New build for my lil brother

[Punisher]

Hi!
My brother is getting tired of playing on minimum on his crappy laptop, so he is finally upgrading.

He have a budget of 800$, not including the OS. We already have a screen, keyboard, mouse, and all the fluff.

Im located in Canada, so price in canadian dollars.

He doesn't do any special thing beside gaming and basic school work. He is mainly playing WoW, but he would like battlefield 4 too.

The screen he has is a 1600x900, which is perfect for him.

Anyone got suggestions?

[Deleted]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $791.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-11 11:48 EDT-0400)

dunno what all the fluff is? (psu,case?) if so, u could squeeze in a ssd.

[chazus]

H60 and better board will give you a little more OC headroom than the EVO. Also, the above listed prices are US, not CAN.

PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.00 @ Canada Computers)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($54.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.79 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.30 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.00 @ Vuugo)
Total: $814.80

[Deleted]

H60 and better board will give you a little more OC headroom than the EVO. Also, the above listed prices are US, not CAN.

ah yeah didnt see that.

anyhow, if fluff means u dont need a case and optical drive, go with chazus suggestion and put the remaining bucks into a better gpu as the 650ti will struggle in bf4

[chazus]

It ought to be fine as long as you keep running 1600x900. I haven't seen benchmarks, but if it gets 70fps in BF3, I imagine it ought to get 50 in BF4. I'm just speculating on that, though.

The other option is go with the 3.6ghz i3, and a better card.

[Punisher]

It ought to be fine as long as you keep running 1600x900. I haven't seen benchmarks, but if it gets 70fps in BF3, I imagine it ought to get 50 in BF4. I'm just speculating on that, though.

The other option is go with the 3.6ghz i3, and a better card.

That's what I was going to suggest

Since he just told me that he doesn't play WoW as much as he was, I came up with this.
He would like to keep it under 800, so this what I've come with. It let him soom room to upgrade in the futur if he feels the need

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1Ny88
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1Ny88/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1Ny88/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4340 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($159.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($239.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $767.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

What do you think?

Oh and btw, can he use the windows 8 upgrade to fully install the OS? He told me that he already did it, I'm not sure of the possibility of doing it, (never heard anyone that did it) but at least I can throw an old xp and then fully upgrade to win8

[Deleted]

aiming for bf4 the i5 will be far superior... so i would go with chazus build then and save a little more ~50$ to get a better gpu into that build. i am running a 4770k@4.2ghz + the msi n660 i get around 50-60 fps on ultra at 1080p (just tested it as im not running fully ultra normally). but as said, thats 1080p, so i guess u can go for chazus build and have medi-high settings @ 1600x900 in bf4, with a nice stable framerate around 60 with the 650 ti boost.. (but like chazus im just guessing here)

[Punisher]

aiming for bf4 the i5 will be far superior... so i would go with chazus build then and save a little more ~50$ to get a better gpu into that build. i am running a 4770k@4.2ghz + the msi n660 i get around 50-60 fps on ultra at 1080p (just tested it as im not running fully ultra normally). but as said, thats 1080p, so i guess u can go for chazus build and have medi-high settings @ 1600x900 in bf4, with a nice stable framerate around 60 with the 650 ti boost.. (but like chazus im just guessing here)

I don't know, looking at benchmark the i3-3220 isn't that bad compared to a same gen i7. At stock speed of course. He probably won't overclock too... Keeping that in mind, does the i5 really worth the price bump?

[chazus]

does the i5 really worth the price bump?

That's kind of a tossup question, honestly.

Is the i5 -better-? Yes.
Is the i5 -worth- the price bump? If you can afford it.
Is the i5 -worth- the performance for price vs the i3? No.

[Deleted]

nah the i5 will be far superior, reminding u will oc that chip, and u should as it really isnt hard to do... for a nice 4ghz u dont even get into voltages and stuff... go into bios and set the multiplier to x40 and done... for future proofing u really should consider the i5.. will the i3 play bf4 at ~high settings? yes.

[chazus]

nah the i5 will be far superior, reminding u will oc that chip, and u should as it really isnt hard to do... for a nice 4ghz u dont even get into voltages and stuff...

Overclocking at all on an EVO can get toasty on something already over budget. Not only that, but an i5-4670K @ 4.0ghz is not -that- much better than an i3-4340 @ 3.6ghz. Again... I'd say its worth it if you can afford it and spend a few bucks extra. If you cant, you aren't missing out on much. Remember, the i3 still handles 4 threads, which is almost as good as 4 cores.

