Looking to start a new Gaming PC build - £2.5k- £3k budget - advice needed!

[Sacred]

You can still go cheaper,without reducing quality.

A cheaper GTX780 would do the same job and also ignoring the R9 290 is not a good option IMHO. Especially at higher resolution it seems to pull ahead a bit.

The motherboard is OTT,especially since there is far less motherboard dependence with Haswell,due to partial integration of the VRMs into the CPU itself.

Temperature is the main problem and even that can only be really solved by delidding if you want a larger overclck.

Better RAM can be had cheaper.

I would go with one of the Seasonic PSUs over the Corsair as they are better built for the same price.

I tend to prefer redundancy and long life over speed with SSDs - there is little realworld difference between them. The Crucial M500 will be a cheaper but decent choice and is a MLC drive with built-in redundancy.

I would get a larger media drive.

I had a bad experience with two ATI GPUs back in 2004 cause me no end of headaches (some AGP model with a bat-like motif) they kept over heating and causing BSOD. I don't know how I would feel going back to "the dark side" after being with nVidia so long. Looking at the nice pretty bar graphs and statistics from the benchmarks for a GTX780 vs a R9 290 makes the R9 290 look inferior in comparison, what are the real world differences between them though as the price points are quite far apart.

What are you thoughts on MOBO then? Would I be just as well off with something like the Asus Z87-C? I do intend on doing so minor tinkering to try and get a few extra mhzs out of my processor. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for here, I feel like I know enough to hold a conversation but scratch any deeper and I'm well out of my depth.

Where would you be shopping for RAM and what type?

I'm looking at both full modular and hybrid modular Seasonic PSUs on SCAN but they don't have any that are cheaper than the Corsair one above. Am I shopping at the wrong place?

MLC drive?
As for the safety of my data I rarely keep anything of major significance on my gaming PC and anything I do need to keep is stored in a the cloud too risky only having one location with important information.



Thanks,
Sacred

[Wa1lock]

MLC - multi-level cell
TLC - triple-level cell
SLC - single-level cell

Basically in terms of lifetime is a SLC > MLC > TLC
The 840 Evo ist a SSD with TLC NAND. The Crucial M500 (and most other SSDs) uses MLC NAND. Server SSDs normally use SLC.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I had a bad experience with two ATI GPUs back in 2004 cause me no end of headaches (some AGP model with a bat-like motif) they kept over heating and causing BSOD. I don't know how I would feel going back to "the dark side" after being with nVidia so long. Looking at the nice pretty bar graphs and statistics from the benchmarks for a GTX780 vs a R9 290 makes the R9 290 look inferior in comparison, what are the real world differences between them though as the price points are quite far apart.

Emm:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...action-lawsuit

The worst graphics card problem in history was the at least 200 million dollar problem with Nvidia GPUs. It was due to a cheaper way of attaching the GPU to the PCB. Over time it lead to the GPU separating from the PCB.

My graphics card history so far:

Geforce Go440
MX440
Ti4200
9500 PRO
9600XT
X300
6200
6600LE
6600GT
6800LE(X2)- one unlocked to 12 pipelines and the other to 16 pipelines
7600GT
7900GS
X1900GT
8500GT
HD3870
HD4670 GDDR3
HD4830
8800GTS 320MB
8800GTS 512MB
HD5670 GDDR5
HD5850
HD6450
HD6870
GTX660

Nvidia 9300 IGP
AMD HD6530D IGP
VIA and Intel IGPs

The two problems I had were with:
1.)My AGP 6800LE cards being affected by the bad capacitor problem. Not the fault of Nvidia but of OEMs using RoHS soldier with capacitors designed not to resist higher temperatures. I luckily replaced my cards quickly,ie,in under a year,but if I had kept them longer problems would have arose.
2.)My 8800GTS 512MB went bang after a year and a half.

Outside that all my graphics cards have been fine.

Regarding the R9 290 and GTX780,make sure you compare non-reference cards only. The reference reviews are of little importance,especially as Nvidia hyped up any issues with the cards by sending reviewers free R9 290 and R9 290X cards and asking them to test them in quiet mode. They also hyped down the numerous issues seen with the reference Geforce Titan and GTX760(GPU Boost 2 causing throttling).

Last time I checked the R9 290 was generally a faster card than a GTX780,unless the latter is pre-overclocked,and seems to do better at higher resolution.

So it ultimately comes down to price,and I would not pay more than £375 for either card,especially considering how much decent R9 290 cards cost.

You could get a decent non-reference one for under £300 delivered recently!! There are decent Asus,MSI and Gigabyte ones for under £350.

This one is under £330:

http://www.ebuyer.com/618538-msi-rad...-290-gaming-4g

There is a £40 premium for the equivalent MSI GTX780 for example,which is for me not worth it.

What are you thoughts on MOBO then? Would I be just as well off with something like the Asus Z87-C? I do intend on doing so minor tinkering to try and get a few extra mhzs out of my processor. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for here, I feel like I know enough to hold a conversation but scratch any deeper and I'm well out of my depth.

The Asus seems perfectly fine TBH:

http://www.eteknix.com/asus-z87-c-z8...rboard-review/

Where would you be shopping for RAM and what type?

Amazon is decent for RAM:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-BLT2...ords=16gb+ddr3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Tec...ords=16gb+ddr3

However,high speed RAM is not going to add much performance to your CPU IMHO.

I'm looking at both full modular and hybrid modular Seasonic PSUs on SCAN but they don't have any that are cheaper than the Corsair one above. Am I shopping at the wrong place?

