1200£ mATX build - Can I do better?

von Pluring

von Pluring

von Pluring

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Joined
23 Apr 2007
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76
 
I think you can change a few things for the better.

I have. that case so know of a few important things that'll help you. It is a stunning case by the way.

The PSU is my main concern, with this case the shorter the PSU the better, as it is limited to some degree.it also is right behind the DVD drive so with a drive there you'll have a lot of cable management to do. I had a non modular 160mm unit and managed it okay. Just be weary of that. I'd consider any of the Superflower/EVGA unit too as they are good quality, as are the seasonics.

As for the spec, for gaming 16gb RAM is pointless, drop it to 8gb unless you're video editing.

The fans i assume are for H80i, £40 is a lot of money on fans I suggest getting the SP120 twin pack for £25. Much better value. The front 180mm fan dies all the airflow work anyway, such a great fan.

Do you really need a blu ray drive? If so look for a retail one, you'll get good software with it..if not just get a normal drive, Its the difference between £15 & £50...

Basically the spec looks good just take a look at the PSU (750w if SLI/550w if single), RAM (8gb is enough for games), fans (sp120s are better value) and bly ray drive... The rest are good choices.
 
Great input guys. Will change the memory and optical device. I want the computer to be as silent as possible so will keep the noctuas. Also plan to change the 180mm fan to something quiter.

I did look at superflower psu's but all of them seem to be to long for the case (max 180mm) hence i picked the corsair.

Would preferably have a 750w so i have the option to go sli.
Can you recommend one?
 
Going SLi with the 970's you'd be fine with 650w, not sure if that will save you much but it might help with the length.

I had some 82/90mm (can't remember which) Noctua silent fans as I was looking for a silent PC and I wasn't very impressed, could be different for the bigger models though! Not at all silent, got some bequiet fans and a 140mm Antec truequiet fan and they are silent, cheaper to!
 
von Pluring said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Z97M Gaming - Devil's Canyon i7 4790K CPU & Micro ATX Motherboard Bundle **£18 Saving** £351.98
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £289.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £154.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX21C11BRK2/16-OC) £137.99
1 x Corsair RM Series RM 750 '80+ Gold' 750W Power Supply (CP-9020055-UK) £89.99
1 x Silverstone SST-TJ08B-EW Temjin Midi-Tower - Black Window £75.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £74.99
1 x OcUK Value Blu-ray / DVDRW combi SATA - OEM £35.99
2 x Noctua NF-P12-PWM 120mm Silent Case Fan - PWM Pin £19.99 (£39.98)
Total : £1,266.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

Doomedspeed said:
I think you can change a few things for the better.

I have. that case so know of a few important things that'll help you. It is a stunning case by the way.

The PSU is my main concern, with this case the shorter the PSU the better, as it is limited to some degree.it also is right behind the DVD drive so with a drive there you'll have a lot of cable management to do. I had a non modular 160mm unit and managed it okay. Just be weary of that. I'd consider any of the Superflower/EVGA unit too as they are good quality, as are the seasonics.

As for the spec, for gaming 16gb RAM is pointless, drop it to 8gb unless you're video editing.

The fans i assume are for H80i, £40 is a lot of money on fans I suggest getting the SP120 twin pack for £25. Much better value. The front 180mm fan dies all the airflow work anyway, such a great fan.

Do you really need a blu ray drive? If so look for a retail one, you'll get good software with it..if not just get a normal drive, Its the difference between £15 & £50...

Basically the spec looks good just take a look at the PSU (750w if SLI/550w if single), RAM (8gb is enough for games), fans (sp120s are better value) and bly ray drive... The rest are good choices.
Click to expand...

It's not bad but Doom made some good points.

I will also add that by dropping to an i5, you don't need an i7, 8GB RAM and leaving the fans out, you could get the new Phanteks Evolv case and save more ££ <-- Case comes with a decent set of fans and PWM hub for only £20 more.

I would also recommend not replacing the fans on the H80i as alternatives are not as effective. While they don't do anything for aesthetics, you can keep them really low and quiet by using a custom fan curve. My 2500k at 4.5 would idle at low-mid 20s and hit 60-65c under load depending on the game I was playing.
 
I have looked Phanteks Evolv case but its not available for sale as I understand it (looking to buy today). If it was i might switch to it.

Im really allergic to noice but i will try the custom curve as you suggested and if not happy will install the noctuas.
 
von Pluring said:
I have looked Phanteks Evolv case but its not available for sale as I understand it (looking to buy today). If it was i might switch to it.

Im really allergic to noice but i will try the custom curve as you suggested and if not happy will install the noctuas.
Click to expand...

Put it this way. Idle the custom curve kept the fans at 400-500rpm and under load would barely touch 1000rpm. A cold boot or restart is the only thing which pusbes them to 100%.
 
This is what id do for an mATX gaming rig.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £299.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97MX Gaming 5 - Devil's Canyon i5 4690K CPU & Micro ATX Motherboard Bundle **£14 Saving** £277.54
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £154.99
1 x Silverstone SST-TJ08B-EW Temjin Midi-Tower - Black Window £75.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £74.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2666HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £53.99
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24F1ST SATA ReWriter - Black (Retail) £17.99
Total : £1,042.84 (includes shipping : £17.85).



This'll handle anything upto 1440p/144hz easily though the ROG swift is out of the question.

I agree what has been said about the fans. The 80mm in the case is pretty silent, i had a noise issue with my d14 (with 3 fans) where the sound of the AIR was louder than the system itself... So setting the h80i fans to low and keeping the 180mm fan on low (there is a switch) will give you great results.

I wouldn't suggest SLI in the TJ08-E either, if you wanted SLI, id look at a different case, the 350D springs to mind.. (though you still have the same PSU issues)

The only mATX case that comes to mind without that issue is the 240 AIR. Though the GPU's may get a little toasty (and you may have to run them in normal/ not boost mode) that could be a possible SLI rig. THe i7also seems to handle SLI better than the i5...

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Z97M Gaming - Devil's Canyon i7 4790K CPU & Micro ATX Motherboard Bundle **£18 Saving** £351.98
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £299.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £154.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £85.99
1 x Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 High Airflow PC Case - Black (CC-9011070-WW) £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2666HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
Total : £1,148.47 (includes shipping : £8.00).





THoughts?
 
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