New build ~E1,000

IRL_Sinister

Hi All,

Just found out I was entitled to a bonus in work to which I get compensated at the end of February. I play a lot of video games, generally on high/ultra graphics so I'd like to continue the trend. I bought a gaming laptop about 3 years ago in Canada (again, after a compensation through work).

But, as these things go, the performance has started to drop. When I first got the PC it was unreal - didn't have any issues with performance everything was maxed etc. Anyway, I'll basically outline everything below I'm looking for.

1. What is your budget? [€1,000.00 - €1,500.00]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Internet/Streaming] Right now I play; League of Legends, Metro 2033, Football Manager and DayZ (through Arma Mod). I'm big into the Fallout games and TES as well so I'd like to play the current and new generations of them on high/ultra graphics too.

I'd expect to be able to upgrade the PC going forward, too.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes, I guess so.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? I'm not too sure if I can to be honest? This is where I need your help. These are my current specs (remember, it's a laptop so I'm guessing the GPU at least can't be used).

Model: ASUS Notebook G74Sx
Processor: Intel i7-2630QM CPU @ 2.00GHz
RAM: 8GB (I don't know how the check what type )
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M (I'm guessing this can't be used on a desktop?)

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes, I need 1. I recently bought THIS/ The stand is a piece of sh*t but I'm not having any issues with it. This worked as a dual monitor with the laptop screen but I'll need another one now for my desktop.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. As per above a 22' should be fine.

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? N/A

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Possibly speakers if they are cheap enough. I like to link my PS3 up to my monitor right now sometimes and don't particularly enjoy hooking up a headset.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes

8. How can you pay? Credit Card

9. When are you purchasing? As soon as feasibly possible.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Yes, I need help building it. I will also pay you for the help. Ideally I'd like someone to actually show me while they are doing it so I can learn a few things. I find it extremely interesting. I work in the IFSC and live in Kildare (look left). As a result I can collect anyone living in Dublin or within reasonable vicinity of the city. Anywhere in the Maynooth/Leixlip/Celbridge/etc area is fine too. As I said, I will pay you.

Alright, so moving on to the the things that I guess will be essential for me.

1) A SSD -- I've never had one but I've only heard good things. I really want one of these.

2) A large/external hard drive. I know this probably has severe limitations but if I'm going to get a good PC I want to use it for what it has. One of the major problems with my current laptop is that it only has about 500GB of HDD space which is pretty sh*t.

3) As above, a second monitor.

4) I wish to overclock. I know it's not suggested for beginners but I'm not just going to jump into it. I'll research it etc and try it out slowly. As a result I'll probably need a good case and decent cooling systems. I've never OC'd so any advice/tips from you guys is essentially everything I can go off.

Oh and also, I know a lot of people on this Forum is the german site (forgive the ignorance for me not knowing the name) which is fine. I'm open to using several different sites to find the best deals rather than just one but, again, open to suggestions.

Thanks a lot and let me know if you need anything else from me


EDIT: Christ, formatting is horrific.... Sorry.

IRL_Sinister

Hey, I know the format sucks and it's kinda long but any update?

yawhat!

Any idea if you would be planning on adding an extra graphics card down the line? Would need to bump up the motherboard and powersupply.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-4670K Box, LGA1150|€205.68
ASRock Z87 Pro3, Sockel 1150, ATX|€79.79
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€76.44
WD Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€50.84
Samsung SSD 840 EVO Basic 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€74.99
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€82.95
Corsair Carbide Series 300R, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€64.37
Corsair CX Series Modular CX600M, 600W|€66.36
Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC Windforce 3, 4GB DDR5, PCI-Express|€389.49
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1109.90

Forgot the 212 evo cooler

IRL_Sinister

yawhat! wrote: »

Any idea if you would be planning on adding an extra graphics card down the line? Would need to bump up the motherboard and powersupply.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-4670K Box, LGA1150|€205.68
ASRock Z87 Pro3, Sockel 1150, ATX|€79.79
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€76.44
WD Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€50.84
Samsung SSD 840 EVO Basic 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€74.99
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€82.95
Corsair Carbide Series 300R, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€64.37
Corsair CX Series Modular CX600M, 600W|€66.36
Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC Windforce 3, 4GB DDR5, PCI-Express|€389.49
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1109.90

Forgot the 212 evo cooler

Thanks a lot.

