1000 euro first build

[HerrSubset]

Hi all

 

I've been looking at PC parts on and off for as long as I can remember, but now my desktop died after 7 years (or the GPU at least), I'm thinking of building smth myself. You can find the parts over here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4MzknQ. I won't be needing windows since I can get it for free through dreamspark, and I'll mostly be running Linux anyway.

 

I've built this pc mainly to play some games. I play quite a variety of games, but not that many AAA titles. I know this system should be more than capable of running most current AAA titles, but I'd like it to last as long as my previous pc if possible (5-7 years).

Anyway, are there some things I missed here? Some things that are still on my mind:

• I've read smth about the motherboard possibly needing a bios update before it could recognise the CPU. Anyone some experience with this?
• I'm quite confident the wattage on the PSU should be sufficient, but all that talk about 12V rails and what not got me confused. So is the one I picked ok for this build?
• For the case: I've been thinking of taking the Fractal Design Define R5 Black instead of the Corsair 200r. Any recommendations on this?

Thanks already!

[SkywardKkalox]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€189.59 @ Home of Hardware DE) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€88.89 @ Home of Hardware DE) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (€62.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Storage: Kingston Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€60.95 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€58.49 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card  (€390.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Case: BitFenix Colossus Micro MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (€83.49 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  (€60.20 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Total: €995.49

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-07 20:55 CEST+0200

 

Much better performance and better 970 model.

[Mattrixx]

Hi all

 

I've been looking at PC parts on and off for as long as I can remember, but now my desktop died after 7 years (or the GPU at least), I'm thinking of building smth myself. You can find the parts over here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4MzknQ. I won't be needing windows since I can get it for free through dreamspark, and I'll mostly be running Linux anyway.

 

I've built this pc mainly to play some games. I play quite a variety of games, but not that many AAA titles. I know this system should be more than capable of running most current AAA titles, but I'd like it to last as long as my previous pc if possible (5-7 years).

Anyway, are there some things I missed here? Some things that are still on my mind:

• I've read smth about the motherboard possibly needing a bios update before it could recognise the CPU. Anyone some experience with this?
• I'm quite confident the wattage on the PSU should be sufficient, but all that talk about 12V rails and what not got me confused. So is the one I picked ok for this build?
• For the case: I've been thinking of taking the Fractal Design Define R5 Black instead of the Corsair 200r. Any recommendations on this?

Thanks already!

It's pretty much impossible to know what games will look like in 7 years, but it is certainly very powerful, and will probably last. I'd get an i5 instead if you want it to last that long and possibly last to a GPU upgrade.

 

The BIOS update means just that. There's a chance it'll come with a new BIOS already though. You'll need a CPU that's compatible with the current BIOS to flash a new BIOS is what it means.

Yes, it's fine. It's not "high quality", but it isn't bad, and at $30 is a steal.

For the case, just go by personal preference.

 

EDIT: Or just go by @SkywardKkalox 's build. Definitely better.

[SkywardKkalox]

@HerrSubset remember to follow your topics.

[GER_T4IGA]

I'd prefer the MSI version of the 970.

[PineappleHolidays]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€189.59 @ Home of Hardware DE) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€88.89 @ Home of Hardware DE) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (€62.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Storage: Kingston Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€60.95 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€58.49 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card  (€390.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Case: BitFenix Colossus Micro MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (€83.49 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  (€60.20 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Total: €995.49

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-07 20:55 CEST+0200

 

Much better performance and better 970 model.

 

Do NOT use PCpartpicker to do EU builds

[SkywardKkalox]

Do NOT use PCpartpicker to do EU builds

Freak yea it sucks.

[c0d0ps]

Do NOT use PCpartpicker to do EU builds

Why?

Does it not reflect proper pricing?

[c0d0ps]

Hi all

 

I've been looking at PC parts on and off for as long as I can remember, but now my desktop died after 7 years (or the GPU at least), I'm thinking of building smth myself. You can find the parts over here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4MzknQ. I won't be needing windows since I can get it for free through dreamspark, and I'll mostly be running Linux anyway.

 

I've built this pc mainly to play some games. I play quite a variety of games, but not that many AAA titles. I know this system should be more than capable of running most current AAA titles, but I'd like it to last as long as my previous pc if possible (5-7 years).

Anyway, are there some things I missed here? Some things that are still on my mind:

• I've read smth about the motherboard possibly needing a bios update before it could recognise the CPU. Anyone some experience with this?
• I'm quite confident the wattage on the PSU should be sufficient, but all that talk about 12V rails and what not got me confused. So is the one I picked ok for this build?
• For the case: I've been thinking of taking the Fractal Design Define R5 Black instead of the Corsair 200r. Any recommendations on this?

