New gaming rig in the next month...

[ChairShot]

Hey fellow PC builders.

I now have the PC described in my sig and I do plan on keeping some parts from it like monitors (1080P), case (full tower), PSU, SSD, HDD, and mouse/keyboard.

So basically, I will be looking for a new mobo, CPU, RAM and GPU.


I've been out of the loop for quite some time as to what is good, best and to avoid in the newer generations.

- I've been with intel and I like it but AMD wouldn't be the end of the world.
- Nvidia or ATI.... no big deal!
- PC will be used for gaming and streaming movies to the apple TV... so basically for gaming

Budget is around 1000$ CAD and will be buying from NCIX.com or newegg.ca depending where prices are cheapest I don't necessarily want the best of the best... but at least a rig that will be good for a while.

thanks

 

[OlyAR15]

What I would suggest:

CPU: intel i5 4690k
motherboard: reasonably priced Z97 board, I like Asus but go with whatever you feel comfortable with and is on sale.
RAM: 8GB DDR3-1600MHz
Video card: AMD R9 290
SSD : 256 or 512 GB. You will need a new one since the one you have is most likely an early Sandforce controller which is incompatible with the new Haswell chipsets.
Aftermarket HSF like the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo if you plan on overclocking, otherwise the stock HSF will be fine.

Check both sites and get whatever happens to be on sale.

 

[ChairShot]

thanks, will check that out.

I have this Crucial MX100 256GB instead of the OCZ in my sig... forgot to update

And no overclocking at all is planned.

 

[mfenn]

$1000 CDN is a pretty healthy budget for just the core build. I didn't see your current PSU listed though, that could be due for a replacement if its of the same vintage as your core machine.

Assuming that no PSU is needed, I'd start with something like this:

i5 4590 $230
ASRock H97 Performance $105 AR
G.Skill DDR3 1866 8GB $80
Zotac GTX 970 $370
Total: $785 AR

If you'd rather be closer to $1000, you could upgrade the RAM to 16GB and/or bump the CPU to an i7 4790.

 

[ChairShot]

thanks mfenn for the input.

My PSU is 2yo and should be good enough to run the new beast.

Here are a couple of questions that poped to my mind:

1- R9 290 or 970... ?? Best bang for the $ or is it really worth getting a 970 over the R9 290X

2- For the 970... Zotak? or should I go with a better known brand like Asus for 30-40$ more?

3- only for gaming, is the i7 worth the extra $$?

thanks.

 

[lehtv]

1- Matter of preference IMO. R9 290 (and especially the 290X you linked) offer better performance per cost. But GTX 970 has lower running costs due to consuming around 50W less power which also means GTX 970 tends to run cooler and quieter.

2- I wouldn't get a Zotac. You're going to kick yourself if the card craps out 2 years and a couple of months in and you don't have 3 year warranty.

3- Short answer: no. Long asnwer: it depends on your requirements. Some games do take advantage of the extra threads quite nicely, CryEngine and Frostbite (BF3, BF4) games for example. If you don't mind sub-par CPU performance in such games, then i5 is all you need. Otherwise, Xeon E3 1230V3 or 1231V3 is the best value per GHz, it's close to i5-4690K price but equivalent to a slightly underclocked i7, it just lacks integrated graphics. It's also worth noting that if you want the absolute best gaming performance without overclocking, then i7-4790K is the only choice, as it's 500MHz faster than i5-4690K. It's not only hyperthreaded but around 13% faster in single-thread performance as well.

If I had $1000 to spend on the core parts, I'd get:

Gigabyte Z97X-SLI $130 ($110 AR)
i5-4690 $245 (6% faster than 4590 for 6% more $)
2x8GB G.Skill DDR3-2133 1.5V $170
Gigabyte 970 Windforce, Asus Strix, MSI Gaming, around $400 - or the 290X you linked

The Z97 board makes sense over H97 Performance since it's just $5 more. Even if you don't OC or ever need SLI/Crossfire support, the board has better resale value, plus you can use faster than 1600MHz RAM.

 

[ChairShot]

how does this look like?

MSI Radeon R9 290X 429.99 -100.00 MIR = 329.99$
ASUS Maximus VII & Intel I5 4690K 479.99$
G.SKILL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1866 85.99$

Now the mobo might be overkill but the bundle price is pretty decent I think.
Price won the video card race.... 290X for 329$ is a great price not matched by any of the 970

Comments or suggestions?
8 gig of RAM is enough and I can always add more later if needed.

