Thinking of buying a prebuilt, need advice

[Delijica]

Hey, guys. I'm thinking of upgrading my PC in the coming months and I just wanted to know what you think of some specs I'm considering.

Option 1

• Motherboard: LGA1150 B85 MSI B85M-E33, PCIe/DDR3/SATA3/GLAN/7.1
  CPU: LGA1150 Intel® Core™ i5-4440, 3.1GHz BOX 22nm (the specs list a wrong model)
  GPU: GeForce GTX760 MSI OC 2GB DDR5, DVI/HDMI/DP/256bit/N760-2GD5/OC
  RAM: DIMM DDR3 4GB 1600MHz Silicon Power CL11 x2
  HDD: SATA3 7200 1TB Toshiba DT01ACA100, 32MB
  PSU: 600W Raidmax RX-600AF, 80PLUS Bronze/PFC/12cmFan/Andyson
  Price: ~630 Euros

Option 2

• Motherboard: B75, PCIe/DDR3/SATA3/GLAN/7.1, I think it's MSI
  CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-3350P, 6MB BOX
  GPU: AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB DDR5, DVI/HDMI
  RAM: 8GB DDR3, probably the same model as above
  HDD: 1TB, model not listed
  PSU: 500W, model not listed
  Price: ~580 Euros

Do you think either of these are worth the money? Take into consideration that the prices might be a bit higher than you would expect because of some sketchy electronics tax we have going on here in Serbia. Thanks in advance!

[potis]

Again the usual bla bla build your own but thats not what you asked so i wont go there.

From those two, ignore the second one.

Now about what and who:

Motherboard: 10/10 for budget builds.

Could be a different chipset, doesnt really matter actually so its alright.

CPU: 10/10 for budget builds

i5 4440 is a decent one for the low-budget gaming builds as this one, its an excellent choice for those situations.

GPU: 11/10 for budget builds actually a 12/10

A 760 is an old model but still more than enough for WoW and any Blizzard game, or well even games like Tera which are heavier.

RAM: This RAM isnt anything impressive, doesnt mean its bad or useless, i wont score it simply because i havent experienced non-famous RAM and i cant comment further.

From quick searching and reviews Silicon Power RAM is like any other not-famous RAM, its not impressive but its not actually bad.

The CL11 is a bit bad though but once again same as motherboard there is barely any every day difference.

HDD:

As long as its a 7200rpm one its a good storage unit.

PSU: Its a 8/10, if it has 80+ Bronze it cant be a horrible PSU, and every company has faulty ones.

Not impressive, not horrible, of course everyone will start yelling "OMG GET SEASONIC" but the PSU is actually more than fine, but it can be loud according to quick google search.

General view: For 630e its a standard purchase, adding them up it comes around to ~650e with the "General Prices"

After a quick search and comparison it seems your hardware is cheaper :P

A GTX 970 MSI Gaming goes for 357 euro, thats so cheap >_> No wonder this PC is only 630.

Also, searching that site: It shows 4460 on the shop page, and the comment you copied they answer 4440, make sure to check?

http://www.emmi.rs/emmi-konfiguracij...roductId=41552

Also this one is as good/maybe a bit better for "Overall power" but if you are planning only Blizzard games, Nvidia might be a better choice.

In both cases : ADD AN SSD!

And oh, are those prices without tax on the site? Maybe that will explain how its so fucking cheap o.O

[Delijica]

Haha, no. Those are the full prices, tax included. This shop is somehow cheaper than the other major chains in Serbia, I don't know how they pull it off.

About the CPU, the site shows 4460, but they are actually using 4440. An employee said so in the comments below.

Also, I wouldn't be playing only Blizzard games. So you would recommend the build you linked for that purpose?

Out of curiosity, how would you build a rig for this price (~650 Euros) without an SSD? I'd try to do it myself, but I don't really know what parts are good or not.

Thanks for the answer!

[tielknight]

Sorry but Raidmax PSU's are never ever fine or acceptable and saying they are okay is like telling someone it is okay to put a timebomb in their computer and wait for it to go off.

