VR-ready build

€>sense

Hi all,

My son has reached the age that he is now looking for his own gaming PC. I anticipate that he will also look for a VR headset in due course.

I have been reading the two most recent threads here on VR builds, along with the VR recommendations on Logical Increments

I have settled on this rough outline:

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/WC9vrH

If there is any logic to this, then it is as follows:

1) Choose the most recent socket and generation processor to allow for longer system life.

2) Choose a single graphics card that will (may just about?) handle VR at launch and in the next year, but have a motherboard and power supply that would allow adding a second graphics card if necessary either initially or in the medium to long-term.

3) try to keep the immediate cost below €1200, or €1100 if at all possible.

As you can see, I haven't been exactly successful! I would appreciate your help in reducing the cost keeping in mind the goals above.

I would also appreciate advice on where to purchase the parts.

I'm looking at only mindfactory, & computer universe atm.


a) Are there other sites, esp sites that accept visa?

b) Is it better to source them all from the one provider?

c) Is there any point in shopping using UK or any non-German sites?

d) Will there be Black Friday sales this week?

Thanking you in advance for all and any help you can give me.

Digital Solitude

I'd personally drop the CPU to an i5 6600, and drop the cooler. That'd knock about €200 off. Drop to a 600w PSU. You're better with a single Fury X or 980Ti than a pair of 390s IMO.

€>sense

Thanks Digital, much appreciated!

Did you have something like this in mind?

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/c96xwP

Couldn't afford the single Fury or 980Ti, so what would happen to this build? Will it be OK for VR for at least the first year?

With the reduced wattage, Crossfire will not be an option, so what then?

Any advice on the shopping questions?

Digital Solitude

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/BZtRcf

It would be sound for VR yeah, I meant it as I'd probably sell the single card whenever it comes to upgrading. Results from CF aren't always great due to AMDs drivers.

a) No other German ones I'd recommend, more ignorance than mistrust though.
b) Normally keeps delivery down that way.
c) In the EU, it's all about price or returns. Pick one of the other, or a nice mix of both. Amazon is a middleground.
d) Next week

€>sense

Thx Digital

Had parked this until this week hoping for discounts.

What was the logic of dropping:

a) the 6600k to the 6600?

b) the H170 vs z170? And generally how do I choose between different mobos ... there is a bewildering array!

c) the 650w to the 550w? btw I've read on here since that gold is not worth it?

I've also read on here saying to run a build through geizhals/skinflint first? Does that mean that you get better prices on a click through? or do you get a discount voucher? or is it just more convenient to compare prices?

which should I use geizhals or skinflint?

Which amazon should I use? uk, fr, de? will they all ship to Ireland?

Digital Solitude

€>sense wrote: »

a) the 6600k to the 6600? Need to OC to justify the price, not worth it imo

b) the H170 vs z170? And generally how do I choose between different mobos ... there is a bewildering array! Related to over clocking as above. Z170 is for overclocking, H110, H170 or Bxxx (forget the numbers) arewfor non-overclockable CPUs. If you can't tell the difference then you don't need to know what it is, go for a cheaper one.

c) the 650w to the 550w? btw I've read on here since that gold is not worth it? No need in the 650w, the 550w highly rated and semi modular so its still fairly good. You can lower the price there too if you want.

I've also read on here saying to run a build through geizhals/skinflint first? Does that mean that you get better prices on a click through? This

which should I use geizhals or skinflint? Skinflint is in english, geizhals is German. If you tick the box for German stores it's essentially the same thing

Which amazon should I use? uk, fr, de? will they all ship to Ireland? Whatever's cheapest. Curiua.com can compare them. Depends on the item and seller. Mailboxe.de is the German parcel motel if you get a good sale

Answers added

€>sense

Thanks again digital for the extensive help!! The phrase "above and beyond" springs to mind!

I've been looking at reviews of skylake processors on anandtech and I've been underwhelmed with what Skylake delivers - was expecting a bigger jump in performance with a new generation.

I don't want to abuse your generosity, but am now wondering if my Skylake logic is flawed? Am I foolishly looking for socket 1151 processors solely based on them being new?

What exactly would my Skylake upgrade path be?
Does anyone even need to upgrade processors anymore? Is it all about the GPUs?
Is it mad basing my €300 processor decisions around a €100 mb socket?

I've typically gotten 5-7 years out my PCs in the past, mainly because I purchased high-end stuff that left little to upgrade to, and because they were fairly balanced, by the time it was cost effective to upgrade one part, I usually would have needed to upgrade all. (I've never been trying to impress anyone with my rigs stats, and when it starts to show its age, I simply dialled down the settings, or played the best games of my PCs vintage). So, I've never actually upgraded!
You were correct in steering me away from overclocking processors. I did overclock the last build, but a couple of years in I started to get instability and reverted to stock - never noticing a life changing decrease in usage. So I'm not interested in overclocking as I'm worried that it may reduce longevity.

So what I'm saying in a roundabout way is would I be better off downgrading to a cheaper/older socket build?

Digital Solitude

Its hard to call really, with Skylake you can jump to at max, and overclockable i7 Quad Core, with Haswell its the same.

A 4690k with a Z97 board is about the same price as a 6600, with slightly lower performance and overclockability.

DDR4 is probably the main draw to Skylake, but imo its not something to base a build around.

CPUs are so powerful now that by the time a Sandybridge i5 will be a major bottleneck, your Skylake i5 will be coming into the end of its life too.

€>sense

Overclockability is not important, so to be swayed to an older socket solution I would need slightly lower performance but at a good discount, if I understand correctly, you are saying that an older socket build would be roughly equivalent in cost, so I'll stick with the plan.

