This or That. Comparing parts with my current build. Ready to press "buy".

[Sooba]

EDIT: Alrighty, I'm almost done! The last bit of questions: 1) Do I switch to the new RAM at the higher price point? 2) Do I switch for a different GPU due to possible availability issues? If so, which one is comparable for both performance and price?


Current Build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.79 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($84.99 @ Memory Express)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($90.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($149.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($369.00 @ Vuugo)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N53 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($31.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($88.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($99.99 @ NCIX)
Monitor: Asus PB238Q 23.0" Monitor ($233.01 @ DirectCanada)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($58.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M60 Wired Laser Mouse ($55.50 @ Vuugo)
Headphones: Logitech G430 7.1 Channel Headset ($79.99 @ Logitech Canada)
Total: $1922.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-01 11:39 EST-0500)

Achieves all major aims with the exception of speakers.

Possible Parts to rotate into the above build:

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/cors...gx3m2a2133c11b 15$ more, 1866 -> 2133


I'll be buying sometime today.

[Deleted]

Build looks good.

I'd swap the Monitor for this:

Asus PB238Q true 8-bit IPS for less than $200 is not bad at all and great adjustments options.

Unless you have a Microcenter near you the GPU will most likely not be in stock, just so you're aware.

For RAM I'd pick either of these, 1866 is the sweet spot for Haswell right now unless they're too expensive:

Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866
G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866

Not a necessity but maybe a modular PSU?

Antec High Current Gamer 520W
Rosewill Hive 650W

I would also suggest a dual band Wireless card:

TP-Link TL-WDN3800
Asus PCE-N53

[chazus]

Don't get the PNY, as it's 1.65v as opposed to 1.5v. Personally I'd go with this. Free shipping. RAM quality is pretty much the same when you aren't OC'ing it, which people rarely do.

[Sooba]

Don't get the PNY, as it's 1.65v as opposed to 1.5v. Personally I'd go with this. Free shipping. RAM quality is pretty much the same when you aren't OC'ing it, which people rarely do.

Thanks for the heads up, both of you.

Now that I have you two, any other suggestions? I had some helpful stuff from tielknight in another thread, and I was tempted to PM both of you to get you to respond there, as I'd gone through a bunch of other threads and noticed that you both were fairly knowledgeable. I'm at work, but will be posting some other questions soon.

- - - Updated - - -

Build looks good.

I'd swap the Monitor for this:

Asus PB238Q true 8-bit IPS for less than $200 is not bad at all and great adjustments options.

Unless you have a Microcenter near you the GPU will most likely not be in stock, just so you're aware.

For RAM I'd pick either of these, 1866 is the sweet spot for Haswell right now unless they're too expensive:

Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866
G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866

Not a necessity but maybe a modular PSU?

Antec High Current Gamer 520W
Rosewill Hive 650W

I would also suggest a dual band Wireless card:

TP-Link TL-WDN3800
Asus PCE-N53

Just noticed your GPU comment. What would be the net result, just waiting longer? If so, how much longer?

[Deleted]

I can't tell you how long you will be waiting for the GPU, contact the seller.

You can also keep an eye out here:

http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/amdr9280x/

(preorder is a possibility)

[Sooba]

Crap, just noticed that somewhere along the way, the Country got changed from Canada to the US. OP is updated to show the proper country. (Canada) This probably changes everything.

[Deleted]

What is your total budget?

[Sooba]

What is your total budget?

I gave an original target (a couple threads back) of $1600 with a cap of 2k. I theoretically could go higher, but I'd be feeling like I was setting money on fire... I know however that it'll be on the higher end as I need to buy all the peripherals as well.

In short I'm looking for a relatively quiet, sleek, efficient build. I'll be gaming fairly regularly, so some power is good too. I don't need it to become sentient, but WoW on ultra, or some newer games on "high end" would be good targets to meet/exceed. I also plan on doing some watching of movies and possibly streaming as well.

