New i7 Gaming Computer Build

[ironwarrior]

Hello...
I was here about 5 years ago or so and you guys were so great in helping me decide upon a decent gaming build, that I thought I would come back in hope to get your feedback on my new gaming build that I hope will get me though the next 3-5 years.

This is what I came up with after bit of research.
These components seem to give me a decent bang for the buck.
Not the fastest gaming system, but a good mid range system that I primarily want to be able to use to play some of the current games and act as a streaming server.

The Total Cost came out to $1307.00
Do you guys think my choices will work for me?
Appreciate your feedback....

2015 Computer Build
Total: 1307.00


0.00
Case (Using original Antec 1200)

150.00
Power Supply
EVGA 850 XR 80 Plus Gold Modular SLI Ready /Crossfire Support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438018

220.00
Motherboard
Asus ROG Maximus VII Hero
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ERO_LGA_1150_Intel_Z97-_-13-132-125-_-Product

260.00
Memory
32 GB (4 x 8) Gskill 2400 DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231589

360.00
Video Card
Gigabyte Geforce GTX 970
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125684

250.00
Hard Drive
Samsung 500GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7249&cm_re=samsung_ssd-_-20-147-249-_-Product

7.00
Thermal Compound Paste-Arctic Silver 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...69&cm_re=thermal_paste-_-35-100-007-_-Product

60.00
CPU Cooler
CORSAIR Hydro Series H50 120mm Quiet Edition Liquid CPU Cooler – Intel Only
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=cpu_water_cooler-_-35-181-010-_-Product

 

[Ken g6]

I guess we can forgive you for forgetting about [thread=80121]the questions thread[/thread] after five years. But I'll assume you're in the USA? And that you want to overclock?

Case (Using original Antec 1200)

That's some case! :awe: It looks like you're trying to match your PSU and RAM to your case, though - as in they're too much.

Unless you absolutely must buy in the next six days, I'd wait for Skylake, and get a Z170 and DDR4.

Beyond that it would really help to know your monitor resolution, refresh rate, and maybe a few of the toughest games you want to play.

 

[OlyAR15]

No cpu listed. Pretty difficult to game without one.

PS, MB, RAM pretty much overkill but hey, if you have the money why not.
Personally I would go with a good air cooler, much simpler and probably cheaper unless you plan to do crazy overclocking, and in many games the video card is probably the component that will hold you back anyways.

 

[ironwarrior]

@Ken g6:
Yes, am from the USA and would like to have a system that I can overclock from time to time. But, Also want a system where I can achieve decent performance without overclocking as well that will be reliable and serve me well until the next 3-5 years. I was reading a bit about the new 5xxx processors, but read so many good things about the i7-4790 chip that I thought I would go with it.
It seems that the new 6th gen Skylake CPU is coming out that supports all the new 4k stuff. Hopefully that will drive the cost of the 4th and 5th gen cpu's down.
Hopefully that just drives the cost on the 4th gen components.

So far I have selected this one, but also heard great things about the Devils Canyon variety as well.
There are so many variations of processors that I basically made my choice from other people's reviews and the popularity.

340.00
CPU
Intel Core BX80646I74790K i7-4790K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz)
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-BX80646...1438456271&sr=1-1&keywords=intel+i7+processor

 

[ignatzatsonic]

@Ken g6:


So far I have selected this one, but also heard great things about the Devils Canyon variety as well.


340.00
CPU
Intel Core BX80646I74790K i7-4790K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz)
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-BX80646...1438456271&sr=1-1&keywords=intel+i7+processor

The 4790K IS Devil's Canyon.

Your SSD link shows it as $342.55 when I went to it, not $250.

Do you have intentions of using more than one video card?

Are you the type who might possibly want to upgrade to a stronger CPU in 2 or 3 years? I'm not sure there will be anything stronger than the 4790K on that 1150 socket.

Not sure about 32 GB of RAM either, but maybe money is next to no object.

 

[ironwarrior]

Hey Ignatzatsonic...
Interesting.. I guess because some advertise the 4790 chip without the Devils Canyon name and other did, I thought it was a different variety.. Live and learn .
Thanks for correcting my pricing error on the SSD. When I was putting my list together I had initially set the 250SSD and figured it wasn't large enough so I changed it and forgot to update the price.. So now that brings my total to 1739.55.

