Building a new gaming rig - any thoughts?

[Vanaraud]

As I pointed out in Stormslash´s post, there´s no need to shell out extra $$$ for K-CPU with a motherboard equipped with a B\H-chipset. Either go with a non-K CPU and a motherboard with a B\H-chipset OR a i5\i7 K-version with a mobo with a Z-chipset.

 

Also if I´m not mistaken B\H-chipsets don´t allow you to use more than 2400MHz on RAM, they´d just default to lower speeds. Though DDR4 RAMs running on 2400Mhz with a timing of CL16 is ancient technology, CL14 would be better by todays standards: https://www.amazon.de/Corsair-CMK8GX4M1A2400C14-Vengeance-2400Mhz-Performance/dp/B00UVN2C8O/ref=sr_1_11?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1494253572&sr=1-11&keywords=ddr4+8gb+2400

 

GTX 1050Ti shouldn´t draw more than 100w: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_1050_Ti_G1_Gaming/27.html

add for mobo with parts 100W+ CPU 100W: the power consumption from wall shouldn´t go higher than 300W.

 

I have a AMD FURY X rated at ~300W(TBP 275 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9390/the-amd-radeon-r9-fury-x-review/5), won´t draw more than 405W from wall: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9390/the-amd-radeon-r9-fury-x-review/25. And that´s what PC draws from wall, the power that PSU delivers to my logic is about 85% lower.

 

Right now it´s more reasonable to go with Kaby Lake, as they have: "Improved graphics core: full hardware fixed function HEVC/VP9 (including 4K@60fps/10bit) decoding;^[22] improved hardware HEVC encoding; full hardware fixed function VP9 8bit encoding; higher GPU clock speeds for select CPUs" and Optane memory support: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaby_Lake

[Vanaraud]

About the case: http://www.ebuyer.com/758962-cit-hero-mid-tower-matx-case-with-1-x-12cm-front-blue-cscitherobluewindow

The PSU sits at the top of the case, it´s an ancient tradition also. Nowadays PSU-s pull in cool air from the floor(with a dust filter installed in front) and run more quietly and last longer as PSU doesn´t cycle through the hot air coming from inside the case. Also I´m not sure about the GPU clearance, as the max clearance stated in case specs is usually with a HDD rack installed.

Also check the CPU cooler clearance, the height of the most popular CPU cooler Evo 212  is ~160CM.

 

I´ve noticed Zalman Z-series cases, not the best in the market but enough for the money. Also Corsair Carbide series, though they will have trouble fitting CPU coolers.

[Chuckun]

Thanks vanaraud, some really useful input! And I had no idea about bottom fitted CPUs.. What a great idea!

 

I will review everything you've linked etc when I'm on my laptop (on my phone right now) but for now, thank you!

[Entanglement]

Hey your Mobo is too expensive for the rig, i would go with 60 $ Mobo because you don't need a Z mobo for overclocking or SLA or Crossfire support, and that will give you the money to replace that 1050 ti with an RX 470 

[Chuckun]

@Entanglement

Thanks for this, but sadly this is the cheapest compatible Mobo available as far as I can see.  You guys may have more options for budget boards but here £80 is cheap for a 200 series mobo...  And it's not Z it's only B.. Cheap and cheerful really!

 

 

@Vanaraud

Ok I take on board that the benefits of kaby lake are pointless on a B/H chipset.. However it would actually cost more for me to downgrade to i5-6600 as crazy as it sounds, so I may as well stick with it as long as it isnt going to cause problems?

And the case will have to do because I can't justify spending more on it - if I spend £15 now I can replace it at a later date with something better.

 

Sucks having such a tight budget! I'm already stretching it with the bigger CPU lol.. Maybe I will go back to VS450..

[Entanglement]

umm don't you have access to Amazon.com ? did you think about going with AMD Ryzen 5 you would get more performance for your money !

[Chuckun]

umm don't you have access to Amazon.com ? did you think about going with AMD Ryzen 5 you would get more performance for your money !

Yes, we would have to pay 20% VAT plus import duty plus shipping on anything from America. Amazon.co.uk is more expensive on mobos than aria in this case!

