Build spec

5960xNvidiaGamer · 23 Oct 2013 at 20:56

Ive just been asked by a mate to build him a system, he has a budget of 1000 but it's unrealistic so i pushed him to 1200, although he wanted to stick lol. He wants the same monitor as i have which is the BenqXL2420T but the other parts i'm unsure of with this budget. He only wants Intel and only wants Nvidia. What do you guys think is best to this price range?

Doomedspeed · 23 Oct 2013 at 21:10

That monitor is a massive drain on the budget, it is an amazing monitor but it makes it very hard to get a balanced system.

The best i could do is this (using the black and red theme from the monitor):

YOUR BASKET
1 x BenQ XL2420T rev2.0 24" TRUE 144Hz 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red /w Flicker FREE Technology £359.99
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £229.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £124.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 750W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (0-761345-06223-7) £99.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £78.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £69.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £47.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £39.95
1 x Corsair SP120 Performance Series High Pressure - Dual Pack (CO-9050008-WW) £25.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £1,371.64 (includes shipping : £19.10).

You'll notice its not Nvidia either, theres a reason, the AMD is better value.

This is another option (cheaper):

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus VG248QE 24" Widescreen 144Hz 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black £259.99
1 x HIS Radeon R9 280X iPower IceQ X2 Boost 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £245.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Seasonic G series 750w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £107.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £78.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £78.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Sapphire Blue" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G213C1KBL) £69.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £47.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £1,310.10 (includes shipping : £24.45).

You'll notice the 750W PSU's on both, thats for future Xfire.

ExRayTed · 23 Oct 2013 at 21:17

YOUR BASKET
1 x BenQ XL2420T rev2.0 24" TRUE 144Hz 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red /w Flicker FREE Technology £359.99
1 x OcUK Geforce GTX 770 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £287.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £83.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer M 620W "80+ Bronze" Modular Power Supply £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £56.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £47.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £1,243.81 (includes shipping : £19.10).

£20 over if you take off the shipping.

nightrider1470 · 23 Oct 2013 at 21:17

5960xNvidiaGamer · 23 Oct 2013 at 21:19

Thanks for them doomedspeed. Yeah Nvidia it has to be with him. So maybe a 670 or something im thinking. Im going to speak to him about maybe upping his budget or changing the monitor.

Edit. Exray ted thanks also mate, this gives me a very good start to getting him exactly what he wants

Doomedspeed · 23 Oct 2013 at 21:33

The 280X is close to/if not on par with the GTX 770... While being a fair chunk cheaper, especially in comparison of the two card specced..

The 670 is way behind for the money (as the great deals have vanished.

Until the GTX 770 is £250 (for cards with decent aftermarket coolers) AMD is the way to go, shame he can't be convinced by logic by the sounds of it.

Fire_fly · 23 Oct 2013 at 21:58

If your friend is dead set on Nvidia then the ASUS monitor in Doom's second spec has one big advantage over the BenQ.

When Nvidia release their G-sync system you will be a be able to buy a module that can be installed into the back of the ASUS monitor, assuming your friend is good with a screwdriver and willing to take a bit of risk.

Alternatively, if you’re a dab hand with a Philips screwdriver, you can purchase the kit itself and mod an ASUS VG248QE monitor at home.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/g-sync/technology

Avenged7Fold · 23 Oct 2013 at 22:35

My concern when building a gaming build with a nvidia GPU would be due to Vram. If you want to guarantee that you wont be needing more in the future, you might have to pay the premium for the higher Vram versions. Unfortunately this premium is quite high and would be better spent going AMD for price/performance.

5960xNvidiaGamer · 23 Oct 2013 at 23:53

Just spoken to him, he wants a gtx670 4gb. And still wants that monitor. So he may have to up his costs it looks like doesnt he ?

Doomedspeed · 24 Oct 2013 at 07:14

Did you show him the performance difference between the GTX 670 and 280X (7970GE): http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/768?vs=830

4GB will help improve the eyefinity results in that table but the 1080p result will be exactly the same..

For the same money it seems an odd choice..

Im not forcing your/his hand, i just want to get you the best for your money..

5960xNvidiaGamer · 24 Oct 2013 at 10:00

Yeah i did Doom, he won't use AMD. Im the same too, ive always stuck with Nvidia, love the NCP and the drivers. Im speaking with him now, trying to get him to up his budget. He is going from console gaming to Pc, so i told him he should get a system that is decent enough.

5960xNvidiaGamer · 24 Oct 2013 at 10:06

He also wants HT, but i'm not sure which i7 is worth getting. I know it will be around the 250 mark for that.

Doomedspeed · 24 Oct 2013 at 10:25

Fair enough on the Nvidia front, i just wanted to make sure he knew all the facts before going for it (though i still think its the wrong choice)

Why is he wanting HT? It matters very little in games... It may appear more in newer titles but i very much doubt the differnce between the 4770k (HT) and the 4670k (non-HT) will be noticable by eye.

He seems to want a lot for little money, very unrealistic..

5960xNvidiaGamer · 24 Oct 2013 at 10:30

Im starting to think hes wanting a lot for the price too mate. Well HT will be usable further down the line, and he wants this to last for him a good few years. I am struggling here to get the system cheaper. If we where to move the budget to 1400, do you think that would make much of a difference?
How is this in comparison to whats out at the moment http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-502-IN

Edit.. Also is this monitor far behind the XL2420T http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-070-BQ&tool=3

Doomedspeed · 24 Oct 2013 at 10:43

HT MAY be usable down the line, theres no proof, its mainly uses for heavy video editing and CAD work at the moment, far from the gaming field...

Yes, it is 'future-proofing' in a sense but it was the same 2-3 years ago when the 2600k appeared, and still HT has not provailed in games (people suggested it would be by now, at the time)...

The 4770k is actually better (gaming wise) than the 4820k, The 4820k will also work out more expensive due to the more expensive motherboard (2011 socket) and Quad-channel RAM (rather than haswells Dual channel)..

The 2411 is the model which was replaced by the 2420, so it has less features and is basically 'not as good' as the 2420, though its still a cracking monitor...

5960xNvidiaGamer · 24 Oct 2013 at 10:49

Right ok thanks Doomedspeed, im going to use the info you have given me and from what i know and pick the parts. Then ill post here for you to check, I may make a mistake or miss something. Will post shortly mate.

Doomedspeed · 24 Oct 2013 at 11:09

Yeah no worries, let us know.

5960xNvidiaGamer · 24 Oct 2013 at 11:20

Doomedspeed · 24 Oct 2013 at 12:42

That spec looks good,

Can you use the OCUK cart shopping viewer please? Just makes it much easier: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18371076

Thanks

That £350 GTX 770 is my only concern, so much money.. considering the new AMD offerings.. (god, the 290X is only £90 more and that is about 30% better, on par with TITAN)..

If its was under £300 i would say go for it but £350 is a high price point..

5960xNvidiaGamer · 24 Oct 2013 at 12:44

Right thanks for the feedback on that Doomedspeed, and I have never heard of the cart shopper before.