Its official, my computer is done. Time to upgrade.

[Montoya]

I was putting together the video for the Xian scout giveaway.

Lots of splicing, splitting, editing audio and adding video clips. My computer must be out of memory because some parts of the video turned out black instead of showing the clip that is supposed to be in there.

At https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6rtDh-gV0#t=92 there is supposed to be a clip from Zoolander, but no video shows, just audio.

I wanted to hold off as long as possible, but it looks like I will be needing to upgrade this month.

@DirtyScoundrel suggests: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LLNvqs

What do you think?

 

[GrammarGestapo]

Wow. That's positively excellent. Nothing too flashy or expensive, but absolutely everything does its job about as well as it can be done. Utterly flawless. Gestapo Seal of approval.

I especially love your power supply, many people skimp on it and go bronze or even worse non-certified. This is a bad thing. A platinum power supply will keep your electric bill happy and never fail you.

 

[GrammarGestapo]

But, make sure you don't have system builder windows installed, as opposed to the regular full version. If this is an upgrade and not a straight build, you're going to have to bitch to microsoft that "no, I am NOT trying to pirate your software, I just want to upgrade my PC". System builder links with the CPU and the motherboard as I remember, that's how they stop you from pirating. If you have the full (200 dollar) version of windows, don't worry about it. If you bought the PC pre-built, or built it with system builder, you're going to need to put in some effort.

 

[Huegpaynis]

Just how much memory do you have now, and why wouldn't you just be able to add more if that's your issue? Is the rest of your hardware also way out of date or something?

 

[SeungRyul]

My Opinion:
- Change SeaSonic to Corsair RM650 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139054
^You get silent operation with the Corsair and better reliability. I heard that SeaSonic is not perfect when it comes to reliability and you want the powersupply to be very reliable. Also the Corsair powersupply is fully modular and has flat cords which is a godsend for cable management.

- Splurge a bit on the motherboard. Maybe MSI Z97 Gaming 5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130770
^You want a motherboard that can support SLI in future so that you just have to pick up an additional 770 which will be much cheaper in future. Also the MSI Z97 gaming series has EXCELLENT integrated sound. I was blown away by how much of an improvement it gave me so I can't suggest enough.

- Note about the RAM
^Corsair Dominators are excellent! However they have a HUMONGOUS profile which could lead to problems with installing aftermarket CPU coolers because they are so big. Since heatsinks on RAM are much more "cool" factor than actually functional get a low-profile RAM that you can fit with CPU Cooler.

- Aftermarket CPU cooler.
^I noticed it was missing from PCParts list. I use the Hyper 212 EVO which is a budget $25 CPU cooler that hits way above its budget. Since you are getting a overclockable CPU you need one aftermarket cpu cooler :)

 

[chrizz]

an SSD for the operating system and apps should be added. it really speeds up everything,
e.g. http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7ke128bw

If you don't want an SSD, take an SSHD hybrid

e.g. http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/solid-state-hybrid/desktop-solid-state-hybrid-drive/

 

[Trollmann]

My Opinion:
- Change SeaSonic to Corsair RM650 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139054
^You get silent operation with the Corsair and better reliability. I heard that SeaSonic is not perfect when it comes to reliability and you want the powersupply to be very reliable. Also the Corsair powersupply is fully modular and has flat cords which is a godsend for cable management.

Seasonic builds the PSUs for Corsair, Corsair just adds the labels :)
Seasonic is great, stick with it. They make great PSUs.
Like chrizz suggested I'd add an SSD aswell.
The Caviar Black is pretty loud and not a lot better than the Caviar Blue. http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex
The RAM is really expensive, maybe choose http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmv16gx3m2a1333c9 ? If you really need the 16GB.

 

[DirtyScoundrel]

Yeah, this is from my first quick pass over the build. There is alot of room for price optimization but the core build is pretty solid.

 

[Trollmann]

You NEED that!

 

[GrammarGestapo]

bah, you guys know no price limits! There is such a thing as a budget, and for the budget, this thing hits it perfect.

Although, I would go with corsair RAM as well. I use them. But in my experience, the RAM doesn't make that much of a difference based on brand. then again, I've always just stuck with corsair, and heard others say its a good brand, but that things like Mushkin and Gskill do the job as well.

