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Build Ready, $1500 PC. Changes/Advice?

vzz
By vzz
in New Builds and Planning
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CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.89 @ DirectCanada) 
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($179.46 @ DirectCanada) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($81.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($114.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($398.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Power Supply: Rosewill 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.98 @ Newegg Canada) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($98.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($309.00 @ Canada Computers) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($36.99 @ NCIX) 
Total: $1838.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-21 19:18 EST-0500

 

First time build, the motherboard and PSU may be excessive but I would rather purchase them now so I can upgrade/overclock without worry.

The wireless card is a necessity for the time being, as I don't have access to a wired connection.

Looking for advice on a monitor and keyboard, consider the current one a placeholder.

Any recommendations, potential changes, or general advice would be great!

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Everything looks good. I'd replace the power supply with this one:

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

 

Only because I trust EVGA a bit more than Rosewill. That particular EVGA unit is very well known for it's performance and value.

Me personally, I like Asus better for GPUs, so I'd go with the STRIX, but that is a preference thing.

If you could squeeze in a faster harddrive, it would really payoff in launching games(Unless you just plan on storing photos and videos).

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http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171741&AID=10657534&PID=3938566&SID=&nm_mc=AFC-C8JunctionCA&cm_mmc=AFC-C8JunctionCA-_-na-_-na-_-na&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-%zn

 

Faster write speeds over the Crucial

 

http://www.ncix.com/detail/mushkin-enhanced-chronos-g2-mknssdcr240gb-g2-13-102792-1265.htm?affiliateid=7474144

 

...and faster still, only 240GB though

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Everything looks good. I'd replace the power supply with this one:

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

 

Only because I trust EVGA a bit more than Rosewill. That particular EVGA unit is very well known for it's performance and value.

Me personally, I like Asus better for GPUs, so I'd go with the STRIX, but that is a preference thing.

If you could squeeze in a faster harddrive, it would really payoff in launching games(Unless you just plan on storing photos and videos).

 

Thanks for the reply, I'll definitely take a look at the PSU you suggested. 

By faster hard drive did you mean a better performing SSD, or a 10k RPM HDD? I could look into a 520 GB SSD for storing games, I was just going to use the 256 GB to store my most played, and the HDD for everything else.

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This board for like $5 more:  http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97gd65gaming

 

The SSDs....the Crucial writes at 300MB/s... I usually look for 500MB/s read AND write.  Not the biggest of concerns, but I would do it for a build of my own.

 

I picked the G65 mobo because I assume you like the colors, and it is a more capable board than the Gaming 5.  There are boards that are as good as the Gaming 5 for $40-$50 cheaper, but they are like blue themed....or gold.  So I picked one that matched the aesthetics you had picked out.  The $5 more for the G65 is well worth it, especially if you plan to overclock.

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I'm assuming all the SanDisk SSD's would perform better than the Crucial,

 

Ultra Plus - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171741&cm_re=sandisk_ssd-_-20-171-741-_-Product

Ultra II - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820173011&cm_re=sandisk_ssd-_-20-173-011-_-Product

Extreme Pro - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4FT2604967&cm_re=sandisk_ssd-_-20-171-998-_-Product

 

in that order?

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This board for like $5 more:  http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97gd65gaming

 

The SSDs....the Crucial writes at 300MB/s... I usually look for 500MB/s read AND write.  Not the biggest of concerns, but I would do it for a build of my own.

 

A few people have made the same comment of the SSD, I'll definitely look at changing that. Sorry if this should be obvious, but looking at a comparison of the two boards I don't see any differences (apart from more/less ports). Could you explain why the GD65 is superior?

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CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.89 @ DirectCanada) 
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($179.46 @ DirectCanada) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($81.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($114.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($398.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Power Supply: Rosewill 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.98 @ Newegg Canada) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($98.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($309.00 @ Canada Computers) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($36.99 @ NCIX) 
Total: $1838.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-21 19:18 EST-0500

 

First time build, the motherboard and PSU may be excessive but I would rather purchase them now so I can upgrade/overclock without worry.

The wireless card is a necessity for the time being, as I don't have access to a wired connection.

Looking for advice on a monitor and keyboard, consider the current one a placeholder.

Any recommendations, potential changes, or general advice would be great!

 

good selection of components there, and no i don't think the m/board and PSU are overkill as infact the m/board is the most important thing for futureproofing as all the other things its easy to change and you don't have to do a full re-install of windows.

and for the PSU its ok been a 750w as you have a ATX m/board and could easy upgrade and go SLi later date when you can afford to do so then have even more performance :)

if you want a quiet PSU look into the Corsair RM series. and have a look into the SSHD instread of a normal HDD for storage / games etc. or do you plan to put games onto the 250 gig SSD?

got to love Asus components

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good selection of components there, and no i don't think the m/board and PSU are overkill as infact the m/board is the most important thing for futureproofing as all the other things its easy to change and you don't have to do a full re-install of windows.

and for the PSU its ok been a 750w as you have a ATX m/board and could easy upgrade and go SLi later date when you can afford to do so then have even more performance :)

if you want a quiet PSU look into the Corsair RM series. and have a look into the SSHD instread of a normal HDD for storage / games etc. or do you plan to put games onto the 250 gig SSD?

