Building a Work/Game PC: Humbly requesting a second set of eyes, please
high dynamic range
Hey Polycount!
Building a computer from scratch for the first time, so I have a lot of worries going into this and definitely would like to consult people more experienced than I.
Objectives
Questions
Using Logical Increments, I've constructed the following parts list for my new PC.
(To Note: I have not added a SSD for a boot drive in the list since I already have that bought due to an emergency regarding my old rig dying.)
(To also note: I have a 3 year old slave drive that will be included in the new PC. I should probably get that replaced soon, right?)
Building a computer from scratch for the first time, so I have a lot of worries going into this and definitely would like to consult people more experienced than I.
Objectives
- Double check parts list to see all components work.
- Build a computer for roughly $1000
- Build a computer that will last 5+ years, with only a minimal number of HD, GPU, RAM, etc. replacements. A very much a set-it-and-forget-it in terms of hardware.
Questions
- Am I running into any compatibility problems between any of the components with this list?
- Is this strong enough for 5+ years of game art work as well as game playing?
- Is this overall a good list, or do you have any recommendations for components other than the ones listed?
Using Logical Increments, I've constructed the following parts list for my new PC.
(To Note: I have not added a SSD for a boot drive in the list since I already have that bought due to an emergency regarding my old rig dying.)
(To also note: I have a 3 year old slave drive that will be included in the new PC. I should probably get that replaced soon, right?)
- CPU: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-4670-Quad-Core-Processor-BX80646I54670/dp/B00CO8TBR4/?tag=logicaincrem-20"]Intel i5 4670[/ame]: $215
- CPU Fan: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-TPC-812-Overclocking/dp/B00C97AF48?tag=logicaincrem-20"]Cooler Master TPC 812[/ame]: $64.99
- GPU: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-2GB-WINDFORCE-GV-N760OC-2GD-REV2-0/dp/B00DGM8B6O/?tag=logicaincrem-20"]Gigabyte GTX 760[/ame] $309.99
- Motherboard: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Corp-Z87-GD45-GAMING/dp/B00D12OBEU/?tag=logicaincrem-20"]MSI Computer Corp. Motherboard ATX DDR3 1333 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z87-G45 GAMING[/ame]: $178.81
- RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS8G3D169DS3: $62.99
- PSU: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Certified-Power-Supply-CAPSTONE-650-M/dp/B00822BTLC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1384639383&sr=1-1&keywords=Rosewill+650W+80+PLUS+GOLD&tag=logicaincrem-20]Rosewill 650W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply CAPSTONE-650-M[/ame]: $100
- Case: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Black-Computer-CC-9011011-WW/dp/B0055Q7BR4/?tag=logicaincrem-20] Corsair 400R[/ame] $99.99
Replies
I also wouldn't go with anything under 16gb. I built the same machine you are doing here basically although with a 660 and an i7, and at 16gb I started hitting that ram limit doing next gen stuff with lots of maps, had to go to 32gb.
I spent 850 finding deals in pcpartspicker, it was a huge help putting things together. The rest of your build looks good IMO.
Also same card on newegg is $260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125466
You can easily OC pretty much any GTX 760 to match that OC'd card's performance. I'm getting 1200 MHz on mine, vs 1150MHz on OC version and 6700 MHz memory clock vs their 6000 MHz.
Just find the cheapest one, you can get a 760 for around $230 if you look [ame="http://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-GeForce-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-ZT-70401-10P/dp/B00DT5R3EO/ref=sr_1_25?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1387837435&sr=1-25&keywords=gtx+760"]Amazon.com: ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB GDDR5 2DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card (ZT-70401-10P): Electronics[/ame]
Looks like your get close to twice the performance in games.
Your CPU heatsink doesn't list support for the LGA 1150 socket though.
Also if you are building your own CPU for the first time, you need to feel comfortable trouble shooting and possibly returning a part.
