First ever Rig

[RuneHX23]

Hi everyone! I'm new to custom PCs, and i was looking for a few pointers. I want a gaming rig that can play current and upcoming games at 1080p with a reasonable fps at high-max settings.

I've looked around the net quite a while before settling on something that looked decent.

Specs:

i5-4670 Haswell (Not looking at overclocking)
G-Skill Ripjaws X 1886MHZ 4 x 2 (8GB)
MSI Z87M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card
Fractal Design Arc Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case/Bitfenix Prodigy mATX
Corsair Gaming 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CPU Cooler/Corsair H80i

I tried tailoring all my needs to the inventory of PCThemes at SLS, because I was reading around and they seemed to have a good reputation here in HWZ.

Is this a good setup for gaming? I have been looking around, and some people say that a 770 could be overkill when a 660ti or a 670 could suffice for single monitor gaming. PCPartPickers also shows that my build only requires around 420W of power. Will a 500 or 550 be enough if im not looking into overclocking? Im not too sure if i'll be going into sli or xfire configs, but at this moment i doubt it.

Another worry for me is if all those things will actually fit into an mATX case like the Frac Arc Mini or the Bitfenix mATX. Do you guys think this will fit, especially with a 770?

Finally, I wanted to get all my stuff from 1 trusted, reputable vendor so that i could perhaps get a discount. From all those who have shopped at PCThemes, is this likely? I have looked at their pricelists and my build should set me back around 1.9k, but is it more worth it to buy from multiple shops? Since this is my first time, i'm looking into getting them build for me, rather than DIY it.

Any help, criticism and opinion is very welcome!

 

[Athrun88]

No overclock?
Go for value rams like kingston.
U don't need a cpu cooler or a water cooling system.

No idea about the casing, let others recommend u

 

[RuneHX23]

No overclock?
Go for value rams like kingston.
U don't need a cpu cooler or a water cooling system.

No idea about the casing, let others recommend u

Would you suppose I could run BF4 (Same engine as BF3, so speculators say the requirements area round the same) on max settings with a stock cpu cooler? I guess I could change to the Kingston value RAMs as well. Thanks!

 

[Athrun88]

Would you suppose I could run BF4 (Same engine as BF3, so speculators say the requirements area round the same) on max settings with a stock cpu cooler? I guess I could change to the Kingston value RAMs as well. Thanks!

Size of ur monitor?
GTX770 should handle it well

 

[enenyi]

If it is only a gaming comp, getting an i5-3470 + AsRock B75 Pro3-M. More than enough power for gaming.

RAM just get value RAMs. Kingston PC3-1333 RAM 4GB modules (total 8GB) would be enough.

GTX 670 is more than enough for most games. For me, I'm playing BF3 on 1080p resolution at avg 80+ frames per second using my Gigabyte GTX 670. I guess Leadtek GTX 670 @ $476 is the cheapest option which would be enough for u to game smoothly for BF3/4. Any other non-referenced GTX 670 (Asus, Palit, Gigabyte, MSI, etc) only helps in keeping GPU temps down, which i think u wun need to. A GTX 770 is not needed given GTX 670 is already overkill on 1080p 60Hz monitors.

For SSD, instead of OCZ Vertex 4 128GB, get the Plextor M5P 128GB or Samsung 840 128GB for better reliability and better performance and cheaper pricing (for Plextor compared to OCZ). For secondary storage, getting a Toshiba/Seagate 2TB HDD would be better for the wallet compared to WD Black 1TB.

If u r interested in DIY, then u shld buy from PCThemes (safest option, unless u dare to venture to the more risky but cheaper shops). Assemble at home, there are more than enough tutorials u can look up on google and youtube that teach u how to DIY the rig. In this case, troubleshooting would be way easier and more fun for u, esp when u dun needa lug the entire rig back to SLS for them to troubleshoot for u in the event that coming happens to the rig.

