£800 Gaming PC. Review please?

[Raw Berserker]

Hey there everybody. I've been thinking for a long time that it's time to get a PC and have finally come up with a build The only problem is that I don't know if it's as optimal as it could be for my budget.

Here is a list of my parts (NOTE the prices are approximates):

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£160)

Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard (£110)

GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 770 Twin Frozr Gaming Edition Graphics Card - 2GB (£230)

RAM: TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (£55)

Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25)

PSU: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£55)

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35)

SSD: Sandisk SDSSDHP-256gb-G25 (£85)

Case: Aerocool V3X Advance Devil Red Edition Midi-Tower - Black/Red (£25)

The total came up to around £805, which is not bad in my opinion since it's just £5 over.

I also have some questions about some components.
First off, is it worth getting a Z97 rather than a possibly cheaper Z87 motherboard, since I hear there is not much of a change between them.
Secondly, is the GPU I chose reliable and consistent or should I pick out a different one.
Thirdly, is the RAM I picked out reliable since people are saying that they haven't heard of TeamGroup but others say it is good.
And lastly, is the case I picked out good enough to support the parts I picked out because I cannot find ANY reviews on it (at least in English).

That's about it and I hope to get a quick response as I would like to order before the month is up.
Thanks in advance!!

 

[ShivP]

I'd go for something like this instead;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 280X TurboDUO 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £159.95
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £119.98
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £104.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £55.99
1 x Avexir Core White Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CIW) - White Light £49.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
1 x BitFenix Neos ATX Tower Black/Gold £29.99
Total : £830.45 (includes shipping : £8.00).




Drop the SSD to 128gb to be under budget.

 

[Raw Berserker]

Drop the SSD to 128gb to be under budget.

I don't think I am willing to do that because the OS will take quite a big chunk of it and I would still like space to install some hefty games onto it. But I have a quick question about the RAM since I haven't heard of that manufacturer before, is it reliable and do they have a good RMA system? Also what is the main difference in getting a 1600MHz RAM rather than 2400MHz

 

[tamzzy]

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £299.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £69.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £804.30 (includes shipping : £17.85).



800 quid with a radeon 290
the compromises made were: dropped the ssd to 120gb and no aftermarket cooler
these can be added/upgraded later on at little cost later, so i think it's a very decent tradeoff to get a beast of a gpu in the spec

 

[dacads]

I don't think I am willing to do that because the OS will take quite a big chunk of it and I would still like space to install some hefty games onto it. But I have a quick question about the RAM since I haven't heard of that manufacturer before, is it reliable and do they have a good RMA system? Also what is the main difference in getting a 1600MHz RAM rather than 2400MHz

Yeah 250GB is a good idea because 120GB will run out fast! Yes TeamGroup is reliable I believe RMA is overseas but haven't heard much about it which implies their RAM is reliable Of the little info there is regarding RMA I have only found it states their service is great. There's not much difference between 1600 and 2400MHz but might as well go with the faster speed if it's the same price

 

[Baboonanza]

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £299.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £69.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £804.30 (includes shipping : £17.85).



800 quid with a radeon 290
the compromises made were: dropped the ssd to 120gb and no aftermarket cooler
these can be added/upgraded later on at little cost later, so i think it's a very decent tradeoff to get a beast of a gpu in the spec

That is a damn good spec for £800. If it were me I would definitely remove the 1TB HD and up the SSD to a 250GB model. Adding an extra HDD later is trivially easy and it's better to have a larger primary drive to begin with IMO.

 

[tamzzy]

I would definitely remove the 1TB HD and up the SSD to a 250GB model. Adding an extra HDD later is trivially easy and it's better to have a larger primary drive to begin with IMO.

good call. i've been suggesting exactly that in some of my recent specs, just didnt come into my mind this time lol
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £299.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £159.95
1 x Crucial M500 240GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (CT240M500SSD1) £79.9
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £796.15 (includes shipping : £17.85).



changed it a bit
went with a 240 gb m500 (out of stock at the moment though)
and a oem cpu with an aftermarket cooler
chucked in an optical drive for good measure (remove if you dont need lol)
total comes in at sub 800

so the only thing that you might need in the future is a hdd for storage

 

[dacads]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 280X TurboDUO 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £119.98
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 600W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (SST-ST60F-P) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x BitFenix Neos ATX Tower Black/Black £29.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £811.44 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 

[Raw Berserker]

good call. i've been suggesting exactly that in some of my recent specs, just didnt come into my mind this time lol
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (VXR9 290 4GBD5-DHX) £299.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £159.95
1 x Crucial M500 240GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (CT240M500SSD1) £79.9
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £796.15 (includes shipping : £17.85).



changed it a bit
went with a 240 gb m500 (out of stock at the moment though)
and a oem cpu with an aftermarket cooler
chucked in an optical drive for good measure (remove if you dont need lol)
total comes in at sub 800

so the only thing that you might need in the future is a hdd for storage

That does look really good. Could you however enlighten me on my original case choice (Aerocool V3X) if it's good enough, since I can't find reviews in English, and if it IS good enough, then I see why I won't spend the £7 on something else, like maybe a bigger PSU. Also why would this Motherboard that you picked out be much cheaper than mine? And lastly, I haven't heard of Raijintek before and would like to know if you could give me a mini-review on the cooler.