I undercut my ram on my last build and had gone with only 4gb ram
At the time not everyone was running 64 bit operating systems and I had gone with the the Windows 7 32-bit version. I have been limping along with that ever since. I was going to update the DDR2 ram, but had a hard time finding the memory that matched my specifications. When I found it, it was a huge cost and not worth it. Now I am wanting to try out Windows 10 OS, and found my existing CPU is not compatible with it . So I figured it was finally time to upgrade. And here I am... I figured this time I would go with a full 32gb ram. I want to use my computer for office work and video rendering as well and figured the extra ram would be helpful in the long run. Sometimes it's better to have more and not need it than need it, not have it, and wish you did.

Realistically.. I probably won't run more than one video card.. That is why I thought I would go with a pretty decent one up front while not going with the top of the line and breaking the bank.

And don't plan on upgrading the CPU until my next major build . Sometimes it's hard to predict exactly when that will be... Usually in my history it has been between 3 and 5 years.
The next upgrade I will go with at least the new 1151 Socket build (I think that is the most current now right? )

 

[myocardia]

So far I have selected this one, but also heard great things about the Devils Canyon variety as well.
There are so many variations of processors that I basically made my choice from other people's reviews and the popularity.

340.00
CPU
Intel Core BX80646I74790K i7-4790K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz)
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-BX80646...1438456271&sr=1-1&keywords=intel+i7+processor

You can't use any of the Haswell refresh CPUs, which includes the Devils Canyons, with 1.65V RAM. It will burn up their RAM controller, and you'll be out $340, since Intel doesn't warrant you overvolting their RAM controllers. 1.35V RAM is preferred, but you can use up to 1.50V RAM with them, meaning that this is the fastest G.Skill RAM you'll be able to use: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231619&ignorebbr=1 Spend the $70 you'll save by buying yourself a nice, quiet, large heatpipe heatsink, like a Noctua NH-D15.

 

[OlyAR15]

Since you were using the 32 bit version of windows, you weren't even using the full 4Gb of RAM. Win32 could only access about 3gb or so, so adding more memory would have done nothing for you.

Nothing wrong with 32gb of ram, it is your money after all.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Nothing "wrong" with a Samsung 840 EVO, but it's a generation or two old. You can certainly find SSDs around 500 GB for considerably less than $342 of the same or better quality.

Here's 63 of them, all under $300, many under $200.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... 600038502 600038491 4018 600038463 4814 4017

 

[ironwarrior]

This is my current build..
You can see why I am eager to upgrade..

Memory (DDR2 1000 2gb x 2)
x ($49.99) MEM 2Gx2|GKS F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ R - Retail
________________________________________
CPU E8500 3.16G Dual Core
1 x ($187.99) CPU INTEL|C2D E8500 3.16G 775 45N R - Retail
________________________________________
CASE – Antec 1200
1 x ($159.99) CASE ANTEC|TWELVE HUNDRED BK RT - Retail
________________________________________
MOTHERBOARD
1 x ($136.99) MB GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P P45 775 R - Retail
________________________________________
VIDEO CARD GPU
1 x ($239.99) VGA SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL HD4870 1G R - Retail
________________________________________
POWER SUPPPLY CORSAIR 750W
1 x ($119.99) PSU CORSAIR|CMPSU-750TX 750W RT - Retail
________________________________________
CPU COOLER
1 x ($36.99) CPU COOLER XIGMATEK|HDT-S1283 R - Retail
1 x ($8.49) CPU COOL XIGM|ACK-I7751 R - Retail
________________________________________

 

[ironwarrior]

Nice Ignat....
You saved me some money on the SSD...
If I go with this one it brings my cost to just a bit over 1500.00. , which was my max budget planned.

183.00
Hard Drive
Samsung 500GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo


OLY
Yes, you are right. with the 32-bit technology my system didn't even use the full 4gb of ram that I had.

MYOCARDIA
Wow! Thanks for catching that. I would have double checked before making my final order, but I'm glad you pointed that out. I had listed that ram as a kind of parts rough draft. It was listed under the motherboard as ram that others had purchased so I just dropped it in to kind of get a price estimate. I usually always try to pick the exact memory that is listed in the motherboard certified list so it is fully compatible. In fact I printed it out today and was studying the different options available.

 

[OlyAR15]

If you are looking to spend around $1600, you can build quite a system.

Here is something that should be good for several years.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($143.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($75.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial BX100 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($162.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked Video Card ($636.30 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($91.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1562.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-09 05:24 EDT-0400

 

[Yuriman]

I'm a fan of OlyAR15's build.

Some thoughts:

I wouldn't spend $220 on a motherboard, as there's very little extra it brings at close to double the cost. Mostly you're getting some more USB and SATA ports, and a different color scheme.

