Final Thread before buying new build

[IllidariCouncil]

So, Ive had some help about a month for a build I was going for.

My goal is to be able to play games such as GTA5, Skyrim, Farcry while being able to stream or at least run them on high settings.

Here is my final build. Id like some people to over look it & see if what I have will work before I buy the parts. I have the money, so now I just want to make sure Im not wasting it.


Motherboard: Not sure if to get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128762 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128762
Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202137
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182300
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231460
Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116989
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148945
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...52&ignorebbr=1

Thats all I believe. I already have an HDD, mouse, keyboard, monitor. If there is anything else you guys can think of or maybe better parts for around the same price. Please comment. Never done this before so Id really like to get it right. I cant spend much more than what I am already but any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Pterodactylus]

You listed the same MoBo twice. Any reason why you like that MoBo? Its a micro ATX board, and you are going to strap a HUGE GPU to it. It will work, but seems like you are better off with a bigger board - especially if you want to do some future upgrading. If in two years a send GPU is selling for cheap, having the ability to crossfire would be a nice little future upgrade option. Moreover, that MoBo only has two ram slots, so any future upgrading of the RAM - makes you screwed there too. 16 gb is the most RAM that board can support (likely more than enough by today's standards). Maybe you aren't thinking about future upgrades and will just get a new rig at some point?

Seems like an okay build - if you aren't putting in an optical drive, you might consider this case instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-189-_-Product

The case you have, maybe you like all those red leds - they drive me nuts - and maybe you like all those holes and ridges and things that will inevitably just collect extra dust.

I don't like your GPU, sorry, but if you are sold on it, you may consider a bit more juice from a PSU - especially if you want to crossfire at some future date. Reading the comments on the GPU lots of people talk about how it is a huge power suck, almost 100 watts more than comparable cards (that will add up on your power bill over the year).

Any reason why you like that card?

I guess the advice I would offer is think about the future and how you can slowly beef up your rig as time goes on to keep it a top notch machine that can keep up with games for several years to come. Out of curiosity, what is your budget?

[IllidariCouncil]

You listed the same MoBo twice. Any reason why you like that MoBo? Its a micro ATX board, and you are going to strap a HUGE GPU to it. It will work, but seems like you are better off with a bigger board - especially if you want to do some future upgrading. If in two years a send GPU is selling for cheap, having the ability to crossfire would be a nice little future upgrade option. Moreover, that MoBo only has two ram slots, so any future upgrading of the RAM - makes you screwed there too. 16 gb is the most RAM that board can support (likely more than enough by today's standards). Maybe you aren't thinking about future upgrades and will just get a new rig at some point?

Seems like an okay build - if you aren't putting in an optical drive, you might consider this case instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-189-_-Product

The case you have, maybe you like all those red leds - they drive me nuts - and maybe you like all those holes and ridges and things that will inevitably just collect extra dust.

I don't like your GPU, sorry, but if you are sold on it, you may consider a bit more juice from a PSU - especially if you want to crossfire at some future date. Reading the comments on the GPU lots of people talk about how it is a huge power suck, almost 100 watts more than comparable cards (that will add up on your power bill over the year).

Any reason why you like that card?

I guess the advice I would offer is think about the future and how you can slowly beef up your rig as time goes on to keep it a top notch machine that can keep up with games for several years to come. Out of curiosity, what is your budget?

If you have any parts that you could offer me instead, like the Mobo & GPU please list them.

[Pterodactylus]

If you have any parts that you could offer me instead, like the Mobo & GPU please list them.

Without knowing what your budget is, here is something that has both form and function.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.50 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($325.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1011.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 17:11 EDT-0400

Does that exceed your budget?

[Kagthul]

Its a micro ATX board, and you are going to strap a HUGE GPU to it. It will work, but seems like you are better off with a bigger board - especially if you want to do some future upgrading.

Size of the board has nothing to do with anything regarding a GPU. Itll fit securely in the case anyway. Otherwise, mITX wouldnt be able to use real GPUs, by your theory.

<snip> 16 gb is the most RAM that board can support (likely more than enough by today's standards).

16GB is more than enough for several years to come - by the time 16GB isnt enough, this entire machine will need to be upgraded.

Ill total up your costs above and try to see what i can do with your budget. Your budget seems to be around 810$ or so.. ill see what i can cook up.

Close to your budget (within ~30-40$)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet CPU Cooler ($31.76 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $822.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 17:36 EDT-0400

If you can afford another ~100$, i'd suggest going with the unlocked Core i5 4690K and a Z97 Motherboard, but at an 800$ budget, this will perform extremely well.

[Pterodactylus]

Size of the board has nothing to do with anything regarding a GPU. Itll fit securely in the case anyway. Otherwise, mITX wouldnt be able to use real GPUs, by your theory.

My theory? All I said is he has a big gpu going into a small board and that if he wanted to x-fire in the future - he couldn't - sheesh.

[Kagthul]

Its a micro ATX board, and you are going to strap a HUGE GPU to it. It will work, but seems like you are better off with a bigger board -

Clearly implying that the "small" motherboard is sub-standard for a "HUGE GPU".

Your words, not mine.

