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Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread - Page 48

Forum Index > Tech Support
Post a Reply
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When using this resource, please read the opening post. The Tech Support forum regulars have helped create countless of desktop systems without any compensation. The least you can do is provide all of the information required for them to help you properly.
iTzSnypah
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States1738 Posts
October 04 2013 04:05 GMT
#941
On October 04 2013 12:59 colblitz wrote:
Hi guys,

I'm looking to build a home server, and need some recommendations for a case, mobo, and psu.

I'm planning on housing 6-8 3.5" drives, possibly up to 10 if the case will allow for it, and my budget would be about $300 (for just these three components), though budget is not much of a problem. I could easily go $350, $400 to save some time/management pain. I'll be buying from the US within the week, probably on Newegg

I didn't fill out the template because I think most of the questions don't apply, please let me know if I should provide any other info.

Some random questions
- I know the processor requirements for a server are pretty low, but how low could I actually go?
- Would it be better to get SATA controller cards, or just find a mobo with more ports?
- Any particular case fan recommendations before I Newegg search and sort by rating?

Thanks :D

NZXT Source 210 will hold 8 3.5" drives and the case is only $40.
Team Liquid needs more Terrans.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20323 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 07:59:43
October 04 2013 07:49 GMT
#942
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]




Dat 14% gap between 4770k @4.5 and 8350@4.7 on both minimums and averages, would love some benches with people targeting 100-150fps. That's maybe a little unfair on the FX but i don't know how easy high OC is on those things, the people who are lucky or good on haswell are pushing 4.6-4.7 quite often and the people who are both lucky and good are going 4.9-5.0 24/7 on ambient cooling, so i'd still expect a sizable lead

Seems to love CPU!

+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
pcpatchers
Profile Joined August 2013
Australia10 Posts
October 04 2013 11:53 GMT
#943
--- Nuked ---
mav451
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1596 Posts
October 04 2013 15:15 GMT
#944
Aww 4670K is second-place :/
With no power comes no responsibility?
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20323 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 16:00:34
October 04 2013 15:58 GMT
#945
Heads up, i broke 2gb of VRAM and hit massive performance slowdowns within a minute of playing bf4 on 1920x1200 without any AA. Had to drop textures until i can play around and see what costs VRAM (i already disabled post processing and ambient occlusion before i played)

As someone who enjoys resolution, AA and FPS at the expense of other visuals, that's pretty painful for Nvidia's high end

3gb 7970 top = £227. 4gb 770 = £350 after price drops recently. It's not even an option
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
iTzSnypah
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States1738 Posts
October 04 2013 16:05 GMT
#946
I get sound looped in the loading screen -> uninstalled.
Team Liquid needs more Terrans.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20323 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 16:43:30
October 04 2013 16:27 GMT
#947
Did you miss the word "Beta" in the title? :D

I got this because i used the wrong driver, didn't uninstall (:

[image loading]

Happy birthday btw
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
doobielespaul
Profile Joined October 2013
10 Posts
October 04 2013 17:10 GMT
#948
Hey skyR. I'm about to make a purchase, I was hoping you could take a glance at my build before I proceed. Also, with the videos and tutorials on building pc's online, should I save myself the 50$ and build the computer myself? I'd hate to mess up an expensive purchase. I'm thinking of bumping up my ram to 16gb, is there a noticeable difference between 8 and 16? I read not so much for gaming but for intensive programs that multitask. Being said, this computer is mainly for music production with Pro Tools and video editing. Gaming on the side of course.


CPU: i7 4770k

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H

Memory: Crucial Ballistics Tactical 2X4

SSD: Samsung 840 series 120GB

HDD: Seagate barracuda 2TB hard drive

Fractal R4 Black Window case

PSU: Seasonic G series 550w

Windows 7

Asus VS-238h-p

PCI-E : Vantec IO Card UGT-FW210 2+1 FireWire 800/400 PCI Express Combo Host Card Retail

Samung SH-224DB cd/dvd writer

MSI GTX geforce 760 twin frozr IV:

1800$
Mjolnir
Profile Joined January 2009
912 Posts
October 04 2013 17:48 GMT
#949
Final thoughts before I pull the trigger? I'm kinda lost on what PSU to get - I just want it to be reliable. The build suggestions on the frong page show a system similar to mine with a 750W PSU but since my GPU is weaker (GTX 760) and given other posts here, I imagine I can get away with 450-550 (I think that was suggested). Keep in mind that my primary use for this computer is heavy video editing and rendering as well as digital design work... of course some games as well (SC2, BF3/4, etc.) And yes, I will OC.

