Sanity check on mid-range build

[routerguy]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$2000-$2200(CAD)

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

Canada

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.

www.ncix.com

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

No preference.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Keyboard, mouse and speakers.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Don't really plan on overclocking.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

Whatever resolution everyone plays games at (see my monitor choice).

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

Within the next two weeks.

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

Windows 7.

Parts list:

Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-radeon-r9-280x-rev2-0-62-92028-1350.htm $299.99

Gigabyte Z97X-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Z97 http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-z97x-gaming-5-atx-lga1150-65-96896-1350.htm $149.99

Intel Core i5 4690K Unlocked Quad Core 3.5GHZ/3.9GHZ http://www.ncix.com/detail/intel-core-i5-4690k-unlocked-c2-97889-1303.htm $269.99

Kingston HyperX Fury Memory Black 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1866 http://www.ncix.com/detail/kingston-hyperx-fury-memory-black-5e-95972-1350.htm $94.99

Intel 730 Series 240GB SSD http://www.ncix.com/detail/intel-730-series-240gb-ssd-cc-94547-1350.htm $199.99

Fractal Design Define XL R2 Black Pearl E-ATX Tower http://www.ncix.com/detail/fractal-design-define-xl-r2-b1-78225-1350.htm $109.99

Antec High Current Gamer 750W http://www.ncix.com/detail/antec-high-current-gamer-750w-6a-86285-1350.htm $109.99

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM http://www.ncix.com/detail/seagate-barracuda-1tb-7200rpm-64mb-ba-65701-1350.htm $59.99

Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H55 CPU Cooler System http://www.ncix.com/detail/corsair-cooling-hydro-series-h55-38-77379-1350.htm $54.99

Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 140MM http://www.ncix.com/detail/corsair-air-series-af140-quiet-d0-70456-1360.htm $16.99

BenQ XL2411Z 24IN LED 144HZ http://www.ncix.com/detail/benq-xl2411z-24in-led-144hz-53-95033-1224.htm $279.99

Microsoft Windows 7 http://www.ncix.com/detail/microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-c0-45271-1350.htm $104.99

Total: $1,801.88

 

[Ken g6]

There are certainly some places there you're throwing money where it's not needed. Crucial makes really nice cheap SSDs; Samsung makes nice, slightly more expensive, slightly faster SSDs. If you're not overclocking, you don't need a Z97 board or water cooling. Your case probably doesn't need to be that big, certainly not for just one video card.

And then some things look under-done. If you're not overclocking, you should probably get the fastest processor possible, the i7 4790K. An R9 290 would be significantly faster than a 280X. And why not get Win 8.1, with Classic Shell? I gather it is faster for some games than Win7.

Speaking of which, what games are you playing exactly? It might make sense to shift money to the CPU or the GPU(s).

Not specifying the monitor resolution also makes this difficult. "Everyone plays games at" 1080p...except those who have lots of money and get higher resolution monitors. :twisted: I tried going for a 1440p build [post=36673161]like this[/post], but I couldn't quite fit it in the budget. But a pair of 280Xs might work, depending on what games you're playing.

For now, this is what I came up with. Oh, by the way, I hear NCIX does price matching.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.00 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($116.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.95 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($409.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($9.99 @ Memory Express)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($279.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $1660.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-13 15:34 EDT-0400

 

[routerguy]

Thank you for your detailed reply Ken. It really helped me out a lot! What kind of performance jump can I expect to get with the system components you link from the current PC I have:

Core 2 Duo E8400
4 GB RAM
ATI Radeon 5770
Intel X-25M 80 GB SSD

I bought this system in late 2008 (the SSD in 2009) and it has served me well up to now. I'm really glad with the performance I was able to get out of it over these six years. In your opinion, can I expect similar value from the components you linked?

EDIT: Oh and about the resolution. Personally I prefer max frame rate over resolution. I basically want to play games like Metro on High with more or less constant 60 FPS at 1080p.

 

[IGemini]

You'd get a significant jump. With an R9 290 you can have your cake and eat it too with resolution and framerates. AT's review had it doing 60+ FPS on Very High @ 1080p in Metro LL. It's probably even better now with driver updates.

My only 2c is to get a more efficient power supply, especially since you have budget room. Just seems ridiculous to have a top-shelf CPU&GPU powered by a bronze PSU. I'm thinking a Seasonic G 650W:

http://www.ncix.com/detail/seasonic-g-650-gold-650w-atx-06-76943.htm

 

[mfenn]

You'd get a significant jump. With an R9 290 you can have your cake and eat it too with resolution and framerates. AT's review had it doing 60+ FPS on Very High @ 1080p in Metro LL. It's probably even better now with driver updates.

My only 2c is to get a more efficient power supply, especially since you have budget room. Just seems ridiculous to have a top-shelf CPU&GPU powered by a bronze PSU. I'm thinking a Seasonic G 650W:

http://www.ncix.com/detail/seasonic-g-650-gold-650w-atx-06-76943.htm

A higher efficiency power supply isn't necessarily higher quality, the two measures are orthogonal. When looking at efficiency, it only comes down to to the math of "how long do I have to keep this power supply before it pays for itself". OP, what's your electricity rate in kWh?

 

[routerguy]

A higher efficiency power supply isn't necessarily higher quality, the two measures are orthogonal. When looking at efficiency, it only comes down to to the math of "how long do I have to keep this power supply before it pays for itself". OP, what's your electricity rate in kWh?

For Wed Jan 1, 2014 - Sun Sep 14, 2014
Total Usage: 1211.03 kWh
Total Cost: $106.07

 

[mfenn]

For Wed Jan 1, 2014 - Sun Sep 14, 2014
Total Usage: 1211.03 kWh
Total Cost: $106.07

Thanks! So you pay about 8.76 cents per kWh.

A typical desktop computer spends the vast majority of its time at idle, so I'm going to use a figure of 75W as the average DC power consumption of your PC. An 80PLUS Bronze PSU will be ~82% efficient at these loads and an 80PLUS Gold will be ~87% efficient.

Bronze: 75W / 82% * 24 hr * 365 days / 1000W = 801 kWh / year
Gold: 75W / 85% * 24 hr * 365 days / 1000W= 772 kWh /year

The PC with a Bronze unit will cost you roughly $70.69 to run for a year, and the same PC with a Gold unit will cost roughly $67.63 to run for a year. At current rates, the Gold unit saves you $3.06 / year.

Assuming you pay $115 for the linked Gold unit or $80 for the linked Bronze unit, the Gold unit will pay for itself in 11 years. Truthfully, energy costs will rise over that time period, so the actual payback time is less. But even if it pays itself back in 6 years, you're only breaking even at your time horizon. Most likely the Gold unit is a money-losing proposition over that time period, albeit in the tens of dollars.

 

[IGemini]

Bleh, nevermind. F*ck my opinion on the matter.

 

[crashtech]

To me the nicest thing about Bronze (or better) rating is when it is used as a search criterion it helps eliminate the crappy PSUs that overpopulate the low end of a given price bracket.