New Build Advice!

Maraio1 · January 31, 2015

Hi guys.

After 4 years worth of savings I've finally got enough for me to get my Dream Rig! I've got a grand total of £2,550 to spend now, and here are the parts that I've chosen. They might not be perfect, and I'm open to changes that anyone can offer me.

Another thing is as I'm a first time builder, I've got no experience, so would love to hear some good tips that could make the build more enjoyable and things that I might miss that is vitally important.

Part List:

CPU: Intel 4690K

Thermal Paste: Artic MX4

CPU Cooler: Corsair H105

Motherboard: Asus VII Formula

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury 16GB 1866MHz Red

Storage: WD Black 2TB

Crucial MX100 512GB

Video Cards: 2X Asus Strix 980's

Case: Corsair 760T

PSU: Corsair HX850i

OS: Windows 8.1

Fans: Corsair AF140

Corsair SP120 HP Dual

Monitors: 2X AOC G2460FQ (going to add 1 more later when I get paid in a few months)

Thanks in advance!

Maraio1

zappian · January 31, 2015

@Maraio1

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£244.94 @ Aria PC)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£74.72 @ CCL Computers)

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£95.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Memory: Corsair Dominator GT 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£344.06 @ More Computers)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£161.94 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£466.79 @ More Computers)

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£88.07 @ Aria PC)

Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

Total: £1979.21

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-31 18:41 GMT+0000

79wjd · January 31, 2015

For surround 1080p @ 144hz monitors, I'd check out the BenQ XL2411Z or Asus VG248QE instead. I'd also go with SLI 970s or XFIRE 290x's instead.

I'd also go with a 4790k + Hyper 212 rather than a 4690k and H105.

I'd go with a cheaper motherboard as pretty much all Z97 boards are equivalent (assuming they have the same features -- XFIRE/SLI support/etc...).

Get a 2tb Seagate Barracuda instead -- a black isn't worth the money.

And go with an EVGA G2 750w/850w psu (750w for SLI 970s, 850w for XFIRE 290x's).

Sack · January 31, 2015

For surround 1080p go with SLI 970s or XFIRE 290x's.

I'd also go with a 4790k + Hyper 212 rather than a 4690k and H105.

I'd go with a cheaper motherboard as pretty much all Z97 boards are equivalent (assuming they have the same features -- XFIRE/SLI support/etc...).

Get a 2tb Seagate Barracuda instead -- a black isn't worth the money.

And go with an EVGA G2 750w/850w psu.

Way to recommend a broken GPU man ....

79wjd · January 31, 2015

Way to recommend a broken GPU man ....

Even Linus said it's not broken. Stop crying over nothing. 3.5gb of VRAM isn't an issue at sub-4k resolutions, and at 4k it doesn't have the power to drive a system at high enough settings to need 4gb of VRAM.

zappian · January 31, 2015

Way to recommend a broken GPU man ....

Thats why i recommended 980 SLI on my build

SuperPug · January 31, 2015

Way to recommend a broken GPU man ....

Calling it broken might be a bit strong... But for surround 1080p the ram might become an issue especially in SLI

zappian · January 31, 2015

Calling it broken might be a bit strong... But for surround 1080p the ram might become an issue especially in SLI

I choose not recommend a gpu that NVIDIA sweared up and down was gonna be fixed by drivers and then nothing.

The 290x or 980 are better options at a lower budget or higher respectively.

Sack · January 31, 2015

My recommandation is:

- Get some 1600 MHz RAM you won't notice a difference

- Get a Blue WD drive or a Barracuda drive from Seagate (2-3 TB is the way to go)

- I would get a Noctua aircooler for the CPU instead of the corsair one, it's quieter and just as good if not better.

- And my finally don't get a kingston or crucial SSD, they have been known to replace their parts with cheaper low performance components after the reviewers have tested them ...

Sack · January 31, 2015

I choose not recommend a gpu that NVIDIA sweared up and down was gonna be fixed by drivers and then nothing.

The 290x or 980 are better options at a lower budget or higher respectively.

Listen to this person.

I like the signature ^^

Maraio1 · January 31, 2015

Right guys.

Thanks for the almost instantaneous feedback. Truly amazing community you are!

I've looked at all you comments and come up with a revised list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£179.00 @ Amazon UK)

CPU Cooler: Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£84.99 @ Amazon UK)

Thermal Compound: Arctic Cooling MX4 4g Thermal Paste (£3.99 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£167.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£130.31 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£92.70 @ Scan.co.uk)

Storage: Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (£60.29 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£467.99 @ Amazon UK)

Case: Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case (£149.71 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: Corsair 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£129.84 @ Scan.co.uk)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.99 @ Amazon UK)

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan (£12.00 @ Amazon UK)

Case Fan: Corsair CO-9050014-WW 62.7 CFM 120mm Fan (£21.74 @ Scan.co.uk)

Other: AOC G2460FQ 1080p 144Hz (£170.00)

Total: £2551.50

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-31 19:00 GMT+0000

What you guys think of this?

Thanks again!

Amazing community, truly amazing

zappian · January 31, 2015

Right guys.

Thanks for the almost instantaneous feedback. Truly amazing community you are!

I've looked at all you comments and come up with a revised list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£179.00 @ Amazon UK)

CPU Cooler: Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£84.99 @ Amazon UK)

Thermal Compound: Arctic Cooling MX4 4g Thermal Paste (£3.99 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£167.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£130.31 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£92.70 @ Scan.co.uk)

Storage: Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (£60.29 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£467.99 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£467.99 @ Amazon UK)

Case: Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case (£149.71 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: Corsair 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£129.84 @ Scan.co.uk)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.99 @ Amazon UK)

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan (£12.00 @ Amazon UK)

Case Fan: Corsair CO-9050014-WW 62.7 CFM 120mm Fan (£21.74 @ Scan.co.uk)

Other: AOC G2460FQ 1080p 144Hz (£170.00)

Other: AOC G2460FQ 1080p 144Hz (£170.00)

Other: AOC G2460FQ 1080p 144Hz (£170.00)

Total: £2551.50

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-31 19:00 GMT+0000

What you guys think of this?

Thanks again!

Amazing community, truly amazing

Dont buy overpriced motherboards.

Go with the MSI KRAIT

Otherwise its spot on.

SuperPug · January 31, 2015

I choose not recommend a gpu that NVIDIA sweared up and down was gonna be fixed by drivers and then nothing.

The 290x or 980 are better options at a lower budget or higher respectively.

Yeah i agree... I just wouldnt necessarily call it ''broken''.

zappian · January 31, 2015

Yeah i agree... I just wouldnt necessarily call it ''broken''.

Broken by design IMHO.

79wjd · January 31, 2015

Right guys.

Thanks for the almost instantaneous feedback. Truly amazing community you are!

I've looked at all you comments and come up with a revised list:

What you guys think of this?

Thanks again!

Amazing community, truly amazing

BenQ XL2411Z and Asus VG248QE is still a better looking 144hz monitor. However, the BenQ only has dual-link DVI -- which would require you to get an active DVI to display port adapter. The Asus VG248QE would be fine though (albeit quite a bit more expensive, whereas the BenQ is only a bit more).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£244.94 @ Aria PC)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.44 @ Aria PC)

Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£115.12 @ Dabs)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£113.13 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£90.00 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.94 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£279.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)

Case: Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case (£145.00 @ Aria PC)

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£101.98 @ Dabs)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.35 @ Aria PC)

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan (£12.00 @ Amazon UK)