Comments?

 

[lehtv]

Now the mobo might be overkill but the bundle price is pretty decent I think.

Not really, it's still a $220 motherboard in that bundle (4690K being worth $260), which is more than $100 overkill for your needs. I recommend Gigabyte Z97X-SLI (not because you necessarily need Z97, but because it's just $5 more than the Asrock board mfenn recommended and allows you to use faster RAM).

8 gig of RAM is enough and I can always add more later if needed.

In that case, I'd get this RAM: G.Skill 2x4GB 2133 1.5V $83. A 1600MHz or 1866MHz kit would be just a couple $ cheaper, making this 2133Mhz kit very good value for money.

 

[leeland]

I just built this rig a week ago...

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/w8jGwP

1450 was the budget.

Couldn't be happier. The thing runs BF4 on ultra and never dips below 60 fps...boots in 12 seconds

I would recommend the 970 over ati...

 

[lehtv]

I would recommend the 970 over ati...

Why?

 

[mfenn]

1- R9 290 or 970... ?? Best bang for the $ or is it really worth getting a 970 over the R9 290X

The R9 290X and GTX 970 trade blows depending on the game. I chose the GTX 970 because it runs cooler and quieter. If the price difference were larger or the budget were tighter, I would tend towards the R9 290X, but a 15% differential is worth the quality of life improvement when you're spending $1000 on core components only. If you don't care about heat and noise (which is fine) then you could indeed save some money by going with an R9 290X.

2- For the 970... Zotak? or should I go with a better known brand like Asus for 30-40$ more?

There's nothing wrong with Zotac. If you're the type to spend extra on extended warranties, then you might want to look for brand which offers a longer one (at a higher cost of course), but otherwise the cards are similar.

3- only for gaming, is the i7 worth the extra $$?

No it is not, but you can afford it if you want it. The Xeon E3's that lehtv recommended are a good middle ground.

 

[mfenn]

Not really, it's still a $220 motherboard in that bundle (4690K being worth $260), which is more than $100 overkill for your needs.

Agree. A normal, non-overclocking build simply does not need to spend much money on, nor would extract much value from a super-expensive motherboard. That $110 is much better spent on the CPU, RAM, or GPU, where it will provide increased performance.

 

[lehtv]

I chose the GTX 970 because it has more VRAM and runs cooler and quieter.

On paper, both R9 290(X) and GTX 970 have 4GB VRAM. (In practice, GTX 970 has 3.5GB of full speed VRAM and 0.5GB of slow VRAM as per the corrected specs.) Maybe you were thinking of the 280(X)?

 

[mfenn]

On paper, both R9 290(X) and GTX 970 have 4GB VRAM. (In practice, GTX 970 has 3.5GB of full speed VRAM and 0.5GB of slow VRAM as per the corrected specs.) Maybe you were thinking of the 280(X)?

Sorry, brain fart. I corrected my post above.

 

[ChairShot]

so besides the noise/heat... not much difference between the R9 and the 970?

 

[lehtv]

GTX 970 has around 60-70W lower power consumption, so for every 15 hours of gaming, you save one kilowatt

 

[ChairShot]

I have a 1000W PSU, so I shouldnt have any troubles!

So final build will be looking like this:

i5 I5-4690 254.99$
G.SKILL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-2133 90.98$
Gigabyte Z97X-SLI 129.99 -20$ = 109.99$
ASUS GeForce GTX 970 409.99$

945$ shipped inc. taxes.

Anything else? RAM compatibility with mobo?

 

[lehtv]

Looks good. The 290X is still much better value after rebate though, but either card is fine

 

[ChairShot]

Indeed, better bang for the $$, but many more horror stories related to heat than the 970.

I'll read some more again tonight before ordering.

 

[ChairShot]

after some reading, seems like the RAM does not feature in the compatible list of the Motherboard?

 

[lehtv]

after some reading, seems like the RAM does not feature in the compatible list of the Motherboard?

Mobo vendors don't test every single kit out there, they just provide a list of tested kits that are known not to cause issues, but that doesn't mean other kits will cause issues. It'll work fine. I.e. RAM is RAM, if it has the correct specs, it's fine

 

[ChairShot]

alrighty then.... clicking order about now

 

[ChairShot]

after pricematch and all taxes + free shipping + full insurance on order, total is $933.52!

me happy!

thanks for your help all.

 

[lehtv]

Nice Happy to help!

 

[mfenn]

Cool, let us know how it goes!