Rig Recommendations.

[Reynns]

Hey all,

My trusty rig of 5 years have finally died on me today (RIP 2009-2014), extremely loud fan when turned on but cpu failed to boot.

Thus, I would like to consult your expertise for a new rig recommendation. I mainly play MOBAs (Dota 2, Lol) & hearthstone these days with some odd games of CK2 & EU4 so I believe a budget entry gaming cpu under 1k should be possible (excluding the monitor and peripherals)?

However, is it possible to support a dual monitor setup with some light video editing (mainly gameplay footage) and streaming (twitch)? If not, perhaps you can also recommend a better rig for comparison.

Finally, is grabbing an ssd online still the cheaper option these days? Should I wait for any deals on black friday or does Amazon no longer provides free shipping to Singapore?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[Jian19]

i5-4460 + Asrock h81m hds ~ $300
Crucial 8gb ddr3 ~ $100
Wd blue 1tb ~ $67
Zotac gtx750ti 2gb ~ $215
Lg dvd rom ~ $21
Fsp aurum s 500w ~ $89
CM n200 ~ $55
Win7 64 oem ~ $115

$962 buy and DIY @ tradepac ask or discount. Ssd wait for Black Friday and hoot better.

 

[Reynns]

Hey bro, thanks for the quick and prompt reply. I understand that for budget rigs, the idea is to go for a more powerful graphic card to get more bang for buck.

However, are there any other options for future-proofing/upgrading if i have a bigger budget, say 1.3k-1.5kish without the need for the Window 7 OEM (I alr have a copy at home).

As for the SSD, would a 250 gb SSD suffice these days if I'm only planning on installing the OS and maybe some paradox games like CK2/EU4 on it?

Thanks for all your help, really appreciate it!

EDIT: PS, any casings with blue LEDs? Most of my peripherals are in blue (Death adder and CM Storm Trigger Z with blue switches).

 

[Jian19]

250gb ssd is the sweet spot currently

Might wan to consider a better psu and case

Superflower hx 600w ~ $108

Blue led case can consider Sharkoon bd28 ~ $73

Graphic card wise the gtx750ti should be good enough for ur gaming use.

 

[Reynns]

Hey bro, finally had the free time to do some research ytd so yeah, I'm back with a few qns xD.

Firstly, the r7 265 is the direct competitor to the gtx 750 ti, with the gtx 750 being more power efficient while the r7 265 has the ability to crossfire. Performance wise, it seems like the r7 265 slightly edges out and thus I'm wondering if the r7 265 is compitable with the current cpu/mobo u recommend. If not, do you have another cpu/mobo to recommend?

In addition, some of the other cards I'm looking at is the gtx 660 (older gen but seems to have better performance & sli) and the r9 270 (seems to have a cheap 4gb variant but is prob overkill as I game mainly on a 1080p monitor). If so, do I need a higher voltage PSU? I'm abit concerned that the gtx 750 ti might not be able to handle the new dragon age inquisition game even though it fits the 2 gb vram bill for recommended specs.

As for the mobo/cpu, any other recommendations just in case the current one is OOS? I'm planning to pick the rig up this evening if possible since I'll be swamped with work in the upcoming weeks.

Finally, do I get the entire rig at PCthemes if I don't plan to dyi cos it seems like Nigel will be out for a charity case this weekend.

That should be all for now, thanks once again for your help. Really appreciate it!

 

[Jian19]

It should be fine with the power supply

Motherboard can consider Msi b85m g43 as well

Do consider the 280 if ur budget allows, roughly $280 currently

 

[Alternative X]

1) As long as your motherboard has a PCI-E X16 slot, any GPU can be used in the system. You will only get compatibility issues if you want to use a AGP GPU, but the AGP format is long dead.

2) Both the R9 270 and the GTX 660 can be safely ran with a 500W PSU. However, if you wish to have good performance in Dragon Age: Inquisition, do consider getting the Powercolor R9 280 Turboduo for $285 for a significantly more powerful GPU. Do note that it will be a good idea to use a 600W PSU with the R9 280 due to the much higher power consumption of this GPU.

3) The H81-HDS is one of the cheapest Intel motherboards out there. Most alternatives will cost you more $$$.

4) You can also get your rig at PC Themes if you want. Do note that their prices are more expensive than Tradepac.

 

[Reynns]

Didn't manage to make down to SLS today

On the bight side, I guess it's time to do more research and ask more qns?

The R9 280 looks really attractive especially with its current 280-285ish pricing and I'm really tempted to go for it. However, I think the price hasn't been updated in the current tradepac pricelist right? I still see it listed as somewhere around 348ish...

