Build advice

[El_Mayo]

I've got a budget of ideally up to £700 to build this thing

I already have 8GB (2x4gb) DDR3 1600 RAM, HD 7850, two hard drives and a Corsair TX650W that I'd like to reuse

The build is for editing (DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere, bit o' Photoshop) and gaming.

I've waited for Devil's Canyon but at the moment it's about £35 more than a 4770K (ffs) so atm the list is

CPU Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core
CPU Cooler Dark Rock 3
Motherboard ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150
Case NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower
Keyboard Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire TK
GPU HD 7850 (buying a second one used to go Crossfire)

I'm not sure whether to sell my 7850 now and get a GTX 770 though, or whether to skip the 4770K and save £20 and get the 4770 cos it's a crappy overclocker (apparently?)

 

[sulfur]

Go with 770 (it's 680). Or think about R9 290.
And did you thinked about Z97 motherboards?

 

[LaytonJnr]

GPU HD 7850 (buying a second one used to go Crossfire)

I'm not sure whether to sell my 7850 now and get a GTX 770 though, or whether to skip the 4770K and save £20 and get the 4770 cos it's a crappy overclocker (apparently?)

According to this...

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...270x-7850-vs-770-760-660-650-ti-boost.196665/

... two 7850s in games where Crossfire scaling is available is better than one GTX 770. But then it will also generate more heat and more noise, and there isn't perfect scaling in all games, with some games needing a few months after release for proper scaling compatibility.

Layton

 

[El_Mayo]

According to this...

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...270x-7850-vs-770-760-660-650-ti-boost.196665/

... two 7850s in games where Crossfire scaling is available is better than one GTX 770. But then it will also generate more heat and more noise, and there isn't perfect scaling in all games, with some games needing a few months after release for proper scaling compatibility.

Layton

I knowwwww I'll pick up another 7850 if I can get a steal on eBay or here on the forum. My current card is at 1030/1350MHZ and I think it can go higher. If I got two of them at that speed....

Go with 770 (it's 680). Or think about R9 290.
And did you thinked about Z97 motherboards?

There's not much difference apparently between them so whichever's cheaper

 

[sulfur]

Less problems (some games do not support multi-gpu configurations). Less power usage, easier overclock. 7850 is good option too if you dont have to replace PSU.

 

[El_Mayo]

Less problems (some games do not support multi-gpu configurations). Less power usage, easier overclock. 7850 is good option too if you dont have to replace PSU.

I won't have to replace PSU for two 7850s or one GTX 770 also most games support multi-gpu no?

 

[sulfur]

Sure, most new games support SLI and CF. But some games like Company of Heroes 2 (i was angry for that) do not support SLI/CF.

 

[GhostRyder]

My advice comes down to whether or not you want to overclock when it comes to the other components.

Devils Canyon is worth the extra price because the upgraded TIM, the better binned chips, and just higher stock clocks will deliver the best Haswell experience possible. But that of course is if you want to spend some time bumping up clock speeds, but I would be willing to bet with something like an Hyper 212 cooler you would be easily able to punch that CPU close to 5ghz.

Motherboard, just go for a Z97 if you can especially with Devils canyon. There are so many good boards out there now its more of just look for a feature you want or if you like a color scheme better because between Asus, gigabyte, Asrock, and MSI for me at least its becoming quite a hard choice.

Might like the NZXT Phantom Case more, have you looked at it?

As for the GPU's thats an interesting argument because in truth 2xHD 7850 is better than a GTX 770 but thats only when CFX is present and decent (Whick truthfully most at least well known games will have some sort of decent support). But your lastability goes down a bit because that would technically be a maxed out setup for graphics on that area.

My advice is to get a second HD 7850 for cheap if you can and then so keep it for awhile and eventually just move on to a new series of cards. Would probably be better money wise in the long run and is what I would do.

 

[El_Mayo]

My advice comes down to whether or not you want to overclock when it comes to the other components.

Devils Canyon is worth the extra price because the upgraded TIM, the better binned chips, and just higher stock clocks will deliver the best Haswell experience possible. But that of course is if you want to spend some time bumping up clock speeds, but I would be willing to bet with something like an Hyper 212 cooler you would be easily able to punch that CPU close to 5ghz.

Motherboard, just go for a Z97 if you can especially with Devils canyon. There are so many good boards out there now its more of just look for a feature you want or if you like a color scheme better because between Asus, gigabyte, Asrock, and MSI for me at least its becoming quite a hard choice.

