Rig for a friend

[Deleted]

Hi people!

A friend asked me to help him build a new rig.
He doesn't game that much, recently he played couple of hourse on the new SimCity, as well as Diablo 3 ... he's looking forward to Elder Scrolls Online and the new Batman Arkham Origins ... Apart from gaming he needs the PC for his studies and work ... he's a geologist and does alot of cartography and stuff, but i guess it's not that graphics intensive.

Well, he wants to spend only 900€ (with shipping included) and we live in Austria. Oh, and a display needs to go into that 900 bucks as well.
So far I have this:

1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s (WD1002FAEX)
1 x Samsung SSD 840 Series 120GB, 2.5", SATA 6Gb/s (MZ-7TD120BW)
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K, 4x 3.40GHz, boxed (BX80646I54670K)
1 x G.Skill RipJaws DIMM Kit 8GB PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24 (DDR3-1600) (F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL)
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Windforce 2X OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (GV-N65TBOC-2GD)
1 x ASUS Z87-A, Z87 (dual PC3-12800U DDR3) (90MB0DZ0-M0EAY0)
1 x ASUS VS248H, 24" (90LME3101Q00041C)
1 x LG Electronics DH18NS40 schwarz, SATA, bulk (DH18NS40.AUAA)
1 x BitFenix Shinobi schwarz (BFC-SNB-150-KKN1-RP)
1 x Antec High Current Gamer HCG-520, 520W ATX 2.3 (0761345-06204-6/0761345-06205-3/0761345-23850-2)

He already has a Win7 licence to use, which i'm very happy about ... still i'm 100 bucks over the limit and i'm struggling on where to save some bucks.
Since he's not going to overclock i'm strongly drawn to reducing the CPU, i just don't know what too ...

I would be very happy if you could help me out!
Thanks in advance!

EDIT:
I made a PCPartPicker list for those of you who are more familiar with that one ...
prices differ a little to those of Austria. I took another optical drive, since the one i picked isn't available in the PCPartPicker. Also the monitor seems like a different edition or something.

Here's the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($93.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($171.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VS248H-P 24.0" Monitor ($176.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1016.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-29 17:05 EDT-0400)

[chazus]

I would make a few changes (though I don't know where the current build is at, price wise)

Change it to a 3570K, Z77 motherboard, add an aftermarket cooler (Like an EVO212)
Change to low profile ram
Change WD drive from Blue to Black
Upgrade video card to 760.

Should come out to about the same price, with better overall gaming performance

[Deleted]

tell your friend that it is worth spending a little over his budget, as he will get a beast of a machine for what he is paying. Definitely worth all the moneys.

[Deleted]

Change it to a 3570K, Z77 motherboard, add an aftermarket cooler (Like an EVO212)

So you would recommend to overclock anyways ? ^^

Change to low profile ram

any recommendations?

Change WD drive from Blue to Black

It's already Black ... did you mean it the other way round?

[chazus]

So you would recommend to overclock anyways ? ^^

Well, it's hard to tell, honestly. I think I must have been distracted since I apparently missed parts of the post.

Most people on this forum play WoW, and WoW directly benefits from high CPU speeds (overclocking), as would most MMOs. I imagine Elder Scrolls Online would too, but it's hard to tell. It really depends on what he plays. If it's just sim city and diablo... Maybe he doesn't need a really bangin system. If that's the case, then a decent 4570 + B85 board, or 3470 + B75 board would be fine.

any recommendations?

These ought to work dandy

It's already Black ... did you mean it the other way round?

Er, yeah. Change black, to blue. >.<

[Deleted]

Most people on this forum play WoW, and WoW directly benefits from high CPU speeds (overclocking), as would most MMOs. I imagine Elder Scrolls Online would too, but it's hard to tell. It really depends on what he plays. If it's just sim city and diablo... Maybe he doesn't need a really bangin system. If that's the case, then a decent 4570 + B85 board, or 3470 + B75 board would be fine.

indeed, hard to tell ... i'll calculate it through and see what the price says. Also ... i didn't overclock in last 6 years ... if you could link me a guide on how to would be great. also i saw that Asus boards come with a overclocking software if i'm not mistaken. is it any good?

These ought to work dandy

in austria the ram i chose and the one you posted cost the same ... has the low profile version you suggested anything to do performance wise or is just because of the shape?

[chazus]

if you could link me a guide on how to would be great. also i saw that Asus boards come with a overclocking software if i'm not mistaken. is it any good?

I'd look up stuff pertaining to whatever board you end up getting, as each board might be a little different. The 'software' is nice.. But I wouldn't use it. You're better off testing and tweaking manually, to find that perfect spot. The auto one often volts too high, resulting in unnecessary heat (and likely lower clocks)

in austria the ram i chose and the one you posted cost the same ... has the low profile version you suggested anything to do performance wise or is just because of the shape?

Just the shape (of the heat spreader, specifically). RAM is in a strange position right now. Speed almost doesn't better (There's almost no difference between 1333 through 2133) and CAS Latency pretty much doesn't matter either. Pretty much you just get the right size, physical size, and best price.

[Deleted]

Thanks for all the help ...
I've created 3 builds for my pal going from ~1200€ down to ~950€ ... the fact that he also wants that monitor in there really makes it hard to come up with a cheaper build.

I'll get back at you once i know how my friend decided and see if there's any tweaking left in it.

thanks again! you've been a great help