First Time Build for gaming.

[Killerporko]

Hey guys.

Next month I'm going to be building my own gaming computer, and after watching mmo-champion forums for a long time and seeing good advice posted here, I figured I'd start here.

Budget $2000-3000 (AU)
Resolution I'd like to play games at 1440p, but I'm happy with 1080p (Especially since many games don't yet support above 1080)
Games / Desired Settings WoW, DayZ, Starcraft II, Battlefield and similar games on highest settings with a steady high frame rate (Like 60, but steady isn't always possible). I also spend a lot of time playing a modded Skyrim (stuff like HD mods, new armours and locations ect.)
Country Australia
Parts that can be re-used None, as I'm giving this computer away.
Do you need an OS? Yes
Do you need peripherals? Aside from a 1440p monitor, I don't need any new peripherals. However, if anyone can recommend a good Mouse, Keyboard or headset then that would be appreciated.

I'd also like to note that I'm somewhat weary of liquid-based coolers, since my computer tends to get bumped a bit by my cats.

Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give!

[Deleted]

Have a look at this beast:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($397.00 @ Centre Com)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($109.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($214.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($199.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($515.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($119.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($107.00 @ CPL Online)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor ($999.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $2997.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-24 04:05 EST+1100

[Disconnected]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($278.00 @ Centre Com)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($105.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($839.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($135.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.00 @ CPL Online)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($165.00 @ CPL Online)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor ($594.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $2774.00

Couple things to note about that build:
1. I'm not 100% sure if you do anything that will benefit from an i7 over an i5 so I went with the i5. If you do something that will benefit from an i7, replace the CPU with this processor.
2. I went with a 256GB SSD simply because you mention that you also play a heavily modded Skyrim. I assume you'd want Windows + all the listed games on the SSD so I made sure it'd have plenty of room for them.
3. I went with an R4 for the case but this is where preference comes in and it really comes down to what you like. I like the R4 and it's a pretty nice case to work with but if you like another case, feel free to switch it out.
4. I went with Windows 7 since you specified you needed an OS but didn't really say whether you wanted Windows 7 or 8.1.

As with any build, please do not just look at the build above and buy it without thinking it through and making sure it's what you really want. I used parts that I've used in the past in my own builds but I'm almost certain that others will come in and offer their recommendations as well. Feel free to ask any questions you might have and we'll do the best to help you get the build you really want.

EDIT: Forgot to recommend the keyboard/mouse I currently use. I've had the SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] for quite a while now and it hasn't let me down. The Corsair Vengeance K70 is a new addition for me but I love it so far and I've only heard good things about it from other people who have used it for much longer than I have.

[Replica]

[PCPartPicker part list](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/PNDgCJ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/PNDgCJ/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/inte...bx80646i74790k) | $397.00 @ Centre Com
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/cors...u-cooler-h100i) | $149.00 @ CPL Online
**Motherboard** | [MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-...ard-z97gaming5) | $219.00 @ CPL Online
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/gski...900cl10d16gbxl) | $199.00 @ Mwave Australia
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/sams...ive-mz7te250bw) | $139.00 @ CPL Online
**Storage** | [Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/west...ive-wd1003fzex) | $89.00 @ CPL Online
**Video Card** | [Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/giga...970g1gaming4gd) (2-Way SLI) | $515.00 @ CPL Online
**Video Card** | [Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/giga...970g1gaming4gd) (2-Way SLI) | $515.00 @ CPL Online
**Case** | [NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-caso530m1) | $105.00 @ CPL Online
**Power Supply** | [Corsair CSM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/cors...-supply-cs750m) | $149.00 @ PCCaseGear
**Optical Drive** | [Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/sams...ve-sh224dbrsbs) | $20.00 @ Mwave Australia
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615) | $115.00 @ CPL Online
**Monitor** | [BenQ XL2420Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/benq-monitor-xl2420z) | $429.00 @ CPL Online
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $3040.00
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-24 04:32 EST+1100 |

[Killerporko]

Thanks guys.

