Recommendation for a new rig

[ngluon]

Good day all,

I would like to build a new rig from scratch.

Purpose:
All in one entertainment system
Mainly for gaming, videos, surfing.

Parameters that I rank :
1.Affordability
2.Stability of system
3.Room for upgrades in the future (after 2 years)
4.The look good factor (casing)

I have not built a rig since like 10 years ago.
Would really appreciate any help from you guys.

Some of the specs/parts I already have in mind:

MOBO: MSI/Gigabyte i5 4690K compatible (Z97/H97 series?)
Processor: i5 4690K
WCU: Closed loop water cooling unit
RAM: 8GB DDR3
SSD: 128GB
HDD: 1TB HDD (no brand preference)
GPU: To get the best card possible with allocated budget
Casing: TBC
OS: Win 7
Monitor: QNIX QX2710 LED Evolution II

Sorry for the lack of research here.
Please do advise if these specs are feasible for a budget of $1500 (excluding monitor). Is there any parts that I should actually spend less and invest more in other parts? ie. GPU
I intend to do a little bit of OC with this rig.

 

[royfrosty]

1.5k for all those will not be enough.

Msi z97S SLI Plus + i5-4690k ~ $485
Kingston HyperX 1600mhz 2x4gb kit Blue ~ $110
WD Blue 1tb ~ $67
Crucial mx100 256gb ~ $161
Asus r9 290 4gb dcuii ~ $519
Seasonic x850 850w 80+ gold fully modular psu ~ $225
Fractal design arc midi ~ $129
Samsung dvd drive ~ $21
Windows 7 home premium 64bit oem ~ $110
Thermaltake water 3.0 pro ~ $105

Total $1932. Buy at tradepac. Diy

Capable to upgrade by adding a additional gpu. You will need 850w psu for that.

 

[ngluon]

Hi royfrosty,

Thanks for recommending a set of equipment for my consideration.
Some inquiries for your choices:
Asus r9 290 4gb dcuii -> I thought radeon cards are notorious for their overheating and noisy operations? Is it still true for this card?
Fractal design arc midi - are there other choices? Or are there reasons why this casing stands out among the rest?

 

[hengheng220]

Hi royfrosty,

Thanks for recommending a set of equipment for my consideration.
Some inquiries for your choices:
Asus r9 290 4gb dcuii -> I thought radeon cards are notorious for their overheating and noisy operations? Is it still true for this card?
Fractal design arc midi - are there other choices? Or are there reasons why this casing stands out among the rest?

They are not overheating, they are designed to run at that temp, and Asus cooler is relatively quiet.

 

[royfrosty]

Hi royfrosty,

Thanks for recommending a set of equipment for my consideration.
Some inquiries for your choices:
Asus r9 290 4gb dcuii -> I thought radeon cards are notorious for their overheating and noisy operations? Is it still true for this card?
Fractal design arc midi - are there other choices? Or are there reasons why this casing stands out among the rest?

They are made to run and operate at 94deg. But however with a good cooler it is quieter and cooler.

But if lets say you want to have a cooler card and a equivalent card that would be the gtx780. Which will cost $72X onwards.

Given that the r9 290 promo is now on, it is worth to grab it.

Fractal design Arc midi is one of the best mid tower chassis you can find out there. At $129 a solid chassis with rooms of expansion. Strong metal are being used. At $129 is a good buy.

If you are willing to pay more, You can go for Corsair Obsidian 450D for a sleeker design @ $169

Fractal design midi has a good form factor and also very solid

 

[ngluon]

Thanks for the enlightenment.
All in all r290 is a good bang for the buck.
I am actually very keen in the Corsair Obsidian 450D;
the dust filter, air circulations and cable management capabilities look very nifty, not to mention the sleek looks as well.
In terms of casing I don't need 'strong' materials in the first place. I'm not going to bring this rig to war. As long as its not as squishy as tofu and is able to stand on my desk table its fine.
Is the 850W PSU really needed?

