1. #1

    Building a new computer no peripherals for under $2,000

    Hi guys,

    I've been looking to build a new computer for some time now but haven't had the need until I started live streaming my PS4 and PC gameplay on twitch. Now my old PC is starting to drop the graphics card from time to time when trying to do this. I'm hoping to get some guidance from this forum in helping me decide what is best to suit my day to day usage.

    Budget - I'm looking to keep it under $2,000 AUD
    Resolution - 1920x1080
    In terms of games I play a lot of different games from Hearthstone to Wow to Call of Duty and Crysis. The latter (I believe) require a much stronger graphics card.
    I use OBS to stream my PS4 and PC gameplay at 720p resolution. I clip together videos for my youtube channel and save live video through the OBS software to my existing hard drive.
    I'm from Australia and the best site here to use is umart.com.au (Chermside store). They are by far the cheapest but do not always have everything you would need in stock.
    I plan to leave my existing PC as is and build an entirely new PC from scratch so there will be no reusable hardware from the old PC.
    I don't need an operating system as I currently run windows 7 ultimate.
    I have speakers, keyboard, mouse and 2 benq gaming monitors already so I don't need any peripherals.

    There is also a possibility of purchasing the items required from Amazon or some other online service in America that might net a cheaper result and have it shipped to a friend in the States who would then forward it to myself in Australia. I've checked out Amazon and for the 11 pieces from the unicorn setup of the month it came in at around $300 postage and handling which would come in slightly above the prices from Australia without shipping.


    I'm not sure what parts I would require as this will be my first attempt at building a PC but I have been reading up on the guides on this website and others which have been very helpful in preparing. If I did need to list each part I would basically just be copying the parts from the setup of the month i.e

    Case
    Power Supply
    CPU
    Heatsink/Cooling
    Motherboard
    Memory
    Graphics Card
    Hard Drive
    SSD
    DVD

    Any help you can offer is very much appreciated and any tips for additional equipment I might need that I wouldn't have given this is my first PC build.

    Thanks everyone and I look forward to reading your responses.

    - Birksy87

  2. #2
    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.00 @ Centre Com)
    CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
    Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($163.00 @ IJK)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.00 @ Umart)
    Storage: Crucial MX200 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($157.88 @ RamCity)
    Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($498.00 @ Centre Com)
    Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($103.98 @ Mwave Australia)
    Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.00 @ CPL Online)
    Total: $1573.86
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 03:51 AEST+1000

    I did leave out HDD as you said you already had one, easy enough to add though. I also left out a DVD Drive as I consider them entirely unnecessary. If you do have need of one, they are super cheap.

  3. #3
    Deleted
    today , the only reason to chose a gtx 970 over amd 390 is if you want the best GPU for WoW (or anyother blizzard game) and just because of drivers, but the r9 390 is the better gpu overall

    edited "x"
    Last edited by mmocc274989594; 2015-07-23 at 06:58 PM.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Khuzdul View Post
    today , the only reason to chose a gtx 970 over amd 390x is if you want the best GPU for WoW (or anyother blizzard game) and just because of drivers, but the r9 390x is the best 1080p gpu overall
    I think you might mean 390 rather than 390x.. Unless 390x got a huge price cut

  5. #5
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by mrgreenthump View Post
    I think you might mean 390 rather than 390x.. Unless 390x got a huge price cut
    yes ! my mistake :P ,r9 390>970gtx overall, but again i would stay with nvidia if blizzard is absolutely ur prio

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Khuzdul View Post
    today , the only reason to chose a gtx 970 over amd 390 is if you want the best GPU for WoW (or anyother blizzard game) and just because of drivers, but the r9 390 is the better gpu overall

    edited "x"
    Maybe. I know the AMD cards are pulling ahead at 1440p and definitely at 4k but at 1080p they are pretty similar and the 970 OCs better along with still having less power consumption therefore keeping the inside of my case cooler. This isn't really the place to have a debate over that though. I will admit, I have a partial bias towards nVidia and generally recommend them without thought. The 390 is not a bad choice, just would not be my choice.

  7. #7

    Extremity's latest build.

    I JUST did the same thing you're doing! I spent around $1,400 USD (which according to google is precisely your budget?) on a new computer, not including mouse (had a naga epic), keyboard (bought a blackwidow chroma), and monitor (27 inch AOS).
    --
    EDIT: After finishing this post and calculating the final price with coupons/price changes/etc, it looks like you'd save about $200 over what I paid. I did get a few free games and a free (terrible) pair of headphones as promo gifts, but for the exact same build you'll spend $200 less, making it closer to $1200 USD which is *definitely* under your budget, correct?
    --
    I wish I could just link you my newegg cart - if you PM me an email I can use the "email cart" feature on newegg and send it to you, though.

    I'm going to list the parts by hand and give you a brief description of why I picked them.

    BEFORE I START - GET THE WATER COOLER I LIST IN THE POST! DO IT! I've always wanted to water cool but didn't want to deal with any... well, work. Sealed CPU water coolers are dirt cheap these days and work GREAT. The Seidon sealed water cooler youll see in the list below is just incredible. It was very easy to install and my temps never break 40 degrees C. They stay closer to 35 unless under HEAVY load, and even then never break 39. As youll see in the list I went with the i5 - I would ALWAYS rather get the better CPU (was going to get the top-of-the-line i7) but got the i5 for a sorta foolish reason, which youll see below. Anyways, I have the i5 clocked from 3.5ghz to 4.3ghz and still never break 39 degrees (and rarely even hit that). I could easily go much higher on the overclock, this is a VERY minimal clock (just the "auto" overclock will go to 4.8) but I just dont need more than that. On the i7, with the same seidon cooler, you could easily hit >> 5ghz.

    Here we go!

    ———

    Case: Rosewill THOR V2-W (White Edition) Full ATX Gaming Tower
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147158
    $119.99 (Normally $169.99. No expiration on sale price. I paid $129.99, so I hate you.)
    Note: Comes with four white case fans of good quality pre-installed (but moveable/removable).

    I loooove this case. While I will admit it's a bit bigger than I expected, it's great. I love the "vents" on the top that open. I have my exhaust fans there and can open for airflow or close for a quieter setup (...they're always open). It comes with four pretty nice white fans pre-installed. This is normally black, the "V2" version, but I opted for the white "V2-W". I feel like everybody has a black case. The white looks very clean and it really stands out from the crowd. The front fan grill has a white LED that looks nice but is not overwhelming at all and has a hidden switch right in front to toggle it on or off.

    The case also has two fan knobs on the top-front IO area. It's very nice; instead of hooking fans to the mobo, you can hook them up to connectors wired to these knobs. Each one supports four fans I believe, for eight total. You can do any configuration you want; for instance, my right knob controls my intake and my left knob controls exhaust. At any time I can adjust them simply by turning either knob. This is entirely optional of course and you can hook them up to the mobo instead for software/bios control, or do both (I have two fans to the mobo and the rest to the case knobs).