I'm kind've annoyed with myself that I wasted my one chazus post on erroneously based info. Oh wells. Thanks for the attention Notarget. It really helps. I'll be taking notes as I can't do lots right now. (At work late). But later tonight I'll likely be making my choice.

[Deleted]

How about this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.79 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($73.12 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($146.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($354.99 @ Memory Express)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N53 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($31.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($93.88 @ DirectCanada)
Monitor: Asus PB238Q 23.0" Monitor ($237.99 @ NCIX)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($58.38 @ Newegg Canada)
Mouse: Mionix Naos 3200 Wired Optical Mouse ($59.99 @ Memory Express)
Headphones: Logitech G430 7.1 Channel Headset ($79.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $1826.05
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-30 19:29 EST-0500)

Swapped the 280X for a GTX770 since the AMD are not in stock. If you wanna wait then that's your choice of course.

Mouse is around the same price so if you prefer the Corsair then go for it. I was looking at M65/M95 as well but it was more expensive.

Honestly you don't need a bigger CPU heatsink than this Noctua. CORSAIR Hydro Series H60 is another decent one, not too expensive.

The Crucial M500 is a good and reliable SSD as well, you can opt for the Samsung EVO but it was like ~$40 extra.

Dual band Wireless.

The windowed model of the case was cheaper, make sure you change it if you don't want that.

[chazus]

Just tossing in, I use the Mionix Naos 3200 myself, and love it. It's a -big- mouse though, with finger grooves for all five fingers (Thumb indent, two buttons, and two grooves). It also includes a 'cursor speed' button (turning the logo/scroll wheel LED's from red, to green, to blue). Travelling from one side of my desktop to another (5760x1080) covers about 3.5 inches of mousepad space on #1 Red. On #3 Blue, it takes about 1 inch, much faster, if you have twitchy movements. The USB cable is -huge- (I think 8ft?) so that's a nice touch.

[Sooba]

What's the difference between a modular PSU, and the one I have chosen? Sorry for the odd (and seemingly noobish) question. I would just assume that they're all "modular" as they need to fit in a certain space in a computer case.

I haven't much experience with mice. However I had read that laser mice are more precise than optical, which is why I went with Laser over Optical at the same price point. Is there an advantage to the Naos in particular?

Leaving aside the out-of-stock issue, which of those graphics cards is better?

[Remilia]

Modular just means the cables can be removed/attached leaving less clutter.

[chazus]

Laser is, technically, more accurate, and can be used on more diverse surfaces (Not that anyone uses mice on anything but a desk/mousepad)

Personally, I've used tons of Laser and Optical and never once noticed a difference... However there is. I liked the Naos personally because I've got large hands, and wanted the support. Small mice = cramping muscles.

[Sooba]

Updated the OP.

1) Notarget, what's the advantage of the monitor you linked? I'm not making much sense of the differences.

2) If waiting wasn't an issue, is the GPU you linked comparable, or is the one I have better?

3) What's the advantage of dual band adapters? The explanations I've looked at online just seem to think there's less lag, but I don't know why. :P I've changed my build to include it. (10$ difference)

4) Included a different PSU and some other RAM I found in OP for comparison's sake.

- - - Updated - - -

Bump. OP Updated. Did a bunch of reading on Radeon 280/290 and GeForce 760/770/780.

Still looking for someone more knowledgeable than me to let me know if my proposed switches are ok or based on faulty impressions. :P

[Deleted]

3) What's the advantage of dual band adapters? The explanations I've looked at online just seem to think there's less lag, but I don't know why. :P I've changed my build to include it. (10$ difference)

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/...-cost-so-much/
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Deciding-Bet...7629520/g.html

2) If waiting wasn't an issue, is the GPU you linked comparable, or is the one I have better?

