Gaming/Video Editing Build

[JxKirbz]

Hi everyone.

 

This is a build that will probably used for mostly gaming and web browsing with quite a bit of video editing here of there. I already have quite a few of the components, which I will list further down. I'm from London and my budget for the components I have not purchased would be around £600. 
Anyway here is the list of components:

 

CPU- Intel Core i7 4770k 
GPU- Asus Direct CU ii 7970
Cooler- Corsair H100i 
Motherboard- Asus Maximus VI Formula
Memory- 4x4 corsair vengeance pro 16gb
Storage- Crucial M500 240gb SSD X2
Storage- WD Caviar Red 3TB
Case- Fractal Design R4
Case Fans- Be Quiet Shadow Wings SW1 140mm x4
PSU- Corsair RM 750
Monitor- 23 inch Acer Monitor
Keyboard- Logitech G710+
Mouse- Logitech G602 Wireless Gaming Mouse
Mouse Mat- Logitech G240
Headset- Astro A40
Optical Drive- Pioneer 8x Blu Ray Combo Drive.
Fan Controller- Bitfenix Recon

 

 

Now I know with that budget I just stated that looks pretty impossible but I have already purchased the Motherboard,Case,Monitor,Mouse,Fan Controller, 1 SSD and the CPU. The graphics card is a temporary solution, my friend is allowing me to borrow until around May, so I can either stall for Maxwell until May or purchase a 780. The Headset is something I also will purchase in the future but I am open to different suggestions. I will also purchase a BenQ XL2420T in the near future and I am also open to different suggestions. So for the £600 budget it would consist of the PSU, Case Fans, Cooler, Optical Drive, Memory and lastly Storage.

 

I do not need an OS, and the reason for me getting a new build is partially to do with my overall aims and objectives with the build, but also because I'm tired of my laptop, since its pretty arse. 

 

 

[NewAndreas]

Don't get 4x4gig get 2x8gig for expandabillity!

[JxKirbz]

Don't get 4x4gig get 2x8gig for expandabillity!

I don't really think its necessary for me to have 32gb ram, and its kind of expensive. 

[Skylark]

I don't really think its necessary for me to have 32gb ram, and its kind of expensive. 

I think all haswell MBs suggest a 2DIMM configuration over a 4DIMM.

 

For Ivy-Bridge 4DIMM is prefered

[JxKirbz]

I think all haswell MBs suggest a 2DIMM configuration over a 4DIMM.

 

For Ivy-Bridge 4DIMM is prefered

Can I ask why? 

[NewAndreas]

I don't really think its necessary for me to have 32gb ram, and its kind of expensive. 

you don't know whats coming in the future, and you would be bummed out if you wanted to expand and had to change everything.

[JxKirbz]

you don't know whats coming in the future, and you would be bummed out if you wanted to expand and had to change everything.

I do see where you are coming from, however I still don't deem it necessary. Then we have the release of DDR4 soon, I will probably change the system late 2015-2016 anyway, hopefully it will be out Skylake/Cannonlake. 

[Skylark]

Can I ask why? 

 

1150 boards use dual channel memory, so the CPU accesses the ram through 2 lanes regardless if you have 4 sticks or 2 sticks in there.  2x8Gb will therefore be slightly faster 4x4Gb since it can access all the ram available through its 2 lanes.  On Ivy-bridge memory is quad channel so it can access through 4 lanes

[JxKirbz]

1150 boards use dual channel memory, so the CPU accesses the ram through 2 lanes regardless if you have 4 sticks or 2 sticks in there.  2x8Gb will therefore be slightly faster 4x4Gb since it can access all the ram available through its 2 lanes.  On Ivy-bridge memory is quad channel so it can access through 4 lanes

Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge and Haswell are all Dual Channel, Quad channel is only available on X79 which is either Sandy Bridge-E, or Ivy Bridge-E. There is more of a total bandwidth across 4 lanes, rather than 2 which is why I decided on a 4X4 configuration.  

[Skylark]

Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge and Haswell are all Dual Channel, Quad channel is only available on X79 which is either Sandy Bridge-E, or Ivy Bridge-E. There is more of a total bandwidth across 4 lanes, rather than 2 which is why I decided on a 4X4 configuration.  

You listed a haswell CPU and mobo in your buiild. Its dual channel.

[JxKirbz]

You listed a haswell CPU and mobo in your buiild. Its dual channel.

Yes I do know that, surely I covered that when I stated Quad Channel is only available on X79. I know my motherboard only supports dual channel, I would still find it far more optimal  4 DIMMS of memory knowing that the board and memory controller on Z87 only supports dual channel, because I want to increase the amount of total bandwidth available to me. Access times aren't something I am too concerned for.

[brob]

 So for the £600 budget it would consist of the PSU, Case Fans, Cooler, Optical Drive, Memory and lastly Storage.

 

 

The R4 is a quiet case. There should be no need for more fans.