    The case feels very sturdy for the price. The slide-out drive bays aren't made of the best material but certainly will not break unintentionally, and the locks to hold the optical drives in feel weird until you realize you have to push them IN before sliding (it doesn't tell you this). If you like how this case looks in the pictures, then you'll love the rest.

    PSU: Rosewill Photon-750 (750W Fully Modular)
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182323
    $99.99 (Normally $129.99. No expiration on sale price.)
    $20 off with coupon code EMCAVNK46 until 7/27, for a final price of $79.99!

    I’m assuming you know what a modular power supply is. If you don’t… well, you want one. Google it. 750w is more than enough for this system and you can honesty go with less if you really wanted to save a few bucks. I went with 750 in case I wanted to SLI down the line.

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4690k Devil’s Canyon 3.5GHz LGA1150
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819117372
    $239.99 (Frequently has promotion for free game bundle with purchase)

    Normally the i7 is what I would have gone for here. Normally I buy the best processor possible and skimp on other parts if I need to save money. Unfortunately, as you’ll see a few items down, I *really* wanted the GPU that I purchased… not only because of its specs, but… well, because it was white. Gorgeous white, which matched my case. If you don’t care about that and can skimp somewhere else to save money, get the i7 (which is $100 more than the i5, at a price of $339.99 USD)… although honestly, this i5 is more than enough for what you need. Especially if you overlock it (remember that the “k” means it’s “unlocked”) with a great cooling solution. “But Extremity, what cooling solution should I use? Also, have I told you how attractive you are?” you may ask. WELL JUST KEEP READING BRO, DAMN.

    CPU Cooling or “Heatsink”: Cooler Master Seidon 120v - “Sealed” CPU Water Cooler
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103195
    $49.99 (Normally $59.99. No expiration on sale price.)

    (Pro hint: It’s not really a heatsink.)
    BUY THIS. Everybody in this thread, if you’re not already water cooled and/or are using a fan-based heatsink, buy this. For $50 the temp change is just flat-out absurd. It comes with backplates to fit AMD or Intel processors, a radiator and radiator fan, and is an absolute BREEZE to install. The backplate goes behind the motherboard under the CPU and has long screws that slide up and through. This goes over the top and is torqued down to make a clean seal over the CPU; it even comes with pretty good thermal paste. The box also comes with the radiator and radiator fan. As this is a SEALED ALL-IN-ONE SYSTEM they are already connected! You simply connect the cooler as instructed, then mount the radiator where one of your case fans goes. The radiator fan is connected to the radiator and operates as a normal fan. Again, this is sealed - no adding water, no maintenance, nothing. The Water Pump/Radiator fan connect to your mobo’s CPU Fan/etc plugs and that’s it. Using typical fan software or any thermal software that came with your system (such as the AI Suite from ASUS, which comes with the mobo in this build) You can control the pump and radiator fan. You typically want the pump operating at relatively max the entire time, so you simply tell the system to run the “CPU Fan” at 100% at all times, which will power the pump. The Radiator fan can operate per usual based on CPU temps. I cannot stress enough how incredible this item is. Water Cooling your CPU for only $50 (USD) with a sealed system that requires no maintenance is just phenomenal. It’s, say it with me, set it and… FORGET IT! Yeah! If you’re building a system, BUY THIS. If you already have a good system but have a normal heatsink, UPGRADE TO THIS.

    GPU: ASUS TURBO GeForce GTX 970 - 256-Bit - 4GB DDR5 - Overclocked
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121926
    $329.99 (Normally $349.99. No expiration on sale price. Sells out quickly!)
    (Frequent promotions for free copy of Arkham Knight w/ purchase)


    My main requirements for a GPU were 4GB of memory and 256-bit. I wanted a 980 but it’s still a bit too rich for my blood. Now to be fair, I could have gotten a 4GB/256 card for less… but this card is just great. A GTX 970 is still a *great* card and, let’s just admit it, this is a pretty sexy looking one. I was pretty shocked when I realized there are practically no (reasonable) white GPUs out there! This looks incredible in the white Thor case, is VERY quiet, and has destroyed anything I’ve thrown at it. It’s also DX12 ready yada yada yada. It’s also a great card if you want to SLI down the road; you can read about this on the product page, but if you look at the image you can see it uses a “blower” rather than a typical fan configuration. Now as a single card this works fine and the card stays very cool, but this style of cooling really shines in an SLI setup. When two (or three, or four) of these cards are “stacked” together, the blowers actually work together to exponentially increase airflow. It’s really cool and there are some videos/diagrams on the product page. This card is why I got the i5 instead of the i7. Remember that with the water cooler you can overclock the crap out of your CPU, and safely. I honestly think you’ll be fine with the i5; I am! Although the nerd in me will eventually upgrade it it’s going to last me a long time. If you don’t care about aesthetics you can certainly get a similar GPU for less cash, and then use what you saved towards upgrading that i5 to an i7 Devil’s Canyon.

    Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth Z87 LGA 1150 “TUFF” Series
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131976
    $149.99 (Out of stock as of this posting. Generally re-stocked quickly.)

    My friends had mixed opinions about me picking this board. There really isn’t much to say about it; I chose build quality over anything else. It has every feature you will need and, being part of the “Tuff” series from ASUS, uses very high quality components. This board will last you a long, long time. It doesn’t have some of the very high-end features you might find on a $250+ mobo, but it absolutely has EVERYTHING you (or even I) will need. It also comes pre-installed with “Thermal Armor”. Not only does this look cool as shit, but it really does help with airflow. Similar to the Thor case it has two air channels with switches to open or close them, to help you control where and which direction the air flows. I also comes with two mini fans that mount inside the armor, to help cool specific key areas of the board. The included software can also allow these mini fans to run X minutes after the system shuts off to help dissipate residual heat. It’s a good, solid board that has everything you need and not much that you don’t, and will last longer than pretty much anything else in your system.

    Memory (RAM): G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series - 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231568
    $95.99

    Not a whole lot to say. Decent RAM, decent price. 16GB is *more* than enough. To be honest, you could probably get away with 8GB unless you’re doing some pretty serious multitasking or video/sound/whatever editing… although, having more never hurt anybody. Plus, it’s blue. If you prefer red, you could get two 8GB (2 x 4GB) kits from the same vendor for about the same price. I desperately wanted white, which was available from Corsair, but I decided to go with these for the value and because I used them in my previous build and was satisfied with them.


    Drives / Optical / Misc

    Networking (WiFI + Bluetooth): SYBA Bluetooth 2.1/WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n 150Mbps
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815124153
    $19.99 (Normally $22.99. No expiration on sale price.)

