geekhack
geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: demik on Tue, 01 April 2014, 10:38:12
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Main uses will be gaming.
Small foot print but still be able to take a full size card with no problem.
Now my main question is, how many LEDs and gold plated connectors do I need to make me the best gamer ever?
Budget is 1k not including monitor.
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Preferences:
CPU: Intel vs. AMD? (also applies to the mobo)
GPU: NVIDIA vs. AMD?
Or you open to opinions?
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In addition to computer-lab in basement, where do you live and if you want a pretty case let me know what you think of the Evga Hadron, I use the AIR, it's tiny and I love the design.
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=110-MA-1001-K1
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Intel and nvidia
Amd/ati card i had died on me way too soon and this nvidia card is still going strong
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Maybe something along the lines of a GTX 780? The release of the ti should have pushed the price down to be in your budget (Not sure of comparisons due to increase tax in the UK).
CPU, you could probably sit happy on an i5 because an i7 would probably be overkill for a gaming rig.
Would a Fratcal R2 case be small enough for you? Think it might just be a Mid-tower (although I can't remember) solid case.
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Maybe something along the lines of a GTX 780? The release of the ti should have pushed the price down to be in your budget (Not sure of comparisons due to increase tax in the UK).
CPU, you could probably sit happy on an i5 because an i7 would probably be overkill for a gaming rig.
Would a Fratcal R2 case be small enough for you? Think it might just be a Mid-tower (although I can't remember) solid case.
I second the i5 recommendation. Get one without integrated graphics, it'll save you a few bucks.
As for the graphics, I can't definitively recommend anything in particular, as I'm running a mid-range GT640 in my rig (cheap, cheap card, works great though) so anything you end up getting will be better.
Also, you going with an SSD? If so I recommend Samsung. Just upgraded to an 840 (120GB) not too long ago, it's been a great disk so far.
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Budget:
More specific use (what games, what programs):
Planned time until purchase:
Do you need an Operating System?:
Do you have any specific preferred components?:
Do you need a sound or wireless card?:
Do you want stock cooling or do you plan on overclocking?:
Do you need a monitor? mouse? keyboard?:
Zip code/location? (Shipping costs):
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http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3kdQX
This is if you want a small factor form, can reduce to a 128 GB SSD, just for OS + Games to cut it down to $900ish not sure on what the taxes are in UK are, I believe this is where you are?
e// Overkill parts are Ram/Mobo, only technically need 8 gigs, and if you decide on a different case or how big you actually want for a PC the whole build can change just a suggestion, can lower price of mobo by ~80, and just get 1 8 gig stick for now.
Ignore my whole post then for now lol, but it really depends on how small of a case you want, mini ITX, macro ITX, mid atx.
Obviously your looking for a smaller PC but it depends on how small.
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I do believe demik is in West Coast, US (Cali).
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BEST COAST
Also ill answer these questions as soon as im at lunch
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I don't think a 780 is going to fit into a 1K budget.
What resolution do you plan on gaming at? 1080p? If so and going nvidia you could get away with a 760. 770 would be better.
The parts picker above looks pretty good. I would not personally go ITX unless it was a priority. As stated also 16gb is probably pointless
But that is the direction I would go
i5 4670k (with at least a hyper 212 cpu cooler for mild OC.)
Asus or gigabyte motherboard
8 gb of some ram
gtx 760
500w psu
case you like
This was super fast without price shopping really at all. Add whatever case you like for about $120
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3kejK
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I think you could roll a 780 in, but if not, anyone have any experience wit that new 750ti ? The budget card? (is it out yet?) that could be pretty promising.
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More specific use (what games, what programs):
Planned time until purchase:
These will have a lot of impact. I would add the following two as they are related to what missalaire asked:
1) How patient are you (waiting for the best price on parts)?
2) What do you have today/right now, so we have something to compare to?
That said, if I was building something today, I would just try to reuse my existing GPU until after June/July whatever... unless you have a pressing reason to update Right Now.
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Your GPU will also perform better if you can find someone who will reflow it for you and replace those stock crystals with mandolin crystals. Just sayin'.
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Your GPU will also perform better if you can find someone who will reflow it for you and replace those stock crystals with mandolin crystals. Just sayin'.
TELL ME MORE JD
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Definitely intel i7 and ftx 770.I build my pc recently with these spec.get asus rog motherboard for gaming.get evga graphic cards.
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Definitely intel i7 and ftx 770.I build my pc recently with these spec.get asus rog motherboard for gaming.get evga graphic cards.
Might as well throw some Corsair into that mix. And don't forget to recommend a CLC even if you won't be overclocking and some Corsair fans. Did I mention Corsair yet, because it needs more Corsair. And more Asus. And more EVGA. Because you should only buy from those three brands. Ever.
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A CLC does have some conceptual benefits, even if you're running at stock-- it can be lighter and less awkward to mount-- in some situations-- than a bulky hugh-end heatsink. It may also be quieter depending on the configuration.
I decided I just didn't feel comfortable with a potentially leaky device made by Cooler Master of all people sitting in my case, so I boxed up my Seidon 120M for a Thermalright Macho-- a heatsink that costs about 50 bucks if you can find it-- and it actually keeps my 8350 about as cool and is less noisy than the Seidon was, but that could be mounting differences.
OTOH, this all depends on the specific case and layout you're going for, especially if you're considering smaller form factors.
Any plans for multi-GPU setups later? If you're going that way, you'll probably find your choices very limited if you don't go for an ATX board... there are a few uATX boards with two x16 slots, but it's definitely a "better plan first".
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Definitely intel i7 and ftx 770.I build my pc recently with these spec.get asus rog motherboard for gaming.get evga graphic cards.
Might as well throw some Corsair into that mix. And don't forget to recommend a CLC even if you won't be overclocking and some Corsair fans. Did I mention Corsair yet, because it needs more Corsair. And more Asus. And more EVGA. Because you should only buy from those three brands. Ever.
That pretty much summarizes a lot of "build log" "mod" threads on some forums. Make it all black with some paracord-sleeved cables and add a bit of LEDs, and call it a mod!
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Definitely intel i7 and ftx 770.I build my pc recently with these spec.get asus rog motherboard for gaming.get evga graphic cards.
Might as well throw some Corsair into that mix. And don't forget to recommend a CLC even if you won't be overclocking and some Corsair fans. Did I mention Corsair yet, because it needs more Corsair. And more Asus. And more EVGA. Because you should only buy from those three brands. Ever.
That pretty much summarizes a lot of "build log" "mod" threads on some forums. Make it all black with some paracord-sleeved cables and add a bit of LEDs, and call it a mod!
Yup. It's something I tried for a long time to stem in /r/buildapc, but eventually gave up on. I wanted some objectively good best bang for your buck builds and some real honestly awesome mods, but there are just too many shills and too many astroturfers and people paid off by some of those companies to keep people looking at things objectively. It's stupid, but I take it as a mark of pride that I don't have a single Corsair, Asus, or EVGA component...though I do kind of get how EVGA still has fanboys.
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I had a bad experience with their handling of a defect on a M3A78, so I won't buy another Asus mobo.
I did have a very positive experience with EVGA-- pulled a NF780i board of theirs out of a dumpster, works fine in a dogecoin-mining rig now-- but it wasn't enough to justify their GTX770 being $30 more than MSI's.
The modding culture as it was in, say, 2005, is gone. The places I used to go for that-- Virtual Hideout, Gideontech, PCApex/PimpRig-- are all gone. I think the affordability and availability of what was once "exotic" cooling-- from 120 and 140mm fans to water cooling-- has made it much less of a thing to need to start hacking the case up just for cooling performance, and that probably took a fair bit of wind out of the sails on those who did it for customization.
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Here's a quick build I put together. The Ram has a $15 off Promo code right now making the building almost exactly $1000.
Me personally I would go for a 4GB GTX 770 but that only comes in really handy if you are gaming at higher resolutions.
Good luck with your build.
[attach=1]
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Maybe this?
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=24005286
Alright...I'll try and do something useful later. I just have this saved from a joke to make pretty much the most expensive system I could.
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Here's a quick build I put together. The Ram has a $15 off Promo code right now making the building almost exactly $1000.
