Hi guys,

Can suggest me rig to replace my old Dell Inspiron? Recently got lucky draw that win me Samsung 19" monitor, so thinking of building budget rig instead of buying new laptops. Haven't build PC since 2005 so kind of lost with all the new hardwares now (esp. on GPU and mobo)

[Budget]
RM2500 max, lower is better but don't want to sacrifice performance.

[Purpose]
Work: Programming (Java & PHP), light Photoshop (use for icons/wireframe/little image manipulation), can handle multitasking very well (a lot of Chrome tabs - 20/30 is normal for me, also need to consider appserver & webserver). Maybe a bit virtualization (Oracle VirtualBox + Vagrant settings), but I might dual-boot with Linux.

Light gaming: Mostly played old games (Sim City 4, old Diablo 2, Dungeon Siege 2, Civilization, Football Manager.. I'm more into RPG/strategy). Maybe wanted to try new games e.g. Diablo 3/Starcraft 2/Dota 2/Watch Dog, but not priority. Much prefer not online games now that I'm married (although I do miss the good ol times of playing RO and Dota 1 v5/v6 sometimes )

[Hardware existing/reuse]
Monitor - got Samsung 19" (only 1366x768), keyboard & mouse.

[Games/Softwares used frequently]
Softwares: Netbeans, IntelliJ, PhpStorm, Photoshop, Tomcat/Glassfish/Apache stuffs, VirtualBox and Vagrant, dual-boot Windows/Linux.
Games: see above. Not a heavy gamer.

[Personal preferences]
- Small form factor if possible (eyeing for CM Elite 130 - need that USB3!)
- If possible Mobo include Wifi (my Unifi is installed at ruang tamu, don't want to pull LAN cable).
- Not planning to OC at all. Thinking either Xeon/i7 4790, but can't decide which. Not sure should go with just integrated GPU or is it worth it to get a graphic card...
- 8GB RAM, can still tolerate no SSD (maybe future upgrade).

Question:
1) Do I still need CPU cooler for heavy workload? Or stock cooler still okay? Worried that running too much stuff at one time will get too much CPU heat then blow my mobo

2) B85 vs H97 motherboard; apart from CPU support, what's the advantage of getting H97? Is B85 not future-proof?

3) Can suggest future upgrade? Which one first? SSD/RAM? Maybe not GPU (if already suggested) since I'm not playing newest game (but I might add another monitor for 1 vertical / 1 horizontal settings).

Thanks sifu!

Ok. Just did a full research on the motherboard. The specs looks good

Your budget pretty overkill for your relatively lite usages, LOL.

I5 + GTX750ti + SSD should not go wrong for you. Make it a xeon is also a viable choice and technically more future proof too.

Since you like multitasking and do some photoshop, can consider directly grab 2x 8GB RAM.

Lastly, 720p monitor is hardly sufficient nowadays, try trade in it for a better one if that's me

This post has been edited by Human10: Jan 6 2015, 11:24 PM

More than enough.

H97 has RAID support(which maybe useful to preserve the integrity of your virtualized container) while B85 doesn't.

Hey Sifus here..need some advice

Will wana rebuild my rig.
Whats left to be reused are SSD,HDD GPU(gtx970)
Im going for a M-itx casing..corsair 380T

For 2.5k - 3k
What can be the best parts selection?

What i have in mind

I5 4679k? I7 perhaps?
Z series mobo
Dual channel rams
750w Psu modular
380T casing

Might wana OC in the future..

Which GTX970 do you've?

CPU:Intel Core i7 4790k 4GHz RM1110
MoBo:Asrock Z97E-ITX/AC RM549
RAM:GSkill Aegis 8GB DDR3 1600MHz RM249
PSU:Seasonic M12II 80+ Bronze 620W Modular RM359
Casing:Corsair Graphite 380T Black RM509
CPU Cooler:Noctua NH-L9i RM169
Total:RM2940
Prices are from IdealTech.

The options for air cooling for m-itx is limited,FYI. If you want watercooler,CM Seidon 120V RM199,not sure if IdealTech have them at their store or not.Else,can get it from Viewnet@LYP.

This post has been edited by Minecrafter: Jan 7 2015, 10:50 AM

Helo,im looking a pc with a budget around rm 1.5 k - rm 2 k.mostly can play all types of games like cod,dota,lol,battlefield 4.anyone can tell me which one ?

Thanks bro for the suggestion..
I have GTX asus strix..
Might wana keep the cooler plan for next budget..hehe
Im in abit of a dilemma now coz casing is small. To OC or not..

CPU:Intel Core i5 4460 3.2Ghz RM619
MoBo:Asrock B85M-HDS RM239
GPU:Sapphire R9 270 Dual-X OC 2GB GDDR5 RM589
RAM:Kingston Value RAM 4GB DDR3 1600Mhz RM134
HDD:WD Caviar Blue 1TB RM174
PSU:FSP Hexa+ 550W RM169
Casing:CM K380 RM149
ODD:Liteon 24x DVDRW RM59
Total:RM2132
Prices are from Viewnet@LYP.

That is over your budget,you can remove the ODD or try to haggle eith them to get it cheaper. Or change GPU to Sapphire R7 265 Dual-X OC 2GB GDDR5 RM529.

Well,if you don't want to OC,change CPU to i7 4790 3.6GHz RM988,MoBo to Asrock H97M-ITX/AC RM349 and CPU cooler to Scythe Katana 4 RM89.

how bout the below tran? any modifications compared to the one above?

i5-3470-Quad Core 3.2ghz-sc1155-3mb cache
Asus P8Z77-V-LX2
Sapphire HD7790
8GB Corsair PC3 12800 DDR3 1600
Seagate 1TB 7200rpm SATA II/Western Digital 1tb 7200 Blue
AOC 23" E2343F
LG 24x
Aerocool VX-R Battle Edition
FPS HEXA 500w

Hi, any brand suggestion for 250gb SSD? Samsung Evo?

Crucial MX100 is fine if you can find them sub 400.

TristanX's build eats the one above.Also,from his suggestion,just add a monitor..Samsung S22C170BS RM349.

Either one of Samsung 840 Evo 256GB RM449 or Intel 530 Series 240GB RM449.

thanks for the suggestion

My spec steamrolls your spec. Don't bother.

Thanks! just one question tho, once the rig is done, do i need a router or a dongle to connect to my house's wifi?

Hi sifus,

I am looking to purchase a gaming desktop, inclusive of monitor, keyboard and mouse.
What i would like is a rig that can play the latest resource heavy games on the highest level of settings.

Budget i have is around rm 4k to rm5k.
Appreciate if i could get some guidance on this matter, thank you!

How about these?

Core i7-4790 - RM1039
Coolermaster Hyper 212X - RM149
Asrock H97 Pro4 motherboard - RM329
Kingston 8GB DDR3-1600 x1 - RM249
Leadtek GTX970 4GB DDR5 Hurricane - RM1299
Intel 530 120GB SSD - RM259
Seagate SV35 2TB hard disk - RM299
DVD writer of your choice - RM59
Seasonic M12 II Evo 620W power supply - RM359
Corsair Spec 02/03 case - RM219
Dell E2414H 24" monitor - RM569
Logitech MK200 mouse and keyboard combo - RM45

RM4874 total (Viewnet prices)

Hi TristanX,

With the above rig specs, how long do you think i can use it until any upgrade required?
Also, would you suggest windows 7 or 8? I have completely no idea which os would be better.