to an mATX size.
 
Thanks for all your help, doing a bit of cable management, (the case isnt amazing for cable management I must say, however plenty of room for components.)

All set up and running, runs a dream, the SSD was a great addition. I put my OS on there with 2 games I play frequently.

Will look into overclocking in the future when I start doing some more power hungry activites.

Extra fans will be ordered too thank you, a bit more cooling seems needed.

Pictures will be posted in the coming week!
 
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