    This is totally optional, although it is included in the final price. If you decide you don’t want it, just knock off $20 (USD). I wanted to have WiFi on my tower just to always be able to connect. You never know when you’ll travel/move/whatever and there’s only WiFi or the router is too far to run a cable. Having Bluetooth included in it when it’s only $20 was just icing on the cake and was a big part of why I went with this one. I’d never heard of this brand before, but I found some positive reviews and went for it. Note: I had some trouble getting the card to fit into the slot/case. I have not heard a single other person say this so it may have just been my card specifically, but it seemed like the card was SLIGHTLY too big. When in the slot, the rear shielding clipped the back of the case. Basically, the card was too long. I was able to force it in, however, and it’s been fine.

    SSD: Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2.5” 240GB SATA III MLC SSD
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226679
    $87.99 (Normally $99.99. No expiration on sale price.)

    I had originally placed a Samsung SSD in my cart; a friend suggested this SSD to me, however, and I decided to trust their judgement. I’d never heard of the brand “Mushkin” but the reviews were positive and I was able to get a 240GB SSD for only about $10 more than the Samsung, which was 120GB. I’ve been very happy with this SSD and haven’t had any issues. Because I was trying to save a few bucks I ended up only getting this SSD; I’d originally planned to go the typical SSD/HDD route and also have a 2TB Western Digital HDD, using this SSD for the operating system and my most frequently used games/applications. Fortunately, 240GB is realistically more than enough for you to get by until you can get a secondary HDD if you decide to go the same route; you’ll be able to comfortably store your OS, a decent amount of games, some movies, etc. You certainly won’t be hurting for space until you purchase the HDD; just don’t expect to also store your entire 14,000 album iTunes library and 486GB porn collection on it in the meantime.

    HDD - Optional **No HDDs are included in my build or final price!**

    If you’d like to grab a HDD off the bat to go along with your solid state drive, here are three Western Digital drives I’d recommend. You’ll have to decide between price and performance; there are obviously thousands of other drives out there, both higher performance and/or cheaper ones, but I’m a fan of the WD brand and I think you’d do well with any of these 2TB HDDs.

    Performance: WD Black Series - 2TB - 7200 RPM - 64MB Cache - 6.0Gb/s
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822236624
    $124.99 (Normally $159.99 | On sale until 7/27)

    This is the highest performing drive of the three in terms of read/write speed and overall quality (which is, remember, a relative term and does not imply the others are low quality).

    Balanced: WD Red Series NAS - 2TB - IntelliPower - 64MB Cache - 6.0Gb/s
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822236343
    $92.99 (Normally $119.99 | On sale until 7/24)

    A NAS drive is generally for other implementations but will work fine in your system (it’s mainly firmware differences). This is a good compromise as you can save some dough but still get a 6.0Gb/s HDD. “IntelliPower” instead of a defined RPM is a little bit more complicated; generally it’s perceived as equivalent to a 7200, although some say closer to 5400. If your HDD is primarily for flat-out storage and you’re running most software from your SDD, you’re really not going to notice a difference.

    Penny Pincher: WD Generic 2TB - 7200 RPM - 64MB Cache - 3.0Gb/s
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA5AD2710172
    $64.99 [i](Normally $89.00, although I wouldn’t pay that. No listed expiration for sale price.)

    If you want to save even more green, aren’t terribly worried about your transfer speeds, and/or are primarily using the HDD as generic file/media/porn storage than this drive is fine for you. Save some money and suck it up for an extra 4 minutes whenever you copy a large file.

    Optical: ASUS DVD Burner - SATA - Bulk
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204
    $19.99

    It’s just a DVD burner. It’s cheap, it works fine, and it’s from ASUS with exceptionally good reviews. You might not even need an optical drive; you can generally get away with not having one and just using removable media/digital software copies. I like to have one regardless. My other machine is a Retina MBP and it’s a pain in the ass when you need an optical drive and don’t have one.

    ———

    FINAL PRICE: $1,193.90!

    This is $200 less than I paid for this EXACT system! With your budget, I would absolute take $100 of your savings and upgrade your processor to the i7 instead of the i5.

    ———

    i7 4790k Devil’s Canyon 4.0GHz
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819117369
    $339.99 ($100 more than i5)

    ———

    That still leaves you with over $100 remaining. You can pocket it, put it towards new peripherals, or buy that secondary HDD with it! In doing that, you’d be getting the same system I did, except with the best processor (whether you really need it or not) and the secondary HDD off the bat. And I’ll totally hate you for it, which should be a HUGE plus!

    All jokes aside, I'm aware you can get cheaper alternatives for these parts by getting stuff such as AMD CPU/GPUs, etc. Before anybody jumps on the fanboy bandwagon, this is not me saying any one part/brand/whatever is better than any other. This is a machine I built based on my personal opinions on hardware. I do feel like the GPU/CPU is better quality than their competitive counterparts but that is purely my opinion and I really don't want to get into any (so and so is cheaper and better) disputes, unless it's something legitimate like "hey there's actually a gtx 980 for the same price now" etc.

    Except for the CPU cooler. I *am* saying that is better than anything else and it could totally beat up your dad.

    Good luck, man. If you decide to pocket that $200 you'd be saving over what I spent for the same thing, buy and mail me a HDD or an i7 THANKS FRIEND. Actually, with the shipping costs I just realized you should probably stick with that i5 and no HDD for now, mayhaps? I dunno. Holy crap when I started typing this there was like one reply in this thread. I have no idea why I just spent an hour typing this.
    Last edited by Extremity; 2015-07-24 at 12:06 AM.

  8. #8
    I am truly overwhelmed by your post Extremity and while I haven't had the chance to read all of it yet I will most likely buy something similar if not the same as your setup due to the fact that you have invested so much time in giving step by step details on exactly how to put it all together which is what I desperately need given this is my first PC build.

    I plan to complete within the next 2-3 weeks and once I'm done I will look at how much I saved and contact you via PM to offer a gift.

    Kindness goes a long way and you my friend have hit a home run with this post.

    I thank you again and look forward to getting home from work to read the rest of your post in detail and start making some purchases.

    - Birksy87

  9. #9
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    While I understand the effort Extremity. There's some things I'm going to have to criticize that shouldn't be a choice and just some added thoughts.

    PSU: Rosewill Photon's OEM is Sirfa (formerly Sirtec before it broke off).
    They are improving, but they're still not that consistent or great in comparison to other OEMs like SeaSonic, Super Flower, Delta and Flextronics. Even CWT is better than them.
    Now, why I say this is because the PSU is one of the most important parts in your system and when you can get one for the same or less price but better quality it's a bit of a no brainer to go for the better.
    AUD prices, but I'd be more willing to go with something like this.
    http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-...ply-p1750bbefx
    Platform is a SeaSonic G series which is a very good platform.
    Also very hard pressed to find Rosewill Brands in AU it seems.

    Case is partially a personal preference. I'm not going to say don't get a Full ATX, but just realize that it's huuuuugeeee.
    There are functionality with cases like HDD/SSD slots/cages, sound dampening material, radiator/fan mounting places, dust filters, and so on.
    Aesthetics is whatever floats your boat.

