My turn: New gaming PC help

[pinedaleave]

You all helped me get a computer for my fiancee a month or so ago and we thank you again for that. Now it's my turn:


Budget: Up for debate as I will be buying all parts over the span of the next few months, let's say around $2,000 to start.

Resolution: 1920x1080 minimum

Games / Settings Desired: Highest possible within the confines of the budget, I play WoW/D3/Multiple Steam games.

Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc): I enjoy AutoCAD and may dabble with it on this new pc. Will also give streaming and/or recording a try.

Country: USA(will be ordering all parts online)

Parts that can be reused: Not a single thing, currently using a laptop.

Do you need an OS? Yes, the laptop has W7 but I will just format it and continue using it for something else(media related perhaps) so I cannot use its key. So W7 or 8.1 still unsure of what is best.

Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? Everything. Was planning on this keyboard(http://pcpartpicker.com/part/logitec...oard-920002478 it is what my fiancee got and it has been great so far.) and mouse(http://pcpartpicker.com/part/logitech-mouse-910003589 basically an upgrade to the mx518 I've had for years, didn't like the extra buttons on the g500s) No idea what speakers/monitor though.

Also any other extra things I may need depending on what parts are suggested(sata cables, hdmi cables, etc). Thanks again for the help.

[Deleted]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ TigerDirect)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 113.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($214.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($486.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Dell U2414H 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($254.99 @ Adorama)
Keyboard: Cooler Master Storm Quick Fire Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard ($93.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Mouse: ROCCAT Kone Pure Wired Laser Mouse ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Creative Labs GigaWorks T20 Series II 28W 2ch Speakers ($85.41 @ Amazon)
Total: $2098.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available



Some choices and where you can save money if you have/need to:

You can buy a similar feature board Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI @ 118.99$

I got an i7 there, which is significantly better than a stock/pre-overclock i5 4690k. Depends how much you get into CaD-video render etc its probably worth the 100bucks over the i5. If not buy the i5 4690k , personally for around 2k i would definately get the i7.

If you think you wont need 512gb ssd you can grab the Crucial MX100 256GB @ 107$

For wow i would generally buy the Logitech G600 but since you don't like so many side buttons i went with something simpler.

Last, you can always drop down to a R9 290 gpu to save there some money too since that would still be too powerfull for any of the games you mentioned.

As always if there are any concerns don't hesitate to ask.

[pinedaleave]

Thanks again Kostattoo. What's the nvidia equivalent for that card? Also I intend to get the Logitech KB/Mouse I linked to begin with, but may try a gaming KB/Mouse down the line.

Also doing some research it appears there are really reputable people selling OS keys on reddit for around $20 USD so I can save a decent amount there if I can work that out as well.

[Deleted]

For the o/s yes that is an option too, seems legit but might not be 100% guaranteed. The option is yours, just felt with this budget there is no reason for it, obviously you are the one to decide that.

Keyboard/mouse is a personal choice obviously, especially the mouse depending on how big your hands are. The keyboard is a good choice for that money featuring mx brown switches. Which are the ''quiet'' ones. A mechanical keyboard like that can last you 10years or more, so down the road is a better/cheaper investment. Also for ''gaming keyboard'' you would really be better off with one that has anti-ghosting even if its a silicon one.

The equivalent gpu would be the gtx 780ti but is far more expensive, around 180-230$ more. If you think you can pay the extra for it is a solid choice. If you are looking for shadowplay to record your gaming i am not sure its worth the money just alone for that. Personally if you wanna ditch the keyboard/mouse suggestions for something cheap and the cheap o/s, save from there plus the difference for the 780ti, i would reckon its worth it.

Additionally to the comment about the i7-i5 above. For pure gaming an i5k is always prefferable due to i7 costing 100$ more for no increased performance. But this time around compared to past, the new i7 is clocked 500Mhz higher. 4Ghz plus 4-core turbo at 4.4. In i5k's even tho the turbo says 3.8-3.9 depending which one, this is for the first core, so for 4 cores they turbo at 3.9-3.8-3.7-3.6. So you could say, its like having an i7k already overclocked. Also the i7 can help you with video editing, and depending on CaD application.

