New build - Gaming and programming

[Filleted]

Hey, I'm building a new rig for gaming (mainly) and just general use/programming. My budget is £2,000 and I'm just under it at the moment.

 

I'd like to get some second opinions on the build and any recommendations to reduce the price or for better components.

 

The only thing I'm really set on is the case, motherboard and graphics card.

 

Thanks for any replies.

 

Case - Corsair Air 540: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-143-CS

 

Motherboard - Gigabyte G1.Sniper 5: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-445-GI

 

CPU & Cooler - i7 4770k & H100i: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-019-CS

 

Graphics card - MSI GTX 780: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-200-MS

 

RAM - Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 2x4GB: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-380-CS (x2)

 

Power supply - HX 750: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-096-CS

 

SSD -  128GB SSD: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-158-SA

 

HDD - West Dig 1TB: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-336-WD

 

Cooling - Corsair AF140 Low Noise: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-006-CS (x3)

 

Extra's

 

Cable kit - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-125-CS

 

RGB LED Controller -http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-115-NX

[needmorewood]

next ime do a pcpart picker link or actually right out the parts at the very least.this is going to be annoying

[needmorewood]

everything loko pretty solid but cmopared tot he rest of ur build your storage seems to lack a bit.
get a 3670k if ur not strewaming or video editing. same gaming performance.
you could also get a cheaper motherboard if you wanted too. overclocking might suffer a tad though

[NolanUK]

looks good, but have you looked at other websites for the items, could be cheaper... Ebuyer, Dabs, Novatech?

[AndyCapets]

Everything looked overclock as hell, unitl I arrived at the RAM and PSU...

Other than that, looking really good.

[NolanUK]

you not going to get an optical drive?

[Filleted]

everything loko pretty solid but cmopared tot he rest of ur build your storage seems to lack a bit.

get a 3670k if ur not strewaming or video editing. same gaming performance.

you could also get a cheaper motherboard if you wanted too. overclocking might suffer a tad though

 

Sorry, listed out the parts next to the links now as well. I was considering a 3670k but I'm a stickler for the latest, I like the hyper threading support that the 4770k offers as well. I was looking at cheaper motherboards but I love the aesthetics and features of the G1, can't not get it.

 

looks good, but have you looked at other websites for the items, could be cheaper... Ebuyer, Dabs, Novatech?

 

I'm going to shop around now for cheaper prices, I would prefer to get everything all on a single day though so I can get it built straight away, been waiting too long  for this day. ^^

 

Everything looked overclock as hell, unitl I arrived at the RAM and PSU...

Other than that, looking really good.

 

Yeah, I think I might change the PSU to a AX 760i, not too sure about the RAM though, I was going with some Kingston 2400MHz and might switch back to that, only £40 or so more.

 

you not going to get an optical drive?

 

I don't really want an optical drive to be honest, I have an external one for installing drivers and everything else I'll just use a USB for.

[needmorewood]

Sorry, listed out the parts next to the links now as well. I was considering a 3670k but I'm a stickler for the latest, I like the hyper threading support that the 4770k offers as well. I was looking at cheaper motherboards but I love the aesthetics and features of the G1, can't not get it.

 

 

I'm going to shop around now for cheaper prices, I would prefer to get everything all on a single day though so I can get it built straight away, been waiting too long  for this day. ^^

 

 

Yeah, I think I might change the PSU to a AX 760i, not too sure about the RAM though, I was going with some Kingston 2400MHz and might switch back to that, only £40 or so more.

 

 

I don't really want an optical drive to be honest, I have an external one for installing drivers and everything else I'll just use a USB for.

that 3 was meant to be a 4 i meant 4670k

[lachyman]

You should get a 4670K, a reference 780 (looks) and an 850W fully modular PSU (Corsair RM850).

[Filleted]

that 3 was meant to be a 4 i meant 4670k

 

I read that as 4670k anyway. ^^

 

You should get a 4670K, a reference 780 (looks) and an 850W fully modular PSU (Corsair RM850).

 

By reference 780 I assume you mean one with a stock Titan cooler? The one I linked has that, I like the look of the stock cooler, so. I think the power supplies fine as well, might change to an AX 760i (maybe an 860i, seems overkill) if I do change it, the RM 850 doesn't support the cable kit I want to use and I'm not sleeving a ton of custom cables, it's a lot of work.

 

Looking at some comparisons between the 4670k and 4770k, I think I'll take your advice, a tiny FPS difference doesn't seem worth the money.