    SSD is a tad odd one. Mushkin isn't a bad company, but their SSDs aren't as great compared to the ones at the same price. You're also hard pressed to find Mushkin in AU it seems.
    I'd go for this as opposed to it.
    http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/cruc...ct250bx100ssd1
    http://anandtech.com/show/9144/cruci...1tb-ssd-review

    The GPU however, whether you go for either the 390 or 970, that particular 970 is a reference cooler that's just white instead of the usual grey silverish one.
    The reference design is not great and you'd rather go with a proper aftermarket cooler. I'm more partial to either Gigabyte's WindForce or Asus Strix cooler for after markets. For AMD in particular XFX is also a pretty good choice as they've been improving their cooler but also have a great warranty.
    Just for general knowledge, or well sort of. The 970 is -not- a proper 4GB/256bit card. It's a 3.5GB/224bit + 0.5GB/32bit card. That 0.5GB portion can not be used along side the 3.5GB which is why when a game requires past that 3.5GB it becomes a stuttery mess. And bus size by itself isn't that useful of an information. You need both bus size and memory speed to get bandwidth.

    HDD, do not ever get the black. There is no actual gain in the performance other than a tiny bit faster search rate. You're also paying 2x more for not a whole lot.
    I'd go with either a WD Blue or a Seagate Barracuda for the most simple one.

    In terms of RAM quantity. Evaluate how much you actually use and need. I personally need 16GBs, some don't even exceed 4GBs of usage. So look at what you do and go to task manager and see how much RAM and if you're hitting the upper limits of how much your system has, then you'd probably want to go for more.
    I'm more partial to Crucial and G.skill for RAM.

    Cooler. I'm more partial to air coolers due to noise and just don't need maintenance at all. High end air vs high end AIOs aren't that terribly different in performance. Contrary to what you said though, AIOs do need maintenance. Their pumps will eventually break due to the mechanical nature of it. I'm discounting fans because they both need em.
    This is what I'm using atm, but it is monstrous. Probably can wait for the NH-D15S if you want the assymetrical one. Has better clearance overall, it does look kinda strange though.
    http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhd15
    If you can get Cryorig H7/H5 somehow it's a great entry one, it's about $35/$47 USD I believe. It however like a lot of other stuff isn't available in AU according to PCPartpicker.
    Be careful though and check what your case CPU clearance is in comparison to the coolers.


    As for CPU and Motherboard, can you wait a month or so for the Skylake CPU, Haswell is end of life now.
    Last edited by Remilia; 2015-07-24 at 02:15 AM.

  10. #10
    Hi Remilia,

    Thanks for your input I really appreciate it.
    I couldn't wait until I got home from work so I've had a read of Extremity's post and looked into parts from Australia and it seems that the biggest issue I will be facing is locating the parts I want in Australia (This is the ideal option given the postage and handling from most companies in America when buying from one place is $300+).

    I started to play around on parts picker to try and work out what I could get from the 2 lists above and as I'm not too aware of all computer components I am left guessing and reading reviews to find out exactly what to buy.

    With regard to the SSD what is the difference between the BX100 you listed above and the MX200 listed in the first reply (apart from the $20 extra for the MX200)

    Also to be honest the aesthetics of the PC are not a concern and neither is the size as it's not something I'm going to broadcast to anyone it would simply just sit near my feet as I game. The performance is what I am really looking at.

    My last PC was built for me by a friend's dad who does it for a living and I spent around $2,000 then but as I said that was about 8 years ago so I thought this time I would try and tackle it myself.

    I've put together a list of what I think to be a pretty good PC build but I'm sure people will have other opinions and ideas which I welcome because as I said, I'm no expert (not even an amateur). I can't post links yet so I've included the details below.

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.00 at Centre Com)
    CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($115.00 at CPL Online)
    Motherboard: ASUS Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($209.00 at CPL Online)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.00 at Umart) I'm not sure if I will need 16GB but the price for that is ($144.00)
    Storage(SSD): Crucial MX200 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($157.88 at RamCity)
    Storage(HDD): Western Digital Black Series 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($97 at Centre Com) This might be overkill given I have a NAS device that has 8TB of storage however with most things related to the networking, they sometimes fail)
    Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($498.00 at Centre Com)
    Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($103.98 at Mwave Australia)
    Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.00 at CPL Online) I'm unsure of the difference between the 650W listed here and the 750W you advised apart from the $20 and I'm guessing it can output more power?
    Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 ($19.00 at IJK) I opted to get one of these just in case.
    Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800.802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($47 at CPL Online) I would like the option to run the PC wireless should the need ever occur. I do already however have a bluetooth USB dongle and Wi-Fi USB dongle fitted to the back of my current PC for this purpose so unsure if this would be essential to the build.

    Total: $1,847.86 Shipping and taxes included

    Ideally I would like to get this to around $1,500 but if the components of the build that increase the value to $1,847.86 are worth it I'm more than happy to spend the extra money.

    Other questions I had are:
    Do I need case fans?
    Do I need a wired network adapter? and
    Do I need a sound card?

    I am able to wait for the Skylake CPU however I am wary that perhaps Australia might be out of stock at most places for some time after its initial release unless I'm lucky enough to get one straight away. I'm also curious as to what the price would be and how it would compare to the i5 and i7.

    Thanks again for all your help, any feedback is greatly appreciated.

    - Birksy87

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Remilia View Post
    HDD, do not ever get the black. There is no actual gain in the performance other than a tiny bit faster search rate. You're also paying 2x more for not a whole lot.
    I'd go with either a WD Blue or a Seagate Barracuda for the most simple one.
    Black has it's uses, most common being it can be always on and has a 5 year warranty, compared to 2-3 years on other WD products. Plus it's less prone to develop weird noises over time due to better build quality. Still though if you are on budget, they aren't the ones to get.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Remilia View Post
    While I understand the effort Extremity. There's some things I'm going to have to criticize that shouldn't be a choice and just some added thoughts.

    PSU: Rosewill Photon's OEM is Sirfa (formerly Sirtec before it broke off).
    They are improving, but they're still not that consistent or great in comparison to other OEMs like SeaSonic, Super Flower, Delta and Flextronics. Even CWT is better than them.
    Now, why I say this is because the PSU is one of the most important parts in your system and when you can get one for the same or less price but better quality it's a bit of a no brainer to go for the better.
    AUD prices, but I'd be more willing to go with something like this.
    http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-...ply-p1750bbefx
    Platform is a SeaSonic G series which is a very good platform.
    Also very hard pressed to find Rosewill Brands in AU it seems.

    Case is partially a personal preference. I'm not going to say don't get a Full ATX, but just realize that it's huuuuugeeee.
    There are functionality with cases like HDD/SSD slots/cages, sound dampening material, radiator/fan mounting places, dust filters, and so on.
    Aesthetics is whatever floats your boat.

