New PC build Advice

bonafide

bonafide

Member
Haven't built a PC since '99 with an AMD K6

i7-4790K with after market cooling $400
Asus Z87-PLUS LGA1150 $160
DDR3-1600 8GB x2 $160
SSD 128GB x2 $150
PCI-E 3.0 $250
total: $1,120

The other parts are scavenged from an existing PC
(power supply, case, sound card, monitor)

The proc lists support for DDR 1600 but Mobo supports DDR 3000, I'm confused is DDR 3000 support for overclocking purposes?

Just looking for advice. Make sure all my parts are compatible and that i'm not forgetting anything. Also could I make some adjustments to save money? Want to stick with LGA 1150 unless there is a compelling reason not to.

Case has USB 2.0 ports on front, will USB 3.0 internal header connect to this and provide backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 devices?

thoughts, ideas, improvements, opinions?
 
Yup you can use USB 2.0 devices in USB 3.0 parts not a problem.

What do you want to use this system for? If for gaming I would get an i5 4690K instead of the i7 and spend more money on the graphics card.

Unless you intend to overclock I wouldn't bother with the aftermarket cooling. What cooling exactly are you looking at?

You list a $250 graphics card there but you don't say what it is. I'm going to guess it's a GTX 760 or a Radeon R9 270X or something like that. They're good cards and I love my 760 but if you get an i5 instead of an i7 you could maybe end up with a GTX 770 or an R9 280X which would equate to better gaming performance.

1600MHz RAM is good but try and look for 1866MHz. Usually about the same cost.

I would go for one 256GB SSD instead of two 128GB ones [presumably in RAID-0]. Usually ends up being cheaper and yes although RAID-0 SSDs are quick, believe me one Samsung 840 EVO 250GB reading at writing at 500MB/s is fast enough! Could always pick up another 250GB drive down the line and stripe the two drives together to get 500GB if you wanted to go down the RAID-0 route.
 
Also your prices seem a bit off. SSD's and RAM don't cost that much.

+1 to everything Spirit said.
 
Was thinking something like Asus GeForce GTX 760 Video Card - 2GB so you are exactly right.

Was wanting to do gaming/streaming so I thought the I7 would be the way to go, plus I'm a tech junkie and as you can tell from the AMD K6 I've always bought budget processors. I want to buy a nice Intel for once. Open to suggestions though.

If the proc supports DDR 1600 will it work with the 1866 or higher? I need to study up on current RAM standards I guess. Just a little confused why buy 1866 or 3000 if Proc lists support for 1600 only.
 
Denther said:
Also your prices seem a bit off. SSD's and RAM don't cost that much.

+1 to everything Spirit said.
Click to expand...

Links to some good buys? I'm just starting out and will probably buy this a part at a time. Just did some quick research on the numbers. I just dont want to spend too little or go used and wind up with something DOA. I wont be able to test parts until I have all of them. Probably buying proc last for just this reason.
 
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RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

SSD 250GB and still cheaper than the 120 you had. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m_re=samsung_evo_250GB-_-20-147-248-_-Product

For video card I'd suggest the R9 280X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202046&cm_re=r9_280x-_-14-202-046-_-Product

or the GTX 770

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921&cm_re=770-_-14-130-921-_-Product

If you can't afford one of those video cards with an i7, go down an i5, which will still be plenty for gaming purposes.
 
The board works with 1866MHz RAM out of the box so not a problem.

An i5 4690K is definitely a 'nice' Intel processor. You don't need an i7, save the cash and get a 770 or a 780 and then have a 'nice' CPU and an 'even nicer' GPU. :)
 
Thanks, great tips. Was actually going for 16GB total on RAM. Was going to get two 128 SSDs for the $150. That might be why my prices looked funny... wording. The I5 4690 does look really nice, will consider it if money becomes an issue. May switch to it anyway.
 
Maybe a little late to be adding this, but I came into a case with a plexi glass side (like I've always wanted)

Any links to cool albeit affordable neon and/or CPU coolers that would fit the machine?
 
Spirit, quick question on my build

spirit said:
Yup you want the 4690K.

And just get one 250GB Samsung 840 EVO.
Click to expand...

Will the BIOS on the MB I've selected need to be flashed prior to using either the 4790 or 4690? I recently put my parts on PCPartPicker.com and it says Some Intel Z87 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Haswell Refresh CPUs.

I hadn't considered this. I would like to make sure the MoBo will support my CPU right out of the box as I wont have a compatible CPU to fire up with if not.

Here's the link: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ncqCZL
 
The best thing to do is just to get a Z97 board. Newer than Z87 and guaranteed to work. :good:
 
spirit said:
Cool. Which Z97 board are you looking at then? :)
Click to expand...

A quick glance yields my favorite so far: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard but its a little pricey. Not super bad though really.

I want something to look flashy through the Plexiglas. I'm an ASUS fanboy but I can go with anyone. I've use Gigabyte and FIC before... Any suggestions? I'd like to dable in OC a little bit, that's why I was in to the K6's and Thunderbirds fifteen years ago.
 
Looks like a good board but yeah at $200+ it's more expensive than what you were looking at before.

Also consider the Z97X-UD5H from Gigabyte. It's a tiny bit cheaper and MSI also make good boards.
 
Zombie Thread!! Run!!! So I'm typing to you from the system! Here's the final specs:

GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 5
Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core 4.0GHz
G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
2 x SanDisk Ultra II SDSSDHII-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB SATA Revision 3.0 (6 Gb/s) Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
An older GTS250 I had to save money LOL! Will upgrade

Someone recommend a good case please, the one I salvaged is crap :(
10978605_966679813343540_6297931321758235023_n.jpg
 
Fractal Design R5 (they have both window and non window options)

Corsair 750D (windowed)

NZXT Phantom 410 (no window)

All have their pros and cons.. For the record, I have not owned any of these, but some of the other members have.
 
C4C said:
Fractal Design R5 (they have both window and non window options)

Corsair 750D (windowed)

NZXT Phantom 410 (no window)

All have their pros and cons.. For the record, I have not owned any of these, but some of the other members have.
Click to expand...

Thank you, much appreciated! Here's pic with cables pulled back. The drive rails were gimmicky and didn't exactly work for me, had to take dremmel to fit the PSU, CD ROM juts out, screwless design on expansions cards did not work for my GPU

10818412_968187709859417_2481429065016583792_o.jpg
 
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