You will usually see i7's with 16gb or more ram, usually for alot of video editing and the like. For CaD its not needed unless you are going for really huge files but i doupt you will ever come accross anything like that. I work on CaD and similar apps as pro, i doupt i ever passed 5gb ever. Even if that ever becomes a problem you can grab an additional pair of sticks and be done with it. Something you can't do as easily with the cpu, since you will have to bin the old to get a new one. So there is no deal of wasting money here.

[Eroginous]

Since you already have a windows 7 key, you can use it on your new machine too (I think Microsoft allows for each win 7 key to be used on up to 3 separate PCs).

I honestly wouldn't buy an AMD card at the moment, especially if you are looking to play newer games. Nvidia gets special treatment from game developers and tends to have more optimization in games. That and unless you are trying to run 4k monitors, you won't really need the 4gb of ram.

Discussion about 780 vs 780ti and price/performance

For some reason it's not letting me do a price breakdown in text format:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VpjrYJ

Basically, you can pick whichever mouse/keyboard you want (those are personal preferences anyway). I went with 16gb of ram because it will give you more to work with initially (and it's cheaper than buying 8gb), as well as a non ti 780 (since prices are going up on the ti version for some reason). I also picked a lot of combo deals to help save costs down the road. The CPU/MOBO wasn't listed on partpicker as a combo deal, but Newegg has one if you order it from there. I also picked parts based on appearance, since you don't want to spend $2k on a rig that looks funny. The NZXT H440 is the single best looking case in that price point, I chose the w/b version because it will pop with the hardware you have in it.

There is no DVD drive bay on that case, however, so if you spend a lot of time using DVDs/blurays, you'll want to get an external drive (external ones are better anyway, they are portable and can be shared between machines). Don't worry about not having a DVD drive to install Windows, since you can just create a USB stick installer and install it that way. You don't even need a DVD drive, you can just download the ISO from Microsoft and use your existing key.

[Deleted]

The equivalent gpu would be the gtx 780ti but is far more expensive, around 180-230$ more. If you think you can pay the extra for it is a solid choice. If you are looking for shadowplay to record your gaming i am not sure its worth the money just alone for that.

Granted it's in BETA but AMD has their recording feature now in "Game DVR". I haven't messed with it yet but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Nice solid build by the way. An AMD 290 or GTX 780 would really be all that's needed for 1080p as you mentioned.

- - - Updated - - -

Probably switch the RAM for just a few $ extra, assuming you can buy it before 6/30:

G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133

[Deleted]

Granted it's in BETA but AMD has their recording feature now in "Game DVR". I haven't messed with it yet but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Good to know, wasn't aware that AMD got something similar out. I will look into it myself as well, thanks.

[pinedaleave]

Won't be starting the parts buying until sometime next week so that deal on newegg won't work for me, thanks though.

Think I will go for an nvidia card, still unsure about the speakers and monitor though, and I may want to dual monitor but perhaps the second monitor can wait.

So far I like Kostattoo's speaker suggestion since they seem decent sized, though my desk is pretty big(http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/pr...23/#/S49932670) so I suppose I can get one with a subwoofer if the price is right.

Also thanks for your suggestion as well Eroginous, going to see if I get any more suggestions before I decide on a final build, may pick and choose between them all and make something like that.

[Eroginous]

Yeah, just keep in mind that prices are always in flux. Newegg frequently has combo deals and you should try to buy pieces when you can get that sort of a discount. Otherwise, I would try really hard to save up the money and just buy everything at once. You don't want to buy something now only to have it go on sale later or be replaced by a newer version at a cheaper price.

[Deleted]

Subwoofer or not, has no effect how big your desk is, since the sub is better suited down to the floor For the price they are very good speakers, got them myself. To get similar quality out of a 2.1 you have to pay more.
The monitor is one of the best (the best?) there is at that price range.

[pinedaleave]

Thanks, think I will stick with those speakers and keep that monitor in mind too, going to see what my local office max has since it is right nearby.

[Eroginous]

When it comes to speakers, you have to spend more than $50 to get quality ones. Logitech used to offer a great set of 2.1 speakers for $50 (2007), which were basically the same speakers they had in their 5.1 set for $80, with just 3 speakers less. Now, they make their 2.1 $50 price point speakers out of completely different materials/design than their 5.1 speakers, and they are basically cheap paper cones with an RMS of 25 watts.

These are the speakers I used to have. They are the best quality 2.1 speakers for under $80, if you can find a pair brand new in a box I would.