As I understand it, Disconnected, I5 is generally better for gaming, and since I don't do any video editing or things of that nature, I'll stick with the I5 unless someone can give me a good reason why I7 would be better.

I currently use Windows 8.1 and am happy to do so again as I have no issues with it.

The case doesn't really bother me as long as everything fits in there.

One question though, would it be better to run a single 980 or two 970s? Or would any benefit not be with the cost?

Cheers guys.

[Disconnected]

Thanks guys.

As I understand it, Disconnected, I5 is generally better for gaming, and since I don't do any video editing or things of that nature, I'll stick with the I5 unless someone can give me a good reason why I7 would be better.

I currently use Windows 8.1 and am happy to do so again as I have no issues with it.

The case doesn't really bother me as long as everything fits in there.

One question though, would it be better to run a single 980 or two 970s? Or would any benefit not be with the cost?

Cheers guys.

The i5 isn't necessarily "better" for gaming but people who don't do anything besides gaming tend to use i5 processors because they're cheaper than the equivalent i7 processors and an i7 isn't that much of an upgrade over an i5 when it comes to gaming. Since you don't do anything that really requires the i7, I'd say stick with the i5.

Everything should easily fit into the R4. I believe the only time I've ever had trouble fitting anything into that case was when I used a non-modular PSU at someone's request. However, even then, it just required some creative routing of the extra cables.

Finally, the difference between SLI'd 970s vs a single 980, or even just a single 970, is minimal, so much so that I personally don't think it'd be worth the money. However, if you don't mind reaching the upper limit of the budget, you will get better performance from SLI'd 970s, even if it is just a little bit better.

[Killerporko]

The i5 isn't necessarily "better" for gaming but people who don't do anything besides gaming tend to use i5 processors because they're cheaper than the equivalent i7 processors and an i7 isn't that much of an upgrade over an i5 when it comes to gaming. Since you don't do anything that really requires the i7, I'd say stick with the i5.

Everything should easily fit into the R4. I believe the only time I've ever had trouble fitting anything into that case was when I used a non-modular PSU at someone's request. However, even then, it just required some creative routing of the extra cables.

Finally, the difference between SLI'd 970s vs a single 980, or even just a single 970, is minimal, so much so that I personally don't think it'd be worth the money. However, if you don't mind reaching the upper limit of the budget, you will get better performance from SLI'd 970s, even if it is just a little bit better.

Alright, I'll wait a week or so before I finally make up my mind, but right now I'm looking at using your build but buying Windows 8.1 instead of 7, and maybe getting a bigger SSD. If I also see a fancy case I like I might replace the R4 with it. Anything else I'll probably upgrade in a few months or so down the track.

Thanks for the help, and if you have any more advice I'll check this thread every day or so for the next while before I finalize and buy the parts.

[Arbiter]

A) The only reason you'd see benefit with an i7 in gaming is if the clock speed was higher, and the 4790k comes with a higher clock speed out the box which is where the improved performance would come from. If you matched the overclock of a 4690k to the clock of a 4790k, the performance would be identical. Outside the higher out-the-box clock speed, the only benefit of the i7 is hyperthreading which is useless for gaming. If you decided to stream your games one day, then you'd see a benefit in the i7. The 4790k is clocked at .5Ghz higher than the 4690k by default so that's a big increase with 0 effort if you don't intend on overclocking. It's also a guaranteed clock so no need to worry about mediocre chips and anything higher that you achieve is just increased performance.

B) SLI 970s are more than a "minimal" increase. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N...970_SLI/6.html
It's quite a bit of increase over the single card solutions as long as the game can benefit from it. If you only have a 60Hz monitor playing on something like 1080p then, yes, the extra fps is kind of useless, but the benefit is pretty insane when you can take advantage of higher fps (144Hz monitors). There are other benchmarks for other games in that article if you want to look through it.

[Replica]

The i5 isn't necessarily "better" for gaming but people who don't do anything besides gaming tend to use i5 processors because they're cheaper than the equivalent i7 processors and an i7 isn't that much of an upgrade over an i5 when it comes to gaming. Since you don't do anything that really requires the i7, I'd say stick with the i5.

