<$1000 PC Build Advice Needed

[CJKatz]

Hello All,

Got some awesome advice here the last time I built a PC, hoping to have that happen again!

Budget
Looking to spend less than $1000 Canadian all in. Assuming $100 for Windows and $50 for NCIX Assembly/Warranty that limits me to $850 or less in components.

Resolution
Will be using a 47" LCD 1080p TV as a monitor, HDMI input required.

Games / Settings Desired
Having Guild Wars 2 at High/Max settings would be fantastic, my current PC can only handle Mid. I don't do FPS gaming (I prefer consoles for that) but I do play FireFall and would like to have that at High settings as well. Most of my other gaming my current PC can handle (Civ 5, Diablo 3, Skyrim) but I have started buying a lot of more modern games on Steam that I would normally buy on console (Tomb Raider, etc.) Would like to handle future potentially graphic intensive games.

Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc)
I prefer my media collection to be entirely digital, need a PC that can handle x264 in 1080p as my current PC can only handle 720p half of the time. Still require a DVD drive though, not Blu-Ray.

Country
Canada. I have used NCIX in the past and have been impressed with their $50 PC Builder/Warranty option. Would prefer to stick with them unless there is a very compelling reason to do otherwise.

Parts that can be reused
I have a 3TB hard drive that I will use for media storage, looking for a decent SSD for OS and a few key games.

Do you need an OS?
Yes. Currently using Windows 7 and I am unsure if I want to switch to Windows 8. They both cost the same from NCIX, so I'm looking for recommendations here.


Based off of suggestions from Marest's thread and what I've been reading around the forum, I was looking at this CPU/MoBo bundle: ASRock Z77 EXTREME4 Motherboard & Intel Core i5 3570K . I don't really know anything about it, but my current i3 Sandy Bridge is no longer cutting it for me.

This GPU I'm looking at: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 Windforce is probably overkill, but it seems like a great sale price considering my other options. Would welcome alternative suggestions to help bring the cost down.

As far as cases go, a black box is just fine as long as it has good ventilation.

[Deleted]

Uhh, those three components eat CA$600 of your budget, leaving $200 for everything else given the information you've given us. You could assemble the PC yourself simply by following Linus' Tech Tips and save some money there.

This is the proposed build, based on your requests - note the cost:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.05 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($270.98 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1060.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-12 02:41 EDT-0400)

EDIT: if you change the board to:

Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Canada Computers)

You come in at CA$1010, which is much closer....if you self-build.

[CJKatz]

Thanks for the suggestions tenangrychickens, a few questions.

Do I need a CPU Cooler? I've never actually had one before, but then again I've always had lower end CPUs.

The Power Supply seems a little low, I thought I would need 500w at least with these components.

Have computer part prices not come down at all in the past few years? Most of the components are just as much or cost more than what I paid in Spring 2011.

[Deleted]

Aftermarket CPU coolers are essential for overclocking, as they reduce the temperature of the chip.

The PSU isn't one I'd recommend, but it's the only one that really fits into the cost you've set.

And no, computer components haven't really come down in price.

[CJKatz]

Real life intervened for a couple days while I decided on parts and dabbled with the idea of upgrading my current PC instead of building. I wanted to give an update for anyone reading back through the forums looking for something similar though.

In the end I wound up using a modified version of what tenangrychickens suggested. With NCIX's Back to School sale starting today I managed to get a few deals that made it easy to order all from one place and saved some money. Deals that don't all show up on PCPartPicker.

With this build I will only be doing minor overclocking of the CPU (up to 4.0 at most) for the time being. Plenty of room for extra cooling and higher OC later on if I decide to.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($110.00 Combo w/CPU @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.99 @ Amazon Canada/ PM @ NCIX)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Already Owned)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($279.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master NSE-600-KKN2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($47.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1039.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-16 04:03 EDT-0400)

Thank you everyone (in both threads) for the help and suggestions.

[procne]

Cooler Master Hyper 212 might not be enough for decent overclock of 4670k. You may want to think about some more expensive cooler. So how about getting no cooler for the time being and saving for some decent one and overclock later?

[Deleted]

If you want something fairly cheap ($35-45) that'll overclock decently well with Haswell then I'd take a look at either of these:

Enermax ETS-T40-TB
Silverstone AR03

Just noticed a clearance sale at Canadacomputers, $50 for this is really good, however it's "in store only" but I thought I'd mention it in case you have one near you:

Antec KUHLER H2O 920 Liquid Cooling

[Deleted]

Enermax ETS-T40-TB is a great CPU cooler, i had one in my older rig.

Very silent and it performs pretty amazing!