The only real problem with them is the 9 pin connector that hooks up the LR speakers to the subwoofer. Mine had a bad connection and eventually stopped working. Otherwise, these are the best sounding speakers I've ever hooked up to my PC. With a healthy sound stage and tons of power to drive them, you can literally fill your house with high quality sound if you wanted to (bass too).

[pinedaleave]

Okay something like this perhaps, though I am still unsure of some version of windows 7 vs 8.1:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($334.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($665.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2414H 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($260.00 @ B&H)
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Wired Standard Keyboard ($9.15 @ B&H)
Mouse: Logitech G400s Wired Optical Mouse ($44.95 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Creative Labs GigaWorks T20 Series II 28W 2ch Speakers ($85.41 @ Amazon)
Total: $2067.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[Eroginous]

You can just use your existing copy of windows 7, it can be installed on up to 3 separate computers. As long as it's a 64 bit version of windows 7, you'll be fine. I still don't recommend Windows 8/8.1, since Microsoft doesn't seem to understand how to make it an ideal experience for desktop gamers. I'd stick with Win 7 until Windows 9 comes along in 2015.

[Deleted]

I still recommend Windows 8.1, since Microsoft brought us a lot of nice improvements, better performance with SSDs, better multi-monitor support out of the box, better support in general for upcoming addition like DX12 etc. Nothing really ruins the experience for desktop gamers since the UI, that so many have a gripe with, can be "fixed in a matter of seconds. I'd stick with Win 8.1 and then see what Windows 9 has to offer in the future.

[Eroginous]

I still recommend Windows 8.1, since Microsoft brought us a lot of nice improvements, better performance with SSDs, better multi-monitor support out of the box, better support in general for upcoming addition like DX12 etc. Nothing really ruins the experience for desktop gamers since the UI, that so many have a gripe with, can be "fixed in a matter of seconds. I'd stick with Win 8.1 and then see what Windows 9 has to offer in the future.

It's not so much the functionality, as it is the redundancy of basic features and the haphazard way everything is placed. It's like Windows 8/8.1 was developed by a group of schizophrenics. I'll stick with Windows 7 until they stop supporting it or until a better version of Windows comes out.

[Deleted]

It's not so much the functionality, as it is the redundancy of basic features and the haphazard way everything is placed. It's like Windows 8/8.1 was developed by a group of schizophrenics. I'll stick with Windows 7 until they stop supporting it or until a better version of Windows comes out.

It's already here, it's called Windows 8.1 and I don't see how it's in any way related to Schizophrenia. It's organized absolutely fine in my opinion, I can find anything I need easily. It looks almost exactly like Windows 7 or at least in the areas I care about. I honestly can't think any issues or anything I'm missing from Windows 7 and I'm not just saying that because I run Windows 8.1 but to each his own.

I think "Pinedaleave" can go look through the endless topics on Windows 8 vs Windows 7 already existing on this forum, it's mostly about "I don't like the UI and even though it's easy to workaround I shouldn't have to install a free app to get the UI/functionality I'm comfortable with from Windows 7". Just so we don't drag this topic another page.

Edit: If you already have Windows 7 and you're happy with it and don't wanna spend the ~$25 then absolutely just stick with it, it's not like you can't easily switch in the future.

[pinedaleave]

Alright I will just stick with Windows 7 for now, just easier overall and like mentioned, I can upgrade at any time should I need/want to.

How about ram? Think I want to go with 16gb because I do like to have multiple programs open at once and will likely dual monitor in the future(close or far future is still undetermined) and I may as well get it now, I will be starting to purchase things later this week, seeing if there may be any July 4th sales or whatever.

I've also been having friends suggest just going with a 780 instead of the ti, I know there is around a 15% or so performance increase vs the ti, but I'm unsure if it would be better to just buy a 780 now and perhaps sli in the future or straight upgrade to a newer card when it comes out. I suppose I should look up performance comparisons for the games I play?

[Deleted]

As I mentioned earlier as well, a 290 or 780 is really perfect for 1080p and much less of a premium.

[pinedaleave]

How about brand? Are there any that run quieter/cooler compared to others or anything?

Also having friends tell me to go for the lowest MS I can with a monitor and try to get a 120hz one, was told to look into BenQ 120hz monitors, any thoughts on this?