Here are a few examples of Mobos that could work for you.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Intel-6Gbps-Motherboards-GA-H87M-D3H/dp/B00DGHDQVO/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1387838315&sr=1-3&keywords=h87"]Amazon.com: Gigabyte LGA 1150 Intel H87 HDMI SATA 6Gbps USB 3.0 Micro ATX DDR3 1600 Intel Motherboards GA-H87M-D3H: Electronics[/ame]
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-H87M-PLUS-CSM-DDR3-Motherboard/dp/B00CRJU0KC/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1387838315&sr=1-5&keywords=h87"]Amazon.com: ASUS H87M-PLUS/CSM DDR3 1600 LGA 1150 Motherboard: Electronics[/ame]
And is there any real difference between those two?
For this reason Mobos come on 2 versions aswell and u can tell them by the Chipset they are using. the "z" versions can overclock (z77, z87 etc.) the 'h' versions cant(h77, h87).
The CPU that you want to buy is the regular non 'K' version so u dont need a Z87 chipset MObo. Thats why i said get the a mobo with H87 chipset and with the money you save buy the i7 cpu instead. i5 4670 i7 4770 both match the same mobo since both are socket 1150.
I might suggest picking a different powersupply though. I've personally experienced a "hit or miss" type of deal with rosewill. The first PSU I got from them a couple of years ago was a total piece of shit and died after 4-5 months. The second one I got for my current build a year ago is still holding up nicely. I just saw this on newegg and through some research it seems to be a pretty average/decent PSU. I haven't personally used a PSU from EVGA so I can't give personal experience on it, but it also comes with a 10 year warranty and a $20 rebate (and it's $10 cheaper) which is always nice.
I would go with something like the following: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2pAOo
CPU
It seems to me you don't want to overclock your CPU. In this case I would spend 30$ more and would get an Xeon 1230v3. This processor is basically a i7 which means it has 2MB more L3 Cache than the i5 you have on your list, and it has Hypterthreading (8 Threads instead of 4 - of course not as good as 8 real cores, but better than only 4 if your programms can take advantage of it).
The only downside it has compared to an actual i7 is the deactivated iGPU (you don't need it since you have a dedicated GPU, but it can be usefull in case your dedicated GPU has a malfunction) and the cut back overclockability (it can't be overclocked with the multiplier, which means the max clock you can achieve is the max turbo clock (3,9 ghz)).
CPU Fan
The Macho 120 has good value for the money. It can keep the 1230v3 slightly below 30°C when idle and around 65°C under full load. All of which with slow fan speed which keeps the noise at a minimum.
GPU
The 760 from MSI is more silent then the one you picked, and has a slighty better price.
Motherboard
As was mentioned already, since you don't have a overclockable CPU (the i5 you picked and the same would apply to the Xeon) you don't need a Z-board. H87 is enough.
RAM
Crucial like the one you picked, 16 GByte ( 2x8 ), DDR3-1600, 1,35V instead of 1,5V and only 2 modules (so you can throw in another pair down the road and get 32 GByte).
PSU
For your high quality PC you want a high quality PSU. I would only go with top notch companys like antec, be quiet, corsair, enermax and seasonic and their top of the line PSU's.
You don't need 650W. Your rig wil only consume ~260W under load (Crysis 3, measured at the power outlet, and with a i7 overclocked to 4,4 GHZ). Even the 550W I picked are more than you need. A quality ~480W 80Plus Gold PSU would be enough, but I couldn't find one on partpicker.
The only downside of the Seasonic I picked is the noise if it has to supply 420W and more. But since your rig wil not consume this much power you should be ok.
CASE
You can use the case you picked. It's a good one, has much space inside, dust filter and a good manufacturing quality (but I don't like the default fans that get shipped with it, plus the two front fans have a proprietary plug).
I only picked the Deep Silence 2 because I have the case myself and it's insulated (it has noise-reduction material inside).
You will probably have to replace your GPU 2-4 years down the road if you want to play with max details at 1080p, but otherwise your components should last you 5+ years.
Cheers
I guess I also need to buy CPU paste don't I?
But you will quickly see that there is never not enough RAM to work with. I would buy slower RAM (1333), but as much as possible (as much as you are willing to pay).
I'm not sure about case. But I'm biased. For past 5 years all my parts just layed around my desk. Man. Perfect cooling and air circulation!
I only recently found case that have 10 possible HDD slots..
PCpartspicker Parts list The plan is to just purchase these items through the list.
