2015 First PC Build

[pemberton_h]

Hi all

 

Okay so I have a budget of 1400 AUD to buy all my computer parts (except OS and keyboard) and I'm completely new to building PCs.

 

I want to build a gaming capable PC that I can run Witcher 3 and BF 4 on with high-ish settings at either 1080p or 1440p.

 

A friend recommended this build:

Thoughts?

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/L8pHgs

Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/L8pHgs/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($152.00 @ CPL Online) 

Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($72.00 @ Centre Com) 

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.00 @ Centre Com) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.00 @ Centre Com) 

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($499.00) 

Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.00 @ Storm Computers) 

Power Supply: Silverstone 400W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($65.00 @ CPL Online) 

Wireless Network Adapter: Edimax EW-7711MAC 802.11a/n/ac USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($22.00 @ CPL Online) 

Monitor: ViewSonic VA2246M-LED 60Hz 22.0" Monitor  ($169.00 @ CPL Online) 

Mouse: Gigabyte GM-FORCE M7 Wired Optical Mouse  ($14.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $1269.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-09 21:42 AEST+1000

[RuLeZ]

You should get a better PSU, some 500W+

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

for the r3 390 recommended 600watt+ to be on the safe side ( including overclocking, and futureproofness )

 

400watt wont be able to pull that one at all ( and even if it does it would be going over its normal workload and it can cause psus to fail really quick... the last thing ul want is a failing psu  trust me )

[pemberton_h]

You should get a better PSU, some 500W+

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Will an EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze do?

[RuLeZ]

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Will an EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze do?

Yes, but if you want to do overclocking and maybe changing the CPU later too, I would say 600W.

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Will an EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze do?

500watt is close call still , give it some headroom go 550-600+ ( 600-650 is nice in workload/efficiency ratio with that kind of rig )

[pemberton_h]

for the r3 390 recommended 600watt+ to be on the safe side ( including overclocking, and futureproofness )

 

400watt wont be able to pull that one at all ( and even if it does it would be going over its normal workload and it can cause psus to fail really quick... the last thing ul want is a failing psu  trust me )

600W Bronze Silverstone?

[tikker]

For a gaming pc I would go with an i5 instead of an i3.

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

600W Bronze Silverstone?

i personally prefer gold/platinum psus try finding one for the same price  it will reduce ur wattage pulling from the wall,    remember its personal... any 600watt+ psu will easily do it for u though, just keep in mind the better its efficiency the lower watt consumption ur pc will pull from the wall ;P

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

For a gaming pc I would go with an i5 instead of an i3.

+1   a 4690k would be much better

 

aswell swap out those crucial rams for some proper branded ram such as corsair/kingston/gskill, dont take a 1x8gb kit but instead go 2x4 for dual channel

[RuLeZ]

+1   a 4690k would be much better

 

aswell swap out those crucial rams for some proper branded ram such as corsair/kingston/gskill, dont take a 1x8gb kit but instead go 2x4 for dual channel

Dont agree, I would say 8GB and after some other 8GB, the difference in performance is next to zero, and its easier for upgrades later.

For the i5 yes.

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

Dont agree, I would say 8GB and after some other 8GB, the difference in performance is next to zero, and its easier for upgrades later.

he wont need 32gb ever, 2x4 and upgrading another 2x4 later is as much as he will ever need(16gb is already overkill for gamers) , going 8gb sticks is pointless unless ur building a workstation... he clearly is not

 

singledimm vs dualchannel is actually quite abit of performance difference in bandwidth and latency goin from 1 stick to 2 will give u 20-30% improvement and going from 2 to 4 another 10%

[RuLeZ]

he wont need 32gb ever, 2x4 and upgrading another 2x4 later is as much as he will ever need(16gb is already overkill for gamers) , going 8gb sticks is pointless unless ur building a workstation... he clearly is not

 

singledimm vs dualchannel is actually quite abit of performance difference in bandwidth and latency goin from 1 stick to 2 will give u 20-30% improvement and going from 2 to 4 another 10%

30% in synthetical tests, not in reality, reality without using the iGPU is maximum 5% in games.

[pemberton_h]

+1   a 4690k would be much better

 

aswell swap out those crucial rams for some proper branded ram such as corsair/kingston/gskill, dont take a 1x8gb kit but instead go 2x4 for dual channel

 

 

i personally prefer gold/platinum psus try finding one for the same price  it will reduce ur wattage pulling from the wall,    remember its personal... any 600watt+ psu will easily do it for u though, just keep in mind the better its efficiency the lower watt consumption ur pc will pull from the wall ;P

 

 

For a gaming pc I would go with an i5 instead of an i3.