[Punisher]

Overclocking at all on an EVO can get toasty on something already over budget. Not only that, but an i5-4670K @ 4.0ghz is not -that- much better than an i3-4340 @ 3.6ghz. Again... I'd say its worth it if you can afford it and spend a few bucks extra. If you cant, you aren't missing out on much. Remember, the i3 still handles 4 threads, which is almost as good as 4 cores.

Ok, then I think hel'll go with a i3. I mean, for a little bit of WoW and Battlefield
And he'll be able to get a stronger GFX card
Is the build that I linked before the way to go?

[Deleted]

Overclocking at all on an EVO can get toasty on something already over budget. Not only that, but an i5-4670K @ 4.0ghz is not -that- much better than an i3-4340 @ 3.6ghz. Again... I'd say its worth it if you can afford it and spend a few bucks extra. If you cant, you aren't missing out on much. Remember, the i3 still handles 4 threads, which is almost as good as 4 cores.

just thinking about bf4 that shant be true... as bf4 is truely benefitting from 4 cores + ht... but i stand corrected if theres proof

for ur build going with the i3 u dont need an aftermarket cooler

p.s.: yeah the 4670k will get toasty at4,2 ghz with an evo calculating u have a "bad" chip... heard from guys getting up to 4,5 on an evo though.. its always a lotterie... but 4,2 should´nt worry u

[chazus]

just thinking about bf4 that shant be true... as bf4 is truely benefitting from 4 cores + ht... but i stand corrected if theres proof

i5 is 4 cores 4 threads, i3 is 2 cores, 4 threads. i5 does not have HT. I'm saying that... 2/4 @ 3.6 is nearly as close as 4/4 @ 4.0. It's not AS good, but for the price difference, acceptable. The point being... If you take the i5, you get a lower GPU. If you take the i3, and get a stronger GPU. I feel the i3/ stronger GPU is a better balance.

And.. I hear more people having issues with even H60 at 4.2, than not. So an EVO almost definitely will push at 4.0. Haswell runs toasty.

[Deleted]

i5 is 4 cores 4 threads, i3 is 2 cores, 4 threads. i5 does not have HT. I'm saying that... 2/4 @ 3.6 is nearly as close as 4/4 @ 4.0. It's not AS good, but for the price difference, acceptable. The point being... If you take the i5, you get a lower GPU. If you take the i3, and get a stronger GPU. I feel the i3/ stronger GPU is a better balance.

And.. I hear more people having issues with even H60 at 4.2, than not. So an EVO almost definitely will push at 4.0. Haswell runs toasty.

sry the ht was referring to the comparsion between my i7 and the i3 which op threw in (should have mentioned that). dont even read that much negativ feedback on the evo... all i am reading is that the evo is the air cooler u want to go for up to 4.2 on haswell. but u may be right, theres always a bigger chance getting a bad chip than a nice one... the h60 will ofc be better.. anyhow i cant see for future proofing that the i3 (dont get me wrong, im a big fan of it as ive got the 4340 in my sec pc and just got blown away by its performance) will be better to go for. surely he can now get the i5 and upgrade his gpu later on or he can get the i3 and upgrade to the i5 later on... acknowledged that ur first suggestion including the i5 will be the best solution for his needs playing on 1600x900..

[Punisher]

So, we decided to take the I3

Is the build compatible in all points?

CPU: Intel Core i3-4340 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($159.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($95.98 @ NCIX)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($224.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $783.91

The only thing I know that we will need to adjust is the C states for the psu, but its in the bios right?

[Deleted]

Not sure why you'd get the Z87 motherboard unless the i3 is essentially a placeholder for future upgrading. Otherwise, I see nothing really wrong with the build (though you may want to go for a 1TB Barracuda for a few bucks more than the Caviar Blue.)

[Punisher]

Not sure why you'd get the Z87 motherboard unless the i3 is essentially a placeholder for future upgrading. Otherwise, I see nothing really wrong with the build (though you may want to go for a 1TB Barracuda for a few bucks more than the Caviar Blue.)

Yeah its for futur upgrade if needed
Was wondering the card is 11inches but the case says it support 10.6 or 12 if there is not harddrive in the cage, but is it 100% that the card will fit?

[chazus]

Looks good to me. Only changes I would make.

This ram. Much cheaper, same thing, and low profile (cant tell if Corsair is)
This drive. $7 more for twice the storage, and its a single platter drive.

[Punisher]

What's the difference between 1.5 and 1.35 V ram? Does both works? This is the current partlist with lowprofile ram, but its 1.35v