Please critique my $1250 build!

[lymc7578]

Hi HWZ, planning to build a new PC and sell off my old one to a friend. Here is what I have planned out so far:

ASRock B85M PRO4 + Intel i5-4570 $383 (Bundle from MyNextCom)
msi GTX 760 TF 2GB + FSP AURUM 92+ 550W $515 (Bundle from MyNextCom)
WD Caviar Blue 64MB Cache 1TB $85
Plextor M5S 128GB $139
Kingston Value RAM 1600MHz $82
Samsung 24x DVD-RW $23
Corsair 200R $73

Total: $1232.02 (5-6% off cash purchase, promo after liking MyNextCom's FB)

Acquired a Win7 Ultimate 64bit from my school a year ago that I plan to use. Other than that, please give me your feedback! If I can cut corners in any way in terms of price, please do tell ! Also, I'm a first-time builder so I apologise in advance if I ask simple questions.

 

[shadow84]

Hi HWZ, planning to build a new PC and sell off my old one to a friend. Here is what I have planned out so far:

msi Z87-G43 + Intel i5-4670k $486 (Bundle from MyNextCom)
msi GTX 760 2GB + SeaSonic M12II 650W $513 (Bundle from MyNextCom)
WD Caviar Blue 64MB Cache 1TB $85
G-Skill RipJawX 1600 2x4GB $95
Samsung 24x DVD-RW $24
Corsair 200R $73

Total: $1232.16 (5-6% off cash purchase, promo after liking MyNextCom's FB)

I'm not planning to OC the CPU out of the box, so I will get a CPU cooler later. Acquired a Win7 Ultimate 64bit from my school a year ago that I plan to use. Other than that, please give me your feedback! If I can cut corners in any way in terms of price, please do tell

Hoot the MSI GTX 760 2GB TF2 + FSP Aurem 550W 80+ Platinum w/ 7 Years Warranty @ $519 frm PC Themes... that seasonic model should be 80+ bronze?

 

[lymc7578]

Hoot the MSI GTX 760 2GB TF2 + FSP Aurem 550W 80+ Platinum w/ 7 Years Warranty @ $519 frm PC Themes... that seasonic model should be 80+ bronze?

Yes sorry, forgot to include that. What's the difference between these two PSUs, other than the wattage and rating? Will that be enough power to drive an OC-ed 760 and CPU?

 

[shadow84]

Yes sorry, forgot to include that. What's the difference between these two PSUs, other than the wattage and rating? Will that be enough power to drive an OC-ed 760 and CPU?

i dunnoe if you are asking mynextcom to build for you or not.. 80+ bronze or platinum refers to the % efficiency.. bronze is around 85%, platinum is around 91-92%

so, calculations is as such, 550w / 0.85 = 647w VS 550w / 0.92 = 597w..

the final value indicates how much power is being drawn frm the main sockets... lesser is better = save money.. the difference between the 550w and calculated values is due to loss in heat, etc. (all i can think of frm my studies).

OC-ed 760 wun take much power i guess, and oso cant OC a lot anyway, 550w shld b fine... need more gurus advice on OC.

 

[LesterQ]

Get a non-z motherboard and download the bios for overclocking and never upgrade.

Save $100 can get ssd. Perf difference much bigger then any overclocking will gain.

 

[lymc7578]

i dunnoe if you are asking mynextcom to build for you or not.. 80+ bronze or platinum refers to the % efficiency.. bronze is around 85%, platinum is around 91-92%

so, calculations is as such, 550w / 0.85 = 647w VS 550w / 0.92 = 597w..

the final value indicates how much power is being drawn frm the main sockets... lesser is better = save money.. the difference between the 550w and calculated values is due to loss in heat, etc. (all i can think of frm my studies).

OC-ed 760 wun take much power i guess, and oso cant OC a lot anyway, 550w shld b fine... need more gurus advice on OC.

Nope, just ordering parts here and there. The HDD is actually from PCThemes, and the RAM from Fuwell. I will be assembling this PC myself, as it will be my first time and I'd like to experience it firsthand .

So this means I save on my electrical bill, is that it? Sorry, I'm still kinda new

 

[iKoori]

Get a non-z motherboard and download the bios for overclocking and never upgrade.

Save $100 can get ssd. Perf difference much bigger then any overclocking will gain.

I think he gonna OC it when he gets a CPU Cooler

 

[lymc7578]

Get a non-z motherboard and download the bios for overclocking and never upgrade.

Save $100 can get ssd. Perf difference much bigger then any overclocking will gain.

You mean something like the entry-level ASRock mobos? But won't the lack of heatsinks on the mobo affect overclocking speeds or worse, fry the motherboard? Sorry if that sounded stupid, I should've probably included in my post that I'm a first-time builder.

Also I don't really need an SSD. A 10-20 second difference in boot speeds doesn't really matter much to me, and does not justify the price tag IMO. If I ever got an SSD, I wouldn't know what to do with it besides install the OS on it

 

[shadow84]

Nope, just ordering parts here and there. The HDD is actually from PCThemes, and the RAM from Fuwell. I will be assembling this PC myself, as it will be my first time and I'd like to experience it firsthand .

So this means I save on my electrical bill, is that it? Sorry, I'm still kinda new

You will save, but nt in terms of $10+, maybe a few cents to a few dollars a mth, depending on hw much you use.

You mean something like the entry-level ASRock mobos? But won't the lack of heatsinks on the mobo affect overclocking speeds or worse, fry the motherboard? Sorry if that sounded stupid, I should've probably included in my post that I'm a first-time builder.

