PC Upgrade - Could do with some knowledgeable help!

TheRogueAmigo

So haven't touched my computer in honestly 5-6 years except to put in a new graphics card and case awhile ago, and the whole thing needs an overhaul. I've been out of the loop for ages, so to be honest totally struggling over what to get, and could do with some advice.

1. What is your budget? Ideally about €500 - €600, I can go higher if its a justifiably reason, but I don't wanna fork out €100 extra on a piece for diminishing returns.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming- Skyrim, FFXIV, BF4, TF2, bit of everything really.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No, have Windows 8.1.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Yes, I bought my brothers GTX 570 for dirt money (was on a GTX 460 before this) which I'll be using for the immediate future, but will also be upgrading eventually early next year, and a 1TB external hard drive. I also have a Thermaltake V3 Black Edition Chassis, which I would PREFER to use, but I'm not sure if its an ATX or mATX, when I google search it, it seems to be both??

5. Do you need a monitor? No.
5a. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1280X1024, but again, I'll be robbing a widescreen monitor from a friend during the week. Not sure of the resolution of it, but again I will probably upgrade this as well early next year.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Not immediately, but I wouldn't mind having the option.

8. How can you pay? Any way, preferably by card for less hassle

9. When are you purchasing? As soon as I can get the pieces together!

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Based in Dublin, but hopefully should be fine.

I have a couple of pieces I'm looking at:

Corsair CP-9020054-UK RM Series RM650 80 Plus Gold 650W - £79.99
Samsung EVO 250gb - £83
Intel Core i5 i5-4690K CPU box - £168 (Would it be better to buy the tray and a different cooler seperately?)
Corsair Vengeance 8GB - £66

They're all taken from Amazon.co.uk, I've heard hardwareversand is a great website, but only found out about the site and to be honest find it hard to navigate and the pricing doesn't seem hugely different (unless I'm completely mistaken haha)

I'm finding it really hard to choose a good motherboard. I'm not sure if my case is ATX or mATX, and I'm not really sure what to be looking for in a motherboard to be perfectly honest.

A friend showed me this: ASRock B85M Pro4, Sockel 1150, mATX - €57 on hardwareversand, but I'm wary of it for some reason.

Cheers in advance! :-)

TheRogueAmigo

Bumpitty bump

Monotype

If you're going for an overclockable PSU, then get a motherboards with the Z97 chipset.

You could knock 100W from the PSU and get a cheaper one too.

Is that the tall RAM? Make sure it doesn't get in the way of a heatsink if you buy a different one.

As far as I remember, the tray CPUs have shorter warranties and that's about it. However, people hardly ever need to RMA a CPU. Also the box and tray prices are nearly always very close.

TheRogueAmigo

Monotype wrote: »

If you're going for an overclockable PSU, then get a motherboards with the Z97 chipset.

Is that the tall RAM? Make sure it doesn't get in the way of a heatsink if you buy a different one.

As far as I remember, the tray CPUs have shorter warranties and that's about it. However, people hardly ever need to RMA a CPU. Also the box and tray prices are nearly always very close.

What you mean by tall ram? Is it unnecessarily bulky?

And ok cool, I'll try to get a z97 one. Any suggestions?

And I'll probably get a tray then, that way I can buy a separate cooler

Monotype

Yeah, for bigger heatsinks, the vengeance RAM gets in the way. Not a problem with most, in fairness, just trying to eliminate potential conflicts early on. The sell low profile versions too.

Best to just scour around for reviews on the motherboard. Most of the brands available are safe enough picks.

TheRogueAmigo

Monotype wrote: »

Yeah, for bigger heatsinks, the vengeance RAM gets in the way. Not a problem with most, in fairness, just trying to eliminate potential conflicts early on. The sell low profile versions too

Is there even any benefit to the large ram then? Or just cosmetic?

Monotype

In the olden days, RAM used to get hotter. Unless you're overclocking the RAM a good bit, it makes little difference. I have my doubts to the effectiveness of the plastic fins on most of the RAM modules you find even if they were to get hot.

TheRogueAmigo

Ok so the corsair ram is good at staying at a low temperature? Didn't even realise ram had fans to be honest, the sticks in my tower don't. Unless I just misread you completely haha

Monotype

Fins, not fans!

Low profile blue and black.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CML8GX3M2A1600C9B-Vengeance-Profile-Performance/dp/B0058J1Q7O/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CML8GX3M2A1600C9-Vengeance-Profile-Performance/dp/B00569K7LM/

TheRogueAmigo

See that makes more sense haha.

Ok cool. Well I'll probably go for something like that then. Anyone have a good, reasonably priced motherboard that has that choose?