What do you think of my desktop build?

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  Splashtash on 05/07/2013 - 14:06

  seems ok?

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  ESEMCE on 05/07/2013 - 14:29

  +1

  Don't need the i7 for gaming I suspect.. Pretty sure the i7's power is only really useful for more artistic uses?
  Save cash on an i5 and bump up the Graphics Card another level maybe? (or just save the cash)

  • 

    _Bruce_ on 06/07/2013 - 08:10

    Pretty sure the i7's power is only really useful for more artistic uses?

    Not even this really. Mostly exists to make Intel money.

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  Aragami on 05/07/2013 - 14:48

  Primary use for gaming = dont need i7, i5 functions fine. I've setup an i5 for a friend who uses their computer to play a variety of recent games which are graphically demanding and their gen2 i5 does not struggle at all. Get an i5 if you want value. Get an i7 if you're going to run virtual machines or do some form of encoding/decoding

  Your GPU is fine i suppose, if you're ok with buying second hand however; i'd recommend a 2nd hand ATI 7970 or 680 4gb. You can get both of these for much less the price and the performance is better.

  MB - fine.

  Case - errr. Would personally get a better case if i was you, but it's really just your personal preference. As long as it has usb3 front ports, thats the main thing anyone cares about. Though personally i'd look for a silverstone or lian li case of sorts, they're more expensive but look straight up sexy. Generally have better cable management options on the inside as well, and have cool designs for bits and peices.

  PSU - fine.

  Memory - fine.

  Btw, never use the phrase "future proof" when it comes to technology, ever. It was a buzzphrase in the 90's which was used to sell expensive computer components to people who didn't know any better. Hence many unfortunate computer users ended up with very overkill desktops for the time and utilized maybe 1/5th of the potential of the computer - ie, wasted money. Then in a few years, new sockets came out, new ddr ram gen came out, new connectivity options came out - their "future proof" computers were useless because half of the old technology in the computers were not relevant anymore.

  FYI, i believe ddr4 is scheduled for release at the end of this year? or some time next year i believe. And yes, ddr4 will not be compatible with ddr3 slots or current socket 1150/1155 socket architecture. Meaning people that want to jump onto ddr4 ram will need new motherboards with newer gen cpu's. The only thing you can grab these days which will be relatively futureproof are GPU's. A high end GPU will last you a long time, i've had a 6970 for about 2-3 years now and it's still plenty capable of running games @ extremely high settings if not max settings on 1920x1200 resolution.

  In saying that, 4k monitors are on the horizon. So i'm not sure what kind of innovative genius ati + nvidia are going to come up with in order to get a single gpu to run max settings on a 4k screen. We might be a bit far from that kind of technology at the moment to be honest and only mutli-gpu setups will be able to run games at such great resolutions, still something to think about if it tickles your pickle.

  • 

    sweepy on 05/07/2013 - 15:43

    Thanks for your replies. Very helpful. I think I will can an i5 instead. Any particular models anyone can recommend?

    I havent looked 2nd hand for graphics card but I can get a brand new 770 cheaper than a 680 4gb. I will also be running games at the same resolution as you. I shall look into 2nd hand but I don't want to get a card that has been overclocked or toyed with so I might have to buy new.

    Don't really mind about the case but will check out your recommendations.

    • 

      scrimshaw on 05/07/2013 - 15:48

      Get a K version i5 if you're into overclocking, get a i5-4570 if you're not.

      If you are NOT overclocking, you can make do with a much cheaper Asrock B85 motherboard. The main purpose of an expensive motherboard is overclocking capability and better chipset cooling — but for a lot of normal users who don't OC can make do with a $100 board.

      I'm not sure if the 16GB of RAM will be that beneficial for gaming. Most games don't even fully utilize 8GB of RAM. I'd probably put more money into a better casing, and perhaps a Noctua heatsink if you're OC'ing.

      • 

        sweepy on 05/07/2013 - 15:54

        cool thanks - already got an SSD which I'm reusing in this build.

      • 

        Aragami on 06/07/2013 - 16:39

        I kind of disagree and am a bit iffy on a few points.

        "Get a K version i5 if you're into overclocking, get a i5-4570 if you're not."

        If he's playing a bunch of recently released games and running multi-monitor setups whilst running a variety of programs, there is almost no point going an i5 which cuts out the extra 4 hyperthreads. I'd sort of recommend the i7 over the i5 - but depends massively on his setup and how he's going to use the computer. Your i5 recommendation might suit him fine.

