Won a kit guru competition however

[mac_shinobi]

@seawolf or anyone ref a screen, if i have to get a smaller monitor to ensure I get a good quality one then so be it but need suggestions

[Arthur]

Is there a better screen that is IPS

Dell P2414H perhaps? It has DisplayPort, DVI and VGA, but no HDMI. You could still connect your PC and Mac mini to it via DVI and DP though.

 

Maybe consider buying a 32" hd tv?

I wouldn't use a TV as a computer monitor myself.

 

When are you thinking of ordering the other parts?

Edited June 5, 2014 by Arthur

[mac_shinobi]

Dell P2414H perhaps? It has DisplayPort, DVI and VGA, but no HDMI. You could still connect your PC and Mac mini to it via DVI and DP though.

 

 

I wouldn't use a TV as a computer monitor myself.

 

When are you thinking of ordering the other parts?

 

Trying to collate two lists

 

One with the cheapest stuff so that £40 case you pointed me to, an 8gb ram kit , using the stock heat sink and fan , either a 1tb SSHD 3.5 by seagate or a 1Tb WD Black and for now use that as the boot drive etc

 

A 2nd list with parts I ideally want to get so i4770K i7 cpu, 16gb ram, the 750D Case or similar, the H100i cooler , one 240gb SSD and two either 1 or 2 tb hard drives to put into RAID 1 config

 

Still putting that list together in terms of price of each part and total cost overall - will most likely have to get a part or two at a time ( each month ), don't want to spend the money now and then only come to have to spend more money to upgrade it a bit later on so may as well just take longer to get the parts and order what I actually want so may take a couple of months to get the CPU, a month to get the H100i cooler, another month to get the RAM etc ( not literally in that order but you get the gist )

 

One last question that I can think of - the corsair obsidian 750D in comparison to the 650D

 

Is the 650D = Air Cooling and

 

The 750D = Water Cooling

 

Or can you use both for either - just looking at the 750D as got better reviews ( If I recall correctly ) so was hoping I could use the 750D for both water or air cooling ( was thinking I could use stock heatsink + fan to start with and get the H100i later on

 

That was my thoughts anyway

Edited June 5, 2014 by mac_shinobi

[featured_spectre]

tested the hard drive, doesn't work, so I got nothing.

[mac_shinobi]

tested the hard drive, doesn't work, so I got nothing.

 

Was worth an ask / try - no worries will just resort to purchasing an item a month or something to that effect so may be a number of months before I have all the stuff I need to get it built etc

[Arthur]

If you can wait until the weekend, I'll post the computer parts I have for sale in the classifieds forum.

 

Is the 650D = air cooling and the 750D = water cooling

You can almost always do both. AIO water coolers come in many different sizes, but all of them will be designed to fit in the 120mm or dual 120mm fan mounts at the top or rear of the case depending upon the size of the cooler.

[bloodtaker]

a good way to get pricing and what not is a System Build - PCPartPicker it allows you to adjust for country and then pick parts within your budget specific for your build. Best prices 95% of the time as well.

 

 

This is with the parts already selected that you won. Now it has compatability with your mobo so just find something in your price range for cpu,ram,hdd or ssd, and monitor http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/MJ6ndC

 

Also when it comes to screens anything AOC is going to be sufficient and cheap. Plus they have great customer service. My monitors were out of warranty by 2 months and the power bricks went out on them from a power surge. They replaced them free of charge no questions asked.

Edited June 5, 2014 by bloodtaker

[mac_shinobi]

a good way to get pricing and what not is a System Build - PCPartPicker it allows you to adjust for country and then pick parts within your budget specific for your build. Best prices 95% of the time as well.

 

 

This is with the parts already selected that you won. Now it has compatability with your mobo so just find something in your price range for cpu,ram,hdd or ssd, and monitor http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/MJ6ndC

 

Also when it comes to screens anything AOC is going to be sufficient and cheap. Plus they have great customer service. My monitors were out of warranty by 2 months and the power bricks went out on them from a power surge. They replaced them free of charge no questions asked.

 

Where did you find my motherboard as I cant find it listed ??

[featured_spectre]

"http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-sabertoothz97"

[featured_spectre]

Intel Core i5-4690, Asus GeForce GTX 760 (2-Way SLI), Thermaltake VL80001W2Z - System Build - PCPartPicker < this is what I would build from that site on a reasonable budget...take off the costs from your mobo, PSU and GFX card obviously.

