The 'Build Me A PC' Thread

[apocrypha]

Cool, thanks. i5-4460 looks like a good price/performance point, that sound reasonable?

[Trippy]

I'm thinking about building a small home server to a) replace the old NAS that's died and b) run game servers occasionally (ARMA3, Unreal Tournament, Minecraft, etc.).  I had a look at some HP ProLiants but they seemed kinda expensive for the spec.

I'm currently thinking I want a decent-ish processor (i.e. not a Celeron) and at least 4Gb RAM, preferably more, to allow modded game servers with large maps etc. It's very unlikely that there'll ever be more than 3-4 people playing on it at any one time.

Does this look like a reasonable set of components for such a system? Is there anything important missing? I don't need HDD's, got two spare SATA 1Tb drives here waiting to be used, and it'll be a headless build.

Intel Core i3-4150 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
MSI H81M-P33 V2 Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Aerocool Qs-102 Micro-ATX Case

That's coming out at £342 inc.VAT, which is over £250 cheaper than a similarly-specced HP box.

That's not a good case if you are really trying to build a NAS. Seems more like you are trying to build a psudeo-HTPC.

[apocrypha]

Do you have any suggestions for a better case Trippy? It was a kind of random pick, it was cheap and had a small desk footprint!

[Trippy]

How many drives do you want to fit inside?

[apocrypha]

Three - one SSD and 2 HDDs.

[Trippy]

That case can fit those 3 drives if you don't need a 5.25" optical disk drive. However that case doesn't fit regular ATX power supplies, only the SFX-sized ones.

[apocrypha]

I don't need an optical drive. The PSU thing is more of a problem though.

Cheers for the heads-up, I'll find an alternative

[Jimbo]

Update!

The system is built. We ended up re-using a couple of things and adding all the new parts and it is rocking!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Hbq3jX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Hbq3jX/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($145.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($145.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($360.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 500GB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($126.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred ATX Full Tower Case  (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W 80+ Silver Certified ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $0.00)
Optical Drive: LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $1424.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-19 21:22 EST-0500

Also got a front plate for the case that has the USB 3.0, since my Antec is older and only had 2 USB on the front. The cooler is massive! Even with a big case like mine it barely fit. Oh the price as about 100-200 cheaper as I got some of it bundled and on sale. And we did 2 computers for about $1400 a piece (not bad $3000 or less for the two).

[Chimpy]

Why would you buy a 10k 500GB drive for a desktop with an SSD? For that price you could get a multiple TB 7200 rpm drive and your performance for the kind of stuff you would put on a platter drive with an SSD that large (videos in most cases) would not be much different as the I/O are mostly sequential on those types of files.

[Jimbo]

It was on sale for like $99 with my membership. So like $64 for a 1 TB 7200 black drive or $40 more for the Velico, I've had Velicoraptors for a long time, so I'm stuck on them (yeah I know I don't need to be).
Plus we stuck in the old 300mb 10k Velico and the new one so plenty of back up space for pictures and videos now.

The SSD is nice, I guess I should have just gotten 2 SSD eventually, or wait for the price on the 1 TB SSD by Samsung to drop down.

[Brolan]

My son is looking for a gaming rig to run games like Arma 3 at the highest settings.  Possible with a $1500 budget?

[Chimpy]

My son is looking for a gaming rig to run games like Arma 3 at the highest settings.  Possible with a $1500 budget?

Does that $1500 include a monitor?

[Trippy]

My son is looking for a gaming rig to run games like Arma 3 at the highest settings.  Possible with a $1500 budget?

Not easily. Main issue is you'll need to spend around $570 in GPU power -- e.g. a single GTX 980 or something like dual GTX 660 TIs.

http://www.techspot.com/review/712-arma-3-benchmarks/page4.html

$570 GPU(s)
$230 CPU (e.g. i5-4690K)
$200 Motherboard
$150 16 GB RAM
$100 Windows 8.1 OEM
$100 Power supply
$100 Case
------------------------------
$1450 with no drives or monitor

[Brolan]

He has a dual monitor setup he will be moving to his new computer.  I also have an old optical drive and a WD 2TB disk drive I bought last summer but never used.

Here is the list we have so far.  Just need a PS.  Please take a look and shoot holes in it as appropriate.

Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, come with Five Fans, window side panel, top HDD dock - Retail
Item #: N82E16811147107
$79.99

GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128709
$139.99

Patriot 8GB(2x4GB) Viper III DDR3 1866MHz (PC3 15000) CL9 Desktop Memory With Red Gaming Heatsink
Item #:  PV38G186C9KRD
$87.00

ASUS STRIX-GTX980-DC2OC-4GD5 GeForce GTX 980 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814121905
$569.99

Intel Core i5-4690K Devil's Canyon Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I54690K
Item #: N82E16819117372
$239.99

SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA 6Gb/s 1x nm Samsung Toggle DDR 2.0 3-Bit MLC NAND Flash Memory (400Mbps) Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820147248
$129.99

[Viin]

Looks good to me. In prep for my own mobo+CPU upgrade in a couple of months, I decided to ditch my old Thermaltake case and get something with better cable management. Ended up with the Corsair Carbide 400R; very similar to the case above except the buttons/USB ports are on the front rather than on top. Now that I have a ton of cables routed behind the mobo tray, I appreciate the "flared" case panels as it provides a lot more room for those bulky cables. Added two 140mm fans, but haven't tried any thermal tests on it yet - can't be worse than my last case though!

