First Build Advice

[fieryjoe]

Hey guys, newbie both to this forum and PC building here. I have been researching this for months while I get the money together, but am still a little in the dark on a few details, which I hope someone could help me out with.

 

First of all:

1. Budget & Location

I'm in the UK and looking to spend a total of roughly £1500.

 

2. Aim

Largely for music production but will also be used for gaming. I intend to install OSX as well as Windows 7, hence why I'm tied to certain components to maximise compatibility.

 

3. Monitors

It's going to be a one-monitor machine, but if it can cope with a second at some point, I'd like that as a possibility.

 

4. Peripherals

I will need to purchase a monitor, which I include in my budget. And though I'll be getting a decent mouse and keyboard at some point, I don't include these.

 

5. Reason for Upgrade

I've been using Mac since 2005 but thoroughly dislike the direction the company is going in. I also want a computer I can upgrade at intervals, which of course, Apple computers cannot facilitate. Plus my current iMac is kind of on its last legs.

 

 

But anyway, I've already bought a number of components for the build. Stuff I was fairly confident wouldn't alter in price a great deal etc. These are:

 

Corsair Carbide 500R case - £92.65

Corsair CX600M Modular Power Supply - £52.96

Corsair H100i Liquid CPU Cooler - £79.98

Seagate 1TB 7200rpm SSHD - £57

TP-Link TL-WDN4800 Wi-fi Adapter - £27.98

 

So that's £310.57 spent thus far.

 

 

The parts I'm pretty much set on for the build are:

 

Intel Core i7-4790K - £256.99

Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-bk - £160.76

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8) DDR3-1866 - £116.99

Samsung 840 Evo 250GB SSD - £91.29

Gigabyte Geforce GTX 770 - £235.99

Windows 7 Home Premium - £69.65

Asus VG248QE 24" Monitor - £258.49

 

This all comes to £1191.16 left to spend.

Which brings the total to £1501.73

 

 

So now that's out of the way, some questions...

 

Am I cheaping out with this motherboard? I keep reading that it's fairly low end, but it seems to have everything I could expect from a motherboard. Plenty of USB 3.0 ports, two ethernet, enough RAM and PCI-E slots. So essentially, will this motherboard do what I need or would I be better off spending a little more money for something more? Also, should I just get the standard UDH5 or pay the extra for the Black Edition?

 

Secondly, is there really much difference in the level of performance between, say Corsair Vengeance and Corsair Vengeance Pro? There seems always be a better version, but I am uncertain as to whether I can justify the extra cost.

 

Thirdly, SSD. Should I spend more to get something better? I won't be looking at an increase in size here, but would consider spending more if it were to produce tangible performance benefits.

 

 

Finally, I'm fairly certain this build will do what I need, but I would appreciate a second opinion on that, and any ways I might be able to improve it without going too far over budget.

 

Anyway, I've droned on for quite long enough, so I'll leave it there.

[luke_2bossly]

I think it looks good I probs wouldnt get a better SSD...... I think that mobo will be fine......

[SAV1OUR]

welcome to the forums and thank you for using the outlines very few people do but it helps allot <33333333333333333

use the quote button if you want my help sorry if i don't reply i'm tired as hell and need sleep but ill get to you at some point

but here's id go with

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£256.99 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£110.36 @ Scan.co.uk) better quality mobo in my opinion
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  (£113.40 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£179.99 @ Aria PC) larger ssd almost hte same price as a 250gb
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  (£369.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk) make sure you get reference gpu after market tend to have some issues with osx 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)  (£72.88 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  (£424.44 @ Amazon UK) 1440p ips hnnnnug
Total: £1527.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[BlackMamba]

i think the motherboard is perfect for doing a dual boot with hackintosh, it would do the work. Also for the SSD the price to performance of the Samsung is good and it will last a lot  

[SpyRosL]

Motherboard is awesome. Keep it.

Everything is awesome actually. If you can stretch your budget a little bit,get the 290 or 780 if you want to go with nvidia only.Much better performance.

[lani100]

Looks fine, Finally someone that doesn't choose a msi motherboard thumbs up!

[SAV1OUR]

Looks fine, Finally someone that doesn't choose a msi motherboard thumbs up!

what's wrong with msi boards? msi has amazing quality and seemed to have picked up with z97

[lani100]

what's wrong with msi boards? msi has amazing quality and seemed to have picked up with z97

I only had trouble with their g z87 boards and everyone has them for their builds like almost everyone. Gigabyte has some better quality boards with better looks for the same price.

[SAV1OUR]

I only had trouble with their g z87 boards and everyone has them for their builds like almost everyone. Gigabyte has some better quality boards with better looks for the same price.

noooooooooooooooo way asus is the biggest mobo brand as of right now and ROG spreads everywhere like crazy

[lani100]

noooooooooooooooo way asus is the biggest mobo brand as of right now and ROG spreads everywhere like crazy

But the quality and design from rog boards is just outstanding. If i had the money I would have gotten one.

[Brendson]

Hey OP.

 

Your listings look fine to my eyes. Notes about the MOBO and SSD. The Motherboard looks fine when I looked over it and I can't find a fault as far as I can see. The SSD is the same on I'm using and I use it as a Boot drive primarily and install games on it if they really make good use of better load times, such as Skyrim considering modding capabilities. That said I'm sitting at 95.5GB usage and have been for the last few months but that is my personal use after all.

 

Secondly, and this is just preference, I wouldn't sit with a 600W Bronze PSU for this build. I build for peace of mind so I would recommend a Gold rated PSU just in case but honestly your chosen one should power your specifications well.

 

Good luck with the build.

[fieryjoe]

Blimey, lots of responses. Thanks very much guys. Glad the motherboard looks like a go-er. That's the main concern out of the picture.

 

@SpyRosL: Have to stick with Nvidia really, to maintain compatibility with OSX. But is the 780 that much better than 770? Took me a fair amount of consideration to shift from the 760, but wouldn't necessarily rule out going up again.

 

 

Any ideas on the RAM issue or does it really not matter a sod?

[SpyRosL]

Blimey, lots of responses. Thanks very much guys. Glad the motherboard looks like a go-er. That's the main concern out of the picture.

 

@SpyRosL: Have to stick with Nvidia really, to maintain compatibility with OSX. But is the 780 that much better than 770? Took me a fair amount of consideration to shift from the 760, but wouldn't necessarily rule out going up again.

 

 

Any ideas on the RAM issue or does it really not matter a sod?

Yes. That much better.

Look at linus' benchmarks. 

 

I'm not saying that the 770 is a bad performing card,just that if you are willing to give a little bit more,it will be worth it.Totally up to you.

[fieryjoe]

Yes. That much better.

Look at linus' benchmarks. 

 

I'm not saying that the 770 is a bad performing card,just that if you are willing to give a little bit more,it will be worth it.Totally up to you.

 

Crikey, yes. Point taken. It's well over £100 more, but that's a hell of a boost. I'll definitely try and scrape together the funds for that bad boy. Cheers, man.