Designed by BuF - MÆST PC MkIII

[MÆST]

This is a tradition now, so I've got to come to BuF for input on my next PC build.
Here's the link from 7 years ago.

Here's my current hardware:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83Ghz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus P5QProTurbo ATX LGA775 Motherboard
Memory: OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 Memory
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 4870 1GB Video Card
Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 OEM (64-bit)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill N900PCE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter
Monitor: Samsung B2240W 22.0" Monitor
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-9000V2 BR Wired Standard Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX518 Wired Optical Mouse
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-29 17:07 EST-0500

A few parts that'd are newer (or timeless) and I'd like to reuse.
Case, SSD, HDDs, monitor, keyboard, optical drive, network adapter, OS.
I'm strongly considering reusing the mouse and PSU. I would have to make sure 550W PSU is good enough for new components. I'll also take recommendations for a FPS mouse replacement similar to the Logitech MX518 I have.

I've got $335 burning a hole in my pocket right now. I'd like to pick up something (the GPU maybe) on Cyber Monday and plug it into my current setup and see how it does. I'll be able to round out another $365 or so by by Christmas.

Decisions that have to be made are ATI or nVidia GPU. I've always like ATI GPU's but I'm worried the higher Radeon power consumption might make my 550W Seasonic PSU underpowered. I also don't know if my old PSU will have connectivity issues with modern components. Will also have to decide whether to go latest and greatest Intel Skylake with DDR4 or older/discounted Haswell with DDR3 or 4 memory.

Basically I'm looking for the current price to performance sweet spot for a GPU, CPU, motherboard, RAM and CPU cooler.

 

[Rip]

Hey Maest.

I'd check out Tom's Hardware - do a search for 'Tom's Hardware GPU best bang for buck', etc - they have monthly articles on what they rate the best value for specific components and I've always found them spot on.

Few things I go by: Get a roomy case with thumb screws etc and no parts that break off like a stupid door - it's worth it. Don't spend much money at all on a CPU cooler. If you don't plan on overclocking stock CPU coolers work fine with some added thermal paste. In RAM good DDR3 1600 is the best bang for your buck - higher numbers help little, cost lot. Ripsaws FTW. Unless you're buying beast components you don't need a super strong PSU.... go with 750-900. [edit] I don't have any beasts in my case but 700 was struggling and I had to go up to 750. I can't see you reusing your 550... 16GB RAM is plenty, and 8 okay to start off with. A good I5 over an I7 can save you $. Pick a popular model so games will be optimized for it. For ATI vs nVidia the latter is definitely more dependable though the former will save you some money usually but depends on the price range. A high quality mobo can be a great investment. Japan-made caps, plenty of SATA slots, more than you think you'll need, etc. Oh yeah, make sure the graphics card you pick will fit in your case...... they make them like it's a dick measuring contest these days. Your SSD is nice, but I would get another matching HD to your larger one and sync them for backup.

 

[JohnDoe641]

It really depends on what you're going for and what your average daily use is. Building a rig for rendering 3d images and video editing will be a completely different build than one that's aimed at gaming.

 

[MÆST]

JohnDoe --- definitely a gaming oriented build.

Rip ---

My takeaways are going with a good i5 over a i7, skipping overpaying for new Skylake CPU's with DDR4 memory. So a i5 4690K. I'll probably start with 8gb 1600 speed ripsaw or something similar. Definitely I agree with not going cheap on mobo or and PSU.

The 2TB harddrive is actually already my backup. I'm fitting everything on the SSD and 640gb HDD right now. I'll just make sure I'm backing up then replace the 640gb HDD if/when it finally crashes or I decide to make a HTPC or something.

I'm leaning nVidia GTX970 but did not find any great cyber Monday deals on it. It seems to by the unreal engine's favorite GPU manufacturer. Other choice would be R9 390 which gets good reviews and prices but does require a beefier PSU.

I'm quite happy with my case and sheet metal does not go obsolete. The one negative is the front panel USB is not 3.0. Antec sells a 900 v2 with USB 3.0 but the replacement panel is out of stock.

My biggest outstanding question is if I can make the PSU work. The PSU before the Seasonic went bad so I learned not to skimp on PSU. This Seasonic was quality when I bought it. Once I figure out all my components I'll be able to determine the wattage draw, and see if 550W is enough, but what I don't know is whether the cables and rails are still adequate for modern mobos/GPUs etc.

Current List. Need more mobo research.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: *MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: *Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($289.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For $0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 OEM (64-bit) (Purchased For $0.00)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill N900PCE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (Purchased For $0.00)
Monitor: Samsung B2240W 22.0" Monitor (Purchased For $0.00)
Keyboard: Rosewill Apollo RK-9100xBRE Wired Gaming Keyboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Mouse: Logitech MX518 Wired Optical Mouse (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $618.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-01 01:44 EST-0500

 

[MÆST]

I got a newegg premier membership and a $100 giftcard for $90 via a groupon. I tested it out and picked up Cooler Master CPU Cooler and some RipJaws ram.

I also learned that Rip was right, I will have to get a new PSU since modern GPU's require 8-pin PCI-e power connectors and mine has 6-pin. Then a few minutes ago newegg had this PSU beast for $80 AR and discount code.

Updated part list is here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DtBR7P

Just waiting on a good R9 390 or GTX 970 price. And mobo/cpu of course.

 

[MÆST]

One more piece ordered tonight.
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card $259.99

That leaves just the CPU and mobo for the complete build.

I know I already picked up the PSU and RAM, but this GPU I ended up getting only requires 2 6-pin power connections so I might swap out my old Radeon 4870 right away, give my ole CPU/mobo/RAM a little OC love and see if I can stretch these parts out a little longer.

 

[JohnDoe641]

If you're keeping your current CPU/Mobo for a while longer, the 970 is going to help you out quite a bit with games that are GPU heavy, but it's only going to make more than a 10% difference with games that rely on more CPU and it may actually hurt your performance in some games since the Q9550 is a major bottleneck for such a fast card and you'll run into buffering issues while the card waits for your CPU to do its thing.

I did something similar with my old setup. I didn't have the money to outright rebuild my computer so I waited for sales and bought ram that sat in my room for a year, replaced my 560ti with a 970 and when I finally had the money, I ordered the CPU/Ram/Mobo. It took 16 months but it was finally done and I love my new setup.

 

[MÆST]

All done. Things have started to arrive and I pulled the trigger on the CPU and mobo. Will have to pick them up at a Microcenter in St Louis over Christmas though.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $179.99)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (Purchased For $19.99)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Purchased For $99.99)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $29.99)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (Purchased For $259.99)
Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $79.99)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For $0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 OEM (64-bit) (Purchased For $0.00)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill N900PCE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (Purchased For $0.00)
Monitor: Samsung B2240W 22.0" Monitor (Purchased For $0.00)
Keyboard: Rosewill Apollo RK-9100xBRE Wired Gaming Keyboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Mouse: Logitech MX518 Wired Optical Mouse (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $669.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-08 23:55 EST-0500

$670 all said and done is not too bad for this setup making use of old components and searching for deals I don't think. Well not all said and done. That assumes all the mail in rebates go through and my flight to St Louis for Christmas to pick up the CPU and mobo at a Microcenter goes to plan.

 

[oskeno]

Sorry that I'm late. All looks good. For future reference

http://www.logicalincrements.com/#!/