[IllidariCouncil]

Without knowing what your budget is, here is something that has both form and function.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.50 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($325.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1011.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 17:11 EDT-0400

Does that exceed your budget?

Yeah by like $300

- - - Updated - - -

Size of the board has nothing to do with anything regarding a GPU. Itll fit securely in the case anyway. Otherwise, mITX wouldnt be able to use real GPUs, by your theory.



16GB is more than enough for several years to come - by the time 16GB isnt enough, this entire machine will need to be upgraded.

Ill total up your costs above and try to see what i can do with your budget. Your budget seems to be around 810$ or so.. ill see what i can cook up.

Close to your budget (within ~30-40$)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet CPU Cooler ($31.76 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $822.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 17:36 EDT-0400

If you can afford another ~100$, i'd suggest going with the unlocked Core i5 4690K and a Z97 Motherboard, but at an 800$ budget, this will perform extremely well.

Killer, thanks.

So this will be able to run GTA5, Skyrim and other good titles at high settings & should able to livestream? Im a hardcore streamer, & I need to be able to Stream while playing top tier games. Mainly the whole reason for the new build.

Does it really matter if I stick to the original Mobo I listed above? If it does the same thing, Id rather save the $20. Also you listed a smaller processor, Is it worth getting a smaller processor for a bigger Graphics card?

Also why http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428 over this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231460

[Pterodactylus]

Clearly implying that the "small" motherboard is sub-standard for a "HUGE GPU".

Your words, not mine.

Your assumptions, not my words. But whatever helps you sleep at night.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah by like $300

Sorry, did not know what your constraints were.

Killer, thanks.

So this will be able to run GTA5, Skyrim and other good titles at high settings & should able to livestream? Does it really matter if I stick to the original Mobo I listed above? If it does the same thing, Id rather save the $20.

You might need a bit more in the CPU realm if you want to run on top settings and stream. I don't stream games, so I can't speak to it, but I know that i5 4690K and with a 970 will play all your games on ultra at 1080.

[Deleted]

If you could push the budget a little even by skipping the aftermarket cpu cooler for now its worth getting a better cpu/mobo from start:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK 87.0 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.90 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($319.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $912.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 18:47 EDT-0400

[IllidariCouncil]

You might need a bit more in the CPU realm if you want to run on top settings and stream. I don't stream games, so I can't speak to it, but I know that i5 4690K and with a 970 will play all your games on ultra at 1080.

So the first build I posted, wouldn't have been able to do that? Im not really looking for a new build, just maybe some suggestions on what to change to get my goal, ya know?

[Kagthul]

Yeah by like $300

- - - Updated - - -



Killer, thanks.

So this will be able to run GTA5, Skyrim and other good titles at high settings & should able to livestream? Im a hardcore streamer, & I need to be able to Stream while playing top tier games. Mainly the whole reason for the new build.

Livestreaming is always hard to predict, however:

this CPU has an Intel Integrated GPU. If you configure your system to use Quicksync (youll have to look that up) you should be able to remove almost ALL of the overhead for streaming.

Does it really matter if I stick to the original Mobo I listed above? If it does the same thing, Id rather save the $20.

The H97 has substantially more features - Hell that B85 you linked only has 4 total USB ports. The H97 has better sound, better networklng, a far better port selection, etc. Its worth the 20$.

Also you listed a smaller processor, Is it worth getting a smaller processor for a bigger Graphics card?

We're not exactly talking a massive difference here - 300Mhz. If you're not going to go with the *unlocked* i5 4690K, there's no reason to waste money on the locked 4690. 300Mhz isn't going to make a giant difference in most games and because of Quicksync wont have a large impact on streaming, either... but it is like 60$ cheaper. Well worth the trade-off at your budget.

Also why http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428 over this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231460

Because it is cheaper and the 1866 RAM provides no performance boost at all in games and only a miniscule difference (if any) in real world tasks.

edit: if you can stretch it, it would probably be worth going with the i5 4690K and a Z97 Motherboard - would probably add about 100$ to the cost of what i posted above. It will allow you to overclock, which will add some longevity. If you cant, the system i listed will still be solid for a few years to come at 1080p.

[Pterodactylus]

Im a hardcore streamer, & I need to be able to Stream while playing top tier games. Mainly the whole reason for the new build.

Well, if you need to stay within budget you could consider and AMD CPU. I am an intel fan myself, but the AMD 8350 would be a great budget CPU and let you be hardcore about your streaming. To game and stream you tax your processor and the basic rule of thumb is more cores and threads better for multi-tasking.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($165.93 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($96.75 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Vapor-X Video Card ($262.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $813.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 21:26 EDT-0400

You are still in the $800, but I am confident that this would let you stream with great graphics without much issue. That being said, a couple of things. That GPU you like literally uses 100 watts more than the ASUS Strix 970 and is only $60 cheaper. I am confident that the strix will perform well with your graphics for modern games, and depending on the price of energy, and how much you are gaming, those 100 watts will add up over the months. Something to consider when you are thinking about "saving money" on your parts.

Like I said, I am an Intel fanboy, but everything I know about that AMD processor tells me it will be able to multitask without much hic ups. It's no i7 4790K, but you are trying to save money.