Cutting costs ~100$ from a ~2k$ build

[KarlFFF]

EDIT: Title budget is based on a sloppy head currency conversion: Budget is more like $1500

 

I need to shave like $100 or of my build, but can't decide where to compromise

The main purpose of the build is gaming.

 

Here's what I've decided on:

ASUS MAXIMUS VII RANGER

Intel Core i5-4690K

Noctua NH-D15

ASUS GeForce GTX 970 Strix 4GB

G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2400 C10 16GB

Corsair RM550 Gold

Fractal Design Define R5

Samsung 850 EVO SSD 250GB

 

I am planning to get a solid OC on my cpu (4.5ghz+) - I've gotten a bit of conflicting info on the influence of the mobo for OC. Some say any with a chip-set allowing it will do and some say that good cooling on voltage regulators is a must for a solid OC. I do like the better lan and sound chip on the ranger compared to cheaper boards, but it seems like a good place to shave some cost if any z97 board would do. (Additionally I kinda like the asus BIOS so if an asus mobo and other name mobo do equal I'd go for asus)

I would like my build to be quiet.

Don't think I can go lower on the PSU wattage as there isn't much overhead after OC.

I have two hdds I am planning to move over for big storage.

[79wjd]

Get a cheaper board and an EVGA G1/G2 PSU (or some other cheaper psu). 

 

Any z97 board (From Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, or Asrock, ignoring Z97m anniversary) will handle overclocking more or less the same (+/- margin of error). 

 

P.s. you could get away with a 430w psu (although, they're not much cheaper) -- but the RM series is overpriced. 

[dadasmithywinkle]

-snip-

 

Get a Cooler Master EVO 212 and 8GB of RAM insterad of 16GB.

[minibois]

-snip-

Is 1600MHz RAM cheaper for you? 

[Sequence]

you could save a bit on the ram and a bit on the board if you dont mind losing some of the sex appeal. 

[xvantok]

Get a cheaper case! Grab the corsair 230t or the H440

[zappian]

Motherboard is uber expensive.

 

Get a msi KRAIT SLI.

[Xaring]

Mobo, CPU cooler, GPU and RAM

[FireFox]

16GB of DDR3-2400 is a waste of time for gaming mate, look into 8GB DDR3-1600/1866.

[TheKDub]

 

I need to shave like 100$ or of my build, but can't decide where to compromise

The main purpose of the build is gaming.

 

Here's what I've decided on:

ASUS MAXIMUS VII RANGER

Intel Core i5-4690K

Noctua NH-D15

ASUS GeForce GTX 970 Strix 4GB

G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2400 C10 16GB

Corsair RM550 Gold

Fractal Design Define R5

Samsung 850 EVO SSD 250GB

 

I am planning to get a solid OC on my cpu (4.5ghz+) - I've gotten a bit of conflicting info on the influence of the mobo for OC. Some say any with a chip-set allowing it will do and some say that good cooling on voltage regulators is a must for a solid OC. I do like the better lan and sound chip on the ranger compared to cheaper boards, but it seems like a good place to shave some cost if any z97 board would do. (Additionally I kinda like the asus BIOS so if an asus mobo and other name mobo do equal I'd go for asus)

I would like my build to be quiet.

Don't think I can go lower on the PSU wattage as there isn't much overhead after OC.

I have two hdds I am planning to move over for big storage.

 

 

Cut back on the RAM, you don't really need anything higher than 1600Mhz, and you won't see a benefit from higher clocked ram unless using an APU, which you're not.

[AlexStriz]

Anything ROG is overpriced. If you change the mobo to something cheaper, you could probably save your whole $100 just by doing that there.

 

If not, cutting down to 1600mhz ram would work fine. 2400 is hella expensive. Going up in speeds is a large waste in money. The price:performance is awful on 2000+ mhz ram. 

 

A different PSU would also save you money. Corsair PSU's are overpriced. 

[insulin shots]

Cheaper ram, 8gb 1600 or 1866 instead of 16gb 2400. And a cheaper power supply. I would honestly not reccomend the RM series anyways. But just ask yourself. Do you really need 80+ gold or will 80+ bronze be good enough? I think we both know the answer to that question.

[Speedyv]

Get an Asus Z97-A mobo and a cheaper 500W PSU like a CX500

[AlexStriz]

you could save a bit on the ram and a bit on the board if you dont mind losing some of the sex appeal. 

You can definitely buy a lot of stuff that is cheaper and still really good looking

 

all these mobos more than $100-$150 cheaper than the Ranger

 

There is also a lot of nice cheaper RAM

[79wjd]

You can definitely buy a lot of stuff that is cheaper and still really good looking

 

all these mobos more than $100-$150 cheaper than the Ranger

 

 

 

 

Interesting mobo

[Sequence]

Anything ROG is overpriced. If you change the mobo to something cheaper, you could probably save your whole $100 just by doing that there.