And as far as prebuilts go that looks to be a bit more than the usual mark-up for a prebuilt so you should try looking around for some other builds

And if you are curious about DIY, give this thread a good read over and feel free to fill out the sticky info and we can give you some examples.

[Arbiter]

PSU: Its a 8/10, if it has 80+ Bronze it cant be a horrible PSU, and every company has faulty ones.

80+ Bronze certification has NOTHING to do with the quality of a PSU and should never be used to determine if it's safe or worth buying. Raidmax is known to be very horrible quality. Let's just say I'd take a Corsair CX before I'd ever consider a Raidmax, and I would NEVER consider a Corsair CX.

Unfortunately there aren't going to be very many prebuild services that are going to offer anything much higher quality.

[Delijica]

And if you are curious about DIY, give this thread a good read over and feel free to fill out the sticky info and we can give you some examples.

Thanks for the link. I checked it out and I'm fiddling around with some builds. I'll post a rough build to see what you guys think.

About the pre-builts, the store allows you to switch parts out. So, if you think the PSU isn't good, you may suggest a better one.

[Arbiter]

Thanks for the link. I checked it out and I'm fiddling around with some builds. I'll post a rough build to see what you guys think.

About the pre-builts, the store allows you to switch parts out. So, if you think the PSU isn't good, you may suggest a better one.

We would have to know what they have available to do that. Otherwise it ends up turning into a 3 page thread of suggestions with you telling us it's not available.

If you're talking about posting a rough build to do yourself, you could save the time and answer these questions and we could do it for you:

Budget
Resolution
Games / Settings Desired
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc)
Country
Parts that can be reused
Do you need an OS?
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)?

Would be a good comparison to show the difference in the build if you built it yourself as well.

[Delijica]

Budget: 600 Euros (~72000 RSD)
Resolution: 1920x1080
Games: Dragon Age 3, Far Cry 4, Diablo 3 and similar, at least high settings (I'm aware this might not be possible with the listed resolution and budget)
Any other intensive software or special things you do: No, it will be used solely for gaming
Country: Serbia (1 Eur=~120 RSD)
Parts that can be reused: None
Do you need an OS: No
Do you need peripherals: No

[potis]

You need to stop with the bullshit about PSU in these forums.

Every brand has bad parts. Of course some less. I built over 40 pc's with corsair psu including my sisters. All CX never heard back about problems.

While my god damn seasonic almost exploded 2 years back.

I am outside now and typing from cell sucks so i wont continue.

[Arbiter]

You need to stop with the bullshit about PSU in these forums.

Every brand has bad parts. Of course some less. I built over 40 pc's with corsair psu including my sisters. All CX never heard back about problems.

While my god damn seasonic almost exploded 2 years back.

I am outside now and typing from cell sucks so i wont continue.

Your experiences do not dictate the quality of parts inside of PSUs. There are professionals with extensive knowledge that break these PSUs down to examine them entirely. It's about failure rates. Ability to push out the loads it was rated for. All hardware has the potential to fail and one bad experience with Seasonic does not suddenly mean that it's as bad or worse than CX or Raidmax. The argument is how much potential it has to fail. Seagate Barrucas are some of the worst offenders of fail rates in HDDs which is why we tend to stay away from recommending them because...well what's the point when WD Blues have a lower fail and similarly priced? I actually have a Seagate Barracuda due to most HDD prices back when I bought them being triple in price (A WD would have costed me over $200) and luckily it hasn't failed on me since...but my experiences doesn't outweigh the experiences of many. The failure rate is still high and I wouldn't recommend one over a WD.

In the case of PSU's, you really can't afford to do what I did and take the cheaper option because when dealing with electricity you risk destroying a lot more than just your PSU. A bad HDD failing is just a matter of having to replace the HDD. A failing PSU could potentially result in buying all new hardware and in very rare but possible worst case scenario a new home as well. I'm pretty sure manufacturers won't replace hardware that burned out due to a bad PSU either if they can prove it but don't quote me entirely on that.

