£1000+ Gaming Rig - Spec Check

Hoodleader · 22 May 2014 at 11:36

Hi All,

I am going to be building a new system for a friend. I tried to Tell him to wait for june for the new cpu refresh. However he really wants to get his gaming rig going now so I have specced out a rig for him.

His max budget is £1200. He will use it purely for gaming, and wants a red and black theme. I think I may have hit this build on its head but if you guys have any more suggestions / thoughts before I pull the trigger your more than welcome to say

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £104.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Corsair Obsidian 450D High Airflow Mid-Tower Case (CC-9011049-WW) £91.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88.00
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2B2133C9R) £59.99
1 x Corsair Fan, SP120 PWM High Pressure Fan 4 pin, Dual Pack (CO-9050014-WW) £25.00
1 x Corsair AF140 Quiet Series Low Noise High Airflow - Single Pack (CO-9050009-WW) £14.99
1 x Akasa "Vegas" White LED strip light - 60cm £8.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24Pin ATX Extension 30cm - sleeved black/red/black £7.49
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 6pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved black/red/black £5.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved black/red/black £5.95
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8Pin EPS12V Extension 45cm - sleeved black/red/black £4.99
Total : £1,185.88 (includes shipping : £8.00).

What do you guys think?

dacads · 22 May 2014 at 11:43

Nice one mate the only changes I can suggest are the following:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290X Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £399.95
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/8-OC) £67.99
Total : £477.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

This GPU has a much better cooler than the reference one so will be cooler and quieter. Also chosen some different RAM which imo looks better

ExRayTed · 22 May 2014 at 11:48

The 290X is not good value and the one you've chosen (OP) has a frankly awful cooler that will almost certainly lead to throttling. Can I ask what resolution / hz he'll be gaming at?

Hoodleader · 22 May 2014 at 11:59

@dacads
Thanks for the suggestion, I did hesitate at the GPU. Though I think a more powerful 290x would put him over budget. Maybe a 280x?

@ExRayTed
He will be gaming on a 1080p 144hz monitor

dacads · 22 May 2014 at 12:06

You could cut down on the watercooler and fans and go with an air cooler?

dfour · 22 May 2014 at 12:29

What about cutting the 290X down to a regular 290 like

MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition £335:99

Cheaper than the stock 290X with 90%+ of the 'X' performance and much cooler and quieter.

Also the 850 psu is a bit OTT unless hes planning dual GPU in the future.

Ethermaster · 22 May 2014 at 12:31

I will pop by later and give this ago (if Doomedspeed doesn't beat me to it!).

WARNING: Ethermaster doesn't stick to budgets very well

Hoodleader · 22 May 2014 at 12:33

@dfour - I was thinking about that, maybe going for the Gigabyte with the extra core for the same price.

@Ethermaster - Thank you

I look forward to seeing what you guys can spec out

Doomedspeed · 22 May 2014 at 12:37

This is a spec, VERY VERY VERY similar to what you specced, that I did yesterday.

Doomedspeed said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £319.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x Seasonic M12II EVO Edition 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply £89.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88.00
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2B2133C9R) £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Corsair SP120 Performance Series High Pressure - Dual Pack (CO-9050008-WW) £22.00
1 x Corsair AF120 Performance Series Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050004-WW) £22.00
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
1 x Asus USB-N13 300Mbps Wireless Adapter £19.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - Red £8.99
2 x BitFenix Alchemy 6+2-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved red/black £5.99 (£11.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - Red £5.99
Total : £1,225.72 (includes shipping : £19.10).

Does he need a HDD, OD and wireless?

You could probably fit in a 450D if he prefers that case.

The Gaming 5 is well worth the extra few £'s.

Ethermaster said:
WARNING: Ethermaster doesn't stick to budgets very well

Well that's an understatement.

Ethermaster · 22 May 2014 at 12:38

Cheers for the edit there Doomedspeed

stulid · 22 May 2014 at 12:40

Why is the gaming 5 worth the extra? The gaming 3 comes with a free £32 set of Corsair gaming headset.

The H100i when used with Win8.1 is a bit of a mare. The H105 or the Antec jobbie are easier to set up and work.

pipson · 22 May 2014 at 12:40

Id stick with the ronin over the 450d - 450d not worth the extra £30 over the ronin

Hoodleader · 22 May 2014 at 12:42

Doomedspeed said:
This is a spec, VERY VERY VERY similar to what you specced, that I did yesterday.

Does he need a HDD, OD and wireless?

You could probably fit in a 450D if he prefers that case.

The Gaming 5 is well worth the extra few £'s.

Well that's an understatement.

He has a keyboard, mouse, spare 1tb hdd and windows 7. That spec is very similar, I gather the gaming 5 doesn't come with the free headset? but if it is worth the extra...

Case wise he left that up to me, after running through many I think he really liked the 450D

**Edit** Haha you guys beat me to it, I will get him to check out the ronin. For it being cheaper that extra could go somewhere else

Doomedspeed · 22 May 2014 at 12:46

stulid said:
Why is the gaming 5 worth the extra? The gaming 3 comes with a free £32 set of Corsair gaming headset.

The H100i when used with Win8.1 is a bit of a mare. The H105 or the Antec jobbie are easier to set up and work.

Darn, missed the free stuff, as a motherboard is it, as a motherboard vs motherboard/headset, it isn't. Well said lads.

Hoodleader · 22 May 2014 at 12:56

Doomedspeed said:
Darn, missed the free stuff, as a motherboard is it, as a motherboard vs motherboard/headset, it isn't. Well said lads.

Cool will stick with the gaming 3.

I was thinking of adding this graphics card to the build

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-133-GI

dfour · 22 May 2014 at 13:27

The windforce woud be a good card as I only speccd the msi beceause of the colour scheme.

Doomedspeed · 22 May 2014 at 13:29

Hoodleader said:
Cool will stick with the gaming 3.

I was thinking of adding this graphics card to the build

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-133-GI

Great card but for the money I think the Powercolour is better.

dacads · 22 May 2014 at 14:39

Hoodleader said:
Cool will stick with the gaming 3.

I was thinking of adding this graphics card to the build

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-133-GI

Why not MSI or Asus? They have a hint of red on the coolers

Core isn't a problem it's easy to OC it yourself.

Hoodleader · 22 May 2014 at 15:49

Well this is a dilemma..... lol

Out of the 290's which is better value for money on the performance you are getting?

I am thinking the Powercolour

Doomedspeed · 22 May 2014 at 15:52

Hoodleader said:
I am thinking the Powercolour

Same here.