Me personally I would go for a 4GB GTX 770 but that only comes in really handy if you are gaming at higher resolutions.
Good luck with your build.
(Attachment Link)
Thats a nice build. Me personally I'm not building any pc without an SSD these days. Changes the overall experience too much to not have it. I would forgo an HDD for now or use a spare and throw in an SSD.
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Definitely intel i7 and ftx 770.I build my pc recently with these spec.get asus rog motherboard for gaming.get evga graphic cards.
Might as well throw some Corsair into that mix. And don't forget to recommend a CLC even if you won't be overclocking and some Corsair fans. Did I mention Corsair yet, because it needs more Corsair. And more Asus. And more EVGA. Because you should only buy from those three brands. Ever.
That pretty much summarizes a lot of "build log" "mod" threads on some forums. Make it all black with some paracord-sleeved cables and add a bit of LEDs, and call it a mod!
Yup. It's something I tried for a long time to stem in /r/buildapc, but eventually gave up on. I wanted some objectively good best bang for your buck builds and some real honestly awesome mods, but there are just too many shills and too many astroturfers and people paid off by some of those companies to keep people looking at things objectively. It's stupid, but I take it as a mark of pride that I don't have a single Corsair, Asus, or EVGA component...though I do kind of get how EVGA still has fanboys.
both of you need to stop going off topic. Go talk smack about fanboys in my circle jerk thread
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Will you be buying a new keyboard to go with this new PC?
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Will you be buying a new keyboard to go with this new PC?
Duh :p
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Will you be buying a new keyboard to go with this new PC?
Duh :p
I figure it's time you get an HHKB-S.
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Will you be buying a new keyboard to go with this new PC?
Duh :p
But that will have it's own budget, I'm guessing?
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Will you be buying a new keyboard to go with this new PC?
Duh :p
But that will have it's own budget, I'm guessing?
Of course
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Here's a quick build I put together. The Ram has a $15 off Promo code right now making the building almost exactly $1000.
Me personally I would go for a 4GB GTX 770 but that only comes in really handy if you are gaming at higher resolutions.
Good luck with your build.
(Attachment Link)
Thats a nice build. Me personally I'm not building any pc without an SSD these days. Changes the overall experience too much to not have it. I would forgo an HDD for now or use a spare and throw in an SSD.
I prefer an SSD to the traditional HDD but for your FPS you don't see any real change between the two. SSD's only really help with load times. Good thing about drives though is you can always add more or replace them down the road.
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Once you answer the questions by Misslaire, I'll help you further just need to know exact information, though my build that I posted for UK would be good if you just changed everything to US, I would recommend a smaller SSD just for windows or as stated just get a SSD and save 50-100 for a regular HD, this is what I'm currently doing.
Anyways PC building is fun/challenging and always rewarding.
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Will you be buying a new keyboard to go with this new PC?
Duh :p
But that will have it's own budget, I'm guessing?
Yeah, the budget of all his friends, just like last time.
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Here's a quick build I put together. The Ram has a $15 off Promo code right now making the building almost exactly $1000.
Me personally I would go for a 4GB GTX 770 but that only comes in really handy if you are gaming at higher resolutions.
Good luck with your build.
(Attachment Link)
Thats a nice build. Me personally I'm not building any pc without an SSD these days. Changes the overall experience too much to not have it. I would forgo an HDD for now or use a spare and throw in an SSD.
I prefer an SSD to the traditional HDD but for your FPS you don't see any real change between the two. SSD's only really help with load times. Good thing about drives though is you can always add more or replace them down the road.
This is true. But loading games is still a big part of it. In between rounds, getting connected etc, lags with an HDD. But yeah you can always add those later. I would start with the ssd so you don't have to reinstall Windows.
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do you have a microcenter nearby where you live? They have the lowest prices on intel CPUs and have some combo deals too.
Also i dunno about the hate on EVGA, Corsair or Asus personally. Yes they have lots of fanboys and what not, but they're also very readily available and most are high quality components.
Regarding small footprint but enough space for a fullsize GPU, you're prob going to be limited to mATX builds.
ITX builds are fun and interesting, but personally i think its limiting for a fullblown gaming build.
Also to get PSUs for those small cases like the bitfenix prodigy limits how strong a GPU will fit and can be powered.
I'm bored at work today so i'll just piece out something, take it as you wish
for a 1k budget: All prices is before tax
Core i5 4670K & AsRock Z87M Extreme4 : Microcenter $279.98 (189.99 + 89.99)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413251/Core_i5_4670K_34GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor + http://www.microcenter.com/product/414948/Z87M_Extreme4_Socket_LGA_1150_mATX_Intel_Motherboard
MSI GTX 780: $479.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127746
(cheapest i've found, i don't think this is really an option for a 1k build)
MSI GTX 770: $319.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127751
Gskill Ripjaw 8GB DDR3 2X4 $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455
8GB kit should be good, wait for a sale when its around $50-60. Can also go Kingston's HyperX series, i personally use the GSkill but i bought them 2 years ago when DDR3 was still cheap.
CORSAIR HX650 $109.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012
Cheap modular PSU that'll get the job done for any single GPU configuration you're looking at.
Silverstone Precision PS07B-W $89.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163250
small no nonsense case that'll fit fullsize GPU
Another option that i personally use is the Corsair 350D. Though that case is a midtower that only supports mATX, so its not a small tower by any sense, but still a solidly built tower. I like it personally.
Crucial M500 240gb SSD $119.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148694
Grand total before tax and rebate: $999.93 :p
Course the top is just some suggestions, you can go down on the GPU to say a GTX 760ti or go look at the AMD side for a 280X.
Also can go find someone who's thinking of upgrading and buying their old GTX680 for $250 or less.
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Alright, I threw this together. It's $99 over but I do have a few suggestions.
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=32657288
First off, I would personally get the SSD and use your existing HDD for the time being. The next suggestion is, if you have a custom built computer, reuse your case and power supply which will save money as well.
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the most annoying part is small footprint. And also that DDR3 ram prices have doubled in the last year or so =/
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the most annoying part is small footprint. And also that DDR3 ram prices have doubled in the last year or so =/
I know I live in Canada and bought a 16GB set on sale for $180, regular price 210..
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you save ALOT of $$$ if you're willing to go amd, i recently visited microcenter and they had a amd 8320 for 99bucks, i bought
8320 99bucks
asus mb (99bucks higher end for overclocking but not super crazy expensive)
ram 60bucks (i was running ddr2 for 10years! my first pair of ddr3)
i already have a corsair h100 and a modern (2013) ssd in my previous build, so i popped it all in and did easy asus overclock to 4200 (it was literally 1 click, i can manually get 300mhz out of it, i'm sure, but that would take too much time)
but the same intel 4670k (both unlocked processors) would be 60 to 90bucks over, depending on the mb, it could even be more.
it is a home/work computer i haven't played games on it, but it's' a ****ing 8 core! i am still using a 2005 ati 4850 for my dual monitors ha.
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You mentioned "small footprint" but I bought a monstrous CaseTek full tower over a decade ago that is still utterly awesome (and beige!).
Get a really nice case and swap parts individually as you need to. Every single component in my case has been replaced 2-3 times minimum and some a lot more, at least 4-5 mobos for example.
My biggest complaint is that every generation of mobos seems to have less slots for cards. I would love to have 4-6 slots minimum but that just ain't happening these days.
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A few of my personal recommendations.
I find the crucial SSDs to be a great bargain right now. I've been buying them for my office to upgrade machines here. They aren't the fastest, but honestly, I wouldn't put too much stock in getting the SSDs with the highest IOPs or read/write speeds unless you have a special need for that. Mechanical vs. any SSD is night and day, and the crucials are quite respectable performers. And so far, reliable. I've only had them a couple of months now.
Memory, I generally go with crucial unless I'm trying to save every last cent I can. I've also purchased a lot of Corsair RAM over the years but I feel like I've gotten a noticeably higher % of bad sticks from them. I still love corsair though, I have a corsair power supply, case, even a set of wireless headphones at home.
