R15000 Gaming PC

[Safejack]

Hi Guys/Gals

I planning on building a PC with a Budget of R15000 any recommendations ?

Thank you in advance

[StarBound]

OS: Windows 7 64-bit home premium ~ R1500

Since the rand took a bloody nose dive and I am too lazy to go find everything:
CPU: i5 3470 or better ~ R2500
GPU: MSI geforce 660 twinfrozer ~ R2500
HDD: 2TB ~ R1500
MB: Z77 based board ~ R2000
RAM: DDR3 1600 8GB ~ R800
PSU: 600W ~ R1200 (make sure you look at a proper coolermaster, thermaltake or corsair)
Case with fans and front USB3 ~ R1000 (CM storm/enforcer comes to mind)
DVD-RW ~ R250

Screen/keyboard/mouse is all dependent on what you want. So good luck with that.

I would recommend a SSD 120gb for a boot drive if you have cash to burn or changing the graphics card to a geforce gtx770 or even gtx680 if you can.

[StarPhoenix]

How much is he likely to lose out on if he opts for a b75 based board, and puts the money towards boosting something else?

OP did not say what the machine is intended for.

[rustypup]

OP did not say what the machine is intended for.

R15000 Gaming PC

[StarBound]

Well MSI has a Z77A board for around R1200 on rebeltech but no front usb3. But you do loose out on the sli/xfire which in most cases does not matter anyway. Still on the gpu side after the 660 things become a bit pricy.

[MaxPayne>DOOM<]

I've said this before somewhere and these gpus all come with games http://www.wootware.co.za/computer-hard ... ndles.html

rebeltech should have a MSI z77 board for 997 Rand they also have 4 gigs cl9 1600 MHz ram for 402 rand
and a corsair vs650 for 650 rand

[StarBound]

Wootwares pricing seems rather well but I don't have any sources to back up their credibility. Infact if I remember correctly they have a few issues. But there is a change I would recommend though and that is to opt for a Radeon 7970, specificly this one:
http://www.wootware.co.za/powercolor-ax ... chers.html
At that price with those games bundled it seems like a sure bet. And it has 2 fans to cool it. Should be quieter and cooler than reference cooler.

[Stuart]

if I remember correctly they have a few issues

I've heard nothing but good about Wootware

[StarBound]

if I remember correctly they have a few issues

I've heard nothing but good about Wootware

I smell a rat...

Well then he'll have to take your word for it. Ok so now that my exams are done and I can focus on other stuff I did a bit of browsing thru wootwares stuff. If you are in PTA/JHB you might want to check http://www.rebeltech.co.za and if your CTA you might want to take this list:

CPU - http://www.wootware.co.za/intel-bx80646 ... l-cpu.html
GPU - http://www.wootware.co.za/powercolor-ax ... chers.html
Mobo - http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-z87-g43-i ... board.html
Ram - http://www.wootware.co.za/corsair-cml8g ... emory.html
PSU - http://www.wootware.co.za/coolermaster- ... v2-31.html
Box - http://www.wootware.co.za/coolermaster- ... u-atx.html
HDD - http://www.wootware.co.za/seagate-st200 ... drive.html

So thats the i5 3.2ghz for R2500, the Z87 board for R2000, the radeon 7970 graphics card for R4500, the 8GB 1600mhz ram for R1000, the box for R1100, the PSU for R1250, and HDD for R1100.

Total so far = R13450
Add R250 for your DVD and R1250 for Windows 7 64-bit home premium. Ok whats missing is the mouse and keyboard and screen. If they have to be included your looking at downgrading that graphics card to a geforce 660. 23" led will set you back R2000 which is the price difference in the graphics card. And normally ppl forget to add windows.

Oh and the reason your cpu and mobo are expensive it because its the new haswell cpu and socket 1150 board. You can opt for a cheaper board but then you must make peace with sticking to an older incompatible board and cpu. With intel my advice is stay up to date.

[Safejack]

Hi

Thanks for all the help
Is there a big difference between the brands of graphics cards ?
eg: msi vs powercolor
looking btween these cpu :
1. Intel Core i7-4770K vs Intel Core i7-3770K
OR
The next best I5 cpu

[Stuart]

Is there a big difference between the brands of graphics cards ?

No. Some will have better bundles than others. Some will have better cooling than others. But no major difference between the same card from different manufacturers.