 

If not, cutting down to 1600mhz ram would work fine. 2400 is hella expensive. Going up in speeds is a large waste in money. The price:performance is awful on 2000+ mhz ram. 

 

A different PSU would also save you money. Corsair PSU's are overpriced. 

Anything ROG is not overpriced they are unmatched in features that is what you are paying for.

Agree with ram but it does make a small difference

Corsair PSU are about as far from overpriced as you can get they are simply just reliable and quality.  

[Imakuni]

Go to PC Partpicker and:

1. Go searching for a mobo. Filter "z97" chipset and "2-way SLI capable". Then, sort it by lowest price. Pick the first one that shows up.
2. Go searching for RAM. Check the "1x4gb", "1x8gb", "2x4gb" and "1x8gb" filters. Then, sort it by "price/gb". Get the cheapest 1600mhz, CAS 9 available.
3. Go searching for PSU. Check the "80+ gold", "semi" and "full" filters, and put wattage between 500w and 650w. Sort by lowest price. Get the cheapest thing that comes from EVGA, Corsair, Rosewill, XFX or Seasonic.

Also, get the cheapest 256gb SSD that's not the v300. Trust me, they all perform the same.

[KarlFFF]

Is 1600MHz RAM cheaper for you? 

No - cost the same, maybe a tiny bit cheaper but very insignificant

 

you could save a bit on the ram and a bit on the board if you dont mind losing some of the sex appeal. 

Don't like the looks of cases with windows, so sex appeal is not an issue (except for airflow)

 

Get a cheaper board and an EVGA G1/G2 PSU (or some other cheaper psu). 

 

Any z97 board (From Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, or Asrock, ignoring Z97m anniversary) will handle overclocking more or less the same (+/- margin of error). 

 

P.s. you could get away with a 430w psu (although, they're not much cheaper) -- but the RM series is overpriced. 

Yea seems cheaper board is the general consensus.

I went for the RM for the fan-less operation at low load and modular feature. Is there a cheaper option with similar functionality?

 

Get a Cooler Master EVO 212 and 8GB of RAM insterad of 16GB.

The Cooler Master EVO 212 is louder and less efficient than the NH-D15. Not sure it's a compromise I am willing to do.

Halving the ram could do, but seems the consensus is going for a cheaper board, as the board doesn't make much of a difference.

 

16GB of DDR3-2400 is a waste of time for gaming mate, look into 8GB DDR3-1600/1866.

2400 and 1600/1866 cost the same for me - But I will consider to cutting the amount.

 

Get a cheaper case! Grab the corsair 230t or the H440

I'll look into those, thanks. Though I do like the good dust filtering in the R5 and the high flexibility of the case with removing bays etc.

 

Motherboard is uber expensive.

 

Get a msi KRAIT SLI.

I'll look into cheaper boards then.

 

Mobo, CPU cooler, GPU and RAM

Not very helpful as you're basically suggesting cutting on everything

 

Anything ROG is overpriced. If you change the mobo to something cheaper, you could probably save your whole $100 just by doing that there.

 

If not, cutting down to 1600mhz ram would work fine. 2400 is hella expensive. Going up in speeds is a large waste in money. The price:performance is awful on 2000+ mhz ram. 

 

A different PSU would also save you money. Corsair PSU's are overpriced. 

Yea people seem to agree that the mobo is the place to cut costs.

1600 and 2400 costs almost the same for me, so no reason to cut it. roughly 5$ difference for going up to 2400 from 1600 and they have the same CAS latency.

True Corsair is expencive, but they have silent operation and is modular which I value quite a bit.

 

Cheaper ram, 8gb 1600 or 1866 instead of 16gb 2400. And a cheaper power supply. I would honestly not reccomend the RM series anyways. But just ask yourself. Do you really need 80+ gold or will 80+ bronze be good enough? I think we both know the answer to that question.

Only way to cut ram costs is reducing amount, which is a viable option.

gold vs. bronze is not as important as modular and silent operation at low loads. That said the gold should pay off the difference over time and no reason to pull more power than needed.

 

 

Get an Asus Z97-A mobo and a cheaper 500W PSU like a CX500

I'll give the z97-A a look.

 

Go to PC Partpicker and:

1. Go searching for a mobo. Filter "z97" chipset and "2-way SLI capable". Then, sort it by lowest price. Pick the first one that shows up.
2. Go searching for RAM. Check the "1x4gb", "1x8gb", "2x4gb" and "1x8gb" filters. Then, sort it by "price/gb". Get the cheapest 1600mhz, CAS 9 available.
3. Go searching for PSU. Check the "80+ gold", "semi" and "full" filters, and put wattage between 500w and 650w. Sort by lowest price. Get the cheapest thing that comes from EVGA, Corsair, Rosewill, XFX or Seasonic.