GPU - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 Rev 2.0

CPU - Intel i7 4770K

Cooler - undecided.

MB - Asus Z87-Pro - this was a recent (and unexpected!) birthday gift, so I'm keeping it to save me cash.

RAM - 4x4GB for 16GB DDR3 total - another gift from a few years ago.

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 1TB

SSD - Samsung Evo 250 - as per suggestions from this thread

PSU - No idea. Just want something reliable!

Case - Antec P280

Torn on waiting for the new AMD cards to see if nVidia will drop their pricing but as this is primarily for work and my current machine is not managing things well, I don't think I have the luxury of waiting

I also hear that Corsair is releasing new PSUs (RM series, I think?) but again, I don't think I can wait for those - as well reviewed as they seem to be.

Any thoughts on the build and filling in the gaps?

Thanks in advace!

skyR
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada13817 Posts
October 04 2013 18:03 GMT
#950
On October 05 2013 02:10 doobielespaul wrote:+ Show Spoiler +
Hey skyR. I'm about to make a purchase, I was hoping you could take a glance at my build before I proceed. Also, with the videos and tutorials on building pc's online, should I save myself the 50$ and build the computer myself? I'd hate to mess up an expensive purchase. I'm thinking of bumping up my ram to 16gb, is there a noticeable difference between 8 and 16? I read not so much for gaming but for intensive programs that multitask. Being said, this computer is mainly for music production with Pro Tools and video editing. Gaming on the side of course.


CPU: i7 4770k

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H

Memory: Crucial Ballistics Tactical 2X4

SSD: Samsung 840 series 120GB

HDD: Seagate barracuda 2TB hard drive

Fractal R4 Black Window case

PSU: Seasonic G series 550w

Windows 7

Asus VS-238h-p

PCI-E : Vantec IO Card UGT-FW210 2+1 FireWire 800/400 PCI Express Combo Host Card Retail

Samung SH-224DB cd/dvd writer

MSI GTX geforce 760 twin frozr IV:

1800$


More RAM is only noticeable if you are actually using that RAM. Games are restricted to 2GB because they're 32-bit applications. One of the first major games to possibly utilize more will be Battlefield 4 but 8GB of RAM will be plenty. How much of an impact more RAM will have on editing depends on the applications and your workload. In most cases, a hobbyist won't need 16GB of RAM. RAM is an easy addition so you shouldn't worry much about it, just add an extra two sticks in the future if you find that you are needing more.

VS238H-P is a cheap monitor, there's little reason for you to have a crappy monitor. Again, I'm not sure how much you're paying for this but the typical ASUS TN monitor goes for about $160 in Canada. There is zero reason you should pay this much when the Dell U2312HM is an IPS panel with a fully adjustable stand and terrific post-sale support is commonly on sale for $170 to $190.

I'm not sure of your setup, whether you have other monitors or not. If you don't already have monitors and you really are doing professional work, you may want to consider a second and even third monitor or maybe a 27" screen as well if you care more about your work than your games.

I'd suggest a 250GB SSD because 120GB really isn't enough when you are going to have something like the Adobe Suite on it along with games.

I'm not sure how much you're paying for each component but if that total is before taxes and shipping, you are somewhat overpaying.
skyR
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada13817 Posts
October 04 2013 18:19 GMT
#951
On October 05 2013 02:48 Mjolnir wrote:+ Show Spoiler +
Final thoughts before I pull the trigger? I'm kinda lost on what PSU to get - I just want it to be reliable. The build suggestions on the frong page show a system similar to mine with a 750W PSU but since my GPU is weaker (GTX 760) and given other posts here, I imagine I can get away with 450-550 (I think that was suggested). Keep in mind that my primary use for this computer is heavy video editing and rendering as well as digital design work... of course some games as well (SC2, BF3/4, etc.) And yes, I will OC.

GPU - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 Rev 2.0

CPU - Intel i7 4770K

Cooler - undecided.

