30 replies to this topic

[nokari]

As a few of you know, I have a 5 year old Dell XPS 630i (the sexy beast above) that just doesn't cut it anymore. At the lowest of the lowest settings I top out at 45fps on average standing still staring at a wall and dip into 15fps whenever I get near a fight. I find it pure luck that I can maintain 1980-2100 MMR dealing with this frustrating slug...
I've decided to pull the trigger and start rebuilding this thing with much newer and better parts that can take whatever Hawken can throw at it, and of course to get better performance on everything else I do.


This will be my first ever build and I'll try to keep updating as the parts roll in with pictures. The goal is to keep the total price around $1000 or less. Here is what I have planned so far:

Quote

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  
Memory:  Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:  EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B BRONZE 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($134.94 @ OutletPC)

Total: $888.89

I ordered the i5 and a wireless card today. Not listed is additional storage, because well... I work for WD, so I get a nice discount on any internal HDDs I want . Tips and other recommendations for parts are welcome!

[Zdragow]

I highly recommend that if you can afford it, then get a liquid CPU cooler. In my experience I've found that it keeps the CPU much cooler under heavy load and significantly helps with response times.

EDIT: Derps

Edited by Zdragow, March 17 2014 - 10:27 PM.

[BlueMelon987]

Zdragow, on March 17 2014 - 10:26 PM, said:

I highly recommend that if you can afford it, then get a liquid CPU cooler. In my experience I've found that it keeps the CPU much cooler under heavy load and significantly helps with response times.

EDIT: Derps

yep you need to cool it or it will overheat causing even larger problems

Edited by BlueMelon987, March 17 2014 - 10:30 PM.

[Zaxik]

I honestly would go for i7 rather than i5. And liquid cooling is IMHO pretty overrated, unless you plan on overclocking. In my experience, Scythe Ashura keeps my i7 very cool. Might be also the combination of other fans and a case that's made for great air flow (Zalman Z11 plus), but even by just looking at the cooler, one should be safe to assume that it's gonna cool the hell out of your CPU XD

[nokari]

Zaxik, on March 18 2014 - 01:36 AM, said:

I honestly would go for i7 rather than i5. And liquid cooling is IMHO pretty overrated, unless you plan on overclocking. In my experience, Scythe Ashura keeps my i7 very cool. Might be also the combination of other fans and a case that's made for great air flow (Zalman Z11 plus), but even by just looking at the cooler, one should be safe to assume that it's gonna cool the hell out of your CPU XD

The i5 is already bought and on it's way, so that's not changing. Plus, it's about $100 cheaper. I'm going for cheap performance, not top of the line. An i7 would be nice but I just don't need it that much and the i5 can be overclocked if I need more processing power.

[Wi2P]

Two computer-smart bestest friends of mine have plans to build/purchase their own components and devices too. I think it's a neat venture.

[hoghead]

I dont have a clue what I'm talking about.

[nokari]

hoghead, on March 18 2014 - 07:51 AM, said:

I dont have a clue what I'm talking about.

That's nuts. I assume there's some sort of illusion or water-tight sealing going on there, because I can't imagine a full tank of water would be good for any of that.

[Vdragon]

no, that's oil.:

[nokari]

UPDATE

Items received:

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz
Wireless N PCIe adapter

Items on their way:

MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 mobo
EVGA 750W ATX12V / EPS12V (psu)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Corsair Vengeance 8GB RAM
EVGA Superclocked GeForce GTX 760 2GB
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD (for OS)

These should all be arriving early next week. The only thing I still need to get is 1-2 HDDs. If I'm lucky I can pull some strings with my boss to get some 1TB WD Velociraptors.


Pics and lots of expected cursing to come!

Edited by nokari, March 21 2014 - 08:55 PM.

[SparkyJJC]

Damn, hope that goes well. I have no hope at building my own since I'm such a klutz, so I bought a pre-made overpriced laptop. It cuts, but I've already used up 600GB of it's 750GB on por-- I mean, games. I need another hard drive... After this thing dies I'll make my own.

Edited by SparkyJJC, March 21 2014 - 11:55 PM.