The XFX PSUs are made by Seasonic,and the Seasonic SS-650RM is a bit more expensive than the Corsair RM 650W,but I would get it over the Corsair. The Corsai AX 650W seems to be hard to get,and I would get that over the RM 650W too.

MLC drive?
As for the safety of my data I rarely keep anything of major significance on my gaming PC and anything I do need to keep is stored in a the cloud too risky only having one location with important information.



Thanks,
Sacred

The Crucial M500 is cheaper,and also has additional redundancy on top of being an MLC drive too.

[Sacred]

Thanks for all of the advice, I'm going to have a sleep on it (more of I'm up at 5:30am for work) then take a second look at everything tomorrow.


Does anyone have experience of purchasing a sound dampening chassis? I'm wanting to run as quiet as possible without overheating my components. My brothers computer build literally sounds like you're turning on a car engine when you press the power button, I really don't want that!


Thanks,
Sacred

[Bonebreaker777]

Would it be worth to suggest first components that would stay as base for the coming years and future upgrades for sure?
I would choose a nice good case I know I will stick with, a GOOD PSU (with a budget like that he can go Gold or Platinum), a nice SSD (500-1000GB SSD not with SandForce) and a possible monitor.

The rest to be optimal from price/performance point of view so once something better pops up, will not loose so much replacing it (selling old ideally with max.20% loss and buying newer).
That would be mainly GPU cause an 4-8 core would last "ages" anyway especially with plenty of RAM and reliable components.

Don't save on cooling too much (case & CPU, maybe even dedicated GPU but I can't much reason for that), with a bit of luck the right parts would survive a number of GPU changes.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks for all of the advice, I'm going to have a sleep on it (more of I'm up at 5:30am for work) then take a second look at everything tomorrow.


Does anyone have experience of purchasing a sound dampening chassis? I'm wanting to run as quiet as possible without overheating my components. My brothers computer build literally sounds like you're turning on a car engine when you press the power button, I really don't want that!


Thanks,
Sacred

The Fractal R4 and Nanoxia Deep Silence series are what you might need to look at.

A mate has a Fractal R3 and the soundproofing works well IMHO.

[kompukare]

Does anyone have experience of purchasing a sound dampening chassis? I'm wanting to run as quiet as possible without overheating my components.

I've built with both Fractal Design's Define R4 and Nanoxia's Deep Silence 1. Both excellent cases with good sound dampening but both very big. The Nanoxia is the better built in many ways but the Define R4 has more space behind the motherboard tray so easier to get cable in there (but with your kind of budget you can afford to get a high-end fully modular with flat cables so that shouldn't be a problem).

Like said, thought they are huge:
Define R4 232 x 523 x 464 (WxHxD mm) = 56 litres
Deep Silence 2 207 x 468 x 588 = 56 litres

I think both now do smaller mATX versions but you'd have to chase the reviews. Both of them come with quality fans (Nanoxia are meant to be close the Noctua in airflow/noise), but you can replace them. The Corsair 650D is actually bigger. On the Corsair the 200mm fan is a good idea but I think you can't find much to fit there.

BTW, those AIO 'water cooler' things are meant to perform worse than a good air cooler in most situations. What do have going for them is that they leave a lot space around the CPU.

[Wa1lock]

I'd choose on of the following PSUs:
-Enermax Platimax (http://www.enermax.co.uk/platimax/)
-Seasonic P-Series (http://www.seasonicusa.com/Platinum_Series_XP2.htm)
-be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 (http://www.bequiet.com/en/powersupply/302)

These are all very efficient and are built with high end components which are designed to last decades. You'll be able to use all of these power supplies with any upcoming hardware you'll buy.

[flearider]

just get a corsair 800d intel or amd cpu asus or gigabyte mb top end bang in 2x amd r9 290's a 256 ssd with a 2tb hd for storage 16gb mem that will run with either cpu
a couple of quad rads some blocks and there ya go .. quiet fast and it will still be under 2k ..

[kalniel]

just get a corsair 800d intel or amd cpu asus or gigabyte mb top end bang in 2x amd r9 290's a 256 ssd with a 2tb hd for storage 16gb mem that will run with either cpu
a couple of quad rads some blocks and there ya go .. quiet fast and it will still be under 2k ..

Or you could read his post and requirements

[flearider]

Or you could read his post and requirements

hmm so stick it in a smaller case ..and with less room even better to go water if you can afford it .. just get scan to knock you one up .. or overclockers ..

[DanceswithUnix]

I think the downgrade to Caviar Green is a poor choice. The black you had before should come with a 5yr warranty, the Green is something like 2yr. If the drive manufacturer doesn't trust it, I won't trust it.

They are built differently too, so you are getting something for the money it isn't just like an insurance deal.

[Wa1lock]

I totally agree. The WD Black / Red series are way better. On a normal computer you won't have any benefit of a 5400 rpm HDD. These are made for 24/7 systems and/or notebooks.

[Bonebreaker777]

Wouldn't be the WD Black a waste of money?
Hitachi offers 5y warranty as well on similar 7200RPM models. Build a RAID 5 or RAID 5+0 from them and you are sorted. Both for performance and redundancy.

[Wa1lock]

In addition what Bonebreaker77 said, the Hitachi HDDs have an excellent lifetime. Just take a look at this statistic of Backbaze.

[MrRockliffe]

That was a very unfair dismissal of seagate as not all drives were kept in the same housing and conditions, with seagate being kept in worst and guess which were being kept in the best.