Please help with PC & Router Recommendations

[adsl2]

Hi Guys,

PC:
I need some opinions on the following build. It will be used as an everyday PC (Visual Studio, Virtual Machines etc), gaming machine as well as some photo editing once in awhile.

What I have:

• 2 x Corsair Value Select 4GB DDR3-1333 - CL9
• CoolerMaster Gladiator 600 Case
• 1x OCZ AGILITY 3 SATA III 2.5" SSD
• 2x 7200rpm HDD’s
• DVD-ROM
• 2x Screens + Mouse & KB

What I am considering:

• CPU: i7 - 4770K
• MB: ASRock Z87M Pro4
• PSU: Corsair GS 600W
• GPU: (one of the following)
• PowerColor AX7870 2GBD5-2DH/OC Radeon HD7870 OC GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Desktop Graphics​
• PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV5E Radeon HD7950 Boost-State 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Desktop Graphics​
• PowerColor AX7970 3GBD5-2DHE/OC RADEON HD7970 OC Edition 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x 16 Desktop Graphics​

I had an i7-2600k & HD6870, will this be a decent upgrade? (My PC was damaged by lightning)
How big is the upgrade 7870 -> 7950 -> 7970? I am tending towards the 7870 or the 7950 since the 7970 is quite expensive.
Is it worth it to add another 8GB RAM?
How does my SSD compare to the newer ones? Worth upgrading?
Will the 4770K & 7870/7950 combo handle BF4 well?
How is the i7-4770K? Is it maybe an overkill?
Is ASRock a reliable brand? I have only used ASUS before.
Will the GS 600W be heavy enough to power this build?

I would like to stay below R11k with the new PC components but can maybe up it a bit if it is really worth it.


Router:
I have read quite a bit about various routers and can't make up my mind. Most guys here seem to recommend TP-Link.
Both the W8968 and the WR1043ND looks attractive.
Are these good options?
I would like to stay below R700-R800.


I will appreciate any comments.

Thanks guys

 

[Chris14]

Don't go for ASrock cheap crap brand. Rather go for Gigabyte, Asus m/board.
I assume your OS is 64-bit Windows 7 but I think 8GB should be more than enough.
I'm not sure if 600W PSU is enough.

 

[NomNom]

Don't go for ASrock cheap crap brand.

You couldn't be more wrong. They are the third largest motherboard maker in the world.

I had an i7-2600k & HD6870, will this be a decent upgrade? (My PC was damaged by lightning)

Kind of, you're getting newer generations of what you had so there will be performance increases.

How big is the upgrade 7870 -> 7950 -> 7970? I am tending towards the 7870 or the 7950 since the 7970 is quite expensive.

I can't really comment on this, but I'm led to believe that there is a big difference between the 7870 and 7950 and not as big difference between the 7950 and 7970.

Is it worth it to add another 8GB RAM?

8GB is enough for most people, but you said you will be running virtual machines so I would think that you would need more than 8GB.

How does my SSD compare to the newer ones? Worth upgrading?

It's still decent, no need to upgrade.

Will the 4770K & 7870/7950 combo handle BF4 well?

Very well yes.

How is the i7-4770K? Is it maybe an overkill?

Usually yes, if you were just gaming then the i5-3770K would be enough, it comes down to if you need the hyperthreading or not.

Is ASRock a reliable brand? I have only used ASUS before.

Yes, incredibly good brand, ASUS even tried to buy them recently and they refused. ASRock of late has been doing very well.

Will the GS 600W be heavy enough to power this build?

It should be enough, if you go crossfire you will need to upgrade it.


I don't know much about routers, however there is a brand you should stay clear away from I can't remember if it's TP-Link or Trendnet, I think it's Trendnet.

Update: It's Trendnet that you should stay clear away from.

 

[adsl2]

You couldn't be more wrong. They are the third largest motherboard maker in the world.





Kind of, you're getting newer generations of what you had so there will be performance increases.



I can't really comment on this, but I'm led to believe that there is a big difference between the 7870 and 7950 and not as big difference between the 7950 and 7970.



8GB is enough for most people, but you said you will be running virtual machines so I would think that you would need more than 8GB.



It's still decent, no need to upgrade.



Very well yes.



Usually yes, if you were just gaming then the i5-3770K would be enough, it comes down to if you need the hyperthreading or not.



Yes, incredibly good brand, ASUS even tried to buy them recently and they refused. ASRock of late has been doing very well.



It should be enough, if you go crossfire you will need to upgrade it.


I don't know much about routers, however there is a brand you should stay clear away from I can't remember if it's TP-Link or Trendnet, I think it's Trendnet.

Thanks NomNom, your reply is appreciated.

 

[Pada]

Ignore what Chris14 said.