 

I did consider it. For equal benchmarks on processor, mobo and GPU I ended up paying more than for Intel which I prefer anyway granted the cpu and GPU were marginally better on benchmark but for me amd are hot and slow and glitchy in my experience

 

I have a £2000 workstation at work on AMD and it glitches every day

 

Edit : to be fair I know AMD have resolved a lot with Ryzen.. Butstill it ended up costing more to get AMD which wasn't slower somehow

Edited May 8, 2017 by Chuckun

[Symfony]

I will be dual booting Linux and Win 10

 

Currently every game I play runs fine for me on a I5-2xxx with a GTX 525M but it's a laptop and I'm sick of using a laptop.. After 10 years I'm finally building a desktop

 

It's for gaming and home office (web design & development)

I assume you already know but MAKE SURE grub (or your chosen bl) doesn't nuke the windows bl or at least add an entry into grub for windows boot.

[Chuckun]

I assume you already know but MAKE SURE grub (or your chosen bl) doesn't nuke the windows bl or at least add an entry into grub for windows boot.

 

Hah yeah I've been there, back in the old days restoring the windows bl from a floppy disc!

[Vanaraud]

If you are going for cheap PSU, definitely try to look for a case with bottom mounted Power Supply. And if you get a case with a TOP mounted PSU a gold\platinum rated PSU is a MUST.

Because electronics, especially capacitors are sensitive to heat. Their life expectancy is related to surrounding heat with exponential function. The higher the heat the quicker capacitors go out, ESPECIALLY the cheaper ones found in cheaper PSU-s. Also Corsairs CX series(new) has 5y warranty, VS has 3y and RXm has 10 YEARS of warranty- so take it as a investment to your health of PC and saving money in a long run. VS series has 40C rating, RMx has 50C rating, that means if you pull out hot air from your GPU\CPU warmed to 50C with TOP mounted PSU, that means your PSU works on conditions NOT meant to be worked under. It´s like hammering nails with your mobile phone. It won´t happen when the PSU is BOTTOM mounted and cycles through air coming from your room- around 20C in northern part of Europe I guess...

 

 

 

Secondly ""Right now it´s more reasonable to go with Kaby Lake, as they have: "Improved graphics core: full hardware fixed function HEVC/VP9 (including [email protected]<script data-cfhash='f9e31' type="text/javascript">/* */</script>/10bit) decoding;^[22] improved hardware HEVC encoding; full hardware fixed function VP9 8bit encoding; higher GPU clock speeds for select CPUs" and Optane memory support: https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Kaby_Lake"" doesn´t have anything to do with chipsets. Kaby Lake CPU-s are just more reasonable to get, bc soon youtube and else will use HEVC\H.265(I hope), which is format packing better quality movies in less capacity. I´ve seen good quality FHD packed in less than 350mb. And Kaby Lake CPU-s have decoding support in hardware. If you´ll get a good GPU also, then the GPU might "crunch" trough software decoding with brute force. But still better to take newer tech;) But Optane technology need new chipset+CPU.

You can get Kaby Lake 7-series CPU-s working by flashing BIOS on 1xx chipsets, but Optane needs 2xx chipset.

 

 

So for now it´s reasonable to take B\H-chipset+ i5 75(4)00 or Z-chipset and i5 7600-K (or i7 7700 K).

 

PS Are you sure you are willing to mount mobo off, mount HDD-s + vents off and then mount them all to new case? I´m too lazy for this sh** Much easier is to get SSD for now, and get backup bigger HDD later;)

[Chuckun]

If you are going for cheap PSU, definitely try to look for a case with bottom mounted Power Supply. And if you get a case with a TOP mounted PSU a gold\platinum rated PSU is a MUST.

Because electronics, especially capacitors are sensitive to heat. Their life expectancy is related to surrounding heat with exponential function. The higher the heat the quicker capacitors go out, ESPECIALLY the cheaper ones found in cheaper PSU-s. Also Corsairs CX series(new) has 5y warranty, VS has 3y and RXm has 10 YEARS of warranty- so take it as a investment to your health of PC and saving money in a long run. VS series has 40C rating, RMx has 50C rating, that means if you pull out hot air from your GPU\CPU warmed to 50C with TOP mounted PSU, that means your PSU works on conditions NOT meant to be worked under. It´s like hammering nails with your mobile phone. It won´t happen when the PSU is BOTTOM mounted and cycles through air coming from your room- around 20C in northern part of Europe I guess...