The extra graphics card would definitely be an option but I would probably just be better off getting a new one a couple years down the line?

EDIT: 4GB of RAM and only i5? Seems a little low?

yawhat!

IRL_Sinister wrote: »

Thanks a lot.

The extra graphics card would definitely be an option but I would probably just be better off getting a new one a couple years down the line?

EDIT: 4GB of RAM and only i5? Seems a little low?

It has 8GB of ram. No game currently uses more than that and most games are still only using 4GB as they are 32BIT. 8GB will be fine for a long while. If you have any plans on going 1440P down the line then it would be worth having the option of adding another card.

Could get an i7 4770K but again games are not using hyperthreading and would not see little to no gain in games over an i5.
http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page6.html

IRL_Sinister

yawhat! wrote: »

It has 8GB of ram. No game currently uses more than that and most games are still only using 4GB as they are 32BIT. 8GB will be fine for a long while. If you have any plans on going 1440P down the line then it would be worth having the option of adding another card.

Could get an i7 4770K but again games are not using hyperthreading and would not see little to no gain in games over an i5.
http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page6.html

OK thanks for clarifying! Appreciate it. Nice big hard-drive

I've heard the SSD above is very good. You didn't add in a monitor, I'm satisfied with the one I have so would I be as well off getting the same one again?

IRL_Sinister

Hi All,

Any more advice on this?

TerrorFirmer

The build posted above is solid, no faults. You'll be blasting through everything at ultra settings like a hot knife through butter.

BloodBath

Looks good. I'd maybe opt for the MSI 290 if prices are similar though. The cooler is better.

It's not needed but if you have the budget I'd opt for the i7 4770k over the 4670k as well. It will last you longer.

Maybe a better case as well. Something like the Fractal Design Define R4 or the Nanoxia deep silence one.

Could get an i7 4770K but again games are not using hyperthreading and would not see little to no gain in games over an i5.
http://www.techspot.com/review/734-b...rks/page6.html

Not true. Plenty of titles can make use of all the threads. Both next gen consoles have 4 core/ 8 thread cpu's. Game dev's will start making better use of all those threads in the near future. If you're buying for the here and now the i5 will last you years. You can always upgrade to the next gen i7 at a later date. I don't like upgrading cpus unless i'm getting at least double the power though

TerrorFirmer

I nearly always skimp on the CPU. Insane when you think that a 7 year old Q6600 can still keep up with modern games when overclocked, as a good example of longevity.

BloodBath

It is but the i7 will last longer than the i5. It's only around €70 more as well.

Look at how the Pentium G860 performs against the i3 2120 in these benchmarks. The only difference between the two is that the i3 has HT and is clocked 10% higher.

That's a prime example of HT making a big difference in newer games. Granted an i5 isn't going to cause the same cpu bottleneck as that Pentium does anytime soon but does show the impact those extra threads will make in the future.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-frame-rate-performance,3427-5.html

IRL_Sinister

Great, thank you for all the help and advice. Just a couple last questions before committing to buying:

You mention upgrading on the future: how compatible are all the parts above (and possibly a different case) to be upgraded? Would it be a very simple process?

I'm guessing, initially, I should just put the OS on the SSD?

Finally, would someone be available to help me build this pc and, while doing so, give me a quick 101 on building a PC? I work in the city centre and live in celbridge so I can access a fairly large basin. I drive so can transport people too. Any help will be paid, or course.

Thanks!!

BloodBath

Socket 1150 still has another generation of processors to come later this year. Based on the last few gens the improvement is only about 10% though. You won't need to upgrade to that with the current gen i5 or i7 though.