Edit to add: I have a Corsair PSU too, the TX750. Seems to work fine, just make sure whatever you get has the right plugs for your video card.

[Trippy]

Here is the list we have so far.  Just need a PS.  Please take a look and shoot holes in it as appropriate.

If he never plans on adding a 2nd video card something like the Seasonic-built Antec HCG-620M would work fine.

In SLI mode things get a bit tricky cause there's conflicting info out there about the power requirements for the card. NVIDIA says the GTX 980 needs 165 watts which is 165W / 12V = 13.75A on the 12V line. Real world testing puts the power consumption more at 280W or 23.3A under sustained load and to make things even more confusing most GTX 980 card makers recommend +12V@42A for a single GTX 980. The HCG-620M outputs +12V@48A so it covers the highest requirement for a single card but probably wouldn't work for SLI.

This site has a nice database of power supply specs including the manufacturers:

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/PSUReviewDatabase.html

Seasonic is the manufacturer that's generally considered the best for consumer-grade power supplies and the one I use for my PCs (my main gaming rig has a Seasonic-built Corsair AX750). Delta makes very high quality server-grade power supplies but they make a few consumer-grade ones as well. Super Flower has a good reputation as well, though not as good as Seasonic's.

[Brolan]

That PS looks good, I added it to the list.

[Brolan]

What are your thoughts on cooling the cpu?  I'm looking to OC it just a little bit.  I'm leary of doing liquid cooling; I've never done it before and the thought of mixing water and electricity does not seem right.

How about a high end conventional heatsink and fan?  Got any suggestions?

[Trippy]

I use Noctua heatsinks and fans but they are pricey. If your case is large enough and you can afford it I would recommend something like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

Other options:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

[Nebu]

Looking to buy a new laptop for work, but would like something I can play games on the road with as well.  Do you think an Nvidia 860M will be sufficient or should I spend more?  I don't mind having setting on medium for most MMO's/etc

[Trippy]

The 860M would work. The 870M or 970M would be better.

[Cyrrex]

Yeah, I think there are leaps and bounds of improvement to be had if you can find a 970m.  Of course, you are going to pay a pretty penny for it.  Will probably be good for years, however.

[MahrinSkel]

The 870M is good for all current games (my MSI has one).  The 970M is awesome, giving some fairly high end desktop cards a run for their money (about 50% more performance than the 870), but you can expect to pay about a $400-500 premium for that (and it will generally only come in high-end rigs to begin with). So far, I have a hard time seeing much of a framerate hit on a 1080P display even at maxed out settings, but in a few years I'll probably be turning the graphics down a few notches.

If you can afford the premium for a 970M and you want to be sure of running games with all the bells and whistles turned on for the next few years, then go ahead. It wasn't even an option when I was looking 6 months ago, but I probably couldn't have made my budget stretch, anyway.  With the ultra-wide monitor I'm about to buy (33% more pixels than 1080P) I might hit the curve a little sooner, and of course the Ultra-HD 4K monitors can make even high-end desktops whimper, but for playing on the road you're presumably going to be limited to the built-in monitor.

--Dave

EDIT: The 860M isn't enough cheaper than the 870M to consider at this point, IMO. You're going down about the same relative performance level as the difference between 870 and 970, and only saving $100 or so.

[Jimbo]

I was looking at this, as I need a new laptop next year for school/work, a power search on Newegg came up with ASUS ROG, MSI and Gigabyte. Sager updated there website too.

Oh and after having this SSD, I'm amazed!

The decent laptops go from $1500 to $3000 (US dollars). I could always look on ebay and hope to find something used that is in the same ball park of performance. Then I remember I'm saving for a new vehicle eventually...

[Nebu]

The decent laptops go from $1500 to $3000 (US dollars). I could always look on ebay and hope to find something used that is in the same ball park of performance. Then I remember I'm saving for a new vehicle eventually...

That's the rub for me.  I can get a decent Lenovo or ASUS with an 860 for ~$900.  If I want an 870, I have to pay near $1500.  I'm not sure it's really worth the extra money. 

[Hawkbit]

I build desktop PCs expecting the graphics card to hold up and be relevant for 3 years and the machine to have a 5 year lifespan, though I've built a few that were still somewhat relevant 7+ years after build. 

I tend to buy $500-$900 notebooks expecting a 2-3 year lifespan, none have lasted longer than that unless I spent $2500+.  My personal opinion on gaming notebooks is don't, but if you do, go big.  Spend the $3k on a solid machine and anticipate 3 years from it.

Anything in the middle-range on notebooks has been a pain in the ass, in my experience.    Expect for MacBooks, they're solid in the $1500 range.