Everything should easily fit into the R4. I believe the only time I've ever had trouble fitting anything into that case was when I used a non-modular PSU at someone's request. However, even then, it just required some creative routing of the extra cables.

Finally, the difference between SLI'd 970s vs a single 980, or even just a single 970, is minimal, so much so that I personally don't think it'd be worth the money. However, if you don't mind reaching the upper limit of the budget, you will get better performance from SLI'd 970s, even if it is just a little bit better.

You do understand how VRAM and cuda cores work - right?
Its not uncommon to see 30% increases in SLI, but it depends if the game can really use it/support SLI.
OP stated he wanted a power machine - not a 1000$ monitor.
1440p is here, sure - is it worth the weight in gold for 1000$ 144hmz/1ms g2g monitor? No.

The i7 is just a faster base clock and has multithreading which is a big deal if OP ever wants to stream/record/render/edit
As for the debate about the single 980 vs sli 970

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-...eForce-GTX-970

This doesn't have SLI set up on it, though I'm sure it would hold its weight when the given game can use SLI.

[Arbiter]

1440p is here, sure - is it worth the weight in gold for 1000$ 144hmz/1ms g2g monitor? No.

That's a matter of opinion. Considering lack of 144Hz on higher resolution monitors is the prime reason I haven't cared to go higher, that monitor striked my interest greatly. It's the only monitor of its kind and then you add G-Sync to it which makes it even better. I'd pay the premium for the monitor if I had the money to spend at the moment.

Look at the premium just for a 1080p 144hz monitor with Gsync on it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tem=24-009-657

[Deleted]

Its not uncommon to see 30% increases in SLI, but it depends if the game can really use it/support SLI.
OP stated he wanted a power machine - not a 1000$ monitor.
1440p is here, sure - is it worth the weight in gold for 1000$ 144hmz/1ms g2g monitor? No.

You do realise your post makes no sense right? From one hand you are talking about sli's and then you say 1440p 144Hz monitor aint worth it. Those two don't go together? What the hell you going to do the gpu power if you are going to play at 1080p or just 1440p at 60Hz? I can run 1440p@60hz on my gtx770...
OP said wants a 1440p monitor, and by getting a beasty pc he needs the according monitor to diplay the power. There isn't a better monitor out there for this. Its the reason why i left a gtx970 in there. So in 2years when more demanding games come out he can get another one and continue playing at high res/fps.

[Disconnected]

A) The only reason you'd see benefit with an i7 in gaming is if the clock speed was higher, and the 4790k comes with a higher clock speed out the box which is where the improved performance would come from. If you matched the overclock of a 4690k to the clock of a 4790k, the performance would be identical. Outside the higher out-the-box clock speed, the only benefit of the i7 is hyperthreading which is useless for gaming. If you decided to stream your games one day, then you'd see a benefit in the i7. The 4790k is clocked at .5Ghz higher than the 4690k by default so that's a big increase with 0 effort if you don't intend on overclocking. It's also a guaranteed clock so no need to worry about mediocre chips and anything higher that you achieve is just increased performance.

B) SLI 970s are more than a "minimal" increase. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N...970_SLI/6.html
It's quite a bit of increase over the single card solutions as long as the game can benefit from it. If you only have a 60Hz monitor playing on something like 1080p then, yes, the extra fps is kind of useless, but the benefit is pretty insane when you can take advantage of higher fps (144Hz monitors). There are other benchmarks for other games in that article if you want to look through it.

I completely agree on your first point, which is why I mentioned that an i5 is not necessarily "better" by any means. It's just the cheaper alternative if you're only going to be playing games on it. Maybe I'm in the minority here but a .5 Ghz increase in the stock clock speed is not worth the extra ~$100 to me, especially since you're most likely going to overclock the i5 anyways. Either way, I never intended him to think the i5 is better, and made it clear that it's used more frequently in gaming builds because of it's cheaper.

