i need a pc

[demik]

to game.

this mac mini sucks balls. and i miss PC gaming.

i dont plan on over clocking anything and i'd like to keep it SFF when it comes to case but if it's a pain in the ass then a full tower is also fine.


what's good out there with a budget of ~1k?

doesnt include monitor, keyboard (duh) or mouse. just the tower.

[tp4tissue]

to game.

this mac mini sucks balls. and i miss PC gaming.

i dont plan on over clocking anything and i'd like to keep it SFF when it comes to case but if it's a pain in the ass then a full tower is also fine.


what's good out there with a budget of ~1k?

doesnt include monitor, keyboard (duh) or mouse. just the tower.

1k is not enough..

Best price/performance g4m3r pc starts @ $1200  ends @ around $1500


4670k or 4790k

z97 mobo ~150 to 200

8gb 2133mhz ram or 2400, which ever one u find on sale

Either get the 780(vanilla) or a 290x...  if you get the 290x, you'll need to get that custom mount to use an AIO water cooler...  290 and 290x  actually NEEDS water cooling.

keep the case in the $20 range

and use an AIR cooler for the CPU...  something like the Coolermaster EVO is plenty enough for even 4.8ghz.\


YES you need to Dellid,  this is not even a choice.. it has to be done... for max overclocking.

[Puddsy]

tp4 i paid 800 for my rig and it runs games fine

just get last generations good parts for cheap

[nubbinator]

tp4 i paid 800 for my rig and it runs games fine

just get last generations good parts for cheap

I paid about the same for mine, and that included SSDs, HDDs, a 7950 (which was new at the time), and so on.  You can get a killer computer for $1k that will easily handle games, even with current gen parts.

[Puddsy]

oh yeah

get an SSD

you will thank yourself

[demik]

to game.

this mac mini sucks balls. and i miss PC gaming.

i dont plan on over clocking anything and i'd like to keep it SFF when it comes to case but if it's a pain in the ass then a full tower is also fine.


what's good out there with a budget of ~1k?

doesnt include monitor, keyboard (duh) or mouse. just the tower.

1k is not enough..

Best price/performance g4m3r pc starts @ $1200  ends @ around $1500


4670k or 4790k

z97 mobo ~150 to 200

8gb 2133mhz ram or 2400, which ever one u find on sale

Either get the 780(vanilla) or a 290x...  if you get the 290x, you'll need to get that custom mount to use an AIO water cooler...  290 and 290x  actually NEEDS water cooling.

keep the case in the $20 range

and use an AIR cooler for the CPU...  something like the Coolermaster EVO is plenty enough for even 4.8ghz.\


YES you need to Dellid,  this is not even a choice.. it has to be done... for max overclocking.

1k is enough.

[tp4tissue]

to game.

this mac mini sucks balls. and i miss PC gaming.

i dont plan on over clocking anything and i'd like to keep it SFF when it comes to case but if it's a pain in the ass then a full tower is also fine.


what's good out there with a budget of ~1k?

doesnt include monitor, keyboard (duh) or mouse. just the tower.

1k is not enough..

Best price/performance g4m3r pc starts @ $1200  ends @ around $1500


4670k or 4790k

z97 mobo ~150 to 200

8gb 2133mhz ram or 2400, which ever one u find on sale

Either get the 780(vanilla) or a 290x...  if you get the 290x, you'll need to get that custom mount to use an AIO water cooler...  290 and 290x  actually NEEDS water cooling.

keep the case in the $20 range

and use an AIR cooler for the CPU...  something like the Coolermaster EVO is plenty enough for even 4.8ghz.\


YES you need to Dellid,  this is not even a choice.. it has to be done... for max overclocking.

1k is enough.

under the assumption that you're Harvesting some old stuff..  you can get most of it together for 1k..

But overall.. it will not reach peak performance to price ratio @ 1k  even if you harvest..

290x, $450, 4790, $300, z97, $100, 8gb 2133mhz ram, $100

that's already $950..


