need help budgeting a build based around an 4670k and a 280x

bolosantosi

bolosantosi

bolosantosi

Associate
Joined
18 Apr 2014
Posts
61
I would like to try and budget a build based around these parts without making too many compromises. Already have a monitor, kb/m (although if there's any good cheap deals i'll take it as I have a very cheap kb/m) and am trying for a price around £700 or less. If anyone knows i'd also love to know how much more it'd be for a PSU and MOBO that's slightly more expensive yet sli/overclocking ready. So far I have these parts but am still debating; I may be ordering on other sites because unfortunately I do not have the free shipping for being a long time forum member (and I lost my old account details):

i5 4670k - £165

GPU - R9 280X £222 (including shipping)

PSU - NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W - £40 (how much more would it be for a psu that could use sli, and is this a trusted company? seems a bit iffy) OR a 'Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit' but i'm not sure if the 90+ is worth it over the 80+ ranking and if the extra 50w will be good for anything at all e.g. slight overclocking

DVD drive - generic £12 one purely for installing windows

Memory - Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) £54 (the kingston memory that was £45 is out of stock and I wasn't sure if it'd run on this build)

OS - WIN 8.1 £75

HDD - Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache (corner cutting to 1TB instead of 2 to save £10. any recommendations on other HDD's would be welcome though)

Case - Zalman Z3-Plus Midi-Tower £40 OR Zalman Z9 Plus for £45 (any recommendations here too?)

MOBO - absolutely no idea. The prices vary - i'm wondering what advantage it'd be to get a more expensive one over a £60 one. I also have no idea on compatibility.

If anyone could offer any help for the slightest part of this post, i'd much appreciate it. thank you!
 
Last edited:
bolosantosi said:
i5 4670k - £165

...

MOBO - absolutely no idea. The prices vary - i'm wondering what advantage it'd be to get a more expensive one over a £60 one. I also have no idea on compatibility.

If anyone could offer any help for the slightest part of this post, i'd much appreciate it. thank you!
Click to expand...

You will need an Intel Z87 motherboard to use the overclocking feature on the i5-4670K. The more you spend, the better, up to a point. Beyond a certain point, you're just paying for extreme overclocking capability or tri or quad SLI/XFire. And if you don't really need too many features, then one between £70-90 will do. One with dual x8 PCI-E slots will be beneficial for SLI/XFire. Stretching a little more, either of these are very good choices:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £106.99
Total : £226.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).




For memory, get yourself 2x4GB @ 2133/2400MHz, as the Z87 motherboards can handle those speeds.
 
Thank you very much. What would the benefits be over this? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-438-GI due to PSU I most likely wont be using Xfire without a big upgrade in the future , I don't need 4k and I will get a sound card in the future anyway. should I just save and get this? I could even get a MSI Z87M-G43 for £64 and that also has Xfire support - or would there be actual disadvantages to this? thank you!
 
Grab the D3HP/HD3 then, excellent boards :)
Bear in mind Crucial Ballistix has some compatibility problems with Gigabyte motherboards.
 
This would be my suggestion to you..

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £47.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £45.95
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £730.24 (includes shipping : £17.85).



Let me explain why.

Motherboard: A solid 'cheap' Z87 motherboard with good overclocking capabilities. It lacks Xfire/SLI and 1600mhz+ memory capabilities its not worth paying an extra £25+ for IMO. I don't think you'll be looking at Xfire atall, as the 280X is more than powerful enough for anything at 1080p.

The RAM is 1600mhz RAM as the motherboard can only take upto 1600mhz.

The PSU is a great choice. Its deceptively cheap, yes. The OEM is Superflower (one of the hottest names in the business) and being gold rated will save you few electricity pennies too. :)

Case, 200R. Solid full of features and made of quality materials. :)

Cooler, Matterhorn pure. One of the best sub-£30 coolers out there. Will get you a decent OC on your 4670k. :)
 
Thank you!
I'd have to get a new PSU for Xfire too anyway. I think the one you recommended does support two cards, though? And will the slower memory be that big of a deal? Sorry haha, i'll be ordering this tonight probably so just want to make sure.
Also, do you have any windowed cases to recommend? I do love seeing inside and have unnecessary LED's!

EDIT: How is DPD for delivery, too? and I can just choose the £11 option right? my friend had a huge issue with them before, so just want to make sure...
 
Last edited:
bolosantosi said:
Thank you!
I'd have to get a new PSU for Xfire too anyway. I think the one you recommended does support two cards, though? And will the slower memory be that big of a deal? Sorry haha, i'll be ordering this tonight probably so just want to make sure.
Also, do you have any windowed cases to recommend? I do love seeing inside and have unnecessary LED's!

EDIT: How is DPD for delivery, too? and I can just choose the £11 option right? my friend had a huge issue with them before, so just want to make sure...
Click to expand...

As said that PSU (550W) won't handle 2 GPU's. No need either.

As for cases, here are a few options:

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 Mid Tower Gaming Case (CC-9011050-WW) £37.99
Total : £177.92 (includes shipping : £12.50).



There is another Z9 (for £50) but its not USB3.

I've never had an issue with DPD delivery, yes you can pick any option. :)
 
ah thanks. all ready to order I guess! can't wait to move from a ps3/360 to a gaming pc. got so many games bought on steam for 'when I get a good pc' (this started 2 years) so will have a lot of fun soon. thank you :)
 
bolosantosi said:
ah thanks. all ready to order I guess! can't wait to move from a ps3/360 to a gaming pc. got so many games bought on steam for 'when I get a good pc' (this started 2 years) so will have a lot of fun soon. thank you :)
Click to expand...

Haha, Itll be fun.

Enjoy, Come back if you need an assistance or just want to show off your fancy new Rig. :)
 
I shall! I ordered the 'Zalman Z9 Plus Midi Tower Case' elsewhere which is similar enough really but slightly cheaper (I hope the lack of usb 3.0 being specified isn't a problem?) . I'll be back to show off my rig, maybe for help - but hopefully not haha.
EDIT: ordering tomorrow. So if the usb thing is a problem please tell me :P
 
Last edited:
Not particularly a problem, though if it were me I'd prefer a couple of USB 3.0 ports on the front :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom