A couple of questions for my upcoming desktop (?)

Hello Guru3D members

Well, I'm planning to buy a new whole desktop and I've asked for these parts:

RAM: - HyperX 16GB 2400MHz DDR3 - Changed to HyperX 8GB 2400MHz Predator Beast. (Dual channels - 2x4)

CPU: - i5-4670k - Changed to the i5-4690K.

HDD: - 1TB WD BLACK

SSD: - Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB - Changed to the Crucial MX100 256GB (Yeey extra 6GB. )

Videocard: - MSI GTX 970 4G

Motherboard: - Asus MB H97M-PLUS - Changed to Z97.

Case: - OBSIDIAN 450D case Corsair

OS: - Windows 8.1

PSU: CX 500W Corsair Bronze+ certified (can change) - Changed to 600W


Total: €1991.00 (Included with Keyboard/Monitor/VAT/...) - TOTAL price changed = €1835.00 (Thanks guys! )
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Now my questions are:

Do you think a 500W PSU is enough for this build, should I go higher? (I will not upgrade any other parts further, (atleast not now)!)

If I were to overclock, do I need a higher PSU Watt? (Refers to the question above)

Do you think this will be enough for the games that are upcoming now?

Any more suggestions for me, things I should take caution with?

This is my first desktop ever in my whole life, I've used only laptops untill this moment, so any suggestions/advice to help me to prevent issues in the future?

(Maybe other parts that are better and cost the same?)

Now is the moment, thanks.
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Thanks for reading and I hope I'll get some answers soon.

If you need any more information, don't be afraid to ask me.


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PS: I'm not sure if I posted this in the right section, so yeah if it's wrongly placed, I'm sorry for that.

 

H97 is not the best for overclocking, get a z97 board instead.
500w power should be enough, but i would go for a tad more.
Other than that it should be ok.

 

Z97 > H97 particularly since you have chosen a K series CPU.

I believe there are better SSDs out there than the 840 EVO now at the same price point if not less. Take a look at Crucial's MX100, for example. 840 EVO uses TLC NAND. I believe the MX100 uses MLC NAND.

Get some headroom in the PSU, it's better. 500W will be enough for the parts you have chosen, though.

You don't need 16GB of RAM for gaming. Unless you need 16GB for more than gaming, going with a cheaper 8GB kit will save you enough to scale for the 4790K instead. At the very least, if you're going with an i5, go with the 4690K over the 4670K.

The rest seems cool. What keyboard, mouse, sound, monitor are you getting?

 

Like others have said, go with a z97 board. Personally I would go with a tad higher PSU between 650-700.

Also I don't think such expensive RAM is necessary. You could save money by going with a slightly slower set like 2133 or even 1866 and would hardly notice a difference at all. Could use that extra money to upgrade to an i7

 

Thanks guys really much for your help!

So if I'm correct I should go for a Z97 MoBo and change my PSU to 600-700?

Also, I'm changing from the Samsung to the Crucial MX100 256GB as I see this has more benefits and is a bit cheaper then the Samsung but with the same speed.

But yeah it could be I can't get some parts because it isn't redistributed in Belgium, that's why I'm having some problems in choosing some parts.

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I see that 16GB isn't that necessary and yes I think I'm going lower to 8GB because it is a nice price drop and I think I'll go for the i7-4790k then.

So these are the changes currently:

H97 to Z97

PSU 500W to 600-700W

Samsung SSD 840 EVO to Crucial MX100 256GB

16GB to 8GB (for a change in the CPU)

i5-4670K to a i5-4690k/i7-4790k

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Now for the Keyboard/... these are them:

Razer Black Widow Chroma (Stealth) (MX brown's), (I couldn't get a K70 Corsair here in Belgium due to it's QWERTY and not being available in the Belgium zone.)

Razer Deathadder 2013 Edition. (4TH GEN) (I have the beast already. )

The monitor: http://www.usa.philips.com/c-p/242G5DJEB_27/brilliance-lcd-monitor-with-smartimage-game

Philips 144hz with 1MS (gray to gray). (Didn't get any chance for the ASUS series, but this monitor looks really awesome too! )

The sound I'm not sure of, maybe some speakers or probably a headset. (I'll look at this in the shop).

So I think I know everything now, if you have any more suggestions feel free to tell them.

Also I have one last question, is 8GB RAM really enough for gaming and webbrowsing together?

Thanks again friends and see you later!

 

My suggestion is a better PSU. 500W is really the minimum you should have and Corsair CX series aren't the greatest.


8GB is enough RAM unless you play BF4 without a pagefile in which case you'll need 16GB. You can always start with 8GB then add more later if you need it.
I would still go 2400mhz though because if you do add more later you might be thankful, especially if you intend to keep this rig for a very long time.

If you plan on upgrading again soon then I guess it depends on the cost of RAM and what u can afford right now.

 

Thanks for your suggestion, Pill.