You can settle for slower parts,   but you'd quickly see that the increase in cost relative to performance.. greatly favors my aforementioned build.

[nubbinator]

Anything past $1100 is diminishing returns TP.  You could build a pretty solid computer for $1k.

Here's one for example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97I Gaming AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($69.30 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($57.23 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case  ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($66.66 @ Newegg)
Total: $1004.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 00:21 EDT-0400

Even this Newegg bundle is pretty decent for the money.

[Lanx]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Fp2CZL

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-9370 4.4GHz 8-Core Processor  ($215.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($118.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($164.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($139.99 @ TigerDirect)
Total: $960.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 00:31 EDT-0400
barely comes in 1k

no optical drive/no os

[Altis]

I game (CS:GO and Skyrim mostly) on a rig that's almost 7 years old. Intel Q6600, 4GB DDR2 RAM, and an HD6850.

It depends on what you want to play, but you can get a great gaming machine under $1000.

You will benefit most from an SSD, graphics card (even a relatively cheap modern one is usually pretty good), and power supply that can support it. Motherboard/CPU/RAM doesn't actually have to be that high end to support most games these days.

It would help to know what games/genre you're interested in.

[tp4tissue]

Anything past $1100 is diminishing returns TP.  You could build a pretty solid computer for $1k.

Here's one for example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97I Gaming AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($69.30 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($57.23 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case  ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($66.66 @ Newegg)
Total: $1004.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 00:21 EDT-0400

Even this Newegg bundle is pretty decent for the money.

Diminishing returns don't really hit home until $1500


The reason is.. if you consider the TOTAL cost of the pc..  the mobo/case/cooling/psu/ram  these are all essentials yet they don't really affect the performance of the PC..\

Which is why you MUST target the BIG components.. and it's not really diminished returns, if say you increase the cost from a 7970 $250 to a 290x $450. 

That's $200 increase out of a total build cost of 1K..  yet you get nearly double the graphics horsepower.

so... 20% increase of overall-price for 2x more gaming performance.. that is totally worth it.


at $1500..  you pretty much need to get another graphics card..  THAT then really causes diminishing returns

[HardCelery]

Craigslist if you don't mind used. I've seen some crazy good deals on there.

[Altis]

Anything past $1100 is diminishing returns TP.  You could build a pretty solid computer for $1k.

Here's one for example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97I Gaming AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($69.30 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($57.23 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case  ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($66.66 @ Newegg)
Total: $1004.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 00:21 EDT-0400

Even this Newegg bundle is pretty decent for the money.

Diminishing returns don't really hit home until $1500


The reason is.. if you consider the TOTAL cost of the pc..  the mobo/case/cooling/psu/ram  these are all essentials yet they don't really affect the performance of the PC..\

Which is why you MUST target the BIG components.. and it's not really diminished returns, if say you increase the cost from a 7970 $250 to a 290x $450. 

That's $200 increase out of a total build cost of 1K..  yet you get nearly double the graphics horsepower.

so... 20% increase of overall-price for 2x more gaming performance.. that is totally worth it.


at $1500..  you pretty much need to get another graphics card..  THAT then really causes diminishing returns

I think that the main point here is that the OP has a budget of ~$1k. They should be able to get a very respectable gaming machine (albeit not state of the art) capable of running modern games no problem. I think what they're asking is what is the best value for the dollar on a machine totalling ~$1k.

I second nubbinator's build. i5 4690 is still high end and could be reduced to save money (buying locked), and you can always add the 1TB hard drive at a later date. I have a Crucial M500 and so far it's been excellent.

You could shave that build off another $100 down to $900 and still have a more than adequate rig that can be updated as you go. The only thing missing is a copy of Windows which can be had for $100 right now on Newegg.

Then there's always set menu B... The following isn't a half bad package to start, and keeps it nice and simple for $686.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1620488

[tp4tissue]

Anything past $1100 is diminishing returns TP.  You could build a pretty solid computer for $1k.