As for video cards, unless you're gaming at higher than HD resolution, you probably don't need to spend more than $250-$300 here. Despite the fact that I currently have 2 amd/ati r290x's, I would have gone nvidia if I didn't want to do mess around with the whole litecoin mining thing. Unless you really want to play cutting edge games with every setting maxed out, I can't imagine you'd need anything faster than the 770 mentioned. Depending on what you're doing, it's quite possible you'll be completely satisfied with a 760.
Again, unless you plan to game at higher than HD resolutions, don't get hung up on whether or not the motherboard can do crossfire/SLI. I've bought lots of motherboards with that capability, and have never used it. If it wasn't for my mining experiment I would only have 1 card right now. I would say if you plan on adding a 2nd card in the next 6-12 months, then you'll want it. If not, it'll probably be more cost effective to replace your card with whatever the current equivalent is at the time. In general, I replace my video card every 2 years with whatever is the best bang for the gaming dollar, which is usually a card in the 250-300 range.
I definitely agree that intel i5 is the way to go. There are some great bargains in that line. I had several generations of AMD CPUs in the past, but I've been with Intel since the core 2 duo. That being said, if you want to put every last penny into your video card, AMD are worth a look. You won't get as good performance per dollar or watt, but you will get a cheaper base system that will likely be completely fine for your needs.
Power supplies - PC Power & Cooling or Seasonic, I have a PC Power & Cooling at home and a Corsair at work right now. Corsair's power supplies were made by seasonic. Maybe they still are, I haven't researched it in a while. If you do plan on adding a 2nd video card in the future, make sure you account for that when choosing a power supply.
I've used either Gigabyte or Asus for motherboards forever. I've gotten rock solid amazingness from both of them as well as mediocre ones as well. If you go micro-atx you can get a really great feature set for a reasonable price (see my previous comments about not obsessing about SLI/Crossfire.) Mini-itx as well, although with mini-itx you're only going to have 1 expansion/video card slot and half the memory capacity.
I can give you some case recommendations if I get a better idea of what you're looking for. I obsess over computer cases so I have a good idea of what's out there :)
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My advice...
If the only thing you do that's really taxing is gaming, an AMD is fine, in fact they work great for pretty much anything.
I like AMD, but if you do anything else on a regular basis that needs some serious grunt, go with an Intel I5. If you want raw power, Intel wins. Period. At worst you spend a bit extra, but other than that, you really cannot go wrong with Intel. As for I5 vs I7, the only benefit of an I7 really is hyper threading, which games don't really take advantage of. While AMD can be cheaper, when you compare them power to dollars, they run about even with Intel, they aren't quite the bargain many immediately think they are, in fact the real savings often come from the cheaper board they use.
Board, I recommend ASROCK or Asus. I have had very few problems with them, however, I've been a bit less happy with Asus lately.
On the other hand, if you want to run OSX on occasion, Gigabyte is a better option. I just get tired of chasing oddball drivers and bios and such that they like to use. Oh, and go MATX.
Memory,
You only need 8 gigs. I have 16 and it's VERY hard to use more than 8. Don't get me wrong, if I built another desktop today, it would have 16, maybe even 32, but I always over build. It's easy to add more later if you need it. 8 is perfect, any more takes money away from the rest of your system. Also, don't buy into the huge heatsink, overclocking memory. Basic memory from a good brand will work just fine, you also don't need the fastest. DDR3 1600 (pc3 12800) is perfectly fine, DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) is better, but overkill and over priced. I prefer lower latency and more memory over raw speed and less memory.
Case and power supply
This is where you are a bit in trouble. You want small, with a full size graphics card. You wont get a combo, so...
Get a 500 watt PSU, anything with a good name brand will work. Corsair obviously is a good one, but you will pay more. An Antec is just fine too. 500 watts is enough that any good brand in that range should be fine.
The case...
The Fractal Design 1000 is actually darn nice for the money at only $30. I have a few of them and they are a bargain. Power Spec makes a similar case for about $25, I have a few of them too. Both have good airflow and are just hard to beat.
If you want something a bit nicer... SilverStone SST-PS07B is about as small as you can get and still use a full size graphics card and standard PSU without looking like a shoebox. These run $80-$100.
Basically, this leaves you with your choice of drives... I like SSD, but it may not be in your budget and the video card. I would spec the drive you want, and then buy the best video card you can with what's left. Any video card over $200 will play almost anything out at decent resolution and quality, you don't need a $500 card these days and much above $300 or so and you start getting less and less for your money.
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on case, i want more of a box than a small tower. im willing to go up a few hundred to accommodate a good card/ssd
Budget: 1k give or take a few hundred
More specific use (what games, what programs): mostly FPS, nothing too taxing but who knows.
Planned time until purchase: ~2 months
Do you need an Operating System?: yup
Do you have any specific preferred components?: intel/nvidia, no specifica companies on the gpu
Do you need a sound or wireless card?: nope and nope
Do you want stock cooling or do you plan on overclocking?: i dont plan on overclocking atm
Do you need a monitor? mouse? keyboard?: nope, nope, and nope
Zip code/location? (Shipping costs): best coast los angeles
with that said, thanks for all the suggestions.
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RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231518
(I personally have 16GB and I do sometimes have almost 9GB used up with my applications + SSD cache, but that's pretty uncommon for most other users).
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Based on some of the suggestions here (gskill, asrock), your preferences, and my own preferences, I threw this together. I've wanted to do a build in a Silverstone SG10B since it came out. I was getting ready to make a home server out of one when I discovered geek hack and starting spending all of my extra money on keyboard parts :)
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=25391666
$1,259.80 without looking for the lowest prices. That also includes an OEM copy of windows 8.1 pro.
The case is adding some cost here, so if you don't love it, don't get it. Not sure if I would recommend this case if you merely "like it" due to potential limitations of the size and air flow. The DVD is also adding a little extra cost as well since you need a slim line slot loading optical drive, and those seem to be very rare. I didn't look for blu ray, I was scared to see what it would cost, if it exists.
The 3rd primary source of the higher price is the power supply. For a build this small, I would definitely go platinum rated for the reduced heat production. Silverstone says this about power supply size:
"Maximum length for PSU is 180mm, we recommend 160mm due to varying connector locations on PSUs and the unique structure of SG10."
This seasonic is 160mm (6.3 inches.) You definitely don't want to risk going 180mm with a modular power supply as the jacks add some depth to it. Of course in a case this small it's possible you can still run into an issue following their advice. (they say that as well.)
For vid card, I went with a stockish/reference looking evga one. I don't think you'd be able to fit any weird fan assemblies in there that stick out like the asus and gigabytes. Silverstone has this to say about fitting a VGA card in there:
"Compatible up to 13.3” long, width restriction-5.70"
Of course, I've never done a build in this case, so I can't guarantee anything. But this stuff seems like it would all fit together OK. You may have issues with this case if you need a ton of extra disk space. There are 4x2.5 internal and 2x3.5 internal, but they have this warning:
"If you intend to utilize all hard drive slots, please remove all unused power supply cables. These unused cables may cause problem with the installation. SSDs are highly recommended in place of hard drives."
Case product page:
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=392&area=en
By the way, I never take my own advice. This is the computer I built myself at work (some of the frivolous parts I paid for - ie vid cards, noctua heatsinks...)
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=25391286
It's meant to be a virtualization workhorse. I plan on trying Qubes OS on it but am running Windows 8.1 Enterprise at the moment.
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I should have mentioned that im sticking with win7
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on case, i want more of a box than a small tower. im willing to go up a few hundred to accommodate a good card/ssd Budget: 1k give or take a few hundred
More specific use (what games, what programs): mostly FPS, nothing too taxing but who knows.
Planned time until purchase: ~2 months
Do you need an Operating System?: yup
Do you have any specific preferred components?: intel/nvidia, no specifica companies on the gpu
Do you need a sound or wireless card?: nope and nope
Do you want stock cooling or do you plan on overclocking?: i dont plan on overclocking atm
Do you need a monitor? mouse? keyboard?: nope, nope, and nope
Zip code/location? (Shipping costs): best coast los angeles
with that said, thanks for all the suggestions.
Are you looking to buy all at once? If so, then I suggest waiting til 1-2 weeks prior to purchasing because part prices can change a lot in 2 months.