[Safejack]

Hi

Managed to build 3 systems from 3 company wanted to know opinions:

WOOTWARE PRICE

CASE Zalman Z11 Plus Windows Side Panel No PSU USB 3.0 Desktop Chassis - Black R 800
CPU Intel Core i7-3770k 3.5GHz LGA1155 Quad Core Ivy Bridge CPU R 3 800
DISPLAY CARD MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC nVidia GeForce GTX670 Power Edition OC 2GB 256-Bit PCI-E 3.0 28nm Desktop Graphics Card R 5 000
MOBO MSI Z77A-G43 GAMING Intel Socket 1155 ATX Desktop Motherboard R 1 450
HDD Seagate ST2000DM001 2TB 7200RPM SATA III 64MB Cache 3.5" Internal Hard Drive 1100
RAM G.Skill F3-1600C9D-8GAB 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600MHz 1.5V CL9 Dual Channel Ares Desktop Memory 1700
PS Corsair CP-9020051-WW VS650 650W Desktop Power Supply R 730

TOTAL R 14 580

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rebeltech

CASE Raidmax Super Aeolus Black - Windowed Side Panel - No PSU 500
CPU Intel Core i7 3770K, 3.4GHz, LGA1155, Quad Core (Hyper Threading with 8 threads) 3900
DISPLAY CARD MSI R7970-2PMD3GD5/OC, HD7970, 3GB 384bit GDDR5, Crossfire ready, PCI-E 3.0 (x16 R 5 000
MOBO MSI Z77A-G43 GAMING, LGA1155, Intel Z77, 4x dual channel DDR3 3000, on-board Int 1400
hdd Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001, 2TB/2000GB, SATA6G, 7200rpm, 64MB cache, with Op R 1 100
RAM Corsair CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9, 4GB, Vengeance with black heatsink, DDR3-1600, CL9, 1. 1800
PS Corsair VS650, 650w (12v : 600w), EPS12V, ATX 12V V2.3, 24pin, with active-PFC, 650


TOTAL 14350
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shadow

Apacer Black Panther 2x 4GB DDR3 240-Pin DIMM, 1.5V [DDR12800] 1600 Mhz Limited Lifetime warranty, Heatspreader L R 1 700(16gigs total)
Raidmax Super Viper Black - Windowed Side Pannel - No PSU [ATX] R 379
RaidMax 730W PSU, 135mm Blue LED Fan 150x158x86 R 585
Intel ® i7-3770K QC Ivy Bridge 3.50 GHz 8Mb Cache 22nm + IGP (650Mhz) HD4000 R 3 150
MSI N670GTX-PM2D2GD5, 2GB 16X PCI-E (DVIx 2, HDMI, DP, 3 Way SLi) DDR5 R 4 013
MSI Gaming B75A G43, S1155, DDR3, GB LAN, DVI-D/VGA/HDMI - Raid CF R 989
WD CAVIAR GP 2TB IntelliPower R 961

Total R 11 776
incl vat 13424,9136

......................................................................................................................................

Advice is greatly appreciated
Thank you

[D3PART3D]

Does it have to be one of those? I like StarBound's build more.

[Safejack]

Nope it does not trying to build one with a I7 though is there a big difference in the performance btwn i5 and i7 cpu

[D3PART3D]

To be honest I haven't really kept up to date with the most recent games, but I would have said no a few months ago. StarBound could probably give you an answer, sorry.

[StarBound]

i5 and i7 does not really have a huge gaming performance but pricing is big. I'd go with the rebeltech build though. So option 2.

Just a few questions:
1 - Do you have your OS? Windows 7 64-bit home premium is R1300. Windows 8 is under R1000 but people hate it and so do it.
2 - I don't see a DVD drive. You got one?
3 - No screen or keyboard. I assume you have those to then.

[Safejack]

Got the OS from University they selling win 7/win 8 64bit (Premium)for R180
DVD writer is R150
as for the screen trying to spend R13500 on the box and R1500 for the screen

[GDI_Lord]

On the subject of Win8, really now? I installed Win8 with the express purpose of being able to tell people (my boss at the time included) that I tried it and I hate it and it's pathetic, but I've found it not to be so. The speed up for boot times, shut down times and - most importantly - application startup times compared to Win7 on my machine at home are dramatic.

How much time do I spend on the Metro interface? Almost none. Do I find the Metro interface horrible that I don't use it? No, there are just no apps that I use that are on the Metro interface. I don't miss the lack of a start button as I press the Windows key on the keyboard and then start typing the name of the application or setting or whatever it is that I am searching for.

Notice that I expressed facts in the first paragraph and opinions in the second. You might love the new Metro interface or you might hate it, you might notice the lack of a start button or not, those are up to you. However, it is speedier than Win7 and that might be more important to you than what I **after only two or three days of use** consider mere fluff.

[StarBound]

The metro interface didn't bother me. Everything else did. I'll take the 12 second boot time over an 4 second boot time if it means my games runs at 100% fps rather than the 50% it ran on windows 8.

[GDI_Lord]

if it means my games runs at 100% fps rather than the 50% it ran on windows 8.

Whoa. That's quite a hit. What titles did you run, on what hardware with what drivers? I've noticed no change up or down whatsoever. I haven't measured, it's what I've noticed. I'm running a C2D E6750 with 4GB RAM and a 6670.

[StarBound]

Borderlands 2 framerate was cut in half. That was the most noticeable of all of them. GW2 seemed to be the only game that gained performance.

[GDI_Lord]

Interesting.