MB - Asus Z87-Pro - this was a recent (and unexpected!) birthday gift, so I'm keeping it to save me cash.

RAM - 4x4GB for 16GB DDR3 total - another gift from a few years ago.

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 1TB

SSD - Samsung Evo 250 - as per suggestions from this thread

PSU - No idea. Just want something reliable!

Case - Antec P280

Torn on waiting for the new AMD cards to see if nVidia will drop their pricing but as this is primarily for work and my current machine is not managing things well, I don't think I have the luxury of waiting

I also hear that Corsair is releasing new PSUs (RM series, I think?) but again, I don't think I can wait for those - as well reviewed as they seem to be.

Any thoughts on the build and filling in the gaps?

Thanks in advace!


750W is only suggested if you want to have the option to SLI / Crossfire in the future. Otherwise a ~500w power supply will be fine for a single GPU setup.

Lots of manufacturers are releasing new power supplies. Corsair's RM series is already out but the premise of this series is sort of questionable. If you want one of the highest end consumer power supplies available atm, the Seasonic Platinum 660 is on sale at a great price, $110 ($90 after mail in rebate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151121 This would still give you the option of SLI / Crossfire in the future. If you're looking for something less expensive than there's the Rosewill Capstone series, which are still excellent.

The Noctua NH-U12S or U14S is commonly suggested for heatsink. The U14S is relatively large and will hover over some DIMM slots so you'll need memory with standard heatspreaders. If you have memory with ridiculously tall heatspreaders like Corsair Vengeance than you'll need to select a smaller heatsink like the U12S.
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 18:55:19
October 04 2013 18:52 GMT
#952
On October 05 2013 00:58 Cyro wrote:
Heads up, i broke 2gb of VRAM and hit massive performance slowdowns within a minute of playing bf4 on 1920x1200 without any AA. Had to drop textures until i can play around and see what costs VRAM (i already disabled post processing and ambient occlusion before i played)

As someone who enjoys resolution, AA and FPS at the expense of other visuals, that's pretty painful for Nvidia's high end

3gb 7970 top = £227. 4gb 770 = £350 after price drops recently. It's not even an option


Wait a minute, didn't you have a 4 Gb VRAM card? How can you hit a bottleneck ? I'm confused.

Edit @ the guy looking for a good PSU: http://www.overclock.net/t/183810/faq-recommended-power-supplies

Didn't read the rest yet
maru lover forever
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20323 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 19:19:31
October 04 2013 18:58 GMT
#953
I have a 2gb 770. When i bought it, 2gb was £329 on offer, 4gb was >£400 and 7970's were considerably more expensive for good models than they are now. You have to pay a large amount extra for more VRAM on Nvidia cards if you want scalability for more than one card or to high performance tiers (basically if you want to run 1440p for many things, 1080p with a chunk of msaa/ssaa, or aparantly now, 1080p without aa)

^and that completely breaks their price to performance ratio's, it just doesn't make sense to buy 770 right now. Cheaper stuff, maybe undercut the £227 7970 tops but i doubt it - 780's are good, but they're £500 to the 7970's £227. Actually, i think this single asus 7970 top (3gb vram) @ £227 breaks nvidia's entire lineup in the UK aside from the very low and very high ends, considering it


A quick glance at UK GPU market from overclockers.co.uk. Maybe other sites have slightly different pricing:

£227 - Asus DirectCU II Top 7970, 3gb VRAM

£300 - MSI gaming edition 770 2gb - cheapest aftermarket model, but also a good buy because you can often do the volt unlock trick with them

£348 - MSI gaming edition 770 4gb - same as above, 4gb, also cheapest

^So the problem here, is that 2gb of VRAM won't be enough if you're trying to push for 1440p, 1080p with a chunk of msaa/ssaa, basically whatever i'd expect someone to do with two GPU's. It's a bit worrying that bf4 and probably new games will walk through 2gb VRAM without even AA on, at close to max settings. £348 vs £227 is not a competition - frankly, the £227 card probably wins in performance if you push it.


On the high end - we have the £500 780's. They're good, they're 780's, but do you really want one of them over a pair of great 7970's plus £46 in your pocket?


On the low end - 760's are £200 and 2gb VRAM. Obviously they don't compete with the single 7970 option.