Here's one for example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97I Gaming AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($69.30 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($57.23 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case  ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($66.66 @ Newegg)
Total: $1004.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 00:21 EDT-0400

Even this Newegg bundle is pretty decent for the money.

Diminishing returns don't really hit home until $1500


The reason is.. if you consider the TOTAL cost of the pc..  the mobo/case/cooling/psu/ram  these are all essentials yet they don't really affect the performance of the PC..\

Which is why you MUST target the BIG components.. and it's not really diminished returns, if say you increase the cost from a 7970 $250 to a 290x $450. 

That's $200 increase out of a total build cost of 1K..  yet you get nearly double the graphics horsepower.

so... 20% increase of overall-price for 2x more gaming performance.. that is totally worth it.


at $1500..  you pretty much need to get another graphics card..  THAT then really causes diminishing returns

I think that the main point here is that the OP has a budget of ~$1k. They should be able to get a very respectable gaming machine (albeit not state of the art) capable of running modern games no problem. I think what they're asking is what is the best value for the dollar on a machine totalling ~$1k.

I second nubbinator's build. i5 4690 is still high end and could be reduced to save money (buying locked), and you can always add the 1TB hard drive at a later date. I have a Crucial M500 and so far it's been excellent.

You could shave that build off another $100 down to $900 and still have a more than adequate rig that can be updated as you go. The only thing missing is a copy of Windows which can be had for $100 right now on Newegg.

Then there's always set menu B... The following isn't a half bad package to start, and keeps it nice and simple for $686.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1620488

Upgrading is Always a bad idea "these days"   because intel releases a new socket with every generation.

you get at most 2 chips per board..

so there is 0 point to UPGRADING a motherboard per socket..  because each successive generation is only around 15% boost in speed..

The fee per cpu is the same between each generation.. so if you pay for the original CPU,  sell it, buy new CPU, WITH microcenter savings at best you can break even in terms of Performance/ dollar  spent


So, don't bother putting the CPU upgrade path into your build decision,   for example the z97  is already confirmed to be replaced with only 1 more set of broadwell cpus coming out for it.

so you're looking at

Original z97 + haswell,  $200 + $300

Sell haswell, -$200

Buy Broadwell, $300

$600

you paid $100 additional, for the upgrade, which is +16% in cost for a potential +15% in performance..

That is a really stupid upgrade..  since you're paying AT BEST 1:1, the 15% boost isn't even guaranteed ..

[HardCelery]

I don't see any reason for him to go intel, might as well go AMD unless he plans on doing a bunch of editing or other processor heavy tasks.

[nubbinator]

I don't see any reason for him to go intel, might as well go AMD unless he plans on doing a bunch of editing or other processor heavy tasks.

Aside from not being great when compared to Intel right now, AMD sucks for mITX.  My build is the only SFF build listed in here and he asked for SFF.

I love AMD, but I have a hard time recommending them right now.

[lightsout714]

I'm feeling some serious deja vu. Demik asking for pc builds... sff, swear I've seen this thread before.

TP unless he's super worried about frames 780 and all that is not needed. Its just OCN hype. Yes they are great, I owned a 780 classified. But I have 2x r9 270's. My HTPC had issues so I had to put one of my gpu's in it.

Surprised to see that one 270 (non x) can play BF4 on high @ 1440p at 45-55 fps. Totally playable.

Sounds like Demik is just doing some casual gaming. Not sure $400+ gpu is needed, especially at 1080p.

[user 18]

IMO, price/performance is around $900 for a standard size tower. SFF might mean the price needs to be a bit higher, but a decent PC can be had for $1000.

Demik, what kind of games are you planning to play, and at what resolution? How long do you want the build to last you? What else do you want the machine to do?

Nubbinator's build is a very good choice. I might spring for a 240GB SSD for an extra $60 or so, but that's entirely your call. You'll also need to salvage an ODD from an old build, use an external, or pick one up for around $20.

Despite being a long-time AMD fan, I'm happy to recommend Intel in this case for their power efficiency and lower heat. Heat is very important in a SFF build, even moreso than a standard scenario, and power efficiency will save you some serious cash in the long run, particularly if you don't sleep or shutdown your PC.

