New build (€1200) advice

[Deleted]

I bought my current PC back in 2007 and haven't really looked at new components for a while other than replacing broken parts, so was wondering if people could help me out for my new pc that I plan to buy and build in a month or two time.

Budget: Pref around €1200, incl. monitor. Absolute max 1300.
Resolution: 1080p; 1920x1080
Games / Settings Desired: WoW (main focus), League, HeroesOTS and some others rarely. Would like to play these with high settings on 50-60fps.
Any other intensive software or special things you do: Nothing intensive
Country: Netherlands. I used www.alternate.nl's pc-builder to get my current concept build and prices.
Do you need an OS?: Yes, but will get one for free through education program.
Do you need peripherals?: One monitor as main display (1080p, 1920x1080).
Parts that can be reused:
- current monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 2032BW, 20" 1680x1050) as secondary, monitor (browser with youtube or whatever). Will replace this one in future with a copy of the main monitor.
- if compatible current hdd: Samsung 320 GB SAT2 HD321KJ

My current idea
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K (€259.-)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1210182
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO (€24.99)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/915236
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150-HD3P (€96.90)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1224210
Memory: Kingston HyperX Savage 2x4GB DDR4 2133GHz (€51.90)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1225394
Storage SSD (OS, main games): Samsung 850 EVO 250GB (€84.90)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1163757
Storage HDD (Storage): Western Digital Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM (€49.99)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1013040
Storage HDD (Storage): Samsung 320 GB SAT2 HD321KJ (€0.-)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked (€364.90)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1158591
Case: Sharkoon VG5-W (€42.99) or Sharkoon T28 (€63.90; + €20.91)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1206911
Power Supply: Sharkoon WPM600 Bronze (€59.90)
https://www.alternate.nl/product/1053693
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224FB (€18.99)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1208765
Monitor 1: LG 24" 24MP47HQ (€139.-)
https://www.alternate.nl/html/product/1236853
Monitor 2: Samsung SyncMaster 2032BW, 20" (€0.-)
Total: €1193.46

What I'd like to know:
- Is this a decent build and slightly future-proof?
- Is there parts that I should consider swapping or spending more budget on and why?
- Is it worth waiting a few months for the new GPU series I heard come this Summer; will prices of current cards drop a lot or will I be able to get a much better GPU for the same price?

[Deleted]

If you are going to buy a 6600k then you need a Z170 mobo otherwise no point getting a "k" cpu. For same money or less you can get 2400 or 2666Mhz ram, one stick or two makes no difference get the cheapest. Gtx970 is good but for same or less again you can get an R9 390 which is a little better and will benefit from dx12 down the road. The case and power supply sorry to say are junk, quality wise. The monitor is not bad but generally speaking when you buy a monitor buy something good cause its ones of those parts that gets upgraded last from most ppl.

This is what i'd get, case doesn't support internal od if you absolutely need one then you either have to get an external ones or find a suitable case.

[Deleted]

Thanks a lot for your feedback! With your suggestions and a bit of consideration I think I'll go for the below configuration, although it's a bit higher than budget. I don't think I need an OD, but for old games and in general I'd like to have the option to just put a disc in my machine.

The only thing I'm still a bit unsure off is the GPU. As I've used Nvidia my whole life, my preference goes towards that instead of Radeon. I can see the card is actually better on VRAM and bus size, but will I ever need more than 3.5GB VRAM on 1080p, considering power consumption and all? What does DX12 actually do over DX11? And is it maybe an idea to just wait with buying the GPU when the new series come out this summer?

My current idea
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K (€259.-)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim (€44.99) (Was no suggestion in the builder tool for the Cryorig H5, would it fit? Prices are same)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GZ-Z170-Gaming K3-EU (€142.90)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 2x4GB DDR4-2400 Kit (€44.49) (Prefer 2 dims in case one breaks, got 4 slots available anyway)
Storage SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB (€84.90)
Storage HDD:
- Western Digital Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM (€49.99)
- Samsung 320 GB SAT2 HD321KJ (€0.-) (Current HDD)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked (€364.90)
Case: Corsair Graphite 230T (€84.90)
Power Supply: XFX Pro 650W (€78.90)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224FB (€18.99)
Monitor:
- LG 24" 24MP47HQ (€139.-)
- Samsung SyncMaster 2032BW, 20" (€0.-) (Current monitor)
Total: €1312.96

[Deleted]

The Cryorig H5 is better cooler than pure rock, so for same price is no brainer.
About ram, its very rare to have a stick break or run into problems, if you have something going on with ram it most likely to be a problem with motherboard instead of ram itself. On the other hand the less sticks you have the less likely to have a problem. Like 2x8gb sticks are better than 4x4gb, again for the mobo not the sticks.
The case is not worth that money. For 5more euro you get a Fractal Design R4 which is miles ahead in quality and features.

