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KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread


Leonov

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I stand firm that Windows 8 and 8.1 is simply Windows 7, Mobile Edition.

Therefore i personally would not spend the money on it if i could pick up a copy of Windows 7 for less.

People will still develop programs for Windows 7, it will still be around for awhile just like XP.

There are a lot more differences between windows 8 and windows 7. Yes, the metro UI is terrible for a mouse, but the low level OS is more efficient, more stable, and uses less memory. It also has new goodies like storage spaces and better multiple monitor support.

Windows 7's a great OS, don't get me wrong. If you can learn to deal with metro, windows 8 is a good OS too.

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There are a lot more differences between windows 8 and windows 7. Yes, the metro UI is terrible for a mouse, but the low level OS is more efficient, more stable, and uses less memory. It also has new goodies like storage spaces and better multiple monitor support.

Windows 7's a great OS, don't get me wrong. If you can learn to deal with metro, windows 8 is a good OS too.

and you can get rid of metro with classic shell , start menu 8 or all the othe ones out there (I actually use metro)

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Which OS is less resource intensive? Win 7 or 8?

Also Im still having a hard time with the decision on the anti-virus software choice, Ive been reading some reviews and they havent been that helpful yet.

Windows 8 uses less resources and is faster in most cases.

I'd look up some benchmarks for those two processors, although the amd one has a higher clock speed and is cheaper, Clock speed doesn't always dictate how fast the system is.

Edited by ZedNova
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So I've had a build planned for awhile now, and should be able to afford the parts in 3 - 5 months depending on how things go.

Here's the spec's, let me know what you all think.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.75 @ Vuugo)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.79 @ DirectCanada)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.99 @ NCIX)

Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($88.41 @ DirectCanada)

Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ Memory Express)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.79 @ DirectCanada)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($389.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Memory Express)

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($23.21 @ DirectCanada)

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan ($22.99 @ Memory Express)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX)

Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($66.75 @ Vuugo)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.99 @ NCIX)

Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($149.86 @ Amazon Canada)

Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($149.86 @ Amazon Canada)

Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($58.38 @ Newegg Canada)

Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse ($72.99 @ Newegg Canada)

Speakers: Creative Labs GigaWorks T20 Series II 28W 2ch Speakers ($89.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Headphones: Logitech G930 7.1 Channel Headset ($119.00 @ Vuugo)

Total: $2133.69

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-21 22:22 EST-0500)

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I would look at putting maybe a little bit more into an SSD, if your going to get one.

These have been beating every test thrown at them and is only $20CAD more.

Its Corsairs controller, its not the dreaded Sandforce controller like the one you selected and its fast as sin and hasn't lost any read/write after doing every benchmark test.

I would look at the R9 280X over the 7970, Things will get a little cheaper towards the holidays.

Not a bad list at all, the case is massive and comes standard with plenty of fans.

Why a Gigabyte over ASUS for a motherboard?

Edited by Leonov
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I believe the i5 is faster. The X4 has been a good processor, but is really getting a bit old.

Also, I would not get 12 GB RAM, because you can't run dual channel in that case. Go for anything that comes in equal sets of 2 (so, 2 x 4 GB, 2 x 8 GB, 2 x 4 + 2 x 8 GB et cetera). 8 GB is for most users more than enough at the moment.

Why a Gigabyte over ASUS for a motherboard?

Why not?

Edited by Camacha
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I would look at putting maybe a little bit more into an SSD, if your going to get one.

These have been beating every test thrown at them and is only $20CAD more.

Its Corsairs controller, its not the dreaded Sandforce controller like the one you selected and its fast as sin and hasn't lost any read/write after doing every benchmark test.

I would look at the R9 280X over the 7970, Things will get a little cheaper towards the holidays.

Not a bad list at all, the case is massive and comes standard with plenty of fans.

Why a Gigabyte over ASUS for a motherboard?

Well if your interested, here are the 2 threads on Tom's Hardware that lead to the list as it is in it's current state.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1783625/building-computer-questions.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1784765/days-research-put-computer-opinions.html

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Well if your interested, here are the 2 threads on Tom's Hardware that lead to the list as it is in it's current state.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1783625/building-computer-questions.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1784765/days-research-put-computer-opinions.html

Grab the Corsair Neutron GTX, its a little more($20CAD) but well worth it over any sandforce based SSD.

Trust me, never skimp on any Hard Drive. Downtime from bad parts isn't fun, not a build goes by that proceeds unscathed.

As asked before, Are you really going to be overclocking?

Edited by Leonov
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Grab the Corsair Neutron GTX, its a little more($20CAD) but well worth it over any sandforce based SSD.

Trust me, never skimp on any Hard Drive. Downtime from bad parts isn't fun, not a build goes by that proceeds unscathed.

As asked before, Are you really going to be overclocking?

Do I plan on overclocking initially? No.