[XyXly]

So guys

R9 270

yay/nay

[XyXly]

nokari, on March 21 2014 - 08:45 PM, said:

UPDATE

Items received:

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz
Wireless N PCIe adapter

Items on their way:

MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 mobo
EVGA 750W ATX12V / EPS12V (psu)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Corsair Vengeance 8GB RAM
EVGA Superclocked GeForce GTX 760 2GB
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD (for OS)

These should all be arriving early next week. The only thing I still need to get is 1-2 HDDs. If I'm lucky I can pull some strings with my boss to get some 1TB WD Velociraptors.


Pics and lots of expected cursing to come!

I have a few questions as a builder myself:

1. Is this your first time_

2. Are you paying for the velociraptors_ Seagate's hybrid drives are much much more cost-effective and deliver a similar performance bracket. On youtube, see "Velociraptor vs Momentus XT"

3. Is the wireless absolutely nessecary_ Personally, I have one and I have to say, they're not very reliable on desktops. It works say, 80% of the time, but at half the speed of my ethernet. Eventually, I just decided to buy one of these: http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B001TH7GVO

I haven't looked back since. Of course, I still keep my wireless adapter in case of emergencies, mainly an adapter isn't recommended, because there's a huge chunk of metal in the way between the wireless card and the router - your PC.


Either way, your parts look compatible, and if you can, leave a laptop or something on while you build if you need help putting the parts together, I've put together several PCs before and I should be able to solve most if not all your problems if you have any.

Edited by XyXly, March 22 2014 - 12:24 AM.

[XyXly]

Zdragow, on March 17 2014 - 10:26 PM, said:

I highly recommend that if you can afford it, then get a liquid CPU cooler. In my experience I've found that it keeps the CPU much cooler under heavy load and significantly helps with response times.

EDIT: Derps

Do you mean actual liquid cooling, or self-contained liquid cooling_ Because liquid cooling cools the whole system, each component added to the cycle, which includes swapping our heatsinks on your GPU and can be very very expensive.

Self-contained CPU coolers such as the Corsair H50 or whatever they call them, they're not technically liquid cooling, and it will still not outperform some of the higher-end CPU air coolers such as the Noctua NH-D14s. You would however, get it to reduce the noise from the fans. That's really the only deciding factor on something like this.

nokari, on March 18 2014 - 10:34 AM, said:

hoghead, on March 18 2014 - 07:51 AM, said:

I dont have a clue what I'm talking about.

That's nuts. I assume there's some sort of illusion or water-tight sealing going on there, because I can't imagine a full tank of water would be good for any of that.

Mineral oil is non-conductive

Edited by XyXly, March 22 2014 - 12:32 AM.

[nokari]

XyXly, on March 22 2014 - 12:23 AM, said:

I have a few questions as a builder myself:

1. Is this your first time_

2. Are you paying for the velociraptors_ Seagate's hybrid drives are much much more cost-effective and deliver a similar performance bracket. On youtube, see "Velociraptor vs Momentus XT"

3. Is the wireless absolutely nessecary_ Personally, I have one and I have to say, they're not very reliable on desktops. It works say, 80% of the time, but at half the speed of my ethernet. Eventually, I just decided to buy one of these: http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B001TH7GVO

I haven't looked back since. Of course, I still keep my wireless adapter in case of emergencies, mainly an adapter isn't recommended, because there's a huge chunk of metal in the way between the wireless card and the router - your PC.


Either way, your parts look compatible, and if you can, leave a laptop or something on while you build if you need help putting the parts together, I've put together several PCs before and I should be able to solve most if not all your problems if you have any.

1. Yes and no. I've swapped RAM, HDDs, sound cards, and GPUs before, but not a whole system.

2. I work at WD, so I get a discount that's lower than anywhere else.

3. My router is in another room on the opposite side. It would be nice to have wired, but it will be a pain in the ass to run a cable. I have a USB wireless adapter right now, but I made sure to get one of the highest rated, fastest wifi cards I could find for my build. If it has problems I'll return it, but I at least have the USB as a backup.


Thanks for offering to help. I'm versed enough that I don't think there will be any problems, but it's good to have people around that can help if there are.

