Novice building a New Gaming Rig

[Sooba]

Per topic title, I'm building a new gaming rig. I have not assembled a computer from scratch before, however I'm not entirely in the dark. I've upgraded RAM and reseated a hard drive, and somewhat know my way around a computer and tools. That said, I don't want to make a costly mistake.

I've perused the stickies (how to build a computer) and Marests sample builds. Sadly, that OP seems to be a few months out of date and I know the pace of new tech is relentless. I have not kept up with any computer or gaming specs in the last few years, so assume that I need a bit of hand holding there, and we can work from there. I've also not had to buy piecemeal, so any help there would be wonderful as well.

I don't needs tonnes of bells and whistles, but I do want something that will be silky smooth and crisp. Control for gaming should be simple and intuitive. Preferably relatively quiet, but it doesn't need to be dead silent.


Budget: ~$1600 (Cn.), including peripherals. If there's a "sweet spot" a few hundred dollars in either direction, I can do that. So 1200-2000... ish.

Resolution: "Good"? I'll admit that I'm no longer sure where the tiers are for this.

Games / Settings Desired: Equivalent to WoW on top-notch settings. Likely some newer titles as well.

Any other intensive software or special things you do: Not particularly. Occasional video editing and movie watching. Perhaps some Football/Hockey/Soccer (with apologies to the Europeans on the improper naming) streaming if the computer is crisp enough.

Country: Canada

Parts that can be reused None. Long story, but starting from scratch.

Do you need an OS? Yes. I'll admit that I've not used much outside of Windows. I'd be up for something else if it's intuitive enough.

Do you need peripherals? As before, yes. Monitor, Power Cord/Surge Protector, Headset/Mic, Speakers, Mouse, Keyboard, Network adapter of some sort, might spring for a second monitor. Anything else that I might not have thought of.

Timing: This purchase will be occurring sometime at the end of January/beginning of February. If a delay of a month would significantly improve the product due to new releases/development cycles/what-have-you, I'm patient.

Let me know if there's any other information you're looking for. Thank you for taking some time to help.

[Fluorescent0]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.79 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($77.12 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.86 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: Wintec Value 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($57.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($186.34 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($331.50 @ Vuugo)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($26.28 @ DirectCanada)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.53 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($65.23 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($93.88 @ DirectCanada)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($175.75 @ Vuugo)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($58.38 @ Newegg Canada)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M60 Wired Laser Mouse ($55.50 @ Vuugo)
Total: $1634.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-07 16:39 EST-0500)

I'll leave the speakers and headset to someone more knowledgeable than me on those, although I heard good things about the Logitech Z series for cheapish (sub 50$) speaker sets. I reckon that should bring you to about 1750$, so a little bit higher than what you initially put in, you could trim on SSD space to save up a bit or switch to a 760 instead of the R9 280X for the GPU.

[Deleted]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.79 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($77.12 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.86 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: GeIL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($70.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($186.34 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($331.50 @ Vuugo)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($26.28 @ DirectCanada)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.53 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($65.23 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($93.88 @ DirectCanada)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($175.75 @ Vuugo)
Keyboard: Rosewill RIKB-11001 Wired Slim Keyboard ($14.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Mouse: Logitech 910-000806 Wired Trackball ($28.92 @ DirectCanada)
Headphones: Logitech G430 7.1 Channel Headset ($79.99 @ Logitech Canada)
Total: $1657.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-07 18:25 EST-0500)

You're trading some of the keyboard/mouse quality for better RAM and a headset with microphone.

[Sooba]

Awesome guys, thanks. :-)

If a trackball is what I think it is, I'll probably want the laser mouse. Trackballs have a nasty habit of not working at key moments in gaming for me. I'll also probably spring for the Sidewinder and the slightly faster RAM. If I gauge it right, that should drive me up to about $1720, ~1770 with some speakers. That's still in acceptable range. I'm fairly good with my equipment, so it should last at any rate.

Where would you place this setup in relation to standard gaming setups? Am I hitting all my targets? What would the "weakness" be? What's the focus/strength?

As an aside, I notice that the monitor is surprisingly cost effective. I trust you, but am I losing anything with the one you've both linked?

