1st build guidance please!

[Rickin10]

Hi all, this is my first post..... *waits for applause.... tumbleweed wistfully dances past...* Okay.... well I'm building my 1st PC which I'm mostly going to be using for gaming (will be dabbling with overclocking), doing some work in photoshop and video editing. My build so far:

Intel i5 4670k
Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Sapphire r9 290 Tri-x
CM Hyper 212 Evo
Corsair RM 650w Gold
Corsair Vengeance 8Gb

I've done a lot of research but as this is my first go at this I'm still rather unsure about a few things which you kind people could hopefully help me out with.

1. Is the mobo a good value/reliable overclocking board? Are there significant differences between the z87 boards?

2.Power supplies are driving me mad! I've read so many reviews there's steam coming out of my ears! I can't get a handle on whether I need to merely go bronze, or whether going to gold is worth it for my build. I'm unsure of which manufacturers I should be looking at. Also, is 650w enough, and how much would I need if I decide to crossfire 2 290s later on?

3. Similarly coolers are a mystery to me. Some people seem to believe the Hyper 212 is fine for overclocking, others say you need a much better cooler. Opinions? Also, does your graphics card have any effect on how much cooling your cpu needs?

Okay. Finished laughing at the noob questions? Good! Any answers to the questions and general comments/recommendations on my build would be very much appreciated.

 

[kefan77]

get this board, that's either your cooler sorted or 30 quid back when you sell it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-446-GI

I'd say you need around 850W (well, 750W, but some headroom never hurts) quality PSU for Xfire - Seasonic, XFX, Antec, Be Quiet, Superflower, some Corsairs - you name it. def Gold or Platinum, but efficiency is just part of the story.

for 2x290 Xfire, you might consider 4770K

212 is ok-ish but pretty basic, depending on the budget there are better options.

what's your case?

 

[Rickin10]

get this board, that's either your cooler sorted or 30 quid back when you sell it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-446-GI

I'd say you need around 850W (well, 750W, but some headroom never hurts) quality PSU for Xfire - Seasonic, XFX, Antec, Be Quiet, Superflower, some Corsairs - you name it. def Gold or Platinum, but efficiency is just part of the story.

for 2x290 Xfire, you might consider 4770K

212 is ok-ish but pretty basic, depending on the budget there are better options.

what's your case?

Only 850w for crossfire, really? Well I'll definitely consider that. I was figuring I'd need something closer to 1000

My case is a Corsair Carbide 500r.

 

[lee32uk]

What budget do you have ?

 

[ShivP]

Someone was running 2x GTX 780s @ about 650W running a benchmark and also a 4770k, few HDDs, an SSD etc

850W should be more than enough

 

[Doomedspeed]

Someone was running 2x GTX 780s @ about 650W running a benchmark and also a 4770k, few HDDs, an SSD etc

850W should be more than enough

That was Ace Modder. And you are correct. I think it was 600W though.

AMD cards are much much more power hungry though.

I've seen a 4960x quadfire 290X rig pull 1800W 1800

 

[lee32uk]

I think the 290's have a higher power consumption than the 780's though don't they ?

 

[Rickin10]

What budget do you have ?

I set myself a budget of around £800 with some wriggle room. I wriggled to around £1200 lol

Someone was running 2x GTX 780s @ about 650W running a benchmark and also a 4770k, few HDDs, an SSD etc

850W should be more than enough

Bloody hell

Thanks for the quick responses!

 

[lee32uk]

I would do a spec, but the site is playing up again

 

[kefan77]

only reason to consider beefier PSU than 850W in this situation is when it has semi-passive mode, so the fan would start kicking in later.

but in that case, under such load the GPUs and overall system would be noisier (relative) than the PSU itself, so no real gain.

 

[ShivP]

^ Indeed that could work, though tbh my fan PSU fan is constantly running and I literally cannot hear it

 

[lee32uk]

YOUR BASKET
1 x sapphire radeon r9 290 tri-x 4096mb gddr5 pci-express graphics card (11227-03-40g) £335.99
1 x intel core i7-4770k 3.50ghz (haswell) socket lga1150 processor - retail £239.99
1 x gigabyte z87x-oc intel z87 (socket 1150) ddr3 atx motherboard £157.99
1 x nzxt hale power 90+ 1000w '80 plus gold' modular power supply £149.99
1 x teamgroup vulcan orange 16gb (2x8gb) ddr3 pc3-17100c11 2133mhz dual channel kit (tlad316g2133hc11adc01) £129.95
1 x alpenföhn k2 mount doom cpu cooler £49.99
1 x seagate barracuda 7200rpm 1tb sata 6gb/s 64mb cache - oem (st1000dm003) hdd £43.99
total : £1,117.49 (includes shipping : £8.00).




the oc board is the one for overclocking on

an i7/16gb ram might be useful if you are also doing video editing.

the k2 which is 164mm should fit in the 500r - http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/corsair_carbide_series_500r_review,8.html


