Partial Rebuild - Little Advice Please

[Violator]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing?
Gaming/video encoding/browsing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
£500-600

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

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.
Mobo/CPU/PSU/Cooler

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Corsair DDR3
R290
SB X
2xCrucial SSD

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
27" 2560x1440

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next few days

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.
Crossfire/SLI/USB3/SATA6/UEFI

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 8 64

Although I currently have one R290 I am considering crossfiring in the near future. Have already been looking at the EVGA 850 PSU, and I've almost decided on the 4690k cpu, cannot decide Mobo.

 

[Dangman]

Which eVGA 850W PSU are you talking about? One is really good and other is so-so.
What case will you be using?

Though honestly, unless your current setup is dead or something, your current setup doesn't need an upgrade even for R9 290 CFX. Well maybe the PSU but really no need for a CPU and mobo upgrade.

 

[Violator]

Which eVGA 850W PSU are you talking about? One is really good and other is so-so.
What case will you be using?

Though honestly, unless your current setup is dead or something, your current setup doesn't need an upgrade even for R9 290 CFX. Well maybe the PSU but really no need for a CPU and mobo upgrade.

It was the Supernova G2 I was referring to. The rebuild is due to this issue. Currently my case is an Obsidian 650D.

 

[Dangman]

Not quite clear to me: did you actually rule out a PSU issue or confirmed it was a motherboard issue? You don't have a spare PSU?

 

[Violator]

Not quite clear to me: did you actually rule out a PSU issue or confirmed it was a motherboard issue? You don't have a spare PSU?

No I don't have a spare psu. I'm 90% sure it's the mobo as the front usb ports have stopped working too. If I have to go to the hassle of replacing the mobo I might as well do the cpu at the same time

 

[Dangman]

No I don't have a spare psu. I'm 90% sure it's the mobo as the front usb ports have stopped working too. If I have to go to the hassle of replacing the mobo I might as well do the cpu at the same time

But what if it's a PSU problem? To be honest, the 4690K isn't that big of a jump over your current Core i5 2500K. So if the problem turns out to be the PSU or even the case, then you probably wasted some money at that point.

If you still want to go through with this, go for the Asus Z97-A or the AsRorck Z97X-Killer motherboards. For the HSF, if you don't mind an increase in noise, go for the Coolermaster Seidon 120V.

As for the eVGA G2 850W, you're going to have to be 100% certain that you're going to get that second R9 290 card within a few months (perferably now actually). No consideration: actually know that you're going to do it. Otherwise, you're never going to go R9 290 CFX at all and you'll end wasting your money on larger PSU than necessary. Just something I've noticed in all my years helping people out in the General Hardware subforum: A lot of times people say they're going to SLI/CFX but they never do and they ended spending more money than they needed to.

 

[Violator]

But what if it's a PSU problem? To be honest, the 4690K isn't that big of a jump over your current Core i5 2500K. So if the problem turns out to be the PSU or even the case, then you probably wasted some money at that point.

If you still want to go through with this, go for the Asus Z97-A or the AsRorck Z97X-Killer motherboards. For the HSF, if you don't mind an increase in noise, go for the Coolermaster Seidon 120V.

As for the eVGA G2 850W, you're going to have to be 100% certain that you're going to get that second R9 290 card within a few months (perferably now actually). No consideration: actually know that you're going to do it. Otherwise, you're never going to go R9 290 CFX at all and you'll end wasting your money on larger PSU than necessary. Just something I've noticed in all my years helping people out in the General Hardware subforum: A lot of times people say they're going to SLI/CFX but they never do and they ended spending more money than they needed to.

This is precisely why I was asking for advice. I suppose I could just get the PSU and test it out, I just wanted to cover all possibilities and while I was there, do a bit of an upgrade at the same time.

You say the 4690 isn't much of a jump? If not, what would you recommend then, if anything?

I take your point with crossfire and I've been there before myself and then bailed out because a better single GPU has appeared, but I do think at this time the 290s are priced about right to make this a viable move.

I'll have a read of those two mobos. To be fair I was tempted to try something other than Asus this time round, my last 3 have been Asus as I recall and I think they've all had one quirk or another. IF it is the mobo this time, I want to try something else. ASRock I've generally considered a budget brand, is this not the case now? What about a Gigabyte or MSI board?