 

[tamzzy]

Could you however enlighten me on my original case choice (Aerocool V3X) if it's good enough, since I can't find reviews in English,

tbh, no idea about the v3x. i pick the xigmateck asgard pro case because it is my personal no-frills case that i pick for specs. has a usb3 port, 2 fans and reasonably well built. of course case is your personal preference so you should pick what you like and are comfortable with. you're the one buying after all lol

then I see why I won't spend the £7 on something else, like maybe a bigger PSU.

pointless. a 550w psu is more than sufficient for this spec. the mobo doesnt support dual gpu, so anything bigger than a 550w psu is kinda wasted

Also why would this Motherboard that you picked out be much cheaper than mine?

it's cheaper because it's a no-frills motherboard. eg it doesn't have sli capability. i used the savings from that to bump up the gpu to a radeon 290
gigabyte are a reputable brand and their rma centre is uk based so, no problems on that part (not saying that you will though ;p)

And lastly, I haven't heard of Raijintek before and would like to know if you could give me a mini-review on the cooler.

raijintek are not well known, but they use oem coolers. the thermis is essentially a cm 212 evo

 

[stulid]

raijintek are not well known, but they use oem coolers. the thermis is essentially a cm 212 evo

This is not correct.

 

[tamzzy]

haha so it isnt. weird i always had it in my head they were similar o.0
maybe its just me (as usual)

 

[Piesanfries]

This is not correct.

Is the referenced cooler of a decent standard? seems too good to be true a £19.99 cooler can keep an over clocked 4670 a decent temp! I might look into one.

 

[stulid]

The stock cooler is designed for a specific job of keeping the CPU cool at stock speeds as Intel state.

If you want to overclock the CPU then a aftermarket cooler would be well advised as it will keep the CPU cooler (larger surface area) and run quieter (bigger fan).

You wont be breaking any world record overclocks with the Z97P-D3 board so I would imagine the Rajintek to be ample.

 

[Raw Berserker]

it's cheaper because it's a no-frills motherboard. eg it doesn't have sli capability. i used the savings from that to bump up the gpu to a radeon 290
gigabyte are a reputable brand and their rma centre is uk based so, no problems on that part (not saying that you will though ;p)

What you said here has put me off since (and I should have told you and am sorry for not telling you) I would like to SLI/Crossfire in the future. I am more than happy to buy the GTX770 rather than the Radeon 290 for £70 less and put that into the Motherboard and PSU.

 

[stulid]

The Gaming 3 as in post#2 does SLI and comes with a free £30 Corsair gaming headset while stocks last.

 

[Raw Berserker]

The Gaming 3 as in post#2 does SLI and comes with a free £30 Corsair gaming headset while stocks last.

Quick question. How is the Gigabyte Gaming 3 in comparison with the MSI Gaming 5? If there is no significant difference then I don't see why I won't go for the one with free headphones

 

[stulid]

Quick question. How is the Gigabyte Gaming 3 in comparison with the MSI Gaming 5? If there is no significant difference then I don't see why I won't go for the one with free headphones

Struggling to see any noticeable difference, both have the same sound chip, both have killer NIC, The Gigabyte has a 4 year warranty if you register it within 30days the MSI is 3 years.

 

[tamzzy]

What you said here has put me off since (and I should have told you and am sorry for not telling you) I would like to SLI/Crossfire in the future. I am more than happy to buy the GTX770 rather than the Radeon 290 for £70 less and put that into the Motherboard and PSU.

the problem is (well, not really a problem), to take advantage of sli, you should be looking at getting a 4770k rather than a 4670k and also you'll need a beefier psu to run the 2nd gpu
you'll also need a good case to chuck out all that heat the dual gpus will be producing
of course you can change the cpu and psu later down the line, but you'll lose out on depreciation costs selling 2nd hand parts and the total cost will essentially be more than if you would have just got it outright in the first place

ie, i'd be looking at ~1k builds eg this:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £251.99
1 x Asus Radeon R9 280X DirectCUII OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 530 Full Tower Gaming Case - White £97.99
1 x Seasonic M12II EVO Edition 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply £89.99
1 x Crucial M500 240GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (CT240M500SSD1) £85.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Red 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EFRX - OEM HDD £49.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Evo Professional CPU Cooler £27.95
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £1,055.98 (includes shipping : £20.10).



well ventilated case
4770k + beefier cooler for better overclocks
dual gpu capable mobo
850w psu
280x
all matched in red ;p

 

[Raw Berserker]

the problem is (well, not really a problem), to take advantage of sli, you should be looking at getting a 4770k rather than a 4670k and also you'll need a beefier psu to run the 2nd gpu
you'll also need a good case to chuck out all that heat the dual gpus will be producing
of course you can change the cpu and psu later down the line, but you'll lose out on depreciation costs selling 2nd hand parts and the total cost will essentially be more than if you would have just got it outright in the first place

ie, i'd be looking at ~1k builds eg this:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £251.99
1 x Asus Radeon R9 280X DirectCUII OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 530 Full Tower Gaming Case - White £97.99
1 x Seasonic M12II EVO Edition 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply £89.99
1 x Crucial M500 240GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (CT240M500SSD1) £85.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Red 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EFRX - OEM HDD £49.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Evo Professional CPU Cooler £27.95
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £1,055.98 (includes shipping : £20.10).



well ventilated case
4770k + beefier cooler for better overclocks
dual gpu capable mobo
850w psu
280x
all matched in red ;p

As much as I would love to have this build, it is damn near impossible for me to get. I suppose I may just stick with the original idea and forget SLI/Crossfire for now and maybe try again in a few years when I actually get some proper income.

Now I have a quick couple of questions. How is Raijintek RMA and is it worth it getting the Gaming 3 with the headset instead of the Gaming 5 for the same price?