$1500 PC Build Help

[gabrielkfr]

Hi all gurus,

Would like to request for some advice regarding a $1500 (Including Monitor & Keyboard) build.

Some guidelines:

1) 1080p 144hz monitor
2) Games like BF/COD & below on med-high
3) No overclocking
4) Wired Ethernet
5) Am looking for a build that can be upgraded in the future as I enlist next year, and wish to build a decent "temporary" PC

Questions:

1) Which components are more viable for upgradability? MB,CPU,GPU (Should I get a decent MB and CPU and get a cheaper GPU first then have the ability to upgrade the GPU later on for new games or?)

Was having a look online at tradepac's price list and thought this was a pretty good option which I selected from their list of pre-selected component builds

INTEL i5-4690 3.5GHZ 6MB
ASUS Z97 SABERTOOTH MARK II
24X DVD-WRITER SATA
CRUCIAL BALLISTIX 8GB/12800
WD 1TB 7200RPM SATA3 HARDDISK
R9 270X PCS+ 2GB DDR3 GRAPHICS
CM N300 W/USB3.0 + CORSAIR VS55
WS 7 HOME PREMIUM ADD 98/-
FREE - KEYBOARD & MOUSE

$1157

Am looking to add an SSD to the above as well

The monitor will be an AOC G2460PQU - $315 (Amazon)

Any recommendations on cases as well, not too sure which model of the Sharkoon on the i7 build it is, would prefer a mid-tower and below

Thanks a lot

 

[Alternative X]

1) That prebuild is a bad idea for the following reasons:

-That Sabertooth is overkill for your needs. A B85 motherboard will be good enough for your needs.

-Corsair VS series of PSUs do not have a great build quality. Try Seasonic's G series of PSUs.

2) CPUs generally do not become obsolete very fast as games generally do not require that much CPU processing power.

3) Try a Sharkoon BD28 for a good budget M-ATX casing.

 

[shadow84]

Have you factored in the shipping costs for the monitor? Or u confident that CSO can waive off for you?

 

[gabrielkfr]

1) That prebuild is a bad idea for the following reasons:

-That Sabertooth is overkill for your needs. A B85 motherboard will be good enough for your needs.

-Corsair VS series of PSUs do not have a great build quality. Try Seasonic's G series of PSUs.

2) CPUs generally do not become obsolete very fast as games generally do not require that much CPU processing power.

3) Try a Sharkoon BD28 for a good budget M-ATX casing.

1/2) Would you be able to suggest a good brand for a B85 and model for the PSU? Not too sure which brands are better/cheaper. How many Watt PSU would I need?

I notice that even within a brand there are several versions of the B85, B85-G41 PC MATE, B85M-G45 etc

3) That case looks good, will most definitely consider that, at $73 on tradepac's price list

3)

Have you factored in the shipping costs for the monitor? Or u confident that CSO can waive off for you?

I just checked with the CSO, you are right it is not free. I bought a BenQ monitor before and it was only 12+ pounds while the AOC is 20.6 pounds, which I find it hard to believe as both websites state almost similar weights so not sure what the discrepancy is

 

[shadow84]

You could try and ask CSO to waive off for you. But, you would have to 'order' it first and give him/her the order number. Try a few CSO if u can. If your order status goes to "preparing for shipment', do cancel it and retry.

Also, do check whether the monitor is able to support 230/240v.

If not, then just get locally a 1080p, 60hz monitor.

 

[Ark Law]

How many Watt PSU would I need?

Any quality 500-550W PSU

 

[royfrosty]

1.5k

Msi b85m g43 + i5-4460 ~ $355
Kingston hyperX 1600mhz 2x4gb kit ~ $112
WD Blue 1tb ~ $67
Crucial mx100 256gb ~ $152
Powercolor r9 280x 3gb turbo duo ~ $408
Seasonic g650 650w 80+ gold semi modular PSU ~ $139
Sharkoon BD28 ~ $73
LG DVD Drive ~ $21
Windows 7 home premium 64bit OEM ~ $115
Logitech mk120 keyboard and mouse combo ~ $18

Total $1460. Buy at Tradepac. Diy

Optional purchase if you want a red theme.

Msi b85 g43 gaming + i5-4460 ~ $384
Gskills Ripjaws 1600mhz 2x4gb kit ~ $115

 

[Jian19]

1.2k pc ~

i5-4460 + Msi b85m g43 ~ $355
Crucial 8gb ddr3 ~ $100
Plextor m6s 128gb ssd ~ $104
Wd blue 1tb ~ $68
Powercolor 280 ~ $335
Superflower hx 600 ~ $108
Lg dvd rom ~ $21
Sharkoon bd28 ~ $75
Win7 64 oem ~ $115

$1281 buy and DIY @ tradepac ask for discount. If u not sure how to DIY can bring to gs shop ask him help u assemble @ a fee.