[needmorewood]

dont get a tsock 780 cooler if anything get something like the gaming MSI one or the ACX cooler

[Kiwiandapple]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£169.75 @ Scan.co.uk) 

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£89.98 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard:  Asus SABERTOOTH Z87 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£174.38 @ Aria PC) 

Memory:  Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£64.56 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£125.99 @ Aria PC) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£59.99 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  (£499.00 @ Ebuyer) 

Sound Card:  Asus Xonar Phoebus 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card  (£140.34 @ Dabs) 

Case:  Corsair Air 540 ATX Desktop Case  (£112.87 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan:  Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£4.99 @ Novatech) 

Case Fan:  Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£4.99 @ Novatech) 

Case Fan:  Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£4.99 @ Novatech) 

Case Fan:  Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£4.99 @ Novatech) 

Power Supply:  Corsair RM 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  (£124.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Other: Green Paint - See comment.  (£30.00)

Other: Bitfenix Alchemy LED White (£16.79)

Total: £1628.60

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-23 22:45 BST+0100)

 

Ok, I know - not a green motherboard. I know! Let me explain the rest first. 

 

GPU: EVGA, outstanding support when something is wrong. I personally have bad experience with MSI. 

PSU: No, I do not understand that information from Corsair.com their website, it's very likely just marketing or something. But i've been told that extension cables, do not mather. As long as you go PSU -> Cable -> Extension Cable. If anyone here want's to clarify that would be great, since I personally don't know for sure.

CPU: For gaming, the i5 is the way to go. The i7 doesn't improve frames by much if not at all. Only if you later on want to stream or maybe edit or anything in that figure, you could consider the i7. 
Mobo: I am not even sure if that Sniper one fits into the case. But it's not worth the money. Despite it being green.. I know this is important to you. But, keep reading for my suggestion about this. 

RAM: Did not change, these are perfect. 

Sound card: Since it is for gaming, this one is by far the best out there. 

Storage: You could even consider here to go SSD only. You still have budget left for that, but it's not worth the money in my opinion. So i went with a 250gb SSD and 2tb HDD. Could get a 500gb SSD instead. But then I would suggest the Crucial M500.

 

Case: I love this case.

Case fans: Corsair their fans are expensive, still not that queit and perform not insane. If you really want them, then go ahead. They look great, I can not disagree with that. 

LED: If you get green LEDs then you will overdo it, I really love white LEDs because they will make all the green bits "pop out" sort off speaking. I highly suggest to use white. 

Paint: Well here comes the part that I get excited about. You can paint a whole lot. You can paint the motherboard armor. The mesh and if you get corsair fans instead. Those rings. 

 

There have been a whole lot off people on this forum who did this, right now there is a person who is actually doing this build that I suggested here. (close to that at least)

 

Here is that build (not finished)

Here is the build log off painting the thermal armor. I would suggest aswell to not paint the covers. Let them stay black. But you could paint that armor green, or maybe grey metalish like the color off the 780. Im abit worried if you paint it green that it's "to much" green.   

Here is the build log off painting the mesh. Yes it's pink, it's amazing!

 

Hoped this helped and happy building (please make a log!)

 

 

 

[lachyman]

I read that as 4670k anyway. ^^

By reference 780 I assume you mean one with a stock Titan cooler? The one I linked has that, I like the look of the stock cooler, so. I think the power supplies fine as well, might change to an AX 760i (maybe an 860i, seems overkill) if I do change it, the RM 850 doesn't support the cable kit I want to use and I'm not sleeving a ton of custom cables, it's a lot of work.

Looking at some comparisons between the 4670k and 4770k, I think I'll take your advice, a tiny FPS difference doesn't seem worth the money.

750W is overkill for 1 780, but on the very edge with 2, so either get 650W if you don't plan on buying a second GPU and 850W if you do. Also those kits should work with every PSU, even diffirent brands. Also there are Bitfenix Alchemy cable kits which look nicer IMO.

[WoodenMarker]

Sorry, listed out the parts next to the links now as well. I was considering a 3670k but I'm a stickler for the latest, I like the hyper threading support that the 4770k offers as well. I was looking at cheaper motherboards but I love the aesthetics and features of the G1, can't not get it.

I'm going to shop around now for cheaper prices, I would prefer to get everything all on a single day though so I can get it built straight away, been waiting too long  for this day. ^^

Yeah, I think I might change the PSU to a AX 760i, not too sure about the RAM though, I was going with some Kingston 2400MHz and might switch back to that, only £40 or so more.

What features of the G1 specifically?

Hyperthreading will do little to nothing for your usage.

No point getting ram faster than 1333/1600. The difference in performance is unnoticeable.

What resolution are you gaming at? It's best not to get a 780 if you don't have to. It's not a good value card atm.

You should get a 4670K, a reference 780 (looks) and an 850W fully modular PSU (Corsair RM850).

