New Build Ideas, need suggestions

[Tech Tweaker]

So, a few days ago I started looking into making a parts list for a new build.

I typically use my main PC for email, internet browsing, gaming, listening to music, watching youtube videos, backing up hard drives, performing scans for viruses and malware on drives.

This build won't happen right away, it might not happen for several months actually, but I wanted to at least get a start on getting an idea of what I would want in my next computer.

Problem is I'm unsure on some things, and could use advice or suggestions on some areas.

I had planned on building a Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge PC on LGA1155/Z77, but I never seemed to have enough spare cash on hand to complete the build, and then Z87 and Z97 were released which messed up my plans a bit and I'm having to restart the planning process again since it wouldn't make much sense to build a Sandy Bridge PC when Haswell is out and SB is now two generations back.

I'm not 100% sure on the motherboard. I usually look at Asus, EVGA, and Gigabyte. I used to like MSI (had one in the build I used from 2006-2011), but I keep hearing their quality is pretty much junk these days. So far I'd looked at the Asus Sabertooth Mark 1, Asus Maximus VII Formula, ASRock Z97 OC Formula, and ASRock Z97 Extreme 6. Not sure which Gigabyte ones are considered good. Are there any good one's I'm missing?

I thought I was sure on the case. I was planning to go with a Cooler Master HAF X, since I bought one like a year ago in preparation for my next build, but now I'm not so sure. I was thinking of using my recently acquired CM Nepton 280L for cooling, but now I've realized that the HAF X can't fit a 280mm radiator, so that's a serious problem if I go in that direction. Many new cases have come on the market since I started my search for a HAF X, and some of them are no doubt better in some ways. I'm not sure it's worth it to buy a different case just to have the ability to fit a 280mm radiator though, or if there are features in newer cases that would make them more worth-while to buy.

On the SSD, I'm not sure if 256GB will be enough or not. With my current PC I have a 320GB hdd for my boot drive, and I'm using up nearly 200GB of that after I transferred all the files and folders for things I don't use every day to my secondary drive for storage. Most storage on the main drive is being used by games actually, the installs for BF4 and Titanfall are huge.

On the memory, I'm thinking 16GB will be the minimum, because I have 8GB now and it really doesn't seem like enough. I often hit 80% or greater memory usage when gaming, and when the usage goes up that high I often see system lag and/or game lag when I'm gaming. Plus I'm running temperature and voltage monitoring software in the background (on secondary monitor, so that I can glance over and check it while playing) that takes up a little bit of the system resources. It's not unusual to see 35-50% memory utilization when I'm just on my internet browser surfing or doing research on things. I'm not 100% sure on what I should go with as far as the memory frequency, I know 1333MHz will probably be too slow, and I'm assuming the minimum would be 1600MHz or 1866 MHz but I'm not sure what speed I should be at for the kinds of things I use my PC for.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cZ8sWZ

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor $339.99 Newegg (Overridden) (Free Intel STEAMPUNK Giveaway voucher code w/ purchase, limited offer)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler $0.00 (Purchased)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $239.98 Newegg
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory $229.99 Newegg (Overridden)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $181.98 Newegg (Overridden)
Video Card: EVGA 02G-P4-3660-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-Bit (Purchased)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case $0.00 (Purchased)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional CMPSU-HX750 750W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply $0.00 (Purchased)

 

[Mandrake4565]

My .02 Tech.
If you're building now and this my mindset is just cost savings.
Get a Z97 Asrock Extreme 6 over the Sabertooth, nothing wrong with the Sabertooth other then it being overpriced.
Either save some money and grab a Samsung 840 Evo 256g or get a 480g for around $170
Why the Dominator Platinum? Bling factor? I get it if that is the case but they just seem to be way overpriced to me.

If you're planning on waiting you may as well wait for Broadwell.

 

[Witchdoctor]

I would wait until you have cash in hand
then you can pull the trigger on deals as they come available

Typically what I do is buy top stuff, for competing then relegate it to the daily driver once it has been milked for every boint.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Saved lots of cash, got faster RAM, and doubled the SSD size. Enjoy.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9VT3Bm

 

[Theocnoob]

Saved lots of cash, got faster RAM, and doubled the SSD size. Enjoy.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9VT3Bm

+1

BTW, a GTX 660? With a 4790K? Kind of a mismatch. If your main uses are youtube, surfing, gaming... you don't really need a discrete GPU for the first two, so how much performance can you really hope to get out of a 660 for gaming? Not very much. It's a bit of a turtle in today's world. I would suggest you look into an R9 290 (about $220 USD... roughly equivalent to GTX 970 except higher TDP, no DX12).