[demik]

fps, 1440 and it's just for gaming. still going to use my mac mini for browsing

and im liking nub's build

I'm feeling some serious deja vu. Demik asking for pc builds... sff, swear I've seen this thread before.

TP unless he's super worried about frames 780 and all that is not needed. Its just OCN hype. Yes they are great, I owned a 780 classified. But I have 2x r9 270's. My HTPC had issues so I had to put one of my gpu's in it.

Surprised to see that one 270 (non x) can play BF4 on high @ 1440p at 45-55 fps. Totally playable.

Sounds like Demik is just doing some casual gaming. Not sure $400+ gpu is needed, especially at 1080p.

im no filthy casual, how dare you!

[Lingj]

fps, 1440 and it's just for gaming. still going to use my mac mini for browsing

and im liking nub's build

I'm feeling some serious deja vu. Demik asking for pc builds... sff, swear I've seen this thread before.

TP unless he's super worried about frames 780 and all that is not needed. Its just OCN hype. Yes they are great, I owned a 780 classified. But I have 2x r9 270's. My HTPC had issues so I had to put one of my gpu's in it.

Surprised to see that one 270 (non x) can play BF4 on high @ 1440p at 45-55 fps. Totally playable.

Sounds like Demik is just doing some casual gaming. Not sure $400+ gpu is needed, especially at 1080p.

im no filthy casual, how dare you!

Nubs build is solid, although the graphics card is slightly lacking. If you spend maybe another $200 you could have a solid gfx for 1440p gaming. I have a Geforce 670gtx 2gb vram that I bought a year or two ago and it can plays games at 1440p fairly well. Currently you could get something even better than that for around $400. Make sure to get something with 4gb vram.

Are mitx boards really that expensive?

[demik]

im willing to spend a bit more on a better gpu

[lightsout714]

fps, 1440 and it's just for gaming. still going to use my mac mini for browsing

and im liking nub's build

I'm feeling some serious deja vu. Demik asking for pc builds... sff, swear I've seen this thread before.

TP unless he's super worried about frames 780 and all that is not needed. Its just OCN hype. Yes they are great, I owned a 780 classified. But I have 2x r9 270's. My HTPC had issues so I had to put one of my gpu's in it.

Surprised to see that one 270 (non x) can play BF4 on high @ 1440p at 45-55 fps. Totally playable.

Sounds like Demik is just doing some casual gaming. Not sure $400+ gpu is needed, especially at 1080p.

im no filthy casual, how dare you!

Lol well I saw the Mac mini and just figured. I guess I take back what I said if your at 1440. Still hard to squeeze all the parts into $500 if you spend half on GPU.

[demik]

well i got the mac mini as an excuse to give my cousin my old pc and use THAT as an excuse to build a new pc

[Lingj]

im willing to spend a bit more on a better gpu

Not sure if it's worth it for a slight increase for an extra $130

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-4GB-2xDVI-Graphics-GV-R929OC-4GD/dp/B00HS84DFU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=1-1&keywords=R9+290

Either that or run Sli/Crossfire although dual cards has some issues.

[nubbinator]

Nubs build is solid, although the graphics card is slightly lacking. If you spend maybe another $200 you could have a solid gfx for 1440p gaming. I have a Geforce 670gtx 2gb vram that I bought a year or two ago and it can plays games at 1440p fairly well. Currently you could get something even better than that for around $400. Make sure to get something with 4gb vram.

Are mitx boards really that expensive?

Ehh, I'm rocking a 7950 and it's chewing through FPS at 1440p. The 280X is basically a 7970, which is plenty.  A 290 would be nicer, but not necessary. 

And yes, mITX always has a price premium.  There are some cheaper decent boards out there, but they're not as good for tweaking and overclocking.  He can definitely cut costs by going to a cheaper board and locked processor if there won't be any overclocking.  Then spend that money on a better GPU, more RAM, a bigger SSD, a quieter heatsink, something.

