Total Overhaul: Assistance Request

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1

Howdy folks, I've been watching Tek Syndicate for a while now and I'm very pleased with the content and actual constructive community feedback present. I could have chosen many forums for this question, but I chose this one. :)



It's been pretty embarrassing really but I've been pretty much unable to do any real gaming for two years now since my system is so badly outdated. I am still running an Athlon X2 5600+ on a Gigabyte m-ATX AM2+. Yes, with just 4GB of DDR2 RAM and my trusty MSI 8800GT. When I built this comp I intended it to last me for a good long time and apart from the OCZ PSU which blew, it's still alive and kicking.



I'm starting my own youtube channel to upload in game historical battles re-enacted on various modded Total War games (maybe Rome II if Creative Assembly gets its crap together) and perhaps make the leap into Arma III and Battlefield. I also play the hell out of Paradox games like Europa Universalis IV and Crusader Kings II.

I don't care about SLI/Crossfire cause I've just got a Corsair 650W PSU, not really enough juice there to push two great cards at the same time. I will be overclocking however. I already have a brand new Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB still in its box sitting there until I get my new build. I will also likely put in my Caviar Blue 640GB I'm currently running.


As an amateur filmmaker, I plan on becoming more acquainted with Premiere Pro and Aftereffects. I currently run PowerDirector to edit and encode, albeit at horrible speeds.



I will be testing and running some Linux O/S's on a virtual machine. Trying to test out what the open source world has to offer.



I will be building this incrementally due to meager Walmart payroll (thanks economy), I've been putting in 5 - 10 hours of overtime every week so I can get this project off the ground finally. Looking to spend somewhere around $1000 to $1200 by the time I've finished with my total new build. My preferred online retailer would be Newegg as the carriers for Amazon love to ship my items to the wrong apartments and get them stolen. Also, buying from a single source would give me the possibility to have all items shipped at once instead of being spaced out over several days.

 

Here's what I've come up with after researching quite a bit:

  • Intel Core i5 4670K
  • Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
  • ASRock Z87 Pro4?
  • DDR3 1600 16GB?
  • Radeon R9 280X?
  • Fractal Design R4 Black Pearl
  • Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional


Now the mobo, the RAM, and the video card I'm struggling on.



I picked the mobo because its a great price for what it offers. Though I prefer the MSI's PCB aesthetically. Are there any Z87 options from anyone else in that range? Remember I don't really need SLI/Crossfire, but I do need overclocking ability.



I'm stumped on RAM. There are some good looking offerings from Corsair Vengeance, GSkill Ripjaw or Sniper, Kingston HyperX, and A-DATA. I've read that having 2400MHz RAM doesn't make a damned difference so I'm fine with 1600Mhz at a lower latency. I figured to go ahead and get 16GB since the cost of DDR3 RAM is going up and by the time I need it, it'll be way too expensive to grab by the time DDR4 becomes mainstream. For me it was either get 16GB of RAM, or get an i7 4770K. I figure the CPU is always upgradable, but RAM prices are only going up.


I very nearly wanted to just buy a spare GTX 680 off a friend of mine for $300. (Great deal) But I just found out about these new Radeon R9s. Not really sure who makes the most quiet and cool cards these days so I figured some help there could be useful.



If you've made it this far, thanks for taking so much of your time. :)

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Unless you need cuda the 280x is a better option (the fan on the cpu cooler may need to be put on the other side in a pull config to fit the ram.)

intel http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1ONqg

AMD http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1ONua

3

For most of the stuff you will be doing, i recommned going with an AMD Fx 8350.  Very powerful CPU!

4

I very nearly went for an AM3+ set up, however, I have concerns about the longevity of the socket. The Haswells while not that impressive of an evolution, are running on a new socket standard that I know can be put to good use for at least a few years. AM3+ has been around for a good while now and I don't know how if AMD's new chips in 2014 and 2015 will be running on it.

I guess the main questions I have here are about the Mobo and RAM. I have no idea which manufacturer of RAM to go with, considering all of the great models I've seen from most of them.

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Most RTS games, Rome 2 included, have zero support for multithreading. Often enhanced for Intel processors. In this instance, I would not recommend AMD CPUs. It depends on your personal interest in those games.

Also, $300 for a 680 is too high, in my opinion. The cheapest 680 I can find in the states is only $40-50 more expensive, for a new model. A used 680 would need to be nearer $200, in my view.

An AMD GPU would be the way to go, in most instances. It still comes down to the specific games that you play. But the 280X is a really good buy.

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Thats exactly what the folks at TWCenter said. The Intels have a generally faster response in games like Rome II and most games have no use for hyperthreading. The card I was speaking of is nearly brand new and its a superclocked edition Gigabyte. The one with with five fans. Regardless I like the performance on the 280x more for the money.

 

How about the ram and mobo?

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Nothing wrong with getting 16GB at this time. It depends how long you want to keep the system for. Emerging games are starting to use greater amounts of RAM, but typically they use less than 4GB. The Battlefield 4 Beta has reported uses as high as 12GB. Hyperthreading might be useful for running background tasks, now that games are utilising more cores. I'd probably stick with the i5, and just enjoy the up-to-date socket. You'll be replacing it in a few years, anyway.

I personally hate ASRock. Not sure why, as I have little experience with them. Probably their piss poor designed AM3+ motherboards put me off. Any Z87 will be fine. Not much difference between them, in terms of performance or overclocking. Just grab a motherboard that is aesthetically pleased and has the features that you want e.g good onboard sound or wifi. I do prefer middle of the road boards, like the MSI MPower, or the ROG Hero. They are not as expensive as their top tier counterparts, but happen to have much of the same quality.

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https://teksyndicate.com/forum/gpu/fx-8350-r9-290x/155860

lol, be careful saying that around here.

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I'd recommend that you get a different motherboard to the Asrock Pro4. For something in it's price range, go for the Asus Z87-A, much better overclocking and I like ASUS better; they have better warranty and generally better build quality. Or get any of the motherboards Berserker recommended.

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I recommend AMD a lot. But for these particular games, Intel is the only option.

People can fight me, if they want too!

11

I hear ya. I do the same myself on RTS and MMO games.

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RTS - it's the mainly way to settle things.

"1v1 me, bro"

I appreciate you looking out for me in amongst this community haha.

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The ASRock Pro4 is basically an Extreme4 without the SLI capability. It's only $115 on Newegg. So I should aim for the $150 range? There is a Gigabyte GA-Z78X-UD3 and MSI Z87-G43 in the $130 range. Then a UD3H and G45 for the $150 range. Is there any real advantage ASUS has over the others because I had an ASUS once and had lots of driver issues. But this was back in 2007.

Also, does it matter between the Corsair, G.Skill, or Kingston, or A-Data RAM?

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The MSI G45 Gaming is a good motherboard.

All RAM is largely the same. The brands you listed are all good. You only need standard 1600 Cas 9 RAM for gaming. Try to grab lower CAS latency RAM if you're going to do any kind of editing.

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I found that these sticks are great on both fronts. Slightly higher mhz at a slightly lower cas than average and not that much more if not cheaper than some other brands.

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I appreciate all the input guys. I'll take it all into consideration. I'm thinking I've got to choose between the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H and the MSI Z87-G45. I like the look of the blue MSI Z87-G55 the most though, even though its lacking some features of the other two. Like I say, having more than one PCI-Express 3.0 slot is not important to me.