If you don't want to treat PSUs professionally and cautiously then that's your own problem. You can go buy a cheap $15 low quality PSU to save your money. We're not going to be intentional responsible for those risks by recommending if at all possible. I'd be pissed if someone recommended me a part knowing it was a bad choice.

And you want to know why we tend to go Seasonic? Because they care about quality. It's a company that puts quality before greed. You don't have to spend $200 on a quality PSU from them either. A $50 PSU from Seasonic will have some of the highest quality parts you could have in a PSU. highly rated capacitors, high quality soldering...always. And it's not Seasonic or die here, it's just one of those brands that you can always feel safe to recommend because besides the usual electronics are never guaranteed, you can't really go wrong compared to some other brands. Some of EVGA's superNOVA series are suppose to be really good although not Seasonic, but it's just another example that's not "OMG get Seasonic". I don't typically recommend the superNOVAs unless on sale because Seasonic is something I'm more than familiar with and is arguably better if similarly priced, but it's still a good PSU.

[potis]

As i said before i was outside and didnt wanna bother but its cute watching you insult someone again, cause apparently now i recommend "15$ low quality PSU" right?

First of all, stop being a spoiled little rich kid from whatever country you are, the OP is a balkan same as myself, Seasonics in my country start from 90e while everything else starts from 50e for the same wattage, even XFX taht are the exactly same PSU most of the time and with a quick check on the "Cheap site" his seasonic PSU start from 90e, put a damn Seasonic for 90e in a 600e budget, GREAT JOB.

Now for the second part.

I have over 40 CX PSU's never fail me, my own Seasonic literally exploded since i heard the capacitor pop while i was playing.

I had recommended about 10 XFX PSU the last year, 2 got replaced, faulty.

PSU ARE RANDOM, NO MATTER THE COMPANY.

Everyone knows and can google the PSU fail rate, you arent a special snowflake that knows more than the next person.

I never said the OP "Get a 10$ fake one" but raidmax isnt fake or terrible its like every other not-so famous brand, it has a 1% higher chance than the famous companies to go bad.

Right now in Balkan, superflower PSU are the way to go, followed by XFX.

Please, just because you are from some rich country, do not comment what is going on in the rest of the world.

When i will see a swedish person asking for a PC its straight Seasonic, when i see a Balkan, its everything else but Seasonic, our economies are shit, we know it, we adapted with secondary brands that are as good but underrated.

Anyway, end it here, i dont wanna bother answering you any more about PSU, it all depends on the budget, no one with half-sense would recommend a seasonic on a 600e budget, only if he can find the usual 550W XFX Core for 59e as it has been existing for the last 1.5 years, but even that cause its oversold isnt so easy to find anymore.

P.S I didnt read all of your post, just completing my previous post.

Also OP, if that site can switch parts around its easy stuff, change the PSU to a more stable one, Superflower/XFX and i dont know what your site has, i will check later, busy day.

And change the HDD to a SSD and you are golden, although the price will go up, it will be worth it, even if its the "premade" one.

And change the RAM from Silicon Power to whatever brand from the 3 is there: Crucial/G.Skill/Corsair at CL9 @ 1600Mhz.

[Remilia]

PSUs aren't random at all.

OEM providers such as SeaSonic, Delta, Super Flower (EVGA's higher end OEM) give a shit about their reputation. When there was issues with a product they actually go out of their way to look into it. You can find examples on Jonnyguru's site of few reviews that had exactly that.
Sure, a few duds can go through the line and that's expected of every manufacturer. Then there are parts of the PSU. There are reasons why companies advertised all Japanese capacitors. They make the highest quality of them. If old Antec True Power (CWT OEM) has anything to say about it, their old design had Fuhjyyu capacitors which gained the status for notorious failure rates.
The OEMs for Corsair now are CWT and Flextronic for their higher end, and guess what's better quality wise, Flextronic ones. The OEM matters a lot because they're the ones that dictate the quality of the product. Especially the ones that actually give a shit.

When there is a PSU with a warranty of 2 years, you know there's going to be issues.