Might like the NZXT Phantom Case more, have you looked at it?

As for the GPU's thats an interesting argument because in truth 2xHD 7850 is better than a GTX 770 but thats only when CFX is present and decent (Whick truthfully most at least well known games will have some sort of decent support). But your lastability goes down a bit because that would technically be a maxed out setup for graphics on that area.

My advice is to get a second HD 7850 for cheap if you can and then so keep it for awhile and eventually just move on to a new series of cards. Would probably be better money wise in the long run and is what I would do.

I don't mind out of Z87 and Z97, I read the table on here and I don't know what M.2 support is but that's the only difference. Obviously if a comparable board can be had for same price i'll take it. Speaking of which anyone know a good board that's Crossfire and SLI capable and at least x16/x8?

edit: I think the Phantoms are ugly as shit. Plus the H440 is a "quiet" case

 

[sulfur]

ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 and MSI Z97-G55 seems to be good mobos - check them. And yeah, you should wait and take i7 4790k (DC).

 

[Nabarun]

If you want a "quiet" case, have a look at the Bitfenix Ghost as well. It's cheaper than the NZXT 440 and has some nice features. If you want a transparent side panel window, also look at the Bitfenix Ronin and Cooler Master CM 690III. The "quiet" nature of your build will depend a lot more on the GPU than the case. Keep in mind that the presence of the acrylic window seriously negates the quiet features of the case. The cooler nature of the newer 4790K will allow you to run the CPU fans at lower speeds, reducing noise. I would seriously want you to consider the Z97/4790K platform. If you're on a budget, consider the Asus Z97-A. Watch Tom's (OC3D) review on YouTube.

 

[El_Mayo]

If you want a "quiet" case, have a look at the Bitfenix Ghost as well. It's cheaper than the NZXT 440 and has some nice features. If you want a transparent side panel window, also look at the Bitfenix Ronin and Cooler Master CM 690III. The "quiet" nature of your build will depend a lot more on the GPU than the case. Keep in mind that the presence of the acrylic window seriously negates the quiet features of the case. The cooler nature of the newer 4790K will allow you to run the CPU fans at lower speeds, reducing noise. I would seriously want you to consider the Z97/4790K platform. If you're on a budget, consider the Asus Z97-A. Watch Tom's (OC3D) review on YouTube.

I know I should get something without windows but those cases are just boring looking. My current one's a bit loud because there's mesh EVERYWHERE but even so it's only marginally annoying as I'm always playing music. As long as it's not louder than the 500R I'm cool with it. The H440 will definitely be quiter than this and looks better to me. Silence isn't the number one thing, it's more airflow, cable management and then looks and then silence.

 

[RCoon]

I'd buy a better motherboard (not personally a fan of ASRock these days), and sell that GPU and buy something a little more sensible, with at least 3GB of VRAM.

Also from personal experience, I don't see the point on OC'ing with Haswell or refresh. Running the chips with turbo on is ample for my gaming needs in the super serious angry man-face games. Might I ask what you're hoping to achieve by OC'ing the CPU? I've had my fair share of OC'ing AMD and Intel on custom watercooling.

I'd say a 4790 non K, whatever Z87 motherboard you feel like, and some random GPU that you can afford on the side. 770, 290 or whatever.

Might I suggest a 128GB Boot SSD at least, of the Samsung EVO/Crucial M500 variety.

 

[El_Mayo]

I'd buy a better motherboard (not personally a fan of ASRock these days), and sell that GPU and buy something a little more sensible, with at least 3GB of VRAM.

Also from personal experience, I don't see the point on OC'ing with Haswell or refresh. Running the chips with turbo on is ample for my gaming needs in the super serious angry man-face games. Might I ask what you're hoping to achieve by OC'ing the CPU? I've had my fair share of OC'ing AMD and Intel on custom watercooling.

I'd say a 4790 non K, whatever Z87 motherboard you feel like, and some random GPU that you can afford on the side. 770, 290 or whatever.

Might I suggest a 128GB Boot SSD at least, of the Samsung EVO/Crucial M500 variety.

overclocking for better performance in editing software really, it's not gaming related. I'm looking at the 4770/4790 right now tho to save a few £££

 

[RCoon]

overclocking for better performance in editing software really, it's not gaming related. I'm looking at the 4770/4790 right now tho to save a few £££

That's fair game. I've recently been looking for Non K 4770's and 4790's myself. The cheapest available are at Ebuyer and Amazon, I think there's ~£2 difference.