[Silverfire]

XyXly, on March 22 2014 - 12:14 AM, said:

So guys

R9 270

yay/nay

Unrelated to thread given the thread's specificity, but oh well.

I'd say it's a decent card, it'll handle Hawken at pretty good settings with decent FPS. Go for it, given its price range.

If you like Nvidia, you could consider the GTX 660, the prices are similar and the performance differences are really marginal imo. The only thing the R9 270 has over the 660 is that it's much newer.

[XyXly]

nokari, on March 22 2014 - 11:24 AM, said:

1. Yes and no. I've swapped RAM, HDDs, sound cards, and GPUs before, but not a whole system.

2. I work at WD, so I get a discount that's lower than anywhere else.

1. It's the wiring that will get you if anything, specifically the front panel

2. the price point for Hybrid drives are only about 1/3rd higher than the cost of a regular HDD of the same capacity, I don't know how much velociraptors cost but if it ends up being a lower price than the hybrid drives, go for it

[nokari]

XyXly, on March 23 2014 - 06:55 PM, said:

nokari, on March 22 2014 - 11:24 AM, said:

1. Yes and no. I've swapped RAM, HDDs, sound cards, and GPUs before, but not a whole system.

2. I work at WD, so I get a discount that's lower than anywhere else.

1. It's the wiring that will get you if anything, specifically the front panel

2. the price point for Hybrid drives are only about 1/3rd higher than the cost of a regular HDD of the same capacity, I don't know how much velociraptors cost but if it ends up being a lower price than the hybrid drives, go for it

1. I should be okay (crosses fingers). I'm keeping the master I/O board in place with all the other front bits, so it should be a simple swap of connections.

2. It's roughly the same price between a retail 1TB Velociraptor and my discount on a 1TB Black² SSD/HDD hybrid. Performance-wise the raptor appears as good as most SSDs. I just need to find out if I can get a discount on the raptor. I've already spent $1k, so I want to keep my costs as low as possible.

[Phantasmo]

nokari, on March 23 2014 - 07:05 PM, said:

XyXly, on March 23 2014 - 06:55 PM, said:

nokari, on March 22 2014 - 11:24 AM, said:

1. Yes and no. I've swapped RAM, HDDs, sound cards, and GPUs before, but not a whole system.

2. I work at WD, so I get a discount that's lower than anywhere else.

1. It's the wiring that will get you if anything, specifically the front panel

2. the price point for Hybrid drives are only about 1/3rd higher than the cost of a regular HDD of the same capacity, I don't know how much velociraptors cost but if it ends up being a lower price than the hybrid drives, go for it

1. I should be okay (crosses fingers). I'm keeping the master I/O board in place with all the other front bits, so it should be a simple swap of connections.

2. It's roughly the same price between a retail 1TB Velociraptor and my discount on a 1TB Black² SSD/HDD hybrid. Performance-wise the raptor appears as good as most SSDs. I just need to find out if I can get a discount on the raptor. I've already spent $1k, so I want to keep my costs as low as possible.

The raptor's performance is not even close to an SSD. Seriously.
The random access time just kills any HDD vs an SSD.

Do you care about the noise_ SSD's are silent. The Velociraptor, well... it's a dinosaur you know...

Edited by Phantasmo, March 24 2014 - 03:33 AM.

[XyXly]

Phantasmo, on March 24 2014 - 03:32 AM, said:

The raptor's performance is not even close to an SSD. Seriously.
The random access time just kills any HDD vs an SSD.

Uhm, no, I was talking about Hybrid drives, not SSDs, he's already getting an SSD for the OS and some spare velociraptors for storage. I was suggesting Hybrid drives (half-SSD half-HDD) that have a similar performance, that are usually cheaper than a velociraptor.

Also, SSDs might be flash memory, but it's still nowhere near as fast as RAM. If you have an insane amount of RAM, e.g 32GB, 64GB, you can turn some of that into a RAMDisk. This turns your RAM into storage, and anything accessed it would be usually around 6 times faster than your average SSD on DDR3 memory.

Edited by XyXly, March 24 2014 - 12:00 PM.