 

[Dangman]

This is precisely why I was asking for advice. I suppose I could just get the PSU and test it out, I just wanted to cover all possibilities and while I was there, do a bit of an upgrade at the same time.

Personally, I recommend just getting a cheap Corsair CX430 for testing. Try using the system with just the onboard video to make sure that there's enough power.

You say the 4690 isn't much of a jump? If not, what would you recommend then, if anything?

Not much of a noticeable jump. It's really not until 2016 that you'll see an Intel CPU that's noticeably faster than your current Intel.

I'll have a read of those two mobos. To be fair I was tempted to try something other than Asus this time round, my last 3 have been Asus as I recall and I think they've all had one quirk or another. IF it is the mobo this time, I want to try something else. ASRock I've generally considered a budget brand, is this not the case now? What about a Gigabyte or MSI board?

AsRock isn't exactly a "major high-end brand" but they're pretty close to it. The main reason why they're just "close" and not one of the majors is that many of their motherboards tend to have thinner PCBs than ones from Asus, Gigabyte, or MSI which gives them a "budget" feel and price. But I no longer have any problem recommending some AsRock mobos to others these days. The MSI Z97-G45 Gaming and the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI seems to be pretty solid motherboards.

 

[Violator]

Personally, I recommend just getting a cheap Corsair CX430 for testing. Try using the system with just the onboard video to make sure that there's enough power.

Not much of a noticeable jump. It's really not until 2016 that you'll see an Intel CPU that's noticeably faster than your current Intel.

AsRock isn't exactly a "major high-end brand" but they're pretty close to it. The main reason why they're just "close" and not one of the majors is that many of their motherboards tend to have thinner PCBs than ones from Asus, Gigabyte, or MSI which gives them a "budget" feel and price. But I no longer have any problem recommending some AsRock mobos to others these days. The MSI Z97-G45 Gaming and the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI seems to be pretty solid motherboards.

I've already tried removing the 290 and that makes no difference, but I could try the 430 as a test, that way I could just unplug the current one and plug in the new without any major cabling hassles

Fair enough with the CPU, I just didn't think it was worthwhile sticking with SB if I was swapping the mobo out. I'll check those mobo's out as well, thanks for your input Dangman

 

[Violator]

So I'm now looking at :

Mobo : Asus Z97-Pro
CPU : 4690K
Cooler : H80i
PSU : SuperNova 850 G2

I also fancied a new case, so looking at ThermalTake V51.

This should rule out any and all issues I've had/been having and keep me reasonably up to date. Is there anything fundamentally wrong with any of these choices? Bearing in mind I've not pulled the trigger yet.

I swapped the mobo about 4 times beween Gigabyte/MSI and Asus

 

[Dangman]

Just to confirm: You are going 290 CFX ASAP right?

Why the Z97-Pro over the Z97-A?

What's your current case?

 

[Violator]

Just to confirm: You are going 290 CFX ASAP right?

Why the Z97-Pro over the Z97-A?

What's your current case?

It was the intention yes. I assume you think the z97-a would be sufficient? I currently have an Obsidian 650D.

For the moment however, I've decided to try swapping the PSU out first. Given what I have to do now to get the PC fired up, I'm thinking it may actually be that after all. I'll find out tonight.

 

[Violator]

Fitted a nice new EVGA SuperNova 850 G2 and working wonderfully. Got to say that this PSU looks and feels like a quality bit of kit. Slightly disappointed that the Corsair bailed out so early but hey ho, this should do me a good while

 

[Dangman]

Fitted a nice new EVGA SuperNova 850 G2 and working wonderfully. Got to say that this PSU looks and feels like a quality bit of kit. Slightly disappointed that the Corsair bailed out so early but hey ho, this should do me a good while

And you were about to go with a whole new system

But that Corsair PSU should still be under warranty though.

 

[Violator]

And you were about to go with a whole new system

But that Corsair PSU should still be under warranty though.

Very true, although I was still convinced until I flicked on the PSU it was the mobo

It should be under warranty that's true, I'll check that out.

Now I need to tidy up the cables round the back of the mobo, again, one of my favourite jobs

 

[rhansen5_99]

For piece of mind you may want to get some kind of battery backup that cleans up the AC signal. I know in my area there are a ton of brownouts and momentary power spikes. I have blown out a ton of equipment this way. I use a Belkin, but APC are good as well. Just throwing that out there to help the longevity of your equipment.