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Nope. I usually buy stuff in parts waiting for deals
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Nope. I usually buy stuff in parts waiting for deals
Ok, well don't you worry about deals, love. I"ll keep an eye out for you :P
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I should have mentioned that im sticking with win7
Shouldn't matter in the end too much, I just stuck something in there as a placeholder for pricing. I actually use a windows intune subscription with software assurance. I think I pay $11 a month (1 year commitments) and I believe it comes with downgrade rights. More expensive but I'm a stickler for licensing since I'm an IT director. Windows enterprise allows me to virtualize several copies of it on the same computer.
Nope. I usually buy stuff in parts waiting for deals
Wow, I can't imagine being that patient with computer parts :) Good luck!
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I've said this in 20 threads already, but the Qnix Evolution II is an awesome monitor.
Best $300 I spent for my setup (better than my HHKB)
http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/monitor-reviews-discussion/13500-qnix-qx2710-review-2560x1440-matte-overclock-able-pls.html
My only other recommendation is to go with a Corsair case, they can get cheap when they're on sale too.
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Well, since I love doing these, here is one for you buddy :thumb:
Since you are in LA, it would be worth your while to take a trip to the Tustin Microcenter.
CPU: 4570 - $159. Since you don't plan on overclocking, no sense in the k model for $40 more.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413255/Intel_Core_i5-4570_32GHz_Boxed_Processor (http://www.microcenter.com/product/413255/Intel_Core_i5-4570_32GHz_Boxed_Processor)
Mobo: Asrock Z87 Pro4 - $55 after $30 cpu combo discount. Might as well get the Z87 chipset just incase you want to step into a k series cpu in the future.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/417391/Z87_PRO4_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard_-_Refurbished (http://www.microcenter.com/product/417391/Z87_PRO4_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard_-_Refurbished)
This is the rest:
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX/benchmarks/)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/geil-memory-gpb38gb1600c9dc) ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw) ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx770dc2oc2gd5) ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/bitfenix-case-bfcphm300kkxkkrp) ($102.97 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cs550m) ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $836.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-03 01:24 EDT-0400)
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I've said this in 20 threads already, but the Qnix Evolution II is an awesome monitor.
Best $300 I spent for my setup (better than my HHKB)
http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/monitor-reviews-discussion/13500-qnix-qx2710-review-2560x1440-matte-overclock-able-pls.html
My only other recommendation is to go with a Corsair case, they can get cheap when they're on sale too.
I have one myself. 1440p at 120hz is awesome!
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I've said this in 20 threads already, but the Qnix Evolution II is an awesome monitor.
Best $300 I spent for my setup (better than my HHKB)
http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/monitor-reviews-discussion/13500-qnix-qx2710-review-2560x1440-matte-overclock-able-pls.html (http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/monitor-reviews-discussion/13500-qnix-qx2710-review-2560x1440-matte-overclock-able-pls.html)
My only other recommendation is to go with a Corsair case, they can get cheap when they're on sale too.
I have one myself. 1440p at 120hz is awesome!
I want my QNix
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For what its worth, the case im interested in is the corsair obsidian 250D
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For what its worth, the case im interested in is the corsair obsidian 250D
Good choice although I am a bit biased.
If that is the case (pun intended), just swap the case and mobo in my build. I went with the Asrock Z87E for $65 from microcenter after the combo discount.
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For what its worth, the case im interested in is the corsair obsidian 250D
Looks like a cute case! You should be able to stuff it full.
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For what its worth, the case im interested in is the corsair obsidian 250D
Thats a nice little case. Corsair makes quality cases I have the 550D. Just need to change your choice of motherboard to ITX.
This locks you in basically with intel (a good thing imo). The only itx boards I see on newegg that are AMD are for the APUs. Which don't have the best CPU performance.
If you know you will never overclock as stated above Micro Center has the
i5-4570 for $159
You could pair that with something like
ASRock Z87E-ITX $129 (amazon). I don't love Asrock but it was recommended by Anand
GIGABYTE GA-B85N-WIFI $99 (Newegg) Save a few bucks
I don't disagree with buying a Z87 board so you could possibly overclock in the future. But if you have no interest in that at all it may be a waste of cash.
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Well, since I love doing these, here is one for you buddy :thumb:
Since you are in LA, it would be worth your while to take a trip to the Tustin Microcenter.
CPU: 4570 - $159. Since you don't plan on overclocking, no sense in the k model for $40 more.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413255/Intel_Core_i5-4570_32GHz_Boxed_Processor (http://www.microcenter.com/product/413255/Intel_Core_i5-4570_32GHz_Boxed_Processor)
Mobo: Asrock Z87 Pro4 - $55 after $30 cpu combo discount. Might as well get the Z87 chipset just incase you want to step into a k series cpu in the future.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/417391/Z87_PRO4_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard_-_Refurbished (http://www.microcenter.com/product/417391/Z87_PRO4_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard_-_Refurbished)
This is the rest:
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX/benchmarks/)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/geil-memory-gpb38gb1600c9dc) ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw) ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx770dc2oc2gd5) ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/bitfenix-case-bfcphm300kkxkkrp) ($102.97 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cs550m) ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $836.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-03 01:24 EDT-0400)
I've heard the Tustin Microcenter has a bad rep of not honoring Microcenter web prices and taking away the CPU deals.
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/1ppb8y/microcenter_in_tustin_ca_not_offering_cpu_deals/
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/1i572w/notice_cpu_4670k_220_california_microcenter_no/
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Well, since I love doing these, here is one for you buddy :thumb:
Since you are in LA, it would be worth your while to take a trip to the Tustin Microcenter.
CPU: 4570 - $159. Since you don't plan on overclocking, no sense in the k model for $40 more.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413255/Intel_Core_i5-4570_32GHz_Boxed_Processor (http://www.microcenter.com/product/413255/Intel_Core_i5-4570_32GHz_Boxed_Processor)
Mobo: Asrock Z87 Pro4 - $55 after $30 cpu combo discount. Might as well get the Z87 chipset just incase you want to step into a k series cpu in the future.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/417391/Z87_PRO4_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard_-_Refurbished (http://www.microcenter.com/product/417391/Z87_PRO4_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard_-_Refurbished)
This is the rest:
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3l9UX/benchmarks/)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/geil-memory-gpb38gb1600c9dc) ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw) ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx770dc2oc2gd5) ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/bitfenix-case-bfcphm300kkxkkrp) ($102.97 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cs550m) ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $836.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-03 01:24 EDT-0400)
I've heard the Tustin Microcenter has a bad rep of not honoring Microcenter web prices and taking away the CPU deals.
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/1ppb8y/microcenter_in_tustin_ca_not_offering_cpu_deals/
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/1i572w/notice_cpu_4670k_220_california_microcenter_no/
This is very true. Glad word is finally getting out. But as far as intel they only do it with the "K" versions/high end models.. If you notice on the site they show them out of stock, which is not true, they just don't display the true price online. But the CPU I linked should be there at that price as its listed on the site as in stock in the tustin store.
It does suck they stopped selling them at the great prices. I asked them about it recently, they had too many people buying only cpu's and lots of resellers coming in only buying cpu's. (They supposedly sell them at a loss) So they finally just axed the sales. This is sadly the only MC in california and I guess we have a lot of nerds here/high demand for cheap cpu's. THey started price matching newegg etc to encourage people to buy the rest of their parts there as well but I guess it didn't help.
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You may want to consider a RAID option for the part of the disk that stores games.
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For what its worth, the case im interested in is the corsair obsidian 250D
I can't argue against an Obsidian :thumb: Those things are nice lookin!
My real dream case is a custom powder coated CaseLabs case. Actually, geekhack colors now that I think about it. Black on the outside, OJ on the inside :) $300 for the internal powder coat job though, at least at Frozen CPU.
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Anybody have a problem with badwrench's build?
Im leaning towards that. Its under my budget which is nice.
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Anybody have a problem with badwrench's build?
Im leaning towards that. Its under my budget which is nice.
