Grade my build

[valkarian]

One of my first builds. Can yall pass some comments on it? Is there any area that's bottlenecking it, or some areas too extravagant? Do advise <3

Motherboard: Asus Z87-A
CPU: i5-4670k
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x
Memory: 2 x 4 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: Asus GTX 770
PSU: Seasonic m12II 750w
Case: Corsair Carbide 400r
Optical Drive: asus dvd
Boot Drive: Samsung Evo 120
HDD: Caviar Black 1TB

Please advise on which areas can be improved or deproved. generally going to run this on a 1920x1080 single screen. Thanks!

 

[ArcticCheetah]

If you change the ASUS brand to another you can probably save a lot of money.

 

[royfrosty]

Swap out the Asus branding you could save up more and get a beter gpu.

For a better gaming experience

MSI Z87 G45 Gaming + i5-4670k ~ $499
Gskills Ripjaws 1600mhz 2x4gb kit RED ~ $110
WD Blue 1tb ~ $76
Plextor M5S 128gb ~ $128
MSI GTX780 3gb Twin Frozr ~ $735
Superflower HX600 600w 80+ Gold PSU ~ $108
Fractal Design Arc Midi ~ $129
Corsair H100i AIO Cooler ~ $150
Samsung ODD ~ $21

Total ~ $1956. Buy at tradepac. DIY

 

[valkarian]

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
CPU: i5-4670k
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x
Memory: 2 x 4 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: MSI GTX 770 TF gaming 2/4GB
PSU: Seasonic m12II 620w
Case: Corsair Carbide 400r
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD
Boot Drive: Samsung Evo 120
HDD: Caviar Blue 7200 1TB

What about this? I tried removing the asus, and replacing with some MSI products as recommended. I wanted to keep the price down as much as possible, so perhaps any part that may be slightly unnecessary for mid to high end rigs? Or any improvements that will keep the price roughly the same?

Since i'm relatively new, i'll be dabbling slightly in OC, but will probably not run dual GPUs, hence i dropped my PSU from 750 to 620. Using the Caviar Blue 7200 instead cause i dont need black, but SSD wise im not too sure about moving away from something reliable and fast like samsung evo.

I dont think RAM will need 16 gb or anything above 1600mhz in my set up, but do correct me if im wrong.

Do share your wisdom =D

 

[shadow84]

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
CPU: i5-4670k
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x
Memory: 2 x 4 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: MSI GTX 770 TF gaming 2/4GB
PSU: Seasonic m12II 620w
Case: Corsair Carbide 400r
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD
Boot Drive: Samsung Evo 120
HDD: Caviar Blue 7200 1TB

What about this? I tried removing the asus, and replacing with some MSI products as recommended. I wanted to keep the price down as much as possible, so perhaps any part that may be slightly unnecessary for mid to high end rigs? Or any improvements that will keep the price roughly the same?

Since i'm relatively new, i'll be dabbling slightly in OC, but will probably not run dual GPUs, hence i dropped my PSU from 750 to 620. Using the Caviar Blue 7200 instead cause i dont need black, but SSD wise im not too sure about moving away from something reliable and fast like samsung evo.

I dont think RAM will need 16 gb or anything above 1600mhz in my set up, but do correct me if im wrong.

Do share your wisdom =D

Change psu to Superflower HX600w.

Change GPU to sapphire 280x toxic. Should be better than 7702/4gb wen OC.

Since not gonna do SLI/xfire, get the z87 G43 will do.

can remove ODD if all u will be using it is to install OS nia...

And you are missing out OS.

 

[xRenol]

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
CPU: i5-4670k
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x
Memory: 2 x 4 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: MSI GTX 770 TF gaming 2/4GB
PSU: Seasonic m12II 620w
Case: Corsair Carbide 400r
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD
Boot Drive: Samsung Evo 120
HDD: Caviar Blue 7200 1TB

What about this? I tried removing the asus, and replacing with some MSI products as recommended. I wanted to keep the price down as much as possible, so perhaps any part that may be slightly unnecessary for mid to high end rigs? Or any improvements that will keep the price roughly the same?

Since i'm relatively new, i'll be dabbling slightly in OC, but will probably not run dual GPUs, hence i dropped my PSU from 750 to 620. Using the Caviar Blue 7200 instead cause i dont need black, but SSD wise im not too sure about moving away from something reliable and fast like samsung evo.

I dont think RAM will need 16 gb or anything above 1600mhz in my set up, but do correct me if im wrong.

Do share your wisdom =D

You can consider Intel 530 Series or Plextor M5S/M5 Pro for SSD.

 

[valkarian]

im getting most of my choices off the fuwell price list. where's some of the recommended places i look to to get the best prices? any recommendations?

 

[shadow84]

im getting most of my choices off the fuwell price list. where's some of the recommended places i look to to get the best prices? any recommendations?

If you are gonna self assemble, and can bargain a bit, can try Tradepac. Else, can go for pc themes or mynextcom.

 

[valkarian]

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G43
CPU: i5-4670k
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x
Memory: 2 x 4 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: Sapphire r9 280x Toxic
PSU: Seasonic m12II 750w
Case: Corsair Carbide 400r
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD
Boot Drive: Plextor 128 m5s
HDD: Caviar Blue 1TB
OS: Windows 7 home prem

How's this? Plextor was a good recommendation, and the amd 280x toxic definitely caught my interest. It's power consumption looked a little high though, so I thought i'd pop up the power supply to 750, as i might add other stuff in the future (like a sound card, do advice for any good ones).