    SSD is a tad odd one. Mushkin isn't a bad company, but their SSDs aren't as great compared to the ones at the same price. You're also hard pressed to find Mushkin in AU it seems.
    I'd go for this as opposed to it.
    http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/cruc...ct250bx100ssd1
    http://anandtech.com/show/9144/cruci...1tb-ssd-review

    The GPU however, whether you go for either the 390 or 970, that particular 970 is a reference cooler that's just white instead of the usual grey silverish one.
    The reference design is not great and you'd rather go with a proper aftermarket cooler. I'm more partial to either Gigabyte's WindForce or Asus Strix cooler for after markets. For AMD in particular XFX is also a pretty good choice as they've been improving their cooler but also have a great warranty.
    Just for general knowledge, or well sort of. The 970 is -not- a proper 4GB/256bit card. It's a 3.5GB/224bit + 0.5GB/32bit card. That 0.5GB portion can not be used along side the 3.5GB which is why when a game requires past that 3.5GB it becomes a stuttery mess. And bus size by itself isn't that useful of an information. You need both bus size and memory speed to get bandwidth.

    HDD, do not ever get the black. There is no actual gain in the performance other than a tiny bit faster search rate. You're also paying 2x more for not a whole lot.
    I'd go with either a WD Blue or a Seagate Barracuda for the most simple one.

    In terms of RAM quantity. Evaluate how much you actually use and need. I personally need 16GBs, some don't even exceed 4GBs of usage. So look at what you do and go to task manager and see how much RAM and if you're hitting the upper limits of how much your system has, then you'd probably want to go for more.
    I'm more partial to Crucial and G.skill for RAM.

    Cooler. I'm more partial to air coolers due to noise and just don't need maintenance at all. High end air vs high end AIOs aren't that terribly different in performance. Contrary to what you said though, AIOs do need maintenance. Their pumps will eventually break due to the mechanical nature of it. I'm discounting fans because they both need em.
    This is what I'm using atm, but it is monstrous. Probably can wait for the NH-D15S if you want the assymetrical one. Has better clearance overall, it does look kinda strange though.
    http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhd15
    If you can get Cryorig H7/H5 somehow it's a great entry one, it's about $35/$47 USD I believe. It however like a lot of other stuff isn't available in AU according to PCPartpicker.
    Be careful though and check what your case CPU clearance is in comparison to the coolers.


    As for CPU and Motherboard, can you wait a month or so for the Skylake CPU, Haswell is end of life now.
    Again, this is literally the exact part list for the machine I just built along with my personal opinions and my experience with the components so far. More of a "I just did the same thing you're talking about doing, here's what I got and my thoughts" rather than a "this is the best stuff you can buy!"

    As for the SSD, it's been great so far and was a good value. The speeds are actually higher than I anticipated.

    For the Black HD, I gave three options for them. I've never had an issue with a black drive myself, which is (again) why I stated this is totally just my personal opinion.

    As for cooling, I'm still standing by the Seidon being the best option. You flat out cannot beat it for $50 and it will absolutely cool better than 90% of fan-based heatsinks. I don't really know what you're talking about regarding noise, especially compared to a non-WC solution? It is practically silent. Literally any other moving part in the case will be louder than it and I cannot hear it at all, with the pump set to a constant 100%. Even if I use the fanspeed knobs on my Thor case to reduce them as low as possible and flat out disable all other system fans in the bios and/or software, you cannot hear it at all. As for "maintenance free" I was obviously not stating that it would last forever, moreso comparing it to non-sealed water cooling solutions. It has a great average lifespan and, again, the performance knocks almost everything else (aside from higher cost similar sealed WCs) out of the water. Sure, you'll eventually have to replace it. You'll eventually have to replace everything. For $50 it's *still* cheaper than many other alternatives I've seen posted here even if you have to buy a second one in 3/5/7/whatever years. When you look at it from a cost to performance to simplicity perspective it's just incredible.

    I would be happy to film the inside of my case so you can see how silent the entire system, let alone the Seidon, really is. As for the build overall, while WoW is absolutely not even close to being a benchmark it is what I'm assuming the OP wants to play the most. I can play at full Ultra (increased as high as possible via macros/etc) all day with my fans on medium-high (via case knob) and the Water Cooler rad fan automatically adjusting based on temp with the CPU averaging 35-38 degrees and the maximum temp of ANY component in the system being 40-41, at MOST. Not one automatically-adjusting fan or anything else ever kicks on above 25%. The GPU is surprisingly quiet for a blower. This is at 1080p (which the OP stated his goal was) with my FPS force-capped at 100, in both outdoor content and 20-25 man raids, recording sofware, overwolf running, pandora playing, a few browser tabs, and usually some torrents going.

    For what I wanted this is perfect for me, and it seemed like the OP had similar goals. Aesthetics played a big part for me but if the OP is purely about function he could certainly swap a few things out and save some cash. I don't think anything listed is "bad" or "wrong". Some certainly have cheaper or better alternatives, but I said they would up-front.

    In other news, since we're talking about systems, I dropped almost $200 on that Blackwidow keyboard. It's the "highest" one, the Chroma something. Chroma Ultimate? whatever. I've had a Naga Epic for years and absolutely love it and wanted something that would match. Again, I'm stupid about aesthetics and thus 50% of the driving force behind me buying the $180 Razer keyboard rather than a $100 one (which Im sure would have been fine) was simply the color changing aspect, since my mouse can do that. I thought I'd be able to sync the two together so they changed colors at the same time, but even though the Naga Epic can do the same colors there's no way to do it, which sucks. Anyways, after being on a retina macbook pro for years I'm having a lot of time getting used to it and am wondering if it's just me or not. Has anybody else found typing uncomfortable on it? I use standard mechanical keyboard for work all the time so it's not that I just don't like the style... something just seems different about it.

    Also, any suggestions for those 5 macro keys on the left? I just re-bound them to be numpad 1-5 and then set them (on my warlock) to dark intent, summon, create healthstone, soulstone, and soul well. These were all things I normally clicked, but I couldnt think of anything else to do with those keys. Any ideas? And any of you have any cool lighting setups on it? I played with the ripple and ghosting and all that, and then tried a custom one - the possibilities really are endless, which is cool but a little overwhelming. Tried to make mine cool but now it just looks like light-up vomit.

    Sorry for rambling on, it's 4am and I haven't slept for 36 hours and am pretty much delirious at this point. Just please try to keep in mind that even though I probably went overboard with my list (I honestly just like making lists, yo), remember that it was "Hey, I happened to just build this exact system a few weeks ago and maybe you'll be into some parts of it!" and not "I am telling you that all of these items are the best for you/in general/whatever".

    Edit: That PSU you listed it $150, vs $80 for the Photon... almost double? Again, I've had zero problems with it and it is *VERY* quiet, which wasn't something I even though about when buying it. I spent *weeks* going over part reviews and comparing different products before settling on what I bought. For some I focused purely on my performance goals, and for others I tried to balance that and cost. This PSU ended up being the best compromise between the two - A GREAT price for a modular 750w that was very highly reviewed, is almost silent, and has a great warranty.

