Need reviewing of my PC build

So with a bit of help from others, ive managed to put together this build. My budget was max 2000 and im currently at 1768 (but i think im missing the OS?).

I thought i should get this build reviewed in case im missing anything, or if there's any improvements i can make to the build (since im a complete noob at this). Im going to buy from umart since it has all the parts.

RAM: G SKill 8G(2x4G)DDR3 1866Mhz ($98)

HDD: Seagate SATA3 3TB 7200RPM Barracuda 64mb Cache ($133)

PSU: Antec NEO 520C ECO 80Plus Bronze certified PSU ($78)

Case: CoolerMaster NSE-300-KKN2 Black USB3.0 ($49)

Motherboard: ASRock B85M PRO4 ($85)

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 780 OC EDITION PCI-E 3.0 3GB 256-bit DDR5 ($629)

CPU: Intel Quad Core Xeon CPU E3-1230v3, LGA1150, 3.3GHz ($289)

SSD: Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA III ($182)

Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 24" IPS,1920x1080 ($215)


Note: Since i said i wanted an i7, someone suggested i go with the xeon because apparently it was identical to i7 but cheaper

Seems like you're headed in the right direction.

I would go with a Corsair 550-600 power supply (I think umart had them for not too much more).

For GPU, if price is the same (and it seems like it's similar), I would go with a 290X.

Are you going to be overclocking? The answer to that will tell lead to more of a discussion on your CPU and motherboard choice.

My initial question is why the Xeon? What benefits does that give you? Are you overclocking? If so you will need a different mobo and CPU...If not, that is fine, but.. make sure whatever board you use will actually support the Xeon CPU in the first place as not all do.

For your resolution, a 780 and 290x are overkill. I would go with a 290 personally. That way you have monster performance and 3GB vram...

EarthDog said:

My initial question is why the Xeon? What benefits does that give you? Are you overclocking? If so you will need a different mobo and CPU...If not, that is fine, but.. make sure whatever board you use will actually support the Xeon CPU in the first place as not all do.

For your resolution, a 780 and 290x are overkill. I would go with a 290 personally. That way you have monster performance and 3GB vram...

Click to expand...

+1

What is the purpose of the build?

EarthDog said:

For your resolution, a 780 and 290x are overkill. I would go with a 290 personally. That way you have monster performance and 3GB vram...

Click to expand...

Didn't see the resolution. good point, ED. I don't know if I saw the 290 in stock on the site he mentioned, but I may have just overlooked it. Either way, 280x, 290, or gtx 770 are probably all fine for 1080P and will be at least $100-150 less.

Purpose of the build - gaming and general use. Im aiming for a computer that will last several years, so basically i want to get good quality parts. MAx budget was $2000 which i thought would be plenty to get a good quality PC.

EarthDog said:

My initial question is why the Xeon? What benefits does that give you? Are you overclocking? If so you will need a different mobo and CPU...If not, that is fine, but.. make sure whatever board you use will actually support the Xeon CPU in the first place as not all do.

For your resolution, a 780 and 290x are overkill. I would go with a 290 personally. That way you have monster performance and 3GB vram...

Click to expand...

Im not sure if i will be overclocking or not and ive been asked this a lot as well. So i figured overclocking must be useful and i might as well buy parts that allow overclocking in case i decide to do so in the future. Is there something wrong with the current mobo? Or is it more of a CPU issue?

The only reason i have the xeon CPU is because i said i wanted an i7 to be prepared for future games, and one of the dudes on another forum suggested the xeon since it was apparently identical to the i7 but slightly cheaper. However im beginning to lean towards choosing the i5 4670 because ive been told the i7 is simply overkill (plus i'd save $100, but money isnt the real issue for me). Also leaning to i5 because this xeon chip sounds a bit fancy...and sometimes keeping things simple is better.

ninjacore said:

Seems like you're headed in the right direction.

I would go with a Corsair 550-600 power supply (I think umart had them for not too much more).

For GPU, if price is the same (and it seems like it's similar), I would go with a 290X.

Are you going to be overclocking? The answer to that will tell lead to more of a discussion on your CPU and motherboard choice.

Click to expand...