The gpu is probably the only thing you will need to upgrade in that rig for quite a few years. A 290 should last you at least 3 years. The i5 about 5-6 years. The i7 about 7-8 years.

You can upgrade to a newer gpu whenever you want/need easily. You have space for another 8gb of ram as well if it's needed. 8gb should be good for at least a few years.

Put the os and all your non game programs on the ssd.

IRL_Sinister

That'll do. Cheers

EoinHef

Just want to give my 2 cent on the "build it yourself part"

I know you were saying you were not sure about building the PC yourself,and i can understand that,its a lot of money when your unsure about what your doing but as most people on this forum will tell you i think you will get a better experience in the long run if you build it yourself! It is after all the PC Building forum....so in fairness most people here are probably biased:)

But also informed(;))....HWVS is a great place to buy from price wise but there after care leaves a lot to be desired. If you get them to build it,from recent experience on this forum it will NOT be up to a standard that most people here would aspire to. As in working:pac:

There are loads of pre built PC dealers about and even the odd good ones,Scan and OCUK come to mind,BUT you will pay a fairly big premium to these companies for performance you can get for a lot less if your willing to get your hands dirty.

A small bit of care,attention and patience and you will be fine when building yourself

Also this forum is a great resource if you get stuck:)

..Brian..

+1. YouTube is your friend, there's loads of videos about building PC uploaded so get stuck in now and by the time your buying you'll be able to knock it together blindfolded!

EoinHef

..Brian.. wrote: »

+1. YouTube is your friend, there's loads of videos about building PC uploaded so get stuck in now and by the time your buying you'll be able to knock it together blindfolded!

Perfect example of this is follow this tutorial

I found it very useful,watch parts 2 and 3 aswell

IRL_Sinister

Thanks lads. I've always wanted to built it myself but I'm also very conscious that if you don't go it properly you can cause irrepairable damage and that's really not something Id want to do on a first build, spending this kind of money. You're dead right though, I should go and buy the parts and then begin looking at videos to get myself accustomed.

How long, from your experience, does it take to get delivered from HWVS?

Edit: do I need an optical drive?

Sarz91

IRL_Sinister wrote: »

How long, from your experience, does it take to get delivered from HWVS?

Edit: do I need an optical drive?

It took about a week for mine to arrive but again it varies. As for the optical drive it depends. I got one on my old rig because I was lazy and unorganised. The only time I ever used it was to install windows which I could have just downloaded and stuck on a USB.

..Brian..

Yea again as above, you can download a Win7 .iso and install it from a USB stick. I never use my DVD drive and if It wasn't for the fact my case has a door to cover it, I would take it out as they can ruin the looks of the front of a case.

IRL_Sinister

Thanks.

Does that mean I won't need windows in the build above?

Sarz91

IRL_Sinister wrote: »

Thanks.

Does that mean I won't need windows in the build above?

If you aren't getting an optical drive then there is no point in getting windows on a CD. You can just pay (or not whatever you decide to do) for the download instead.

IRL_Sinister

Didn't know it was possible to get it on download! Will check out that option for sure. Just trying to think what games I play that are on CDs

..Brian..

You can download windows and most games online. What you need the DVD for is the serial key. Same can go for games. You can download most games from Steam and the serial key on the DVD will sometimes validate on Steam also.

IRL_Sinister

Probably gonna get working on buying these tonight.

Will be back trying to Install Windows in a couple weeks no doubt :<

One last question then before I pay the $$$$: If there was an optical drive to go for, which one would it be? And, considering I'm already buying from HWVS, is there a decent monitor to get there aswell similar to what I have?

Sarz91

IRL_Sinister wrote: »

Probably gonna get working on buying these tonight.