Skylake is probably overall the better buy than Haswell (and its Devil's Canyon refresh, the 4790K). Performance will be around the same (slight edge to Skylake but who's counting), but power consumption will be down, overclocking headroom might be a little higher, and the new motherboards coming out will have new connectivity options that will be a bit more future-proof.

If you're going with a single-GPU build, I see little reason to get more than maybe 650w. A 980Ti has a TDP of 250w, and your CPU will be in the range of 90w. Your whole system will probably only come to around 400w before overclocking. The current trend is that parts are drawing less and less power, so I doubt your needs will be higher, later, if you reuse it or upgrade something (video card?).

 

[ironwarrior]

myocardia
I did a bit more research this morning on the memory compatibility and was a bit confused. All qualified memory from the Asus Maximus VII Hero manual states that the memory voltage should be 1.65. Is there different types of Asus Maximus VII boards, or could you be incorrect about your recommended voltage?

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/MAXIMUS-VII-HERO/E9192_Maximus_Vii_Hero.pdf

OlyAR15
I actually spent quite a bit of time mapping out my choices.
I am passing them off here just to see if I overlooked anything that would cause issues
or that you folks had suggestions for alternate choices with reasons why I should select them. I really don't want to change all my choices if I can help it.

- Your recommendation for the I7 CPU was a great buy, but it specifies store pickup only and unfortunately there is no store listed in my immediate area. Otherwise I would have picked one up today..

- Asus Z97 Motherboard
(Why do you think this is a better choice than the Asus Maximus VII Hero board?)

- Spinning 2TB Drive..
I already have 2TB Spinners and don't need one

- Cooler
I was previously recommended the Noctua NH-D15.
I am currently using a XIGMATEK cooler which looks very similar to the 212 Evo
and was not very happy with it. Every time I overclocked my system froze.
I read many good reviews about the Noctua for air coolers.. It is probably one of the closest comparison to water cooled out there that I could see. But it does have a price.
I initially was considering the Corsair water cooler.

Windows 10
This is free considering you have Windows 7 serial number

 

[ironwarrior]

Unless you absolutely must buy in the next six days, I'd wait for Skylake, and get a Z170 and DDR4.

Beyond that it would really help to know your monitor resolution, refresh rate, and maybe a few of the toughest games you want to play.

Ken G6...
Sorry I missed your question...
My thought is on Skylake is that I could go with that, but my cost would just shoot up even more. I was hoping with it's release it would drive prices down on the 1150 architecture.
My monitor is nothing fancy.. It is a SyncMaster T260 25 inch with HD Res @ 1920 x 1200 at 60 Hz. It will not support the 4k stuff and that would run me another 500.00 or so to get one of those monitors. This is why I figured I would just drop down a notch below the latest and greatest.

 

[ironwarrior]

I'm a fan of OlyAR15's build.

Some thoughts:

I wouldn't spend $220 on a motherboard, as there's very little extra it brings at close to double the cost. Mostly you're getting some more USB and SATA ports, and a different color scheme.

Skylake is probably overall the better buy than Haswell (and its Devil's Canyon refresh, the 4790K). Performance will be around the same (slight edge to Skylake but who's counting), but power consumption will be down, overclocking headroom might be a little higher, and the new motherboards coming out will have new connectivity options that will be a bit more future-proof.

If you're going with a single-GPU build, I see little reason to get more than maybe 650w. A 980Ti has a TDP of 250w, and your CPU will be in the range of 90w. Your whole system will probably only come to around 400w before overclocking. The current trend is that parts are drawing less and less power, so I doubt your needs will be higher, later, if you reuse it or upgrade something (video card?).

Yes, you are right I could get by with the lower cost motherboard, but I feel that the one I selected is just a few bucks more and as you pointed out you get a few extra bells and whistles that may come in handy. Also my concern is reliability and this board carried some good reviews. I looked at some of the lower cost boards and their reviews didn't look that promising. With all the boards out there, that is all you can rely on is word of mouth and reviews to determine what will be reliable and serve you right. I figure the motherboard/cpu is the heart of your system. Which motherboard would you recommend?

As for power supply, I was informed that most Haswell Ready Power Supplies will step down at lower levels providing only the power required. With that said, I thought I would go with a little larger so in case I decide to run multiple GPUs. I don't want to go with something smaller and find I need more power in the future. But you are right.. for now a 650 should be more than enough if I didn't plan to expand GPUs.