I was impressed with the build he did for the price. But if you go with the 250D your going to need to change the motherboard to ITX. I didn't know Micro Center did discounts with all cpu's. I addedt eh cpu and an itx board and got no $30 off in my cart. It may only show up in store. You're going to have to drive to Tustin for that of course. You'll for sure save $40 of the cpu compared to newegg. Not sure what your time is worth to you.
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Anybody have a problem with badwrench's build?
Im leaning towards that. Its under my budget which is nice.
I was impressed with the build he did for the price. But if you go with the 250D your going to need to change the motherboard to ITX. I didn't know Micro Center did discounts with all cpu's. I addedt eh cpu and an itx board and got no $30 off in my cart. It may only show up in store. You're going to have to drive to Tustin for that of course. You'll for sure save $40 of the cpu compared to newegg. Not sure what your time is worth to you.
Yeah, the mobo needs to be a micro or mini ITX and also, I would not buy refurbished mobo. It's a pretty good build, but I think you can do better especially with your budget.
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Anybody have a problem with badwrench's build?
Im leaning towards that. Its under my budget which is nice.
I was impressed with the build he did for the price. But if you go with the 250D your going to need to change the motherboard to ITX. I didn't know Micro Center did discounts with all cpu's. I addedt eh cpu and an itx board and got no $30 off in my cart. It may only show up in store. You're going to have to drive to Tustin for that of course. You'll for sure save $40 of the cpu compared to newegg. Not sure what your time is worth to you.
Yeah, the mobo needs to be a micro or mini ITX and also, I would not buy refurbished mobo. It's a pretty good build, but I think you can do better especially with your budget.
If he gets the Corsair 250D I believe he has to use mini-ITX.
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Anybody have a problem with badwrench's build?
Im leaning towards that. Its under my budget which is nice.
I was impressed with the build he did for the price. But if you go with the 250D your going to need to change the motherboard to ITX. I didn't know Micro Center did discounts with all cpu's. I addedt eh cpu and an itx board and got no $30 off in my cart. It may only show up in store. You're going to have to drive to Tustin for that of course. You'll for sure save $40 of the cpu compared to newegg. Not sure what your time is worth to you.
Yeah, the mobo needs to be a micro or mini ITX and also, I would not buy refurbished mobo. It's a pretty good build, but I think you can do better especially with your budget.
If he gets the Corsair 250D I believe he has to use mini-ITX.
yep the next smallest case that'll fit a mATX is the Corsair 350D
which isn't small at all as i own one lol.
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Anybody have a problem with badwrench's build?
Im leaning towards that. Its under my budget which is nice.
I was impressed with the build he did for the price. But if you go with the 250D your going to need to change the motherboard to ITX. I didn't know Micro Center did discounts with all cpu's. I addedt eh cpu and an itx board and got no $30 off in my cart. It may only show up in store. You're going to have to drive to Tustin for that of course. You'll for sure save $40 of the cpu compared to newegg. Not sure what your time is worth to you.
Yeah, the mobo needs to be a micro or mini ITX and also, I would not buy refurbished mobo. It's a pretty good build, but I think you can do better especially with your budget.
250D is itx only :(
This asrock seems pretty feature packed.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/414947/Z87E-ITX_Socket_LGA_1150_mini_ITX_Intel_Motherboard
Motherboards come with dehumidifiers now? I guess if it works it would be useful for people who build systems for their boats. But I imagine it's more marketing BS than anything.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z87E-ITX/
No experience with Geil so I can't yay or nay that.
Max PSU length is 180mm - so I would recommend the same as with the silverstone case I was talking about. Make sure that any modular supply you get is 160mm at most. Gold level will be fine although I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to go platinum. It wouldn't hurt to see what the video card manufacturer recommends power-wise either.
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Anybody have a problem with badwrench's build?
Im leaning towards that. Its under my budget which is nice.
I was impressed with the build he did for the price. But if you go with the 250D your going to need to change the motherboard to ITX. I didn't know Micro Center did discounts with all cpu's. I addedt eh cpu and an itx board and got no $30 off in my cart. It may only show up in store. You're going to have to drive to Tustin for that of course. You'll for sure save $40 of the cpu compared to newegg. Not sure what your time is worth to you.
Yeah, the combo is only for in-store. I just built my 250D using the Asrock Z87E. I liked it more than the MSI boards due to the placement of the socket further from the pci-e slot. It also has the option to add an mSata SSD to the underside which is a nice option if you go with a really small case.
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How about this case?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133258
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How about this case?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133258
He said he wants the Corsair Obsidian 250D...
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How about this case?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133258
doesn't look bad, but im pretty set on the 250D
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Ok, just got off the phone with the Tustin store. They do not combo with the 4570, only with the processors on the combo page. Any of the K series or the i3 4340 plus any in-stock motherboard will get you $30 off of that mobo.
Since that is the case, I still recommend the 4570 as an in store purchase, but with an H87(usb3 support) series board, or to drop the SSD and go with a 4670k (which is actually $209)+Z87E which will drop your total around $40.
Here is an updated build without the SSD, but replaced with a Hybrid drive which may not boot as quickly, will still give you a nice snappy feel once it learns your habbits.
i5 4570 - $159 Still worth the drive from LA to OC to save $30.
Rest of the build
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3lwvK) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3lwvK/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3lwvK/benchmarks/)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85N Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85n) ($89.35 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/team-memory-tlyd38g1600hc9dc01) ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dx001) ($83.24 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx770dc2oc2gd5) ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-cc9011047ww) ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cs650m) ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $809.53
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-03 19:09 EDT-0400)
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Here are my build. I included an SSD in the build, but it's really optional whether or not you feel like you want one. You may want to consider getting someone who lives near a non-****ty Microcenter to proxy you a CPU + mobo combo also.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3lF4m
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Thanks guys and gal!
Badwrench, how was it working with such a small case? Cable management pretty good?
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... Still worth the drive from LA to OC to save $30.
Unless cab-fare.
Convenience premium is convenient.
I'd spend $30 to not have to drive to a physical store, park, walk around among the proletariat, play patronized consumer for the irritating sales and checkout clerks, then drive back home. Yeah, avoiding that is worth at least $30.
Also: do some PSU research, starting with jonnyguru.
Anandtech has nice comparison charts. Tomshardware... is annoying, but has some charts.
Idk how you feel about newegg, but i'm less pleased with them in recent times, although the only alternative available in my area is the rebate-heavy tigerdirect. I can't imagine finding a better deal in any physical store.
I thought this thread was not legit. I can't believe the venerable demik would ever need help choosing PC parts.
Surely this is all a clever ruse...
But what *I* would do, is scour ebay for the best deal on a still-fresh discard from one of those early-adopter upgrade addicts, who always keep their rigs packed with the latest most overkill components, and drop their previous stuff on ebay at hilarious prices.
I would also suggest always buying RAM new, and mostly agree with missalaire, in that 8 GB is plenty, and lowest possible latency is "better" than highest possible speed... but really, you want to try to match your ram with your cpu speed, which requires knowing multipliers and mobo characteristics and such.
If i were to build an intel rig, i'd either want to go with the most outrageous thing they offer (too expensive), or try to build the lowest-power-consuming thing possible, but still have the best possible gpu for it. And, don't get any graphics card with less than 3 GB vram, but it also should have a gpu that can actually USE all that vram effectively (some can't, due to the gpu not being powerful enough for the kinds of stuff that amount of vram would be good for... look at some bf4 performance issue reports all over the web).
And! if you care about your PSU fan possibly being loud, or the amount of stress you're putting on the PSU, or want to keep your rated efficiency expectations, you'll want to calculate your expected peak power requirement for all components, and get something rated for almost twice that (some PSUs overrate themselves, or don't quite meet their claimed efficiency numbers). Once you start plugging in all kinds of other stuff, you might end up with a box that shuts down in the most intense moments, if it draws too much power... or it might just wear out from being slammed at max capacity 24/7 (or however many hours your typical gaming session may be).
Anyway, my point is: research every component before you buy anything.
Thanks to jonnyguru, i ended up scoring (i call it a score!) a NIB kingwin lazer gold 850 for ~$100 (which is just about perfect for my oc'd 8350, 590, 2 hdd, 1 ssd, 1 dvd, water pump and 12 fans, 9 of which are on my radiator... and most of my usb slots populated). At the time, it was better than anything i could have found up to $150+. I almost went with an Antec HCP platinum, which is about as good as it gets, but they're not cheap at all.