    I have never been opposed to trying out new/newer brands as long as there are some informed reviews by both professional sites/individuals and consumers, and very rarely have I done my researched and been let down. Both the SSD and the PSU were brands that would not have been my first choice (hell, I admitted i'd never even heard of that Mushin company or w/e it's called), but after *significant* research they seemed like quality products at a great price... and they ended up being just that.

    I am absolutely all for sticking to companies I know are top-tier, and the best products in those company's lineups, but when you're building a system with not only a budget in mind but also a performance goal I think it's absolutely reasonable to try some lesser-known products as long as you've done your research, and well. I have to say again that the Seidon cooler is awesome and you're all missing out. To this day I am still shocked by its performance. Look on youtube for reviews of it, along with reviews on vendor sites. Even the biggest tech names on youtube hail it as being an INCREDIBLE product. I have absolutely NO idea why some of you are willing to spent over a HUNDRED dollars for a normal heatsink/fan (great brand or not) when you can water cool your CPU for less than half the price, get dramatically lower temps, and a quieter system. And it's not like it's some crappy underground budget plastic piece of crap, it's a quality product from a quality lineup with tremendous amounts of praise from countess critics.

    Edit: I looked into the Noctua NH-D15 a bit more. It's definitely nice, but every review I've found has shown it at higher temps than the Seidon at any sort of load, although at *complete* idle the Noctua is a bit cooler. OP it's obviously your decision but I'm just curious why you've decided on the Noctua? It's just so expensive. I guess I'm beating a dead horse but I can't understand ever paying double for a regular heatsink when WC is half price. To be fair, I've wanted a water cooled system ever since I first heard of them years and years ago, when people had to build their own and there were no kits for it (let alone sealed coolers of any kind) so maybe I'm just being a fanboy and am biased, who knows.
    Last edited by Extremity; 2015-07-24 at 09:09 AM.

  13. #13
    Deleted
    Extremity you seem excited about your new rig, justified, but this isn't a cut for all and doesn't mean it was the best you can buy. Just because you just had one build that runs fine, for now, it doesn't mean there isn't better option that have been proven to be better over time. I would agree that seidon is a good cooler if you find it on a sale otherwise most of the times is not needed. Its also alot louder than some aftermarker air coolers that will do the same job without noise. Gaining 2-3degrees at load means nothing to the average user, but noise does. Also if you are going to pay alot 100+ of a good cpu cooler to overclock, i would rather then get the i7 4790k with a good cheap one.

    Besides the above, op is located at Australia, where price are alot lot higher.

    Remilia covered it well enough. I would suggest to wait 1-2months since the new intel Skylake chips will be out and the new mobos that go with it.

    However if you are in need of it now, here is my take on it:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($470.00 @ Scorptec)
    CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.00 @ IJK)
    Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
    Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.00 @ Umart)
    Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($150.00 @ Centre Com)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
    Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($499.00 @ IJK)
    Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($158.50 @ Centre Com)
    Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($122.00 @ CPL Online)
    Wireless Network Adapter: Intel 7260HMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($75.00 @ CPL Online)
    Total: $1928.50
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 19:55 AEST+1000

  14. #14

    here are some answers

    Quote Originally Posted by birksy87 View Post
    Questions!
    With regard to the SSD what is the difference between the BX100 you listed above and the MX200 listed in the first reply (apart from the $20 extra for the MX200)

    The MX200 has a 555MB/s read and 500 MB/s write speed, while the BX100 has a 535MB/s read nd 370MB/s write. Aside from that they are *very* similar. The question is, is it worth it to you to pay an extra $20 to have another 130Mb/s write speed? Keep in mind that loading games and other stuff is READING data. While those things certainly also write, a majority of what you think of an SSD improving (load times, if its for gaming) is read.

    I know some replies regarding the Mushkin SSD I suggested might be a little daunting... but it really is a great SSD. It's also only $107 AUD which is cheaper than both SSDs you linked. It also has a 550MB/s and 530MB/s write speed. On top of that, it's been so positively reviewed by so many people that Newegg has selected it as its official "Exclusive performance SSD". It really is a great drive. Don't make the decision to spend more money based just on what people are saying on here - do a little research and read reviews. Just the same, don't buy something just because I suggest it. I know for a fact you'd be happy with the Mushkin, but go to newegg (or elsewhere) and read the reviews/specs yourself.

    Keep in mind you said you'd like to get the price down. This is the best way to do it - get an item with better specs/performance for LESS money just because it's not one of the most well-known brands, even though the new company is well on its way to making a name for itself for quality.


    EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.00 at CPL Online) I'm unsure of the difference between the 650W listed here and the 750W you advised apart from the $20 and I'm guessing it can output more power?

    Basically, yes, more power. Remember that the components you buy have power requirements. For instance, go to the page for your GPU and look i the specs to see the power supply size the manufacturer suggests. It never hurts to have a bit more. As I said before, I got a 750 but I'm sure I could have gotten away with a 650. Hell, maybe even a 500, who knows. But remember - maybe by default your system only REALLY needs 550. If you overclock your CPU (which youll be able to do very easily. The Mobo you picked is great and has five-step optimization, which will literally overclock your CPU and memory to he highest safe values it came with the push of a button. It works REALLY well and youll be able to go from 3.5 on that i5 to closer to 4.5ghz, easily) it's going to take more power. Overclocking the CPU/changing the voltage, more power consumption. Overclock the GPU/change voltage on that? More power. Add a second graphics card in a year to have two in SLI? More power. What if in a year from now a graphics card twice as good as what you're buying now is available for dirt cheap, and you want to upgrade to it? Oh wait, you got the bare minimum power supply for your build and that GPU has a higher requirement, so you'll have to wait until you can afford a new PSU, too. And your old one is pretty much trash, who's going to buy a used PSU?

    My point is that it's better to spend the extra $20 now and future-proof your system a bit. You spend $20 more now and are safe to upgrade the machine for at least a couple years to come, or you save that $20 and have to spend $150 on a new PSU in a year when you buy a new GPU. Get the 750.


    I would like the option to run the PC wireless should the need ever occur. I do already however have a bluetooth USB dongle and Wi-Fi USB dongle fitted to the back of my current PC for this purpose so unsure if this would be essential to the build.

    If bluetooth is something you're using very rarely, a dongle is fine. If it's something you use frequently, that's different. I guess it depends on what you're doing. Any sort of data transfer, like to/from your phone? Ditch the dongle. Bluetooth headset of some sort for voice? Eh, I wouldn't use a dongle but I'm sure it's fine.

    Keep in mind that any time you use a USB port for something, you're restricted by USB speeds. For the sake of argument, let's say your wifi network can transfer data at 150MB/s. That's great! But wait, you're using a USB wifi dongle to connect... so even though you have a 150MB/s wifi connection, your USB port is only 5MB/s so your internet is now that speed.