About the gpu yes the R9 390 is a better card. Dx12 like dx11 over dx9 before it, to keep it simple utilised the gpu more, got more performance out of it. Gtx970 doesn't support it but R9 390 does. You coud wait for the new ones if you are in no rush but expect to wait around 6months for it. Have a look here for dx12

[Deleted]

Cheers again for the help, Kostattoo!

I decided to continue a bit over my budget (I hate myself a bit for it..) and will go for a Fractal Design R5 Titanium Window. Heard some reviews wishing they spend a bit more to get the R5 over R4 and I fell in love with it when looking for R4's

Having read the article, I'm convinced to try the R9 390 as it just seems a lot better than the GTX 970. However not long after I decided that, I found some posts of people saying WoW performs a lot better on Nvidia GPU's than AMD's, is that true? As it's currently my game of choice, should I reconsider (again) and go for the 970?

[Deleted]

However not long after I decided that, I found some posts of people saying WoW performs a lot better on Nvidia GPU's than AMD's, is that true? As it's currently my game of choice, should I reconsider (again) and go for the 970?

WoW does run better on Nvidia cards. HOWEVER, seeing as both the 970 and 390 have more then enough power for WoW it does not matter.

If we were talking lower end, say 370 vs 950. I would pick the 950 if WoW would be the main game.

[Deleted]

What Zeara said, up to gtx960 vs R9 380 the nvidia will give you more performance in wow. But gtx970 - R9 390 and above they are so powerful that it doesn't matter anymore, not for 1080p at least.

[Deleted]

How much difference would it make if I were to go for a 1440p monitor? Would it be enough to consider the 970 again or are the differences that minor, that it'd be better to stick to the 390 anyway, also regarding other games (although WoW'd still be the focus). Like say if the 970 gives me 60 fps and the 390 58 fps on 1440p, I'd still go for the 390.

My budget doesn't really allow to go for one, but perhaps in the future or if I somehow manage to convince myself to go even more over budget... I hate myself xD

[Lathais]

How much difference would it make if I were to go for a 1440p monitor? Would it be enough to consider the 970 again or are the differences that minor, that it'd be better to stick to the 390 anyway, also regarding other games (although WoW'd still be the focus). Like say if the 970 gives me 60 fps and the 390 58 fps on 1440p, I'd still go for the 390.

My budget doesn't really allow to go for one, but perhaps in the future or if I somehow manage to convince myself to go even more over budget... I hate myself xD

The AMD cards tend to perform better at higher resolutions even before the crimson drivers were available. The crimson drivers just made the more even at 1080p.

[Deleted]

People advised me to go for a better monitor as they call it a shame to not spend more on the monitor with a build like above and just go for 1440p. What things should I look out for on a monitor with 1440p, without spending more than €400 on a single monitor. I've pretty much come to the conclusion to save up a tiny bit more and expand on the budget.

Also, as I see it, Nvidia is more optimized for WoW, but AMD is more optimized for high res, which would make AMD more attractive overall. Would a 970 however outperform 390 purely for WoW at 1440p as it's better optimized for WoW? Or would a 390 still outperform because it's better for higher resolutions?

The rest of the build seems pretty solid now thanks to your help

Edit: I've come across the Dell U2515H; is this a decent monitor for 1440p at 60Hz?

[Deleted]

Either the Dell U2515H or BenQ GW2765HT, both good choices the Benq is 27" instead of 25".

As for the gtx970 vs R9 390 @ 1440p, the gtx970 will win. But it won't matter that much since both can go up to 100+fps. The cpu will be the bottleneck in raiding not the gpu.

[Deleted]

Held off with buying due to the new gpu's coming out. But will start buying most of this computer in 2 weeks . Considering the new Nvidia GPU's will be coming out very shortly, I decided to not buy a GPU yet. My wife stopped using her computer, so I nicked her gtx 650ti and 1080p monitors while I save up some money. I plan to buy the gtx1070 when options become available, and 2 new 1440p monitors towards the end of the year as these will be a bit too expensive for now.


CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K (€242.40)
CPU Cooler: Cryorig H5 Universal (€49.56)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GZ-Z170-Gaming K3-EU (€121.-)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 2x4GB DDR4-2400 Kit (€36.-)
Storage SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB (€90.-)
Storage HDD:
- Western Digital Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM (€47.95)
- Samsung 320GB SAT2 HD321KJ (€0.-) (Current HDD)
Video Card: GTX 650ti (for now) --> GTX 1070 (~€400?)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5, window/titanium (€110.50)
Power Supply: XFX Pro 650W (€71.50)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224FB (€20.-)
Monitor:
- 2x 22" AOC 1080p --> 2x Dell U2515H (€329.-) (total: €658.-)

Total now: €788.91
Total with GPU: €1188.91
Total with GPU and monitors: €1846.91 - probably not before Christmas :')

[Deleted]

I would pick this PSU instead, basically higher quality model. And you def don't need 650 watts. You could probably get away with a 450 model.

http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/46379...ir-rm550x.html

[Deleted]

I'm fairly unknown about PSU's and the calculations to see how much wattage you need in a system, so went with Kostattoo's suggestion. To get an indication, roughtly how much wattage would the current system with a gtx 650ti take? And would the same PSU support a gtx 1070 in the foreseeable future?