Yes, I changed the PSU to a 600W and the reason why I didn't pick a 750W is because I don't want to go over my budget, I want to stay under €2000.00 because over it would be a bit too much for me.

About the RAM, I've changed to the HyperX 8GB RAM 2400MHz Predator Beast (2x4 because I've heard that dual-channels is faster and I don't think I'll ever go 32GB RAM anyways. )

I can upgrade it later, yes you are right about that.

And yeah about BF4, that's another story, haha.

I also changed my MoBo to the Z97 and I picked the i5-4690K because the i7-4790K was a bit too much for me in price range, I know it seems a bit 'wierd' but I really don't want to go over €2000.00.

I want to thank all of you again with all my heart for helping me with my questions because you guys made the prices go down by alot. =)

It went from €1991.00 to €1835.00 and you see, if you never ask you will never know anything more about it.

Thanks again to all of you and thanks Pill, goodluck guys!

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PS: For anyone that wants to know, I changed my Keyboard to The Corsair Vengeance K70, it seemed that it was available here and it is in AZERTY (BE)!

It's hard to find MX brown's here in Azerty (BE), so I mean, why not try a MX Red.

 

All good, I have the exact same RAM installed using these timings if it helps. You may be able to do better.... Btw 1.55v-1.6v is plenty, 1.65v = overkill.

 

Thanks for these timings!

Yeah I've seen a video about that the voltage is listed on the RAM sticks (also the CL numbers, etc), should I just put these numbers that are listed on the RAM stick manually in the BIOS?

I'm not really a expert in this, but I'm trying my best to understand.

PS: Is it allowed to go beyond the listed timings? So for example: If it says 11-12-13-14-30 on your stick, to go like 9-9-10-12-24? I don't want to bork my sticks but yeah just a question.

It's the first time I can finally overclock anything, so yeah it's a bit new for me, sorry for that.

 

You don't have to, the XMP profile can be used if you don't want to mess with the timings, but to squeeze every last bit of performance from the ram it's better to set them manually.

But yes just enter the numbers in the bios.

 

Ahh I see, thanks Pill.

Should I OC my CPU too? Most people don't do it when they first get the CPU's but I want to be sure that I can use them as what they are made for.

I'm not sure what to OC but yeah if you know something more you can always share it if you'd like.

Thanks again.

 

Buying a K series and not overclocking it is like buying a Ferrari and never driving over the speed limit, it's a waste of money. lol
You'll need better cooling though and I just noticed there isn't an aftermarket cooler on your list.

For OC advice you're better to ask one of the Intel guys. Only Intel CPU I've overclocked in the last 10years was a mates 920. These days it's pretty easy on any platform...like falling off a log.

 

Haha, yeah just my thoughts.

The reason why I didn't get one was because, well yeah it's a bit more expensive and I'll likely get one soon enough, so I guess I'll stick with 4.0Ghz or something.

And ok, will do, thanks!

If I have any more questions, I'll ask them here. =)

You've been a big help Pill.

 

That's OK.
Fwiw the CM Hyper 212 Evo is really good value, others like Noctua are better but more expensive... Spending 100's of $$$ isn't a necessity unless you aim for ~5Ghz.

Good luck.

 

I see, that cooler is fairly cheap, it might even be I'm going to get that one, but we'll see.

Thanks again for the suggestions, greatly appreciated.

Now it's all about having patience.

Have fun too, Pill.

 

That rig is looking good. If I could make one suggestion, it would be to takes Pill's advice and get the CM Hyper 212 Evo. Not really worth the time fooling around with the stock cooler Intel includes with the chip and it's a bit easier to install the cooler before everything is together.

 

Thanks, yeah I understand.

If I have the chance I will definitely get it.

Thanks again guys.

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If someone wants to suggest something else, feel free too.

 

Well, I got some more questions:

My first question, I don't really know what sound system I should get.

I believe that the monitor I'm getting has sound speakers integrated in the monitor itself, but I've heard that those configurations are not really nice to hear, well I'm not sure about it because I don't have the monitor myself but my question is if I need a seperate soundcard, is it for sound enhancing or just for getting sound itself?

I see almost everyone here has like those different soundcards, are they really needed?

Can't I just use the advantage of the HDMI-port and use the sound of the monitor?

(Can you get sound with Dual-link DVI/DP also? I can't reach 144hz without these cables on the monitor.)

I've also heard that a headset is sooo much better, but I don't really like to put a headset on my ears all day, I like to have a more surround-build, like speakers or even a surround set-up like in the laptop I currently have.

Does someone know if integrated monitor audio is the same as like in a laptop?

Sorry for all these questions, but it makes me doubt about what's the best currently for the average builders.

 

The speakers in your monitor are going to be crap. Grab a cheap 2.1 speaker set from Logitech

 

I understand, thanks.

Does Dual-link DVI/DP provide audio aswell as a HDMI?

I'm asking this just incase I won't be able to buy a speaker set right away.