Can search gutless wonder in the search for reviews.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory6&reid=335

I'm going to have to ask, why do you have 40 CX PSUs anyways.

[Arbiter]

A) Not once in that post were you insulted...unless being called wrong insults you because well...you're wrong. One persons experiences DOESN'T dictate everyone elses. Period. Not mine, not yours.

B) "Spoiled rich kid from whatever country". I'm from the US. Country doesn't dictate quality of a piece of hardware either, only availability. And being a spoiled rich kid...yea I'm a law abiding middle class citizen who didn't even have a decent computer with anything other than integrated graphics until I was old enough to get a job. Far from a kid and far from spoiled. I earn my own money. So thanks for your sorry attempt at insulting someone all because you felt insulted that someone told you that you were wrong. Life's tough and you're not always right. Get over it and grow up.

C) As Remilia said, nothing is random about PSUs. Everything is electronic and manufactured so like everything else shit happens, but that doesn't mean increase your risk by not caring. You want to sit here and provide all of this anecdotal evidence of your experiences, but at the same time we've recommended hundreds of Seasonic OEM PSU as well a couple other OEMs with regards to their quality and how many people have come back complaining that it didn't work or has died on them in a short amount of time?

[potis]

Remillia, i dont have 40CX PSU, its what the most popular easiest to purchase with the best warranty and service shop my country has, so either you buy their shit chinese brand renamed for their shop, or Corsair CX for the cheaper versions or when they actually have the better ones, you go the VS series etc depending on budget/person and requirements etc etc..

Generally its either shitty chinese brand rebrand/rename or Corsair.. therefor when you have someone asking you to build them a PC from that shop because you know, credit card, face to face buying, no ordering online, you kinda have to especially when you save them from going to terrible "nearby shops" where they get scammed and if everything is bad/went bad, all they have to do is get it replaced instantly without waiting.

Or you go for the other shops that arent scammers but there is no guarantee because they arent a major company, so when something goes bad "Please wait a month till we send it north for the companies to check it" and you get my point.

Arbiter and Remillia on that matter..i know exactly what brands are good and what arent, my point still stands.

Not every country has availability, not every country has the money to buy the top brands, i will repeat again, Seasonic is expensive as hell here, it is never ever recommended for the average buyer because the country is poor and people are always on tiny budgets while requesting "good" performance, so yes..Corsair is a great budget builder and so are many others.

Luckily Superflower has a brain and for some reason the PSU are priced low and we can put them over Corsair now, but when XFX has vanished from the market and you see "yeah, order in 15 days" what are you supposed to do about the random dude that contacted you over a friend of a friend of a client? "DUDE DONT KNOW YOU, WAIT 20 DAYS" of course he wont, he will go get scammed.

[Delijica]

Ooookay, back on-topic. I've come up with a rough build, so I'd like to hear what you guys think.

CPU: LGA1150 Intel® Core™ i3-4160, 3.60GHz BOX 22nm ~105 Euros
MB: LGA1150 Z97 ASRock Z97 Anniversary ~75 Euros
HDD: SATA3 7200 1TB Seagate Barracuda ~52 Euros
RAM: DIMM DDR3 2x4GB 1600MHz Kingston HyperX ~83 Euros
GPU: R9 270X Powercolor TurboDuo 2GB GDDR5 ~155 Euros
PSU: 600W Chieftec GPS-600A8 ~49 Euros
Case: Thermaltake Urban S21 Window ~63 Euros
DVD: DVD+/-RW Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE/SATA/ black ~15 Euros

In total that adds up to around 597 Euros, which is just under my arbitrary 600 Euros budget. Opinions?

If it means something, I can post my current setup so you can have an idea what I'm upgrading from.

[potis]

For WoW and Blizzard games its fine, for single player games its fine, for heavier online games i wouldnt recommend an i3.

Now for the other things:

Good motherboard choice, its priced low and you get memory support if something happens in the future, only reason i would change that is to save money on something else.