[CJKatz]

Hi guys,

I know the 212 EVO is a budget cooler and won't get me much, but from the reviews and testimonials I've read here and elsewhere I think it will be enough for me for now. Eventually I will buy a more serious solution and reach for top OC, but this system is enough of an upgrade to satisfy my needs for now.

[Fluorescent0]

Hi guys,

I know the 212 EVO is a budget cooler and won't get me much, but from the reviews and testimonials I've read here and elsewhere I think it will be enough for me for now. Eventually I will buy a more serious solution and reach for top OC, but this system is enough of an upgrade to satisfy my needs for now.

Go for Ivy Bridge. Haswell is a 10% increase at best, but on Ivy you can get 4.3-4.5 on an EVO (20-30% increase in performance), while Haswell runs so hot that some chips require a cooler such as the EVO to hover at about 80 degrees at stock speeds. That difference tips the scales in favor to Ivy Bridge as far as a budget cooler is concerned. If you go liquid cooling (the one recommended by Notarget is great) or high-end air cooling you can consider Haswell an option.

[Deleted]

Hi guys,

I know the 212 EVO is a budget cooler and won't get me much, but from the reviews and testimonials I've read here and elsewhere I think it will be enough for me for now. Eventually I will buy a more serious solution and reach for top OC, but this system is enough of an upgrade to satisfy my needs for now.

~$5-10 extra for the Enermax ETS-T40-TB and better performance with Haswell, seems a no brainer to me but your choice of course, perhaps you're already on your limit. I guess it's not at NCIX either if you can only use them, they do have the Silverstone but it's $45 or simply a cheaper i5-3570k+Z77 combo with the EVO.

[procne]

Hi guys,

I know the 212 EVO is a budget cooler and won't get me much, but from the reviews and testimonials I've read here and elsewhere I think it will be enough for me for now. Eventually I will buy a more serious solution and reach for top OC, but this system is enough of an upgrade to satisfy my needs for now.

Personally, I think it's a waste of money to buy Evo 212 if you plan to buy better cooler soon. But if that's your choice then please post some overclocking results - how high did you get with Evo 212 and at what temps

[CJKatz]

To be honest, I've never overclocked before and I never really wanted to build such a system when I first started looking it my options. I will not be buying a new cooler anytime soon. Maybe a year from now after I've become (dis)satisfied with my speeds.

Seeing the prices of the parts, knowing more about how to overclock, etc from this week's research and wanting to be able to tweak my system has lead me to the above build (which is already purchased btw). If it turns out that this system can only OC to 3.8 then so be it, I honestly could have been happy with stock parts but I figure may as well play around with the cheap options and learn before trying to go whole hog.

As for the 3570k vs 4670k - it was actually cheaper with the bundle I got to go with the Haswell. And who knows, maybe the 1150 socket will stick around for more than 2 years. :-P

I will for sure come back and post some results after playing around with the system for a bit.

[Fluorescent0]

To be honest, I've never overclocked before and I never really wanted to build such a system when I first started looking it my options. I will not be buying a new cooler anytime soon. Maybe a year from now after I've become (dis)satisfied with my speeds.

Seeing the prices of the parts, knowing more about how to overclock, etc from this week's research and wanting to be able to tweak my system has lead me to the above build (which is already purchased btw). If it turns out that this system can only OC to 3.8 then so be it, I honestly could have been happy with stock parts but I figure may as well play around with the cheap options and learn before trying to go whole hog.

As for the 3570k vs 4670k - it was actually cheaper with the bundle I got to go with the Haswell. And who knows, maybe the 1150 socket will stick around for more than 2 years. :-P

I will for sure come back and post some results after playing around with the system for a bit.

Not a chance 1150 is going to last for more than that, and even if it does you'll change motherboard anyways due to DDR4 RAM coming out with Skylake. I suggested going Ivy Bridge because while it's a straight up 10% performance loss while not overclocking, if you can't afford a good cooler it gains that advantage back while overclocking. On the subject of overclocking, you're probably going to need it for places like WvW where loads of people are there at any given time.

[CJKatz]

Not a chance 1150 is going to last for more than that, and even if it does you'll change motherboard anyways due to DDR4 RAM coming out with Skylake. I suggested going Ivy Bridge because while it's a straight up 10% performance loss while not overclocking, if you can't afford a good cooler it gains that advantage back while overclocking. On the subject of overclocking, you're probably going to need it for places like WvW where loads of people are there at any given time.

Of course the 1150 won't last, hence the :P lol

My current i3 2100 system can handle the roaming WvW zergs pretty well right now actually. I haven't been in there for months (before the culling patch) but I never had problems with slow down or anything. Mostly I play solo or duo with the wife just wandering zones and such. Been playing since launch on and off and I still haven't set foot in a dungeon other than Mad King! Too many games, not enough time!