Need some advice on a new build

samtara · 23 Feb 2014 at 14:58

Hey everyone,

So I'm looking to build my new PC and it's been tough trying to get a good balance going. I have about 800 to spend. I don't need a monitor, speakers, keyboard/mouse, hard drives or a PSU (got the corsair HX1050).

Now I've been eyeing the 4670K and 280X, any thoughts? i.e. is it worth trading up for an i7/290?. Predominantly, the PC will be used for everyday tasks, but I will be gaming on it from time to time. My main predicament comes with the case. The case is going on the floor, but I suppose it would be nice to have a window. Intitially I looked at the 330R (before I wanted a window) then the 230T (but the grey one just looks odd to me and I want blue LEDs). So I've settled on the 650D mainly because I want something that lasts and I may want to potentially fully watercool the system when I upgrade again. The heatsink is also a bit of an issue, I first decided on the H60 and now I'm going for the H80i (worth the upgrade?). Is even a watercooled CPU necessary? Would I get relatively similar mileage on an aircooled system?

I really don't want to go outside my budget and I feel that amount is reasonable for just the main components.

Feel free to ask any other questions you have.

Thanks guys.

Fulax · 23 Feb 2014 at 16:19

Will you be overclocking? If not (or if just a bit) you're better off with a reasonably-priced air cooler because they're quieter. 120mm AIO coolers like the H60 or H80i don't offer great value for money.

Do you want a blue theme?

samtara · 23 Feb 2014 at 16:22

Fulax said:
Will you be overclocking? If not (or if just a bit) you're better off with a reasonably-priced air cooler because they're quieter. 120mm AIO coolers like the H60 or H80i don't offer great value for money.

Do you want a blue theme?

Thanks for the quick reply.
Yes, will be overclocking for sure. Yeah, I'm going for a blue theme preferably.

Fulax · 23 Feb 2014 at 17:07

EDIT: Actually, do you have the case? It isn't entirely clear from your post.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £235.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (meax-059) - Blue Light £79.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Toshiba SSD HDTS212EZSTA 9.5mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £65.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - Blue £8.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 6pin PCI-E extension 45cm - Grey/Silver £6.49
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - Blue £5.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 6+2-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved blue/black £5.99
Total : £808.94 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Ignore the red on the GPU - you won't see it when it's in the case.

This GPU is on offer (£50 off) until tomorrow morning. It is the best of the 280Xs, and if you remove the blue braided cables it will fit in the budget. It may be a bit orange, but it has a silver/black backplate that will look pretty classy.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Toxic OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £269.99
Total : £279.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Optional additional fans (they'll fit the colour-scheme):

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050002-WW) £19.99
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Single Pack (CO-9050001-WW) £13.99
Total : £39.96 (includes shipping : £4.98).

samtara · 23 Feb 2014 at 17:27

This is great, thanks. Couple of questions though. Do you recommend the Bitfenix over a Corsair case then? I don't need any hard drives so I guess that would allow a bit more for the case.
So even though I'm overclocking you still think the air cooler would be better?

Fulax · 23 Feb 2014 at 17:31

Here are a couple of reviews of the CPU cooler:

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/alpenfoehn_matterhorn_pure_cpu_cooler_review,9.html
http://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/ian-stevenson/alpenfohn-matterhorn-pure-review/6/

It gives very good performance for the price. Considering the minor performance difference between the Matterhorn and a 120mm AIO, I'd much rather spend the £30 either on extra fans, braided cables, or the 280X Toxic.

The Corsair 300R is a good case, but the window has vents on it which rather obscures the view. For a relatively cheap windowed case, you can't really go wrong with the Ronin. The 650D is way too expensive for the budget - it would require too many cuts elsewhere.

samtara · 23 Feb 2014 at 18:09

OK seems like I'm going to go for the air cooler then. Reviews are great for it.

Yeah I had the look at the 300R, not quite for me. I suppose you're right, I can always get a better case later when the budget is appropriate. Do you recommend any other cases for that price range? Or is the Ronin, hands down, the best?

Also, question about the motherboard, why the D3H over the D3HP (which is on special offer). It has one more PCI x16 port (3) than the D3HP. I may want to get a second 280X at some point, but surely 2 ports is what's needed?

Fulax · 23 Feb 2014 at 18:28

It's not just the number of PCI-E slots, but also the bandwidth that you have to consider. The D3HP will run Crossfire at x16/x4, while the D3H will run at x8/x8. The latter is better. It isn't easy to find exact numbers, but x16/x4 reduces performance by an average of 10% (and up to 25%) according to this 2011 article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pci-express-scaling-p67-chipset-gaming-performance,2887-10.html

The D3H will overclock also better.

samtara · 23 Feb 2014 at 19:12

Gotcha. Thank you so much for your help by the way.

Had another thought; I'm willing to pay a bit more on the graphics end if it means I will get a sizeable increase. Possibly looking at the 290. It's about £60 more but I can go that far if you think it's a noticeable difference.

Fulax · 23 Feb 2014 at 19:32

The 290's reference cooler runs hot and loud - so I'd avoid that if possible. The MSI 290 Gaming is a bit of a bargain at £330 this week.

Here's a review: http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/msi_r9_290_gaming_review/8

The performance difference over the 280X is decent.