 

No HDD included however as that is ALWAYS down to personal choice.

Edited June 6, 2014 by featured_spectre

[mac_shinobi]

Intel Core i5-4690, Asus GeForce GTX 760 (2-Way SLI), Thermaltake VL80001W2Z - System Build - PCPartPicker < this is what I would build from that site on a reasonable budget...take off the costs from your mobo, PSU and GFX card obviously.

 

No HDD included however as that is ALWAYS down to personal choice.

 

Why the 4690 ??

Edited June 6, 2014 by mac_shinobi

[featured_spectre]

At only a fiver more than the 4670 it's worth it on that alone. Also performance wise it's decent. You could go higher, you could go lower, but that is what I would take.

[mac_shinobi]

At only a fiver more than the 4670 it's worth it on that alone. Also performance wise it's decent. You could go higher, you could go lower, but that is what I would take.

 

Think the 4690 is about £170 vs the 4770k i7 @ £235 so about £65 extra

 

So if im gonna spend £170 I might as well just get the i7

 

Am thinking i will leave the cpu till last and buy the other parts first

[Arthur]

So if I'm gonna spend £170 I might as well just get the i7

If you're going to spend £235 for the i7-4770k, you might as well pay another £27 for the i7-4790K.

 

When looking at single GPU 1080p gaming benchmarks, there isn't actually much of a difference between a Core i3, i5 and i7. The money saved by not getting a top-of-the-range Intel CPU would surely be better spent on other components and/or reducing the time it takes to build the PC?

 

@nephilim's suggestion is good. Get the Core i5-4690 (£160) if you are not planning on overclocking, or the Core i5-4690K (£183) if you are.

 

 

The Intel Haswell Refresh Review: Core i7-4790, i5-4690 and i3-4360 Tested « AnandTech

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2014 by Arthur

[mac_shinobi]

If you're going to spend £235 for the i7-4770k, you might as well pay another £27 for the i7-4790K.

 

When looking at single GPU 1080p gaming benchmarks, there isn't actually much of a difference between a Core i3, i5 and i7. The money saved by not getting a top-of-the-range Intel CPU would surely be better spent on other components and/or reducing the time it takes to build the PC?

 

@nephilim's suggestion is good. Get the Core i5-4690 (£160) if you are not planning on overclocking, or the Core i5-4690K (£183) if you are.

 

 

The Intel Haswell Refresh Review: Core i7-4790, i5-4690 and i3-4360 Tested « AnandTech

 

 

 

 

Which cpu would be better so I can learn more about server os, exchange , powershell or maybe even hyper v ( on server 2008 or 2012 ) etc etc using VM's ie virtual

box??

 

Basically gonna use it for that , video transcoding ie handbrake to convert between formats and gaming

 

Thinking the 4690K for £183 as that seems to perform similar to the i7 and is a bit cheaper and can be OC'ed a bit

 

Do I need to buy any screws / seperators etc to screw the psu and mobo into the case or what exactly ?

 

Gonna go for the 750D obsidian , seeing as I will buy one item at a time, will get the cpu last

Edited June 7, 2014 by mac_shinobi

[mac_shinobi]

Are there any LGA 1150 Xeons and how do they perform vs the i5 or i7??

[featured_spectre]

I think there are xeons but I wouldn't use them for a gaming or home pc. I'd put them to use for a server.

[Arthur]

Which CPU would be better so I can learn more about server os, exchange, powershell or maybe even Hyper-V (on Server 2008 or 2012) etc.

The Core i5-4690K will be fine for those tasks. Many EduGeek's manage with a lot less (like first gen HP Microservers for example).

 

Btw, Windows 8.1 Pro includes Hyper-V if you wanted to use that. Just go to 'Programs and Features' to install it.

 

 

Basically gonna use it for that, video transcoding i.e. handbrake to convert between formats and gaming

An i7 will be faster than an i5 at compressing video, but realistically would you be doing enough transcoding to justify the added expense?

 

Do I need to buy any screws / separators etc to screw the psu and mobo into the case or what exactly?

Nope. Everything you need will come in the case and PSU boxes.

