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Val155

Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2003
After 7 years with my current PC, I am now at the point of building a completely new rig and giving my current one to the kiddos. Just so you know, I only use my computer for Internet, Email and PC Gaming, particularly MMOs. I plan to keep my new PC for 5+ years. Just so you know, I currently have a 400GB HD that I have only used $200GB of. Still have 172GB free.

I put together my wish list below, however, I will admit that I haven't kept up to speed on the newer tech throughout the years. So I was hoping if you pro's could look at the items below that I plan on building my rig with and verify if all of the components are compatible (chip/MB/Video/etc.) as well as the quality of the parts for the price. My price point is $1000 (give or take a few $).

Intel Core i5-4670K (Amazon $219.99)
Asus Z87-A (New Egg $139)
Team Vulcan 8GB 2133 (x2) (New Egg $147.98)
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB MZ-7TE250BW (Amazon $134.99)
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM WD10EZEX (Amazon $58.24)
Random DVD/RW
Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (New Egg $49.99)
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB ACX Video Card (New Egg 309.99)
Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 Red LED Black ATX Mid Tower (New Egg $49.99)
Total $1,110.17

Also, my brother is trying to talk me into a cheaper alternative that he says is better. Talks about AMD vs Intel for gaming and Radeon vs Nvidia. What do you guys think? He is building a new rig with the parts below:

ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ Motherboard ($89.96)
AMD FD8320FRHKBOX FX-8320 Eight COre 3.5ghz Processor ($159.99)
Cooler Master HAF 922M ATX Mid-Tower Case ($99.99)
Cooler Master Hyper T4 Heatpipe CPU Cooler ($24.99)
XFX Radeon R7 250x Graphic Card 1GB ($119.99)
Patriot PSD38G16002H Signature Desktop Memory Module 8GB ($79.99)
 
You need need ram that fast, get 1866 and call it a day. There is no need to spend that much on ram. You can easily save $50. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6050 600006069 600000261&IsNodeId=1&name=1.5V

No mention about a modular psu, this is probably a better choice, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207030

If you are going AMD, no need to get a 8 core cpu, when a quad will be more than enough. If you go Haswell, you will need better cooling if you plan to oc.

For the GPU, best bang for your buck is AMD. If you want to game, get a 280 or 280, don't do the 250. You can get a 280 or 280 x for under $300.

If you are gooing to do Intel, might as well get a Z97, better upgrade path, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157503

I'm a little out of the loop with AMD boards.
 
I'd rather have the Intel rig for your uses. 250x is a weak gaming card.

Good.. my feelings as well.

You need need ram that fast, get 1866 and call it a day. There is no need to spend that much on ram. You can easily save $50. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6050 600006069 600000261&IsNodeId=1&name=1.5V

No mention about a modular psu, this is probably a better choice, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207030

If you are going AMD, no need to get a 8 core cpu, when a quad will be more than enough. If you go Haswell, you will need better cooling if you plan to oc.

For the GPU, best bang for your buck is AMD. If you want to game, get a 280 or 280, don't do the 250. You can get a 280 or 280 x for under $300.

If you are gooing to do Intel, might as well get a Z97, better upgrade path, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157503

I'm a little out of the loop with AMD boards.

So the Ram I have listed is not compatible with my MB? Based on the link you have I need faster?

What's the difference between Modular / Semi-Modular?

I was wondering that... I noticed that the (ASUS Z97-A ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97-A) board is only a few dollars more, but I wasn't sure if it is compatible with my other components nor what the real difference was between the boards. Does anyone know off hand?
 
Good.. my feelings as well.



So the Ram I have listed is not compatible with my MB? Based on the link you have I need faster?

What's the difference between Modular / Semi-Modular?

I was wondering that... I noticed that the (ASUS Z97-A ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97-A) board is only a few dollars more, but I wasn't sure if it is compatible with my other components nor what the real difference was between the boards. Does anyone know off hand?