[Fluorescent0]

You could pretty much max any game out (crysis 3 excluded) on the screen you're buying with the system. Keep in mind both the GPU and CPU overclock extremely well and doing so is going to be quite a performance boost. (~20 to 30% CPU depending on chip, ~10% on GPU)

[Fluorescent0]

I personally wouldn't run with MSI. EVGA is a much better company and there warranties are very good. Also id watch this guy http://youtube.com/channel/UCmWNCO9wSjzOz1UV8jCvIHA
He does guides on how to build gaming pcs and he is how I learnt to build.

I'm not entirely sure where you're getting this 'much better company' given that MSI has generally had the better coolers in the last generations of nvidia cards. Taking into account that the 280x is better than the 770 and that evga doesn't sport amd either, I guess there's no real point in going for EVGA.

[Hellravager]

Dont get windows 8 get windows 7 64 bit

The good: Windows 8.1 adds many useful tweaks and fixes, including a new version of the missing Start button, better searching, the ability to boot directly to the desktop, and a much-improved app store.

The bad: The split between the touch-friendly tiles and throwback desktop mode is still awkward, and the OS is hard to use without a touch screen. While welcome, the new Start button doesn't behave like the classic version, and the Windows app store still lacks serious software, especially for gamers.

The bottom line: If you're a dedicated Windows 8 hater, the update to Windows 8.1 isn't going to change your mind. For everyone else, this collection of tweaks, fixes, and new features is useful, but everything here should have shipped in the original version last year.

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Read up on all the parts they are telling you to get make sure they have a low chance of dead upon arrivals
Also get i5 3570k heres what chazus had to say about it. "The 3570K and overclocking is really the only logical move. The 4670K would give just a tiny bit more than the 3570K, and cost twice as much nearly."
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Also another thing chazus is a good person to ask about this stuff he helped me with mine.

[Fluorescent0]

Also get i5 3570k heres what chazus had to say about it. "The 3570K and overclocking is really the only logical move. The 4670K would give just a tiny bit more than the 3570K, and cost twice as much nearly."

Yeah, that's what he said on another thread where the OP already had a Z77 motherboard. There's no reason to go for Ivy Bridge if you're building a system from scratch nowadays.

And about Windows 8.1 no, you're wrong. Sure, it takes a bit to get used to the tile interface (not a lot though), but Windows 8.1 comes with a lot better multicore support, better startup and shutdown times, lower memory usage and longer support. There's really no reason not to go with it if you're buying it new.

[Hellravager]

Keep in mind inorder to overclock it to what a i5 3570k can do you have to get extremely lucky in getting a good chip set

[Fluorescent0]

Keep in mind inorder to overclock it to what a i5 3570k can do you have to get extremely lucky in getting a good chip set

The average 4670k chip seems to be overclocking between 4.2 and 4.5. Considering its 10% performance lead on the 3570k, the latter would require getting overclocked to something between 4.6 and 4.9. Considering that going beyond that needed luck on the ivy platform as well, it isn't really shocking. You need to keep in mind that you don't have to overclock to what ivy could to get the same performance, since it has higher IPC due to being a newer architecture.

[n0cturnal]

Keep in mind inorder to overclock it to what a i5 3570k can do you have to get extremely lucky in getting a good chip set

But you don't have to overclock it to the same clock speed as a 3570k due to the 10% higher IPC.

[Hellravager]

hmm alright but op just read up on all the parts before you buy them.

[Sooba]

hmm alright but op just read up on all the parts before you buy them.

Will do. I haven't noticed anything crazy yet. This is just my first stop on my journey to getting a computer. I'll likely be asking a few questions before I settle on anything

Always odd to see debates in my general inquiry thread, haha. Not a bad thing. Incidentally, I too had an instinctive dislike of Windows 8. It's good to see why taking it may be a good thing.

Overclocking will be something that I will need to read up on. I haven't attempted that before either. As a general rule, does it affect the life of the parts involved?

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You could pretty much max any game out (crysis 3 excluded) on the screen you're buying with the system. Keep in mind both the GPU and CPU overclock extremely well and doing so is going to be quite a performance boost. (~20 to 30% CPU depending on chip, ~10% on GPU)

Excellent, thank you!

More overclocking references. Time to go do some reading...