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$950 Gaming PC with Peripherals and Monitor - Help?

Happy Camper
By Happy Camper
in New Builds and Planning
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Eh, so long as they're not DOA or have coil whine, the performance difference is negligible. They all share the same architecture and all will perform the same clock for clock. The different cooling solutions don't really affect much as even a moderate increase in cooling is only a tiny performance gain, and that's even only if you take advantage of it with overclocking. The one I included was the cheapest, and worked, and that's been the determining factor in all my GPU purchases and I haven't been disappointed.

Temps and noise-wise the Asus 290 is pretty poor -- it's just a quieter version of the reference cooler; and the EVGA ACX cooler and Strix cooler are both decent coolers at best with much better alternatives for only a bit more. 

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Should I overclock on my first build?  I'm sort of leaning on the side of not overclocking, since I don't want to mess up my friend's computer.

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Overclocking is easy and perfectly safe. Unless you do something stupid like put too high a voltage into the CPU (which wont happen unless you're a complete moron), worst comes to worst you just remove the CMOS battery, wait a bit, and it'll be returned to factory stock settings. It's super easy these days, and there are loads of guides to follow. The performance gains can be pretty big too, and it's impossible to get similar single-threaded performance without overclocking.

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I noticed that a lot of reviewers of that Mobo reported it arriving DOA and the graphics card has a coil whine problem.  Should I reconsider either of these?

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Temps and noise-wise the Asus 290 is pretty poor -- it's just a quieter version of the reference cooler; and the EVGA ACX cooler and Strix cooler are both decent coolers at best with much better alternatives for only a bit more. 

What would you suggest?

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I noticed that a lot of reviewers of that Mobo reported it arriving DOA and the graphics card has a coil whine problem.  Should I reconsider either of these?

 

If you're concerned with the MoBo, you can buy this one as an alternative:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z97extreme3

 

As for the GPU, really it's whichever one is your preference. They'll all largely perform the same since they are the same GPU, only the cooling solution and stock clock speeds are different.

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I only avoid versions that use the reference cooler. There are a few brands I probably wouldn't buy, but I seldom even see them anymore. EVGA, Asus, Gigabyte, Sapphire, Powercolor, Zotac, MSI, and XFX are all well known companies and I wouldn't hesitate buying from them. Club3D is the only company I'm not sure about, but haven't heard anything bad about them.

 

As for risk assessment, that's up to you. Honestly I didn't even look at the reviews for that MoBo because I know gigabyte and trust them as a brand, and it has the featureset and specifications you want for the best price.

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Here is the most recent build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RphPYJ

 

How does it look? If prices go up, should I switch out the case?

Looks good. I doubt the case price will change, but if it does feel free. I notice you kept the MoBo. I personally probably wouldn't mind the risk, but that's up to you. There are alternatives. Heck, if you don't need SLI compatibility you can even get something for like $10 cheaper.

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Here is the most recent build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RphPYJ

 

How does it look? If prices go up, should I switch out the case?

Cases are pretty subjective, so if you find something for less that you like better, then yes. 

 

Looks good. I doubt the case price will change, but if it does feel free. I notice you kept the MoBo. I personally probably wouldn't mind the risk, but that's up to you. There are alternatives. Heck, if you don't need SLI compatibility you can even get something for like $10 cheaper.

What risk? I wouldn't really worry about a board ariving DOA just because others have; thats an issue thats common with any board and isn't partciularly more likely on a gigabyte z97x/MSI z97 g55 than on an MSI/Gigabyte gaming 5 or higher.

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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Cases are pretty subjective, so if you find something for less that you like better, then yes. 

 

What risk?

He said some reviews said it arrived DOA.
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He said some reviews said it arrived DOA.

I wouldn't really worry about a board arriving DOA just because others have; thats an issue thats common with any board and isn't particularly more likely on a gigabyte z97x/MSI z97 g55 than on an MSI/Gigabyte gaming 5 or higher.

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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I wouldn't really worry about a board arriving DOA just because others have; thats an issue thats common with any board and isn't particularly more likely on a gigabyte z97x/MSI z97 g55 than on an MSI/Gigabyte gaming 5 or higher.

I agree. That's about what I said, although in more words. Gigabyte is known to make a good product

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Do I need to get extra case fans?

Not really, most (excluding extreme budget) cases include enough fans for the build. Now, you may choose to upgrade them to something better/quieter in the future and/or add some more should you decide you want more air flow. 

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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Not really, most (excluding extreme budget) cases include enough fans for the build. Now, you may choose to upgrade them to something better/quieter in the future and/or add some more should you decide you want more air flow. 

In your opinion, what's the best case for the budget?

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In your opinion, what's the best case for the budget?

Next source 210

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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What makes it good?

It's cheap, has decent cable management, doesn't look or feel like crap. 

Do I need to buy all of the parts before the end of November?

You can buy the parts whenever you want to buy the parts, but I would buy them all at once since buying a part now, and then waiting a bit then buying another part is silly since technology usually trends down in prices plus new stuff is always coming out.

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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