Building a Gaming PC

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1

Hello Tek Syndicate!

First of all I'm from Finland and we use €. I'm planning building a future proof gaming PC. My Bubget is around 750-800€ (I can afford more too) and I'll have to put a new OS (NOTE! OS is not included with the Bubget that I mentioned.). I will play a lot different kinds of games (skyrim, Minecraft, Indy games, Strategy games, FPS-games etc), but I will Mainly play The Elder Scrolls Online when it comes around next spring. Also I probably will OC. This is my first very own build too.

NOTE! All hardware prices are from Finnish hardware store www.Jimms.fi. My Build is also down at the bottom if you like to skip the questions!


1. Question

I was thinking that should I make this PC without a Graphics Card at first? (of course I'm going to get processor that has intergrated Graphics card.)  I'll buy the graphics card around Christmas or Spring (really depents when TESO will come up.) so I'll get the best Graphics card that I can get for  TESO even tho it probably doesn't need high end graphics card. Or should I get best PC with the money now without caring about performance in the future?  Or maybe just buy my PC later? I could really easily just wait half a year.

2. Question

AMD or Intel? So I'm thinking mostly Intel (Haswell vs. Ivy Bridge)

   2.1 If Intel should I get Intel Ivy Bridge i5-3570k, LGA1155 (225€) or Intel Haswell i5-4670k, LGA 1150 (239€)

      2.1.1  What mother board should I go for? I was thinking -

                              - for LGA1155:                                                                                                                       MSI Z77A-G43 Gaming (129€) OR AsRock Z77 Extreme4 (135€) OR ASUS P8Z77-V LX (119€) OR what ever you suggest me that is good

                              - for LGA1150:                                                                                                                     What ever you suggest me that is good. I was thinking MSI Z78-G45 GAMING (159€)

  2.2 If AMD, what is the best processor for good price and what is the best motherboard for that Processor?

  2.3 What is a good value CPU Cooler that is cool and quiet under 50€?

 

3. Question

I'm looking for case that is cool and quiet, but also cheap. I want a Case that doesn't necessarily be all fancy LED lights and windows because i'm not going to see the case fully. I was thinking about NZXT source 210 Elite (78€) OR Fractal Design core 3000 (79.90€) OR Fractal Design Define R4 (99.90€) OR BitFenix Shinobi (59.50€)

 

4. Question

Okay 4th and final question. Regular Hard drive OR SSD OR both and cut off from something else? they are probably not going to fit inside the bubget (maybe buy SSD later?). I'm looking for not more than 1TB Regular SATA III hard drive.



My Ivy Bridge Build:

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LX (119€)

Processor: Intel Ivy Bridge i5-3570k(225€)

 Processor Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (39€)

Memory:  Kingston HyperX 8GB RAM (2x4GB Beast 2400mhz (88.90€)

Power Supply: XFX 750W XXX Edition Semi Modular ATX-Power supply +80 Bronze (99€)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 64 MB 7200 RPM 3.5" SATA III (6 Gb/s) (68.90€)

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (99.90€)

TOTAL: 739.70€

 

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Finnish (105€)

 

 

 My Haswell Build

Motherboard: MSI Z78-G45 GAMING (159€)

Processor: Intel haswell i5-4670k (239€)

Processor Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (39€)

Memory:  Kingston HyperX 8GB RAM (2x4GB Beast 2400mhz (88.90€)

Power Supply: Corsair CX750M V2 ATX-Power supply +80 Bronze (99€)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 64 MB 7200 RPM 3.5" SATA III (6 Gb/s) (68.90€)

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (99.90€)

TOTAL: 793.70€

 

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Finnish (105€)

 

 NOTE! again no graphics card on this build because i'm probably going to buy it later on!

 So I would like to hear that do I even have enough money to even go the haswell route or even Intel or should I just buy the pc later?. And sorry for my grammar if there is any fauls in the text.

Thank you for your time Tek Syndicate forum people! share your opinions to me And please no fanboysm.

2

TL;DR :P haha

JK, Question 1: If you can wait til September then the prices will have dropped on Nvidia cards because AMD is due to drop their 8000 series cards around then.  If you can't wait til then, then buy a computer now without a graphics card, TESO isn't that hard to run on a half descent computer.

Question 2, the million dollar question Intel or AMD.... Well, it's all personal opinion, really.  Personally, I went with an Intel i5 Ivy Bridge.  The Ivy are harder to overclock because they heat up more than the Sandy.  However an Ivy at the same clock speed will run better than a Sandy at the same clock speed.  Basically, if you're not going to overclock, get an Ivy Bridge and use the heatsink it comes with.  If you're going to overclock a little, buy an Ivy with a nice heatsink, I have an Ivy i5 with a Noctua NH-D14... great heatsink - silent AND cold, but it's huge so check to see if it fits.  Btw, I'm not too keen on the $ to € exchange, sorry.  If you're going to overclock a lot get a Sandy or a Haswell with a big heatsink.  Can't speak much about Haswells as they're newer and I haven't read up on them as much... Sorry.

As far as motherboards go, I have an Asrock Extreme 4, no complaints, good motherboard.

Question 3: Nobody can tell you what case to get, that is almost 100% personal opinion, with a tinge of making sure it isn't going to fall apart on you, and making sure all your parts fit comfortably.

Question 4: I bought a 500GB HDD and a 120GB SSD when I built my comp, they're both full now, and I just installed a 1TB HDD.  I would spring for both, it's worth the money to get a SSD for some select games and your OS in my eyes, even if you have to cut back to a 500GB HDD for the time being.  PS: I'd recommend a Western Digital Caviar Blue or Caviar Black over a Seagate Barracuda

 

3

Wow , this is overwhelming but the difference between haswell and ivy bridge isn't that huge for desktops because of the main focus that intel has had with moblie cpus such as in laptops. Haswell, uses less energy than ivy bridge which means less heat but the different is like 10% at most 20%. Personally, what i've heard about OC with haswell is that it's still hot and you need a good AiO water cooler like the corsair h110. Also , TimetoLive Customs on youtube has some lenghty but good videos on haswell stuff and computer hardware. 

Furthermore, if you're after features haswell motherboards offer most features than what I see with ivy bridge because the vendors ( ASUS, ASROCK etc.) can mess around with the chipset more for more features such as more SATA ports etc. Lastly, I know that Asus motherboards with z87 have NFC , thunderbolt if you're into that .

http://www.youtube.com/user/TimeToLiveCustoms

 

Lastly, for a GPU you have to remember next gen is out this year; now game developers will like the more pc setup in the PS4 AND XBOX ONE . So by mid 2014 and 2015 you'll find way better graphics cards because games now demand more because weaker consoles aren't holding back the progress of graphics .

Anyway glad to help (y)