SSD won't just be for OS, it'll house one or two main games. everything else looks the same. i know i wont go dual GPU, but will the g43 limit me in any other way?

Thanks for the responses so far, very informative <3

 

[skybluegerald]

280x i think 750w is more than enough. can go for lower watts .

 

[voiceoflove]

GPU: Sapphire r9 280x Toxic -> MSI 280x
Boot Drive: Plextor 128 m5s -> intel 240gb
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x -> corsair h100i
PSU: Seasonic m12II 750w -> can downgrade abit 750w like too much abt 600-650 enough le
OS: Windows 7 home prem -> windows 8 pro 64bit

trust me 128 CFM nt enough, the OS and those misc installation took almost 50% liao

 

[valkarian]

i realise that GPU is a preference kind of thing, so lets leave it that i'll run some form of GTX 770 or R9 280x.

is 120 really not enough? I don't really mind shifting stuff to and from the HDD to SSD. as long as OS is in there lol.

I'll stick with the air cooling coolermaster evo, because im trying to keep costs down, and OC isnt very high on my list of to-dos atm XD

ok, i'll revert to the Seasonic 620W

windows 8 vs windows 7, isnt 7 cheaper? i know 8 has a lower load on the CPU, and will receive more updates overall. but gaming wise, 8.1, 8 or 7?

im still concerned over motherboard limitations beyond SLI and crossfire. any complaints on the seemingly excellent g43?

now it looks as such:

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G43
CPU: i5-4670k
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x
Memory: 2 x 4 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: r9 280x or GTX 770
PSU: Seasonic m12II 620w
Case: Corsair Carbide 400r
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD
Boot Drive: Plextor 128 m5s
HDD: Caviar Blue 1TB
OS: Windows 7 home prem

 

[voiceoflove]

u must consider fin cooler will oxidase and trap dust too =x
windows 8 is the 'in' thing now... actually its 1 version behind liao as 8.1 is the latest 1.

and since u getting msi board, might as well get msi gfx ...can RMA together also easier

 

[a562140]

nice crowd sourced build there

keep posting pics and bios settings and all lets see how good it can get

MSI vs Asrock mobo - what's the opinion out here

 

[xRenol]

i realise that GPU is a preference kind of thing, so lets leave it that i'll run some form of GTX 770 or R9 280x.

is 120 really not enough? I don't really mind shifting stuff to and from the HDD to SSD. as long as OS is in there lol.

I'll stick with the air cooling coolermaster evo, because im trying to keep costs down, and OC isnt very high on my list of to-dos atm XD

ok, i'll revert to the Seasonic 620W

windows 8 vs windows 7, isnt 7 cheaper? i know 8 has a lower load on the CPU, and will receive more updates overall. but gaming wise, 8.1, 8 or 7?

im still concerned over motherboard limitations beyond SLI and crossfire. any complaints on the seemingly excellent g43?

now it looks as such:

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G43
CPU: i5-4670k
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x
Memory: 2 x 4 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: r9 280x or GTX 770
PSU: Seasonic m12II 620w
Case: Corsair Carbide 400r
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD
Boot Drive: Plextor 128 m5s
HDD: Caviar Blue 1TB
OS: Windows 7 home prem

I only installed OS, software and 1 game on my SSD and is already 185GB.

 

[royfrosty]

I only installed OS, software and 1 game on my SSD and is already 185GB.

Then i think you got issues on your ssd already lol.

Check your daily download stuffs and also the torrents that you have stored in which drives.

Last time my previous 128gb is still quite empty. OS should not be more than 20gb for win7.

 

[shadow84]

Get m12ii 650w, improved ver of 620w...

 

[valkarian]

right, duly noted.

I think i'll stick with the 128 for now, as i just checked my current HDD and i've really only used about there for OS and a bunch of games. Also, i store most of my other data in an external 2TB WD drive, so it'll stay there for awhile. Also considering since i have a 1tb installed as well, i wont be too worried about the less important stuff taking up space, freeing up my ssd for the more read/write hungry stuff.

as for cooler, i thiknk i'll still go with the evo 212 CM. I get that it'll oxidise as wear and tear always happens, but so will the coolers of every part, including and not limited to the gpu, case and even the mother board. imho the cooler will last as long as i need it to before i need to change the rig. do correct me if im wrong.

still interested if i should go back to the g45 for usb ports and better build?

also concerned between windows 8 and 7.

will read up on msi gpus before making a decision on that.

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G43
CPU: i5-4670k
CPU cooler: Cooler master 212x
Memory: 2 x 4 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: r9 280x or GTX 770
PSU: Seasonic m12II 620w
Case: Corsair Carbide 400r
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD
Boot Drive: Plextor 128 m5s
HDD: Caviar Blue 1TB
OS: Windows 7 home prem

still looks like this atm. seasonic 650w is a whole 50 dollars more. so i;ll stick witht his

 

[Gixxerfied]

I only installed OS, software and 1 game on my SSD and is already 185GB.

windows 7??

I know Windows 8.1 save off almost 10gb as compared to Win 8..

My 128 M4 still has about 70-80GB of free space after installing Win 8.1, Office 2007, Adobe Design Premium, Adobe Lightroom and all those small programs..

 

[Ark Law]

I only installed OS, software and 1 game on my SSD and is already 185GB.

Link your Libraries and Downloads to HDD loh