Spec Help - Red/Black Build

XplosiveHamster · 27 Jul 2014 at 12:43

Looking to finally choose some parts and do my first PC build, any speccers kind enough to help out?

Budget £2,000 including everything except keyboard/mouse/speakers, if possible include:
-1440p Monitor
-Red/Black colour scheme
-Windows OS
-NZXT 440 Case
-External DVD Drive
-Motherboard with decent onboard sound
- & Everything else

The PC will most likely be on 24/7 so coolness/quietness is a main priority, Gaming wise it'll be 1440p on mostly games like Skyrim, Civ 5, CoD and Bioshock,

It'll be my first PC build so if any components are easier to install and/or more reliable it would be appreciated, I won't be overclocking the CPU (at least not in the near future)

If there are good deals on this week I'm happy to buy half the components now and then wait till next week to finish off the purchases

ExRayTed · 27 Jul 2014 at 12:58

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 780Ti DirectCUII OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £499.99
1 x Asus PB278Q 27" Professional LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £479.99
1 x Asus Maximus VII Ranger - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£34 Saving** £375.94
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £104.99
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova NEX 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £69.95
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/8-OC) £67.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD20EZRX) HDD £62.98
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £60.00
1 x LG GP50NB40 8x Slim External DVD-RW Retail Kit (Black) £26.99
Total : £1,945.43 (includes shipping : £22.20).

Fallen god · 27 Jul 2014 at 13:41

I would go with something like this, got a bigger PSU so you can get a 2nd card in the future if you need, and bling'd it up a bit.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £499.99
1 x Asus PB278Q 27" Professional LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £479.99
1 x Asus Maximus VII Ranger - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£34 Saving** £375.94
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Intel 335 Series 20nm 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail (SSDSC2CT240A4K5) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/8-OC) £67.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £60.00
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £41.98
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
1 x NZXT CB-LED20-RD 24x Red LED Sleeve - 2m £13.99
2 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Single Pack (CO-9050005-WW) £11.99 (£23.98)
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 : £1,986.82 (includes shipping : £22.20).

lee32uk · 27 Jul 2014 at 14:08

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus PB278Q 27" Professional LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £479.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £361.98
2 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99 (£539.98)
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £104.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX18C9T3K2/8X) £67.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £60
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £41.98
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
1 x SilverStone ATX 24-pin cable, 30 cm - Black / Red £8.93
2 x BitFenix Alchemy 6+2-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved red/black £5.99 (£11.98)
2 x BitFenix Alchemy 6+2-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved black/black £5.99 (£11.98)
1 x Silverstone EPS 8-pin to EPS / ATX 4 +4 pin cable 30 cm - Black / Red £4.24
Total : £2,012.57 (includes shipping : £22.20).

XplosiveHamster · 27 Jul 2014 at 14:27

Cheers for the specs so far guys, couple of questions

Heard the Gigabyte 780ti is a pretty hefty GPU, will it fit in the case without restricting too much airflow?

Also @Lee I'm not sure how well 2x290s would do in terms of temperature, do you know anyone who has a similar set up?

Hadn't really heard much about the Antec cooler you all used either, is it on par/better than the H100i?

stulid · 27 Jul 2014 at 15:01

YOUR BASKET
1 x EPIC POWER BUNDLE: Intel 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7, Kingston 16GB 2400MHz Kit, Superflower 1000W Platinum PSU & FREE STUFF!! **£50 SAVING** £631.92
1 x AOC Q2770PQU 27" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £379.99
2 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99 (£539.98)
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £104.99
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £60.00
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.98
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
Total : £1,978.46 (includes shipping : £22.20).

Check that bundle out,

4 year warranty on the board, 16GB RAM, great PSU and free stuff.

The H100i has issues with Win8.1 such as missing fan control or pinl LED on start up.

XplosiveHamster · 27 Jul 2014 at 15:10

That bundle looks solid

How would a single one of those 290s perform at 1440p? Would prefer a single card set up if it will still hold it's own at that resolution

stulid · 27 Jul 2014 at 15:17

A single 290 or 290X plays 1440P just fine.

It can run BF4 at max settings for example.

Nickolp1974 · 27 Jul 2014 at 15:37

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus ROG Swift PG278Q 27" G-Sync 144Hz Gaming Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black/Red £695.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 780Ti DirectCUII OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £499.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Asus Maximus VII Ranger Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £129.95
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £104.99
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Avexir Blitz 1.1 Original 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001004G-2BZ1) £89.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 750W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Raijintek Nemesis Dual Element Extreme CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x LG GP50NB40 8x Slim External DVD-RW Retail Kit (Black) £26.99
Total : £2,034.84 (includes shipping : ).

XplosiveHamster · 27 Jul 2014 at 16:35

Strongly considering the below from OCUK:

YOUR BASKET
1 x EPIC POWER BUNDLE: Intel 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7, Kingston 16GB 2400MHz Kit, Superflower 1000W Platinum PSU & FREE STUFF!! **£50 SAVING** £631.92
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £60.00
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
Total : £1,095.38 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Can pick up a SSD much cheaper elsewhere + can get the student discount on Win8.1 from source

Anyone reccomend a specific 3TB+ Internal Hard Drive? 1TB will get used up pretty quick so may aswell have the extra head room

As for the monitor I'll stick to 1080p for now, may aswell wait until freesync (no idea on time frames) or the price of 1440p to drop a little further

If anyone has any input or changes/reccomendations just chip in!

Edit: oh, could someone reccomend some good fans for either the case or cooler if they make much difference to noise/temps? If the default ones are already good that's fine too

stulid · 27 Jul 2014 at 17:47

Use the supplied fans and see if you are happy with them.

Fallen god · 27 Jul 2014 at 19:26

The SP120 are a bit quiet and they look nice, so in your theme'd build for example you can use the red band on the cooler.

Tohrazer · 27 Jul 2014 at 19:44

Fallen god said:
I would go with something like this, got a bigger PSU so you can get a 2nd card in the future if you need, and bling'd it up a bit.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £499.99
1 x Asus PB278Q 27" Professional LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £479.99
1 x Asus Maximus VII Ranger - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£34 Saving** £375.94
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Intel 335 Series 20nm 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail (SSDSC2CT240A4K5) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/8-OC) £67.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £60.00
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £41.98
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
1 x NZXT CB-LED20-RD 24x Red LED Sleeve - 2m £13.99
2 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Single Pack (CO-9050005-WW) £11.99 (£23.98)
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 : £1,986.82 (includes shipping : £22.20).

looks like a great build! ^ but id get a kraken/corsair water cooler personally as im unfamiliar with antec's offerings

XplosiveHamster · 28 Jul 2014 at 14:19

XplosiveHamster said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x EPIC POWER BUNDLE: Intel 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7, Kingston 16GB 2400MHz Kit, Superflower 1000W Platinum PSU & FREE STUFF!! **£50 SAVING** £631.92
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £60.00
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
Total : £1,095.38 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Ended up buying this lot + a 4tb seagate mech drive, 250gb samsung evo SSD and some speakers. Should be a pretty good starting point and can always add another 290 or upgrade the GPU in a couple of years, hopefully everything else will still be going strong

Will try and take some photos to update this next week if the build goes to plan (or end up asking many more questions if it doesn't

)

Thanks for the help Stulid, Lee, Fallen & Ted!

ExRayTed · 28 Jul 2014 at 20:02

Good choices and good luck