    The cards are so cheap man, I guess it really comes down to what you're going to be doing. You know your usage patterns better than I do. If you see yourself ever needing to use wifi, I'd certainly get a wifi card for it. Like the DVD drive, I really wouldn't worry about getting a brand name wifi card. I'd definitely check the reviews to make sure it's a quality product, but aside from that I'd get the cheapest one possible that still has decent speeds. Like the one I linked, some have bluetooth built it. The one I linked you was only $20 US for a wifi card with integrated bluetooth - I'm sure with some googling you can find something similar. Seriously, take half an hour and find a wifi card with bluetooth if you're getting a wifi card anyways; worst case scenario you can't find one, you stick to the bluetooth dongle, and you're no worse off.


    ---------------------

    Other questions I had are:
    Do I need case fans?

    Your case comes with two fans; one front fan (140mm) and one rear fan (120mm). While this is enough for basic intake/exhaust, it REALLY depends on your overall system. You changed it up a bit from mine (I dont know why for some parts tbh, it seems that you just picked more expensive ones, some from the same brand and with relatively the same features? Assuming its something to do with AUD vs USD or shipping or something). If you were going with that $50 Seidon CPU cooler, which you should reeeaally consider as its literally just as easy to install as the heatsink you picked (and half the price for more cooling) I would say you'd be fine with the two fans to start. With the setup you've selected, you'd certainly get by with one intake one exhaust; consider that your PSU has its own fan, your GPU has its own fan, the heatsink obviousy does (unless you get the seidon OH GOD GET THE GOD DAMN SEIDON) so the case fans are more for airflow and ambient interior temps than they are to specifically cool any one component... but that doesn't make them any less important.

    Since fans are so cheap, I'd get at least one more fan and set it up as an intake fan. I won't go too far into it, but that would give you "positive" case pressure. That basically means there is more air blowing in than blowing out. the opposite, negative case pressure, would be more fans blowing out warm exhaust than there are fans sucking in fresh air. I'm a fan of positive pressure and it seems pretty widely accepted as "better", although there are arguments for negative pressure. Im rambling a bit and its not really something you need to worry about, so you have three choices: 1) Just use the 2 fans that come with the case. You wont have the best temps in the world but it wont be unsafe. - 2) Buy one extra fan and set it up as another intake, so you have two intake / one exhaust and positive pressure. - 3) Buy two extra fans so you have two intake / two exhaust, and even pressure. This would give you the most airfow.

    Fans are pretty cheap, although I would spend a few more bucks to get a nicer one... not only for better airfow, but noise. You want a quiet case fan. The THOR case I showed you (which is great man, check out the black one, it comes with four AMAZING fans) has four fans and I added one in via the seidon's radiator fan, so I have 3 in 2 out. If I had gone with your heatsink, I'd just be running two in two out. In your situation, both 2 in 1 out AND 2 in 2 out are fine - its up to you. If youre trying to get the price down but still think you should get a bit better cooling, just go with one extra fan. That's probably what I would do.


    Do I need a wired network adapter? and
    Do I need a sound card?

    No to both. The motherboard has both of these built in. Now if you're an audiophile and need crazy high quality sound you could opt for a sound card, but I *really* don't think you need one. I don't have one, and the mobo you selected has a very decent audio setup on the rear IO. Same goes for wired ethernet, built in.

    I am able to wait for the Skylake CPU however I am wary that perhaps Australia might be out of stock at most places for some time after its initial release unless I'm lucky enough to get one straight away. I'm also curious as to what the price would be and how it would compare to the i5 and i7.



    ------------

    Let me know if you have any more questions. Sorry for typing so much, like I said in another reply up above I am deliriously tired and for some reason when I get this exhausted I get really into typing stupid-long posts. This reply has taken me like 45 minutes because I'm sitting on my porch with a laptop smoking a cigarette while I type this and am taking little micro-naps every 30 seconds. Every other sentence I jolt awake without remembering having fallen asleep 10 seconds beforehand, and then continue typing until the next time I jolt awake.

    I'm a pretty cool guy, clearly. Anyways, I can give you a tl;dr version if you want. Too much information never hurt anybody, and building a computer is a lot more than knowing where to plug everything in. In fact, compared to 10+ years ago, building a computer is stupid easy these days. Like 99% of the parts/cables flat out cannot go into the wrong slot/plug/iguana unless you REALLY force it and break that. On that note, if you have to force anything it doesn't go there. When you push in your RAM and feel it click in (after making sure you're lining it up right!) make note of how much pressure you applies. Nothing should take more than that.

    One last note before I go - on whatever AU sites you can look at parts at, really consider those ASUS Sabertooth TUF boards with the thermal shielding. It will help with your cooling, especially with 3 or so fans. It has those micro fans that go into the thermal armor creating a sort of wind tunnel that keeps things much cooler, and its made with ASUS' highest quality parts that last pretty much forever. It's a great board for a first computer because it's incredibly sturdy (it has a full-size backplate along with the thermal armor making it VERY rigid, you can't accidentally flex the board and break it) and just awesome quality. And being good for a first PC doesnt mean it's only good for that- remember, I'm using that very board in my system. It's fantastic. For all the ridiculous typing I've done, just do me a favor and find that motherboard and the Seidon 120v CPU cooler on whatever site you use, and take ten minutes to read through some reviews, the specs, and maybe watch a video. If you're interested, ASUS has an entire SERIES of youtube vieos for EVERY motherboard (and tons of other products) they offer, and it's really informative - if you're not tech savvy you'll still understand and learn a lot to help you make decision, and if you are tech savvy youll get a lot of hot tech-porn details. Look up the video for the motherboard you picked (Or the Sabertooth Tuff if you decide on that) and give it a watch.

    Lemme know if you need anything else. Also hey I a new to the server and really need my epic mount can you loan me 27,000 gold? Also I am a female for another 500 I will /dance for you on my half-green-half-grey geared female night elf while clipping halfway into the SW bank fountain. Peeyes-T!

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Kostattoo View Post
    Extremity you seem excited about your new rig, justified, but this isn't a cut for all and doesn't mean it was the best you can buy. Just because you just had one build that runs fine, for now, it doesn't mean there isn't better option that have been proven to be better over time. I would agree that seidon is a good cooler if you find it on a sale otherwise most of the times is not needed. Its also alot louder than some aftermarker air coolers that will do the same job without noise. Gaining 2-3degrees at load means nothing to the average user, but noise does. Also if you are going to pay alot 100+ of a good cpu cooler to overclock, i would rather then get the i7 4790k with a good cheap one.

    Besides the above, op is located at Australia, where price are alot lot higher.

    Remilia covered it well enough. I would suggest to wait 1-2months since the new intel Skylake chips will be out and the new mobos that go with it.