The SSD really doesn't sound like a good idea to me though. He'd need an SSD, as well as a regular harddrive, as using an SSD as your main drive is not the best idea. That will probably add an extra 200 dollars, just so he can load and boot up games 30-40 seconds faster. It's nice, but not mission critical.

What we need is for Montoya to set a strict limit on just what he wants to spend, then go from there. Otherwise, we'll just keep driving up the price, possibly pressuring him to get things that he may not want, but that we say he "needs".

oh wait, you do need a cooler. Cooler master makes an excellent 40 dollar solution for this. The cooler master Hyper 212 will keep an I5 that isn't OC'd over 4.0 cooler than you could imagine. Anything else isn't needed, unless you A, want it really quiet (or even silent), or B, want to overclock higher than that.

 

[Montoya]

Yeah guys, this is not a competition to see what the most expensive part we can find to fit a slot.

Bunch of millionaires in this thread.

 

[GrammarGestapo]

You NEED that!

It looks like something you would build with a 7th grade "explore circuitry!" kit lol

 

[chrizz]

maybe you should tell us how much you want to spend on your new rig, montoya.

that would eliminate the millionare nerd recommendations.

;)

 

[Montoya]

Im going to a cheap as possible, but with ability to last me 2yrs until the PU comes out. Just something to tie me over for now.

I want to go big when the game launches.

 

[Montoya]

Why does this build use a micro ATX?

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor$184.99 @ NCIX US
MotherboardGigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard$73.99 @ Newegg
MemoryA-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory$73.99 @ Newegg
StorageSeagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$52.92 @ Amazon
Video CardXFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card$264.99 @ NCIX US
CaseThermaltake Chaser A31 Snow White ATX Mid Tower Case$67.42 @ Amazon
Power SupplyCorsair Builder 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply$58.99 @ NCIX US
Total
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available$777.29
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-18 22:39 EDT-0400

 

[GrammarGestapo]

Why does this build use a micro ATX?

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor$184.99 @ NCIX US
MotherboardGigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard$73.99 @ Newegg
MemoryA-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory$73.99 @ Newegg
StorageSeagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$52.92 @ Amazon
Video CardXFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card$264.99 @ NCIX US
CaseThermaltake Chaser A31 Snow White ATX Mid Tower Case$67.42 @ Amazon
Power SupplyCorsair Builder 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply$58.99 @ NCIX US
Total
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available$777.29
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-18 22:39 EDT-0400

Micro ATX is bad. ATX is good. It's essentially the same form factor, but made for smaller PCs, and therefore worse heat management. ATX is good for mid and full towers.

You still need an aftermarket CPU cooler though. The stock ones are completely insufficient, even for normal operation.

 

[Black Sunder]

Newsflash: Montoya is done and its time for TEST to upgrade.

 

[UbEcLoWn]

Not a bad build at all. I recently put together a new rig. Decided to go with 8 gigs of RAM since most games don't utilize 16 gigs at the moment. Saved me $85 on the initial build. I'll upgrade to 16 gigs in the future. SSD makes for EXTREMELY fast boot times. Love it. I have an external usb 3.0 drive i'm using to store games at the moment. works fine.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/ubeclown/saved/6KcRsY

 

[UbEcLoWn]

Also, yes. Low Profile ram may be the way to go if you decide to go with a large CPU cooler. The Corsair Vengeance LP is what I went with.

 

[Thrashdog]

Looks pretty solid, though as Seung suggested an SSD system drive is a fairly low-cost, high-impact improvement. I'd throw a 256GB Crucial MX100 in there. I assume you will be reusing your current case? If it is a full ATX case, I'd stick with a full ATX board, but if you're going to get a new case mATX is not a bad choice these days, and one that will lop a Jackson each off your motherboard and case costs. With so much integrated into the chipset and mobo these days, all those expansion slots on a full ATX board are pretty much wasted for the average desktop build.

I'm a bit neurotic about fan noise, your YMMV, but I recommend closed-loop liquid coolers for CPUs these days. For the cost of a decent tower HSF, you can get a Corsair H60 that will work amazingly at stock clocks, and be quieter than just about anything air-cooled, especially if you ditch the lousy Corsair fans for something like a 120mm Scythe Kama Flow. The Corsair fan has some really awful tonal noise characteristics above idling RPMs.