670, 660ti, 660 doesn't make sense. They're too close in pricing, but significantly worse. 650ti boosts come in at £135, and loses significantly in performance per dollar to the stronger card, which is something that should never happen. Only reason i see to get anything other than £227 7970 directcu ii top 3gb vram card is like for example you're spending £1k on gpu's, or you absolutely have to spend under £150. Anyone elses thoughts on this? It seems to dominate the entire market aside from absolute low and high end until r7/r9 comes in with new cards and refresh, and nvidia lowers prices and maybe adds a card or two in too. Maybe i'm overvaluing it though
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
October 04 2013 19:04 GMT
#954
Oh, so that's why. my bad, my bad.
maru lover forever
doobielespaul
Profile Joined October 2013
10 Posts
October 04 2013 19:49 GMT
#955
It's 1800 with shipping handling and taxes, from NCIX. I pay 86$ in taxes.
I'm paying the vs238h 169.99$.
I don't have other monitors, I was hoping to get a nice one as an investment.
I don't have a studio or anything, this isn't for a job, this could be used for professional work, I plan on doing some but for now this is a hobby thing, such as recording demos and other projects to find work.
I really would like a 250GB SSD and a 27'' monitor, but 1800 is already way more than what I wanted to pay in the first place. I have to account for shipping and taxes because that's an added 160$, hence why I thought I saved more money via direct canada. I was only missing a psu,ram and case and I was only up to 1300$ taxes included.

I would settle for an i5 and maybe drop the price for a mobo, but I read everywhere that hyperthreading is a noticeable plus for using Pro Tools.
dabom88
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States3483 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 21:49:59
October 04 2013 21:09 GMT
#956
Thinking about getting a $1600 PC soon. I'm willing to swap out parts as necessary.

Questions listed in the OP:
+ Show Spoiler +
What is your budget?
1600, maybe a bit over.

What is your monitor's native resolution?
1920 x 1080

What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
All the latest ones. I've been out of the general gaming scene due to lack of funds for years, but now that I have a steady job, I'm wanting to get into it again. Highest settings possible with my build, want to see how good you think my build will do with games and other things.

What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Video editing and streaming.

Do you intend to overclock?
Maybe in the future when I learn more about overclocking.

Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
Maybe in the future when I learn more about SLI.

Do you need an operating system?
Yes.

Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?
No.

What country will you be buying your parts in?
United States


This is what I managed to get while fiddling around with PCPartpicker, looking at mainly at just price and user ratings for things I didn't know. I have no idea what a lot of these parts are. An i7 6-core, a 250gb SSD, and Windows 7 is all I really know I wanted. Know nothing about good memory, video cards, etc.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1KQcv

+ Show Spoiler +
CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor -$559.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler -$29.98 (MIR)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 LE ATX LGA2011 Motherboard -$224.99
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory -$68.46
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk -$159.00
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive -$59.98 (MIR)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card -$169.99 (MIR)
Case Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case -$49.99 (MIR)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply -$109.99 (Promo, ending soon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) -$85.87 (MIR)

Base Total: $1588.24
Promo Discounts: -$20.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$50.00
Total: $1518.24


Just want to get your thoughts on any pitfalls I may be hitting. I know little about this PC stuff. The Item I'm most willing to spend more on is the video card.
You should not have to pay to watch the GSL, Proleague, or OSL at a reasonable time. That is not "fine" and it's BS to say otherwise. My sig since 2011. http://www.youtube.com/user/dabom88
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20323 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 21:38:46
October 04 2013 21:37 GMT
#957
bf4 720p performance on map with ~40-55 players, running around and dieing, nothing intensive

4770k @4.6

770 @1254

[image loading]

CPU bound
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20323 Posts
October 04 2013 21:44 GMT
#958
On October 05 2013 06:09 dabom88 wrote:
Thinking about getting a $1600 PC soon. I'm willing to swap out parts as necessary.

Questions listed in the OP:
+ Show Spoiler +
What is your budget?
1600, maybe a bit over.

What is your monitor's native resolution?
1920 x 1080

What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
All the latest ones. I've been out of the general gaming scene due to lack of funds for years, but now that I have a steady job, I'm wanting to get into it again. Highest settings possible with my build, want to see how good you think my build will do with games and other things.

What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Video editing and streaming.

Do you intend to overclock?
Maybe in the future when I learn more about overclocking.

Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
Maybe in the future when I learn more about SLI.

Do you need an operating system?
Yes.

Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?
No.

What country will you be buying your parts in?
United States


This is what I managed to get while fiddling around with PCPartpicker, looking at mainly at just price and user ratings for things I didn't know. I have no idea what a lot of these parts are. An i7 6-core, a 250gb SSD, and Windows 7 is all I really know I wanted. Know nothing about good memory, video cards, etc.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1KQcv

+ Show Spoiler +
CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor -$563.98 (after shipping)
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler -$29.98 (MIR)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 LE ATX LGA2011 Motherboard -$224.99
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory -$68.46
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk -$159.00
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive -$59.98 (MIR)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card -$169.99 (MIR)
Case Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case -$49.99 (MIR)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply -$109.99 (Promo, ending soon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) -$85.87 (MIR)

Base Total: $1588.24
Promo Discounts: -$20.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$50.00
Shipping: $3.99
Total: $1522.23


Just want to get your thoughts on any pitfalls I may be hitting. I know little about this PC stuff. The Item I'm most willing to spend more on is the video card.


3930k is not at all appropriate for a gaming build unless you're going really high end, and also terrible to buy something like that and not overclock, seems like you'd want 4670k/4770k. Either pay for good z87 board and cooling and OC, or don't and don't, you can go way more powerful system with that kind of budget
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
skyR
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada13817 Posts
October 04 2013 21:55 GMT
#959
On October 05 2013 04:49 doobielespaul wrote:+ Show Spoiler +
It's 1800 with shipping handling and taxes, from NCIX. I pay 86$ in taxes.
I'm paying the vs238h 169.99$.
I don't have other monitors, I was hoping to get a nice one as an investment.
I don't have a studio or anything, this isn't for a job, this could be used for professional work, I plan on doing some but for now this is a hobby thing, such as recording demos and other projects to find work.
I really would like a 250GB SSD and a 27'' monitor, but 1800 is already way more than what I wanted to pay in the first place. I have to account for shipping and taxes because that's an added 160$, hence why I thought I saved more money via direct canada. I was only missing a psu,ram and case and I was only up to 1300$ taxes included.

I would settle for an i5 and maybe drop the price for a mobo, but I read everywhere that hyperthreading is a noticeable plus for using Pro Tools.


Well that explains a lot when you leave out $360 (PSU, RAM, Case) + taxes on this amount, and probably the heatsink as well (since Direct Canada has nothing comparable to a ~$64 Noctua NH-U14S) in your Direct Canada list.

Core i7 4770k @ $340 (pricematch with http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/253601/BX80646I74770K/Intel/ )
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=81325&promoid=1317

Gigabyte Z87X-D3H @ $147 (pricematch with http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD6094 )
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=84040

The Z87X-D3H went up in price so it's probably not worth it for the typical user over a less expensive board such as the Gigabyte Z87-D3HP or MSI Z87-G55 which are available for roughly $130 and $140 respectively.

2x8GB kit pricing is sort of high in Canada and NCIX is out of stock on many of the better kits so you're stuck with a 1600MHz kit for ~$160 if you want to purchase everything from NCIX. If you want to split your order than Newegg has an awesome shellshocker on Mushkin 2x8GB 2400MHz for $120: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226425 Memory Express has something worst for more but still better than the options at NCIX, 1866MHz at $150: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX42984

Since the Samsung 840 is discontinued, NCIX is out of stock on the 250GB variant. But NCIX seems to be out of stock on the newer Samsung 840 EVO 250GB as well lol.

If you pricematch the Samsung 840 250GB with Newegg: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147189 at Memory Express: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX43341 , you get it for $148. But if you want to stick to NCIX than you'll have to shell out for another model such as the Crucial M500 which is available for $190. And there's nothing stopping you from buying a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB from Direct Canada for $186 since there's free shipping.

