Hi, i need to get some parts together for a friend's new gaming pc. Budget of under $2000
I have this so far, any suggestions on what should be changed?
Intel i7-4470: $345
2GB MSI GTX 770: $495
2x8GB Gskill Ripjaws: $154
Asus H87-PRO M/B: $129
Samsung 840 Pro 120GB SSD: $145
WD Black 1TB: $92
Antec HCG 620 PSU: $95
Total: $1455
I'll let him choose a case himself but which ones are recommended?
1) Not everyone cares about hitting benchmark numbers. But sure if this excites you.
2) Absolutely agree.
3) Mostly agree. If you are going cheaper get something like the Sandisk extreme, which will outperform the 840 for the same(ish) price.
And I will add:
4) Get a bigger SSD. 240 is very affordable and you can just install all of your currently used games directly on the SSD.
1) If he does then he'll have to upgrade his motherboard to a "z" series. Not to mention people that game =/= IT or overclocking enthusiasts.
2) Best price per gigabyte at the moment is 3tb hdd's i believe, but depends on the needs of the user, if he doesn't need more space - then why pay for it?
3) No. Pro = MLC, non-pro = TLC. Simple. It has nothing to do with speed, life expectancy is the deal breaker.
Actually overclocking is unlocked on a number of current non-z motherbaords now. Not sure which specific models.
Also, I agree the 840 isn't a great pick, but there are other better options that are cheap.
Oh you're right: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gigabyte-biostar-overclocki…
85/87 chipsets ftw =)
1) Only if you would like a powerful CPU that you actually have use for. Waste of money on a pure gaming PC that is rarely used for other things.
Suggest a locked i5 4670 ~$250
2) WD Green is a pretty rubbish drive. Has very aggressive power saving (excessive head parking etc). I have one in my NAS that I really regret purchasing.
Considering you're looking at 120GB SSD, most of your stuff will be on the HDD. So, stick with the black or get a blue.
3) Agree. Get a cheaper SSD. If you can afford $145, you may be able to afford $170-190 on a 256GB (sales @OzB). Highly recommended.
Since this is a gaming rig, go full bore on the GPU (see if you can get a 780). Being a gaming rig, tailor your budget to maximise performance in what actually matters, i.e. gaming.
Lastly, stick to a solid mobo manufacturer (Asus/MSI/Gigabyte).
would the 780 be too much for the psu?
what about cooling?
The 780 runs best on a 600w power supply. So any decent Antec or Corsair power supply 600+w will do the trick.
Another alternative to the High Current Gamer is the Corsair VS650 which is arguably cheaper but just as good as the Antec.
You don't need any special cooling. Just get a nicely sized case preferably with a side intake fan.
2) WD Green is a pretty rubbish drive.
Not at all, it is very good.
I have one in my NAS that I really regret purchasing.
Why? I have 4 of the seagate equivalents in RAID 5 and they have no trouble at all flooding gig ethernet. What more could you possibly need? These also have big on time/usage stats counting up without any issues at all. If you NAS is performing badly I doubt the drive is to blame.
Considering you're looking at 120GB SSD, most of your stuff will be on the HDD. So, stick with the black or get a blue.
Better off just getting a bigger SSD. Media (pictures/video/audio) really don't need a drive like that as the sustained transfer is all that really matters.
Since this is a gaming rig, go full bore on the GPU (see if you can get a 780). Being a gaming rig, tailor your budget to maximise performance in what actually matters, i.e. gaming.
There isn't a huge amount of point in the 780 right now unless you are going to be running 3 screens.
Why? I have 4 of the seagate equivalents in RAID 5 and they have no trouble at all flooding gig ethernet. What more could you possibly need? These also have big on time/usage stats counting up without any issues at all. If you NAS is performing badly I doubt the drive is to blame
So when the drives spin down, there is a significant latency experienced when you're trying to open/navigate through content after a period of inactivity. Once up and running, they're fine for sustained throughput. The NAS performance is fine as I have a couple of other 2TB seagates as well. Also, compared to the $69 Spinpoint F3s, the greens are just shite. There is a fix out there where you used wdidle to increase the head-parking delay:
http://alfredoblogspage.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/western-digi…
Too much hassle when all you're doing is saving a few bucks.
There isn't a huge amount of point in the 780 right now unless you are going to be running 3 screens.
…or single screen at resolutions over 1920x1080. Or using a 120Hz monitor and playing on ultra to high graphics. :)
1) He has a budget of $2000 to spend, if he's nowhere near that budget, then why not get an i7 4770K instead of an i5 4570K?
2) How is it a rubbish drive? Would you actually care to explain rather than just calling it rubbish? I've got a few of them running as storage drives and they're all fast enough for that purpose. I guess you could use the argument of having money so why not, but I'd rather just get more capacity than an overpriced Black drive.
3) Difference between 780 and 770 is quite minimal and it's not worth it getting a 780 right now, it is never, ever worth it to get the top of the range GPU, often overpriced, which the 780 is. Check out numbers on AnandTech Bench.
Even though I do agree that it is a gaming rig and that money should be biased towards maximising gaming performance, most people also use their PCs for a host of other tasks, so it is always good philosophy to go for a bit of balance.
i'm planning on getting the i7-4770 but are there any other benefits of the K model other than overclocking?
Read comment above regarding WD Greens. Very noticeable seek times when the drive is not used as a primary.
Considering Blues are $3 more than the green, is it really worth arguing about?
780 vs 770, that depends on the resolution you'd be playing at. 780 is upto 20% faster than 770, however it does cost $250-$300 more. You'd be paying the "early adopter tax" + "retarded Australia tax" (the non-ref cards cost $650-679 in US vs $850-900 here).
1) He doesn't want/need to overclock so i won't be getting the k
2) I'm a bit confused with the different types. What are the differences between the black and green? and he only needs 1TB
Green is variable speed HDD (less than 7400RPM, something around 5400.).
Black is the fastest performing version.
Ideally you want a blue or red for storage. Black's ok too but you pay a price premium for the speed.
i'll go for black then, i've still got $500 extra :)
Green is variable speed HDD (less than 7400RPM, something around 5400.).
Variable yes, but still does 7200 when being used.
Black is the fastest performing version.
Again yes, but mostly for random access not so much difference in sequential.
Ideally you want a blue or red for storage. Black's ok too but you pay a price premium for the speed.
Sure if they are the same price, but there really isn't much difference between these and green.
Black's ok too but you pay a price premium for the speed.
Black drives have a 5 year warranty too (3 for red, and 2 for green+blue).
which SSD would you guys recommend?
Plextor M5S
Sandisk Ultra Plus
Smsung 840
any of these 3 are decent.
+1
Own Sandisk Extreme, Samsung 840, Intel 520 and Samsung 830.
They're all good. Get the one that fits your budget. SSD speeds are much of muchness.
I'd recomend the Extreme over the Ultra Plus for a performance build just because the cost difference is so small.
Personally i'd recommend the 840 pro for reasons i've stated above. I'm also a believer in supporting quality, and not garbage products - Samsungs make great SSD's. I haven't heard anything bad about the ones Scrimshaw suggested either.
I've owned a host of SSDs, I've personally always loved Intel, my first SSD was an Intel X25M, which was very, very, very expensive, since then I've got an Intel 520 and a Sandisk Extreme. They all perform well, so I think you should be fine with any.
i was looking on whirlpool and some people have cpu coolers, are they necessary?
are they necessary?
Only if overclocking.
Only if your going to be overclocking. The stock cooler will be find as long as you don't intend on running a sauna in there…
the MSY site lists 3 options for the GTX 770 (MSI/Gigabyte OC/Asus) which one would be the best?
They will all be about the same. The only things that changes are:
Cooling is a bit more complicated. Some might be smaller/quieter/better for overclocking that others. At the end of the day it isn't going to make much difference between these though.
Buy a Titan, connect everything to the Titan.
it's too expensive :(
Yea I have the same feedback as the guys above, you have a sweet budget but that doesn't mean you can't be smart while getting some parts,
Sure if you want to go all out and get a i7, 780 etc.. but the money you will save with a i5 and 770 will let you get some more games! and the performance should be solid.
…
XBOX1
...
COST <$600 & SPEND THE REST ON A HOLIDAY, HOOCKER OR JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT, COZ FOR GAMING YOUR WASTING MONEY IMO - BIGTIME!