    However if you are in need of it now, here is my take on it:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($470.00 @ Scorptec)
    CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.00 @ IJK)
    Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
    Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.00 @ Umart)
    Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($150.00 @ Centre Com)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
    Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($499.00 @ IJK)
    Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($158.50 @ Centre Com)
    Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($122.00 @ CPL Online)
    Wireless Network Adapter: Intel 7260HMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($75.00 @ CPL Online)
    Total: $1928.50
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 19:55 AEST+1000
    Dude, seriously? Did you not read the first paragraph in my reply, or any of the multiple other times I said something like:

    "Again, this is literally the exact part list for the machine I just built along with my personal opinions and my experience with the components so far. More of a "I just did the same thing you're talking about doing, here's what I got and my thoughts" rather than a "this is the best stuff you can buy!""

    I have literally said, verbatim, that this IS just me being excited about a machine I built for myself, that I figured the OP might have some of the same goals I did while building it, and that I am not AT ALL saying this is the best performing or cheapest part list, or any other list metric. I have flat out stated that, yes, I *am* excited about the PC I built, here's what I got and my personal opinions about them, and even ADMITTED bias towards certain parts and then dropped the disclaimer AGAIN that I am *in no way* saying this setup is the best at *anything*. I may disagree with some opinions on certain parts - for instance the Seidon, which (literally right now) is entirely silent with EVERY other fan turned off and at full load. So yeah, I'll disagree with some comments because I'm physically in front of the product and can vouch whether a statement is incorrect or not. Aside from that, something that's an absolute fact as I'm starting right at it and listening to it, I don't know how many times I can say "I'm not saying this is the best you can buy" before you stop saying "hey extremity stop saying thats the best you can buy".

    Or how many times do I need to say "I bought the i5 for a dumb reason to spend more money on aesthetics, if you can save the money elsewhere get the i7" right before you say "uhhh you should save money and get the i7". And what's this about the Seidon being over $100, only worth it while it's on sale or something? It's $50. Normally, always. The point, as was (again) stated at least four or five times, is that it's half the price of these other solutions while offering better cooling. Whether it's 1 degree better or 50 degrees better, it's still better for less money. As for AUD vs USD and availability of items in AU, I totally get that and understand the difference. Fortunately I have actually read the content of this thread and noticed the statement by the OP, in the OP (sex pun goes here), saying

    "...also a possibility of purchasing the items required from Amazon or some other online service in America that might net a cheaper result and have it shipped to a friend in the States who would then forward it to myself..."

    I'm not at all trying to be confrontational or start some stupid thread drama or anything, but its a little frustrating to try to put some time into helping somebody even if it is just having a nice back and forth about computer parts I enjoy, their goals, etc etc only to have people come in and try to "call me out" on something as if they can't believe my audacity, when there'd be nothing to call out on had they read... anything. And I get my posts are long as shit and you might not want to read them, and that's totally cool e-friend. But don't comment on a post if you're not going to read the post (this is more of a general statement, not specifically at you)
    Last edited by Extremity; 2015-07-24 at 10:34 AM. Reason: Typos and grammatical errors. I'M JUST A MAN!

  15. #15
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    I have literally said, verbatim, that this IS just me being excited about a machine I built for myself, that I figured the OP might have some of the same goals I did while building it, and that I am not AT ALL saying this is the best performing or cheapest part list, or any other list metric. I have flat out stated that, yes, I *am* excited about the PC I built, here's what I got and my personal opinions about them, and even ADMITTED bias towards certain parts and then dropped the disclaimer AGAIN that I am *in no way* saying this setup is the best at *anything*.
    Here's the thing and the biggest issue and it will seem very cold. I don't care about what you or anyone else's build. If someone wants to do a thematic build that's fine for them. If someone has focus on something specific that's fine for them. I can try to accommodate for that in a build. Even having biases I will admit what they are and those are mostly pertaining to GPUs atm. Now the biggest issue is, I will NOT mislead someone in saying x is better or x is worse without something to back it up.
    Why I say this is because for example, the PSU you said is -not- great. It is a Sirfa OEM and unless they can continually prove that they are getting better and better they will not be part of my recommendation list.
    http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory6&reid=405
    http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory6&reid=434
    I'm not a Corsair fan, but I won't say everything of theirs is shit. Their cases are decent and even though their AIOs are loud as shit, they still perform decently. Their PSUs are a mix bag as they have some really bleh stuff, and some decent to very good stuff. It's exactly the tier line they themselves put out actually. Memory is a big off limit as they're all 1333MHz so even going for a 1600MHz one, with a motherboard without XMP it'll only run at 1333MHz. They're also very overpriced for what you get.

    I understand being excited, but being excited shouldn't cloud your judgement in terms of actual data.
    Edit: That PSU you listed it $150, vs $80 for the Photon... almost double? Again, I've had zero problems with it and it is *VERY* quiet, which wasn't something I even though about when buying it. I spent *weeks* going over part reviews and comparing different products before settling on what I bought. For some I focused purely on my performance goals, and for others I tried to balance that and cost. This PSU ended up being the best compromise between the two - A GREAT price for a modular 750w that was very highly reviewed, is almost silent, and has a great warranty.
    You're using USD prices fyi which is why those prices should not be compared. You're also talking a very cheap OEM as opposed to a SeaSonic OEM. I never mentioned anything about noise at all. It's a semi-passive with an okay to aggressive fan profile on the upper end. Semi passive means the fan doesn't move so any noise would be electrical, not mechanical until it needs to cool itself off. It's a combination of both load and temperature measurements to set it off.
    I would be happy to film the inside of my case so you can see how silent the entire system, let alone the Seidon, really is. As for the build overall, while WoW is absolutely not even close to being a benchmark it is what I'm assuming the OP wants to play the most. I can play at full Ultra (increased as high as possible via macros/etc) all day with my fans on medium-high (via case knob) and the Water Cooler rad fan automatically adjusting based on temp with the CPU averaging 35-38 degrees and the maximum temp of ANY component in the system being 40-41, at MOST. Not one automatically-adjusting fan or anything else ever kicks on above 25%. The GPU is surprisingly quiet for a blower. This is at 1080p (which the OP stated his goal was) with my FPS force-capped at 100, in both outdoor content and 20-25 man raids, recording sofware, overwolf running, pandora playing, a few browser tabs, and usually some torrents going.
    I've actually seen that said many times and had someone show me a video of a quiet set up being filmed, still not quiet to me. I'm very picky.

    As for performance. Using these as reference due to AT not having a gigantic list next to each other to help. AT does have a testing for the air coolers, but that was a while ago and no longer the same test set up.
    So unless 120V started performing close to the H110, then whatever you're looking at is wrong.
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/7738/c...quid-coolers/9
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/9415/t...ndup-review/12


    -

    Wow those graphs make it lopsided.

    Also you should really sleep if you hadn't slept for 36 hours. O.o
    Last edited by Remilia; 2015-07-24 at 04:42 PM.

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