Oh and! If there are specific games you want to run well, go to their forums and look in the relevant section for people having issues running the game.
Or, you know, you can totally just disregard this and let other people tell you what you should do with your money. ;)
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I'd spend $30 to not have to drive to a physical store, park, walk around among the proletariat, play patronized consumer for the irritating sales and checkout clerks, then drive back home. Yeah, avoiding that is worth at least $30.
preach brother, preach.
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I agree LA to tustin is not a quick drive. Not really worth $30.
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For power supplies, low wattage high efficiency power supplies are usually the way to go, a 500w reliable gold rated power supply is great for a GTX 770 build. Just buy the one that's cheapest (slickdeals.net usually has a decent amount of posts for cheap power supplies). Hardwaresecrets is also a nice place to read up on PSU reviews.
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Thanks guys and gal!
Badwrench, how was it working with such a small case? Cable management pretty good?
It is a really easy case to do good cable management. There are little loops all around for zip-tie anchors to allow you to place the cables exactly where you want them.
This was just getting started:
(http://cdn.overclock.net/8/8d/900x900px-LL-8d8c3118_SAM_1688.jpeg)
Kinda dark, but most everything tucked up right in front of the psu:
(http://cdn.overclock.net/b/b7/900x900px-LL-b7a75a64_SAM_1709.jpeg)
This is the most jumbled area as I have yet to make my own cables for all of the fans and the extensions from my fan controller. I just tucked it up in the optical bay for now.:
(http://cdn.overclock.net/6/6f/900x900px-LL-6fbff67e_SAM_1705.jpeg)
I agree LA to tustin is not a quick drive. Not really worth $30.
To each his own. I drove up from San Diego, but it saved me $70. I also like seeing all the different parts in person rather than in pictures.
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Badwrench, do you know if it'll fit wider vid cards OK? It looks like you have card with a reference cooler in there, but any idea if an Asus or Gigabyte card with their crazy heatpipe/fan assemblies will fit in there? It looks like they will, but I thought it worth bringing up/asking. I didn't see any width restrictions mentioned at corsair's site.
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Well, I dunno if you decided on badwrench's plan yet, but I thought I would add my advice.
$1,000 is a tough budget to meet, because each +$100 more you spend, your performance per dollar increases rapidly, up until about $1,500, then performance per dollar levels out, and you have to spend more and more dollars to chase less and less benefit. And every $100 less you spend greatly reduces your performance per dollar, down to about $600, below which you simply cannot play any games.
With that proviso in mind, here is my plan for you to build a powerful, stable and quiet gaming rig, that will play any game with nearly all the high graphics features turned on, and which has room to overclock:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K $230
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper Evo 212: $35
GPU: GeForce GTX 770: $320
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-G1.Sniper M5 Socket 1150 Intel Z87 Micro-ATX: $200
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 2133mhz (PC3 17000) Model # F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL: $85
SSD: Crucial M500 240 GB: $120
PSU: SeaSonic SSR-650RM 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready $105
Case: Nanoxia NXDS4B Black Steel ATX Mini Tower Computer Case: $79
OS: Windows 7 Pro SP-1 64-bit: $139
Total = $1,313
You might think that price is high, but you get the best bang for the buck CPU (i5-4670K); the best bang for the buck performance video card (GTX 770); the best bang for the buck RAM (2133 mhz is sweet spot); and an awesome mobo. That little Gigabyte Z87 GA-G1.Sniper M5 has a Creative sound core 3D chip onboard AND a Qualcomm Aetheros Killer E2201 network chip onboard! If you want to pwn nubs over the internets like I do, then you NEED a fast internet connection, and you need surround sound to hear those bastards sneaking up on you.
Also my plan gets you an extremely fast (almost the fastest) SSD with 240gb of storage. 128gb is just not enough if you want to have more than one game loaded at a time.
The PSU I picked out for you is the best you can get, nearly at any price. Seasonic makes the best PSU's hands down, and they use Sanyo Denki San Ace 120mm fans for quiet. Plus you get totally modular cables for an easy customized build, and you get 650watts at 80-plus gold rating, so you will never flag, falter or fail on power. If you've ever had a cheap PSU fail and fry your rig, you know it's not good, nor fun.
The only variable really is the case. You could go with any sub $100 case. But my choice for you is Nanoxia DS4. I have the Nanoxia DS5, which is super quiet. The DS4 is the micro-ATX version, so I'm assuming it's the same quality. You cannot get a quieter case anywhere near this price. It has bitumen sound insulation like in your car (if you have a luxury car that is). You would have to spend another +$300 to get a better case. It is similar to the Fractal Design cases, but the Nanoxia's are much better quality. I've tried both brands.
Finally, you need 64-bit Windows 7 for gaming. No need for Windows 8, which is really for tablets anyway. Much better gaming support for Windows 7. Bill Gates sets the price (which is a rip-off), so you don't have much choice on this one. Unless you go Linux, but then you won't be much of a gamer.
My prices are high estimates, meaning I didn't kill myself hunting around the internet for the cheapest bargains. You will have to do that yourself. And most likely you can save -5 to -10% off my prices if you shop around and/or wait for sales.
Anyway, I put a lot of thought into this. I hope I gave you something to think about.
Good Luck!
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I do agree with most of that ethos but the video card. What you said should be OK for 1080p and below. But if he goes above that probably going to want a 780.
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So many choices O.O
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I do agree with most of that ethos but the video card. What you said should be OK for 1080p and below. But if he goes above that probably going to want a 780.
From my experience you can have "good-enough-gaming" at 1440p with a 770. The games that will be played matter a lot, but for the most part I don't have issues playing at 1440p with my 770 on my crappy platform AMD Phenom :(
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Intel and nvidia
smart man.
i have a liquid cooled rig with an i7-3770k and a GTX680. i bought and built this thing a while ago and it has made me very happy. but if you want to do sub 1k i am not a person that can give sound advice.
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First deal, quality PSU for $80. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=P4V-xrxPEeOL6SIaOvlYlA0_CES04_ijS_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16817151132&cm_sp= (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=P4V-xrxPEeOL6SIaOvlYlA0_CES04_ijS_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16817151132&cm_sp=)
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Basically... in my opinion right now is not a good time to buy. Why? Well 8 core i series with DDR4 is right around the corner quite literally. Even if you are not interested in increasing your budget for those things, it may be prudent to hold off as it might decrease the cost of current components if even slightly. In addition to that nVidia Maxwell 8** series GPU is also right around the corner. Unless you are really in dire need of a new PC I really would wait a couple months as the new options could be huge. Not only for better performance at lower tdps, but also with new interface standards like m.2/sata express could be a killer.
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I do agree with most of that ethos but the video card. What you said should be OK for 1080p and below. But if he goes above that probably going to want a 780.
Basically... in my opinion right now is not a good time to buy. Why? Well 8 core i series with DDR4 is right around the corner quite literally. Even if you are not interested in increasing your budget for those things, it may be prudent to hold off as it might decrease the cost of current components if even slightly. In addition to that nVidia Maxwell 8** series GPU is also right around the corner. Unless you are really in dire need of a new PC I really would wait a couple months as the new options could be huge. Not only for better performance at lower tdps, but also with new interface standards like m.2/sata express could be a killer.
I do agree with most of that ethos but the video card. What you said should be OK for 1080p and below. But if he goes above that probably going to want a 780.
Of course bro. He should have a 780. I want him to have a 780. BUT, he set budget of $1,000. And a GTX780 costs at least $500, and that's half the budget spent on the video card. Personally, I would increase budget to $1,500, but I'm not him. At $1,000, he has to make serious trade-offs. My plan tries to maximize each dollar spent on getting the maximum bang for the buck. He could spend less, but he will have a bad gaming experience. My plan gets demik the maximum gaming experience for the fewest dollars. I can spend more of his money, but IMO ~ $1,300 is just about the minimum he can spend to get a first class gaming experience. More $$ is better. We all know that.