 

I was planning on putting a select few games on the SSD, but I see now it may be a little small. I'll look at a larger and faster one.

Thanks for the reply!

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I was planning on putting a select few games on the SSD, but I see now it may be a little small. I'll look at a larger and faster one.

Thanks for the reply!

for a 250 gig i think you will be ok, maybe you can just have Steam (if you have it) installed on "C drive" with windows and all other stuff and back up on "D drive" as with steam you basically have a few good games, maybe 10 max and anything older or you don't play much longer just unistall them and if you want to play them at a later date just reinstall them.

got to love Asus components

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Thanks for the reply, I'll definitely take a look at the PSU you suggested. 

By faster hard drive did you mean a better performing SSD, or a 10k RPM HDD? I could look into a 520 GB SSD for storing games, I was just going to use the 256 GB to store my most played, and the HDD for everything else.

I was thinking like upgrading the Caviar Blue to Caviar Black.

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I was thinking like upgrading the Caviar Blue to Caviar Black.

 

Thanks for the advice, I will look into it!

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A few people have made the same comment of the SSD, I'll definitely look at changing that. Sorry if this should be obvious, but looking at a comparison of the two boards I don't see any differences (apart from more/less ports). Could you explain why the GD65 is superior?

The G65 is a higher end board.  The easiest way to tell just by looking is the power phases that deliver power to the CPU.  The Gaming 5 is an 8+1 (8 phases), the G65 is a 12+1 (12 phases).  The G65 can delivery cleaner power to the CPU at a much faster rate.  Count the chokes around the CPU socket.  The square black thingies.  That is the VRM, it is the first thing I see when looking at a board.

 

Sorry it took so long to respond, I have cleaning to do =).

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The G65 is a higher end board.  The easiest way to tell just by looking is the power phases that deliver power to the CPU.  The Gaming 5 is an 8+1 (8 phases), the G65 is a 12+1 (12 phases).  The G65 can delivery cleaner power to the CPU at a much faster rate.  Count the chokes around the CPU socket.  The square black thingies.  that is the VRM, it is the first thing I see when looking at a board.

 

Sorry it took so long to respond, I have cleaning to do =).

 

Hey not a problem, I will definitely swap the motherboards as per your recommendation. Thanks a lot for the advice.

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Hey not a problem, I will definitely swap the motherboards as per your recommendation. Thanks a lot for the advice.

No problem.  The difference between 300MB/s and 500MB/s, I have never really looked into it.  I always thought that 500 is faster, so I looked for and bought my SSD with the number 500 in mind.  (500 read/500 write)  I use a 240 GB SSD for my main drive.  My storage drives are all outside my case (for better airflow).  I use this:  http://www.ncix.com/detail/usb2-0-to-sata-ide-drive-adapter-a3-17762.htm to access my storage drives.  When I am done, I throw them in a drawer.

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By the way, you build is just fine.  If you bought your original build... you would be happy.  These are just optional tweaks.

 

Gaming, I am guessing you are a CSGo player?  144hz monitors are great for CSG.

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By the way, you build is just fine.  If you bought your original build... you would be happy.  These are just optional tweaks.

 

Gaming, I am guessing you are a CSGo player?  144hz monitors are great for CSG.

 

I'm just trying to get the most out of my first build, small tweaks are exactly what I wanted from this thread. I'm a very casual CSGO player, VERY casual :P

Thanks for the reply.

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I'm just trying to get the most out of my first build, small tweaks are exactly what I wanted from this thread. I'm a very casual CSGO player, VERY casual :P

Thanks for the reply.

if you are casual then i more recommend getting a IPS monitor, looks better than a TN panel. But if you want to get that very smooth gameplay, then the TN panel is not bad too.

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if you are casual then i more recommend getting a IPS monitor, looks better than a TN panel. But if you want to get that very smooth gameplay, then the TN panel is not bad too.

 

Maybe something like this, or this, or even THIS? The monitor is the only piece that I feel unsure about.

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Maybe something like this, or this, or even THIS? The monitor is the only piece that I feel unsure about.

i recommend a u2414h if you have the budget, it's super slim. but if you don't too many cash all that i recommend is a H236HLbid.

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i recommend a u2414h if you have the budget, it's super slim. but if you don't too many cash all that i recommend is a H236HLbid.

 

Thanks for the recommendations man, I will definitely take a look at those.

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