Black Friday build.. please assist!

[JediKnight]

Note: I'm in Canada, so component prices are *likely* quite a bit higher (I don't even bother to look at US prices anymore.. it just makes me cry). A helpful link to some of the stuff available this black friday for Canadians is here:
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/computer-parts-deal-megathread-1609843/

My budget is flexible, but $1500 is probably the most I want to spend on the basic hardware (ie. not counting OS, monitor, keyboard, mouse..). Also willing to scale back if throwing more $$ at a component doesn't yield proportionate performance gains.

My main uses will be gaming (resolution: 1080p) and media storage (hence the 8TB of hard drive goodness).

Don't really have a brand preference, except maybe Intel > AMD.

Not planning on overclocking.

I think that answers all of the background info questions..

Here's what I've got so far. Please critique and make suggestions.

CPU
Intel I7-4790K
$299

MOTHERBOARD
ASRock Z97 Anniversary Socket 1150
$94.99 (+ $35MIR)

PSU
EVGA 500W 80Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply
$44.99 (+ $15MIR)

CASE
Antec P100
$64.99 (+$15MIR)

RAM
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL10 DIMMs
$149.99

VIDEO CARD
????

SSD
Intel 730 Series 480GB
$204.98

HDD
WD Green 4TB (x2)
$309.98

The one component I'm really not sure of, and I admit I haven't done nearly enough research on, is the video card.

 

[Geeksmirage]

SSD: Id highly recommend the Samsung Evo 256GB, but I couldnt find that on amazon.ca . The 512 is there, its CA$270.
http://www.amazon.ca/Samsung-Interna...ds=samsung+evo.

For your other HDDs, any reason you want to go for the greens? Sometimes the blacks may be cheaper.

For Graphics cards, I'd say a 780Ti < GTX 970 < GTX 980. Im not an expert, just have been researching a lot in the last 2 days for a high end build.

You can also see this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

 

[Charlie98]

If you are not overclocking you don't need the K CPU or Z97 board, although if you are picking the sales Friday you may wind up with those components as cheap otherwise.

You can probably find a comparably sized SSD for less, although the Intel 730 is nice, there is certainly less expensive SSDs out there. I can't say anything, though, I just got an Intel 530 for my mom's computer for Christmas, even though I could have gotten something less expensive (the Crucial MX100, for example.) I've had a bad experience with my Samsung SSD, and the resulting RMA, so I don't really recommend them.

You didn't mention what you are playing, game-wise, so it's hard to recommend a GPU that is appropriate. The bottom-line gaming GPU I would recommend would be the GTX970, but AMD has been running a bit less expensive for equivalent performance (I think R9 280 = GTX960 performance, but don't quote me on that.)

Chances are you can get a standard 7200RPM drive for less than the WD Greens, especially at that capacity. I don't purposely spec 'green' drives, opting for standard drives... but that's just me.

 

[JediKnight]

For your other HDDs, any reason you want to go for the greens? Sometimes the blacks may be cheaper.

Greens are significantly cheaper, as far as I can see (can't find any discounts on blacks). If there wasn't a significant price difference, I'd definitely go black..
(just to be clear, the $309.98 price is for both of them. We're not ripped off **that** badly in Canada!)

 

[JediKnight]

You didn't mention what you are playing, game-wise, so it's hard to recommend a GPU that is appropriate. The bottom-line gaming GPU I would recommend would be the GTX970, but AMD has been running a bit less expensive for equivalent performance (I think R9 280 = GTX960 performance, but don't quote me on that.)

I don't own any recent games - yet - as my current rig is not really capable of playing them (it's 6+ years old now.. although the video card has been upgraded)

Chances are you can get a standard 7200RPM drive for less than the WD Greens, especially at that capacity. I don't purposely spec 'green' drives, opting for standard drives... but that's just me.

I'll look around, I'm not dead set on the greens by any means. I just want a lot of storage that will be reliable (as reliable as hard drives can be), and cheap.

 

[JediKnight]

Speaking of video cards.. where does AMD enter into the picture?
At least of the cards I see that are on sale (which is probably not representative of the whole picture..), AMD cards are quite a bit cheaper than nVidia ones.. is that because nVidia cards (very general statement) perform better nowadays?

