Fairly big upgrade

[Wintermut3]

Hi, finally looking to upgrade my 5 year old machine.
I'm intending to keep the case and the PSU which are the following:
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Midi Tower
PSU: Corsair TX 750W

Sadly I'm neither from UK or US (wish I could have your prices :P), so just used PCPartPicker to generate a nice looking list. The actual price for these pieces are gonna come to $830 from a e-store where I live.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($225.91 @ Newegg)
Total: $670.88

Now I'm looking to shave some off/find some alternatives. First of all I'm not too sure about the Motherboard, nor what performance I'd lose if I went for a cheaper LGA1150 one (seems to be plenty). Only chose the Z87-A because people had recommended me one. Also the 270X seem well priced for their performance.

But yeah, welcoming any alternatives for all of the listed parts!

[Cyrops]

How much do you want to shave off?
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-...board-z87mpro4 would save you like 40-50$
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial...8g3d1609ds1s00 would save around 30$

Main difference between various z87 boards is the build quality by manufacturer and the extras added.
Also insignificant differences, like LAN chip manufacturer (realtek for Asrock and intel for asus, comparing ASRock Z87M PRO4 vs AsusZ87-A).
Oh and Asrock card is smaller micro ATX, if that is of a concern to you, main reason why it is cheaper.
You would also need an aftermarket cooler for CPU to OC it a bit more, but stock is decent enough for starters.

The options provided by manufacturers:

Gigabyte - Ultra Durable 4 or 5

There are a host of features that are meant to be present on a UD branded boards, including a higher proportion of copper in the PCB, all-solid capacitors, no doubt some kind of fancy choke in the power regulation - and the combination of those features is meant to make the motherboard more reliable than a standard, non-UD Gigabyte board.

MSI - Military Class III or IV (by searching the net seems to be marketing scheme,

In Short, "MilSpec" means 'Higher Rated Tolerance Of Function Components' to meat MilSpec needs.

)
ASUS - 5X Protection

ASUS 5X Protection :
- ASUS DIGI+ VRM - Phase digital power design
- ASUS Enhanced DRAM Overcurrent Protection - Short circuit damage prevention
- ASUS ESD Guards - Enhanced ESD protection
- ASUS High-Quality 5K-Hour Solid Capacitors - 2.5x long lifespan with excellent durability
- ASUS Stainless Steel Back I/O - 3x more durable corrosion-resistant coating

Asrock is after those 3 manufacturers

Asrock is the "budget" option..... high on features, a bit light on ruggedness .... many complain about the thin boards warping. Until recently, max warranty was 2 years.

If you want to read more http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answer...7-boards.html#.

You should decide, as mostly it's what people prefer themselves.
Now from all the extra stuff 3 manufacturers offer, I liked Asus more as it offers protection vs 'better components'. Maybe it's also just marketing trick, I am not sure, but better safe than sorry.
Asrock is good mobo for it's price and they seem to be increasing the quality due to customers crying about it

[chazus]

What actual website are you buying from?

I might recommend a Geforce 660. Its not -quite- as powerful as the 270X, however its usually significantly cheaper (A good 30%). Also see if the 270 is available.

[Wintermut3]

How much do you want to shave off?
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-...board-z87mpro4 would save you like 40-50$
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial...8g3d1609ds1s00 would save around 30$

Ideally, I would want to shave off about $100 but realizing I will need a CPU cooler I don't think that's gonna happen. Every little helps though!
Also, ASrock doesn't seem to be available from the store I'm looking at. However I had a look around at other Z87 boards and decided for an ASUS one with the information you provided (previously had very good experience with ASUS). Changed from Z87-A to Z87-K ($30 off!) because I figured I wouldn't need surround sound.

The memory I came up with initially also is the cheapest one available.

I realize now it was pretty stupid not to include where I'm buying from, sorry guys.

What actual website are you buying from?

http://www.komplett.se - Provided you can get past all the BORK BORK BORK it might be somewhat understandable for non-swedes.

I might recommend a Geforce 660. Its not -quite- as powerful as the 270X, however its usually significantly cheaper (A good 30%). Also see if the 270 is available.

What manufacturer would you recommend for the 660?

Regarding the previous choice of GPU, I looked around a bit and found some people not recommending XFX (personally never had anything from them) so started looking at Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Vapor-X OC, could shave off another $30 here by going for a ASUS Radeon R9 270 or $38 less with a MSI Radeon R9 270.

EDIT: Comparing some of the 660s, it would save me roughly $15-25 compared to the 270's. Is it a big step down in performance?

[chazus]

I did some number crunching. If you want to save a few bucks, get the nvidia 660. If you can spare a few extra bucks, get the R9-270, or 270X. Price wise, they're both about the same for performance/cost.

I compared 1920x1080 benchmarks of Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Metro and BF3. The 270 came up between 3-9% faster (and costing 11% more), and the 270X ranged from 9-12% faster (Costing 14% more). So none of them are 'bad deals'. They're all almost identical for price/performance.

That said, I'd recommend one of these three.

MSI 660 @ 1390 SEK
MSI R9-270 @ 1549 SEK
Gigabyte R9-270X @ 1590 SEK

I don't think any of these are a bad purchase. I guess the determining factor is... are those ~$30 worth saving, or putting elsewhere in the system? If no, I'd probably just get the 270X.

Hoppas detta hjälper =D

[Wintermut3]

I did some number crunching. If you want to save a few bucks, get the nvidia 660. If you can spare a few extra bucks, get the R9-270, or 270X. Price wise, they're both about the same for performance/cost.

I compared 1920x1080 benchmarks of Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Metro and BF3. The 270 came up between 3-9% faster (and costing 11% more), and the 270X ranged from 9-12% faster (Costing 14% more). So none of them are 'bad deals'. They're all almost identical for price/performance.

That said, I'd recommend one of these three.

MSI 660 @ 1390 SEK
MSI R9-270 @ 1549 SEK
Gigabyte R9-270X @ 1590 SEK

I don't think any of these are a bad purchase. I guess the determining factor is... are those ~$30 worth saving, or putting elsewhere in the system? If no, I'd probably just get the 270X.

Hoppas detta hjälper =D

Thanks for checking the benchmarks where I couldn't be bothered.

Settled for the Gigabyte R9-270X!

Which CPU cooler should I be going for? How bad is the stock cooler? Does it literally become unusable under high-performance?

[Cyrops]

Thanks for checking the benchmarks where I couldn't be bothered.

Settled for the Gigabyte R9-270X!

Which CPU cooler should I be going for? How bad is the stock cooler? Does it literally become unusable under high-performance?

On another thread someone said the stock will be decent for 4.2GHz.
But if you get a meh chip that might be different.

[Toffie]

Which CPU cooler should I be going for? How bad is the stock cooler? Does it literally become unusable under high-performance?

I wouldn't bother with the stock cooler for a 4670K, especially If overclocking is on your mind.
And yes, the stock cooler is fairly loud under CPU intesive gaming.

The 212EVO will allow you to overclock a fairly decent bit & be quiet.
http://www.komplett.dk/cooler-master...pu-kler/657097

[mitbrandir]

What manufacturer would you recommend for the 660?

I'd say a MSI twin frozer 660. From this dutch review ( it's from late 2012 tho, This, it's in dutch ), it's supposed to be the best option out of the ones they tested ( MSI, Asus, EVGA and point of view )