Is the corsair 550-600 better than the antec neo 520C? They have this one for $79. However if i choose this PSU will i have to choose a better case or buy something extra to provide cooling (or issit already included with that fan thing?)

Corsair VS650 650W ATX Power Supply120mm fan, 2x (6+2) pin PCIE, 4x SATA, 4x Molex, Single

Click to expand...

Someone actually suggested that i can go the route of 2 of the r280x GPUs because it will outperform the GTX 780 for lower cost (since 1 card wont outperform the GTX 780). However he also mentioned that with 2x the GPU means 2x more heat and noise production, and that i'd need to get a suitable cooling system and case.

I've also read that people prefer single GPU systems unless they use more than 1 monitor - in my case i will only ever use 1 monitor,

I've also read alot about the 290 cards how they currently only have reference coolers (if thats the right terminology) which are inadequate, and that custom coolers will be released in a month or so. Im not really willing to wait a month if the GTX 780 is already more than enough to run current games on max settings.

Im not sure if i want to deal with all of the possible issues that the 280x cards come with. Choosing the GTX 780 seems like the more reliable route

If you want your computer's performance to stay relevant, overclock.

If you want your computer to just last, don't overclock.

I've never been too concerned about losing a little of the life of a processor by overclocking myself cause they get outdated so fast anyway.

My i7 920 overclocked to 4.0ghz is like 5 years old and runs just fine.

If you get a R9 290, make sure you get one that could possibly be unlockable to a 290x.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1443242/the-r9-290-290x-unlock-thread

Xeons are server chips made to be low power and reliable, not for sheer performance Buy a consumer grade i5 4670k or 4770k and an aftermarket heatsink and overclock. Only the k series overclocks.

New radeons R9 290 and 290x run hot but are pretty awesome.

mas5acre said:

If you want your computer's performance to stay relevant, overclock.

If you want your computer to just last, don't overclock.

I've never been too concerned about losing a little of the life of a processor by overclocking myself cause they get outdated so fast anyway.

My i7 920 overclocked to 4.0ghz is like 5 years old and runs just fine.

If you get a R9 290, make sure you get one that could possibly be unlockable to a 290x.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1443242/the-r9-290-290x-unlock-thread

New radeons R9 290 and 290x run hot but are pretty awesome.

Click to expand...

Is the 290 similar in performance to the GTX 780 though?

Blehs said:

Purpose of the build - gaming and general use. Im aiming for a computer that will last several years, so basically i want to get good quality parts. MAx budget was $2000 which i thought would be plenty to get a good quality PC.

Click to expand...

$2000 is more than enough, especially at 1080P.

Blehs said:

Im not sure if i will be overclocking or not and ive been asked this a lot as well. So i figured overclocking must be useful and i might as well buy parts that allow overclocking in case i decide to do so in the future. Is there something wrong with the current mobo? Or is it more of a CPU issue?

Click to expand...

Overclocking means you are running your components at speeds greater than their defaults. If you get an i7 CPU, you'll honestly never need to OC it. It just isn't ever going to be a bottleneck for your system. That said, you do need specific parts in order to be able to overclock (unlocked CPU, motherboard starting with a Z). The motherboard you selected (B85) is not an overclocking board. The decision is yours. My usual method is to first find a motherboard with all the features I want (VRM heatsinks, # sata ports, ...). For me, that board usually ends up being an overclocking board. If it isn't, but the overclocking version is only $20 more, I usually bump up.

Blehs said:

The only reason i have the xeon CPU is because i said i wanted an i7 to be prepared for future games, and one of the dudes on another forum suggested the xeon since it was apparently identical to the i7 but slightly cheaper... Also leaning to i5 because this xeon chip sounds a bit fancy...and sometimes keeping things simple is better.

Click to expand...

I've not looked into whether the Xeon are actually the same as the i7s. I would imagine there will be less information out there on them and since you're new to all this, I would think it might be better to just pay the extra $20 or whatever and go with the i7. Would you need ECC ram with a Xeon?

Blehs said:

However im beginning to lean towards choosing the i5 4670 because ive been told the i7 is simply overkill (plus i'd save $100, but money isnt the real issue for me)

Click to expand...