Will be back trying to Install Windows in a couple weeks no doubt :<

One last question then before I pay the $$$$: If there was an optical drive to go for, which one would it be? And, considering I'm already buying from HWVS, is there a decent monitor to get there aswell similar to what I have?

http://www.hardwareversand.de/S-ATA/46257/LG+GH24NS+bare+schwarz.article?pcconfAddUri=/Drives.search%3Bjsessionid%3DA43CAA4FB102090EB974EE06AE995BC6.www2%3Fbasket.add_aid%3D46257%26amp%3Bbasket.tkt%3D1&pcconfBackUri=/pcconfselect.jsp?jsessionid=A43CAA4FB102090EB974EE06AE995BC6.www2&jsessionid=A43CAA4FB102090EB974EE06AE995BC6.www2

That optical drive is grand and its cheap.

IRL_Sinister

Is this a big deal?

BloodBath

Out of what's left in stock I'd go for the MSI Gaming.

http://www.hardwareversand.de/4096+MB/150649/MSI+R9+290+Gaming+4G%2C+AMD+Radeon+R9+290%2C+4GB+DDR5.article?pcconfAddUri=/articlesearch.jsp%3Fsearch.sKey%3Dr9+290%26amp%3Bagid%3D0%26amp%3Bbasket.add_aid%3D150649%26amp%3Bbasket.tkt%3D1&pcconfBackUri=/pcconfselect.jsp?

IRL_Sinister

I don't think that would work with the motherboard?

BloodBath

It will yes. Those connections are standard pcie3.

IRL_Sinister

Alright here's my final build:

Added in the new GPU, a Monitor and the cheap Optical Drive (just in case)

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-4670K Box, LGA1150|€205.91
ASRock Z87 Pro3, Sockel 1150, ATX|€79.01
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€76.34
WD Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€51.27
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€84.32
Corsair Carbide Series 300R, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€64.67
Corsair CX Series Modular CX600M, 600W|€66.18
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€29.69
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€14.15
LG Electronics 22EN43VQ-B|€114.35
MSI R9 290 Gaming 4G, AMD Radeon R9 290, 4GB DDR5|€402.93
Samsung SSD 840 EVO Basic 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€74.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1282.80

EDIT: I have to pay through a Bank Transfer....?

BloodBath

Looks good, just add a sata cable for the dvd drive. The board comes with 2 for the hdd and ssd.

If you're going to be overclocking I'd add some case fans as well. If you want to keep things quiet I'd go with the deep silence one or Fractal R4.

Run the parts through www.geizhals.de for a discount as well.

IRL_Sinister

All said and done I'm delighted I've gone and bought all the parts and hopefully I'll enjoy building it just as much when the parts all arrive.

My one negative, and im actually quite furious about this is that they don't accept credit card payments. I couldn't believe it. It's very strange a hardware site doesn't accept credit card payment. To make matters worse I can't even transfer the funds from my own bank because I need to wait 5 days to get a security code (that's my fault). To add further insult to injury bank of Ireland don't allow you to transfer anything less than €2,000.00 inside a branch (unless you want to pay a hefty 25€ fee).

Very frustrating.... Don't even think words will describe how pissed I'll be if any of the parts are out of stick next week when I do make the transfer.

If you are reading the post and wish to buy from HWVS; while good value for money with lots or choice - you cannot pay through credit card so ensure you have account transfers enabled on your personal online banking!

Will let you know how the build goes when I eventually get there! Thanks again for all the advice above!

Dakkon

That version of Windows 7 is German, ordered it myself a few weeks ago. They have an English version for 2 or 3 euro more, pay it to save a bit of hassle, if you have already placed the order don't worry. German key will work on an English version, just need to borrow a disc off someone or download the Official Microsoft ISO from Digital River.

IRL_Sinister

Dammit, lol!

I'll have to download and save it to a USB

Dakkon

IRL_Sinister wrote: »

Dammit, lol!

I'll have to download and save it to a USB

Put it on a USB 2 that is not Windows 8 compatible, I had it on a USB 3, would not work, got myself a USB 2 and because it was compatible with Win 8 it shows as a hard drive and not a removable drive so could not copy ISO to it.