 

[royfrosty]

Thanks for the enlightenment.
All in all r290 is a good bang for the buck.
I am actually very keen in the Corsair Obsidian 450D;
the dust filter, air circulations and cable management capabilities look very nifty, not to mention the sleek looks as well.
In terms of casing I don't need 'strong' materials in the first place. I'm not going to bring this rig to war. As long as its not as squishy as tofu and is able to stand on my desk table its fine.
Is the 850W PSU really needed?

Having a good chassis last a life time. When buying a cheap chassis a lot of things are missing. Such as poor material used and poor ventilation. Certain stuffs unable to remove etc. Invest a good one. It last a long way.

As for PSU. Like I've mentioned before. If you intend to expand in future for a second GPU you will need an 850w PSU. Considering the fact that you are using a 1440p monitor, you may need 2 GPUs to achieve good frame rate performance.

 

[ngluon]

Hey,

Can someone quote me the prices of these parts?
Is there anything I can downgrade appropriately to sacrifice minimal performance?
I think I'm over budget here.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[royfrosty]

Hey,

Can someone quote me the prices of these parts?
Is there anything I can downgrade appropriately to sacrifice minimal performance?
I think I'm over budget here.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

1) There is no MSI Z97 G45 Gaming in local SLS. Are you referring to US?
2) Kingston Black Fury is quite expensive and does not yield any performance value. Get a dual Gskills ripjaws 1600mhz 2x4gb kit will do.
3) Do you still insist on Samsung EVO? If you do please get it from US Amazon or the local camera shops there. Else if you want locally the best value is Crucial MX100 256gb.
4) Don't go for a Sapphire r9 290 for the 2 years warranty. And it is not priced at $499. It has revert back to normal pricing of $598. Your next best alternative is Asus r9 290 4gb DCUII at $519 with 3 years warranty.
5) Go for a better PSU. I believe your PSU is also from US. Might wanna consider Seasonic instead.

 

[ngluon]

1) There is no MSI Z97 G45 Gaming in local SLS. Are you referring to US?
2) Kingston Black Fury is quite expensive and does not yield any performance value. Get a dual Gskills ripjaws 1600mhz 2x4gb kit will do.
3) Do you still insist on Samsung EVO? If you do please get it from US Amazon or the local camera shops there. Else if you want locally the best value is Crucial MX100 256gb.
4) Don't go for a Sapphire r9 290 for the 2 years warranty. And it is not priced at $499. It has revert back to normal pricing of $598. Your next best alternative is Asus r9 290 4gb DCUII at $519 with 3 years warranty.
5) Go for a better PSU. I believe your PSU is also from US. Might wanna consider Seasonic instead.

Yes I did all of my research online and the resources are mostly from the US.
As it stands now after some refining:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Gskills ripjaws 1600mhz 2x4gb kit
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

Do you have any recommendations for a Z97 board?

 

[royfrosty]

You should be looking at local market for the Z97 Gaming 5 instead.

If you are going to reside in Sg for most of the time, mobo should be the last thing that you will think of buying overseas.

Best is still get it locally with the peace of mind for rma purposes.

The rest of the parts are fine.

Go for asus r9 290 instead as the local price are at $519 vs $629 for giga. Unless you have it in US at below $519sgd.

PSU. Go for seasonic. I know when you are in US the market there sure flooded with Corsair products. Please look for other brand PSU.

Go for PSU like:

Seasonic G650
Seasonic X650
Seasonic P650

Superflower HX600
Superflower Leadex Gold 600
Superflower Leadex Platinum 600

Kingwin Lazer Platinum 600 (US)

OCZ MKIII Silencer gold 600w (US)

FSP Aurum S 600

 

[ngluon]

You should be looking at local market for the Z97 Gaming 5 instead.

If you are going to reside in Sg for most of the time, mobo should be the last thing that you will think of buying overseas.