Thanks already!

I would advice to get a cpu cooler to bring down temps and get bigger psu to get a more quiet overall system.

A bigger psu will give you the ability to do future upgrades like gpu or psu.

 

I5's will most likely be the better choice for you since you didn't mention that you do anything else than gaming and it is on the newer games that the extra cores will be used.

Not so much on the older games or on mobas like LoL.

[stconquest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€252.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 OC FORMULA ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€119.14 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  (€74.63 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€58.49 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  (€354.22 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  (€58.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  (€60.20 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €977.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-07 21:11 CEST+0200

[HerrSubset]

I think I'll stick with this PSU anyway. I don't think i'll ever put more than one GPU in there and I'll probably never take any top tier cards either. And since the power that most of the components need is mostly dropping, I think I should be fine here.

 

Anyway, thanks for the input guys, I'll take another look at it.

[PineappleHolidays]

Why?

Does it not reflect proper pricing?

Not at all , check mindfactory.de for lower prices , you will lower the price by a ton .

 

EDIT : caseking.de and there are a massive list of others .

[c0d0ps]

Not at all , check mindfactory.de for lower prices , you will lower the price by a ton .

 

EDIT : caseking.de and there are a massive list of others .

I live in Sweden, will this still be the best for me?

I like prisjakt.nu but this is only for Sweden though so idk.

[PineappleHolidays]

I live in Sweden, will this still be the best for me?

I like prisjakt.nu but this is only for Sweden though so idk.

Well it's op's choice , he needs to tell us where he lives and if he prefers any sites .

[HerrSubset]

I live in Belgium. I'd prefer to buy it all in some store here so I can get my parts all at once. Guess I don't like waiting for deliveries from somewhere in Germany

A question I have though. All those other proposed builds, will the performance be noticeable better or not that much after all? The main thing seems swapping the FX 8350 for an i5. I picked that CPU however because I wanted this pc to last for quite a while and because games are expected to get more and more optimized for more threads.

 

So I guess the question is if changing to an i5 will be that much better.

[c0d0ps]

I live in Belgium. I'd prefer to buy it all in some store here so I can get my parts all at once. Guess I don't like waiting for deliveries from somewhere in Germany

A question I have though. All those other proposed builds, will the performance be noticeable better or not that much after all? The main thing seems swapping the FX 8350 for an i5. I picked that CPU however because I wanted this pc to last for quite a while and because games are expected to get more and more optimized for more threads.

 

So I guess the question is if changing to an i5 will be that much better.

It the performance boost will be different from game to game (depending on optimizations and stuff).

Most of the time it will be better with an i5 especially if you aren't going to overclock the 8350.

You didn't pick a non stock cpu cooler or a good overclockable motherboard (as far as I know but I might be wrong), so my guess is that you did not plan on overclocking.

 

Most older/not AAA games will be benefit from the stronger single core.

If you want to learn more about this watch Linus's and Luke's video on "Not all cores are made the same" or something like that.

The intel processor have fewer cores but stronger single core strength which will be the better choice in most games.

 

In LoL for example it will be a lot better with an I5 compared to a 8350.

I don't think I am especially good at explaining this but I hope you get my message/point..

[stconquest]

It the performance boost will be different from game to game (depending on optimizations and stuff).

Most of the time it will be better with an i5 especially if you aren't going to overclock the 8350.

You didn't pick a non stock cpu cooler or a good overclockable motherboard (as far as I know but I might be wrong), so my guess is that you did not plan on overclocking.

 

Most older/not AAA games will be benefit from the stronger single core.

If you want to learn more about this watch Linus's and Luke's video on "Not all cores are made the same" or something like that.

The intel processor have fewer cores but stronger single core strength which will be the better choice in most games.

 

In LoL for example it will be a lot better with an I5 compared to a 8350.

I don't think I am especially good at explaining this but I hope you get my message/point..

 

Let me help.... The i5 will beat the FX CPU in every game known to man. 

[HerrSubset]

It the performance boost will be different from game to game (depending on optimizations and stuff).

Most of the time it will be better with an i5 especially if you aren't going to overclock the 8350.

You didn't pick a non stock cpu cooler or a good overclockable motherboard (as far as I know but I might be wrong), so my guess is that you did not plan on overclocking.

 

Most older/not AAA games will be benefit from the stronger single core.