 

[RuneHX23]

If it is only a gaming comp, getting an i5-3470 + AsRock B75 Pro3-M. More than enough power for gaming.

RAM just get value RAMs. Kingston PC3-1333 RAM 4GB modules (total 8GB) would be enough.

GTX 670 is more than enough for most games. For me, I'm playing BF3 on 1080p resolution at avg 80+ frames per second using my Gigabyte GTX 670. I guess Leadtek GTX 670 @ $476 is the cheapest option which would be enough for u to game smoothly for BF3/4. Any other non-referenced GTX 670 (Asus, Palit, Gigabyte, MSI, etc) only helps in keeping GPU temps down, which i think u wun need to. A GTX 770 is not needed given GTX 670 is already overkill on 1080p 60Hz monitors.

For SSD, instead of OCZ Vertex 4 128GB, get the Plextor M5P 128GB or Samsung 840 128GB for better reliability and better performance and cheaper pricing (for Plextor compared to OCZ). For secondary storage, getting a Toshiba/Seagate 2TB HDD would be better for the wallet compared to WD Black 1TB.

If u r interested in DIY, then u shld buy from PCThemes (safest option, unless u dare to venture to the more risky but cheaper shops). Assemble at home, there are more than enough tutorials u can look up on google and youtube that teach u how to DIY the rig. In this case, troubleshooting would be way easier and more fun for u, esp when u dun needa lug the entire rig back to SLS for them to troubleshoot for u in the event that coming happens to the rig.

Thank you very much for your input enenyi!

I have considered the RAM and I think getting those value RAMs would be a better spend.

The mobo and core, i'm not too sure. Although i do understand that those might be enough, I want to future proof this rig just a little. Changing the mobo and cpu would mean a complete overhaul, so I dont mind too much the extras.

About the GPU...I have also looked around and realised that the 770 is a bit too expensive for my tastes. I was looking through PCThemes and they had a deal for Asus DCu2 660Ti + Seasonic M12II 620W for $585. Is this a good buy?

After much consideration I have changed much of my desired hardware.

i5-4670
Asus H87 PLUS
Kingston 8GB 1600MHZ Value RAM
Asus GTX 660Ti DCU2
Seasonic 620W Modular Bronze
Corsair H80 Cooler
NZXT Phantom 410
ADATA SP900 64GB SSD
WD Blue 1TB

All this will set me back around 1.5, which is around 400 less than with a 770. Most of the new build is included in 2 for 1 bundles at PCThemes.

Any opinions on this? Especially the SSD, i found virtually no reviews on this specific SSD.

Thanks!

 

[nippp0n]

Thank you very much for your input enenyi!

I have considered the RAM and I think getting those value RAMs would be a better spend.

The mobo and core, i'm not too sure. Although i do understand that those might be enough, I want to future proof this rig just a little. Changing the mobo and cpu would mean a complete overhaul, so I dont mind too much the extras.

About the GPU...I have also looked around and realised that the 770 is a bit too expensive for my tastes. I was looking through PCThemes and they had a deal for Asus DCu2 660Ti + Seasonic M12II 620W for $585. Is this a good buy?

After much consideration I have changed much of my desired hardware.

i5-4670
Asus H87 PLUS
Kingston 8GB 1600MHZ Value RAM
Asus GTX 660Ti DCU2
Seasonic 620W Modular Bronze
Corsair H80 Cooler
NZXT Phantom 410
ADATA SP900 64GB SSD
WD Blue 1TB

All this will set me back around 1.5, which is around 400 less than with a 770. Most of the new build is included in 2 for 1 bundles at PCThemes.

Any opinions on this? Especially the SSD, i found virtually no reviews on this specific SSD.

Thanks!