 

[Nabarun]

Are you guys saying that 500-600 MHz extra doesn't have any substantial benefits? I'm talking about rendering videos. For example, trying to render a 5-10min time-lapse HD clip in Photoshop with at least a few filters and layers. Wouldn't that benefit at all?

 

[RCoon]

Are you guys saying that 500-600 MHz extra doesn't have any substantial benefits? I'm talking about rendering videos. For example, trying to render a 5-10min time-lapse HD clip in Photoshop with at least a few filters and layers. Wouldn't that benefit at all?

That's why I asked what the OC was for. For games, OC isn't worth it so much when it comes to 100-400mhz, for software it almost certainly is.
From 3.4Ghz to 4.4Ghz on my 3570K, the improvements in games were almost negligible. That's why I stuck with 4670 non K with turbo enabled for 3.8Ghz.

 

[Nabarun]

That's why I asked what the OC was for. For games, OC isn't worth it so much when it comes to 100-400mhz, for software it almost certainly is.
From 3.4Ghz to 4.4Ghz on my 3570K, the improvements in games were almost negligible. That's why I stuck with 4670 non K with turbo enabled for 3.8Ghz.

Of course, there's not many games which benefit from oc. But the OP said the the rig was for editing also. He specifically mentioned CPU-hungry apps. That's why I'm wondering why the extra frequencies won't help him.

The build is for editing (DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere, bit o' Photoshop) and gaming.)

 

[Fourstaff]

Some programs use GPU to do their heavy load on certain tasks, so CPU OC might not show as big of an improvement. Something to keep a look out for before questioning the OC.

 

[Nabarun]

Some programs use GPU to do their heavy load on certain tasks, so CPU OC might not show as big of an improvement. Something to keep a look out for before questioning the OC.

tru dat

 

[RCoon]

Some programs use GPU to do their heavy load on certain tasks, so CPU OC might not show as big of an improvement. Something to keep a look out for before questioning the OC.

I believe filters in Photoshop can be CUDA accelerated. Only issue is, not many people who professionally use photoshop are all that keen on 90% of the filters anyway.

 

[GhostRyder]

I don't mind out of Z87 and Z97, I read the table on here and I don't know what M.2 support is but that's the only difference. Obviously if a comparable board can be had for same price i'll take it. Speaking of which anyone know a good board that's Crossfire and SLI capable and at least x16/x8?

edit: I think the Phantoms are ugly as shit. Plus the H440 is a "quiet" case

I like the Phantoms, but no sweat im not everyone so I understand differences in taste

Well yea there is not that much a difference, but you might as well get the next gen motherboard just for the sake of support for new features and the next gen chips in all.

As far as a good board with SLI/CFX
Heres a few of my favs:
MSI Gaming7 Z97
Gigabyte Z97 UD5
Asus Z97Pro Wifi

These are just a few of my favorites, I could name a few more but these have a robust feature set that I like (Just my opinion).

 

[e-gamer]

i7-4770/4790 is Haswell Refresh, "exactly the same" as Haswell ... only different clocking.

Devil's Canyon = i5-4690K + i7-4790K

About cases and noise - everything depend on priorities, H440 use 120mm fans @ 1200rpm and 140mm fan @ 1000rpm - both @ 21dBA ... for egzample, for me, such a noise would be a disaster.
And H440 has no 5.25" bay for optical drive.

Silent case is f.e. Fractal R4 ... with 140mm front + back fans @ 1000rpm (18,5dBA) ... but it comes with fan controller - so you can slow them down.

 

[LaytonJnr]

About cases and noise - everything depend on priorities, H440 use 120mm fans @ 1200rpm and 140mm fan @ 1000rpm - both @ 21dBA ... for egzample, for me, such a noise would be a disaster.
And H440 has no 5.25" bay for optical drive.

I personally don't see 21dBA as a disaster - in fact that is pretty quiet for a case. I know of much louder cases out there. 21dBA is about the loudness of a whisper, rustling leaves, so is barely audible unless the room is dead quiet. And we live in an age of downloading, where we are unlikely to ever need an optical drive. Even installing an OS can be done on a flash drive instead. I don't see the loss of 5.25in bays a problem IMO.

Layton