They trade blows performance wise. If you play more Nvidia favored games go with a 770 and same can be said for AMD. Nvidia has some decent recording options and possibly okayish for streaming, have heard mixed things about the streaming. 280X come with 3GB vRAM which could come in handy with textures pack for games like Skyrim. You'd have to bump it to a 780 to get 3GB vRAM with Nvidia. 4GB 770 model really isn't worth the extra cost as the memory bus isn't big/wide enough to take advantage of the extra vRAM. personally I would go 280X or 780, if vRAM is a non-issue then the 770 is perfectly fine.

4) Included a different PSU and some other RAM I found in OP for comparison's sake.

Avoid the Corsair PSU, quality isn't bad per se but it's not great either. I would stick with the XFX550 or if you want modular:

Antec High Current Gamer 620W (this would be my choice for modular)
Rosewill Hive 550W

1) Notarget, what's the advantage of the monitor you linked? I'm not making much sense of the differences.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/...412m.htm#u2410

in above link you can see a comparison between two similar displays one being 8-bit (IPS) and one being 6-bit + A-FRC (e-IPS simulated 8-bit)

It's not awful by any means but it's not great either but it also comes at a price premium of course. With the US price the choice was easy but since it's quite a bit more, I can't tell you for sure but you can read the pro/cons and decide.

As for other comparisons, the Asus is adjustable (height, tilt, swivel), DP port which might not be a big deal but it's there if you want/need. Great assortment of cables, the LG only comes with VGA which you definitely want to change to DVI or HDMI.

[Sooba]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/...-cost-so-much/
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Deciding-Bet...7629520/g.html



They trade blows performance wise. If you play more Nvidia favored games go with a 770 and same can be said for AMD. Nvidia has some decent recording options and possibly okayish for streaming, have heard mixed things about the streaming. 280X come with 3GB vRAM which could come in handy with textures pack for games like Skyrim. You'd have to bump it to a 780 to get 3GB vRAM with Nvidia. 4GB 770 model really isn't worth the extra cost as the memory bus isn't big/wide enough to take advantage of the extra vRAM. personally I would go 280X or 780, if vRAM is a non-issue then the 770 is perfectly fine.


http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/...412m.htm#u2410

in above link you can see a comparison between two similar displays one being 8-bit (IPS) and one being 6-bit + A-FRC (e-IPS simulated 8-bit)

It's not awful by any means but it's not great either but it also comes at a price premium of course. With the US price the choice was easy but since it's quite a bit more, I can't tell you for sure but you can read the pro/cons and decide.

As for other comparisons, the Asus is adjustable (height, tilt, swivel), DP port which might not be a big deal but it's there if you want/need. Great assortment of cables, the LG only comes with VGA which you definitely want to change to DVI or HDMI.

Interesting on the VCard. I misunderstood http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html# to mean that the 770 was better than the 280X for most situations. I don't quite understand what you mean by there not being enough room on the memory bus to take advantage of 4GB of vRAM, so I guess I'm going to have to do more reading.

I'll take a look at the Monitor difference again with that in mind. And I've switched to the modular 620 PSU. That way I have more room if I add to my current setup at any point.

And thanks for the info on the adapter.

[Deleted]

Don't rely on that benchmark/website for helping you decide on a GPU, it's useless.

You can only push so much through a hole at any given time, meaning you could have 100GB vRAM but if it can only handle 10GB at any given time then there is essentially 90GB wasted.

Memory Bus size and how it effects your VRAM usage

770 vs 280X @Anandtech

[Sooba]

I've switched to the Rosewill 650W PSU and to your proposed monitor. I'm really sketchy with monitor value beyond refresh rates and ms delays. It appears that the 770 is relatively close but not quite as good in terms of performance overall. Would that be a sufficient (short) summary? The GPU availability issue is really the last thing keeping me from pressing buy.

That's not to say that anyone with knowledge can't chime in. :P

[Deleted]

I can't tell you what to get or advice you any better than I already have. Wait if you can wait, if you can't then 770 or 780. Google search benchmarks of the games you play or plan on playing. Techpowerup and Tweaktown are good places to start.