[Deleted]

The 1070 will require less power than the current high end cards due to the die shrink. the 1080 is rated at 180 tdp, the 1070 will probably sit a bit lower. This number is just a rough indication of the power requirement.

But, you should be more than fine with a 550 watt power supply.

The 650ti boost uses around 100-120 watt during gaming/max load. The normal 650ti uses a bit less I think. It is fair to say the system with a 650ti probably wont use much more than 200-250 watts. With a 1070, I guess it would be around 300-350 watts not counting any overclocks.

I would also suggest to wait untill AMD releases more info about their new Polaris cards. They are probably also of interest for you.

[Deleted]

If you want a more future proof PC, i would consider getting 16gb RAM and maybe a 500gb ssd.

For memory, you don't need it yet but it's relatively cheap and it can be hard to match sticks in the future.
For the SSD: with games going upwards of 50gb installed size already today, i imagine a 250gb ssd can only hold 2-3 games in a few years. Though you could consider just buying extra when/if your need becomes apparent, they might have dropped in price/gb by then who knows. personally i bought a 120gb ssd a couple years back and now it can barely hold 2 games, thats how i imagine 250gb ones will go.

Since i'm buying a PC myself too soon and am also looking at fractal cases: is there any reason you went with the define R5 instead of the define S?

[Deleted]

I actually like the suggestion to go for 16gb ram immediately. I planned to wait a while with it as I don't think it's really necessary currently, but for a few euro's more, I save the hassle of finding matching sticks later on.

SSD wise I think it currently costs too much as I hardly need the space. I lasted more than 8 years on a 320GB HDD and only had to cleanup a bit a handful of times. The HDD will store most of the data while the SSD only takes on the OS and a handful of games/programs I use very frequently. Most games I'll continue to play from my HDD.

The case, I heard of the FD Define R4 and looked into that, found the R5 and some reviews that praised the R5. Never heard of the S until you mentioned it. Now that I've taken a look at it, I still prefer the R5 as, it doesn't cost a lot extra. It has two extra usb drives on top of the case and room for an internal optical drive, which for some reason I can't imagine parting off. I also fell like a sucker for the titanium colour, which might even be, subconsciously, the most important factor... Yes, it's silly

[Deleted]

The case, I heard of the FD Define R4 and looked into that, found the R5 and some reviews that praised the R5. Never heard of the S until you mentioned it. Now that I've taken a look at it, I still prefer the R5 as, it doesn't cost a lot extra. It has two extra usb drives on top of the case and room for an internal optical drive, which for some reason I can't imagine parting off. I also fell like a sucker for the titanium colour, which might even be, subconsciously, the most important factor... Yes, it's silly

The looks of a case isn't a silly reason for many its the most important reason.

Personally i also feel uncomfortable getting completely rid of my optical drive, even though i think i only ever used it to install windows, but i'm thinking ill just get a USB external one for 20-25eu this time around so i have one that will always work regardless of future upgrades and on multiple devices.

I've also heard that the R5 is more silent then the S (but then again there are also people who say sound foam is just marketing hype)

[Lathais]

The looks of a case isn't a silly reason for many its the most important reason.

Personally i also feel uncomfortable getting completely rid of my optical drive, even though i think i only ever used it to install windows, but i'm thinking ill just get a USB external one for 20-25eu this time around so i have one that will always work regardless of future upgrades and on multiple devices.

I've also heard that the R5 is more silent then the S (but then again there are also people who say sound foam is just marketing hype)

That is what I have done. I have 3 PCs in my home and none of them have an optical drive anymore, just one external optical drive that I can move to where ever it is needed on the very off chance it comes up that I need one.

[Deleted]

I'm fairly unknown about PSU's and the calculations to see how much wattage you need in a system, so went with Kostattoo's suggestion. To get an indication, roughtly how much wattage would the current system with a gtx 650ti take? And would the same PSU support a gtx 1070 in the foreseeable future?

550w is good enough for your build. At the time when i had made the build there weren't any good psu's at that price range and those were above 100euro. Thus why i went with the one i suggested. Prices and availability change all the time and since its been like 2-3months since then obviously things change. The one Zeara linked is as good in quality but don't think that is that much better than the xfx. You will mostly pay for it being modular which for 15euro is up to you to decide if worth it. It might actually have something more than i am not aware if the xfx pro has it, the passive cooling sub 30-40% operation. Under that % usage its fan doesn't spin.