 

Included are suggestions for the parts needed. I recognize that one SSD is already acquired. For a system drive a single large SSD will provide better performance than a RAID 0 of two smaller ones. It's also less expensive.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Memory:  GeIL EVO CORSA Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£93.54 @ Amazon UK)

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£236.99 @ Aria PC)

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£81.59 @ Aria PC)

Power Supply:  SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£91.98 @ Scan.co.uk)

Optical Drive:  Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£11.98 @ Ebuyer)

Total: £516.08

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-09 21:47 GMT+0000)

[JxKirbz]

The R4 is a quiet case. There should be no need for more fans.

 

Included are suggestions for the parts needed. I recognize that one SSD is already acquired. For a system drive a single large SSD will provide better performance than a RAID 0 of two smaller ones. It's also less expensive.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Memory:  GeIL EVO CORSA Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£93.54 @ Amazon UK)

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£236.99 @ Aria PC)

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£81.59 @ Aria PC)

Power Supply:  SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£91.98 @ Scan.co.uk)

Optical Drive:  Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£11.98 @ Ebuyer)

Total: £516.08

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-09 21:47 GMT+0000)

Firstly thank you for the response. Anyway can I ask why buying a 500gb EVO would be more beneficial than purcashing another Crucial M500? I understand that the max bandwith between two SATA ports would be 1.2 Gigabytes a second. The ram is out of stock on Amazon, and you wouldn't recommend anything other than the H100i? 

[brob]

Firstly thank you for the response. Anyway can I ask why buying a 500gb EVO would be more beneficial than purcashing another Crucial M500? I understand that the max bandwith between two SATA ports would be 1.2 Gigabytes a second. The ram is out of stock on Amazon, and you wouldn't recommend anything other than the H100i? 

 

I was bringing up a point. Bandwidth isn't everything and SSD are not like HDD. You may be interested in http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html, particularly the conclusion.

 

With respect to H100i alternatives, a Swiftech H220 isn't generally available in the US. In any case there seems to be a fairly constant stream of people with issues - all solvable - but issues none the less. I don't believe any other AIO with better performance will fit in the top of an R4.

 

I did contemplate suggesting an H80i because it is easier to install and won't have the issues the H100i will have. (You likely know all this, but I'll mention it anyways. The H100i radiator and motherboard are a very tight squeeze. Unless you are going to use the fans in pull, I would suggest mounting the radiator without fans first, laying in any cables you'll need along the top edge of the motherboard, then putting in the motherboard, and finally mounting the radiator fans.) Ultimately I didn't make the recommendation because the H100i should fit and it does outperform the H80i.

[JxKirbz]

I was bringing up a point. Bandwidth isn't everything and SSD are not like HDD. You may be interested in http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html, particularly the conclusion.

 

With respect to H100i alternatives, a Swiftech H220 isn't generally available in the US. In any case there seems to be a fairly constant stream of people with issues - all solvable - but issues none the less. I don't believe any other AIO with better performance will fit in the top of an R4.

 

I did contemplate suggesting an H80i because it is easier to install and won't have the issues the H100i will have. (You likely know all this, but I'll mention it anyways. The H100i radiator and motherboard are a very tight squeeze. Unless you are going to use the fans in pull, I would suggest mounting the radiator without fans first, laying in any cables you'll need along the top edge of the motherboard, then putting in the motherboard, and finally mounting the radiator fans.) Ultimately I didn't make the recommendation because the H100i should fit and it does outperform the H80i.

Thank you for the article, I had been searching for something like that and I have not been able to find it, that was really beneficial. Now I was only going to purchase another M500, for the increase in speed, do you suggest I keep that SSD, since I bought on a Christmas sale on Amazon £96.99, I could return then purchase a 250gb Evo but would that really be worth it? The H100i thing is fine, I was only going to put in pull anyway, and it should be able to fit, well just about fit. Would you say it would be beneficial for me to pick up another SSD anyway or maybe pick up something like a Western Digital Caviar Black or something? 

[brob]

Thank you for the article, I had been searching for something like that and I have not been able to find it, that was really beneficial. Now I was only going to purchase another M500, for the increase in speed, do you suggest I keep that SSD, since I bought on a Christmas sale on Amazon £96.99, I could return then purchase a 250gb Evo but would that really be worth it? The H100i thing is fine, I was only going to put in pull anyway, and it should be able to fit, well just about fit. Would you say it would be beneficial for me to pick up another SSD anyway or maybe pick up something like a Western Digital Caviar Black or something? 

 

Great price on the SSD. Sure, keep and use it. SSD prices are falling. I'd simply keep my eye out for another good deal. Unless you really do need 500GB right away. Then go ahead with the RAID 0. It may not provide the pinnacle of performance as a system drive, but it's not going to be shoddy either.

 

You've got a good looking build.