**This link confirms it does fit** - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2013/08/30/alpenf-hn-k2-mount-doom-review/2

 

[Rickin10]

YOUR BASKET
1 x sapphire radeon r9 290 tri-x 4096mb gddr5 pci-express graphics card (11227-03-40g) £335.99
1 x intel core i7-4770k 3.50ghz (haswell) socket lga1150 processor - retail £239.99
1 x gigabyte z87x-oc intel z87 (socket 1150) ddr3 atx motherboard £157.99
1 x nzxt hale power 90+ 1000w '80 plus gold' modular power supply £149.99
1 x teamgroup vulcan orange 16gb (2x8gb) ddr3 pc3-17100c11 2133mhz dual channel kit (tlad316g2133hc11adc01) £129.95
1 x alpenföhn k2 mount doom cpu cooler £49.99
1 x seagate barracuda 7200rpm 1tb sata 6gb/s 64mb cache - oem (st1000dm003) hdd £43.99
total : £1,117.49 (includes shipping : £8.00).




the oc board is the one for overclocking on

an i7/16gb ram might be useful if you are also doing video editing.

the k2 which is 164mm should fit in the 500r - http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/corsair_carbide_series_500r_review,8.html

Oh ****! I'm sorry, man, when I said my budget had spiralled to £1200 that was including case, keyboard, mouse, not just the 'core' system I've already ordered a Corsair carbide 500r and k65 keyboard. So, by my sub-par calculations excluding those 3 items my budget would be closer to 1k.

 

[lee32uk]

Right ok didn't realise you had already bought some stuff I will try and amend it.

 

[Rickin10]

Right ok didn't realise you had already bought some stuff I will try and amend it.

Not at all, mate, my fault for not being clearer.

 

[lee32uk]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11227-03-40G) £335.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 1000W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with *FREE COOLERMASTER SEIDON 120V COOLER £143.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD316G2133HC11ADC01) £129.95
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
Total : £1,031.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).




I have added the K2 cooler as it should perform better than the Free cooler that comes with the board. You should be able to get £30 at least for the Coolermaster Seidon on the bay.

 

[Rickin10]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11227-03-40G) £335.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 1000W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with *FREE COOLERMASTER SEIDON 120V COOLER £143.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD316G2133HC11ADC01) £129.95
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
Total : £1,031.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).




I have added the K2 cooler as it should perform better than the Free cooler that comes with the board. You should be able to get £30 at least for the Coolermaster Seidon on the bay.

Firstly, thanks for taking the trouble to do this. Much appreciated.

Just have a few questions:

Will the psu definitely cover me for 2 290s in crossfire?

I'm not familiar with TeamGroup Vulcan, Alpenfort and Seagate, are they good quality?

If I can stretch to the Gigabyte OC would that be worth it in your opinion, and what does it offer over the UD4H?

 

[ShivP]

All three are excellent quality, the Z87X-OC is a rock solid board made for high overclocking, the UD4H more for the more casual user but packed with features (moreso than the OC) but the OC is the best Z87 board on the market pretty much imo.

 

[lee32uk]

1000W should be more than enough for 2 x 290 cards.

The K2 is one of the best air coolers and should allow you to get a nice overclock.

The Teamgroup Ram comes with a lifetime warranty.

The Seagate drives are pretty good imo. I have never had a problem with them.

As for the motherboard the OC board is probably one if not the best overclocking boards around. There is about a £40 or so difference though when you take into account the free cooler.

You can read a review of the UD4H board here - http://www.eteknix.com/gigabyte-z87x-ud4h-z87-motherboard-review/

 

[Rickin10]

All three are excellent quality, the Z87X-OC is a rock solid board made for high overclocking, the UD4H more for the more casual user but packed with features (moreso than the OC) but the OC is the best Z87 board on the market pretty much imo.

1000W should be more than enough for 2 x 290 cards.

The K2 is one of the best air coolers and should allow you to get a nice overclock.

The Teamgroup Ram comes with a lifetime warranty.

The Seagate drives are pretty good imo. I have never had a problem with them.

As for the motherboard the OC board is probably one if not the best overclocking boards around. There is about a £40 or so difference though when you take into account the free cooler.

You can read a review of the UD4H board here - http://www.eteknix.com/gigabyte-z87x-ud4h-z87-motherboard-review/

With what you've both said I think I may go spend a bit more for the OC board then. I'd prefer to spend a bit more now and be happy than feel like I skimped to shave a few pounds off. One thing I wanted to ask is I've heard that Gigabyte have had a few issues with drivers/BIOS recently, hence why I was originally going to go for an Asus. Has this been sorted out?

I went with the Sapphire Tri-x as it seemed like a very good value GPU (giving the performance of the stock cards but doing a great job of lowering their temps and noise) and the best of the 3rd party 290s but I've seen a few posts on here complaining of problems. Do you think it's worth it...or should I defect to the Green Team?