[user 18]

I ran dual cards for 3 years, and have just recently gone back to a single card setup. It's so much easier.

Depending on games and settings, you can probably get away with the R9 280x at 1440p. That's what I'm running now, and it can push 5760*1080 at playable FPS and max settings in the casual FPS I play (TF2, L4D2). Can't speak to the more intensive games. If you really want to bump up the GPU, you could probably make do with an i3 and a R9 290, but I'd start worrying more about heat with that card. You'd also be a little more CPU bound, but it probably wouldn't make too much difference in FPS. There might be a couple of cheaper motherboard options out there as well, but I'd have to do some actual research to know for sure.

You would be able to move from i3 to i5/i7 down the road if you found it didn't work well for you. For pure gaming the i3 would probably do just fine though -- even the new pentiums can hit 60fps in modern shooters (albiet at 1080p) when paired with strong enough graphics.

[HardCelery]

I don't see any reason for him to go intel, might as well go AMD unless he plans on doing a bunch of editing or other processor heavy tasks.

Aside from not being great when compared to Intel right now, AMD sucks for mITX.  My build is the only SFF build listed in here and he asked for SFF.

I love AMD, but I have a hard time recommending them right now.

Didn't notice, I'd get a used cpu probably then, my i7 920 is still plenty of power for gaming.

[munch]

to me, nub's build looks the best here. there is *zero* need to get an i7 over an i5 for gaming purposes. none whatsoever. it's not justifiable.

I don't know a lot about the EVGA PSU but 650w is a bit overkill as well, if there's one around 500w available for about the same price, I'd say aim for that.
SeaSonic G-550 might work too depending on price in your area. (I never shopped PC parts in the US, sorry!)
or even G-450, since the peak draw of the R9 280x doesn't seem to be near 650w - beefier systems seem to peak at 400w. so unless you plan to go double GPU, which in ITX is uh... not sure if possible even... but crazy.
I don't know the pricing but SeaSonic are reliable and quiet, highly recommended.

you COULD also cut a little on the motherboard, if there's any Asus board (better CPU placement for cooling options for ITX builds, in my experience, and also just really good) with H97 or similar, H97I-Plus should be great - about half the price of the Z97 gaming boards. I assume you won't be overclocking and whatnot, so you should be more than fine with that.

[The Mad Professor]

to me, nub's build looks the best here. there is *zero* need to get an i7 over an i5 for gaming purposes. none whatsoever. it's not justifiable.

I wish I could drive this point home to people... preferably with a railroad spike.

Unless you're doing a metric crapton of multitasking, running more than one CPU-intensive program, or running programs that take advantage of hyperthreading, you should never, ever need above an i5 processor. In the latter case (the hyperthread-friendly programs), a Xeon processor would work as well.

I don't know a lot about the EVGA PSU but 650w is a bit overkill as well, if there's one around 500w available for about the same price, I'd say aim for that.
SeaSonic G-550 might work too depending on price in your area. (I never shopped PC parts in the US, sorry!)
or even G-450, since the peak draw of the R9 280x doesn't seem to be near 650w - beefier systems seem to peak at 400w. so unless you plan to go double GPU, which in ITX is uh... not sure if possible even... but crazy.
I don't know the pricing but SeaSonic are reliable and quiet, highly recommended.

One thing I always recommend to people in the market for a PSU: DO. NOT. SKIMP. The PSU is the literal heart of your machine. Without it, nothing works, and if you get a bad one, it can kill your machine (and possibly fry the components). I recommend using one that is at least 80+ Bronze certified, and preferably 80+ Gold or higher. As far as brands go, I recommend Corsair and Seasonic for all wattage ranges, and EVGA and Antec for the 900W+ range. Pay the money for a good PSU. You will be money ahead in the long run.

you COULD also cut a little on the motherboard, if there's any Asus board (better CPU placement for cooling options for ITX builds, in my experience, and also just really good) with H97 or similar, H97I-Plus should be great - about half the price of the Z97 gaming boards. I assume you won't be overclocking and whatnot, so you should be more than fine with that.