 

[ATMINSIDE]

+1

BTW, a GTX 660? With a 4790K? Kind of a mismatch. If your main uses are youtube, surfing, gaming... you don't really need a discrete GPU for the first two, so how much performance can you really hope to get out of a 660 for gaming? Not very much. It's a bit of a turtle in today's world. I would suggest you look into an R9 290 (about $220 USD... roughly equivalent to GTX 970 except higher TDP, no DX12).

You mean the 660Ti he already owns and has been using?

 

[Theocnoob]

You mean the 660Ti he already owns and has been using?

Whether he already owns it or not is irrelevant IMO. It's a mismatch for a 4790K for a "gaming system", which is basically what this is. JM2C

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Whether he already owns it or not is irrelevant IMO. It's a mismatch for a 4790K for a "gaming system", which is basically what this is. JM2C

The fact that he owns it is completely relevant.
He's getting together funds for an upgrade that he hasn't been able to do. The GPU will carry him on for a while until he can upgrade it.

Not everyone has the funds to upgrade every cycle. Or to upgrade the whole PC at once.
It's obvious that he'll upgrade parts as he can (since the 660Ti isn't as old as a Core2), but he's buying the bulk (CPU, Mobo, RAM, SSD) all at once.

 

[Theocnoob]

The fact that he owns it is completely relevant.
He's getting together funds for an upgrade that he hasn't been able to do. The GPU will carry him on for a while until he can upgrade it.

Not everyone has the funds to upgrade every cycle. Or to upgrade the whole PC at once.
It's obvious that he'll upgrade parts as he can (since the 660Ti isn't as old as a Core2), but he's buying the bulk (CPU, Mobo, RAM, SSD) all at once.

Ok. That's cool. I thought he was just going to run it with a 660 and that would be weird.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

The fact that he owns it is completely relevant.
He's getting together funds for an upgrade that he hasn't been able to do. The GPU will carry him on for a while until he can upgrade it.

Not everyone has the funds to upgrade every cycle. Or to upgrade the whole PC at once.
It's obvious that he'll upgrade parts as he can (since the 660Ti isn't as old as a Core2), but he's buying the bulk (CPU, Mobo, RAM, SSD) all at once.

Kind of the story of my current PC actually.

I built my current PC in 2011, and didn't have much choice as the PC I'd been using up to that point was dying (bad caps, which made it unstable and prone to blue screens and lockups). I picked up a free CPU, memory, HDD, and a stock heatsink, then bought a board and re-used my PSU (TX750) and an old case. I was nearly broke at the time, so couldn't afford to build with what were then the top of the line platforms (Intel LGA1156/LGA1366, AMD AM3).

I've upgraded parts as money allowed.

As far as the CPU, I started with a 2GHz dual core, upgraded that to a 3GHz dual core (overclocked that to 3.6GHz), then upgraded to a 2.4GHz quad (and overclocked it to 3GHz). A quad at 3GHz does seem faster (or better at multi-tasking) than a dual core at 3.6GHz, by the way (in case anyone sees this and was wondering).

With the memory I started with 2GB of DDR2-667, upgraded that to 4GB of DDR2-800 (came with a motherboard/CPU/memory combo I bought, I kept the memory and sold the rest), then 4GB of DDR2-1066 (same story as the DDR2-800), then finally 8GB of DDR2-1066.

The GPU has been through several different models, started out with a 9800GT, then upgraded to a GTS 250, then a GTX 260, then a GTX 460, and then a GTX 570. The GTX 660 Ti was a replacement for an older card I had that failed and then sent back to the manufacturer for an RMA, and I've had it less than a year, so it's not like this one has a lot of run time on it.

I've been through three different cases, three different power supplies, probably six different coolers for the CPU.

My .02 Tech.
If you're building now and this my mindset is just cost savings.
Get a Z97 Asrock Extreme 6 over the Sabertooth, nothing wrong with the Sabertooth other then it being overpriced.
Either save some money and grab a Samsung 840 Evo 256g or get a 480g for around $170
Why the Dominator Platinum? Bling factor? I get it if that is the case but they just seem to be way overpriced to me.

If you're planning on waiting you may as well wait for Broadwell.

I kind of liked the looks of the Sabertooth, plus it scored well in a few reviews I read, and the 5-year warranty is a nice bonus.

I was looking at the 850 Pro mainly because of the warranty, and performance is slightly better than 840 Evo/Pro. A 10 year warranty sounds great, considering I'm not even likely to be running the same PC that long.

As for the Dominator Platinum's... Well, I looked at the Vengeance series, didn't like the way they looked, and the performance wasn't as good as Dominator's in the reviews I looked at. I've been a fan of Corsair's memory since 2008-ish, always seemed to perform well in DDR1 form (XMS/XMS PRO), thought about trying some of their newer stuff. So, it's a combination of looks and performance. I'd rather not put something in my system, when I myself don't like the looks of it. Though I do have to admit that the price might not be reflective of the performance. I actually found an 2133MHz Corsair set that was cheaper than the 1866MHz set, while having the same CAS latency.