Do I want to leave it open for overclocking in the future? Definitely.

I'll also take a look at some reviews on the SSD your suggesting, if it's as good as you say it is I'll be switching to it for sure.

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So I've had a build planned for awhile now, and should be able to afford the parts in 3 - 5 months depending on how things go.

Here's the spec's, let me know what you all think.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.75 @ Vuugo)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.79 @ DirectCanada)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.99 @ NCIX)

Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($88.41 @ DirectCanada)

Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ Memory Express)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.79 @ DirectCanada)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($389.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Memory Express)

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($23.21 @ DirectCanada)

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan ($22.99 @ Memory Express)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX)

Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($66.75 @ Vuugo)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.99 @ NCIX)

Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($149.86 @ Amazon Canada)

Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($149.86 @ Amazon Canada)

Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($58.38 @ Newegg Canada)

Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse ($72.99 @ Newegg Canada)

Speakers: Creative Labs GigaWorks T20 Series II 28W 2ch Speakers ($89.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Headphones: Logitech G930 7.1 Channel Headset ($119.00 @ Vuugo)

Total: $2133.69

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-21 22:22 EST-0500)

I would get this SSD because from what I have read it is one of the fastest out there. You also don't really need to by more case fans. And 7.1 headphones are a marketing gimmick. "Gaming" anything are also gimmicky. Are you sure you want 2 monitors? For the PSU you could probably get away with a 500w-550w. Also I would get a more power full Gpu(see leonov post) and get win 8. And we also need to know what you are using this for...

  • What are you planning to do with this compuer? Please be as specfic as possible.
  • What is your budget?

    1. Does this include a copy of Windows?
    2. Does this include peripheals (a keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, etc.)?

    [*]Are you from the United States or a different country? Are you ordering from your own country or from across borders?

    1. Wherever you may be from, does the store that you are planning to order from have a website? It's okay if it isn't in English, we can manage.
    2. If you are from the United States, do you live nearby a Microcenter?

  • Do you have any specific requests with the build?

    1. Do you plan on overclocking? If yes, do you have a specific goal in mind?
    2. Would you prefer the build to be particularly small?
    3. Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet?
    4. In general, do you prefer this to be a computer that you can spend money on now and let it rest, or a box built for continuous upgrading?
    5. Do you ever plan on utilizing NVIDIA's SLI or AMD's CrossfireX technologies? These features, with a compatible motherboard, allow a user to link multiple identical graphic cards together for added performance. In real world terms, this lets you buy a second identical graphics card down the line as a relatively cheap and easy way to gain a fairly large boost in performance. However, this requires buying a SLI/CFX compatible motherboard and PSU now, which may result in slightly higher initial cost.

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That Logitech set is really nice set of Headphones, I have the G35 set which are a cabled version of the G930. Don't get me wrong, they are no Studio Monitors but they sound really good.

If you plan on overclocking with Haswell, i would highly recommend getting a beefier cooling system.

The Hyper 212 Evo is a nice upgrade from stock, but it isn't going to impress you when you start pushing that CPU to its limit.

The EVOs are fast, but after some time they loose that speed, they are made for average consumers and not your more "Hardcore" crowd.

The Samsung 840 Pro and the Corsair Neutron GTX are the two that are keeping their sequential read/write speeds over time and that is what matters with SSDs.

Edited by Leonov
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I would get this SSD because from what I have read it is one of the fastest out there. You also don't really need to by more case fans. And 7.1 headphones are a marketing gimmick. "Gaming" anything are also gimmicky. Are you sure you want 2 monitors? For the PSU you could probably get away with a 500w-550w. Also I would get a more power full Gpu(see leonov post) and get win 8. And we also need to know what you are using this for...

  • What are you planning to do with this compuer? Please be as specfic as possible.
  • What is your budget?

    1. Does this include a copy of Windows?
    2. Does this include peripheals (a keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, etc.)?

    [*]Are you from the United States or a different country? Are you ordering from your own country or from across borders?

    1. Wherever you may be from, does the store that you are planning to order from have a website? It's okay if it isn't in English, we can manage.
    2. If you are from the United States, do you live nearby a Microcenter?

  • Do you have any specific requests with the build?

    1. Do you plan on overclocking? If yes, do you have a specific goal in mind?
    2. Would you prefer the build to be particularly small?
    3. Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet?
    4. In general, do you prefer this to be a computer that you can spend money on now and let it rest, or a box built for continuous upgrading?
    5. Do you ever plan on utilizing NVIDIA's SLI or AMD's CrossfireX technologies? These features, with a compatible motherboard, allow a user to link multiple identical graphic cards together for added performance. In real world terms, this lets you buy a second identical graphics card down the line as a relatively cheap and easy way to gain a fairly large boost in performance. However, this requires buying a SLI/CFX compatible motherboard and PSU now, which may result in slightly higher initial cost.