Okay so I've updated it but I'm a bit over budget (btw the 270 is meant to be a 390 but it doesn't have it on this website so I entered the price)

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/bmbKmG

Thoughts?

thanks a lot so far

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

Okay so I've updated it but I'm a bit over budget (btw the 270 is meant to be a 390 but it doesn't have it on this website so I entered the price)

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/bmbKmG

Thoughts?

thanks a lot so far

everything is good now, cant complain

[bpw87]

It is hard to recommend a i3 for gaming especially for games like Witcher 3. Also you'll want dual channel memory 2x4GB. For $1300AUD you should be able to build a decent i5 powered rig.

 

You should follow your own topics @pemberton_h

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

30% in synthetical tests, not in reality, reality without using the iGPU is maximum 5% in games.

in reality about ram differences i could talk for hours and show things for hours in how much ram actually affects performance and in what ways it will affect, each setting has its own benefit and having bad ram vs proper ram with tight timings + tighening 2nd timings is night and day,   same as going from a 60hz to a 75hz monitor... tweaked / tight timed ram will have much smoother gameplay , lower input latencies and on and on lets not start that coz it will overflow the topic really how much i got to say about ram

 

yes ram will not increase your fps, this is what everyone understands wrong about ram(they think its all about fps, with ram it is not about bandwidth and fps)... though it will enhance smoothness, load times , input latencies and overall system responsiveness

[bpw87]

Okay so I've updated it but I'm a bit over budget (btw the 270 is meant to be a 390 but it doesn't have it on this website so I entered the price)

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/bmbKmG

Thoughts?

thanks a lot so far

Don't get a K cpu if you are only using a H motherboard other then that it looks pretty good

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

Don't get a K cpu if you are only using a H motherboard other then that it looks pretty good

dont get a K cpu is the worst thing to recommend, it makes him future proof... swapping out a motherboard wont be difficult, but if he does wanna overclock in the future... with the non K he cant do crap

 

added to that if he ever want to sell his rig/components... he will have no chance selling a non k cpu really... compared to a K cpu that will sell within days

[bpw87]

30% in synthetical tests, not in reality, reality without using the iGPU is maximum 5% in games.

I can tell you now that GTA V on my computer crashed like all hell when I was running one 8GB stick of ram after one of my sticks died. Now I'm borrowing two 4GB sticks it only crashes alt tabbing which I'm pretty sure most people get.

[RuLeZ]

I can tell you now that GTA V on my computer crashed like all hell when I was running one 8GB stick of ram after one of my sticks died. Now I'm borrowing two 4GB sticks it only crashes alt tabbing which I'm pretty sure most people get.

I doubt that the reason is the single channel, but maybe is some crazy bug of the GTA V.

[Chugle]

You can oc on an h board. Don't listen to anyone who denies that. You can find many articles confirming so. I've already proven someone else who was saying the same thing wrong.

[bpw87]

dont get a K cpu is the worst thing to recommend, it makes him future proof... swapping out a motherboard wont be difficult, but if he does wanna overclock in the future... with the non K he cant do crap

 

added to that if he ever want to sell his rig/components... he will have no chance selling a non k cpu really... compared to a K cpu that will sell within days

It won't be future proof, there isn't anything that is... In the not to distant future X99 and a 980Ti will be old and outdated. Just like every part that is getting a little bit older and uses obsolete connections and software.

 

It's silly to recommend a K chip and a H board, why not get the Z board the first time and be done with it. Swapping motherboards is a crap job, especially if you put a lot of time into cable management.

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

It won't be future proof, there isn't anything that is... In the not to distant future X99 and a 980Ti will be old and outdated. Just like every part that is getting a little bit older and uses obsolete connections and software.

 

It's silly to recommend a K chip and a H board, why not get the Z board the first time and be done with it. Swapping motherboards is a crap job, especially if you put a lot of time into cable management.

h board is simple, budget, boards are easily swapped like i said... non K cpus are not

 

if u put alot of time in cable management u can just unplug ur 24pin and ur case connectors  + the 4/8pin screw out the mobo > screw in the new mobo > place connectors again and ur done... easy setup

 

and then again if he would take 1hour on it instead of 10mins its still 1000x better then going with a non k cpu, the non k cpu will be a total waste for future, the h board can just be sold or reused for a mediacenter or somthing ( or just as spare part incase u got a problem with ur proper board and need to rma )

 

u should make a poll really... NON K CPU OR K CPU ... check results gl ul need it

[bpw87]

I doubt that the reason is the single channel, but maybe is some crazy bug of the GTA V.

It may have been a bug and it was the only game I was really playing at the time but it didn't do it before the stick died and didn't do after I swapped it out. I could hardly play the game it was really frustrating loading into the game a crashing randomly with nothing that seemed like a repeatable cause.