New computer build time? Or hold off?

[kandrathe]

Hmmm...I see this thread has drifted. Since this is the lounge, might as well drift some more. Regarding whether it is time to buy now or hold off, there's an argument to be made that the US dollar will continue to increase relative to other currencies in the next few years. Generally speaking, the higher it goes, the more computer you'll get for your money. But that kind of stuff is tough to time, of course.

Wonder if DeeBye should emigrate?

I doubt it. Deebye's got the new snow beater, and loves the winters too much. Canada is more than a place to live, it's a whole identity thing. Whenever I travel abroad I'm accused of being Canadian. This is partly the accent, but also because I appear to be too polite, educated, and cultured to fit the stereotype of American. Then again, my concept of a nightmare, or hell on earth is to be trapped on an American tour bus traveling across Europe.

My youngest is pining for a faster video card, but the one he has is very energy efficient. So to upgrade is the good quality video card and a power supply. The current power supply is only 300w, and would probably need to step up to 500w, or 550w.

Then I have an old ATX size rig I'd like to rebuild (new mobo, processor, ram), keep the PS and peripherals and maybe add a 2nd TB of disk.

[DeeBye]

I doubt it. Deebye's got the new snow beater, and loves the winters too much.

I'm not sure it's accurate to say that I love winter. I really hate shoveling snow, and hate the harsh freezing wind. I just love variety. I could not live in a place that was sunny and warm all year round, nor could I live in a place that was cold all the time. I love how - at least in my part of Canada - the climate totally changes every few months to something new and completely different.

I'll take slightly higher prices in Canada. I do love it here.

---

Wonder if DeeBye should emigrate?

NEVER!

[DeeBye]

Alright, here's what I have picked out so far. I'm mostly going off of several online guides and build suggestions for my wants. I'd like something that offers the most bang for my buck for 1920x1080 gaming at medium-high settings. While not under load, I'd like it to be whisper quiet.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.61 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.72 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($101.68 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.38 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $617.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-13 22:24 EST-0500

Other parts I'll be either reusing from older machines, or just stuff I bought and never got around to using:

Cooler Master Elite 430 case
Corsair 600w modular PSU
Gigabyte Radeon HD6770 video card

Obviously the video card is the weak link, but it's better than my current HD7660d APU. Once the bones of the computer is built, I'll be upgrading the video card ASAP.

I'm not sure about a couple of things though. Do I want/need an aftermarket CPU cooler? I do not plan on overclocking, but I do value a fairly quiet machine. I don't need total silence either though. I'm not sure how quiet the stock Intel i5 cooler is. I don't mind if it's a dull roar while I'm gaming, but when my machine is idle I'd like it to be very quiet.

Can I save some money by buying a cheaper motherboard? The one I have listed is something I got as a suggestion from another forum, but I bet it's full of features I'll never use. I really only play games and browse the internet.

The SSD - I want one. Is 240GB sufficient for the OS and a handful of games, and is Crucial a decent brand? Can I save a few bucks by going with something smaller here?

[LennyLen]

Can I save some money by buying a cheaper motherboard? The one I have listed is something I got as a suggestion from another forum, but I bet it's full of features I'll never use. I really only play games and browse the internet.

It's worth spending a little bit of extra money on a motherboard, as cheaper ones have a much higher fail rate and replacing a motherboard is a pain in the ass. I looked at the specs for that one on the manufacturers site, and it only has basic features so you're not going to be paying for advanced stuff that you won't be using. The reviews for it seem pretty encouraging as well. A few people have mentioned that the instruction manual that comes with it isn't particularly good, so if you're not 100% certain of you're assembly skills and know someone who is, maybe get them to assist.

The SSD - I want one. Is 240GB sufficient for the OS and a handful of games, and is Crucial a decent brand? Can I save a few bucks by going with something smaller here?

240Gb is certainly big enough. I'm using 160Gb of my boot drive, with Win7, a dozen or so games as well as MS Office and most of the Adobe applications plus programming stuff. You could probably get by with 128Gb, but I know for myself I'd rather have space and not need it than need it hand not have it.

I don't have any experience with Crucial drives, but the reviews seem mostly positive. Their failure rate doesn't seem overly high and they do have a 3yr warranty.

[Hammerskjold]

Do I want/need an aftermarket CPU cooler? I do not plan on overclocking, but I do value a fairly quiet machine. I don't need total silence either though. I'm not sure how quiet the stock Intel i5 cooler is. I don't mind if it's a dull roar while I'm gaming, but when my machine is idle I'd like it to be very quiet.

