New build help

[Deleted]

Hi there

My old pc finally gave out so I am putting together a build for a new pc. While I want a good pc, I do have a budget so cannot afford to get top of the range parts really. Below is the build I am currently set on but would like some advice on what I could improve for a similar price, or find something cheaper to replace a part with, but would have no effect on overall performance. I only plan to play WoW on it, and only pvp really (battlegrounds and arena) but would like the option of playing other games if they take my fancy. Apart from WoW, would like to be able to do all the standard things like play 1080p video, do a little programming, play some online poker (with the potential to multitable).

CPU: Intel i5-4690k Quad-Core
CPU Cooler: ???
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer
Memory: 8GB G.SKILL (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 RAM
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 7200rpm 1TB 3.5"
Graphics Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case

With this build is it necessary to purchase a CPU cooler, or will the stock fans do the job? I don't plan to overclock it yet, but can always buy a cooler system when I do.

Also, I am on the fence about a SSD, will it be worth it for putting my OS and WoW onto? Are the hybrid drives any good? I was looking at a 1TB hybrid drive but saw the SSD cache is only around 8gb, which wouldn't be enough for my OS and WoW I guess.

Thanks for reading!

edit: also can anyone recommend a decent but cheap optical drive?

P.S. first post so can't post a link to my pcpartpicker build

[Deleted]

Ok thanks for the tips, this is my first build so I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to all this.

My budget is around £700 give or take, and the total so far is £672.56. I kind of want to upgrade my keyboard to a mechanical one too since my current is a piece of crap (excuse my french).

I wasn't going to bother with an optical drive, but when I was researching graphics cards some of them said they came with a CD to install drivers, but thinking about it I can probably download all these without a problem?

I will have a look and change my mobo then, I have no idea what brands are good or not so cheers for the info.

[Deleted]

Have a look at this, no ssd i am afraid but can fit a gtx970 in there with better power supply. As you said when you overclock you can buy an aftermarket cpu cooler.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£169.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£88.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£58.10 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£274.96 @ Aria PC)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£43.48 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.52 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £721.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-04 09:20 GMT+0000

[Deleted]

Thanks Kostattoo, I will definately check out that motherboard and graphics card. I am set on the Fractal Design case though.

I am not too fussed about an SSD, I can handle waiting a few more seconds for things to load until larger SSDs are available for a more reasonable price.

If I wanted to lower the price to around £600, what graphics card would you recommend? I only want to play WoW at this moment in time, and I'm not even fussed about having ultra settings, just want 60fps on medium-high settings in windowed mode.

[Sicarius87]

Solid state drives are definitely worth it. I would get a 120/128 or even a 256GB SSD if you can. Load your OS onto the SSD (will make booting into windows incredibly quick (less than 10 seconds)) and toss WoW on it as well. Your load times will but cut in half. You can also put other programs on the SSD such as CCleaner, Office, etc so those will basically open up in an instant.

With solid state drives, there are no mechanical parts. It's all done with flash memory like a thumb drive. So everything is accessed in an instant.

[Deleted]

Ok I think I will go with the GTX 760 GPU. Its a shame I can't post links yet, but was thinking of getting a micro ATX case instead, and therefore changing my motherboard to a compatible one.. any recommendations? I was looking at the Gigabyte GA-Z97M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard. Are there any real drawbacks to using a micro ATX board and a mini case? I don't see myself using multiple graphics cards

[Deleted]

But you just said you were set on grabbing the Fractal R4? This isn't a micro case.

[Deleted]

But you just said you were set on grabbing the Fractal R4? This isn't a micro case.

Yes I liked the minimalistic design of the R4, but I had a look at the fractal website and the define mini looks even better imo

[Deleted]

As i said you'll need a micro board, Asus Z97M-PLUS then Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5

[Deleted]

So the Asus is better than the Gigabyte even though it's £20 cheaper? That's excellent news!

Also regarding the optical drive, won't I need one to install my chosen OS (looking like windows 8.1 since they are stopping support for 7 in january)?

edit: also, complete n00b question, but what cables do I have to buy to begin installing the parts etc? Just a SATA3 cable?

[Arbiter]

So the Asus is better than the Gigabyte even though it's £20 cheaper? That's excellent news!

Also regarding the optical drive, won't I need one to install my chosen OS (looking like windows 8.1 since they are stopping support for 7 in january)?

edit: also, complete n00b question, but what cables do I have to buy to begin installing the parts etc? Just a SATA3 cable?

All needed cables for your typical hardware will come with Motherboard, Case, and Power Supply. If you have an excessive amount of drives and such then you would possibly need to buy extra. Motherboards typically come with 2-4 SATA cables for your storage drives and dvd drives.

[Deleted]

So the Asus is better than the Gigabyte even though it's £20 cheaper? That's excellent news!

They are the same just Gigabyte has sli option the asus not. Btw i think MSI Z97M Gaming Micro is better than both for overclocking. The gigabyte and asus got 4power phase design and the MSI 8.

[Deleted]

Ok I have settled on my build! Thanks everyone for all your help.

2 last things, So I definately don't need to buy an after-market heatsink if I'm not planning on overclocking? And do I need to use this thermal paste stuff? Googling seems to come up with mixed answers

edit: also my chosen mobo (Asus Z97) comes with built in audio right? so no need for a sound card?

[Arbiter]

Ok I have settled on my build! Thanks everyone for all your help.

2 last things, So I definately don't need to buy an after-market heatsink if I'm not planning on overclocking? And do I need to use this thermal paste stuff? Googling seems to come up with mixed answers

edit: also my chosen mobo (Asus Z97) comes with built in audio right? so no need for a sound card?

All boards generally come with onboard LAN and Audio. Very rarely would you ever see a consumer grade motherboard not having those 2. Wireless and the ability for on board video are the only two options one should be watching out for. Typically it's not going to have wireless on board unless it advertises it specifically, and for on board video most 1150/1155 socket intel boards have the option for onboard video. Easy way to tell is to just verify if the board has some sort of video output in the back (VGA/DVI/Etc).

For the heatsink, typically people only buy aftermarket coolers for 1 or 2 reasons, overclocking or silence (or both). Stock fan (assuming the CPU comes with it and most intel ones do) is almost always going to be enough for your CPU if you don't care about noise or overclocking as long as your PC isn't playing games in the Sahara Desert. The stock coolers also comes with preapplied paste so you don't need to worry about that as long as you place it directly down on the CPU without screwing up the paste by moving it too much. That cooler is easy enough, set directly down on the CPU and push the 4 corners into the holes on the motherboard.

[Deleted]

...as long as your PC isn't playing games in the Sahara Desert...

Ha! Would be cool tho