Gaming only rig -- feedback wanted

[hohojirozame]

Hi there,

I am tired of torturing my mac for games and decided to give it a go with a gaming dedicated box so I don't have to envy my wife.
Been years since I myself assembled that kind of stuff, so fresh eye and constructive feedback would be very appreciated

Q & A first

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
RPG / MMO games mostly: League of legends, Path of Exile, Rift, anything similar what's fun as multiplayer.
Browsing, video, storage, etc. -- I got all covered with other machines.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Converted from local currency, 1-1.2k USD (2.5 LTL = 1 USD)

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Lithuania, EU

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
http://www.skytech.lt/ It's in local language, but search works pretty much well.

5. IF YOU have a brand preference.
No brand preference here, only what matters to performance/price ratio.
Thus I'm sticking with Intel CPUs because of performance, and I have always had Nvidia VGA -- any better combo with arguments is welcome.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I have monitor, mouse & keyb.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
With the i3 I'd say I'll stay at default speed: CPU, mobo and RAM. However, I may want to OC VGA.
On the other hand, i5 with proper heasink & fan, OCable mobo sounds very tempting.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
1920x1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Within a month.

***

Rig (Totals ~1.1k USD)
Samsung SSD 128GB
http://www.skytech.lt/mz7pd128bw-ss...-sata3-530390mbs-iops-9790k-7mm-p-135634.html

Intel CPU i3 4130
http://www.skytech.lt/bx80646i34130...hz-3mb-lga1150-22nm-54w-vga-box-p-161103.html

Asrock Z87 Pro4 mobo
http://www.skytech.lt/z87pro4-z87-s1150-atxz87-pro4-asrock-p-155589.html

Corsair 600W plus bronze PSU
http://www.skytech.lt/cp9020048eu-psu-corsair-600w-plus-bronze-p-132141.html

4x2 Corsair CL8 RAM
http://www.skytech.lt/cmz8gx3m2a160...ce-red-8gb-2x4gb-1600mhz-cl8-15v-p-91404.html

Corsair spec02 box
http://www.skytech.lt/cc9011051ww-k...spec02-red-led-mid-tower-gaming-p-181549.html

Gigabyte 770 GTX 2GB
http://www.skytech.lt/gvn770oc2gd-g...0-2gb-ddr5-256-bit-hdmi-dvi-box-p-152540.html

***

Thank you for your time reading this

 

[Joeydubbs]

Don't hamstring such a nice system with an i3, get a quad core proc, i5 at least...

 

[Charlie98]

Few things...

Are you sure a 128GB SSD will be big enough for your game files? Best SSD performance dictates leaving around 20% capacity free. You didn't mention an OS, running Windows (7 or 8) will take 20-40GB of that space, only leaving a relative ~60GB for game files.

I agree with Joey... if your budget can support it, i5 is the way to go, and if you want to OC, you need to pair that Z87 board with a unlocked K-series processor like the 4670K. If you don't OC, even a plain vanilla i5 4570 will perform better in newer games.

That RAM has very tall heatspreaders... if you fit an aftermarket CPU cooler, those tall fins may get in the way. I would select some sort of low profile (or normal profile) RAM instead. The heatspreaders aren't necessary, anyway.

And, you didn't mention an operating system... are you going to need Windows?

 

[hohojirozame]

Thanks for the input guys.

Well yeah... I was thinking the i3 part being the weakest link here.
Updated list follows:

Rig (Totals at ~1.3k USD)

Samsung SSD 120GB 840 Pro http://www.skytech.lt/mz7pd128bw-ss...-sata3-530390mbs-iops-9790k-7mm-p-135634.html

Intel i5 4670K http://www.skytech.lt/bx80646i54670...z-turbo-380ghz-6mb-lga1150-22nm-p-150128.html

Asrock z87 Pro4 http://www.skytech.lt/z87pro4-z87-s1150-atxz87-pro4-asrock-p-155589.html

Corsair PSU 600w plus bronze http://www.skytech.lt/cp9020048eu-psu-corsair-600w-plus-bronze-p-132141.html

Corsair RAM 2x4GB low CL9 http://www.skytech.lt/cml8gx3m2a160...ile-black-8gb-2x4gb-1600mhz-cl9--p-73263.html

Corsair Carbide spec02 ATX http://www.skytech.lt/cc9011051ww-k...spec02-red-led-mid-tower-gaming-p-181549.html

GTX 770 2GB http://www.skytech.lt/gvn770oc2gd-g...0-2gb-ddr5-256-bit-hdmi-dvi-box-p-152540.html