Any DDR3 DIMM @ 1.5V or less is compatible with your board. What he should have said is that you don't need RAM that fast. 1866 is fine.
Get a 2x8GB kit. Don't buy your sticks individually.

BTW for your uses you describe 8GB (2x4) will be fine.
 
Any DDR3 DIMM @ 1.5V or less is compatible with your board. What he should have said is that you don't need RAM that fast. 1866 is fine.
Get a 2x8GB kit. Don't buy your sticks individually.

BTW for your uses you describe 8GB (2x4) will be fine.

Thanks! What about the differences in the new board and psu?
 
*Bump* A couple of questions:

1. Will the new Z97 still be compatible with my other components?

2. On Newegg, there isn't much of a price difference between the 2133 RAM (2x8gb) and the 1866. Should I just stick with the 2133 like this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=G._skill_ddr3_2133-_-20-231-757-_-Product

3. What is the difference between a modular and semi-modular?

4. Also, the fans that come with the case... will they be enough or do I need to add another?
 
Last edited:
1. Yes.
2. Your choice. Very little if any performance gains...
3. The amount of things that are modular. Usually in fully modular even the 24 pin and 8 pin are modular. Semi modular means at least the 24 and 8 pin power are hard wired.
 
1. Yes.
2. Your choice. Very little if any performance gains...
3. The amount of things that are modular. Usually in fully modular even the 24 pin and 8 pin are modular. Semi modular means at least the 24 and 8 pin power are hard wired.

Thanks Earthdog. What about the Case fans... will the ones that come with it be sufficient or do I need to add another?
 
If your ambient temps aren't too hot and you're not overclocking it should be fine, with the case fans pre installed.
 
I would get a good but cheap overclocking cooler incase you want to overclock to 4.2GHz with a hyper 212 evo.
 
Val155- Whats the build looking like now with input from other users? Can you post an updated parts list?

I'll post the exact parts when I get home tonight, but basically I swapped out the mb for the z97 and I got g.skill ripjaw 16gb (2x8bg) 2133. I didn't see much of a price diff on new egg.
 
Here you go:

Intel Core i5-4670
Asus Z97-A LGA 1150
G. Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 2133
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB MZ-7TE250BW
ASUS 24X DVD Burner
Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB ACX Video Card
Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 Red Led LED Black ATX Mid Tower
 
For the price of a 4GB 760 you're better off with a 3GB R9 280X. It's a more powerful GPU.
Roughly same $.

Don't get a 4670. Get a 4670K. Otherwise you're wasting $50+ on the price of the motherboard. Also pick up a decent aftermarket cooler for your CPU. You might as well overclock since you have the hardware. It's not hard to do .
 
What's a good aftermarket cooler?

I like Noctua. NHD14 is a good bet. NHD15 is even better but it's taller (due to the 140mm front fan needing to be propped atop your RAM. and wider (150mm instead of 140mm). Due to this, you can only install it in sufficiently wide cases which also have the first PCIE X16 slot sufficiently far away from the CPU socket. This rules all ITX boards out.

A good general rule with the D15 is that if the motherboard has a slot other than a PXIEX16 (ie, a PCIEX4) as the top slot, you can fit a D15. But it'll interfere with that top slot. That much is almost guaranteed.

There are also the all-in-one liquid coolers from Corsair, NZXT, and so forth. I don't like these. You're not blowing any air on the VRMs and pumps are just one more thing that can fail. It's cheaper to exchange a fan that's out of warranty than it is to replace a dead pump on something like a Corsair H100i.

Plus the pumps make noise.

And again, make sure you get that K cpu. Or you won't be able to overclock. I've seen a few people forget over the years and they end up with a locked cpu.
 
What cooler are you going to get? if you have not pick one out yet the Hyper 212 EVO will get you to 4.2GHz and if you want to spend more the Noctua NH-U14S is a good cooler that is easy to fit with ram and case.
 
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