£1050 Build - Can you make it cheaper?

zipper_redwood

zipper_redwood

zipper_redwood

Associate
Joined
28 Mar 2013
Posts
133
Hi all

I've now come to a point where I need a new PC for my home office. So, whilst I could spend around £500 on a basic PC which would be near useless at gaming and have no future upgrade path, I've decided to invest in something slightly higher end.

This is my attempt.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with FREE GAMES £189.95
1 x Asus VN247H 24"Widescreen Super Narrow Bezel LED Monitor - Black £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £131.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £74.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £74.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2666HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £61.99
Total : £1,082.70 (includes shipping : £23.20).



So here's the challenge... Can you improve or maintain the performance of this spec whilst decreasing price?

Here is what I need / would like

  1. Haswell build
  2. Future cross-fire potential
  3. Able to handle dual monitors
  4. Able to play games like Rome 2 on high settings
  5. Able to handle Battlefield 4 on high(ish) settings

I will run the trial version of Windows 8, so do not need an OS. I do require that monitor to remain in the spec.

I'm looking to order this at the end of the month so any help is greatly appreciated :)
 
Prices will fluctuate by the time you order fella so no spec we do now is set in stone.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II OC Gamer 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **FREE SHIPPING** £197.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Iiyama Prolite E2481HS-B1 24" Widescreen LED Super Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £143.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £131.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £85.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £74.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £74.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 330R Silent Mid Tower Case - Black £74.95
1 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G186C9K) £65.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £41.99
Total : £1,090.85 (includes shipping : FREE).



Yes it's more money but I included the H100 cooler simply to show the soundproofed 330R can take one :) The 670 knocks the P&P off which helps, the panel is a cheaper alternative it still has a HDMI port and speakers with a 2ms response rate.

Best of luck with the build fella I look forward to seeing what you get at the end of the month :)
 
Very strong build, apart from the mobo's above and maybe the monitor I cant think of anything that will save money and retain performance.
 
The Free P&P offer on that GPU will probably be gone by the time he orders, so it's likely he'd be better off with the 7950.

Realistically it's best if you ask us again the day before you order, as offers/prices will probably be different.
 
Potty27 said:
The Free P&P offer on that GPU will probably be gone by the time he orders, so it's likely he'd be better off with the 7950.

Realistically it's best if you ask us again the day before you order, as offers/prices will probably be different.
Click to expand...

Who knows what the price will be of the 7950 when it lands and is no longer pre-order ;)

I could have used the MSI G45 and the TeamGroup RAM but with that RAM being so tall it might make a choice of cooler more difficult.

As I implied he is better off asking when he is ready to buy, so I wasn't taking the spec too seriously. I was simply showing that with a few tricks it was possible to trim the price down to £1050
 
It's not soundproofed when you take the top off for the radiator though - if quietness is an issue new fans for sure :)
 
teppic said:
It's not soundproofed when you take the top off for the radiator though - if quietness is an issue new fans for sure :)
Click to expand...

honosuseri said:
Nope :)

Some people upgrade the fans to quieten the H100 cooler when it's cranked up but seeing as the 330R is soundproofed changing the fans might well be less important.
Click to expand...


New fans? Could you recommend some? I don't want it sounding like I've got a jumbo jet revving the engines on my desk!
 
teppic said:
It's not soundproofed when you take the top off for the radiator though - if quietness is an issue new fans for sure :)
Click to expand...

Well that's why I said might. The front and side panels are still coated but yes the top lid would have to come off for the rad to breathe so some noise is going to escape.

The H100 doesn't have to be run at full chat though. If you add the expense of fans to the H100 from the get go you might as well just get the K2 Mount Doom or a similar top end air cooler. That would mean the roof lid can stay down enclosing the case, if you move the fan on the K2 to it's back tall RAM would fit :)

Remember the i5K retail has a stock heatsink, you can upgrade it later when you want to start overclocking the system and spread the costs out

zipper_redwood said:
New fans? Could you recommend some? I don't want it sounding like I've got a jumbo jet revving the engines on my desk!
Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £41.99
1 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Dual Pack (CO-9050006-WW) £25.99
Total : £67.98 (includes shipping : FREE).



YOUR BASKET
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £59.99
Total : £59.99 (includes shipping : FREE).



See what I mean?
 
Last edited:
zipper_redwood said:
New fans? Could you recommend some? I don't want it sounding like I've got a jumbo jet revving the engines on my desk!
Click to expand...

If you want to keep it as quiet as possible I'd just go with a good air cooler. Having the top panel open to the air is going to let a lot of noise out regardless.
 
Potty27 said:
Regardless of fans, it seems a lot of people don't like the noise the pump makes.
Click to expand...

Yup. A few people have posted that they weren't happy because they can hear the pump even when the system's idle. You have to go for high end water cooling systems to get a decent quiet system, the AIO coolers aren't at all silent.
 
As I said the H100 was included just to show the case has watercooling support, it even takes 280mm rads. The 300R is not a watercooling case, I'm not forcing the 330R or the H100 on him just showing him options.

The stock heatsink won't have issues with RAM height anyway. If he prefers the 330R over the 300R because of the sound proofing he still has a good choice of 160mm tall air coolers to pick from :)

We could also suggest the Corsair 200R which would have trimmed a few quid off. Case is a personal preference though so I'll Shhhh and wait and see what the OP posts later on in the month ;)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the suggestions. Although they have prompted a few further questions.

H100 v Mount Doom... which provides the best cooling option?

The 330R is a good looking case and the sound proofing is a bonus, but will it be cool enough to allow me to overclock and have dual GPUs?
 
A high end air cooler will perform just as well as an all in one watercooler generally. I prefer them because they tend to be quieter and there's no chance of leaks. But they're enormous and not as pretty as watercooling.

The air coolers like these exhaust the air out of the rear exhaust of the case.
 
I might be able to pump an additional £200-250 into this build...

Are there any obvious improvements that could be made? i7? Better components?

So including the needs from my OP, the budget could now be £1,300! Could you spec at this range for me?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom