Building New Rig - €1k budget, some advice needed

[Biomega]

Hey everyone!

So, I've decided my old PC isn't quite cutting it anymore, so I'm looking to buy a new one. I usually build them myself from components, but it's been several years since I've seriously looked at hardware and so I'm not quite in the loop. Given the gazillions of options out there, I'd appreciate some input and advice!

First of all, my budget is about €1.000, though I can go a bit higher if necessary. Also, I don't need a monitor as I've replaced that only a year ago with one I'm quite happy with (Samsung SyncMaster P2470HD in case it matters). I use the PC for gaming, of course, but I don't usually play games with very high graphics; notably, I do not play FPS at all. What I do play is RPGs, WoW of course, but also Elder Scrolls games, Dragon Age, stuff like that. What I want from those games is high fidelity, and a high frame rate. I like stuff pretty and fluid! Also, I'd like this one to last for a while. There's some interesting games on the horizon (like TESO) that I'd like to play with high settings when they come out. And I also don't want to build another computer in 2 years. My current one has lasted me over 5 years now, and though the new one doesn't have to go that far, something around 3 years or so would be my idea.
Aside from gaming I also tend to do a lot of multitasking, with several image, PDF and text editing thingies open at the same time. On my current PC that gives me a noticeable performance drop with delays and stuff, that really annoy me.

Oh, and: just giving me models is fine, I don't need links to dealers (though ballpark prices are appreciated).

Now, I've had little trouble choosing some of the PC parts, like an SSD or a HDD. But there's two things I find very hard to decide upon:

1) CPU - I get that Intel is the go-to right now (I used AMD for my last two machines), but I can't figure out which one. First of all, i5 or i7? And then, which model in particular? There's like a hundred of them, and many are very close in price... very hard to decide! The motherboard to go with that should be easy to figure out, but input is still appreciated.

2) GPU - that's where things really start getting way too confusing. There's like a million brands out there! And very often there's such minor differences that you get ten different setups for basically the same chip/brand... I really have no clue. In the past, I've made mistakes in choosing my GPU because I got arrogant and thought I could be tech-savvy. I'm not. You people are. I'll defer to your opinions and advice in this matter! I think that the GPU should be a substantial part of my budget, though I suppose that's shared with the CPU. You probably know better what goes best together. I'd also very much appreciate an estimate on how much power the setup will need (500W? more? less?).

The rest, as I said earlier, I can pretty much figure out. Case, fan, and all that stuff, not very complicated. But I'd really appreciate help with the CPU/GPU, and to some degree the MB, too!

Thanks in advance everyone!

[Jakexe]

If you're just gaming than the i5 is the go to CPU. Either the 3570K (mobo socket 1155) or you can wait a fortnight or so and get the new 4670K (mobo socket 1150).

As for the GPU, the GTX 780 is the best option but comes to around $600US. I haven't looked at the 770 enough but I believe it's a good card for a bit cheaper also. Otherwise the 670 is the best option below that. Brand wise evga, asus, gigabyte, msi are all safe bets. As for AMD cards i'll leave someone else to advise on those. A 500W PSU from a quality brand should be sufficient to run those cards although 600W is recommended.

[Biomega]

Thanks, that's a good start! I'll look into the cards you mentioned.

Also, I'm in Germany.

[Punisher]

I would actually wait hawell CPUs (ix-4xxx) before buying anything

[Biomega]

See, that's why I ask you people! You know stuff like this! :P

Alright, I guess I'll wait. But they should be coming out soon, so no harm in doing some research, and collecting all your opinions in the meantime, eh?

[Punisher]

See, that's why I ask you people! You know stuff like this! :P

Alright, I guess I'll wait. But they should be coming out soon, so no harm in doing some research, and collecting all your opinions in the meantime, eh?

They will be announced in fews days (I can't find an official date, but some says tomorrow and the lastest day I saw was june 4)

I would also pick a SSD, for a 1K build, I think you can afford it. Do you have any case that you would like to have?

[Deleted]

For the CPU I would wait for haswell.

As for the GPU. I guess the budget for that would be around 300 euro (depending on the rest of the system of course, but im going to work with 300 as a max).

You could get a 7870 XT, which should be around 220 euro. If you want to go higher a 7950 is the next choice. On the nvidia site we just have the 660 and 660ti in that price range. But seeing as Nvidia is launching their 7xx series, the 760 (ti) might also be coming in the next few weeks. Which is probably a rebranded 670, but with a price closer to 300 euro. But this is speculation on my side. At least AMD isnt bringing anything out till atleast the end of October.

[Jakexe]

They will be announced in fews days (I can't find an official date, but some says tomorrow and the lastest day I saw was june 4)

I think the media embargo is lifted on the 2nd and the presentation is on the 4th.

[Biomega]

What about cooling, by the way? I saw that many retailers offer CPU bundles with a fan, are those any good? Or should I invest in a separate product? Noise is not an issue for me by the way, only performance. My room can get quite warm, it's usually around 24°C ambient, and up to 30°C in the summer.

[Punisher]

What about cooling, by the way? I saw that many retailers offer CPU bundles with a fan, are those any good? Or should I invest in a separate product? Noise is not an issue for me by the way, only performance. My room can get quite warm, it's usually around 24°C ambient, and up to 30°C in the summer.

The fan that comes with the CPU is the strict minimum. If you plan on overclocking, you can't stay with the stock fan. It will also be a bit noisy.
You should get a LGA 1150 compatible cpu fan. You can go liquid cooling or air, but you should take something on air.

[Jakexe]

The fan that comes with the CPU is the strict minimum. If you plan on overclocking, you can't stay with the stock fan. It will also be a bit noisy.
You should get a LGA 1150 compatible cpu fan. You can go liquid cooling or air, but you should take something on air.

It's looking like anything 1155 compatible will work with the 1150 socket.

[Biomega]

Another question that came up: I obviously want an SSD and I thought I knew for sure I'd want a ~250GB one. But now I've read in several places that you don't really need that much, and that ~120GB are fine for the OS and some of the mainly offline applications/games (since obviously online ones are usually bottlenecked by internet speed not disk speed). What would you recommend for size? I'm planning to run Windows7.

[Punisher]

Another question that came up: I obviously want an SSD and I thought I knew for sure I'd want a ~250GB one. But now I've read in several places that you don't really need that much, and that ~120GB are fine for the OS and some of the mainly offline applications/games (since obviously online ones are usually bottlenecked by internet speed not disk speed). What would you recommend for size? I'm planning to run Windows7.

I am using a 120 Go SSD + a 500 Gb hard drive, most of the ppl will get a SSD + a HDD because of size. You install your OS + your main games on the SSD (and programs ) and you dump the rest to your HDD (documents, less used programs)

For windows 7, I recommand you to get win8 instead, it performs usually better in games and the experience is more fluid

[Biomega]

I'm using Windows 7 because I already own one. Win8 I'd need to buy

But yeah, obviously I'm using a HDD as well. I bought a 1TB HDD six months ago, so that'll do. I was just worried that a 120GB SSD wasn't enough for the OS and my usual programs. But it seems that it'll do.

[Punisher]

You own a OEM licence that you can resuse ? Are you sure?
What are to program that you use?

[Killora]

You own a OEM licence that you can resuse ? Are you sure?
What are to program that you use?

I've re-used OEM copies. It's not a strict rule they abide by. if you call them you can easily re-use the license.

also, win 8 doesnt' really perform much better in games, it just boots up faster :P.

[Punisher]

I've re-used OEM copies. It's not a strict rule they abide by. if you call them you can easily re-use the license.

also, win 8 doesnt' really perform much better in games, it just boots up faster :P.

I know you can reuse OEM, I was feared about a non-oem liscence with no cd

I was also sceptical about performances in windows 8, but check out those videos (numbers don't lie)

[Biomega]

Yes, it's an OEM copy. I checked and it shouldn't be a problem to re-use it. Thanks for the concern, though!

[Angella]

What about cooling, by the way? I saw that many retailers offer CPU bundles with a fan, are those any good? Or should I invest in a separate product? Noise is not an issue for me by the way, only performance. My room can get quite warm, it's usually around 24°C ambient, and up to 30°C in the summer.

For that budget I'd go with the i5 3570k chip // lga 1155 board (haswell has better on-board graphics and you'll get your own graphics card so don't bother with haswell). For cooling just get the corsair h100i. You'll want more like 1.5K to go with custom cooling and the h100i is pretty damn good. Assuming you're not OCing your GPU(s).

[Deleted]

Another question that came up: I obviously want an SSD and I thought I knew for sure I'd want a ~250GB one. But now I've read in several places that you don't really need that much, and that ~120GB are fine for the OS and some of the mainly offline applications/games (since obviously online ones are usually bottlenecked by internet speed not disk speed). What would you recommend for size? I'm planning to run Windows7.

I was making a similar choice a few months ago, I went with a 250gb model and I am glad I did, 120gb would not have been enough for me. Your mileage may vary of course, try to figure out beforehand how much you really want on the SSD and how much can go to the HDD.

If you are even close to filling up a 120gb with what you can think of, I recommend going with a 250gb. If it is not getting close, you have to decide if the extra space is worth the cost.