CPU & Mobo: i5-4570 & Asrock B85M Pro 4 @ $382
i5-4570 is good enough. The slight difference in clock speed won't have any significant impact on your gameplay.
Ram: G.Skill 1600mhz value ram 8GB @ $76
ODD: LG DVD RW @ $25
HDD: Hitachi Enterprise 1TB @ $89
Top up a few dollars and enjoy extra 2 years warranty compared to WD Blue 3 years warranty.
SSD: Plextor M5P 128GB @ $169
Nowadays i find that 64GB SSD capacity is too small. Your budget allows you to get at least a 128GB if you drop the AIO water cooler which you don't even need in the first place as you don't intend to oc.
GPU: Powercolor 7970 OC @ $529
Perform better than GTX 660 Ti. If i'm not wrong, it should be slightly behind GTX 770.
Case & PSU: Sharkoon T28 & Seasonic M12 620W @ $195
Assembly fee: $10

Total: $1475
Buy and build at PC Themes.

 

[rAcEr]

Asus 660 ti costs 279usd on amazon with free shipping to your house if u r not in a hurry

 

[muddle]

Take note b85 has native support for 4 sata 6gbs and 4 usb3. Both h87 and z87 has 6 each.

Other than should be similar performance wise. Only z can oc k cpus though

 

[enenyi]

Thank you very much for your input enenyi!

I have considered the RAM and I think getting those value RAMs would be a better spend.

The mobo and core, i'm not too sure. Although i do understand that those might be enough, I want to future proof this rig just a little. Changing the mobo and cpu would mean a complete overhaul, so I dont mind too much the extras.

About the GPU...I have also looked around and realised that the 770 is a bit too expensive for my tastes. I was looking through PCThemes and they had a deal for Asus DCu2 660Ti + Seasonic M12II 620W for $585. Is this a good buy?

After much consideration I have changed much of my desired hardware.

i5-4670
Asus H87 PLUS
Kingston 8GB 1600MHZ Value RAM
Asus GTX 660Ti DCU2
Seasonic 620W Modular Bronze
Corsair H80 Cooler
NZXT Phantom 410
ADATA SP900 64GB SSD
WD Blue 1TB

All this will set me back around 1.5, which is around 400 less than with a 770. Most of the new build is included in 2 for 1 bundles at PCThemes.

Any opinions on this? Especially the SSD, i found virtually no reviews on this specific SSD.

Thanks!

Firstly, for CPU+MB combo, go for the combo that nippp0n recommended. That would be a good and value-for-money haswell option u can explore.

As for the GPU, i still think 7970 is overkill for ur usage. Do u really need to chase 110 fps at $529? U will under-utilize it for sure. To play BF3/BF4, frankly a GTX 660Ti is more than enough. But considering the GTX 660Ti cards all all overpriced, $476 can get u a Leadtek GTX 670 priced at the GTX 660Ti region (Palit GTX 660Ti Jetstream already costs $469, let alone 'better' cards like MSI and Asus). And I would recommend Nvidia cards, not just because of branding (I jumped camp from AMD to Nvidia when I sold away my Sapphire 7850 to get the Gigabyte GTX 670) but more because of utility. Nvidia has CUDA support, which is super useful when u decide that gaming will not solely occupy the rig u gonna build. When u go into other areas that require GPU horsepower (video/photo editing, etc), CUDA comes in handy. If AMD had CUDA i would gladly recommend the 7950 for ur usage. But well, the choice is still yours to make.

As for the SSD, trust me, number 1, 64GB is never enough. I have Intel 520 120GB, but I am already running out of space on the SSD. A 128GB SSD is the bare minimum nowadays, and 256GB the ideal capacity. Number 2, Adata is not the fastest SSD out there. Neither is it the cheapest. I have been monitoring the SSD market ever since the days when OCZ Vertex 3 was called 'fast'. That was when Adata products stood out coz cheap mah. But now, SSD prices have fallen so much that it doesnt really matter anymore to the prices. Last time, a 60GB Adata cost $159. Now with this amount of money u can already buy a 128GB Plextor M5P, which is the fourth (or fifth) fastest 2.5 inch SSD around. I only recommend Samsung 840 Pro, Plextor M5P, OCZ Vector and Intel 520 (Crucial M4 used to, but not anymore) to those looking to buy a reliable SSD. I would also recommend Intel 330, Sandisk Ultra, Plextor M5S to those bargain hunters out there. Besides these few mentioned, the others fail to make the cut in either the 'performance' or 'cheap' lists. My advice, go for the Plextor M5P 128GB.