Agreed. If you have no need to overclock and can guarantee you will never do so, then skip the Z97 boards. ASUS is, of course, the best overall brand, but you will pay for that quality.

[dorkvader]

One thing I always recommend to people in the market for a PSU: DO. NOT. SKIMP. The PSU is the literal heart of your machine. Without it, nothing works, and if you get a bad one, it can kill your machine (and possibly fry the components). I recommend using one that is at least 80+ Bronze certified, and preferably 80+ Gold or higher. As far as brands go, I recommend Corsair and Seasonic for all wattage ranges, and EVGA and Antec for the 900W+ range. Pay the money for a good PSU. You will be money ahead in the long run.

I've done a lot of looking into PSU's. If you really want the best, I recommend this sony APS-112 from the early 2000's. It has busbars internally to handle the current, as well as a number of excellent design choices for extreme reliability. It is rated for almost 100A on the 3.3V rail and about 75A on the 5V rail. Each of those is stabilized by 40 thousand microfarads of capacitance. I could go on, but it's a real marvel.


Now while I agree that not skimping out on the PSU is a good idea, Having a 900W PSU for a system that draws 400W at most is absolutely wasteful. Those beefier PSUs are designed to run at about 70% of their rated load. If your build draws 400W, then get a 500W PSU and call it good.

As far as 80+, I recommend it. A more efficient PSU will save you money in electric bills, but the real reason is that since it's wasting less power as heat, it'll run cooler and last longer. There are a lot of very good reasons to get an "expensive" PSU at a lower wattage (like a seasonic, mentioned above). I also recommend reading teardowns and reviews. Johnnyguru is a good place.

Here's a good example review that hits all the points I would expect. Full teardown, performance metrics running normally, and in a hotbox. You can see the quality, even if you don't fully understand what all the different components actually do. Is it worth the price? possibly. But it's easy to see just WHY it costs more than, say this example

If you are interested in learning more about electrical theory and PSU design, I recommend their forums which have decent FAQs. here is an example.

One reason you may want to get a higher wattage PSU is so you can reuse it in your next build. If you plan to upgrade, you can usually keep the storage, case, PSU, RAM, and sometimes the CPU cooler the same while just upgrading the MB, CPU and likely GPU. A good PSU will last many years for many builds.

[nubbinator]

If you want to find quality PSUs, check this site.

Generally your Superflower and Seasonic based units are going to be the best and there are some solid FSP, Flextronics, CWT, and a few other brand PSUs that are solid.

As for Corsair, since they were recommended, I'd avoid them.  They're beyond overpriced considering that XFX and Seasonic PSUs based on the same platform and just as good sell for less and excellent Superflower based units, like some of those from Rosewill, sell for less as well.

[The Mad Professor]

One thing I always recommend to people in the market for a PSU: DO. NOT. SKIMP. The PSU is the literal heart of your machine. Without it, nothing works, and if you get a bad one, it can kill your machine (and possibly fry the components). I recommend using one that is at least 80+ Bronze certified, and preferably 80+ Gold or higher. As far as brands go, I recommend Corsair and Seasonic for all wattage ranges, and EVGA and Antec for the 900W+ range. Pay the money for a good PSU. You will be money ahead in the long run.

Now while I agree that not skimping out on the PSU is a good idea, Having a 900W PSU for a system that draws 400W at most is absolutely wasteful. Those beefier PSUs are designed to run at about 70% of their rated load. If your build draws 400W, then get a 500W PSU and call it good.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you should buy a 900W PSU for a 400W system.

Generally speaking, when I buy a PSU for a build, I calculate it out in one of two ways:

1) If the build is a standalone system (never to be upgraded), then I calculate out how much the power draw is and add 10%. That way, just in case all things come together perfectly and for some reason everything maxes out on the load at once, there's still enough power to do so without straining the PSU.

2) If the build is an upgradeable system, I calculate out and add 20-40% depending on the initial wattage, how much it can upgrade, and what the purpose of the machine is.