@IvanIvanovich: The next best thing is ALWAYS just around the corner. IF you wait 10 years you will have a 100-core computer that runs at 10,000 ghz. demik needs a computer now, and so he is limited to choosing what's available now. Also, it's actually better to buy near the end of a product's life cycle, than at the beginning, since all the bugs have been worked out. If demik waits for Intel Core i8, he will have to pay more $$, and he will have to wait for BIOS updates to fix all of the problems with the new architecture, mobo's, RAM and drivers. Better to get i5 now, and be hassle free. That's my opinion.
@Demik: if nothing else, get that Seasonic deal Sniping mentioned. That is great deal on PSU. Get it now.
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True, but when the next best thing is literally 1-3 months.... waiting can be a very feasible plan. If you don't mind buying last gen, then buying it at the introduction of next gen within 3 months is more often than not the pricing sweet spot as most retailers make the best clearance prices to shift old stock before it becomes 'legacy' and the price starts going back up again.
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From everything I've read high end maxwell needs a process shrink and likely won't be showing up till q4 or q1 2015. I would recommend if you want a good experience on a budget you buy a used evga gfx card. I have a used 780 Classified that Cost me only 500 and it is solid at 1080 and just squeaking by at 1440. Otherwise if you want to stick with the 1000 dollar budget be prepared to dial down the settings even at 1080p and likely get frustrated enough that you'll be upgrading before long. (I tried putting together a minimal cost gaming rig for this thread but found that even my mininum gfx card the 2g 770 broke the budget.
I would recommend saving a little more and going for:
h87 itx board.
The 250d (or my preference the fractal node 304)
A seasonic 500-650 watt PSU. though You can go cheaper than seasonic, I've always had great experiences with their psu.
A 2gb 770. (Evga allows you to transfer the warranty so you can save some money here by buying used.)
A 256GB SSD. (I wouldnt bother with a HDD for a budget build one can be added easily later on.)
4570 CPU.
8GB Cheapest Gskill. (Something else you should be able to get used for a decent price.)
Then wait a few months after your wallet is recovered and spend 140 on a new cpu cooler and a 1tb or larger HDD.
EDIT: actually pc part picker shows this at 1091 for brand new parts. (MSI 770) You should be able to shave off that 90 dollars by buying the GPU used. That would be in your 1000 dollar budget. I highly recommend it.
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**** Corsair and that circlejerk, acquire Silverstone FT03.
The 250D has so much wasted space in it. And what's up with making it so that only the H100i is compatible with it? It's the same stupid proprietary Corsair BS that they insist on building into so many of their overprice products.
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**** Corsair and that circlejerk, acquire Silverstone FT03.
The 250D has so much wasted space in it. And what's up with making it so that only the H100i is compatible with it? It's the same stupid proprietary Corsair BS that they insist on building into so many of their overprice products.
you know, the FT03 was the case that got me interested in small builds.
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**** Corsair and that circlejerk, acquire Silverstone FT03.
The 250D has so much wasted space in it. And what's up with making it so that only the H100i is compatible with it? It's the same stupid proprietary Corsair BS that they insist on building into so many of their overprice products.
what?
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/01/21/corsair_obsidian_series_250d_miniitx_case_review/5#.Uz-j9lfPa1U
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**** Corsair and that circlejerk, acquire Silverstone FT03.
The 250D has so much wasted space in it. And what's up with making it so that only the H100i is compatible with it? It's the same stupid proprietary Corsair BS that they insist on building into so many of their overprice products.
what?
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/01/21/corsair_obsidian_series_250d_miniitx_case_review/5#.Uz-j9lfPa1U
120mm CLCs are pointless. From the review regarding proper 2x120mm rads:
"Thicker all-in-one cooling units such as the Corsair H105 and the Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme can be used but only with thin 120mm fans."
That negates the point of the nice thicker rad since thin fans do not have the static pressure for thicker, denser rads. There are some fantastic thin 120mm fans, but you'll get much worse performance out of your Water 2.0 Extreme with fans producing 0.85mmH2O than ones that can generate 2.0mmH2O. The Water 2.0 and 3.0 Extreme both readily trounce the H100i and don't have the crappy Link software. Corsair, of course, designed the case so better CLCs like those or the Glacer 240L and so that nice custom loops would not fit in the case.
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or just use a single rad all in one
" You can also easily mount any (thick or thin) 120mm / 140mm an all-in-one, self contained water cooling unit in the fan mounting location in the front of the chassis. There is enough room for dual and single fan configurations with plenty of room left over for your power supply cables."
my H80 performs the same as when i had an H100 with my GT-AP15
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or just use a single rad all in one
" You can also easily mount any (thick or thin) 120mm / 140mm an all-in-one, self contained water cooling unit in the fan mounting location in the front of the chassis. There is enough room for dual and single fan configurations with plenty of room left over for your power supply cables."
my H80 performs the same as when i had an H100 with my GT-AP15
Then you did something wrong, your H100 was a POS, or you were running at stock. Every reputable site and user on sites like OCN have the H80 pretty handily losing to the H100 and other better CLCs.
I just refuse to support companies that make it difficult if not impossible to use competing products with theirs. Corsair makes all their RAM with obscenely tall heat spreaders to try and get you to use a CLC, they make cases like the 250D that will not fit better CLCs like the Water 2.0 or 3.0 Extreme or Glacer 240L or even a custom loop, they make keyboards with non-standard cap sizes, and so on. I refuse to recommend something that is designed deliberately so that you have to buy their products.
And that's not even mentioning that Link was basically Alpha software when released and Corsair insists that the software has no issues at all.
you know, the FT03 was the case that got me interested in small builds.
Do it. Silverstone has some god-tier cases. Lian Li also has some amazing mITX cases.
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Those statements pretty much reflect my feeling in corsair cases. The Silverstone and fractal sff cases are some of my favorites. I have an sgo5, which incidentally would house your build very nicely, and be smaller than the 250d. It is a little harder to work in being so small. Also if you want to go Matx the sg10 is a great case, I think it's probably smaller than the 250d. I've actually got one I'd sell you for 50 +shipping of you want.
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Those statements pretty much reflect my feeling in corsair cases. The Silverstone and fractal sff cases are some of my favorites. I have an sgo5, which incidentally would house your build very nicely, and be smaller than the 250d. It is a little harder to work in being so small. Also if you want to go Matx the sg10 is a great case, I think it's probably smaller than the 250d. I've actually got one I'd sell you for 50 +shipping of you want.
Thats another case I've been a fan of. But it seems pretty difficult to work with.
So now I'm stuck between the 250D, FT03, and SG05.
Just saw the price of the ft03 lol no .
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Those statements pretty much reflect my feeling in corsair cases. The Silverstone and fractal sff cases are some of my favorites. I have an sgo5, which incidentally would house your build very nicely, and be smaller than the 250d. It is a little harder to work in being so small. Also if you want to go Matx the sg10 is a great case, I think it's probably smaller than the 250d. I've actually got one I'd sell you for 50 +shipping of you want.
Thats another case I've been a fan of. But it seems pretty difficult to work with.
So now I'm stuck between the 250D, FT03, and SG05.
Just saw the price of the ft03 lol no .
Sometimes you get what you pay for with cases. I guess it depends on how long you want keep it, where you keep it, how gentle you are with it. My home case is a Lian-Li v1100. It is about 9 years old now. It has seen 3 full system builds over the years. I've taken good care of it, it still looks amazing. I still think it is one of the best looking cases ever :)
I can't vouch for the ft03 though as I've never seen one in person - plus those plastic pieces have always made me nervous.
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Well I had my haf932 for 3-4 years now. I am in it for the long run.
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just a thought: have you considered an AMD APU?
I didn't see you mention which or what types of games you're aiming for. An APU would be "enough" for quite a lot of things... but i certainly wouldn't build an APU box for bf4. :P
That said; if you aren't aiming at anything highly resource intensive (like bf4), a little APU box might be a perfect mid-grade solution, while awaiting the shiny new whizbangs on the horizon, mentioned by ivan (and a good point that was). I wouldn't want to invest in a new rig with all that new tech on the horizon.
I also second the seasonic recommendations; they're almost always solid and reliable. Check this out (PSU manufacturers list). (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,2913.html) A lot of other PSU are based on either Delta or Seasonic designs, and many are actually made by either, rebranded, or use all the same parts but are assembled elsewhere.
