Source
r/buildapc•
Setriath

[Build Ready] $1,700 Red/black build - thoughts?

USD$

A build I picked for a friend of mine. The actual price is more like $2,100 dollars - although there's not much to do about it if you're Norwegian (the gigabyte 980ti is almost a $1000 over here). The choice of case was the only thing cut in stone - she has a very particular taste in cases. Thought I'd just go with a fitting theme while I was at it - would be a shame to not do it with a budget like that.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor$229.99 @ NCIX US
CPU CoolerCorsair H110i GT 113.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler$129.99 @ Mac Mall
MotherboardAsus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard$308.25 @ Amazon
MemoryCorsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory$48.99 @ Newegg
StorageCorsair Force Series GS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive$184.99 @ B&H
StorageWestern Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive$90.99 @ SuperBiiz
Video CardMSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card$429.98 @ SuperBiiz
CaseNZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case$99.99 @ NCIX US
Power SupplyCorsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$129.99 @ Amazon
Sound CardCreative Labs Sound Blaster Zx 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card$114.99 @ Micro Center
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total$1768.15
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-27 17:19 EDT-0400

Posted Jun 27, 2015, 9:46 PM UTC

17
MutantZebra•

Holy SHIT. That is an expensive motherboard. You could go with this which is pretty much the same thing but 200$ less. http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97mxgaming5

I wouldn't spend over 180 unless it was an X99 build.

1
SetriathOP•

It's fine, it's only $216 over here. Great components and affordable.

I don't really like gigabyte boards. They're a huge pain in the butt to overclock on (at least my current board is).

1
MutantZebra•

Oh I see. Man... price changes are confusing.

An 500 mobo in (Area A) could be 100 in (Area B)

While a 600 CPU in (Area B) could be 150 in (Area A)

1
SetriathOP•

Yeah, it's really interesting. For example, that board is 160 dollar (which is cheap) here in Norway. A $200 board with a budget on $2000 is fine I'd say. 50 bucks is worth the leap imo.

1
Amy-Acker•

Here is what I'd do:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor$229.99 @ NCIX US
CPU CoolerCorsair H110i GT 113.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler$129.99 @ Mac Mall
MotherboardAsus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard$208.99 @ Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory$60.99 @ Newegg
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive$99.89 @ OutletPC
StorageSeagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$69.89 @ OutletPC
Video CardMSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card$429.98 @ SuperBiiz
CaseNZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case$99.99 @ NCIX US
Power SupplyXFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$81.98 @ Newegg
Sound CardCreative Labs Sound Blaster Zx 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card$114.99 @ Micro Center
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total$1526.68
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-27 18:15 EDT-0400

Much better SSD and HDD (WD Red is variable speed; not a performance drive). Motherboard is also cheaper, at least here in the U.S.

I changed the PSU; platinum isn't needed at this wattage, and you don't need 760W. Plus, with the money save, you can get a nice set of red sleeved cables.

The rest looks good. Add a cooler if she plans to OC, though.

1
SetriathOP•

I changed the PSU; platinum isn't needed at this wattage

Wish I could, I use one in mine. They no longer sell them at the site she'll buy from. Although the price doesn't really differ that much over here.

Much better SSD and HDD

Aren't people saying that you should avoid Samsung SSDs (for various reasons) though? Remember reading a few threads about it somewhere. I personally find reliability and stability more important than performance in HDDs. Anything that would "require" performance would usually be on the SSD, no?

Add a cooler if she plans to OC, though.

Isn't the H110i a cooler though? ;p

1
Amy-Acker•

Isn't the H110i a cooler though? ;p

lol, wow... no idea why I said add a cooler :facepalm:

Aren't people saying that you should avoid Samsung SSDs (for various reasons) though? Remember reading a few threads about it somewhere. I personally find reliability and stability more important than performance in HDDs. Anything that would "require" performance would usually be on the SSD, no?

People are boycotting Samsung SSD's after the 840/EVO fiasco. Nothing wrong with the 850 series, though.

As for the WD Red... it is a NAS hard drive and variable speed. While most things will be put on the SSD, large games probably won't make their way there; with variable speed, loading times may suffer. If you want reliability, I'd take a WD Black over the Red.

1