Ended up putting on a DVDr disk.

Just in case you don't know, when you copy the ISO you downloaded, you need to use a program(there are some 3rd party ones as well) from Microsoft to copy the ISO to a DVD or USB otherwise it will not work.

IRL_Sinister

Cheers, Digital River has a fairly straight forward explanation

IRL_Sinister

One last question: how much do you think I could sell my current PC for? They are like 1,500 stg on Amazon

IRL_Sinister

Just got this e-mail:

The manufacturer did not communicate an expected date for the delivery of the ordered article (HV13W1CBDE) WD Blue WD10EZEX - Hard drive. We will deliver the article immediately after arrival.

Should I wait it our or is there an alternative? Not really sure how long it would take to come across another HDD

..Brian..

You could pick it up on Amazon for about €53 delivered and ask them to refund the difference

IRL_Sinister

Isn't their CS garbage?

..Brian..

Amazon? Totally the opposite, probably the best CS and after sales support of any e-tailer out there!

Or HWVD? Not the best, I'd email them and find out what the deal is with requesting a partial refund.

OT: I ordered a PSU the other day from HWVD, cancelled it like 6 hours later, received confirmed email to say order was cancelled the following day and then received an email the day again to say my order was shipped! I now have to wait for the package to arrive and refuse delivery to get it back to them and get a refund!

IRL_Sinister

If it's not back in stock tomorrow I'll send them an email to cancel and get it off Amazon (once confirmed).

Cheers.

BloodBath

You could replace it with the seagate barracuda 1tb, there's feck all between the 2 drives.

IRL_Sinister

BloodBath wrote: »

You could replace it with the seagate barracuda 1tb, there's feck all between the 2 drives.

Can't check HWVS on my phone but only 45£ on amazon. Not bad!! Will probably cancel and order one of the HDDs on amazon. Will probably arrive before the rest anyway!

mad turnip

just so you know, the hard disk is not required day 1, you can still build the PC and install windows and several games, the hard disk is only required for movies / games you might not play as often.

IRL_Sinister

mad turnip wrote: »

just so you know, the hard disk is not required day 1, you can still build the PC and install windows and several games, the hard disk is only required for movies / games you might not play as often.

Yeah I'm aware of that thanks! I sent them an email this morning about it. Basically the difference between my original HDD and the Seagate Barracuda is €0.65. I asked them if chose that one instead would I be required to wire the money... If I don't get a response by COB today I'll just cancel and order off Amazon. Obviously if I'm asked to wire 65 cent after spending €1200+ they can take a hike.

IRL_Sinister

IRL_Sinister wrote: »

Yeah I'm aware of that thanks! I sent them an email this morning about it. Basically the difference between my original HDD and the Seagate Barracuda is €0.65. I asked them if chose that one instead would I be required to wire the money... If I don't get a response by COB today I'll just cancel and order off Amazon. Obviously if I'm asked to wire 65 cent after spending €1200+ they can take a hike.

Well not quite what I expected, pleasantly surprised. Received this at 530:

many thanks for your e-mail.

If there are small differences we would adjust the amount, so you will not have to pay that tiny amount.

Kind regards

IRL_Sinister

IRL_Sinister wrote: »

Yeah I'm aware of that thanks! I sent them an email this morning about it. Basically the difference between my original HDD and the Seagate Barracuda is €0.65. I asked them if chose that one instead would I be required to wire the money... If I don't get a response by COB today I'll just cancel and order off Amazon. Obviously if I'm asked to wire 65 cent after spending €1200+ they can take a hike.

Just got a phone call to say 3 packages arrived this morning. Will start my first ever build this evening!!

Will pick up a USB stick on the way home, what size will I need to put windows 7 on from digital river (can't access it from work)?

bassey

4 Gb minimum should cover it

Kiith

It's a 3.1gb download from Digital River (for Win7 Ultimate).