Regarding your second point, I'd have to disagree only because out of all of the games that he mentioned, only one of them will really benefit from it. To my knowledge, World of Warcraft, SC2, Day Z, and Skyrim will not benefit much, if at all, from SLI'd 970s as opposed to a single 980. Seems kind of silly to me to spend more money upfront for FPS increases in a single game that he plays frequently. In addition to that, if he buys a single 980 now, he can buy a second 980 further down the road and use SLI'd 980s as opposed to SLI'd 970s now. However, I realize that this is all preference and each person has their own opinion of what is "better" which is why I told him that these are my opinions and to look around and do his research. Also, I'll admit I probably should not have used the word "minimal" as it is misleading so my apologies for that; I didn't intend to make it sound like it'd be like a 3-5 FPS increase and realize now that I could've worded it better.

You do understand how VRAM and cuda cores work - right?
Its not uncommon to see 30% increases in SLI, but it depends if the game can really use it/support SLI.
OP stated he wanted a power machine - not a 1000$ monitor.
1440p is here, sure - is it worth the weight in gold for 1000$ 144hmz/1ms g2g monitor? No.

First of all, read the 2nd paragraph above. I did not claim that a single 980 would be better than SLI'd 970s. All I said is that to me, it would not be worth the money for the minimal increases, especially considering that only one of the games that he mentioned will benefit from the SLI set up. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word "minimal" and if that's what set you off, my apologies. However, the benefits of SLI'd 970s over a single 980 are not worth the extra money to me personally. Second of all, the monitor I chose was just over $100 more than the one you selected so I'm not sure where you got this "$1000 monitor" idea from.

The i7 is just a faster base clock and has multithreading which is a big deal if OP ever wants to stream/record/render/edit

Yes, and I mentioned that. However, he said that he doesn't do that stuff and primarily uses his PC for gaming. Then again, I'm not sure why I expected you to read anything before posting considering that despite him mentioning that he'd prefer not to use liquid CPU coolers, your build included a liquid CPU cooler. I realize that reading what people actually want to use their computers for takes more time as opposed to just blindly shooting out a build but maybe you should try it sometimes.

As for the debate about the single 980 vs sli 970

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-...eForce-GTX-970

This doesn't have SLI set up on it, though I'm sure it would hold its weight when the given game can use SLI.

See above as I've already addressed this twice in this post alone and don't feel like repeating myself.

[Arbiter]

The contradiction is strong with this one...

A) You said the i7 isn't "much of an upgrade for gaming". It isn't an upgrade for gaming at all when you account for things like overclocking. I personally find $100 worth the .5Ghz if you have no intention of overclocking, but that's a personal choice. It was added to suggestions because his budget is large and it doesn't take away really anything to get it for the .5Ghz base clock and any other uses he might find for it in the future.

B) He didn't say he was limited to those games and most games these days benefit from SLI. And you keep comparing the 970s to the 980 as if there isn't much of a difference. 2 970s is a BIG difference compared to a single 980 and they don't have cost that much. We're talking around 50% more power for around $100 more. When you say "will not benefit much, if at all, from SLI'd 970s as opposed to a single 980" you just sound completely clueless. "opposed to" would indicate that the 980 isn't far behind 2 970s (or even better) and it is. Night and day. And you're right, he can spend $250 more on a 980 over a 970 for less than 20% more power and then another ~$580 later on a second 980 just to be 20% ahead of 970 SLI that would have only cost $700 from the get go compared to ~$1160 for the 980s. That's what people are trying to tell him.

C) Nothing about the word "minimal" is misleading. Minimal means a small amount. Small, Mediocre, slight, miniscule, minimal....it all means not a lot. 50% more power is a hell of a lot. I'd call it substantial. You CAN'T use the word minimal when it doesn't apply. It's misleading to the OP. What you're doing is like me saying "Hey OP you shouldn't get a 980 because it's only minimal gains to the 750ti". Like what?

[Disconnected]

The contradiction is strong with this one...