I'm looking at these 2 builds now:

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/YXXxwP - i7 build with PSU for 2nd graphics card = €1159

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/PmLVVn - i5 build = €1015

Will both still be VR ready - I'm worried I've strayed from the original goal ?

Is there any gaming or longevity benefit to the i7 build for the extra €145 ?

Digital Solitude

No point in the i7 imo

€>sense

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/PmLVVn it is then.

If I was to spend the €150 ish on a better graphics card would it be worth it? The Fury X or 980Ti are over €600 & push it beyond budget, but is there something in between that gives a noticeable VR bang for the extra bucks?

grindle

€>sense wrote: »

The Fury X or 980Ti are over €600 & push it beyond budget, but is there something in between that gives a noticeable VR bang for the extra bucks?

The Fury and 390x from AMD, the 980 from NV, and they'd all definitely show a difference for VR, buuuuut...
I'd spend the money on the best GPU for whatever monitor you have right now, eg a 390 for 1080p @ 60hz, 980ti for 144hz, etc etc...

Buy the best GPU for VR when VR is actually out and some benchmarks indicate which of the new GPUs are the best fit.

€>sense

Thanks grindle,

In an ideal world I'd agree with you, but when the VR comes out next quarter, there prob won't be enough cash for a new card along with the cost of the VR unit.

I've never sold parts before, is it easy to sell a 2nd hand graphics card? What would I expect to get for my €350 r9 390 next year?

grindle

Probably €250-ish. That's presuming there's a price-drop near to the launch of the new cards (fairly likely) and depends on how big of a jump up the next gen of cards actually are.

€>sense

OK can find no bargains so going for this, added a BenQ XL2730Z using my own brain (a very dangerous thing to be doing I know!):

Came out cheapest on Mindfactory at €1615. That's with a whopping €10 off voucher .. could find no useful discount on their site for Black Friday weekend, except €10 off the motherboard and a free mouse.

Very annoyed with the shipping & PayPal costs though - Any way I can reduce this?


8615996 1 250GB Crucial BX100 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA 6Gb/s MLC... € 83,85*
63738 1 27" (68,58cm) BenQ XL Serie XL2730Z schwarz 2560x1440... € 588,84*
64966 1 Intel Core i5 6600 4x 3.30GHz So.1151 BOX € 234,85*
65141 1 8192MB Sapphire Radeon R9 390 Nitro inkl. Backplate Aktiv PCIe... € 349,82*
63132 1 Fractal Define R5 gedämmt mit Sichtfenster Midi Tower... € 108,21*
8445589 1 550 Watt Seasonic G Series Modular 80+ Gold € 76,40*
65136 1 MSI H170A Gaming Pro Intel H170 So.1151 Dual Channel DDR4 ATX... € 123,83*
Rabatt: € 10,00*
62473 1 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4-2400 DIMM CL16 Single € 50,04*
65749 1 MSI GAMING Maus Interceptor DSB1 (Aktionsartikel) € 0,00*

Zwischensumme: € 1.615,84*
Versandkosten: + € 89,97*
PayPal: + € 27,47*
Cyber Weekend-Rabatt: - € 10,00
Gesamtpreis: € 1.723,28

Xenoronin

Unfortunately Mindfactory just have very high shipping fees. They also count this delivery as 3 boxes; the case, the monitor, and the bits.
If you want to reduce shipping, source the monitor and the case more locally, such as amazon or some other site in the UK. That'll drop the shipping down to 30€ for the pc components which is still a undercutting what you will get on a UK or irish site.

BloodBath

Yes get the monitor on amazon, it's on sale there atm for around €562. That will also knock €30 off of your delivery saving nearly €50.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-XL2730Z-27-Inch-FreeSync-Response/dp/B00SL4J1M0/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448633612&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=BenQ+XL+Serie+XL2730Z

You could get this SSD if you want to save another €30.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00S9Q9VS4?ref_=gb1h_img_m-3_1227_0e1fa6d7&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

The case is really costing €140 with the €30 extra delivery so you could save another wedge there by getting something similar from amazon.

I assume paying by bank transfer will negate the €30 paypal fee as well.

€>sense

thanks xenoronin ....

didn't realise that!

Know of anywhere with free/cheap delivery to Ireland for Cases/Monitors?

RoyalMarine

amazon free super saver or komplett have pick up location in blanchardstown.

game4it70

RoyalMarine wrote: »

amazon free super saver or komplett have pick up location in blanchardstown.

Komplett don't allow pickups anymore.

€>sense

thx BloodBath & RoyalMarine.

RoyalMarine: How do I use free SuperSaver?

BloodBath

If you bang the parts through geizhals.de you should save another €100 or so.

It will generate discounted prices on almost everything on mindfactory.

Just search for the parts individually and select mindfactory from the list of sellers.

€>sense

hmmmm trying to buy monitor from amazon, but it defaults back to £405.89 instead of £395.99 when I try to purchase??

Any ideas?

BloodBath

€>sense wrote: »

hmmmm trying to buy monitor from amazon, but it defaults back to £405.89 instead of £395.99 when I try to purchase??

Any ideas?

Select standard delivery and let your bank handle the currency conversion. It's a flat 50c for your bank to do it. Amazon charge more.

€>sense

Thanks BloodBath,

I used skinflint to do that, but didn't really see a change in price.

€>sense

Cross post - OK re conversion on price, but can't understand why the stg list price changes as I move through the screens?

Lu Tze

€>sense wrote: »

Cross post - OK re conversion on price, but can't understand why the stg list price changes as I move through the screens?

Irish vat @23% versus English which is 19% I think

€>sense

ah ha! Thanks Lu Tze.

RoyalMarine

yeah it's the tax rate. always get's me too

€>sense

Now all I need is an amazon 50% off voucher ;-)

€>sense

or a black Friday price on the r9 390 ....