Quick build to replace dead computer

AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
9,306
4
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So my computer got smoke damaged and is now throwing crucial thread failure BSOD and I'm considering all parts unreliable since they've all been covered in soot while running.

I was planning on waiting for skylake (I wanted 6 cores damn it), but it looks like I'll have to take a serious look at haswell : (

I put this build together real quick.

DVD drive: Asus dvd burner 20$
Who cares? Hopefully it'll be quiet, but really I'll use it to install windows and that's it...

Case: Antec 1100 110$
I'm pretty cripple these days so trying to go for something semi-light (old case is antec 1200), but don't want something that's a pain in the ass to work in either. It's only a couple of pounds heavier than the 900 I think.

Video Card: EVGA GTX 760 250$
I like nvidia. Always felt like the more hassle free choice. Might double up for SLI down the line

Hard Drive: Samsung EVO 250gig 183$
Always try for butter smooth computers even before ssds so yea this is a must and it seems like the best buy right now? Probably will get more later, but trying to keep cost down for now.

PSU: Sparkle 650W 60$
Should be enough power for SLI if I so desire? Sparkle is decent right?

RAM: gskill 16 gigs 150$
I always stay ahead of the curve quantity-wise; I keep a shit-ton open generally too. G Skill has never failed me so I just go for them. Kind of picked the exact ones at random.

Motherboard: Gigabyte UD3H 160$
Can do SLI. Gigabytes always been rock solid for me, but they're cheaper boards didn't seem to be getting good reviews so I picked out this one.

CPU: Haswell 4770 310$
If my computer hitches for a split second I rage and I tend to have a lot of things running at the same time so I like having the excess fake cores.

Heatsink: Hyper 212 40$
Worked pretty awesome in my old computer so I'm going for it again. I might try to mess around seeing what I can get near stock voltage.

Total: 1,382.90$

I'll probably try to look for combo deals/sales on other sites before making an actual order, but figured I'd bounce my build off some people beforehand.
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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www.mfenn.com
Looks fine in general, but I have a couple of comments:

- Case: If you want something light, an aluminum Lian-Li like this PC-9F at $110 would be right up your alley (13 lbs).
- GPU: "Upgrading" a midrange card like the GTX 760 to SLI almost never works out. By the time you're ready to upgrade, you might as well just by the latest midrange card with double the performance.
- PSU: Sparkle is usually kind of on the low-end of OK. The fact that I couldn't find a professional review of that model is a little telling. I'd stick to a known quantity like the Corsair TX650 at $65 AR AP. Though really, for a GTX 760 you only need a 550W like this XFX Core 550W $60 AR (rebranded Seasonic).
- RAM: The extra money you spend on fast RAM buys you next to no performance in the real world. Grab a normal DDR3 1600 kit like this Crucial Ballistix at $125.
- Mobo: Would not pay extra for SLI compatibility because of the above. Check out the ASRock Z87 Pro4 at $105 AR
- CPU: The Xeons are usually better deals for non-overclocking HT processors. Check out the Xeon E3-1230 V3 at $265
 

AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
9,306
4
81
I started looking at this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811235038 Only 14 pounds and 65 dollars still looks like decent quality on the inside and whatnot (I like em black on the inside). I'm kind of a sucker for windows on my cases too >.> <.<

Any thoughts on: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157378
It's a h87 board, but it has better audio than the one mfenn linked. From what I understand main reason to get z87 boards is if you get a k processor, which I'm not bothering with?

I'm going to go with 1600 ram (probably g.skill still).

I kind of want the on-chip video so I always have back up so xeon isn't that appealing. Seems like cutting a lot out just to save 30 dollars, and would I need a special motherboard for that too?

I think I'm going to get this PSU right now to get in on sale http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139028 43.5 after promo code and rebate

Between combo deals and switching some of my orders to amazon where cheaper I got the price down to around 1150 (excluding windows 7 I forgot I just ordered a copy recently)
 

AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
9,306
4
81
I ordered. I ended up going for a 770 4gb (yea I know probably dumb, but it'll probably be in use for 4+ years (only reason I'm upgrading from a 460 now is it got destroyed)) and 2x250 SSDs. It came out to 1486 - 35 in rebates (I don't really count them).
 

AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
9,306
4
81
Drop buying the heatsink, it can be washed off and re-used (if the holes line up for Haswell)

Yea, I know. I could have reused the case too. I was being a little lazy about cleaning ^.^ Eventually I'll probably get around to it with both and do something with them, but I just want to be back to a good computer with little scrubbing right now : p I'm using an FX-51 and a 5200FX a friend gave me; it's painful man.

Oh and another reason I didn't is they want to send a technician out to see my dead computer for insurance reasons so I don't want to disassemble it yet.
 
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AyashiKaibutsu

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2004
9,306
4
81
For the curious this is what I finally ordered:

i7 4770 + Asrock H87 Combo 397$

EVGA 770GTX 4GB superclocked 459$

G.Skill sniper 16GB ddr1600 cas 9 114$ (including 15% promo code)

Asus 24x dvd burner 20$

Corsair builder CX600 61$ (including 12% promo) 41$ after 20$ rebate

2xSamsung 840 EVO 250GB 2x183$ 366$ total

Hyper 212 EVO 34$

Zalman Z11 Plus HF1 87$

Total: 1534$ (1514 after rebate).

Price was up a little because I went to a little more expensive case.

I used the free trial of shoprunner so I got free two day shipping from newegg. I ordered the last two items off Amazon because one was cheaper and the case didn't have free two day shipping offered under newegg.
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
For the curious this is what I finally ordered:

i7 4770 + Asrock H87 Combo 397$

EVGA 770GTX 4GB superclocked 459$

G.Skill sniper 16GB ddr1600 cas 9 114$ (including 15% promo code)

Asus 24x dvd burner 20$

Corsair builder CX600 61$ (including 12% promo) 41$ after 20$ rebate

2xSamsung 840 EVO 250GB 2x183$ 366$ total

Hyper 212 EVO 34$

Zalman Z11 Plus HF1 87$

Total: 1534$ (1514 after rebate).

Price was up a little because I went to a little more expensive case.

I used the free trial of shoprunner so I got free two day shipping from newegg. I ordered the last two items off Amazon because one was cheaper and the case didn't have free two day shipping offered under newegg.

Looks pretty nice.

Just so you know, GTX 770 4GB has the same issue as the GTX 680 4GBN (cause that's what it is), that being it's slower than the 2GB version in games that don't use more than 2GB of VRAM. That's because the memory bus is only designed for 8 DRAM modules, and to get to the 16 needed for 4GB, Nvidia had to daisy chain them on the same channels rather than adding more channels like the GTX 780/Titan.