Final compability check before pulling the trigger

[Fluffeeh]

Hello, I've almost completed my gaming build and am in need of some opinions and advice

So far I've got

Asus z97 pro gamer motherboard (bought)
Cooler Master hyper 103 cpu cooler (came free with mobo)
i5 4460 (going to buy)
Kingston Hyperx Savage 2x4 gb cl9 1600mhz ram (bought)
Cooler master 251 case (not sure of front panel compability)
Seasonic mkII 80+ Bronze 520w (should I go for the 600w version instead? don't plan upgrading it in a few years)
And the choice of which GPU to pick 
Either MSI GTX 960 GDDR5 OC http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-960-2GD5T-OC/dp/B00SAYDRL...
or 
Msi GTX 960 GDDR5 http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-960-GAMING-2G/dp/B00SAYDR...
So the questions I have:
1. Which gpu to go for and what are the differences between those two cards?
2. Should I go for a 520w or 600w PSU?
3. Is the case compatable with the motherboard front function panel?
4. Can an old laptop HDD be used on this build? Just for a while, until I can get the funds to buy a new one.
Any help will be greatly appreciated  

 

Also, is this a decent monitor for the price?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/VS228DE-Widescreen-1080p-Monito...

[Indus Monk]

You don't need a z97 mono with a 4460.... Get a B85 mobo and definetly a 600w PSU... But with a GTX 970

[techguru]

 

Hello, I've almost completed my gaming build and am in need of some opinions and advice

So far I've got

Asus z97 pro gamer motherboard (bought)

Cooler Master hyper 103 cpu cooler (came free with mobo)

i5 4460 (going to buy)

Kingston Hyperx Savage 2x4 gb cl9 1600mhz ram (bought)

Cooler master 251 case (not sure of front panel compability)

Seasonic mkII 80+ Bronze 520w (should I go for the 600w version instead? don't plan upgrading it in a few years)

And the choice of which GPU to pick 

Either MSI GTX 960 GDDR5 OC http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-960-2GD5T-OC/dp/B00SAYDRL...

or 

Msi GTX 960 GDDR5 http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-960-GAMING-2G/dp/B00SAYDR...

So the questions I have:

1. Which gpu to go for and what are the differences between those two cards?

2. Should I go for a 520w or 600w PSU?

3. Is the case compatable with the motherboard front function panel?

4. Can an old laptop HDD be used on this build? Just for a while, until I can get the funds to buy a new one.

Any help will be greatly appreciated  

 

Also, is this a decent monitor for the price?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/VS228DE-Widescreen-1080p-Monito...

 

the seasonic 620w if you can afford it

gives you more future proofing

[alexhelvetica]

R9 280 is better than the GTX 960.

[Opeth747]

You don't need a z97 mono with a 4460.... Get a B85 mobo and definetly a 600w PSU... But with a GTX 970

Or an h97 rather. I'd bump that up to a 4590. It's like $10 more.

And a 380 4Gb would perform much better than the 960 for the same price.

 

[Muz]

R9 280 is better than the GTX 960.

Exactly, why do people consider the 960 when the 380 and 280 are clearly superior cards.

[DarkBlade2117]

You don't need a z97 mono with a 4460.... Get a B85 mobo and definetly a 600w PSU... But with a GTX 970

Let him get it, allows him to upgrade to a 4790k in the future. Can save money.

As to your questions, yes the laptop HDD can be used.

I'd go for an R9 380, it performs a bit better then the GTX 960 and can utilize 4GBs of VRAM unlike the 960.

Pcpartpicker.com gives you a rough idea of if everything is compatible or now also,

[DarkBlade2117]

Exactly, why do people consider the 960 when the 380 and 280 are clearly superior cards.

Some people just don't know. Don't just say it's better.

Say"look into the R9 380 ( gives some facts here ), it'll perform better then the 960. If you want you can look up some benchmarks to see the difference"

[alexhelvetica]

Exactly, why do people consider the 960 when the 380 and 280 are clearly superior cards.

If they wanted Nvidia, go for the 760, not much performance increase from the 760 to the 960.

[Muz]

Some people just don't know. Don't just say it's better.

Say"look into the R9 380 ( gives some facts here ), it'll perform better then the 960. If you want you can look up some benchmarks to see the difference"

>Wants to build a gaming pc

>Does no research into the graphics card

[Kirky2k15]

Exactly, why do people consider the 960 when the 380 and 280 are clearly superior cards.

cus nvidia works best with intel so people keep trying to tell me  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:

[Zackfoo]

motherboard overkill but if you gonna upgrade to i7 4790k then it is fine. if not stick with h97 you can upgrade to i7 4790 non k too.

 

gpu i will strongly recommend 380 over 960 especially from msi or sapphire one. 600w or more will be nice you don't want to get as close as possible give your psu some head room too you don't want it to run 100% all the time too.

[DarkBlade2117]

>Wants to build a gaming pc

>Does no research into the graphics card

You don't know how the world works so yah? Many people have absolutely NO IDEA what they're doing. He obviously did research, the build is solid and the only,problem I see is the 380. How do I know he did research? Has a solid power supply, great CPU and mobo choice, great choices in everything even though the 960 isn't the best.

[Opeth747]

If they wanted Nvidia, go for the 760, not much performance increase from the 760 to the 960.

I'd just pick up a used 770 for around the same price as the 960 if Nvidia was the only option. 

[Zackfoo]

cus nvidia works best with intel so people keep trying to tell me  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:

that is bullshit... since when intel and nvidia work best together lol. 

