Building a PC

Hey guys.

I'm just about to assemble a rig for a friend of mine. He's going to use it primarily for daily use and a bit of gaming; not the really intensive games. I want him to be able to run last-year-games on ultra at least. Now, I've been looking at these specific specs, and I wanted a second opinion:

(Forget the first digits)

• 780485 - Intel® LGA1150 Core i5-4670K
  815062 - MSI LGA1150 Z97 GAMING 3
  744179 - Crucial DDR3 BallistiX Sport 1600Mhz 8GB KIT
• 780485 - Intel® LGA1150 Core i5-4670K
  815062 - MSI LGA1150 Z97 GAMING 3
  744179 - Crucial DDR3 BallistiX Sport 1600Mhz 8GB KIT
• 780485 - Intel® LGA1150 Core i5-4670K
  815062 - MSI LGA1150 Z97 GAMING 3
  744179 - Crucial DDR3 BallistiX Sport 1600Mhz 8GB KIT
• MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming 2GB PhysX

I'll figure out the SDD/HDD, disk-readers and the case myself.

I have literally no idea of the current hardware market; are there any pieces you can recommend?

He wanted to be able to have the wireless network as well; any cheap/working/neat wireless connecters out there that you can throw a recommend on?

The list I made is about 835 USD.

Thank you so much, I know you're really passionate about what you're doing, and I appreciate it!

Looks pretty good to me; but why not go with just a single intel i7 processor instead of the 3 i5s? Seems like a more logical way to go imo. As far as the other items go; you should be good with those as 24gb ram(at least thats what it appears it totals) should be more than enough for gaming and light activities. As for the hardware market; indeed i would say definitely go with a ssd over a standard hd as they are much quicker in terms of response times plus no moving parts to wear out. Im sure others can add to this so please do.

Seeing the Haswell non-refreshed is still one on top.



TP-Link makes some wireless solution as the TL-WN881ND PCI-e card. I own one and it works fine

NoN said:

Seeing the Haswell non-refreshed is still one on top.



TP-Link makes some wireless solution as the TL-WN881ND PCI-e card. I own one and it works fine

Good mention there Non!; I too have a wireless card from tp link and while most of the time i use ethernet cable to connect to router; I do occasionally test it to make sure it works still. I also installed one as backup in case for some reason my ethernet jack or cable suddenly go haywire, etc. good call!

NoN said:

Seeing the Haswell non-refreshed is still one on top.



TP-Link makes some wireless solution as the TL-WN881ND PCI-e card. I own one and it works fine

Speaking of which, would the new refresh one not be the better one to go for? I don't think there is much difference in price so it might be better to get the CPU that was designed to run on Z97. (i5 4690K)

paulpicks21 said:

NoN said:

Seeing the Haswell non-refreshed is still one on top.



TP-Link makes some wireless solution as the TL-WN881ND PCI-e card. I own one and it works fine

Speaking of which, would the new refresh one not be the better one to go for? I don't think there is much difference in price so it might be better to get the CPU that was designed to run on Z97. (i5 4690K)

Yeah, meant to mention that...but i'd stay vague about the refreshed line as the OP have to know first specs on some hardware components i'll pick up for the new rig.

I'll tend to say the same but i'll also tell to the OP to look at some new upcoming Haswell Refresh i5 4690K reviews before making up his mind. Refreshed should be fine with new z97 boards if not into extreme overclocking (i mean past the 4.5GHz)!

Thank you for your replies guys. I had another offer from the company today, which includes like a package, that you can assemble yourself. It's all in one place, and you cannot change specific hardware pieces. You're basically stuck with the setup.

But what do you think of this one? It's a bit more expensive, but value for money is probably playing a major role.

• Corsair Graphite 230T Midi Tower Black
• Cooler Master G650M, 650W PSU
• Intel LGA1150 Core i7-4790
• Kingston DDR3 HyperX 1600MHz 8GB (2x4GB)
• MSI LGA1150 B85M-E45
• MSI GeForce GTX760 2GB Gaming PCI-E
• Crucial M500 SSD 2.5" 120GB SATA 3.0
• ASUS DVD-Writer DRW-24F1ST/BLK/G/AS, SATA
• NVIDIA Voucher - WATCH_DOGS

We'll probably need a HDD for storage. Nevertheless, the price tag ends at 1190 USD.

Why first choose a Z97 board with i5 4670K (1st Haswell), then choose i7 4790 (refresh) with an older B85 LGA1150 board?

As the first choice the processor wouldn't change on price, but you're cutting down on price by taking Haswell Refresh + older LGA1150 board.

I would stay i5 4690 or i7 4790 with a H97 m-Atx motherboard.

MSI: H97M-G43

ASUS: ASUS H97M-E

GIGABYTES: GA-H97M-D3H

Those three main brands are quite affordable and have the newest components could find on the market

Thanks for the fast reply, NoN. You're right. How about the graphics card? Any recommendations alongside your recommended specs, so we won't get bottlenecks what so ever?

You might find this review useful. It looks like the AMD R9 280 would be a better choice.

MSI R9 280 Gaming v PNY GTX760 XLR8 ? £185 shootout | KitGuru