If you want to learn more about this watch Linus's and Luke's video on "Not all cores are made the same" or something like that.

The intel processor have fewer cores but stronger single core strength which will be the better choice in most games.

 

In LoL for example it will be a lot better with an I5 compared to a 8350.

I don't think I am especially good at explaining this but I hope you get my message/point..

 

I know about the single-core difference, but thanks for trying to explain it that thoroughly However, as far as the few benchmarks go that I've seen, multi-threaded the FX 8350 would be similar to i5's that were a little more pricy. Single core it performed way worse. And I kinda feel like the games that need CPU performance, also are optimized for multiple threads. The not so intensive single thread ones might just do fine on the amd. This is a total guess however.

 

Apart from that, from what i've seen, the "real world" difference didn't seem to be that big. And for some reason I felt like going for the amd.

 

You're also correct in thinking that I'm not planning to overclock it.

 

 

Let me help.... The i5 will beat the FX CPU in every game known to man. 

 

When I was playing planetside 2, people with AMD processors had a significantly better experience as far as I remember (I played it shortly after its release). It might've changed, but otherwise you might be wrong

[stconquest]

I know about the single-core difference, but thanks for trying to explain it that thoroughly However, as far as the few benchmarks go that I've seen, multi-threaded the FX 8350 would be similar to i5's that were a little more pricy. Single core it performed way worse. And I kinda feel like the games that need CPU performance, also are optimized for multiple threads. The not so intensive single thread ones might just do fine on the amd. This is a total guess however.

 

Apart from that, from what i've seen, the "real world" difference didn't seem to be that big. And for some reason I felt like going for the amd.

 

You're also correct in thinking that I'm not planning to overclock it.

 

 

 

When I was playing planetside 2, people with AMD processors had a significantly better experience as far as I remember (I played it shortly after its release). It might've changed, but otherwise you might be wrong

 

Ok, The FX CPU line for gaming is "just fine".  They are not bad CPUs, but when buying a PC, the Intels are almost always a better choice.  If you wanted just "fine, we could recommend the the FM2+ 860K quad core for gaming.  It is like $80 and "fine" for gaming. 

 

With AMD (FX) you will see the limits of the CPU far sooner than the Haswells.

 

Long story short:  Intel has been improving their CPU IPCs (Instructions Per Clock) with every generation for over five years.  AMD has not been doing the same.  The result is an Intel architecture that has cores that handle roughly 40% more IPC.

 

$100 i3 beats the FX 8XXX in most games:  http://www.hardcoreware.net/intel-core-i3-4340-review/2/

 

...and here:  http://www.hardwarepal.com/best-cpu-gaming-9-processors-8-games-tested/

 

 

The FX 8-Core CPUs will beat the i5 at rendering times and multi-threaded workloads, but usually not by that much.

 

Since you are not overclocking, I would recommend the Xeon E3-1230 V3 or Xeon E3-1231.  It is like having a i7 4770 (non-K version).  The Xeons will beat the FX at just about everything.

[stconquest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€264.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M-PRO3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€65.88 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  (€72.38 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€94.16 @ Amazon Deutschland)  <<<I would rather have this over the 1TB mass storage, if I had to choose one
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€59.49 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  (€354.22 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (€41.94 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (€55.56 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1008.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-08 04:50 CEST+0200

[c0d0ps]

I know about the single-core difference, but thanks for trying to explain it that thoroughly However, as far as the few benchmarks go that I've seen, multi-threaded the FX 8350 would be similar to i5's that were a little more pricy. Single core it performed way worse. And I kinda feel like the games that need CPU performance, also are optimized for multiple threads. The not so intensive single thread ones might just do fine on the amd. This is a total guess however.

 

Apart from that, from what i've seen, the "real world" difference didn't seem to be that big. And for some reason I felt like going for the amd.

 

You're also correct in thinking that I'm not planning to overclock it.

 

 

 

When I was playing planetside 2, people with AMD processors had a significantly better experience as far as I remember (I played it shortly after its release). It might've changed, but otherwise you might be wrong

The main attraction with amd (as far as I know) is the ability to overclock at a low price.

I mostly bought my FX 6300 since it was a good overclocker and it had many cores.

But for me it probably would have been better with an i3 (which has hyperthreading) because it had stronger single core performance.

 

Most of the time it's better with fewer stronger cores than more weaker cores and if you aren't going to overclock then they are going to be even weaker.

With most i5s you do not need to overclock, that is an attraction in the intel side.

To give a good personal choice to you, we need to know some specific games that you want to play.

[c0d0ps]

Let me help.... The i5 will beat the FX CPU in every game known to man. 