The hardware is awesome enough to play the games designed for it, because the code is executed closer to the cpu/gpu cores, you can buy traded games and save ect… Building your own rig like this is a huge waste of money (I was/am tempted too) but its not worth it for gaming…
the code is executed closer to the cpu/gpu cores
Huh? Is running my code in the next room what I've been doing wrong all this time?
Holy shit me too, quick, lets write a VB GUI to backtrace our code to make it execute closer to our cpu's and gpu's!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDD03yeLnU
Or maybe if we just solder our code closer to our cpu's and gpu's, it'll execute faster? So many options, i can't believe other people haven't thought of this stuff before. We'll be millionaires bruce.
You're running the code in the cloud. That's causing quantum latency issues. What you need to do is reverse the polarity and get the jibber jabber working closer to the hypervisor!
Also, have you really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
So spend $600 on the Xbone and then spend craploads on games? Oh wait, need to get a decent TV as well. So lets say Xbone+TV= $1000+ and then $60-$100 per game…. wait we're not done yet… add monthly subscription to XBL. Really awesome value proposition. /sarcasm
Negatives of Xbone vs PC:
- Lower graphical fidelity
- Lack of customising games
- Overpriced games; no steam sales, no buying keys off gmg/cdkeywarehouse etc for a fraction of the cost of their retail equivalents.
- No mods
- Games are nerfed a bit due to computational resource constraints (E.g. smaller MP maps). While this may not apply with the current gen cross platform games, it will happen soon enough (~1yr if not earlier).
- Lastly, Xbone is purely and entertainment system while a PC that we're all helping configure is excellent for entertainment AS WELL AS for work/academics.
I'm not a hardcore PC fanboy as I do recognise that consoles meet a particular need (and at specific price points).
So tl;dr:
http://www.troll.me/images/futurama-fry/not-sure-if-mentally…
Also failure to read the OP's needs:
Hi, i need to get some parts together for a friend's new gaming pc. Budget of under $2000
It's a gaming PC for sombody else, not for the OP.
yep, he wants a pc. He has a PS3 which he doesn't really use because he prefers to game on a pc
Building your own rig like this is a huge waste of money (I was/am tempted too)
So basically, srhardy doesn't think he himself should 'waste' so much money on a gaming machine, therefore no one should. Apparently it is, objectively, just not worth it.
…
You just can't argue with that.
spending over 2k on a rig, when you can awesome game for less; well hell yes!
I'll let him choose a case himself but which ones are recommended?
Seeing as no one else has addressed this, I'll take a stab.
Obviously, it just comes down to personal preference and some specific requirements, if you (they) have any.
CoolerMaster (in particular, the HAF models) cases are relatively popular on Whirlpool, from what I've seen.
Fractal Design is quite good, if you're after a quieter build. I really like the understated look, as well. The Nanoxia Deep Silence cases are slightly cheaper alternatives.
NZXT (the Phantom, specifically) is also moderately popular.
Those are just a few popular choices, but you'd be pretty much right with any case that tickles your fancy, as long as it looks reasonable (for example, picking a Mini ITX case for an ATX motherboard would be extremely unreasonable). You can hit up some threads on Whirlpool for some more suggestions, if you can't find any that appeal to your tastes.
Lastly, (it shouldn't be an issue, but…) you should probably ensure that the case you end up going with is able to take the length of the GPU, just to be safe.
Just as a matter of curiosity, what kind of monitor does your friend intend to use with the new gaming PC? IMO it'd be just short of a crime to have a budget this big and a PC with such capable specs, and end up playing on some run-of-the-mill 24" LED.
i'm still not sure about that, i'm not great with monitors. I'm thinking of the Dell U2412M. Probably anything up to $500, what do you recommend?
Read http://games.on.net/2013/04/massive-monitor-roundup-which-mo… for some reviews. Surprisingly, the Kogan monitor came out the winner! (Though no word on actual long term reliability of the product)
1) Get an i7 4770K
It's not that much more, but a bit of juice can be extracted from it through overclocking, plus, overclocking and hitting higher benchmark numbers is a very fun past-time.
2) Replace the WD Black 1TB with a WD Green 2TB
There's basically no benefit to getting a WD Black 1TB. It's a waste of money really when it will only be a storage drive.
3) Replace the Samsung 840 Pro with a Samsung 840 or any cheaper 120GB SSD.
I will bet all my money that you won't notice the difference between the fastest SSDs and any recent mid-range SSDs.