 

[Charlie98]

Speaking of video cards.. where does AMD enter into the picture?
At least of the cards I see that are on sale (which is probably not representative of the whole picture..), AMD cards are quite a bit cheaper than nVidia ones.. is that because nVidia cards (very general statement) perform better nowadays?

I'm not a big GPU guy, so take what I say with a grain of salt... but AMD is just beating nVidia price-wise right now. Their new model numbering scheme has me confused, so I have a hard time comparing apples to apples.

If you are playing old games, a GTX 970 would be a safe bet (or even a 760 which are sub-$200 now,) I've got a 760SC I'm playing BF3/4 and Modern Warfare on and it works pretty well. You could even go cheaper with a GTX750Ti or something, but it depends on if you are going to add any modern games and what settings you would anticipate to play them on.


WD Black drives are usually priced above the standard drives (like the WD Blue or Seagate Barracuda) and the green drives. If you are looking for a reasonable priced drive, I would look at the Blues and Barracuda, as well as Toshiba and Hitachi (HGST, now owned by WD...) any of them would work well. As far as durability... any drive is capable of good service, and any drive is capable of dying tomorrow. Luck of the draw. I don't have a favorite HDD, I just buy what is on sale.

 

[OlyAR15]

IMO, I would not cheap out on the video card, since that is the component that will most likely be the bottleneck in most games. Right now, if you can fit one in your budget, I would get a 980GTX. It is not an inexpensive card by any means, and may be overkill for running games at 1080p, but you will be in a good position for a long while, even if you upgrade your monitor to 1440/1600p.

Plus, if you get a reference design 980, the stock cooler is very good.

 

[JediKnight]

IMO, I would not cheap out on the video card, since that is the component that will most likely be the bottleneck in most games. Right now, if you can fit one in your budget, I would get a 980GTX. It is not an inexpensive card by any means, and may be overkill for running games at 1080p, but you will be in a good position for a long while, even if you upgrade your monitor to 1440/1600p.

Plus, if you get a reference design 980, the stock cooler is very good.

I can't find one that isn't north of $600. I can't justify spending that kind of money on a video card..

 

[Charlie98]

I can't find one that isn't north of $600. I can't justify spending that kind of money on a video card..

...that's why I suggested the 970... and even then you are pushing $400. Maybe a GTX760 is the answer (or the equivalent AMD card.)

 

[JediKnight]

...that's why I suggested the 970... and even then you are pushing $400. Maybe a GTX760 is the answer (or the equivalent AMD card.)

I'm leaning towards a R9 290 for $269. I don't see anything better right now..

 

[MongGrel]

Keep looking awhile maybe.

It's not even Friday yet you know.

 

[JediKnight]

Keep looking awhile maybe.

It's not even Friday yet you know.

Most of the sales seem to be starting tonight..

 

[Charlie98]

Most of the sales seem to be starting tonight..

Most of the sales started November 1st...

 

[OlyAR15]

I can't find one that isn't north of $600. I can't justify spending that kind of money on a video card..

Yeah, they are expensive. On the other hand, it just seems like such a waste of money to buy basically the top of the line i7, 16GB of RAM, then hobble it by getting a slow video card. Since this is a game machine, I would rather save a bit by going with a slightly slower CPU, cut back to 8GB, and get something like a 970. Especially if you have any thought about upgrading your monitor in the near future.

 

[mfenn]

I can't find one that isn't north of $600. I can't justify spending that kind of money on a video card..

It's really hard to give sane advice without knowing what kind of games you will be playing. Can you perhaps tell us what genre's you're interested in at least?

 

[voodoo7817]

Most of the sales seem to be starting tonight..

I think I'm in the same boat as you. I'm actually currently using my integrated GPU as my 560ti recently died. So, I'm pretty desperate for a card in the next week or so. The Sapphire Tri-X at Newegg seems to be the best Black Friday deal for a top VGA so far/left. At $100 less than the 970 I'd most likely buy (the MSI or Gigabyte gaming editions), they are close enough in performance that saving the cash seems to make the most sense.

I haven't seen any 970s on sale, but I guess that's understandable as they just recently came out. Or maybe one goes on sale tomorrow.