MoBos that you guys recommended are not listed in PCpartspicker, so I just ran with what I thought looked good and didn't have a "z" in it. Admittingly, I am trusting this website a LOT.
Once again, I do already have a 250gb SSD and a 1 TB Slave Drive that's 3+ years old, hence their lack of inclusion.
Can't help that I am forgetting something.
Can anyone expand on the Wired or Wireless Network cards? Do I need them by any chance? Or a sound card?
Only if you are lucky and get a decent cpu. Since ivy bridge intel uses thermal paste instead of soldering tin between the cpu die and the heatspreder, which means the cpu get's hotter. If you buy a desktop haswell (sometimes called hasfail by some users because it get's even hotter than ivy bridge) you can get lucky an get a decent one which get's around 75°C with a stock cooler, but most of the time you get a 90°C cpu (at least from my experience and from what I read around the tech forums on the web), which means you have no headroom for overclocking.
I had to buy six 4770k to get one which gets only 75°C hot, so that I could overclock it with a after market cooler to 4,4 ghz. Here is a example of my first 4770k that I got:
If you have no problems with noise (I'm a freak in this regard, and want my pc as silent as possible) and that your cpu cores get to around 90°C (haswell is hot compared to it's predecessors ivy- and especially sandy bridge) which is said reduce the longevity of your cpu (the cpu begins to clock down at 95°C so that it doesn't overheat), you are fine with the stock cooler.
No, you don't have to, if you buy your cpu boxed (with the stock cooler included). You only have to buy thermal paste if you want a cooler running cpu.
Is there a special reason that you switched from Haswell (4xxx) to the predecessor Ivy Bridge (3xxx)? Haswell has the same price point and is better (aside from the thermal problems one can have with Haswell that I described above).
The MoBo you picked has a Z-77 chipset. ;o)
If you want to use a wired connection you don't need a network card. All modern MoBos have onboard gbit ethernet (10/100/1000 MBit). WiFi depends, some MoBos have onboard WiFi most don't. I would prefer a wired connection, but I don't move my pc around and my apartment has skirting boards with small wireways so I can easily hide the cables. ^^
Sound card - you don't have to buy one, since most (maybe all?) MoBos have onboard 5.1 or 7.1 soundchips. But some folks swear a sound card is awesome if you listen to music on quality headphones. Maybe some sound enthusiast can chime in.
Hope that helps and it is understandable written (I'm not a native speaker/writer and my english is a bit rusty).
How LOUD are we talking if I don't buy 3rd party fans?
Here is a video:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1476765/intel-haswell-lga-1150-socket-h3-stock-cooler-noise
The stock cooler on my i7 produced a sound similar to the startup sound at the beginning (0:08 ) of the linked video (when it was under load). The idle noise was the same as in the later part of the video. But even the idle noise was too loud for me (as I said I'm a freak in this regard ;o) ).
btw: the user that made the video has switched to a 3rd party fan from noctua and made a video of the noise: youtube.com/watch?v=W5paKei6oew
Need more ram? buy another stick.
CPU fan too loud and hot? Buy an after market one when you can.
You basically get a free fan with the CPU anyway. Some cases are better at keeping the heat sink cool and quiet.
Running at high temps by itself if not necessarily bad for the hardware, it's the heating and cooling over and over that will reduce it's lifespan (more drastic temp changes will wear it out faster). Normally I'd suggest trying to stay under 75°C load temps to try to keep it lasting as long as possible.
Just try the stock heatsink and order a new one if you need it, it's basically free anway.
Yeah, the Z-Chips (in tandem with CPUs that have a k at the end) are the ones that allow you to overclock your CPU by raising the multiplier. The reason to go with H boards is the lower price since you don't intend to overclock, but you can of course also buy a Z board if they are in the same price region.
btw: the board you picked is not only a Z board, but also a micro atx board. It shouldn't be a problem, they are only smaller than normal atx, just wanted to let you know.
Replaced the MoBo for this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h77pro4mvp Best review when I just filtered for only HXX w/e those mean, since I am not overclocking.
Ready to rock?
Yes, the partpicker link you posted looks good. :thumbup: But keep in mind that you need a optical drive to install windows (if you don't install over lan or have a bootable usb-stick that is).