I'd vote yes for the aftermarket cooler. I personally go for an aftermarket air cooler (edited for clarity, air vs liquid cooler) but that's me having lower risk tolerance regarding absolute worst case scenarios.

Both types are generally pretty quiet nowadays*, since we're talking about a gaming and more general machine. I prefer air cooler system since it's still pretty good from a price\performance. But both types are usually pretty good nowadays, it's still better than the stock option for the most part, even if you're not overclocking.

*On my main, i7 photoshop machine, I have an aftermarket air cooler installed. It's a fairly large sized thing installed in a full size tower case. But it's a fairly quiet machine to date, opening the CD\DVD tray is louder than the general hum of the machine.

[Taem]

Do I want/need an aftermarket CPU cooler? I do not plan on overclocking, but I do value a fairly quiet machine. I don't need total silence either though. I'm not sure how quiet the stock Intel i5 cooler is. I don't mind if it's a dull roar while I'm gaming, but when my machine is idle I'd like it to be very quiet.

I'd vote yes for the aftermarket cooler. I personally go for an aftermarket air cooler (edited for clarity, air vs liquid cooler) but that's me having lower risk tolerance regarding absolute worst case scenarios.

Both types are generally pretty quiet nowadays*, since we're talking about a gaming and more general machine. I prefer air cooler system since it's still pretty good from a price\performance. But both types are usually pretty good nowadays, it's still better than the stock option for the most part, even if you're not overclocking.

*On my main, i7 photoshop machine, I have an aftermarket air cooler installed. It's a fairly large sized thing installed in a full size tower case. But it's a fairly quiet machine to date, opening the CD\DVD tray is louder than the general hum of the machine.

Just a word of caution I'd like to comment on: unless you have proper fan placement for directional airflow in your chassis, you could actually retain heat and fry your system much quicker, especially when you start tossing in energy intensive video cards. Since this is clearly a byo system, just be sure you're familiar with the airflow dynamics of your tower. When I got my new full-sized tower, my computer was consistently running hot which it shouldn't have, so after a little research, I found out that all towers are not created equal, and I had to go online to see what the proper airflow was and lo and behold, I needed two additional fans and had to reverse the direction of another two for my tower. I'm not saying you'll have that problem, but just a word of advise.

[DeeBye]

I looked at the specs for that one on the manufacturers site, and it only has basic features so you're not going to be paying for advanced stuff that you won't be using. The reviews for it seem pretty encouraging as well. A few people have mentioned that the instruction manual that comes with it isn't particularly good, so if you're not 100% certain of you're assembly skills and know someone who is, maybe get them to assist.

Thanks. That's encouraging. I've built a few computers before, so I think I'll be okay.

240Gb is certainly big enough. I'm using 160Gb of my boot drive, with Win7, a dozen or so games as well as MS Office and most of the Adobe applications plus programming stuff. You could probably get by with 128Gb, but I know for myself I'd rather have space and not need it than need it hand not have it.

I don't have any experience with Crucial drives, but the reviews seem mostly positive. Their failure rate doesn't seem overly high and they do have a 3yr warranty.

Again, thank you. 240Gb it is!

---

I'd vote yes for the aftermarket cooler.

Do you (or anyone else, really) have a suggestion for a quiet aftermarket cooler for the i5 4590 that will fit my case (CPU cooler height: 163mm / 6.4 inch)? I'm not 100% sure I'll get one, but I'd like to explore the option.

[DeeBye]

Just a word of caution I'd like to comment on: unless you have proper fan placement for directional airflow in your chassis, you could actually retain heat and fry your system much quicker, especially when you start tossing in energy intensive video cards.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I'm good on the fan front. The case I have has a good amount of slots for 120mm fans (6 slots to be exact), and I don't plan on packing too much into the case. I won't be using more than a single video card, two HDDs, and the PSU is modular so I won't have errant cables obstructing airflow. I'll likely go with a pair of 120mm fans (one in the front and one in the rear), blowing front to back and see how that goes.

[Hammerskjold]

Do you (or anyone else, really) have a suggestion for a quiet aftermarket cooler for the i5 4590 that will fit my case (CPU cooler height: 163mm / 6.4 inch)? I'm not 100% sure I'll get one, but I'd like to explore the option.

This is what I have on my p-shop machine iirc,

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6835103099

I can't say get that one specifically for your build, comparing the specs and the dimension you gave it *might be* ok, but I'd rather not take the blame if you're in the middle of building the rig and find that it's not actually compatible clearance wise.

What I can say is I've got no problem with that particular model so far in my rig, the noise level on it is pretty good, and priced at 35$ or so. edited for clarity, if you choose to explore the option of getting an aftermarket cooler etc.