6 months ago, I probably would have been one of those people telling you to go with the i5 (and if the difference were >$100 or your budget wasn't so large, I still would), but games are starting to take advantage of as many threads as you give them and will continue to do so even more, so I think i7 is the way to go in you case. That said, there is currently very little difference in performance between i5 and i7, so if you want to save the extra dough, feel free. You can always bump up to an i7 later and sell the i5. They will be the same socket motherboard, so no switch required there.

Blehs said:

Is the corsair 550-600 better than the antec neo 520C? They have this one for $79. However if i choose this PSU will i have to choose a better case or buy something extra to provide cooling (or issit already included with that fan thing?)

Click to expand...

The case you have selected will be fine for either of those power supplies. The Antec power supply is a good one. My suggestion for a 550w or greater came when I thought it was necessary for you to get a 780 GTX (I no longer think that since you'll be at 1080P). Corsair is a very solid brand with very competitive pricing. The 520 Antec still might be okay for a 770 or 280x, but I would just get a 550w to be sure.

Blehs said:

Someone actually suggested that i can go the route of 2 of the r280x GPUs because it will outperform the GTX 780 for lower cost (since 1 card wont outperform the GTX 780). However he also mentioned that with 2x the GPU means 2x more heat and noise production, and that i'd need to get a suitable cooling system and case.

I've also read that people prefer single GPU systems unless they use more than 1 monitor - in my case i will only ever use 1 monitor,

I've also read alot about the 290 cards how they currently only have reference coolers (if thats the right terminology) which are inadequate, and that custom coolers will be released in a month or so. Im not really willing to wait a month if the GTX 780 is already more than enough to run current games on max settings.

Im not sure if i want to deal with all of the possible issues that the 280x cards come with. Choosing the GTX 780 seems like the more reliable route

Click to expand...

As mentioned above, a GTX 780 will be overkill if you are gaming at 1080P. If you want 100+ FPS now and into the future, go for it, but a GTX 770 or 280X would be more than adequate for 1080P (you'd be looking at 70 FPS average in maxed out new games).

If I were you, I would completely rule out SLI and crossfire. For a single, 1080P monitor, there isn't a scenario anyone can come up with which would justify buying two cards.

You should pick up an i5 4670K, an ASUS Z87-A motherboard and (at least) a coolermaster Hyper 212 cpu cooler. Overclocking is fun and easy to do. And you get free extra performance. Who doesn't want that?

It won't significantly shorten the life of the cpu (perhaps from 30 years down to 15. At any rate, you'll have tossed the PC in the trash long before the CPU wears out)

Wow this is confusing...

Overclocking means you are running your components at speeds greater than their defaults. If you get an i7 CPU, you'll honestly never need to OC it. It just isn't ever going to be a bottleneck for your system. That said, you do need specific parts in order to be able to overclock (unlocked CPU, motherboard starting with a Z).

Click to expand...

So if i buy an i7, i wont have to overclock my computer for say the next 2-3 years? That being said i will probably still buy overclocking parts (if the extra cost associated with it is not high). I found several i7 cpu's on umart.com;

Intel Core i7 4770K LGA1150 CPU 3.5Ghz 8Mb Cache Haswell ($429)
Intel Core i7 3770K/3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/LGA1155 Ivy Bridge ($380)
Intel CORE i7 4820K/3.70GHz/10MB CACHE/LGA2011/4CORES/NO FAN ($365)

Click to expand...

Whats the difference between all these i7 cpus? What would you recommend?

The case you have selected will be fine for either of those power supplies. The Antec power supply is a good one. My suggestion for a 550w or greater came when I thought it was necessary for you to get a 780 GTX (I no longer think that since you'll be at 1080P). Corsair is a very solid brand with very competitive pricing. The 520 Antec still might be okay for a 770 or 280x, but I would just get a 550w to be sure.

Click to expand...

I think i might as well go with the corsair 550W, because if it provides slightly more power and costs $13 less than the antec, then i suppose its a better choice.

Corsair VS550 550W ATX Power Supply, 120mm fan, 2x (6+2)pin PCIE, 4x SATA, 4x Molex, Single R

Click to expand...

As mentioned above, a GTX 780 will be overkill if you are gaming at 1080P. If you want 100+ FPS now and into the future, go for it, but a GTX 770 or 280X would be more than adequate for 1080P (you'd be looking at 70 FPS average in maxed out new games).

