PC build help

[Piglord]

I've had a gaming laptop for the last few years, so I'm way out of the loop on what's what now. I haven't gamed much at all in a while, but want to start up again.

Budget: No budget
Resolution: 1080P maybe 1440
Games / Settings Desired: Star Citizen, ESO, SWTOR, WoW, Fallout 4. High as possible, however I always turn off shadows. I get headaches for some reason with them on.
Any other intensive software or special things you do: none
Country: US
Parts that can be reused: need everything
Do you need an OS? no
Do you need peripherals: no

Even though I don't have a budget I prefer practicality over bragging rights. All I will be doing is gaming. For example, if the difference in performance between an I5 and I7 is single digit I'd rather stick to the I5. Same for GPUs. I would prefer either mini ITX or micro ATX. I don't really want a huge gigantic tower sitting around.

Couple other things I just thought of. I don't need a ton of storage. A 250-500Gb SSD would more than likely be plenty for everything I need. Lastly, I'm in no hurry to build this. With the new processors and gpus coming in a couple months, would it be better to wait?

[Deleted]

Resolution: 1080P maybe 1440

If 1440p, do you need a new monitor?

With the new processors and gpus coming in a couple months, would it be better to wait?

Yes, new generation Skylake Intel CPUs in August, along with DDR4 RAM.

[Piglord]

Yeah, I'd need a 1440p monitor if I went that route.

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If 1440p, do you need a new monitor?



Yes, new generation Skylake Intel CPUs in August, along with DDR4 RAM.

Will they be a significant boost in performance to be worthy of the wait?

[Deleted]

Is it worth waiting? If you're in no rush sure. If you wanna get it now then current generation stuff will do absolutely fine for the next years forward.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK 87.0 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.90 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($177.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($296.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($52.00 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2515H 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($396.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1398.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-27 16:07 EDT-0400

Everything you need including a 1440p monitor.

[Piglord]

Awesome, thank you very much. I see a lot of builds that go with 16GB of memory. Is it very necessary these days?

[mrgreenthump]

Will they be a significant boost in performance to be worthy of the wait?

I doubt anyone knows.. At least that aren't under NDA. We haven't seen a real advancement in CPU computing power(for gaming) in years. DX12 itself is going to change that quite a bit, but we just don't know too much on what we are really getting in raw computing power. One would assume it's going to be good, but who knows. It will probably make 1150 socket cheaper(for a while) and lower the price of DDR3 as demand will be lowered. But buying old gen socket is risky if you happen to run into issues after warranty, because the supply might be scarce.

Though if you are running anything near or above 2500k atm, you should be fine till next year at least.

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Awesome, thank you very much. I see a lot of builds that go with 16GB of memory. Is it very necessary these days?

For gaming purposes, not really.. Unless you like to run multiple high memory tasks at the same time. 16GB is sort of cheap atm though, so it's better to safe than sorry in that deparment.

[Piglord]

I doubt anyone knows.. At least that aren't under NDA. We haven't seen a real advancement in CPU computing power(for gaming) in years. DX12 itself is going to change that quite a bit, but we just don't know too much on what we are really getting in raw computing power. One would assume it's going to be good, but who knows. It will probably make 1150 socket cheaper(for a while) and lower the price of DDR3 as demand will be lowered. But buying old gen socket is risky if you happen to run into issues after warranty, because the supply might be scarce.

Though if you are running anything near or above 2500k atm, you should be fine till next year at least.

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For gaming purposes, not really.. Unless you like to run multiple high memory tasks at the same time. 16GB is sort of cheap atm though, so it's better to safe than sorry in that deparment.

Good point about the down the road compatibility issue. I've actually had that problem before.

My current laptop is an Asus G72. It has a 2.53 Ghz core 2 duo and a GTX260M. Anything would be an upgrade.

[Deleted]

Team Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 $85

[Piglord]

How does this look for a motherboard? Trying to get everything from Amazon.

[Deleted]

ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M Killer

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All Amazon:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($235.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 113.8 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($58.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M Killer Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($177.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($296.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1300 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($60.64 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($71.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell U2515H 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($407.97 @ Amazon)
Total: $1530.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-27 20:26 EDT-0400

[Piglord]

Damn, thanks a lot.

[Zedwin]

I've had a gaming laptop for the last few years, so I'm way out of the loop on what's what now. I haven't gamed much at all in a while, but want to start up again.

Budget: No budget
Resolution: 1080P maybe 1440
Games / Settings Desired: Star Citizen, ESO, SWTOR, WoW, Fallout 4. High as possible, however I always turn off shadows. I get headaches for some ...
...
Even though I don't have a budget I prefer practicality over bragging rights. All I will be doing is gaming. For example, if the difference in performance between an I5 and I7 is single digit I'd rather stick to the I5. Same for GPUs. I would prefer either mini ITX or micro ATX. I don't really want a huge gigantic tower sitting around.

1. First decide if you want a gaming laptop (portable) or desktop, and build from there.
NCIX, MSI, doghouse, origin.... their staff is usually very helpfull.

2. pcpartpicker.com -- It lets you see build stories, ask for advice..etc... while assembling your own system.
Also finds all deals from several retailers for each part.

3. Pick the game with the highest required stats to build from/for. Fallout 4 for PC or something fairly resent.

4. Buy around the deal times if you can. Recently there was a grad sale and soon there will be back to school discounts. Also black friday in october/november. Helps to get deals to save some $$$ for games or food.

5. Multi-monitor gaming?
2-3 monitors will need a Higher end gaming video card.

6. When it breaks, do you want to fix it or let someone else? Oddly this is overlooked and important to consider. I am so lazy now that I enjoy having a warranty that will ship me a new tested system out in a week if my current machine pops for unknown reasons.

7. Other - do your game research.
SWTOR and WoW make better use of a strong CPU with 2-4 cores over a highend video cards (requirements to play are low).
Star and Fallout will need both CPU & video card strength.

8. Online gaming will need good online connections/hardware. Do not overlook your highspeed internet parts.
Gaming routers, Giga cables...etc, are other people sharing your connection at the same time?

[Piglord]

8. Online gaming will need good online connections/hardware. Do not overlook your highspeed internet parts.
Gaming routers, Giga cables...etc, are other people sharing your connection at the same time?

Thanks for all of your advice. I've gamed online for over a decade. I live out in the middle of nowhere, so no matter how fancy I go with internet components I will always be limited to mediocre internet connections. I'm currently using a cell tether, before this my only option was satellite.

[Piglord]

Parts have been ordered and should be here wednesday. Ended up going with this GPU and this case. Thanks again for the help everyone.

[Kagthul]

Honestly, a cell connection these days isn't that bad if you have good signal and 4G. even 3G can be playable if you're the only one on the tower and are close enough that latency isnt bad.

We lived with our in-laws in the styx for a year while house hunting/saving, and the only thing faster than dial-up that was available was a 3G data card (we actually had one that slotted into a router for the house). We were the only ones on the tower, so we got the full 2.2Mbps down/800 up, and it was bearable. About 100ms, so playable but a tad annoying.

With 4G, connection speeds and latency can be comparable to Cable - only real problem with using one as your primary connection is absurd data rates. I get 30-40ms and 25 down/10 up on my 4G through my phone (had to use it for a week when Comcast shit itself locally).

[Piglord]

I've gamed on my cell service. Service out here isn't the greatest where I don't get near 4G speeds, but it still beats the shit out of satellite.