[Taem]

Do you (or anyone else, really) have a suggestion for a quiet aftermarket cooler for the i5 4590 that will fit my case (CPU cooler height: 163mm / 6.4 inch)? I'm not 100% sure I'll get one, but I'd like to explore the option.

This is what I have on my p-shop machine iirc,

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6835103099

I can't say get that one specifically for your build, comparing the specs and the dimension you gave it *might be* ok, but I'd rather not take the blame if you're in the middle of building the rig and find that it's not actually compatible clearance wise.

What I can say is I've got no problem with that particular model so far in my rig, the noise level on it is pretty good, and priced at 35$ or so. edited for clarity, if you choose to explore the option of getting an aftermarket cooler etc.

Lol, that's the exact same cpu cooler I have! But to make it fit comfortably, I had to get a big, BIG case: In Win GRone White Case. Anyway, love the case and especially the cooler... so quite! Seriously, the case has a Turbo and Silence setting and on silence, even with all my fans, the temp stays low and the running sound of the computer can barely be heard at all, as in, I'd wonder if it's even on sometimes if it weren't for the lights on the fans!

[Hammerskjold]

Lol, that's the exact same cpu cooler I have! But to make it fit comfortably, I had to get a big, BIG case: In Win GRone White Case.

Yep, I got no complaints with that cpu cooler so far, knock on wood.

[kandrathe]

As a Christmas gift my youngest wanted an upgrade. His rig is ATX standard cheaper build we acquired about 5 years ago, and it came with an HD6450 GPU with a 300W power supply. I moved him to a pretty affordable overclocked ASUS GeForce GT750ti. I was pretty sure the 300W would not be sufficient, so rather than upgrade to just enough I wanted to get one big enough for a yet to be determined future (mobo/cpu/ram or faster ssd+raid sata next time). I went with a very flexible 750W single rail power supply. We also gave him a new 27" wide screen HD monitor and a gaming mouse/keyboard. At this point, his rig is a bit IO bound, so next time will most likely be a disk performance upgrade. Big smiles and joy for him.

We performed the computer surgery this morning, and he's running his most intense games at max settings with no issues, within temp, and no issues at all. My biggest concern was whether the PCIe 3.0 card would perform well in a 2.1 socket. But, there are no issues.

[Taem]

My biggest concern was whether the PCIe 3.0 card would perform well in a 2.1 socket. But, there are no issues.

FYI, the 3.0e vid cards came out *before* the motherboards even had that feature available. I had the same questions and found out 3.0e vid cards are indeed compatible with 2.0e slots, but not non-express versions. The difference between a 3.0 and 2.0 vid card is basically doubling of the bandwidth, i.e. faster rendering: PCI-Ex. I couldn't say what the benchmark differences are, but unless you're a masochist for pricey equipment, I doubt the difference would even be noticeable on a current gen setup and I'm plenty happy with my 2.0-PCI-Ex slot.

[DeeBye]

As a Christmas gift my youngest wanted an upgrade. His rig is ATX standard cheaper build we acquired about 5 years ago, and it came with an HD6450 GPU with a 300W power supply. I moved him to a pretty affordable overclocked ASUS GeForce GT750ti. I was pretty sure the 300W would not be sufficient, so rather than upgrade to just enough I wanted to get one big enough for a yet to be determined future (mobo/cpu/ram or faster ssd+raid sata next time). I went with a very flexible 750W single rail power supply. We also gave him a new 27" wide screen HD monitor and a gaming mouse/keyboard.

I also spoiled my son with computer gaming stuff. I got him a new gaming keyboard/mouse combo, an Xbox360 Windows gamepad, and a 7.1 surround headset (which I am slightly jealous of).

The 750ti is about the performance/price spot I want to hit. I haven't pulled the trigger on parts yet because Christmas, but I'll be tracking prices over the next little while and try to convince my wife that a new gaming computer for me is more important than a bathroom renovation.

My wife did buy me a G502 Proteus Core mouse, which is super awesome.

[Occhidiangela]

My Sager gaming laptop, 3.5 years old, just gave me the blinking cursor and blank screen treatment.
The day before, it was fine.
I think the mother board ate itself.
Am on a seven year old dell inspiron that still works, and that I upgraded with a bit of RAM and will probably, once I get the gaming rig sorted out, back fit with a SSDD 128 Meg as my boss did. He has a six year old computer that, with the upgrade of RAM and SDD runs windows 7 with no trouble.
So, in a few days, when they tell me if that HD went down with my Mo board (the guy a Dr Nerd says it probably didn't, he should be able to dump the HD onto the external HD I brought with me) I'll be asking what DeeBye was asking:
should I build my own rig?
I ask because my son wants to build a gaming rig, rather than buy new, so maybe we two ought to do it together.
I could also sell off some of my 401K and get a high end Alienware, but I don't think I want to spend that kind of money.