As for cases... until i read in this thread that corsair has been using proprietary configuration tactics (reduce/eliminate compatibility with other brands' accessories!?), i would have given them my vote for best mass produced cases. I like their designs and looks (specifically the carbide 300R and the obsidian 900D), but i always prefer modular/moddability over being locked into any certain company's parts. Shame. I have a hard time finding cases i actually like, that aren't huge or expensive (or look like a plastic robot), which lead me to investigate what would be required to build my own... which probably won't happen anytime soon, if ever. I simply cannot seem to find a reasonable replacement/upgrade for my Lian-Li PC60b (aluminum, "plain," slide-out mobo tray, mid tower). Everything cheap is worse, everything better is too much.
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Well I had my haf932 for 3-4 years now. I am in it for the long run.
Anything is going to feel smaller than that.
As to the other cases versus the 250D, I looked at all of them before my build, but I never wanted to go CLC. I have always liked air cooling and the 250D gave me the most options for that route. I have built several Lian Li cases over the years and they were honestly my first choice, but I just couldn't find an ITX option that fit my needs. Most of their cases go the psu directly above the mobo route. The SG05 is a great case but forces you to use a SFX psu. I was looking at that new Aerocool ITX case, but after seeing one in person, would not recommend that POS to anyone. build quality reminds me of a mid eighties Chrystler.
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There's also the cubitek mini cube to consider.
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BTW if you go with Badwrench's build I recommend spending extra to get an R9 290. It's cheaper than a GTX 780 but is also faster than it, the MSI one is a solid choice.
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Spending the extra in a g-sync monitor would offer better experience for the money.
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Qnix, that is all.
But yeah, I've tried a G sync monitor before. eh. cool technology and numbers on paper but the qnix is a keeper :p
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Might consider the tj08 as well. Opens up your options a bit with micro atx.
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Qnix, that is all.
But yeah, I've tried a G sync monitor before. eh. cool technology and numbers on paper but the qnix is a keeper :p
Gsync is going to bring a lot more to the table in a pc of this budget. A 770 and a 1080p gsync panel will be godly. I own a crossover korean 1440p and will be replacing it with a gsync monitor as soon as they are available. Nothing else is worth value/cost that gsync provides. It's literally a game changer.
Also to the op, the sg10 is very hard to work in, but I feel like it would have gone better for me if I had of used a closed loop cooler rather than the largest heatsink known to man (I put an nhd14 in it and dual gpus...didn't work out quite that well.)
Tj08 is a solid choice but I feel like it might not be small enough for what the OP is going for.
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Eh, it makes no sense to me to get a Gsync monitor when there's a free open standard that will be replacing it and may also be compatible with current monitors that use Displayport. I'd rather get 1440p and wait for Freesync.
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Yeah I'd take 1440p IPS over a 1080p tn any day. Especially when the qnix does 120hz fairly easily.
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Freesync isn't actually a real thing. They demo'd a few laptop screens that supported variable vblank. Whereas with g-sync there are actual monitors soon to be released into the wild. Also, 1000 dollars isn't really good enough for 1440p. I've used a 770 at 1440p and the result was usable but i upgraded to a 780 within a month. Also the difference between an overclocked korean monitor and a native 120hz panel is like night an day when it comes to motion blur.
Anyway, for this budget, I would stick to 1080p.
I would invest in G-Sync because it is likely to be the only thing that will provide a significant increase in you gaming enjoyment at this price range.
Anyway this is purely my opinion, having made many systems with both vendors graphics cards both in the mid range and high end and having seen g-sync and overclocked korean panels. And also owning a korean panel. There's no need to devolve the thread into amd vs nvidia.
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Except it is a thing and has been accepted as a standard by VESA: http://www.hardware.fr/news/13640/amd-freesync-proposition-adoptee-par-vesa.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hardware%2Ffr%2Fnews+%28HardWare.fr+-+News%29
It should be on the market within the year.
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That's actually interesting. Though it doesn't change my G-Sync recommendation.
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A gsync monitor is still really expensive anyways right? I agree 1080p is where it's at for this budget.
Idk though my Korean monitor looks dang good at 120hz. I think the motion blur thing is bs. That's not really related to this build. Just my .02
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i could go slightly over budget (say, 1200) if need be, and peripherals are a different budget. again, i'm not looking to buy anything tomorrow or next week so budget could increase.
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As for cases... until i read in this thread that corsair has been using proprietary configuration tactics (reduce/eliminate compatibility with other brands' accessories!?), i would have given them my vote for best mass produced cases. I like their designs and looks (specifically the carbide 300R and the obsidian 900D), but i always prefer modular/moddability over being locked into any certain company's parts. Shame. I have a hard time finding cases i actually like, that aren't huge or expensive (or look like a plastic robot), which lead me to investigate what would be required to build my own... which probably won't happen anytime soon, if ever. I simply cannot seem to find a reasonable replacement/upgrade for my Lian-Li PC60b (aluminum, "plain," slide-out mobo tray, mid tower). Everything cheap is worse, everything better is too much.
Lian-Li PC60b is another great example of lian li cases lasting forever. I built my friend a system in one of those maybe about 12 years ago. When he got rid of it I took it and used it for my parents last system build. He put a few scratches on the side panels, but other than that it was in fantastic shape.
I mentioned this brand earlier in the thread, but have you (demik, ferociousfingerings, BadWrench) checked out caselabs? I believe you can completely disassemble them. I don't think there are any rivets in those things at all.
http://www.caselabs-store.com/mercury-s3-case/
That's their mini itx case. It looks bigger than most, but I think that's because they have room for a radiator? They're expensive though. It starts at $200 for the base case. If you're into big windows there's a stealth plate to mount an SSD out of sight. You have someone take it apart and powder coat it for you, and you'll end up with an $800 case with a $200 computer inside :)
I think the 250D is probably still the best bet for mini-itx unless
1) You want to spend a small fortune (caselabs)
2) You're fine with only having a stock or other small CPU cooler (lian li - PSU over mobo)
While there are a couple of silverstone cases I like, I've always been pretty meh about their cases in general.
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yeah, i love the look of that caselabs case but man, 200 bucks for case i won't fully utilize (since it's made for custom loops.. something i have zero knowledge of)
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or just use a single rad all in one
" You can also easily mount any (thick or thin) 120mm / 140mm an all-in-one, self contained water cooling unit in the fan mounting location in the front of the chassis. There is enough room for dual and single fan configurations with plenty of room left over for your power supply cables."
my H80 performs the same as when i had an H100 with my GT-AP15
Then you did something wrong, your H100 was a POS, or you were running at stock. Every reputable site and user on sites like OCN have the H80 pretty handily losing to the H100 and other better CLCs.
I just refuse to support companies that make it difficult if not impossible to use competing products with theirs. Corsair makes all their RAM with obscenely tall heat spreaders to try and get you to use a CLC, they make cases like the 250D that will not fit better CLCs like the Water 2.0 or 3.0 Extreme or Glacer 240L or even a custom loop, they make keyboards with non-standard cap sizes, and so on. I refuse to recommend something that is designed deliberately so that you have to buy their products.
And that's not even mentioning that Link was basically Alpha software when released and Corsair insists that the software has no issues at all.
you know, the FT03 was the case that got me interested in small builds.
Do it. Silverstone has some god-tier cases. Lian Li also has some amazing mITX cases.
when i said similar i mean like 2 degrees difference.
with my H100 i was running push/pull with 4 GT AP-15s, with my H80 i'm running 2 push/pull
maybe it was the 600T I was using b4 that didn't let me put the pull fans right on the radiator and had to mount it above the mount grill.
Either way I went with the H80 because its just easier for positioning without having to worry about space compatibility for push/pull as much.
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I've got an antec khuler 620. Which was probably the cheapest AIO liquid cooler you could buy, and it handles my 2500k at 4ghz inside the sugo sg05. Since you aren't overclocking you really don't need a crazy cooler. You could easily use the stock cooler for a while in order to save cash.
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Evga Hadron ftw.
My favourite mitx case, and the it's the one I use for my build.