Contradiction? How is saying one thing and explaining why I feel that way a contradiction?

A) You said the i7 isn't "much of an upgrade for gaming". It isn't an upgrade for gaming at all when you account for things like overclocking. I personally find $100 worth the .5Ghz if you have no intention of overclocking, but that's a personal choice. It was added to suggestions because his budget is large and it doesn't take away really anything to get it for the .5Ghz base clock and any other uses he might find for it in the future.

I said an i7 (not the i7; this makes a key difference because it includes locked and unlocked CPUs) isn't that much of an upgrade for gaming because it is an upgrade in terms of stock clock speed but when you take into account that an unlocked i5 can be overclocked to exceed that stock clock speed of an i7, it isn't really that much of an upgrade. I also mentioned that to me, the extra $100 was not worth an increase of .5 Ghz to the stock clock speed without saying that it wasn't worth it to other people. Lastly, while I excluded the 4790k in my build, I offered a link to it later in that post.

B) He didn't say he was limited to those games and most games these days benefit from SLI. And you keep comparing the 970s to the 980 as if there isn't much of a difference. 2 970s is a BIG difference compared to a single 980 and they don't have cost that much. We're talking around 50% more power for around $100 more. When you say "will not benefit much, if at all, from SLI'd 970s as opposed to a single 980" you just sound completely clueless. "opposed to" would indicate that the 980 isn't far behind 2 970s (or even better) and it is. Night and day. And you're right, he can spend $250 more on a 980 over a 970 for less than 20% more power and then another ~$580 later on a second 980 just to be 20% ahead of 970 SLI that would have only cost $700 from the get go compared to ~$1160 for the 980s. That's what people are trying to tell him.

I never said he was limited to those games. However, why take other games into consideration when he specifically calls out the ones that he plays the most? Pointing out that something performs better with a game that he doesn't play makes absolutely no difference to him because he doesn't play it. I specifically focused on the games he listed because, stay with me here, he listed those specific games. Keeping that in mind, as I mentioned before, only one of the games that he listed (Battlefield 4) benefits significantly from SLI'd 970s as opposed to a single 980 and that's mostly at a very high resolution. Also, I wouldn't go so far as to say the difference is "night and day" in most cases but sure, let's make exaggerations like that cause why not? Lastly, regarding buying a second 980 later as opposed to buying 2 970s now, I mentioned that the upfront cost is lower, which it is.

C) Nothing about the word "minimal" is misleading. Minimal means a small amount. Small, Mediocre, slight, miniscule, minimal....it all means not a lot. 50% more power is a hell of a lot. I'd call it substantial. You CAN'T use the word minimal when it doesn't apply. It's misleading to the OP. What you're doing is like me saying "Hey OP you shouldn't get a 980 because it's only minimal gains to the 750ti". Like what?

Great, you got a thesaurus. I already admitted I shouldn't have used that word and explained why I did in the first place. On top of that, I told the OP to do his research and wait for other people to show up and post, which they did, correcting me in the process. If you want to keep going at me because of a mistake, feel free but I'm just going to ignore anything you say beyond this point if that's all you're going to do. I don't know why I expected a civil discussion so I guess that was my second mistake in this thread.

[Killerporko]

OK, so I've thought about it for a week and this is what I'm looking at buying:

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2fLrt6

I've decided to run duel 970s and get Windows 8.1 instead of 7. I've also upped the space of the SSD for future games I may get that would benefit from being on an SSD over a HD (Like GTA V)

I'm open to any comments people might have of this build.

[Deleted]

OK, so I've thought about it for a week and this is what I'm looking at buying:

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2fLrt6

I've decided to run duel 970s and get Windows 8.1 instead of 7. I've also upped the space of the SSD for future games I may get that would benefit from being on an SSD over a HD (Like GTA V)

I'm open to any comments people might have of this build.

Get the RM750 or the AX760, and you should be set on that build, although the increase in cost may be an issue.

I'd also consider waiting, as it's rumoure that there will be 8GB versions of those cards coming out before the end of the year.