New build - £1000-£1500

moon

moon

moon

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25 Sep 2009
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19
Hi all,

My last build lasted me about 5 years, with minor changes here and there to keep it up to date, and I'm looking to get my hands dirty again with a new one.

I'd like to keep my old system as a backup/guest PC so don't really want to cannibalise too much from it.

I use my PC generally for gaming mixed with Photoshop / Sony Vegas video editing (Casual, non professional)


I was looking at;


  • OS (I'm on vista still.... is it worth getting windows 7 or 8.1? Windows tile format looked disgusting but I heard the start menu is back in 8.1?)


  • GTX 970 - How bad is coil whine? is it covered by warranty to RMA?


  • A monitor to upgrade my old 24" Pebble and utilise a 970, I dual monitor so it will become my new slave 2nd screen


  • CPU/RAM/MOBO/PSU - I was looking at this bundle that has been posted recently for builds in around the same price range:


    EPIC BUNDLE: Intel 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7, Kingston 16GB 2400MHz Kit, Superflower 750W PSU & FREE STUFF!! **£50 SAVING**


    - How is the PSU?


  • Corsair H105 CPU cooler (Looked into the unit and it looks great, a nice change from the standard air-heatsink CPU coolers I am used to)


  • SSDs - I was looking to have a dedicated OS SSD (120/128GB or 256GB?) and 1 around 512GB SSD for games/software applications.


  • HDD - 1TB minimum for the moment will do, is it better to 2x1TB for future reference? I heard about the platters being suspect to failure?


  • Case - Here is where I've come up stumped. I know a lot of people have highly rated the Phanteks cases but I've heard a lot of people mention the case creaks, snaps and generally moans while it is heating up and cooling down. I have pets and one user mentioned it was loud enough to make the dog jump. It might also be placed next to the sofa in the living room so random bangs and snaps put me off slightly.

    The case will be on carpet (DIY wooden platform so not directly on carpet)

    - How are the Corsair 750d / 760t cases?


If the budget is tight the monitor can be left off and added as an extra or added on top to exceed the top end :)


Thanks a lot for any help



PS - Is it worth salvaging my old system's SSD? It feels quite dated

Corsair P128 128GB SATAII Solid State Hard Drive 128MB Cache
 
Last edited:
I would normally come straight in with a spec but as I'm on my mobile I cant, but I can answer some questions.

OS wise, I have a windows 8 laptop and it is a pain at times but it does have the start menu and other helpful bits. If I was choosing one I'd go with 7, but its your call.

I've heard of very few 970 with coil whine but it can happen to any card. Normally its instantly appeaeent so you can return under RMA or DSR. The 970 is the best choice though.

Monitor wise a nice 27" 1440p display would be ideal. No need to go 4k at this moment in time.

That bundle is stunning, the PSU is rock solid and will handle 970SLI if you so wish. It isn't modular though, it shouldn't really matter. As you'll be going for a big case (ATX).

I see no point in two SSD's. Just get a big SSD you can have both the OS and games/programs on.. The MX100's are stunning drives for the price.

Only rarely, and I mean very rarely do HHD's have platter issues. Again, for the same of space and money get a 2tb drive rather than 2 x 1tb.

The H105 is a superb unit. You'll be able to get a good over clock on the 4790k..

Cases are personal, so this is tough but the 750d, 540 air & 760T is great cases. I would take a look at the H440 though. Lovely design and a great performer with massive upgrade options. These are £90-£150 case though. If your budget can't reach look at the bitfenix ronin.

Its not worth saving that SSD really, unless you just use it as extra storage.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks a lot for the detailed reply, it really helped.

I heard that 8.1 windows users get upgraded for free to windows 10 on release so I may suck it up and try out this new tile system they decided to use. Anything is better then vista :)

I don't have the basket app unfortunately (Using friends Mac) but this is a quick look for a build I've come up with if anyone can critique/change up:


EPIC BUNDLE: Intel 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7, Kingston 16GB 2400MHz Kit, Superflower 750W PSU & FREE STUFF!! **£50 SAVING** - £557.98


Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £319.99


Corsair Graphite 760T Windowed Full Tower Gaming Case - Black (CC-9011044-WW) - £161.99


Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) - £154.99


Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) - £89.99


Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) - £77.99


Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD - £61.99


Total - £1,441.42



I'm going to look into the Phateks case's a bit more as that would reduce the top end a bit which can go toward a monitor.

If anyone can spec me some monitors that fit my build price range that would be great :)
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x EPIC BUNDLE: Intel 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7, Kingston 16GB 2400MHz Kit, Superflower 750W PSU & FREE STUFF!! **£50 SAVING** £557.98
1 x Acer B276HULA 27" Widescreen LED Professional/Gaming Slim Bezel Flicker FREE Monitor - Black £349.99
1 x Inno3D GeForce GTX 970 OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £275.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Full Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £89.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £61.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Multicolor LED Strip - 2m £16.99
Total : £1,657.54 (includes shipping : £22.20).





Includes a 1440p monitor as well, having played with one they are beautiful :)
Did the budget include a monitor?
 
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