Just take note that the TP-Link WR1043ND is NOT an ADSL modem, where as the W8968 is an all-in-one unit (router + modem + WiFi AP)!
People are generally satisfied by the TP-Link units, because they offer great value for money and I've seen few negative remarks for them.

Seeing that you're on a budget now, I can't recommend upgrading RAM to 32GB, however I'd highly recommend 16GB and that you get it ASAP, because prices will increase very soon!
My office PC is an i7 2600k (Cogage True Spirit cooler), 32GB DDR3 1600MHz, 128GB OCZ Agility 4 SSD + 2TB HDD, HD5670, 30" Dell IPS + 23" LCD.
I can definitely say to you that when you're going to run VM's (like I do with my programming line of work) that 8GB of RAM isn't enough! 16GB is usually enough for me, but every now and then I consume like 20GB+ of RAM, and I got my 32GB of RAM for R1600 incl VAT - which is less than what you'll pay for 16GB right now.

A decent 550W PSU should suffice for any of those mentioned graphics cards, even if you overclock your CPU and GPU to their limits (excl perhaps if you're going to below 0'C kind of overclocking).
The PSU that I typically recommend for single high end graphics cards is the XFX ProSeries 550W @ ~R700, because it has scored excellent reviews, comes with 5 year warranty and offers very good value for money.

Your SSD should be good enough for now. I doubt that you'll notice a difference between it and a new & expensive SSD.

There is nothing wrong with going for that ASRock motherboard.

For gaming, the i5 4570k should suffice, but if you're running VM's then I'll recommend sticking with the i7 - unless you rarely push your VMs to their limits / that don't require much CPU power.

The HD7950 is highly recommended. There is a noticeable jump in performance between it an the HD7870. If you know how to overclock, then the HD7950 can easily be overclocked to faster speeds than that of the HD7970.
With just a Full HD resolution, you won't need anything more than a single HD7950 for the next few years I suppose.

 

[Necuno]

Don't go for ASrock cheap crap brand. Rather go for Gigabyte, Asus m/board.
I assume your OS is 64-bit Windows 7 but I think 8GB should be more than enough.
I'm not sure if 600W PSU is enough.

LOL, look ±10 years a go I would agree and say stay the **** away from ASRock. However things has changed and I'm very happy with my Z77 asrock pro 4.

 

[mintydroid]

LOL, look ±10 years a go I would agree and say stay the **** away from ASRock. However things has changed and I'm very happy with my Z77 asrock pro 4.

I've got an old P4 with Asrock mobo. An absolute budget buy back then. It's 8 years old and still extremely reliable.

 

[adsl2]

Ignore what Chris14 said.

Just take note that the TP-Link WR1043ND is NOT an ADSL modem, where as the W8968 is an all-in-one unit (router + modem + WiFi AP)!
People are generally satisfied by the TP-Link units, because they offer great value for money and I've seen few negative remarks for them.

Seeing that you're on a budget now, I can't recommend upgrading RAM to 32GB, however I'd highly recommend 16GB and that you get it ASAP, because prices will increase very soon!
My office PC is an i7 2600k (Cogage True Spirit cooler), 32GB DDR3 1600MHz, 128GB OCZ Agility 4 SSD + 2TB HDD, HD5670, 30" Dell IPS + 23" LCD.
I can definitely say to you that when you're going to run VM's (like I do with my programming line of work) that 8GB of RAM isn't enough! 16GB is usually enough for me, but every now and then I consume like 20GB+ of RAM, and I got my 32GB of RAM for R1600 incl VAT - which is less than what you'll pay for 16GB right now.

A decent 550W PSU should suffice for any of those mentioned graphics cards, even if you overclock your CPU and GPU to their limits (excl perhaps if you're going to below 0'C kind of overclocking).
The PSU that I typically recommend for single high end graphics cards is the XFX ProSeries 550W @ ~R700, because it has scored excellent reviews, comes with 5 year warranty and offers very good value for money.

Your SSD should be good enough for now. I doubt that you'll notice a difference between it and a new & expensive SSD.

There is nothing wrong with going for that ASRock motherboard.

For gaming, the i5 4570k should suffice, but if you're running VM's then I'll recommend sticking with the i7 - unless you rarely push your VMs to their limits / that don't require much CPU power.

The HD7950 is highly recommended. There is a noticeable jump in performance between it an the HD7870. If you know how to overclock, then the HD7950 can easily be overclocked to faster speeds than that of the HD7970.
With just a Full HD resolution, you won't need anything more than a single HD7950 for the next few years I suppose.

Thanks for the reply Pada. What is the difference between the W8960N and the W8968? Their prices are very close.

After the above recommendations:
- Intel BX80646I74770K Core i7-4770k 3.5GHz LGA1150 Quad Core Haswell CPU
- ASRock Z87 Extreme4 Intel Z87 Chipset LGA1150 Haswell ATX Desktop Motherboard
- PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV5E Radeon HD7950
- XFX ProSeries P1-550S-XXB9 Core Edition 550W 80 Plus Bronze Certified Desktop PSU

 

[NomNom]

I'm just confused though, you said your Pc was hit by lighting, why don't you just use your old i7 2600K CPU? I'm sure it should be ok?

 

[adsl2]

I'm just confused though, you said your Pc was hit by lighting, why don't you just use your old i7 2600K CPU? I'm sure it should be ok?

I had my PC tested and they said the MB, GPU and CPU is dead. Apparently the PSU is fine but they said it is better to replace it since it can be damaged.

 

[NomNom]

I had my PC tested and they said the MB, GPU and CPU is dead. Apparently the PSU is fine but they said it is better to replace it since it can be damaged.

Wow that sucks, yeah I agree with the PSU recommendation.

 

[Rickster]

I had my PC tested and they said the MB, GPU and CPU is dead. Apparently the PSU is fine but they said it is better to replace it since it can be damaged.

Here are some reviews about Asrock , mostly about bent CPU pins and DOA.


And I call BS on the CPU being dead, its extremely rare to find a CPU being dead by lightning.

If i was you I would spend a bit extra to buy Asus, they come with Anti Surge protection on their boards, also throw in an anti surge multi plug.

 

[Tim the Techxpert]

Hi There,
Good Reply from NomNom. Gigabyte does do good componenets as well and at the end of the day between them it may come down to price as performance there is not much difference.
Going vrtual I would increase to at least 16GB of memeory.
For the router go with the TP-Link. I have had the W8968 for 6 months and it is rock solid and in your price range.

Regards

Tim

 

[xera]

Ignore what Chris14 said.

Just take note that the TP-Link WR1043ND is NOT an ADSL modem, where as the W8968 is an all-in-one unit (router + modem + WiFi AP)!
People are generally satisfied by the TP-Link units, because they offer great value for money and I've seen few negative remarks for them.

Seeing that you're on a budget now, I can't recommend upgrading RAM to 32GB, however I'd highly recommend 16GB and that you get it ASAP, because prices will increase very soon!
My office PC is an i7 2600k (Cogage True Spirit cooler), 32GB DDR3 1600MHz, 128GB OCZ Agility 4 SSD + 2TB HDD, HD5670, 30" Dell IPS + 23" LCD.
I can definitely say to you that when you're going to run VM's (like I do with my programming line of work) that 8GB of RAM isn't enough! 16GB is usually enough for me, but every now and then I consume like 20GB+ of RAM, and I got my 32GB of RAM for R1600 incl VAT - which is less than what you'll pay for 16GB right now.

I have similar.. recently got 32GB and love it!! Running 12 x 2GB VM's is a breeze, only thing that takes a hit is the poor hdd's the images are stored on.

If you want VT-d, then don't get a K processor as it seems they normally don't have.

I have TP-Link WR1043ND, and it is pretty good, but not perfect. With older firmware, it would freeze once a week, and require physical cold boot. Even now with DD-WRT, things sometimes stop working but it seems to be better. When researching DD-WRT, it seems that some of the units have hardware bugs, with the wifi I think. Signal is usually great tho, 50m through buildings no problem, but streaming 1080p HD with AES security isn't always smooth experience.

I have an Asus and Gigabyte motherboard, and whilst the newer Asus is quite fancy, the build quality of the Gigabyte was better. If I had money at the time, I would have gone Gigabyte. I would recommend both

 

[westom]

I had my PC tested and they said the MB, GPU and CPU is dead. Apparently the PSU is fine but they said it is better to replace it since it can be damaged.

Generally, when a MB is damaged, then even good GPU and CPUs appear defective. Extremely rare is to have all or most of the four items damaged. When the MB is damaged, then testing integrity of the others is mostly impossible. Easier is to declare other parts also defective. Then sell new parts. "call BS on the CPU being dead" is a more accurate and too common possibility since so many computer assemblers really do not know how to test those other components. Most computer failures only involve one defective part.

Selecting a PSU on watts is bogus. Important parameter is amperes. Since many computer assemblers have little or no electrical knowledge, then best is to recommend a supply that has more than double the maximum required wattage. Was your computer so hot as to also toast bread? Of course not. But when we tell the naive they need 600 watts or higher, then the customer help lines are no longer overloaded by their calls.

In a rare discussion, people actually measured their power consumption rather than recite hearsay. Most computers are only drawing at most less than 300 watts. And most often drawing less than 200 watts:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=34917091#post34917091