I am 90-95% sure that there is a minimum of 3-5 games that the 8350 will perform better than the i5 4460.

(I am talking about modern games aka games that aren't older than 5 years.

But yes, the single core performance at the i5 makes it very strong.

[HerrSubset]

The main attraction with amd (as far as I know) is the ability to overclock at a low price.

I mostly bought my FX 6300 since it was a good overclocker and it had many cores.

But for me it probably would have been better with an i3 (which has hyperthreading) because it had stronger single core performance.

 

Most of the time it's better with fewer stronger cores than more weaker cores and if you aren't going to overclock then they are going to be even weaker.

With most i5s you do not need to overclock, that is an attraction in the intel side.

To give a good personal choice to you, we need to know some specific games that you want to play.

 

Okidoki, guess you convinced me. I'll try to make another build based on an i5 4460 or i5 4590. Is the extra cost of the 4590 worth it? (It's about 15 euros more expensive here) Or can i better invest it elsewhere. It's not that much money in the end, but still

 

Aside from that, is there a specific chipset i should go with for my motherboard? H81, B85 and H97 seem to be my options. I know anything starting with "Z" is for overclocking, so I'll leave those aside.

 

For games I'm playing. At the moment it's mainly Cities: Skylines. I'll probably get the Witcher 3 when I get a new pc and I might go back to Planetside 2. The rest of the stuff I play are some indie games that any pc can run.

 

 

EDIT: changed the CPU and motherboard: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FCrR8d (rest of the build remained the same).

[c0d0ps]

Okidoki, guess you convinced me. I'll try to make another build based on an i5 4460 or i5 4590. Is the extra cost of the 4590 worth it? (It's about 15 euros more expensive here) Or can i better invest it elsewhere. It's not that much money in the end, but still

 

Aside from that, is there a specific chipset i should go with for my motherboard? H81, B85 and H97 seem to be my options. I know anything starting with "Z" is for overclocking, so I'll leave those aside.

 

For games I'm playing. At the moment it's mainly Cities: Skylines. I'll probably get the Witcher 3 when I get a new pc and I might go back to Planetside 2. The rest of the stuff I play are some indie games that any pc can run.

 

 

EDIT: changed the CPU and motherboard: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FCrR8d (rest of the build remained the same).

I am not especially good on motherboards but like you said the Z motherboards are mostly for overclockers, maybe B75 or an H motherboard,

I would personally spend the extra money for the i5 4690 but I am not sure if the performance boost is worth the extra money

I think that Cities:Skylines benefit a lot from having extra cores while Planetside 2 benefit a lot from the single core performance.

I am not sure what Witcher 3 requires/beneftis from though.

[stconquest]

Okidoki, guess you convinced me. I'll try to make another build based on an i5 4460 or i5 4590. Is the extra cost of the 4590 worth it? (It's about 15 euros more expensive here) Or can i better invest it elsewhere. It's not that much money in the end, but still

 

Aside from that, is there a specific chipset i should go with for my motherboard? H81, B85 and H97 seem to be my options. I know anything starting with "Z" is for overclocking, so I'll leave those aside.

 

For games I'm playing. At the moment it's mainly Cities: Skylines. I'll probably get the Witcher 3 when I get a new pc and I might go back to Planetside 2. The rest of the stuff I play are some indie games that any pc can run.

 

 

EDIT: changed the CPU and motherboard: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FCrR8d (rest of the build remained the same).

 

There were two releases for the 1150 socket. 

 

1.  Haswell

 

2.  Haswell Refresh

 

Now, the H81, B85, H87 and Z87 motherboards were released with the original Haswell launch.  These boards might prove to be incompatible with the newer Haswell Refresh CPUs.

 

The i5 4460 and i5 4590 you picked are Haswell Refresh CPUs.  You paired the Haswell Refresh (also known as Devil's Canyon) with a B85 motherboard.  There is a chance that you will receive your purchases, put it all together and find that your PC won't even post... trust me, it has happened quite often.

 

 

Solutions:

 

1.  Pair a Haswell Refresh CPU with a H97 or Z97 motherboard to ensure 100% compatibility.

 

2.  Contact the retailer and inquire whether or not a certain H81/B85/H87/Z87 motherboard is updated to the newer Haswell Refresh specifications.

 

3.  If you know someone that has an original Haswell CPU (i3 4130, i3 4430, i5 4440, i5 4670(K), i7 4770(K), or you have one yourself... you can update an older motherboard yourself.

 

 

Did that make sense to you?