750W is overkill for 1 780, but on the very edge with 2, so either get 650W if you don't plan on buying a second GPU and 850W if you do. Also those kits should work with every PSU, even diffirent brands. Also there are Bitfenix Alchemy cable kits which look nicer IMO.

A 750w is not on the edge for a 780 sli. It will be fine for so. Also, a decent 550w will do for a single 780--a 650w is overkill. 

[lachyman]

 

What features of the G1 specifically?

Hyperthreading will do little to nothing for your usage.

No point getting ram faster than 1333/1600. The difference in performance is unnoticeable.

What resolution are you gaming at? It's best not to get a 780 if you don't have to. It's not a good value card atm.

A 750w is not on the edge for a 780 sli. It will be fine for so. Also, a decent 550w will do for a single 780--a 650w is overkill. 

It will be over 700W and that is on the edge. If he adds fans or a soundcard he can buy a new one. Also his system will draw more and more over time.

[WoodenMarker]

It will be over 700W and that is on the edge. If he adds fans or a soundcard he can buy a new one. Also his system will draw more and more over time.

It might be 700w if you manage to oc a watercooled 780 sli and extreme i7 with the whole system all at 100% load. The actual peak power draw should be ~500-600w. Normal load should be even less.

I don't see why the system would draw more power over time...

[lachyman]

It might be 700w if you manage to oc a watercooled 780 sli and extreme i7 with the whole system all at 100% load. The actual peak power draw should be ~500-600w. Normal load should be even less.

I don't see why the system would draw more power over time...

I use PCPartPicker and Thermaltake calculator, PCPartPicker recommends atleast 770W if you have an i5 with 2 780s, Xonar soundcard and a bunch of fans. So 850W will be for him, he will have some headroom for more SSDs and such in the future. Also diffirence in price between 750W and 850W is well worth the money.

[WoodenMarker]

I use PCPartPicker and Thermaltake calculator, PCPartPicker recommends atleast 770W if you have an i5 with 2 780s, Xonar soundcard and a bunch of fans. So 850W will be for him, he will have some headroom for more SSDs and such in the future. Also diffirence in price between 750W and 850W is well worth the money.

Psu calculators aren't entire accurate and are estimations. Actual power draw tests measured using hardware show different results. 

Getting more than you'll ever actually need is just a waste of money.

[lachyman]

Psu calculators aren't entire accurate and are estimations. Actual power draw tests measured using hardware show different results. 

Getting more than you'll ever actually need is just a waste of money.

Thermaltake calculator is a professional tool with many options and people say it's accurate. 

[WoodenMarker]

Thermaltake calculator is a professional tool with many options and people say it's accurate. 

An actual calculator at the plug says otherwise. Despite others vouching for it's accuracy, it doesn't change that online calculators are estimations. 

This might be good to watch: 

[lachyman]

An actual calculator at the plug says otherwise. Despite others vouching for it's accuracy, it doesn't change that online calculators are estimations. 

This might be good to watch: 

But do you know, that a system that draws 600W on day one will draw 850W once his capacitors reach a certain point in their lifetime? Also that video doesn't work for me...

[WoodenMarker]

But do you know, that a system that draws 600W on day one will draw 850W once his capacitors reach a certain point in their lifetime? Also that video doesn't work for me...

Why doesn't the video work?

This 'certain point' is either very exaggerated or you're expecting him to use the psu many times the average system's lifetime. 

[lachyman]

Why doesn't the video work?

This 'certain point' is either very exaggerated or you're expecting him to use the psu many times the average system's lifetime. 

50% aged capacitors, depending on what hardware used it is diffirent but average is 5 years, that is the time when he should get a new system. With 750W this problem can arise much sooner.

[WoodenMarker]

50% aged capacitors, depending on what hardware used it is diffirent but average is 5 years, that is the time when he should get a new system. With 750W this problem can arise much sooner.

A 750w psu will still be enough.

The '600w power draw' you're using as an example is in an absolute worse case scenario with a 100% loaded system. It's unlikely the OP will ever put 100% load on a 780 sli let alone the entire system outside of synthetic scenarios.

[lachyman]

A 750w psu will still be enough.

The '600w power draw' you're using as an example is in an absolute worse case scenario with a 100% loaded system. It's unlikely the OP will ever put 100% load on a 780 sli let alone the entire system outside of synthetic scenarios.

I just checked my numbers, I do indeed use 100% peak load + OC'ed CPU.

His system on day 1: recommended atleast 721W

25% aged (3 years of normal use): 888W

40% aged (5 years): 989W

50% aged (7 years): 1056W

 

The recommendation is based on peak draw of the whole build + 150W.

The time to age the capacitors is diffirent with every PSU, AX from Corsair for example would take longer to age it's capacitors. But still, RM850 is a better deal the AX760i and the fuctionality is the same.