Now with Skylake, I can certainly give this new technology the benefit of the doubt and wait another month or so and map out a computer build with those specs as an overall comparison. Perhaps if not that much more, I will definitely consider it.

 

[ironwarrior]

I changed my power supply choice to this one..

120.00
Power Supply
SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=seasonic_power_supply-_-17-151-088-_-Product

 

[Yuriman]

Historically, a new platform release from Intel hasn't dropped prices on the old ones. Rather, the parts just start going out of stock, and never come back.

Regarding power supplies, the bigger concern here is just that PSUs are more efficient at higher loads, so a unit that is never more than 50% loaded will waste some electricity. Electricity is pretty cheap in most parts of the U.S. though, so maybe that's not a concern, but a larger unit will also dump a little more heat into your room.

If you consider a 2nd 980Ti down the road (assuming that's the card you go with), a 650w will really be a little small for your needs. A high quality unit (like the one you listed) will suffice, but only so long as you're not overclocking.

 

[ironwarrior]

Historically, a new platform release from Intel hasn't dropped prices on the old ones. Rather, the parts just start going out of stock, and never come back.

Regarding power supplies, the bigger concern here is just that PSUs are more efficient at higher loads, so a unit that is never more than 50% loaded will waste some electricity. Electricity is pretty cheap in most parts of the U.S. though, so maybe that's not a concern, but a larger unit will also dump a little more heat into your room.

If you consider a 2nd 980Ti down the road (assuming that's the card you go with), a 650w will really be a little small for your needs. A high quality unit (like the one you listed) will suffice, but only so long as you're not overclocking.

Hello Yuriman.
Yeah, I figured my hope in pricing going down was to good to be true .
I have actually been around since the first PC was introduced in I believe 1979 (not to date myself). I am not a complete rookie, it is just that I don't build systems regularly and have fallen behind in a lot of the new PC building technology. This is why I love these forums so that I can learn about all the new stuff which helps me make a better decision on my build.
I am not a seasoned gaming veteran and can't see myself spending almost 700.00 for a single 980Ti card, much less running two of them. This is why I thought the 760 was a good choice.. Not the best, but will play most of the current games with no issues. If I later find myself getting into it more than I have the room to run (2) 760s which will probably be as good or better than running (1) 780. So based on what I am understanding with the lower power requirements that a 650 watt should be plenty for me. Although that is why I selected the 750 originally to have a little head room.

 

[Yuriman]

For an i7 + GTX 760/960, 650w should be plenty and then some. For a single card, a 400-450w PSU is actually close to ideal, but a 600-650w will leave room for a second down the road. My overclocked i5 and 7850 (which draws around the same power as a 760) run very comfortably on a 350w PSU, and an i7 doesn't draw appreciably more than an i5.

 

[Nhirlathothep]

i don t like these gaming config

 

[ironwarrior]

i don t like these gaming config

Can you be more specific with this statement?

 

[ironwarrior]

For an i7 + GTX 760/960, 650w should be plenty and then some. For a single card, a 400-450w PSU is actually close to ideal, but a 600-650w will leave room for a second down the road. My overclocked i5 and 7850 (which draws around the same power as a 760) run very comfortably on a 350w PSU, and an i7 doesn't draw appreciably more than an i5.

Thanks Yuriman.. This helps me feel better about the 650 being enough power for my build.

 

[ironwarrior]

I am now reading more on the new 6th gen Skylake stuff and I have to say.. you guys may be right I might be better off waiting and going with the Skylake build.
How many games are actually written to support the 4k stuff? Are they streaming 4k movies now? I wonder how large they will be? How much are you really going to be able to take advantage of the new 4k resolution?

 

[Yuriman]

Current video cards support outputting to a 4K monitor, but you need a 4K monitor too, and they're still somewhat pricey.

Most (all?) games should have no issue with running at 3840 X 2160 ("4K"), but note that you're driving 4x as many pixels as at 1920x1080 and you'll need considerably more graphical horsepower to get playable framerates. A 980Ti or equivalent is highly recommended, unless you don't play new/recent games. Skylake supports outputting that resolution using the integrated graphics, but the experience shouldn't be appreciably different from Haswell if you're using a discrete card.

I believe YouTube has some 4K content, as well as Netflix, but they both require a pretty fast internet connection. Content is somewhat limited.

Honestly, unless you're sitting pretty close to your screen, 2560x1440 or even 1920x1080 provide a pretty satisfactory viewing experience, especially if you don't have young eyes.

I'm planning on holding off for a while, until prices come down a bit more and more content exists.