 

Gonna go for the 750D obsidian, seeing as I will buy one item at a time, will get the cpu last

Just an idea, but have you considered buying all of the parts at once (after you have saved up the money)? The reason being that if one of your parts is DOA or faulty - like the SSD, HDD or RAM, it will be too late to get a full refund from the supplier since too much time will have passed from when you received the item. Obviously you'll still be able to get a like-for-like replacement for faulty parts, but if you want to buy something completely different you'll probably be SOL.

 

The other benefit is that the parts you buy each month won't slowly become obsolete and/or cheaper while you wait for the CPU.

 

Are there any LGA 1150 Xeons and how do they perform vs the i5 or i7??

The Xeon E3 series processors are LGA 1150. The performance difference between the equivalent i5 or i7 will be very small (with the Xeon being slower) and you won't be able to overclock a Xeon. As @nephilim said, it's not worth it.

 

The closest Xeon equivalent of a Core i5-4690 would be the E3-1226 v3.

 

http://ark.intel.com/compare/80917,75047,80810

Edited June 7, 2014 by Arthur

[mac_shinobi]

Saving and getting the parts at once is a good suggestion so will have to do that. Not a lot but I don't mind waiting 10 mins or more to do those kind of tasks

 

Hopefully in a couple of years the cpu's will go down in price

 

Thank you @Arthur and @nephilim

[featured_spectre]

Well the graphics card, mobo and psu are fantastic and should last easily 5 years or more for the usage you've described. How much are you able to put away? Also remember prices have fluctuations so what is good now might not be good in 6 months in terms of price, however as tech progresses the cost for 'outdated' tech gets cheaper.

 

Thankfully in your circumstances you have a great base to work from!

 

RAM wise if I upgrade mine anytime soon you can have a 4gb stick for half the current cost :-)

[mac_shinobi]

Well the graphics card, mobo and psu are fantastic and should last easily 5 years or more for the usage you've described. How much are you able to put away? Also remember prices have fluctuations so what is good now might not be good in 6 months in terms of price, however as tech progresses the cost for 'outdated' tech gets cheaper.

 

Thankfully in your circumstances you have a great base to work from!

 

RAM wise if I upgrade mine anytime soon you can have a 4gb stick for half the current cost :-)

 

Usung that pc parts picker tonight to see how much I need to save in total

 

Any sugestions on a keyboard + mouse. I used to have the keyboard and mouse combo by logitech mx5 which I loved other than pairing was a pita. Most likely go with usb cabled but so much choices on all components

[mac_shinobi]

How would that G3258 special edition cpu do with the tasks im trying to do ?

 

Can leave doing video transcoding for now

Edited June 7, 2014 by mac_shinobi

[SYNACK]

Intels new chips have transcoding extensions built in http://www.whitneyland.com/2010/09/intel-cpu-vs-nvidia-gpu-video-transcoding.html but so do the other newer gpus.

[Arthur]

How would that G3258 special edition CPU do with the tasks I'm trying to do?

I don't think a dual-core CPU is going to cut it for gaming over the next couple of years, especially as more and more games are ported from the Xbox One and PS4 to the PC. What do you think @SYNACK / @nephilim?

 

Can leave doing video transcoding for now

You can still do video transcoding with a Core i5.

 

Intel's new chips have transcoding extensions built in

Intel's CPUs - from the Core i3 up - have included QuickSync support since Sandy Bridge (c. Q3 2011). However, the quality of the videos it produces has regressed with Haswell.

 

As the article below mentions, QuickSync is great at encoding videos for mobile devices where quality is not as important since it's very fast. If I was transcoding Blu-rays to watch on a PC or HDTV I would still use x264 though.

 

QuickSync Gets Open Source Support, Regresses in Quality « AnandTech

 

 

Edited June 7, 2014 by Arthur

[SYNACK]

I agree, games are an area where more cores are better. Two cores were eaten several years ago and with better Ai and design principles going in you will want more, even the xb1 with eight cores offloads a bunch of threads in forza and titanfall to azure. PC games usually try to onboard more of the load so more cores the better. The turbo boost is also handy for some things that hit a single thread hard. I would probably go for a top or near top of the line i5 if concerned with cost - that's what I got for my dev box - or an i7 if you are wanting to hit the gaming hard.