The Fractal Design Define R4 is no longer on sale so you'll have to pay $100 for it by pricematching with Canada Computers: http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?&item_id=044094 . If you're not to attached to it, I'd substitute it for an Arc MIDI R2: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=78227&promoid=1317 , pricematch with Newegg to get it for $80: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352031

You pricematch the Seasonic G 550 to $86: http://www.myteknology.com/ShopItem.aspx?ProductNo=3889393&Toc=136337:0

The MSI GTX 760 Twin Frozr IV is a higher end model at ~$290 which is a questionable purchase when the Radeon HD7970 is $300. If you want to stick to Nvidia then I'd suggest getting a lower-end model such as the EVGA ACX for $265: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=85650&promoid=1377

You pricematch the burner to $15: http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/245882/SH-224DBBEBE/Samsung/

The Noctua NH-U12S typically isn't at a good price in Canada. It was $60 last week which is okay but that sale has expired. The Noctua NH-U14S: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=82802 is $69 if you pricematch with Newegg: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608041

Windows 7 Home Premium x64 is ~$97, the 2TB Seagate Barracuda is ~$90.

I'm pretty sure if you tally this all up, the total is less expensive or comparable to that of Direct Canada.

If you split your order with Memory Express and/or Newegg than you save even more money. The only way you're saving money with Direct Canada is if Direct Canada has the lowest price on component(s) you're hell bent on getting.
dabom88
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States3483 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 22:19:51
October 04 2013 22:09 GMT
#960
On October 05 2013 06:44 Cyro wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 05 2013 06:09 dabom88 wrote:
Thinking about getting a $1600 PC soon. I'm willing to swap out parts as necessary.

Questions listed in the OP:
+ Show Spoiler +
What is your budget?
1600, maybe a bit over.

What is your monitor's native resolution?
1920 x 1080

What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
All the latest ones. I've been out of the general gaming scene due to lack of funds for years, but now that I have a steady job, I'm wanting to get into it again. Highest settings possible with my build, want to see how good you think my build will do with games and other things.

What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Video editing and streaming.

Do you intend to overclock?
Maybe in the future when I learn more about overclocking.

Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
Maybe in the future when I learn more about SLI.

Do you need an operating system?
Yes.

Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?
No.

What country will you be buying your parts in?
United States


This is what I managed to get while fiddling around with PCPartpicker, looking at mainly at just price and user ratings for things I didn't know. I have no idea what a lot of these parts are. An i7 6-core, a 250gb SSD, and Windows 7 is all I really know I wanted. Know nothing about good memory, video cards, etc.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1KQcv

+ Show Spoiler +
CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor -$563.98 (after shipping)
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler -$29.98 (MIR)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 LE ATX LGA2011 Motherboard -$224.99
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory -$68.46
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk -$159.00
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive -$59.98 (MIR)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card -$169.99 (MIR)
Case Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case -$49.99 (MIR)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply -$109.99 (Promo, ending soon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) -$85.87 (MIR)

Base Total: $1588.24
Promo Discounts: -$20.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$50.00
Shipping: $3.99
Total: $1522.23


Just want to get your thoughts on any pitfalls I may be hitting. I know little about this PC stuff. The Item I'm most willing to spend more on is the video card.


3930k is not at all appropriate for a gaming build unless you're going really high end, and also terrible to buy something like that and not overclock, seems like you'd want 4670k/4770k. Either pay for good z87 board and cooling and OC, or don't and don't, you can go way more powerful system with that kind of budget

I've updated it to 4930k (for some reason, it's cheaper), though I don't know if that's much different. It's not that I don't plan to overclock, it's that I have no idea about how to safely overclock and stuff. I'm using a 6 year old PC right now . I was thinking I'd get the PC and learn OCing as I go along.

What exactly do you mean not appropriate unless I'm going high end? Am I overpaying? If you think I'm going too high end, why are you suggesting I go with (what I'm assuming) are higher-end CPUs?

I am an absolute idiot when it comes to this stuff, I'm more hoping you'll also tell me WHY I'm doing it wrong along with the "what" so I can better learn. Is 4930k better for my build? Worse? 'cause right now I'm just assuming "930 > 770 > 670 so it must be better!" and may be completely wrong, because like I said, I know nothing.

Alright, read up on the motherboards. I checked off Intel Z87 on the filter list on PCPartpicker, but none seem to be able to get past the compatibility filter on PCPartpicker. Why might that be? Is it incompatible with the 4930k? Should I just ignore it and just search for incompatible motherboards?
You should not have to pay to watch the GSL, Proleague, or OSL at a reasonable time. That is not "fine" and it's BS to say otherwise. My sig since 2011. http://www.youtube.com/user/dabom88
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