[dorkvader]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you should buy a 900W PSU for a 400W system.

Generally speaking, when I buy a PSU for a build, I calculate it out in one of two ways:

1) If the build is a standalone system (never to be upgraded), then I calculate out how much the power draw is and add 10%. That way, just in case all things come together perfectly and for some reason everything maxes out on the load at once, there's still enough power to do so without straining the PSU.

2) If the build is an upgradeable system, I calculate out and add 20-40% depending on the initial wattage, how much it can upgrade, and what the purpose of the machine is.

Ok that makes a lot of sense, and I agree wholeheartedly. I usually buy my PSU based on the OEM, not the brand
I think I may have finally found a PSU that beats the beast one I posted earlier that I pulled out of a workstation.

check it out 1500W and 80+ titanium
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=378

Those interior shots look pretty sick, and I will admit that the performance numbers are quite impressive to match.

Dave Jones would be calling this PSU pornographic.

More

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I was initially leery of "realhardtechx.com" because they aren't mentioned by hardwaresecrets' list of reviwer websites who actually have the tools to properly test PSUs. But when I checked them out, I saw they archive other places ratings. So I guess that's ok.


Nubbinator: you forgot delta, who are a favorite for many of their builds. I prefer Sony (check out that APS112 !), but they only seem to make workstation PSUs.

[tp4tissue]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you should buy a 900W PSU for a 400W system.

Generally speaking, when I buy a PSU for a build, I calculate it out in one of two ways:

1) If the build is a standalone system (never to be upgraded), then I calculate out how much the power draw is and add 10%. That way, just in case all things come together perfectly and for some reason everything maxes out on the load at once, there's still enough power to do so without straining the PSU.

2) If the build is an upgradeable system, I calculate out and add 20-40% depending on the initial wattage, how much it can upgrade, and what the purpose of the machine is.

Ok that makes a lot of sense, and I agree wholeheartedly. I usually buy my PSU based on the OEM, not the brand
I think I may have finally found a PSU that beats the beast one I posted earlier that I pulled out of a workstation.

check it out 1500W and 80+ titanium
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=378

Those interior shots look pretty sick, and I will admit that the performance numbers are quite impressive to match.

Dave Jones would be calling this PSU pornographic.

More

Show Image

---
I was initially leery of "realhardtechx.com" because they aren't mentioned by hardwaresecrets' list of reviwer websites who actually have the tools to properly test PSUs. But when I checked them out, I saw they archive other places ratings. So I guess that's ok.


Nubbinator: you forgot delta, who are a favorite for many of their builds. I prefer Sony (check out that APS112 !), but they only seem to make workstation PSUs.

Achieving titanium @ high wattage isn't much a feat at all..

But.. yes, that PSU does use high quality components.

[microsoft windows]

I AM GLAD THAT YOU ARE FINALLY MAKING THE SWITCH FROM CRAPPLE® MACINTRASH PRODUCTS TO A COMPUTER RUNNING MICROSOFT WINDOWS. WINDOWS IS THE SUPREME BEING IN THE WORLD OF OPERATING SYSTEMS. EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON EARTH SHOULD USE WINDOWS, AND ONE SHOULD USE MAC OR AN IPHONE. THEY ARE ALL PIECES OF JUNK. COMPUTERS RUNNING WINDOWS ARE SUPERIOR. YOU ARE MAKING A WISE DECISION AND I WISH YOU GOOD LUCK.

[demik]

Yay or nay on corsair 240? Seems easier to work with than the 250. Or how about the 350D?

[The Mad Professor]

Air 240 is good for SFF gaming builds where a good GPU and ventilation are important. If that's your speed, then the 240 is a damned good case.

[demik]

240 it is!

[The Mad Professor]

Good choice. I have two Air 540s that I'm going to mod together.

[dorkvader]

That corsair carbide air 240 is a micro ATX case and from the layout looks like it'd make a pretty huge mini ITX case.