 

 

 

Secondly ""Right now it´s more reasonable to go with Kaby Lake, as they have: "Improved graphics core: full hardware fixed function HEVC/VP9 (including [email protected]<script data-cfhash='f9e31' type="text/javascript">/* */</script>/10bit) decoding;^[22] improved hardware HEVC encoding; full hardware fixed function VP9 8bit encoding; higher GPU clock speeds for select CPUs" and Optane memory support: https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Kaby_Lake"" doesn´t have anything to do with chipsets. Kaby Lake CPU-s are just more reasonable to get, bc soon youtube and else will use HEVC\H.265(I hope), which is format packing better quality movies in less capacity. I´ve seen good quality FHD packed in less than 350mb. And Kaby Lake CPU-s have decoding support in hardware. If you´ll get a good GPU also, then the GPU might "crunch" trough software decoding with brute force. But still better to take newer tech;) But Optane technology need new chipset+CPU.

You can get Kaby Lake 7-series CPU-s working by flashing BIOS on 1xx chipsets, but Optane needs 2xx chipset.

 

 

So for now it´s reasonable to take B\H-chipset+ i5 75(4)00 or Z-chipset and i5 7600-K (or i7 7700 K).

 

PS Are you sure you are willing to mount mobo off, mount HDD-s + vents off and then mount them all to new case? I´m too lazy for this sh** Much easier is to get SSD for now, and get backup bigger HDD later;)

 

I will give the bottom-mounted PSU some serious thought.. But sadly these cases are so much more expensive.. And I really didn't want to spend much on a case as my budget is seriously tight.. But if my options are to upgrade the case or upgrade the PSU, I'd rather upgrade the case.. because it'll probably be cheaper AND it means I dont have to change the case at a later date, changing PSU is a lot easier..

 

 

I know its a pain in the ass mounting everything from scratch, but I dont have much choice unfortunately.. I have no money and buying a pre-made rig is really expensive lol xD

[Chuckun]

Ok this case might work.  Any thoughts?

 

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/Midi+Tower/Thermaltake+Versa+H23+Midi+Mesh+Tower+Case+USB3+Blue+ODD+Bays+With+Side+Window+?productId=63398

 

I am really restricted on size, and this will just about fit (didnt consider this before, my desk doesnt give much room for a case!)

 

EDIT: Hmm, actually it might be too deep front to back... 490mm is my absolute max which would mean no breathing space..  Ideally I need closer to 400mm

 

This may be better, slightly smaller - http://www.ebuyer.com/713419-cit-mesh-gaming-case-with-black-green-interior-goblin

Edited May 10, 2017 by Chuckun

[Symfony]

Ok this case might work.  Any thoughts?

 

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/Midi+Tower/Thermaltake+Versa+H23+Midi+Mesh+Tower+Case+USB3+Blue+ODD+Bays+With+Side+Window+?productId=63398

 

I am really restricted on size, and this will just about fit (didnt consider this before, my desk doesnt give much room for a case!)

 

EDIT: Hmm, actually it might be too deep front to back... 490mm is my absolute max which would mean no breathing space..  Ideally I need closer to 400mm

 

This may be better, slightly smaller - http://www.ebuyer.com/713419-cit-mesh-gaming-case-with-black-green-interior-goblin

Looks like that second link would be OK and expandable

[Chuckun]

Looks like that second link would be OK and expandable

My thoughts exactly.. Plus I prefer it aesthetically anyway (will probably replace the green fan though for something unlit and less gimicky)

[Vanaraud]

Versa H21 caught my eye also in this price range. There´s also Fractal Design Core 2500 but it´s MICRO ATX form factor, so have to be careful with choosing mobo and RAM and cooling, as you can´t switch RAM-s on 2 slot mobo designs AND it´s 10.- more expensive. In 40.- range there are more, like CM K280 etc.

 

About the CIT case, how long GPU-s does it accomodate? GTX 1050Ti is fairly short but for future reference...