Alright so basically, I'm definitely switching to either the SSD you or Leonov recommended, I'm buying the case fans to replace the stock ones that come with the box, the headset is actually really good based on pretty much 95% of the reviews I've seen on it. Do I want 2 monitors? Yes. Both for gaming? No, I'm going to use one to game and the other to do stuff online whilst gaming, which is actually what I'm doing as I type this. As for the PSU I think I'm more comfortable with the one I've picked currently, for the GPU I really don't want to go higher than maybe $500, so if you have a better graphics card for under $500 then I'll consider it, and as for Windows 8 I am extremely hesitant on because based on all the video's I've watched I don't like it and none of my friends that have gotten it have liked it either.

As for the computer's use, I don't game a ton but am on my computer for at least half of my daily life, which is how I can justify a gaming rig. I plan on using mostly for YouTube, General Internet Usage, and Gaming. I'm not really a hardcore gamer in the way that I don't play too many games, but I am getting Star Citizen alpha/beta/release which is a pretty intensive game, and do plan to get some more graphics intensive games when I have this computer.

My budget is whatever I want it to be, but if you want a number I'll say $2500, including ALL peripherals and the OS.

I am from Canada, and am planning on ordering everything online, getting the best prices PC Part Picker can find for me from Canadian companies. (See: Part List)

Honestly my only specific requests with the build is that it can be overclocked, I'm still not sure if I will overclock but I always like to have options, as for specific requests I want Windows 7, need at least 2 1080p monitors with preferably less than 5ms response time, gaming mouse and keyboard, SSD Boot Drive, at least 8GB RAM, Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer, Good Speakers and Headset. (Currently I'm happy with the OS, Mouse, Keyboard, Optical, Speakers, and Headset I've picked. I'm also really fond of the case I picked as well.)

Honestly I don't really care how big it is as I have plenty of room for it, and as for the volume I would prefer quiet but I'm not going to complain if it makes a bit of noise. (It pretty much just needs to be quiet enough not to interfere too much with my mic.) Being as this computer will be my first custom build ever, and only my 3rd computer ever, I would like it to be built to rest rather than be continuously upgraded upon. My first computer lasted about 6 years and my second computer has thus far lasted 5 years if that says anything. As for SLI or Crossfire, this was a really hard choice for me when I was working on this build originally because it can be very expensive, but to be honest if I could build the computer in a state where I can run on 1 GPU for awhile and add a second one later down the road without any bottlenecking I would be happy with that.

That Logitech set is really nice set of Headphones, I have the G35 set which are a cabled version of the G930. Don't get me wrong, they are no Studio Monitors but they sound really good.

If you plan on overclocking with Haswell, i would highly recommend getting a beefier cooling system.

The Hyper 212 Evo is a nice upgrade from stock, but it isn't going to impress you when you start pushing that CPU to its limit.

The EVOs are fast, but after some time they loose that speed, they are made for average consumers and not your more "Hardcore" crowd.

The Samsung 840 Pro and the Corsair Neutron GTX are the two that are keeping their sequential read/write speeds over time and that is what matters with SSDs.

Yeah I've heard a lot of good things about the G930 headset so figure I'll give it a shot. :)

As for the cooling, I don't have any initial plans for overclocking but I suppose even with that being said I do want the ability to overclock in the future, and also if I go with some of the suggestions being given by briansun I'll need better cooling anyways.

Edited by CoriW
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The Samsung 840 Pro and the Corsair Neutron GTX are the two that are keeping their sequential read/write speeds over time and that is what matters with SSDs.

Can you back this up with numbers? The Pro is better on paper, but all the benchmarks point towards an EVO that is not much worse. The Pro is really only interesting for kids that dig big numbers - including the price.

Then again, I would suggest looking at SSD's with some form of power protection. Something the Samsungs unfortunately lack. I own a Samsung 830 myself and am very happy with it, but would certainly look at SSD's that have powercaps next time. The increased reliability is worth a lot on a part that contains your valuable data. The Crucial M500 is a very interesting option that is barely slower than the Samsungs (nothing you will notice in real life), but does have the caps.

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Small question, I want to get something to move my desktop around (I.E. to my friends house) what do you recommend I buy? Also I usually take the bus down to my friends and then a 10 min walk to his house.

How big is your desktop?

What is the size of the Motherboard/GPU/PSU?

There are many case options for "Portability".

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Some options to consider.

If you want reasonably comfortable but sturdy carry handles, You can Grab a Corsair Vengeance C70 Case, Its around 10Lbs so its by no means light.

EVGA has been making some Small Cases that are really portable, Lian-Li makes some SUPER small cases, but these are all Mini-ITX systems.

A reasonable compromise for Portability would be to Change your mobo to a Micro ATX and then grab the BitFenix Prodigy M.

You would be sacrificing a little bit of upgrade-ability for a compact case by switching to a Micro ATX, also it may cost you a little more.

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