But if you're OK with the size, looks to be a great layout case and easy to work on. I ended up with a huge case (cooler master HAF XB) because it's easy to work on and well-designed.

[demik]

well, took my old pc out of storage and my soundcard is no longer recognized even though it was working but 10 mins ago. no idea how that happened, and my board has no on board audio. so my mic is worthless and i need to use my schiit stack to get any audio.

it's like this computer wants me to get rid of it

[dorkvader]

well, took my old pc out of storage and my soundcard is no longer recognized even though it was working but 10 mins ago. no idea how that happened, and my board has no on board audio. so my mic is worthless and i need to use my schiit stack to get any audio.

it's like this computer wants me to get rid of it

If you have a spare PCI slot, I might have a PCI soundcard.

I usually prefer networked sound, so I don't worry about the onboard sound my computers have, so I might or might not actually have one.
---
But as a computer repair technician, my inclination is to repair my devices instead of replacement. Whenever I buy a new computer I have a thought in mind for how long I want it to last that determines the budget I have for it. If I only need it to last for a year or so, I can get a cheaper machine. If I want it to last for 3-4 years, I get an expensive one.

[demik]

Soundcard isnt a problem i have my dac. But my mic is now worthless until I buy something usb

[dorkvader]

Soundcard isnt a problem i have my dac. But my mic is now worthless until I buy something usb

I read your post, and saw that you were using a DAC for audio output.
That's why I offered to give you a soundcard.





One with a line-in. So you could use your mic.

Doesn't matter though, because I threw them away after I figured I'd never use them.

[tp4tissue]

Soundcard isnt a problem i have my dac. But my mic is now worthless until I buy something usb

I read your post, and saw that you were using a DAC for audio output.
That's why I offered to give you a soundcard.





One with a line-in. So you could use your mic.

Doesn't matter though, because I threw them away after I figured I'd never use them.

Sound cards too often inherit computer eletrical noise.


that's why i switched to optical dac... No USB for me.. noise on 5v..


Yea, i realize a really good usb dac will filter electrical noise.. but why bother, when you can insulate the problem all together

[Protato_Tubby]

using http://choosemypc.net
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant


CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($128.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 280X 3GB royalQueen Video Card  ($289.21 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1024.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-01 16:40 EDT-0400

[Findecanor]

WINDOWS IS THE SUPREME BEING IN THE WORLD OF OPERATING SYSTEMS. EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON EARTH SHOULD USE WINDOWS, AND ONE SHOULD USE MAC OR AN IPHONE. THEY ARE ALL PIECES OF JUNK. COMPUTERS RUNNING WINDOWS ARE SUPERIOR.

That is what the Indian scammers calling from "The Department of your Windows Computer" yell at me when I say to them that I run Linux ...

[katushkin]

I just went for two R9 270s and an i5 and I do alright running Dota2 etc. Although looking into it now, it seems like I did a dumb and should have bought one 280 instead. Whoops.

Can't for the life of me work out how to make both GPUs work, but I will get there.

[tp4tissue]

I just went for two R9 270s and an i5 and I do alright running Dota2 etc. Although looking into it now, it seems like I did a dumb and should have bought one 280 instead. Whoops.

Can't for the life of me work out how to make both GPUs work, but I will get there.

LOL...

The trouble with the hardware scene is that we don't see any new uber graphics games that are SO FUN that they'd warrant the purchase of more PC-Gear..

half the world is playing dota..   the other half is playing mobile..

where exactly does uber-gpus fit into ACTUAL gaming...


truth is, it doesn't ...

Much like people who own kmac keyboards can't type fast, or don't even type much at all..


The typical Highend GPU owner doesn't actually game much..

[katushkin]

The thing is that in my old PC I had a 6950 that I kept saying to myself "oh, I'll crossfire eventually" and I never did. That was why I got 2 270s instead of a 280 "to crossfire eventually" because I know I will just never get round to it.

The only graphical intensive game I can see myself playing in the next 6 months is GTA 5 when it's released to PC...