1st build check

jackpeters125 · 6 Apr 2014 at 18:40

Hi all. I'm looking at building up my first machine.

Been looking to get a new machine at some point and as my laptops are getting on and I don't want to buy a PS4 I figured a small PC would be a good way to go.

So essentially I want casual gaming machine that I can build on and grow as my needs do.

I already have the RAM below (for some reason) and I Crucial M4 SSD in my laptop to use. Everything else is below.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions on whether it will fit etc!! Thanks

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 660 FTW ACX 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-3063-KR) £149.99
1 x Asus Z87M-PLUS Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £94.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £67.99
1 x Corsair CS550M 550W Semi-Modular 80+ GOLD Certified Power Supply (CP-9020076-UK) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
Total : £697.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).

tamzzy · 6 Apr 2014 at 18:47

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 280 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Zalman Z3-Plus Midi-Tower - White £39.95
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 450W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £39.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £627.40 (includes shipping : £8.00).

add your ram and ssd to the build

dacads · 6 Apr 2014 at 20:19

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 280 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x MSI Z87M Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £101.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £47.99
Total : £666.28 (includes shipping : £17.85).

thel33ter · 6 Apr 2014 at 20:51

I'm liking tamzzys build, but with a ~700w power supply so you can crossfire down the line if you want to.

t31os · 6 Apr 2014 at 21:58

Do you intend to overclock and what resolution are you going to be running?

honosuseri · 7 Apr 2014 at 09:29

thel33ter said:
I'm liking tamzzys build, but with a ~700w power supply so you can crossfire down the line if you want to.

The entry level Z series mobos don't run the PCI-E lanes in sync, so whilst it says it does Xfire it's not really worth it.

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 280 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £67.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy M MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £65.52
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 500W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (SST-ST50F-P) £59.99
Total : £710.52 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Tried to tweak it to help pay for the better GPU and keep the small form factor. The PSU might need a different "kettle lead" to fit our wall sockets (check with customer services) but it is fully modular which is nice.

CrixxzeH · 7 Apr 2014 at 09:58

honosuseri said:
The entry level Z series mobos don't run the PCI-E lanes in sync, so whilst it says it does Xfire it's not really worth it.

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 280 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £67.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy M MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £65.52
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 500W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (SST-ST50F-P) £59.99
Total : £710.52 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Tried to tweak it to help pay for the better GPU and keep the small form factor. The PSU might need a different "kettle lead" to fit our wall sockets (check with customer services) but it is fully modular which is nice.

+1

jackpeters125 · 7 Apr 2014 at 17:23

Thanks guys.

I'm not to fussed about SLI/Crossfire but want to be able to overclock. Not sure on a resolution at the mo. Thinking 22-24" monitor no bigger but yet to find one at the mo.

altrewin · 7 Apr 2014 at 17:29

Adjustments!
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 280 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £53.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £47.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
Total : £721.26 (includes shipping : £17.85).

______
Could come back into budget if you get your post count up for free shipping

thel33ter · 7 Apr 2014 at 18:42

That'll be about 1080p I assume then, so yea, a 280 would be perfect for that, the build above is excellent imo.

stulid · 7 Apr 2014 at 18:44

altrewin said:
Adjustments!
YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D Radeon R9 280 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £53.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £47.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
Total : £721.26 (includes shipping : £17.85).

______
Could come back into budget if you get your post count up for free shipping

Nice.

But its less without the RAM which is not needed.

You could then fit a 280X in the spec for a nice boost.

honosuseri · 7 Apr 2014 at 20:42

jackpeters125 said:
Thanks guys.

I'm not to fussed about SLI/Crossfire but want to be able to overclock. Not sure on a resolution at the mo. Thinking 22-24" monitor no bigger but yet to find one at the mo.

Welcome, I too enjoy seeing the different ways we can balance things out

You can use THIS to get an idea of what the GPUs can do. A 280 is basically a 7950, the 280X is the rebadged 7970Ghz essentially.

If you want to overclock then you really do need to add an aftermarket cooler, unless you have one or a planning on adding the more expensive AIO with a radiator later. All the best with it, we look forward to seeing what you settle on in the end

P.S Have you upgraded your M4 SSD firmware?