As for the Mobo, can someone please enlighten me about the differences?
From what I seen, there are some differences in max RAM load (32GB for the B85M-G43 and 16GB for the H81M-HDS), one additional PCIe 3.0 slot for the B85M-G43, 2 more additional 6GB/s SATA, slightly better sound card for the B85M-G43 and to top it off, Crossfire support and Overclocking capability for the B85M-G43? Seems pretty one sided to me. I guess the only thing going for the H81M is the price? $343 (i5-4460 + Msi b85m g43) vs $300 (i5-4460 + Asrock h81m hds).

So to sum things up, the new potential rig will look like this?

i5-4460 + Msi b85m g43 ~$343
Crucial 8gb ddr3 ~ $100
Wd blue 1tb ~ $67
Powercolor R9 280 Turboduo ~$280
Superflower hx 600w ~ $108
Sharkoon bd28 ~ $73

Total: $971

Samsung SSD 250GB ($150ish online?)

Windows 7 OEM (Alr owned, just needa bring down right?)

Do anyone have any idea how much PCthemes will mark up? Or am I better off just waiting for monday and hoping that Nigel opens his shop so that I can get everything from tradepac and DYI at his shop?

Once again, my most heartfelt thanks for all your help!

 

[shadow84]

Didn't manage to make down to SLS today

On the bight side, I guess it's time to do more research and ask more qns?

The R9 280 looks really attractive especially with its current 280-285ish pricing and I'm really tempted to go for it. However, I think the price hasn't been updated in the current tradepac pricelist right? I still see it listed as somewhere around 348ish...

As for the Mobo, can someone please enlighten me about the differences?
From what I seen, there are some differences in max RAM load (32GB for the B85M-G43 and 16GB for the H81M-HDS), one additional PCIe 3.0 slot for the B85M-G43, 2 more additional 6GB/s SATA, slightly better sound card for the B85M-G43 and to top it off, Crossfire support and Overclocking capability for the B85M-G43? Seems pretty one sided to me. I guess the only thing going for the H81M is the price? $343 (i5-4460 + Msi b85m g43) vs $300 (i5-4460 + Asrock h81m hds).

So to sum things up, the new potential rig will look like this?

i5-4460 + Msi b85m g43 ~$343
Crucial 8gb ddr3 ~ $100
Wd blue 1tb ~ $67
Powercolor R9 280 Turboduo ~$280
Superflower hx 600w ~ $108
Sharkoon bd28 ~ $73

Total: $971

Samsung SSD 250GB ($150ish online?)

Windows 7 OEM (Alr owned, just needa bring down right?)

Do anyone have any idea how much PCthemes will mark up? Or am I better off just waiting for monday and hoping that Nigel opens his shop so that I can get everything from tradepac and DYI at his shop?

Once again, my most heartfelt thanks for all your help!

U cannot OC with B85 mobo. You can xfire but it will be restricted to x8 and x4 which isnt ideal. Best to get x8 x8 in which only Z87/Z97 mobo can do. Also, ur psu needs to be at least 750w.

PCT sell stuff at RRP, other shops may sell lower than RRP to attract customers. They are hard to bargain with, so if u have a glib of tongue, do go to tradepac to bargain for lower price. U can then bring ur items to Nigel's shop at #02-32 to ask him to help assemble. NEVER ask tradepac to help u assemble.

Can try getting evo 250gb ssd at lazada on Monday where u can use Mastercard to get 10% off.

 

[Jian19]

B85 mobo got more features but do u NEED it anot..

It's all about budget , needs , bang for bucks

We can even recommend Z board with sak ki look and features, but most ppl dun use any of it. Those that wan to use those features 90% won't even ask ppl to recommend here

 

[zenniz]

Always ask yourself a question when buying a mobo is which features do you NEED for your computer? (THE GOLDEN WORD " NEED ", NOT WANT)

People will say that you are dumb if you spent $500 on a premium " gaming " motherboard that provides 4 x16 PCI-E slot but you only have 1 graphic card, 8 6gb/s SATA connector but you only utilize 2 connector or 8 ram slot but only uses 2.

Don't buy motherboard with features that you don't or won't even use it.

 

[orlengtao]

Always ask yourself a question when buying a mobo is which features do you NEED for your computer? (THE GOLDEN WORD " NEED ", NOT WANT)

People will say that you are dumb if you spent $500 on a premium " gaming " motherboard that provides 4 x16 PCI-E slot but you only have 1 graphic card, 8 6gb/s SATA connector but you only utilize 2 connector or 8 ram slot but only uses 2.

Don't buy motherboard with features that you don't or won't even use it.

this quote is true for all builder.

I've friends who spent their hard earn money on graphic cards they never utilize, ssd for the sake of it, "military" motherboard for the name of it and even paying 100+ for a casing which is of no different as those $70 ones