Also I don't really need an SSD. A 10-20 second difference in boot speeds doesn't really matter much to me, and does not justify the price tag IMO. If I ever got an SSD, I wouldn't know what to do with it besides install the OS on it

Its is not a 10-20s difference, HDD can go more than 1 min boot time, and ssd within 20s.. I think your mobo wun fry, instead, your cpu will fry... thats y for overclockers, they usually get those cpu coolers, like corsair h80 or something...

 

[cyberwave]

pcthemes no stock for 760 tf

 

[lymc7578]

You will save, but nt in terms of $10+, maybe a few cents to a few dollars a mth, depending on hw much you use.

I see. I will consider that bundle from PCThemes instead, then. Thank you for your recommendation!

 

[wuweiz]

Personally I don't feel comfortable with 550W PSU with GTX 760 and over-clocking + cooling solutions..

 

[lymc7578]

Personally I don't feel comfortable with 550W PSU with GTX 760 and over-clocking + cooling solutions..

What do you mean? Please elaborate!

 

[shadow84]

What do you mean? Please elaborate!

I think he meant that 550w may not be enough to power your GPU overclocking...

 

[wuweiz]

What do you mean? Please elaborate!

Eh.. Cause GTX 760 series consumes around 320W to 340W on load.. Also depends on whether it has one fan or two fan.. A few watts more or less..

Then how about the rest of your peripherals? Depending on your CPU cooler and additional casing fans (I will add if I'm overclocking.. Kiasu attitude.. )..

Plus what your CPU and mobo consumption of power..

550W is really a kinda bordering between enough and not enough power imo..

You start to game intensive games.. Your temp sure go crazy and your pc might suddenly shut down.. :x

Here's one chart to show u the power consumption of gfx bah..

 

[enenyi]

What do you mean? Please elaborate!

Get an SSD to run your OS from. Let the WD Blue 1TB be pure secondary storage. The cheapest I noe is Plextor M5S 128GB at $139. If u dun need so much for storage, 500GB HDD enough liao.

U definitely need CPU cooler if u gonna OC. Just buy a Xigmatek Gaia at $38 for air cooling can liao, no need to water cool unless u trying to go above 4.5GHz.

By the way, if u really wanna OC, I advise u get the Ivy Bridge CPU chip instead. Coz Ivy Bridge chips generate less heat when overclocked compared to Haswell ones. An AsRock Z77 Pro 3 + Intel i5-3570k costs only $442 from PCThemes. And Haswell is only a slight improvement over Ivy Bridge in terms of motherboard festures and specs. So whether u wanna go for value-for-money or just want the lastest technology, your choice to make.

 

[xhlee87]

Total system power consumption as per title.
Are you sure it is power consumption for graphic card only?
It is rated 230w.

 

[lymc7578]

Eh.. Cause GTX 760 series consumes around 320W to 340W on load.. Also depends on whether it has one fan or two fan.. A few watts more or less..

Then how about the rest of your peripherals? Depending on your CPU cooler and additional casing fans (I will add if I'm overclocking.. Kiasu attitude.. )..

Plus what your CPU and mobo consumption of power..

550W is really a kinda bordering between enough and not enough power imo..

You start to game intensive games.. Your temp sure go crazy and your pc might suddenly shut down.. :x

Here's one chart to show u the power consumption of gfx bah..

Wa, that's actually quite a lot of wattage consumption. Guess I will stick to the SeaSonic 650W, considering I will be OC-ing in the future.

CPU cooler and extra case fans will be bought on a later date. This is the best build I could think of, as $1250 as already stretching my budget a little.

 

[lymc7578]

Get an SSD to run your OS from. Let the WD Blue 1TB be pure secondary storage. The cheapest I noe is Plextor M5S 128GB at $139. If u dun need so much for storage, 500GB HDD enough liao.

U definitely need CPU cooler if u gonna OC. Just buy a Xigmatek Gaia at $38 for air cooling can liao, no need to water cool unless u trying to go above 4.5GHz.

By the way, if u really wanna OC, I advise u get the Ivy Bridge CPU chip instead. Coz Ivy Bridge chips generate less heat when overclocked compared to Haswell ones. An AsRock Z77 Pro 3 + Intel i5-3570k costs only $442 from PCThemes. And Haswell is only a slight improvement over Ivy Bridge in terms of motherboard festures and specs. So whether u wanna go for value-for-money or just want the lastest technology, your choice to make.

As I said in a reply to LesterQ, I do not see the need to spend another $100+ to see an increase in boot speeds, as this will be primarily a gaming PC, nothing else. I need the space for all 100 of my Steam games

This build is already stretching my budget, so I will add a CPU cooler like the CM Hyper 212 EVO in the future when I have the money so I can OC.

Hmm, that sounds reasonable. I will probably only use this PC for 2 years though, so I'd prefer to "future-proof" as many parts as possible, as I read that the LGA 1150 slot will still accommodate future CPU chips.

 

[shadow84]

As I said in a reply to LesterQ, I do not see the need to spend another $100+ to see an increase in boot speeds, as this will be primarily a gaming PC, nothing else. I need the space for all 100 of my Steam games

This build is already stretching my budget, so I will add a CPU cooler like the CM Hyper 212 EVO in the future when I have the money so I can OC.

Hmm, that sounds reasonable. I will probably only use this PC for 2 years though, so I'd prefer to "future-proof" as many parts as possible, as I read that the LGA 1150 slot will still accommodate future CPU chips.

lol, 100 of steam games, i tink you will need 2tb of space..