[MahrinSkel]

I've been pretty happy with my MSI, their Dominator series are equivalent to the RoG Asus models, but roughly 20% cheaper. They have several 870 versions that are around $1100-1200. I put an SSD in mine myself, and I'll probably add another 16gb of RAM in a few months. The only complaint I've had is that the HDMI output sucks (tearing when playing video), but it also has VGA and DisplayPort, which work fine.

It would have cost roughly $1800-2000 for the Asus or Lenovo that is equivalent to mine ($1300 after the SSD), so I figured it was worth taking the flyer on MSI.

--Dave

[Brolan]

I got a little warning for people who use the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming motherboard I used in my son's build.  Or any motherboard that uses the Killer e2200 NIC.

The Killer driver appears to have a nasty memory leak.  Doing a lot of downloading allocates all your memory to the point you can't do anything but reboot. 

You can change the driver to one used by a similar NIC by using the link below:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/guide-turn-your-killer-e2200-nic-into-qualcomm-athero-ar8161.198899/

[MahrinSkel]

Is it just me, or is every image in that post broken? I can probably figure it out from the text, I think (mine does have the Killer e2200), but the images would help.

--Dave

Edit: Haven't had a memory or system stability problem, but occasionally my WiFi connection locks up and I have to disable/enable the NIC (which forces a driver reload) to get it working again.

[Trippy]

It's just you. I can see them even with NoScript and ABP running on Firefox.

[MahrinSkel]

Probably just my tablet, then.

--Dave

[Pezzle]

PC audio!

Looking to finally dump some bad speakers and get something nice for the PC room.  

I can afford to spend a little on this project, but do not want to go bonkers on something like the KEF X300A

I was considering AudioEngine A2+ or the M-Audio AV 40, I could splash out for the AudioEngine A5+ but not sure it is worth the cash?  

The room is not very large, maybe 12' x 14' .  I tend to be at least 5-6 feet away from my current crappy speakers.  Primary function of these is music.  Am I overthinking this?   Any advice out there?

[Hawkbit]

I'm not an audiophile, but I'm very happy with my AV40s.  I don't do the surround sound stuff, just using it for basic desk stuff.  I had to turn the bass boost off because it rattles my desk a bit much. 

Actually, they're so good I never even think about them. 

[Trippy]

I love my AV 40s. I love them so much that when some marketing fucktard at M-Audio decided it would be good idea to come out with a crappier version of the AV 40s with 15 watts per channel instead of 20 and no bass boost switch and call them the "AV 40 Mk II" implying it was a new and improved version of the original I went out and bought another pair of my version just so I would have a replacement in case mine broke. M-Audio quietly dropped the "Mk II" moniker and raised the rated power back to 20 watts per channel (but still left off the bass boost switch) when people started complaining about the changes[1]. They also raised the price back up (the Mk II was cheaper with a ~$120 street price if I remember correctly).

Though I didn't audition any of the active studio monitors I was researching at the time in person I could not find anything comparable in sound quality reputation to those speakers at the $150 / 40 watt range[2]. The only thing I don't like about them is the power switch is on the back and with the way I had them setup[3] it was too much work for my lazy ass to turn them off when not in use.

I've heard good things about the Audioengines however they don't have front mounted volume controls nor a headphone jack so that rules them out for my purposes.

There are other active studio monitors that compete with the AV 40s (similar 40 watts/4" woofer design) that typically have more features and/or are cheaper though none of the ones I researched seemed to have as good a reputation in terms of sound quality. Some examples:

Samson MediaOne 4a Active Studio Monitors

Behringer Digital Monitor Speakers MS40

There are lots of options for active studio monitors if you are willing to spend more than ~$150. There are the Audioengines you mentioned and also the M-Audio BX5, KRK Rokit 5, and PreSonus Eris E5, all with 5" woofers for around $300 a pair.

One thing to know about studio monitors is that they are designed to be very directional and you typically need to have them at or near ear level and pointing towards you to get the best quality sound. I had my AV 40s on speaker stands because of that. If you put them flat on your desk they might not sound so good.


[1] You can see the bass boost switch that's missing on the current gen on this listing in this picture. You can see how the current version does not have the bass boost in this picture. Note that there's controversy that the older version I have even has a 40 watt amplifier with some people who have opened up the speaker claiming it only has a 30 watt amplifier and M-Audio was actually just being more honest when they listed the Mk II with a 30 watt amplifier. It's unclear if the current version is really 30 watt or 40 watt.

[2] Amazon's 3rd party seller price on the AV 40s is too high right now -- they should be $150; if you want them get them from somewhere else.

[3] I'm actually not using them right now cause I moved temporarily and there isn't as much room for them with the speaker stands.
 

[Chimpy]

I have Alesis M1 Active 320 USB studio monitors for my PC speakers that I bought at Guitar Center a few years ago when I was looking at possibly getting AV30 or AV40s. They sound better than the AV30, and cost $80.

They don't  sound as good as my M-Audio BX-5 monitors but they cost 1/4 the price.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Item/Default.aspx?itemno=1384420