Do not put a HDD over a SSD despite the price, do give those 20 extra euros, get a 120 SSD the difference is massive and you will never regret it, get a HDD right after when you have the extra money.

Also, if you wont listen about the SSD, get a Western Digital Caviar Black.

PSU: No way in hell Chieftec, i can trust raidmax for a budget built, but Chieftec not really, dont trust them at all. and the choice of PSU on that site isnt the greatest.

Thermaltake maybe http://www.emmi.rs/napajanja-i-dodat...roductId=46552

Only one at a not so high price thats decent.

Weird, why does your build go that high? The pre-build you put earlier seems to be around the same money, no? And it needs the same changes as yours while being better, i5 4440/760..

[Delijica]

I've been thinking the same thing. Maybe the prebuilts are a bit cheaper just because they are prebuilt, to give you incentive to buy them. In the end, I just might go with one of those and switching out a few parts. After going to the store and talking to the employees to see how that would affect the price, of course.

[potis]

Do note the i5 is "better" but its also clocked lower so in single/two threaded games it will be a bit slower since the turbo mode will be at 3.3.. but its more "future proof".

Secondly as far as u saw the pre-built is around 600 euro, i would highly recommend pushing it to 650 removing the HDD and adding

http://www.emmi.rs/ssd-ssd-sata3-256...roductId=42328

Also if a pre-built is cheap is because they are trying to clean out their stock :P

Change the RAM to the Kingston ones you chose.

As others recommended you could change the raidmax PSU too, it doesnt really matter to me and because the choices on your site arent that great apart from the thermaltake i linked above but i think that will push the build to ~660-670 with the SSD change, assuming they are following their own prices..

Check with the store really on the changes/prices and you can change the build again, its not like the i3 is that much worse than the 4440.

[Delijica]

Hey, me again. So, I've been looking over their offer and this is the build I've come up with. It ends up costing around 625 Euros.

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-4460, 3.2GHz BOX 22nm
MB: Asus H81M-K
HDD: SATA3 7200 1TB WD Blue WD10EZEX
RAM: DIMM DDR3 2x4GB 1600MHz Kingston HyperX
GPU: R9 270X Powercolor TurboDuo 2GB
PSU: 630W Thermaltake Smart SPS-630M GOLD 90% eff
Case: Cooler Master Force 500
DVD: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE/SATA/ black

I've ended up with taking a cheaper mobo because I don't feel like I really need any of the additional options you get with other chipsets (i.e. I won't be overclocking), and I've read some good reviews about this particular model. I've also taken a cheaper case and used that extra money on a WD hdd and an i-5 cpu.
The reason I insist on buying an HDD right now is because I need the extra space. I will get an SSD later down the road.

What are your thoughts? And thanks for helping me out so far, I've actually learned some new stuff regarding different pc parts.

Edit: Just to reiterate, I plan on using this build solely for gaming (hopefully on high details, 1920x1080 resolution) and watching movies/interneting.

[potis]

First of all.

Usually WD Black is recommended for OS installation but:

The new WD Blue 1TB is using WD Black parts (Improved, better etc..) without the new WD Black releasing yet, therefor they are exactly the same (5-10% difference on seek rate afaik which cant be seen anywhere on daily usage) but the WD Black has longer warranty which is were the 20e cost comes in.

The model of WD Blue is the one you have linked in case you wonder if you have the correct one Its WD10EZEX

Also, are you sure you cant keep the 760 it had in? Basically 760 is ~5-10% faster than a 270X, and the 280 is 5-10% faster than a 760 give or take the values are around there, and since both are OC versions the 10% values pretty much apply for both but generally 760 was the choice to go for many months over anything else so its still recommended at your price range because it is THAT good, especially some OC versions ofit.

And since i dont know how good Powercolor aftermarket GPU are i cant recommend it over the MSI 760 OC..

And if http://www.emmi.rs/grafi%C4%8Dke-kar...roductId=35349

Is the card they had inside i would highly recommend to keep it and cover the cost over the 270X , its an amazing aftermarket cooler etc..

Just make sure to ask them EXACTLY which 760 they had inside.