Click to expand...

This is interesting - if i choose the 770, then i get a price reduction of $200 which is massive. But if i get the GTX 770, will it still easily support good performance for future games? If i go the route of 770, then would it even make sense to get an i7 cpu with it? There are 2 different Gtx 770's on umart, is there even a significant difference between them? Whats recommended by you?

Gigabyte GTX 770 OC EDITION PCI-E 3.0 2GB 256-bit DDR5, Base:1137 boost:1189/7000 MHz, 2x DVI ($429)
Gigabyte GTX 770 OC EDITION PCI-E 3.0 4GB 256-bit DDR5, Base:1137 boost:1202/6200 MHz, 2x DVI ($499)

Click to expand...

You should pick up an i5 4670K, an ASUS Z87-A motherboard and (at least) a coolermaster Hyper 212 cpu cooler. Overclocking is fun and easy to do. And you get free extra performance. Who doesn't want that?

It won't significantly shorten the life of the cpu (perhaps from 30 years down to 15. At any rate, you'll have tossed the PC in the trash long before the CPU wears out)

Click to expand...

That motherboard is pretty expensive ($199) - what advantages does it have other than overclocking? Also if i choose to overclock, is the cpu cooler a must have?




So i guess based on suggestions here is the modified build

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K LGA1150 CPU 3.5Ghz 8Mb Cache Haswell ($384) (Unless one of the other i7's is better)

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 770 OC EDITION PCI-E 3.0 2GB 256-bit DDR5, Base:1137 boost:1189/7000 MHz, 2x DVI ($429) (unless the other one is better)

Mobo: Asus Z87-A 4xDDR3 16xPCI-E SATA3 6xUSB3.0 ($199)

PSU: Corsair VS550 550W ATX Power Supply, 120mm fan, 2x (6+2)pin PCIE, 4x SATA, 4x Molex, Single R ($65)

Case: CoolerMaster NSE-300-KKN2 Black USB3.0 ($49)

Extra Cpu cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X CPU Cooler ($44)

RAM: G SKill 8G(2x4G)DDR3 1866Mhz ($98)

HDD: Seagate SATA3 3TB 7200RPM Barracuda 64mb Cache ($133)

SSD: Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA III ($182)

Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 24" IPS,1920x1080 ($215)

Total: $1798

Blehs said:

Wow this is confusing...

Click to expand...

It really isn't. You have a big budget. Get an i7. The only thing confusing about all of this is the layout of the store where you are shopping

The 3 CPUs you list are, respectively: a 4th generation (Haswell), a 3rd generation (Ivy), and an Ivy-Bridge E 2011 socket quadcore.

Performance among them will be within 10-15%. I would go with the 4770k. You'll have more motherboard options (more 1150s out there than 2011s), so better pricing.

Speaking of pricing, at umart, there are multiple different "location inventory lists". Their prices seem to differ. Which one will you be shopping at or does it matter since they'll all be shipping you the parts anyway? Let me know where exactly to shop and I'll answer the rest of your questions

Read a bit on the Xeon vs. i7 issue and I'm a little surprised I haven't heard much about this before.

First off, the Xeons aren't unlocked, so they can't be overclocked. If you want to overclock an Intel, you'd have to get a CPU ended in K.

The gaming performance difference between a 4770k and an E3-1230v3 seems negligible.

You don't need ECC ram with a Xeon.

Given all of that, the E3-1230v3 seems to be a cheaper version of the non-K 4770. It's 100Mhz slower, but also $50 cheaper. The only thing it seems to lack is onboard video, which most people don't use.

Does anyone have any info on why an E3-1230v3 wouldn't be a better choice than a locked i7?

I will be using the store in NSW (its the one at the end). At the moment i dont care whats in stock or what require pre-order, just want to get the main build done and dusted.

Here is the build I put together using some of your selections and looking off that site. In black is the non-overclocking build. Substituting in the red parts would give you an overclocking-ready build.

PSU: Antec VP-550P 550W Strictly PSU ($72)

Case: CoolerMaster NSE-300-KKN2 Black USB3.0 ($49)

Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 24" IPS,1920x1080 ($215) <----- I'm not too familiar with how monitors compare to one another. I know there are several IPS 1080P displays on that site for cheaper, though.