[Muz]

You don't know how the world works so yah? Many people have absolutely NO IDEA what they're doing. He obviously did research, the build is solid and the only,problem I see is the 380. How do I know he did research? Has a solid power supply, great CPU and mobo choice, great choices in everything even though the 960 isn't the best.

gaming build and am in need of some opinions and advice

 

Kudos my friend.

[JefferyD90]

 

Hello, I've almost completed my gaming build and am in need of some opinions and advice

So far I've got

Asus z97 pro gamer motherboard (bought)

Cooler Master hyper 103 cpu cooler (came free with mobo)

i5 4460 (going to buy)

Kingston Hyperx Savage 2x4 gb cl9 1600mhz ram (bought)

Cooler master 251 case (not sure of front panel compability)

Seasonic mkII 80+ Bronze 520w (should I go for the 600w version instead? don't plan upgrading it in a few years)

And the choice of which GPU to pick 

Either MSI GTX 960 GDDR5 OC http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-960-2GD5T-OC/dp/B00SAYDRL...

or 

Msi GTX 960 GDDR5 http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-960-GAMING-2G/dp/B00SAYDR...

So the questions I have:

1. Which gpu to go for and what are the differences between those two cards?

2. Should I go for a 520w or 600w PSU?

3. Is the case compatable with the motherboard front function panel?

4. Can an old laptop HDD be used on this build? Just for a while, until I can get the funds to buy a new one.

Any help will be greatly appreciated  

 

Also, is this a decent monitor for the price?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/VS228DE-Widescreen-1080p-Monito...

 

To me it is a really unbalanced machine... and I dont feel like the memory is on the QVL list.

[Kirky2k15]

that is bullshit... since when intel and nvidia work best together lol. 

I know right? I can't believe people think that...

[Fluffeeh]

Let him get it, allows him to upgrade to a 4790k in the future. Can save money.

As to your questions, yes the laptop HDD can be used.

I'd go for an R9 380, it performs a bit better then the GTX 960 and can utilize 4GBs of VRAM unlike the 960.

Pcpartpicker.com gives you a rough idea of if everything is compatible or now also,

First of all, thank you everyone for the replies.

Alright, I  found a place to get the 380.  Only thing I don't like is that the 380 runs hotter and requires more power. 

http://ololo.lv/lv/product/106368.html Would this one be ok? And I've already ordered the 520w PSU, would it be a terribly bad idea to use it if I get the 380?

[Fluffeeh]

To me it is a really unbalanced machine... and I dont feel like the memory is on the QVL list.

Why so? And what is qvl?

[Fluffeeh]

Exactly, why do people consider the 960 when the 380 and 280 are clearly superior cards.

This might be a dumb question - what is the difference between the 380 and 280? 

[Paralectic]

You don't need a z97 mono with a 4460.... Get a B85 mobo and definetly a 600w PSU... But with a GTX 970

He doesn't need a 600w psu.

[techguru]

This might be a dumb question - what is the difference between the 380 and 280? 

if you mean just specs

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-380-vs-Radeon-R9-280

[Andrew Sh]

Hello, I've almost completed my gaming build and am in need of some opinions and advice

So far I've got

Asus z97 pro gamer motherboard (bought)

Cooler Master hyper 103 cpu cooler (came free with mobo)

i5 4460 (going to buy)

Kingston Hyperx Savage 2x4 gb cl9 1600mhz ram (bought)

Cooler master 251 case (not sure of front panel compability)

Seasonic mkII 80+ Bronze 520w (should I go for the 600w version instead? don't plan upgrading it in a few years)

And the choice of which GPU to pick

Either MSI GTX 960 GDDR5 OC http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-960-2GD5T-OC/dp/B00SAYDRL...

or

Msi GTX 960 GDDR5 http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-960-GAMING-2G/dp/B00SAYDR...

So the questions I have:

1. Which gpu to go for and what are the differences between those two cards?

2. Should I go for a 520w or 600w PSU?

3. Is the case compatable with the motherboard front function panel?

4. Can an old laptop HDD be used on this build? Just for a while, until I can get the funds to buy a new one.

Any help will be greatly appreciated

Also, is this a decent monitor for the price?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/VS228DE-Widescreen-1080p-Monito...

A lot of good or unclear answers here so I'll tell you as it is based on what you have and assuming this is your budget. From experience.

Get a r9 380 instead of a gtx960 ( I'm not a fanboy, I have a gtx 970.

It seems to give a good boost over the 960 plus the vram increase can bej handy on the rare occasion that you need over 2gb.

The mobo is not required for this CPU and I'd recommend returning it and replacing with a b85 or h97 if it won't lose you any money on the refund. Only if it doesn't. Keep in mind that this CPU will NOT bottleneck you in any way. So stretching to a i5 4690k is not necessary.

Ram is fine.

500w PSU is enough as its usually recommended to get 450w I think. BUT my own rule of thumb is always get a PSU that will run approx 50%-60% capacity at load. This makes sure it lasts you a long time.

In this case get a 600w. Preferably a corsair one. I have a corsair tx750m which has lasted me through a r9 6970 (2y), gtx770(1.5y) and now gtx 970 for about 0.5y.

Never cheap on a PSU.

Lastly, for cases, don't stress about cases and avoid huge towers. Get some mid Matx case. I got a cm storm trooper and got rid of it within 1.5 years.

Too big to be practical in a low-mid range build.

If you didn't have a mobo I would have advised to get Matx and Matx case.

[Muz]

This might be a dumb question - what is the difference between the 380 and 280? 

380 is a refreshed 285, the 380 is slightly better than the 280, but the 280 is usually cheaper.