EDIT: New List: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sM4hTW

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I still feel you're wasting ~$100 on the Sabertooth...

 

[Theocnoob]

I still feel you're wasting ~$100 on the Sabertooth...

He's definitely wasting money. I vote for the ASrock Ex 6.

People don't understand that boards with really stout power delivery aren't necessary except for sub zero cooling with Haswell. The Sabretooth really offers nothing over the Asrock Ex 6 except for more robust power delivery and a plastic "shield" covering the board. I believe both boards use 10K capacitors and they have a similar i/o layout. In fact, the Ex 6 wins for I/O with its dual full length M.2 slots, a rare feature at any price point. Its really the Z97 board to beat. And not much beats it. The only board I would say was a compelling jump from the Ex 6 would be the Gigabyte G1 Gaming Wifi BK Black Edition (shortest mobo name ever?) because of it's top notch everything and 150+ hour burn in tests assuring you that you won't get a DOA or flaky board.

 

[Mandrake4565]

How about this
Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2, 5 yr warranty and saves you some cash and doesn't have that goofy TUF Armor or whatever it's called on it.

 

[Theocnoob]

How about this
Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2, 5 yr warranty and saves you some cash and doesn't have that goofy TUF Armor or whatever it's called on it.

Ex 6 gives you more. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but why take a board with a worse featureset (but a better power delivery section, though the OP will have no use for that) just for an extra 2 years of warranty? Is a board with solid caps really that likely to fail between 3-5 years (barring acts of God of course)? I'd rather take the better bang for the buck, personally.

 

[Mandrake4565]

Ex 6 gives you more. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but why take a board with a worse featureset (but a better power delivery section, though the OP will have no use for that) just for an extra 2 years of warranty? Is a board with solid caps really that likely to fail between 3-5 years (barring acts of God of course)? I'd rather take the better bang for the buck, personally.

Agreed and the Asrock Z97 Ext 6 is a heck of a board for the price.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Ex 6 gives you more. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but why take a board with a worse feature set (but a better power delivery section, though the OP will have no use for that) just for an extra 2 years of warranty? Is a board with solid caps really that likely to fail between 3-5 years (barring acts of God of course)? I'd rather take the better bang for the buck, personally.

Well, a board's power section is one of the things that is more important to me actually.

Given that I tend to overclock basically all of my CPU's, memory, and motherboards (at one point or another) (and am on the benching team) I do know that a board with a weak power section can be quite a setback when one is going for their maximum overclock (for me with air or water cooling at the moment) and the system suddenly shuts down due to insufficient CPU power section (which I've had happen more than once while benching). Or worse yet, destroying the power section, and then it catches fire. How much of a difference in power section quality/durability are you talking about though? Is it something that will be a serious issue while overclocking with air cooling, or would I only notice if I were cooling a CPU with LN2 and going for a huge overclock?

Since you're so up on ASRock, is there something wrong with the Z97 OC Formula? I noticed no one mentioned that one.

And a question to everyone, are there any good Gigabyte motherboards out there that are recommended?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Well, a board's power section is one of the things that is more important to me actually.

Given that I tend to overclock basically all of my CPU's, memory, and motherboards (at one point or another) (and am on the benching team) I do know that a board with a weak power section can be quite a setback when one is going for their maximum overclock (for me with air or water cooling at the moment) and the system suddenly shuts down due to insufficient CPU power section (which I've had happen more than once while benching). Or worse yet, destroying the power section, and then it catches fire. How much of a difference in power section quality/durability are you talking about though? Is it something that will be a serious issue while overclocking with air cooling, or would I only notice if I were cooling a CPU with LN2 and going for a huge overclock?

Since you're so up on ASRock, is there something wrong with the Z97 OC Formula? I noticed no one mentioned that one.

And a question to everyone, are there any good Gigabyte motherboards out there that are recommended?

Take a look at what I've done with my Ext6 on HWBot... The power section is more than enough.

The OCF is a great board, but overkill unless you're planning to go sub ambient.

There are some good Gigabyte boards, but nothing great.

 

[Mandrake4565]

Since you're so up on ASRock, is there something wrong with the Z97 OC Formula

Nope, great board also. Witchdoctor and Woomack both own one and praise it.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Nope, great board also. Witchdoctor and Woomack both own one and praise it.

I'd still take the Ext6 for day to day usage though.
The OCF is a better benching board, the Ext6 is almost as strong for benching but has better features for a daily machine.

 

[EarthDog]

I'd still take the Ext6 for day to day usage though.
The OCF is a better benching board, the Ext6 is almost as strong for benching but has better features for a daily machine.

Ambient benching I would stick with the Ex6. It won't crap out on you. There are some overclock specific features on boards like the Hero/SOC/OCF though. So if you lean more towards that, go get it. But if its mostly daily driving, save yourself some cash.