 

[RuneHX23]

I've spent quite some time during the past week thinking about my setup, and I think I might have it finalized. I'll probably be going to SLS tomorrow afternoon to get everything.

i5-4570
ASRock B85M Pro4
G.SKill 8GB
Hitachi Enterprise 1TB
Plextor M5P 128GB
Palit GTX770 JS
Sharkoon T28
Seasonic 620W Modular

$1581

I understand that the 770 is a quite the overkill, but I want it to really be able to withstand games at least into 2014/15. However, I was wondering - will the 4570 bottleneck the 770?

Furthermore, will everything look neat inside the case? I opted for a modular PSU to ensure this, but I have this feeling that the neatness depends on the assembler and not just a modular PSU. To add to this, enenyi and nipp0n suggested that I wouldn't require an aftermarket CPU cooler, and to use the stock cooler instead. Will this be enough to keep my build cool during marathon gaming sessions?

Finally, the PCThemes pricelist hasn't been updated in a week, and my build is heavily dependant on their bundle deals (Case+PSU, CPU+Mobo). Does anyone have any information on this? I wouldn't like to go there and find out that my price increased by $100 just because my setup isn't included in the bundle deals. I will also be paying by credit card, so will that have any effect on the final sale price?

I'm sorry if I sound very noob, but this really is my first time building a custom rig, so any help is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[diamond96]

I've spent quite some time during the past week thinking about my setup, and I think I might have it finalized. I'll probably be going to SLS tomorrow afternoon to get everything.

i5-4570
ASRock B85M Pro4
G.SKill 8GB
Hitachi Enterprise 1TB
Plextor M5P 128GB
Palit GTX770 JS
Sharkoon T28
Seasonic 620W Modular

$1581

I understand that the 770 is a quite the overkill, but I want it to really be able to withstand games at least into 2014/15. However, I was wondering - will the 4570 bottleneck the 770?

Furthermore, will everything look neat inside the case? I opted for a modular PSU to ensure this, but I have this feeling that the neatness depends on the assembler and not just a modular PSU. To add to this, enenyi and nipp0n suggested that I wouldn't require an aftermarket CPU cooler, and to use the stock cooler instead. Will this be enough to keep my build cool during marathon gaming sessions?

Finally, the PCThemes pricelist hasn't been updated in a week, and my build is heavily dependant on their bundle deals (Case+PSU, CPU+Mobo). Does anyone have any information on this? I wouldn't like to go there and find out that my price increased by $100 just because my setup isn't included in the bundle deals. I will also be paying by credit card, so will that have any effect on the final sale price?

I'm sorry if I sound very noob, but this really is my first time building a custom rig, so any help is appreciated. Thank you!

Went to PCThemes last week he told me the RAM price increase.. Lol. And 1 thing , calculate the pricing yourself.
I have no idea is he too busy and forget or what .. The pricing he quote me for my rig i ask for is 1920 and he say he can give me the best price at 1900.
I told him i'll consider and walk off with the list , after that I calculated myself and its around 1850 only.. Not trying to smear his reputation of what just saying my case. Went to another store to build after that.

From what I know credit card will incur a charge. Pay cash if possible.
And yes , you don't need a water cooling or after market cooler since you don't overclock.
I'm playing LoL 5 hours straight in a row and downloading some things , my temp is around 50c. Max at 58c only.

 

[rAcEr]

u can buy evga 660ti off amazon for only usd284.99...warranty just send back to TW...shipping charges confirm cheaper than the 100SGD that u save buying this card overseas instead of locally.