Best is still get it locally with the peace of mind for rma purposes.

The rest of the parts are fine.

Go for asus r9 290 instead as the local price are at $519 vs $629 for giga. Unless you have it in US at below $519sgd.

PSU. Go for seasonic. I know when you are in US the market there sure flooded with Corsair products. Please look for other brand PSU.

Go for PSU like:

Seasonic G650
Seasonic X650
Seasonic P650

Superflower HX600
Superflower Leadex Gold 600
Superflower Leadex Platinum 600

Kingwin Lazer Platinum 600 (US)

OCZ MKIII Silencer gold 600w (US)

FSP Aurum S 600

Hey there thanks for this advice,
I did my research in the US sites because the resources there are easily available and I don't have the luxury of going to SLS as and when I like. Not that I can find the people who are patient enough to answer my pesky queries.

I have not really decided to get my parts locally or overseas. I have researched these parts assuming that Singapore had everything; obviously according to you this is not true at all.
And yes, I would definitely get my MOBO in Singapore
I would love to get my PSU in Singapore as well.
US now retails the giga at 533 SGD (after taxes)
So I guess that option is off.

Thanks again for your time royfrosty; for your patience and your time

 

[ngluon]

I might as well list my research here for reviewing:

PU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($405.27 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.99 @ Amazon)

Prices listed are all in USD
Total: USD$1261.20 -> SGD$1551 (excluding taxes from GPU)

 

[hengheng220]

I might as well list my research here for reviewing:

PU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($405.27 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.99 @ Amazon)

Prices listed are all in USD
Total: USD$1261.20 -> SGD$1551 (excluding taxes from GPU)

Does all of those qualify for free shipping to sg? if not its gonna cost a bomb to ship from amazon.

 

[ngluon]

Does all of those qualify for free shipping to sg? if not its gonna cost a bomb to ship from amazon.

I'm not intending to ship everything from US. (although everything should qualify for free shipping with the exception of the casing)
I am using this to get an idea of the value I'm getting in the local distros.
If the discrepancies are too large, then I will decide to buy from US.
Since overseas rma transactions are pricey and lengthy, would like to minimize buying from overseas and yet maintaining value over the money I have spent.

I guess the next step would be to check the regional online sites which actually ships directly to Singapore.

 

[TechNuB]

y giga? honestly i feel the sap triX and asus DC2 offers gd value with local warranty.

and i dont see the point in getting the mx100 from amazon. its a diff of like 15 bux.

 

[ngluon]

y giga? honestly i feel the sap triX and asus DC2 offers gd value with local warranty.

and i dont see the point in getting the mx100 from amazon. its a diff of like 15 bux.

Hmm you can say that I'm being thorough in this process? Just wanted to find out how are the prices in amazon then compare back to local prices.

 

[royfrosty]

Hmm you can say that I'm being thorough in this process? Just wanted to find out how are the prices in amazon then compare back to local prices.

The only thing you can buy now in amazon are ssd 250gb onwards. Other than that even gpu are about the same price as amazon.

 

[ngluon]

The only thing you can buy now in amazon are ssd 250gb onwards. Other than that even gpu are about the same price as amazon.

I was quoted a list of specs and the total price was kind of staggering.

PU: Intel Core i5-4460
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87-D3HP ~ $470
CPU Cooler: Thermal take Water 2.0 pro (used) ~$75
Memory: Gskill ValueRAM DDR3-1600 8GB (2 x 4GB) ~ $105
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ~ $169
Storage: 1TB WD red ~ $90
Video Card: 2nd hand R9 290X gaming (used) ~$350
Case: Fractal Define R2 Midi (black) ~ $130
Power Supply: Superflower HX600 Golden Green 80+ Gold Semi-Modular PSU ~ $105
ODD - SATA DVD Writer ~ $22
OS installation
Diagnostics

Total: $1542

 

[rainbatt]

Good recommendations, bookmardked.