Arrggh. I was hoping to play some more D III and play a bunch of LoL with my son during vacation.
Not gonna happen.

[DeeBye]

I think I went overboard, but NCIX had a great deal on a custom pre-built gaming computer. I ordered one, and now I have to figure out a way to break the news to the wife. I'll generate a PCPartPicker report on the goods, but the beast I bought will be pre-assembled, OS installed, tested, and a little bit cheaper than buying parts separately.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($265.52 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($67.77 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($180.78 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($101.68 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Kingston Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.56 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.78 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($428.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Corsair 230T Windowed-BLUE ATX Mid Tower Case ($120.46 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($62.13 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($22.65 @ Vuugo)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($111.84 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1513.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-31 00:48 EST-0500

[Hammerskjold]

I ordered one, and now I have to figure out a way to break the news to the wife. I'll generate a PCPartPicker report on the goods, but the beast I bought will be pre-assembled, OS installed, tested, and a little bit cheaper than buying parts separately.

Say that you're getting a very good value purchase because the rig you chose is right at the sweet spot of value to dollar ratio. And you even saved money by smartly shopping around and price comparison\matching, which is true.

That's a pretty nice gfx card you're getting, should last you for awhile.

[Taem]

Tell her it's your xmas and b.day gift to yourself, so she's next up for a big purchase. I did this with my wife when I put my computer together and had to take out a small loan to get it, then a year later when it was paid off, we took out another small loan and got her $1k in clothes. The interest on both loans was 6% and was originally a 2-year loan, so obviously I doubled-down when I could on the principle so I only ended up only paying an additional $60 + $60 = $120. I feel this was a fair trade for the life of the loan and what I got out of it, and so does my wife. We both won!

In regards to your setup, an nice overall solid rig with upgradable potential of memory and cpu later on. You'll love the usb 3.0 ports on the front of the rig to be sure. The only thing I would have dropped an extra $30 on would have been a gold standard psu, as it will literally save you hundred of dollars a year in electricity, especially with a video card like that: Article.

[Nystul]

In regards to your setup, an nice overall solid rig with upgradable potential of memory and cpu later on. You'll love the usb 3.0 ports on the front of the rig to be sure. The only thing I would have dropped an extra $30 on would have been a gold standard psu, as it will literally save you hundred of dollars a year in electricity, especially with a video card like that: Article.

A gold standard PSU would literally save him like $5 a year...

Looks like a solid system to me, although I would want a bigger hard drive, but that's an easy upgrade at the point it is needed.

[DeeBye]

Say that you're getting a very good value purchase because the rig you chose is right at the sweet spot of value to dollar ratio. And you even saved money by smartly shopping around and price comparison\matching, which is true.

I subtlety dropped a hint about really wanting the computer, and told her how good of a deal it was. She was less than impressed, because she really doesn't understand "gaming PCs". She plays Smurfs Village on Android and uses Facebook, so one PC is as good as another to her. I might just say that we've been doing well financially, and all of our bills are being paid on time and we always have a little bit left over. Time to splurge on something that will last me a few years.

That's a pretty nice gfx card you're getting, should last you for awhile.

It sure kicks the crap out of my current AMD 7660d APU. I just hope it isn't terribly loud at idle. I was going to swap it out with something cheaper, but the bundle price for the 970 was great. I don't think I've ever had a current-gen video card. I usually go a generation or two behind.

Tell her it's your xmas and b.day gift to yourself, so she's next up for a big purchase.

Well, she actually had the last big purchase. She bought a new 2014 Subaru Crosstrek. It's my turn?

In regards to your setup, an nice overall solid rig with upgradable potential of memory and cpu later on. You'll love the usb 3.0 ports on the front of the rig to be sure. The only thing I would have dropped an extra $30 on would have been a gold standard psu, as it will literally save you hundred of dollars a year in electricity, especially with a video card like that: Article.

USB 3.0 ports on the front will be nice. I have a couple of USB 3.0 flash drives that I use quite a lot, but I can never be bothered to plug them into my current computer's rear 3.0 ports. It's just a pain.

I'm fine with the 80+ Bronze. It's the exact same PSU I currently have, and I like it.

Looks like a solid system to me, although I would want a bigger hard drive, but that's an easy upgrade at the point it is needed.

This system actually only came with the SSD for storage, and I added the 1TB drive. I really don't need too much more, and if I do I'll just add another drive when I need it.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm feeling pretty good about the purchase.