To further cut down cost can consider use *ahem* OS or consider get win8.1 from g2a ~ quite cheap ~

 

[Jian19]

Roy his 1.5k include monitor + keyboard ~ meaning his CPU the most 1.2k max ~

 

[Ark Law]

1.5k

Msi b85m g43 + i5-4460 ~ $355
Kingston hyperX 1600mhz 2x4gb kit ~ $112
WD Blue 1tb ~ $67
Crucial mx100 256gb ~ $152
Powercolor r9 280x 3gb turbo duo ~ $408
Seasonic g650 650w 80+ gold semi modular PSU ~ $139
Sharkoon BD28 ~ $73
LG DVD Drive ~ $21
Windows 7 home premium 64bit OEM ~ $115
Logitech mk120 keyboard and mouse combo ~ $18

Total $1460. Buy at Tradepac. Diy

Optional purchase if you want a red theme.

Msi b85 g43 gaming + i5-4460 ~ $384
Gskills Ripjaws 1600mhz 2x4gb kit ~ $115

Roy his 1.5k include monitor + keyboard ~ meaning his CPU the most 1.2k max ~

Where's the monitor?

 

[shadow84]

Where's the monitor?

He intending to get the AOC 144hz monitor from amazon.

 

[royfrosty]

My bad.

TS follow Jian19 recommendations.

 

[spiderpower100]

1.2k pc ~

i5-4460 + Msi b85m g43 ~ $355
Crucial 8gb ddr3 ~ $100
Plextor m6s 128gb ssd ~ $104
Wd blue 1tb ~ $68
Powercolor 280 ~ $335
Superflower hx 600 ~ $108
Lg dvd rom ~ $21
Sharkoon bd28 ~ $75
Win7 64 oem ~ $115

$1281 buy and DIY @ tradepac ask for discount. If u not sure how to DIY can bring to gs shop ask him help u assemble @ a fee.

To further cut down cost can consider use *ahem* OS or consider get win8.1 from g2a ~ quite cheap ~

Bro, is g2a windows legit? if I assemble a new diy pc without any OS installed, how to install windows 8 onto it?

 

[Ark Law]

Bro, is g2a windows legit? if I assemble a new diy pc without any OS installed, how to install windows 8 onto it?

Burn Win8 iso to thumbdrive and boot the installer from it

 

[shadow84]

Bro, is g2a windows legit? if I assemble a new diy pc without any OS installed, how to install windows 8 onto it?

G2A is legit, bought watchdogs from there.

If u buy from G2A, i will presume you will receive the windows key. If so, follow this thread on how to make USB bootable drive for OS installation. You would need at least a 4GB thumdrive. Just download the ISO from the given links and follow the instructions to the letter.

Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs

 

[spiderpower100]

G2A is legit, bought watchdogs from there.

If u buy from G2A, i will presume you will receive the windows key. If so, follow this thread on how to make USB bootable drive for OS installation. You would need at least a 4GB thumdrive. Just download the ISO from the given links and follow the instructions to the letter.

Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs

Thanks guys!

 

[spiderpower100]

Burn Win8 iso to thumbdrive and boot the installer from it

thank you!

 

[Ark Law]

thank you!

Here's a video guide to help you understand better

 

[spiderpower100]

Here's a video guide to help you understand better

The presenter is clear and the presentation is easy to understand even for someone not as technical as me.

And they have lots of other videos to boot...

Nice recommendation! Thanks very much.

 

[gabrielkfr]

MSI B85M G43 + i5-4460 ~ $355
Kingston HyperX 1600mhz 2x4GB kit ~ $112
WD Blue 1TB ~ $67
Plextor M6S 128gb SSD ~ $104
Powercolor 280 ~ $335
Superflower HX 600 ~ $108
Sharkoon BD28 ~ $73
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM ~ $115
LG DVD Drive ~ $21

$1290

Is there much difference between the R9 280X and the 280 (other than the price)?

What games would I be able to play with the 280? Am starting to think that I could just get something cheaper and upgrade in the future perhaps the 270/270x range? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Optional purchase if you want a red theme.

Msi b85 g43 gaming + i5-4460 ~ $384
Gskills Ripjaws 1600mhz 2x4gb kit ~ $115

Aren't they both blue color?

MSI Global B85-G43

MSI Global B85M-G43

You could try and ask CSO to waive off for you. But, you would have to 'order' it first and give him/her the order number. Try a few CSO if u can. If your order status goes to "preparing for shipment', do cancel it and retry.

Also, do check whether the monitor is able to support 230/240v.

If not, then just get locally a 1080p, 60hz monitor.

I managed to get the CSO to waive it as well as priority shipping

I checked it supports 240v. Thanks for the heads up