        "If you are NOT overclocking, you can make do with a much cheaper Asrock B85 motherboard. -snip"

        Z87 motherboards aren't just used for overclocking, they also have a massive variety of other features and bits and pieces that make them worthwhile. I'd advise the OP to check out some of the differences, but if you do a bit of digging, you'll find the following to be true:
        - "z" series motherboards are able to overclock the "k" series cpu's they're compatible with
        - "z" series motherboards has a feature which supports splitting the pcie 3.0 lanes so the motherboard can support 3 GPU's instead of the 2 which "h" or "b" series motherboards are limited to.
        - "z" series motherboards generally have more ports available and better board layouts in general compared to the "b" or "h" motherboards. So unless you're going for a completely budget build, or you simply know exactly what you want and will want forever when it comes to your computer, a "z" option might be a better choice.

        "I'm not sure if the 16GB of RAM will be that beneficial for gaming. Most games don't even fully utilize 8GB of RAM."

        I mean sure, it's easy to say "hey my ram usage when playing Skyrim isn't even near 8gb!" but it really depends on how people use their computers. For the most part you're right though, 8gb is technically all a budget gaming pc would need and tbh, an SSD would give you much more of a performance increase in terms of loading things quicker on screen. But if the user wants to have a variety of other things open whilst playing a game (here we come back to multi monitor setups) then 16gb ram is a pretty good idea.

        There was a stage about… 3 or 4 months ago when I had two setups at home, 8gb ram in each system, each system being z77, one with an i5 and one with an i7. The systems worked fine and played games without a problem but once the i7 system was loaded with 16 rather than 8gb, it did feel a lot smoother. To be clear though, I use my computers for a variety of things, sometimes whilst I game and sometimes not. Really depends on what the OP will be using his system for and how he'll be doing it.

        And as for the Noctua comment, not sure how most people would feel about attaching a giant brown turd to their cpu :P. Would definitely get respect from other OC'ers though =) I just wonder how "budget" the OP wants to keep his comp.

      • 

        sweepy on 06/07/2013 - 21:21

        Thanks for your comment. In terms of how i use my system, it will mainly be for playing some recently released games. I will run it on a single 1920 x 1080 monitor. So it sounds as though an i5 might suit me more.

        At this stage I'm tossing up between a gtx 680 4gb or a gtc 770 2gb. The later is cheaper if i buy brand new and it doesn't seem as though there are HUGE performance differences from the benchmarks ive seen. So my revised system is looking like it will be:

        Prices from cplonline:
        Graphics: 2G GTX 770 GIGABYTE OC $479
        CPU: Intel Core i5 4570 $225
        MB: AsRock Z87-Extreme3 $169
        CASE: Coolermaster USB3.0 RC-K350 $51
        PSU: Corsair GS800-V2 $119
        Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8gb RAM (2x4) $89
        Total: $1,132

        It doesnt seem as though I need an 800w power supply so I might look at something else.

      • 

        _Bruce_ on 07/07/2013 - 07:55

        If he's playing a bunch of recently released games and running multi-monitor setups whilst running a variety of programs, there is almost no point going an i5 which cuts out the extra 4 hyperthreads. I'd sort of recommend the i7 over the i5 - but depends massively on his setup and how he's going to use the computer. Your i5 recommendation might suit him fine.

        Hyperthreads were great for the pentium 4 because of the stupidly long instruction queues. There are good for the i3 because it only has two cores. For an i7? Very marginal benefit, particularly in gaming. If you have information to the contrary please provide sources.

        Z87 motherboards aren't just used for overclocking, they also have a massive variety of other features and bits and pieces that make them worthwhile.

        Massive variety? They can over clock and they can run multiple GPUs, both of which are really not all that useful. Otherwise it does change the SATA/USB port mix, but this is easy to change latter anyway (and rarely an issue).

        I mean sure, it's easy to say "hey my ram usage when playing Skyrim isn't even near 8gb!" but it really depends on how people use their computers. For the most part you're right though, 8gb is technically all a budget gaming pc would need and tbh, an SSD would give you much more of a performance increase in terms of loading things quicker on screen. But if the user wants to have a variety of other things open whilst playing a game (here we come back to multi monitor setups) then 16gb ram is a pretty good idea.

        Almost NO games today are compiled for x86-64. They are compiled for X86. This means they can use at most 4G of RAM. Less if you are running on a 32 bit OS. 8G gives you 4 for the game (all it will ever use) and 4 for anything else you left running. Having more than this only lets you leave more stuff running in the back ground, and even then only changes how quickly you can swap to any of these other tasks.