Scythe ninja CPU cooler http://www.skytech.lt/ksca0125-scnj3100-cpu-ausintuvas-scythe-ninja-revb-p-116463.html

Wifi adapter http://www.skytech.lt/dwa137a1-dlin...adapter-80211bgn-compatible-24g-p-166639.html

Several concerns though:

• is the PSU of 600W enough here? No plans on adding another VGA.
• couldn't find the low profile RAM stick with CL8. Going CL9 -- much worse?
• is the mobo sufficient to allow the i5 shine when OCed? Of course, aftermarket cooler comes on board.
• do I need additional cooling in the box if the CPU & VGA get OCed?
• I usually play 1-2 games at a time, my thinking is 60GB is plenty. Will run Windows 8.1 on it.

Thanks!

 

[DSF]

Keep in mind that windows system folders can get large pretty quickly. The WinSxS directory on my 180GB SSD is around 30-40GB.

If you take your 120GB SSD, leave 30GB free for performance reasons and give another 30GB to windows system files you're left with only 60GB for everything else. You may feel like that's enough right now but games are only getting larger. I would strongly recommend increasing the SSD's size a little bit.

 

[hohojirozame]

Thanks DSF, I'll consider then going 256GB.

 

[lehtv]

Skytech.lt has the new Crucial MX100 256GB in stock for 330 Lt, go with that. It's not as high end as the 840 Pro, but you'll never notice any difference between them in practice. Paying less for double the capacity is easily worth it

 

[Topweasel]

Thanks DSF, I'll consider then going 256GB.

Make sure you get a M550 or MX100 if you are going to get a current gen SSD at less than 480GB (480-512). Otherwise there are minor hits to read and major hits to write speeds due to the use of less memory chips per unit to hit that capacity.

 

[hohojirozame]

Convinced, the MX100 piece it is then, thanks!

 

[hohojirozame]

Any input on these?

* is the PSU of 600W enough here? No plans on adding another VGA.
* couldn't find the low profile RAM stick with CL8. Going CL9 -- much of a difference?
* is the mobo sufficient to allow the i5 shine when OCed? Of course, aftermarket cooler comes on board.

Thanks!

 

[Charlie98]

Any input on these?

* is the PSU of 600W enough here? No plans on adding another VGA.
* couldn't find the low profile RAM stick with CL8. Going CL9 -- much of a difference?
* is the mobo sufficient to allow the i5 shine when OCed? Of course, aftermarket cooler comes on board.

Thanks!

If it has the proper connectors for your GPU, it should be fine. The CX line is decent enough.

CL9 RAM will be fine, as well. In real-world use you won't see a difference.

Mobo looks like a good choice. With only 1 GPU, you could drop down to mATX with a suitable smaller case and maybe save a little money... but you would have to research the cost differences to see if it's worth it.

 

[hohojirozame]

Since I have plenty of space on/off the table, so I thought of going with bigger case, just in case

Thanks Charlie, appreciate your input. Seems like I go the good feedback I wanted!

 

[hohojirozame]

Hi there again,

after several weekends I came to conclusion to cut down to what is essential for me and realized I don't need the OCing stuff and GTX 770 can as well be a 760.

What concerns me -- is the PSU solid for the system below?

Crucial MX100 256GB SSD
Intel i5 4590
Asrock b85 Pro4
Gigabyte GTX 760 2GB OC

Corsair PSU 500w plus bronze
Corsair RAM 2x4GB low prof CL9
Corsair Carbide spec02 ATX
​

 

[Charlie98]

Hi there again,

after several weekends I came to conclusion to cut down to what is essential for me and realized I don't need the OCing stuff and GTX 770 can as well be a 760.

What concerns me -- is the PSU solid for the system below?

Crucial MX100 256GB SSD
Intel i5 4590
Asrock b85 Pro4
Gigabyte GTX 760 2GB OC

Corsair PSU 500w plus bronze
Corsair RAM 2x4GB low prof CL9
Corsair Carbide spec02 ATX
​

The 500W should be adequate on an non-OC machine. My OC'd 2500K rig (in sig below) when I was running my thirsty GTX560Ti 448 would barely tip 400W in benchmarks (I think 439W was the highest I could ever get it, measured at the wall.)

 

[hohojirozame]

Since the VGA comes OCed out of the box and NVidia says 500W is min for a GTX 760, I'll pick 600W just to be on the safe side: Corsair PSU 600w plus bronze.

Thank you Charlie!!

 

[mfenn]

500W is plenty for a GTX 760. No mainstream factory overclock is going to change the TDP of the GPU by more than a few tens of watts (if that).