New £1400 Rig

Associate
Joined
2 Jan 2014
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31
Location
London
Hello Everyone!

Long time surfer, first time poster

I'd like to start by thanking all the hardcore users of this forum for all the advice I have received over the last few years - seriously, you'd normally have to pay for such a service!

Right, below I have collated a list of parts I think would be more or less the best I could get for my money. To be honest, nowadays, I only really use my PC for casual surfing (albeit window heavy) and a fair bit of gaming (BF4 mainly at present). That said, I do tend to do a bit of 3D work on the side - mainly 3DS Max - though render times are not a primary issue as it is more to hone my techniques than to produce anything anywhere near commercial level.

Truth be told I have become distinctly disillusioned with the console market and thought I'd treat myself to a beast of a PC that will hold up for a significant amount of time, with OCing potential. I also wanted a tidy looking Machine, in keeping with a red and black theme so please, take a look below and see what you think. In terms of monitors, I am looking to replace my old 1080p acer with a 2560x1440 in the near future, but am currently running my old build with the acer as well as a 32" samsung 1080p tv

I would really appreciate even the slightest bit of criticism/advice, here goes;

Coolermaster HAF X Gaming Tower Case
Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI HERO Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor
Antec High Current Gamer 850W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21330904G-2CIR) - Red Light
Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD

Note I have added a larger PSU to potentially accommodate a Crossfire setup in the near future

What do you think?
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Feb 2011
Posts
5,849
+1 for an MSI G45, i hear ya on the Gigabyte (Just RMA'd mine actually) but for a Red / Black theme in this budget it gives you room to maneuver elsewhere. H110 is decent for a Haswell but i'd be tempted to save a few pennies and opt for a Phantek in Red, 16gb could be overkill also, i know he states 3D Rendering and the mem will help here, but if hes more enthusiast than pro, and as he states doesnt mind waiting times, the extra cash saved on ram can be plowed elsewhere too.

I'd go for a Corsair 540 Case also.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £379.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Black (CC-9011030-WW) £129.95
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £124.99
1 x Be Quiet Power Zone 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £71.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Red £69.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £65.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Cable Bundle - Red £28.45
Total : £1,412.69 (includes shipping : £17.85).

 
Associate
OP
Joined
2 Jan 2014
Posts
31
Location
London
Will definitely consider the gigabyte mobo, have read a lot of mixed reviews about the MSI, though on paper its a solid enough board (and I could potentially put the 40 quid saved into somewhere else). Any particular reason everyone would drop the Hero though?

Regarding the gtx 780 I do not use iRay for rendering and therefore don't really benefit from CUDA. To be honest I am more interested in Mantle, and how it will effect my gaming experience - i.e. am more into playing than developing - though would it be even better to wait a month or so for the 800 series or more aftermarket 290's?

Meant to post the EVO SSD not the PRO, but thanks for pointing that one out ;)

Regarding the PSU, would 1000W not be a bit overkill even when I crossfire the card?

Have heard nothing but good things regarding the CM Case (bar the heatsink mount inaccessibility) yet all the suggestions would drop it - assume I'm getting suckered into it by its aesthetics and the aforementioned are much better cases for the money or is there not a lot of difference in it?
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Feb 2011
Posts
5,849
HAFX used to be the king of air cooled cases i think, but thats kinda changed now with the Corsair 540 Air, most people tend to favour it now for air builds or builds in general as its got immense airflow, unique looks and great features.
 
Soldato
Soldato
Joined
26 Oct 2013
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9,715
Location
Leicester
I also prefer to go for Gigabyte, solid build quality with (As doomed said) UK RMA and brilliant BIOS/Overclocking features etc.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
2 Jan 2014
Posts
31
Location
London
Just wanted to say thanks a lot for all your input boys and girls, sods law my car broke down this afternoon so needless to say I have to wait until payday at the end of the month :(

Anyway it looks like this is going to be my build...

YOUR BASKET

1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £379.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £249.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £163.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 1000W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £139.99
1 x Cooler Master HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942) £129.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21330904G-2CIR) - Red Light £79.99
1 x Toshiba 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA200) HDD £59.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H110 280mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060014-WW) £94.99

Total : £1,498.99 (includes shipping : £12.50).


Alright now I know I said 1400 pound build but since I have to wait till the end of the month now anyway... haha

As much as I can see that the Corsair Carbide is the better case, I am in love with the HAF

Regarding the PSU I will be updating RAM and will add another GPU in the near future, but really want this build to last so SuperFlower may well be the way to go
 
Associate
Joined
13 Mar 2010
Posts
1,787
out of interest why are you guys speccing the 1100 over the 100i ?
if he gets the 100i he can change the led on it to red to match the build :p and also he has the i link software for fan speeds/temps etc.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Feb 2011
Posts
5,849
If your going for a 280mm AIO like the H110 then your probably better with the NZXT Kraken G60, but as people are pointing out, your case might not support it.

H100i is probably the way to go for a 240mm AIO. And you can control the unit via the supplied software and USB link, the H110 you cant, the NZXT can though/
 
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