Also, get the cheapest 256gb SSD that's not the v300. Trust me, they all perform the same.

1. I'll find a cheaper mobo

2. 1600 vs. 2400 is the same price for me - but I'll look into smaller bundles with less ram

3. Like the no fan at low load and modular - Already looked at other options and didn't find an option with the same appeal.

 

Ok will look into cheaper SSDs

[Skrizzles]

Go with 8GB Ram until you can afford the second stick. Thats $60.And if you do 1600mhz instead of 2400mhz, theres another ~ $30.

 

Any z97 board will do, but pay more attention to features instead of flash words(Gaming, Professional, Ranger, Hero, etc), and fan header placement(trust me, makes life easier). Yes, I know this place pushes ASUS. And Yes, they ARE good boards. But they are NOT the only good boards. MSI has a history of being military grade. And of you like red, you're gonna love them. Gigabyte has some pretty fancy stuff too.

 

The processor, you could save some money there, too. Shop on Amazon for deals on either 4670k or 4690k. Official price difference is $2 for 2% difference in performance. But people have been OC'ing the 4670k to 4.6 since it was on a z87 motherboard. So, whichever is cheapest.

[79wjd]

@KarlFFF the no fan-mode isn't that important, since any decent psu won't be particularly loud anyway. 

 

Corsair CX/EVGA B1 series would be my recommendation. Or something better like a 750w EVGA G2 if you wanted to get a really nice (one of the best) modular psu. (Which also happens to have a zero fan mode)

[AlexStriz]

Anything ROG is not overpriced they are unmatched in features that is what you are paying for.

Agree with ram but it does make a small difference

Corsair PSU are about as far from overpriced as you can get they are simply just reliable and quality.  

For the most part, things labeled as "gamer oriented" or "gaming grade" tend to be more expensive, because the demographic of people buying those products can afford to spend more on it. Yeah, ok. The ROG boards have a lot of features. But do you really need all of them? It seems like overkill IMO. The Maximus Ranger has so many things that I would never use. Maybe OP is different, but I don't need 7 USB 2.0 ports and.

 

As you said, you get the unmatched features for what you're paying, but how many of those features do you actually need?

 

The difference in RAM performance is negligible and not worth the extra cash IMO. 

 

Most of Corsair's PSU's are good, but they're still really expensive. You can get EVGA's G2 power supplies, which are rebranded Super Flower's (arguably the best PSU manufacturer), for cheaper than the competing Corsair units. Plus the EVGA PSU's come with a 10 year warranty (5 years on the NEX)

 

The RM series from Corsair is not the best power supply either. It's pretty poor, actually. Thermal issues seem to plague the lower wattage models. They also have CapXxon capacitors for the secondary capacitors. These capacitors are bad quality, which is not something you want, especially in a high end power supply. 

 

I'm not bagging on Corsair PSU's (the AX is a rebranded Seasonic KM3, which is a really good unit. HX isn't bad either), but the RM is trash. Overpriced trash at that. 

 

Corsair is kinda like Apple. They know their stuff is really good, so they make people pay more for it. It may be a really good product, but you can get similarly performing items for less. 

[Xaring]

 

Sry, actually meant PSU not GPU. I find you have mostly overkill parts.

[Guest]

This is well under $2K assuming those are US $$$. Is the list in your opening post over $2K ? as it shouldn't be.

 

As already mentioned, you can go with a cheaper board if you want to cut it down further.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_RD 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler  ($86.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($296.37 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($125.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($118.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($328.99 @ Directron) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($117.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $1380.29

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-22 20:28 EST-0500

[KarlFFF]

 

This is well under $2K assuming those are US $$$. Is the list in your opening post over $2K ? as it shouldn't be.

 

As already mentioned, you can go with a cheaper board if you want to cut it down further.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_RD 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler  ($86.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($296.37 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($125.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($118.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($328.99 @ Directron) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($117.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $1380.29

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-22 20:28 EST-0500

 

Sorry $2k was a sloppy head conversion from my local currency, a proper one puts the build budget at $1500. I didn't realize the US$ had gone op by so much again compared to the Danish crown.

[KarlFFF]

Thanks for all the input everyone, you've all been very helpful.

 

Solution ended up being a combo of cheaper board and a cheaper psu.

 

Only way to save on ram was going for 8gb instead of 16gb which would have had me pay 1.25 as much pr. gb and thus not worth it imo.

 

In any case thanks again everyone!