recommendations for my gaming build?

[mahdisolidsnake]

Hey guys,
This is my first time building a PC and I wanted to check if there is anything wrong with my build
The reason I went with crossfire is because I found 2
Used r9 280x which is cheaper than one r9 290x

Gonna be using it for gaming on 1920x1080p
Planning to build in the next 10 days
Budget: 850$
Country: Sweden
No over clocking

Specs:

case: Corsair Carbide SPEC-01
Fans: 3x Cooler Master SickleFlow Red LED

CPU: core i5 4690
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3

GPU: Radeon r9 280x in crossfire

Motherboard: MSI Z97-G43 (is it good for crossfire?)

PSU: corsair CX850M 850w

RAM: corsair vengeance 2x4/1600mhz (8GB)

Hard drive: western digital 1TB

Screen: Benq GL2450

Mouse & keyboard: CM storm octane

Note* some of the components are used


will there be good airflow with this build?
Should I just pay a little extra money and get r9 290x?
Anything you guys think I should do?

 

[lehtv]

Hey. Answer these first please: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

Also, does the budget include just the components or also peripherals (monitor, mouse etc).

 

[mfenn]

It would be useful if you gave us your budget in your local currency as well as links to the parts at the shop where you will be buying them. Otherwise we can only give general recommendations and won't be able to tell you whether you're getting a good deal or how to make the most of your budget.

 

[lehtv]

So did you already buy the 280X's, and is $850 the budget for everything else?

 

[mahdisolidsnake]

So did you already buy the 280X's, and is $850 the budget for everything else?

The $850 is for everything above including the 280x's
I

 

[mahdisolidsnake]

It would be useful if you gave us your budget in your local currency as well as links to the parts at the shop where you will be buying them. Otherwise we can only give general recommendations and won't be able to tell you whether you're getting a good deal or how to make the most of your budget.

Local currency is 8000 SEK I can't give links as some of these things are used
But I would like general recommendations on my build like is the power supply enough? Is the motherboard good for the build?
Thanks

 

[lehtv]

I would forget about crossfire. 1080p simply doesn't need it, and you get to spend less on the motherboard and the power supply, and worry less about noise, heat, performance consistency, frametimes and crossfire profiles. I also doubt 290X is a better deal than 290 in Sweden, in terms of price/perf.

Which components are used, and which components do you plan to buy new, and can you give links to shops where you plan to buy those new components? Do the used components still have warranty left? If I were buying used, I'd be very careful about falling for parts that are overkill for my needs. About 5 years ago, I built a PC from used parts, but could've made much better decisions back then... I bought a 850W OCZ unit which was stable but I grew tired of its noise output in a few years, and it was overkill to begin with. Had I bought an appropriately sized, better quality unit backed by warranty, I would still be running the same PSU now. Also, I bought an i7-920 processor when an i5-750 would've been just as good for gaming. And a 4870X2 when I probably would've had better time with a quiet, cool and efficient HD5850, even though it would've been slower. The low prices of used components can be hard to resist, and things get easily out of hand.

Also, take care to find parts which haven't been used for long and where the owner has the receipt to the original place of purchase, so you can attempt RMA if something breaks.

Regarding the parts...

Case+fans - Fine, depends on overall cost. Normally it's better to buy a case that comes with the number of fans you need. For a single GPU setup though you don't need 4 fans, 2 is fine.
CPU - Again, depends on cost. Generally, i5-4460 is good enough at a limited budget.
Cooler - Intel Stock cooler is fine unless you're picky about noise which doesn't seem to be the case... then again I don't know if the CPU you listed is Tray or Boxed
GPU - I'd shoot for single R9 290 as long as budget allows
Mobo - a cheap non-Z97 board will work fine for a single GPU rig where the CPU isn't overclockable. However, yes, MSI Z97-G43 is Crossfire compatible
PSU - I would strongly advise against CX series for a high powered rig. The more watts you spend, the higher quality you want, because more watts means more strain on the power supply - especially the capacitors. CX is fine for a budget low wattage gaming PC. For R9 290 I'd get a quality 600W unit like S12II/M12II 620W, for 280X CF I'd get whichever 750-850W unit is cheapest that still has 5+ year warranty, top quality caps and all-round good performance. Depends entirely on what's available and at what price.
RAM - the cheapest DDR3-1600 CL9 2x4GB kit you can find
HDD - fine if it's a Blue. Black is not that good value.
Screen - good low lag display. Though again depends on the price and what else is available
kb/m - probably fine


I'd also consider fitting in a 120GB SSD, downgrading some parts if necessary.

 

[mahdisolidsnake]

I would forget about crossfire. 1080p simply doesn't need it, and you get to spend less on the motherboard and the power supply, and worry less about noise, heat, performance consistency, frametimes and crossfire profiles. I also doubt 290X is a better deal than 290 in Sweden, in terms of price/perf.

Which components are used, and which components do you plan to buy new, and can you give links to shops where you plan to buy those new components? Do the used components still have warranty left? If I were buying used, I'd be very careful about falling for parts that are overkill for my needs. About 5 years ago, I built a PC from used parts, but could've made much better decisions back then... I bought a 850W OCZ unit which was stable but I grew tired of its noise output in a few years, and it was overkill to begin with. Had I bought an appropriately sized, better quality unit backed by warranty, I would still be running the same PSU now. Also, I bought an i7-920 processor when an i5-750 would've been just as good for gaming. And a 4870X2 when I probably would've had better time with a quiet, cool and efficient HD5850, even though it would've been slower. The low prices of used components can be hard to resist, and things get easily out of hand.

Also, take care to find parts which haven't been used for long and where the owner has the receipt to the original place of purchase, so you can attempt RMA if something breaks.

Regarding the parts...

Case+fans - Fine, depends on overall cost. Normally it's better to buy a case that comes with the number of fans you need. For a single GPU setup though you don't need 4 fans, 2 is fine.
CPU - Again, depends on cost. Generally, i5-4460 is good enough at a limited budget.
Cooler - Intel Stock cooler is fine unless you're picky about noise which doesn't seem to be the case... then again I don't know if the CPU you listed is Tray or Boxed
GPU - I'd shoot for single R9 290 as long as budget allows
Mobo - a cheap non-Z97 board will work fine for a single GPU rig where the CPU isn't overclockable. However, yes, MSI Z97-G43 is Crossfire compatible
PSU - I would strongly advise against CX series for a high powered rig. The more watts you spend, the higher quality you want, because more watts means more strain on the power supply - especially the capacitors. CX is fine for a budget low wattage gaming PC. For R9 290 I'd get a quality 600W unit like S12II/M12II 620W, for 280X CF I'd get whichever 750-850W unit is cheapest that still has 5+ year warranty, top quality caps and all-round good performance. Depends entirely on what's available and at what price.
RAM - the cheapest DDR3-1600 CL9 2x4GB kit you can find
HDD - fine if it's a Blue. Black is not that good value.
Screen - good low lag display. Though again depends on the price and what else is available
kb/m - probably fine


I'd also consider fitting in a 120GB SSD, downgrading some parts if necessary.

Thanks!
You helped me out a lot

 

[DigDog]

+1 what lehtv said