CPU: Intel Quad Core Xeon CPU E3-1230v3, LGA1150, 3.3GHz 8MB CACHE ($289) Intel Core i7 4770K LGA1150 CPU 3.5Ghz 8Mb Cache Haswell ($384)

Mobo: MSI Z87-G41-PC-Mate Z87 ($129) ASRock Z87-EXTREME4, Socket 1150 ($179)

Cpu cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X CPU Cooler ($44)

RAM: G SKill 8G(2x4G)DDR3 1866Mhz PC3-14900(F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL) ($101)

GPU: Sapphire R9 280X 3GB GDDR5 OC ($365) <------ The Nvidia alternative to this card is the 4GB 770, which is $135 more...

HDD: Seagate SATA3 3TB 7200RPM Barracuda 64mb Cache ($133)

SSD: Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA III ($182)


Total: $1535 ($1724)

I, honestly, don't know if it's worth $200 more to be able to overclock. By the time your system had aged enough that you needed to, it would likely be time to rebuild anyway.

If you do go with the "non-OC" build, I would get confirmation (i.e. read more) on whether that Xeon is a valid alternative. Everything I read seems to indicate it is just a locked i7 with no onboard graphics, but it never hurts to double check.

I, honestly, don't know if it's worth $200 more to be able to overclock. By the time your system had aged enough that you needed to, it would likely be time to rebuild anyway.

Click to expand...

How long are we talking about here? If its anything like 3+ years before i need to overclock than i'll just go with non-OC build (by then i'll have money to get a new build anyway).

If you do go with the "non-OC" build, I would get confirmation (i.e. read more) on whether that Xeon is a valid alternative. Everything I read seems to indicate it is just a locked i7 with no onboard graphics, but it never hurts to double check.

Click to expand...

Most of the stuff i read didnt make much sense, but the parts that i could understand when i googled reviews on this CPU seemed to say the same thing you are saying - its cheaper, almost the same performance and no onboard graphics. I also read some stuff bout xeon's being used to run servers, but i wont be doing anything like that.

The only tangible advantage of a Xeon over a i7 is the ability to run ECC memory, and if you're running a server 24x7, there is no way I'd do it without ECC memory.

Click to expand...

http://www.overclock.net/t/1397020/xeon-e3-v2-ivy-bridge-or-v3-haswell

Also seems like xeon's are pretty high performance too (according to the image on this website)
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E3-1230+v3+@+3.30GHz&id=1942

Also curious about the choice of GPU. I know the r9 290's run hot, but the 280x is fine right? Does it provide slightly more or slightly less performance? Any idea on an approximate % (like does the sapphire have -5% less performance or something).

But that build looks fine to me, got no issues with it.

The most important component is your motherboard so don't be afraid to spend upwards of $200 for a good one. The quality and options of your motherboard will dictate your future upgrades.

Theflaminroids said:

The most important component is your motherboard so don't be afraid to spend upwards of $200 for a good one. The quality and options of your motherboard will dictate your future upgrades.

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Yes and no. Most $150 motherboards, or less, have all the options you need and more. 99% of people do not need more than that honestly. ANd if the OP is not overclocking, a cheap motherboard with the features he requires is all one needs.

Theflaminroids said:

The most important component is your motherboard so don't be afraid to spend upwards of $200 for a good one. The quality and options of your motherboard will dictate your future upgrades.

Click to expand...

While I agree that having a high-quality, feature-rich board is a very nice thing, if someone is wanting to save or won't have use for many of the features, I don't see the point in spending the extra money.

For example, if one is not overclocking, what benefits would a Z87 sabertooth bring over an MSI Z87-G41 for $150 less?

OP, I can't find the benchmarks I'm looking for comparing an overclocked 4770k to a stock one in BF4, so I'm gonna do some tests of my own later today and will post results.

Edit: beat me to it, EarthDog

The build quality on higher end boards is much better not to mention resale value to fund your next build. Back when they used to make them, I would buy DFI Lanparty boards and I would get back around 85% of what I paid for it after a few years use simply because they were excellent and highly sought after. Do your research first obviously and don't buy a board just because it is expensive. Just don't be afraid to drop an extra $40-$50 for a good board.