[JxKirbz]

Great price on the SSD. Sure, keep and use it. SSD prices are falling. I'd simply keep my eye out for another good deal. Unless you really do need 500GB right away. Then go ahead with the RAID 0. It may not provide the pinnacle of performance as a system drive, but it's not going to be shoddy either.

 

You've got a good looking build.

Okay with the aid of your article, I've decided on the storage solutions. I think I'm going to purchase a 120gb EVO and make that the boot drive, then use my 240gb M500 for games and just things that may require any additional speed, and lastly a WD Black 2tb/3tb, depending on how much money I have leftover. 

[brob]

Okay with the aid of your article, I've decided on the storage solutions. I think I'm going to purchase a 120gb EVO and make that the boot drive, then use my 240gb M500 for games and just things that may require any additional speed, and lastly a WD Black 2tb/3tb, depending on how much money I have leftover. 

 

Sounds like a decent plan. I've had good experiences with Seagate Barracuda. Going that route for the hdd would stretch the money.

[JxKirbz]

Sounds like a decent plan. I've had good experiences with Seagate Barracuda. Going that route for the hdd would stretch the money.

Yeah I'll be very complacent with the WD Black, simply because I know you can technically get a better value for money, but it most definitely the fastest without spending like £200 for some random HDD. Even with the stretched money to be honest I wouldn't know where to put it, I've calculated everything on a specific budget; I don't know I may buy a game or something.  

[WoodenMarker]

Is it too late to cancel the parts you have already ordered? (Mainly the ssd, cpu, and mobo)?

Why 2 ssd's?

 

Yeah I'll be very complacent with the WD Black, simply because I know you can technically get a better value for money, but it most definitely the fastest without spending like £200 for some random HDD. Even with the stretched money to be honest I wouldn't know where to put it, I've calculated everything on a specific budget; I don't know I may buy a game or something.  

The barracuda isn't much worse but is much cheaper.

[JxKirbz]

Is it too late to cancel the parts you have already ordered? (Mainly the ssd, cpu, and mobo)?

Why 2 ssd's?

 

The barracuda isn't much worse but is much cheaper.

I'm not cancelling the CPU I got it for £168 which is the exact same price or is slightly cheaper than the i5, I'm not too sure. I'm not going to send my motherboard back, I was either going to get the Maximus VI Formula or the deluxe and I the Formula offers a better overall package for the £30 difference. I opted for 2 ssds because A. I have the money and B. Why not? I can have one SSD literally dedicated to the OS and and very light applications such as Skype, or Google Chrome just anything like that, I had already bought the M500 on a sale so why not just keep it for big such as BF4 and I do plan to get Titanfall when it comes out? I actually purchased everything a few hours and I did end up buying a 3tb Barracuda. 

[WoodenMarker]

I'm not cancelling the CPU I got it for £168 which is the exact same price or is slightly cheaper than the i5, I'm not too sure. I'm not going to send my motherboard back, I was either going to get the Maximus VI Formula or the deluxe and I the Formula offers a better overall package for the £30 difference. I opted for 2 ssds because A. I have the money and B. Why not? I can have one SSD literally dedicated to the OS and and very light applications such as Skype, or Google Chrome just anything like that, I had already bought the M500 on a sale so why not just keep it for big such as BF4 and I do plan to get Titanfall when it comes out? I actually purchased everything a few hours and I did end up buying a 3tb Barracuda. 

If you got everything on sale, that's fine. There's not point to getting separate ssd's for your os and applications though especially since Windows only takes up ~20GB and up to ~40GB with all the updates, paging file and such.

 

Are you planning to sli/cf?

[JxKirbz]

If you got everything on sale, that's fine. There's not point to getting separate ssd's for your os and applications though especially since Windows only takes up ~20GB and up to ~40GB with all the updates, paging file and such.

 

Are you planning to sli/cf?

Well I got the m500 and the CPU on sale, everything else I've paid full price for. If I decide to go SLI which in all honesty I am not too sure if I will, I will more than likely have get a new PSU Nvidia cards use a ridiculous amount of amps on the 12v rail, and I ended up purchasing the CS750 because the RM750 was either out of stock where I was going to purchase it, or going to be dispatched within 2 months, and I am way too impatient for that. Well to be conclusive I guess it depends on whether or not I feel like spending more money, so in all honesty I really have no idea. 

[WoodenMarker]

Well I got the m500 and the CPU on sale, everything else I've paid full price for. If I decide to go SLI which in all honesty I am not too sure if I will, I will more than likely have get a new PSU Nvidia cards use a ridiculous amount of amps on the 12v rail, and I ended up purchasing the CS750 because the RM750 was either out of stock where I was going to purchase it, or going to be dispatched within 2 months, and I am way too impatient for that. Well to be conclusive I guess it depends on whether or not I feel like spending more money, so in all honesty I really have no idea. 

In that case, since most of the parts are already settled, what's left in your OP looks fine.