building new computer/set up of the month

[Aevra]

Hello all,

I've finally decided that it's time to stop gaming on my macbook pro and build a dedicated gaming computer. I'm neither tech savvy nor computer illiterate, but somewhere in the middle. I understand the general idea behind most things computer related, but don't really get too much into the finer nuances of it. I really liked the unicorn set up of the month that was recently posted http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/...es-PTR-Updates. I have a budget of about 1500 us, but I don't mind spending extra if something is a really big improvement over what was suggested in the build. Also i'd like to stick with the gtx 970 over the r9. Any advice, any comments as to what you think would be better than posted, and why would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

Budget - 1500, but willing to go over if a part really stands out comparably.
Resolution - 1920x1080 or better.
Games / Settings Desired - wow, d3, open world rpgs, occasional shooter like fall out 4, would like to run these on ultra/maxed.
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc) - lol nope, only gaming.
Country - U.S.
Parts that can be reused - none
Do you need an OS? - yes, but this is outside of the 1500 budget.
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? - i do, and i have some in mind. These are not part of the 1500 budget either.

sorry I'm not too familiar with posting in forums so I don't know how to shorten the links, if someone wants to tell me, i'll edit my post and fix them up.
monitor: either http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-309-_-Product or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-218-_-Product. I've read the reviews for both, but I would like your feedback on this.

keyboard: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Mecha...=logitech+g910 for now, but i'm actually on my way to microcenter to check some others out. If you guys can suggest an ergonomic mechanical keyboard well, that would be great, and if it's cheaper than this one, all the better

mouse: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRHE892 i'm pretty into this one, but still open to options for similar.

I'm going to run a few errands today, but by the end of the day i'd like to start placing orders for the parts.

That is it for now, will be back later to check up on this,

Thanks everyone for your help.

[Pterodactylus]

Based on what you describe above for needs, you can easily do all those games on max settings at 1080 with this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($162.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($125.45 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($319.00 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1224.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-05 11:10 EDT-0400

I'll let others make recs on keyboards, mice, and monitors.

Cheers.

[Lathais]

I know you said you want the 970 and not an R9, however, just wanted to throw the DX12 issue out there. The GTX 9-series is not and will never be fully DX12 Compatible due to it's architecture. Granted, we will not be seeing DX12 being mainstream for at least a couple years and those game siwll likely have DX11 options as well, so it's not a huge issue. However, if you are not planning on upgrading your GPU in the next 2-3 years and are wanting it to last 4-6, an R9 390/R9 390x will be a better choice for the long run.

[Pterodactylus]

I know you said you want the 970 and not an R9, however, just wanted to throw the DX12 issue out there. The GTX 9-series is not and will never be fully DX12 Compatible due to it's architecture. Granted, we will not be seeing DX12 being mainstream for at least a couple years and those game siwll likely have DX11 options as well, so it's not a huge issue. However, if you are not planning on upgrading your GPU in the next 2-3 years and are wanting it to last 4-6, an R9 390/R9 390x will be a better choice for the long run.

Meh, sit on the 970 for a few years and then pick up a nVidia pascal GPU. Right now there is only 1 game that support DX 12 and only a handful that are in development. I wouldn't let DX12 sway your decision too much.

[Lathais]

Meh, sit on the 970 for a few years and then pick up a nVidia pascal GPU. Right now there is only 1 game that support DX 12 and only a handful that are in development. I wouldn't let DX12 sway your decision too much.

Again though, sure, if you are planning on upgrading GPU in the next 2-3 years it's not an issue. However, not everyone upgrades GPUs that often, so when buying today, it's at least something to think about. There are games on that list releasing this year and next year. So if you have any interest in playing those game son Ultra with DX12 and do not want to upgrade to Pascal as soon as it comes out, it's something to consider. I know I'll isually hang on the my GPU for 5-6 years before upgrading it. Not on my current builds, but normally.

[Denpepe]

Worth considering is that a lot of people these days seem to be having trouble with the AMD 3xx cards crashing a lot, there was a post on this forum about that, 2xx and fury don't seem to suffer from it.

[Deleted]

I'd consider 1440p gaming (will include full setup, about 1500 without peripherals/os):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($139.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($675.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Logitech G710 Plus Wired Gaming Keyboard ($97.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2180.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-06 02:42 EDT-0400