New Build Wanting to purchase asap (~2500) budget

[tootz]

I had a PC part picker list that I have been fooling around with. I am looking for input on the chosen parts since I have done some research but appreciate outside opinions.

Budget: $2500 give or take


Resolution: 1080p may go 4k in the future but I'm running two xl2720z monitors right now.


Games / Settings Desired: I play everything from Battlefield to Wow including but not limited to (lol, csgo, assassins creed, hearthstone and plan to play all the upcoming titles like overwatch, the division, GTA 5). I want to run everything maxed out for at least the next couple of years and have no framerate issues.


Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc): none of the above and probably not something that will change.


Country: USA (merica)


Parts that can be reused: I went overboard last time on psu spent extra money I def didn't need to buyed a 1200w corsair gold. However its 5 y/o now and I would just rather buy all new. I'll probably host a server or something on this other computer when the upgrade is complete.


Do you need an OS? Yes that has been budgeted for.


Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? No.



Here is the current list pcpartpicker /p/h3R3Mp sorry I'm not allowed to post links . The only thing I 100% won't change is A) I want at least the 500+ gb of SSD space because I like keeping an abundance of games installed and I want them all booting fast. I also want a sound card this time around. I didn't buy one last time and I am not a fan of having to use USB headsets. Also, I want the GTX 980 however there are so many variations of it I don't know which is the best. Thank in advance for all of your help.

[Lathais]

Your build looks good, just a few changes I would make:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($159.35 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($124.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($199.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($134.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card ($549.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($106.84 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1920.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-11 18:23 EDT-0400

Personally, not a fan of water coolers. Air coolers tend to be better and quieter unless you go custom loop. For that reason, I went with the best air cooler on the market.

No need for X99 Board. Z97 is more than enough.

RAM, I don't see a need to go for DDR4 and if you are going to OC your chip, the Haswells can sometimes have issues with the faster RAM. Doesn't really provide a gaming benefit to go to faster RAM anyway.

A single 512GB SSD instead of 2 256 drives.

The ASUS Strix is what I believe to be the best of the 970/980s

Case is a silent case. I've heard good things about the one you chose too. Really a personal preference thing here.

A smaller less expensive PSU that is still a Gold+ and a high quality brand.

No need for the DVD Drive IMO. You an install windows from a USB and just about everything else nowadays is digital. If you have some other need of it I am unaware of, the one you chose is fine.

I left out the sound card, so you can add that back.

[tootz]

I'm glad you mentioned the Noctua. I was actually looking at that. I think I just had the corsair because of a bundle with the mobo.

[Remilia]

I'd get this.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyt...-gag1sniperz97

You can go down to a WD Blue or Seagate Barracuda as opposed to a WD Black to save cost. You're not getting much other than warranty, especially when all it is is storage. WD Green also works.

I made a silent build so I got the R5, it's a really nice to use.

[Deleted]

Try this build out for size:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14CS_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G1.SNIPER Z97 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($125.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($199.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Toshiba MD03ACA-V 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card ($549.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($106.84 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1819.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-12 04:11 EDT-0400

Knocked $100 off for similar overall performance. It would be more, but I decided on the G1.Sniper mobo.

[Deleted]

The build from Lathais looks pretty great. You could replace the Mainboard if you need something special or wahtever, but the other Core-Parts are pretty much th e best you can get with your money. But I would get Windows 7 over Windows 8

[Dimsumlol]

2500 give or take? I'll take. Doesn't include case or sound card. You pick those out based on preference.


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bVv9P6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bVv9P6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($303.08 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220-X 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($139.99)
Motherboard: Asus Z97 PRO GAMER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($153.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($146.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($288.75 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.00 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.00 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2450.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-12 22:31 EDT-0400

[Kagthul]

2500 give or take? I'll take. Doesn't include case or sound card. You pick those out based on preference.


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bVv9P6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bVv9P6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($303.08 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220-X 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($139.99)
Motherboard: Asus Z97 PRO GAMER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($153.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($146.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($288.75 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.00 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.00 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2450.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-12 22:31 EDT-0400

Some comments...

DDR3-2400 will do you zero good in games. Literally no performance difference. You can easily save ~25$ on the RAM by sticking with DDR3-1600; if you are buying physically at a Micro Center, itll be even cheaper (20$ off 16GB of Crucial Ballistix Sport paired with any Z97 Mobo, as well as 40$ off the MoBo paired with the CPU, and the CPU itself is almost 60$ cheaper in-store as well).

The storage drive - there's quite literally no reason to have a 5400 RPM drive. You can grab a 3TB 7200 RPM drive from Micro Center for about the same price (cheaper right now, they are having a huge in-store sale on HDDs and SSDs; i just picked up a pair 6TB 7200RPM Seagates for my NAS for 129$ each). No reason to go with a slower drive than necessary - its not saving you any money at that price.

[Remilia]

Slower RPM drives are meant for quiet builds just fyi. WD Green was made for lower noise output and energy saving. The former there is a noticeable difference for me from a WD Black and a WD green. Hell my Seagate external was quieter than the WD Black and that's not inside my case. Energy wise it's like... 4W difference which is really pointless really.
There is a reason, probably not for you, but there is one.

[Dimsumlol]

Some comments...

DDR3-2400 will do you zero good in games. Literally no performance difference. You can easily save ~25$ on the RAM by sticking with DDR3-1600; if you are buying physically at a Micro Center, itll be even cheaper (20$ off 16GB of Crucial Ballistix Sport paired with any Z97 Mobo, as well as 40$ off the MoBo paired with the CPU, and the CPU itself is almost 60$ cheaper in-store as well).

The storage drive - there's quite literally no reason to have a 5400 RPM drive. You can grab a 3TB 7200 RPM drive from Micro Center for about the same price (cheaper right now, they are having a huge in-store sale on HDDs and SSDs; i just picked up a pair 6TB 7200RPM Seagates for my NAS for 129$ each). No reason to go with a slower drive than necessary - its not saving you any money at that price.

If you're dropping 2500 dollars on a computer, are you really going to nickel and dime to save 40 bucks to buy slower ram and a combo motherboard?

There is a reason to have a 5400 RPM drive. I have Caviar Blue's and Blacks sitting on the shelf because they're ridiculously loud. Greens are quieter and more power efficient. Even then, he's asking for suggestions. I threw out mine because that's what I would do with a 2500 budget if I was going strictly for performance and didn't care about aesthetics or color schemes. As long as he doesn't buy corsair garbage, he should be good to go.

[kaelleria]

The bigger question is why are you dropping $2500 on a pc to play game you could run at max settings for ~1k...

[Lathais]

If you're dropping 2500 dollars on a computer, are you really going to nickel and dime to save 40 bucks to buy slower ram and a combo motherboard?

There is a reason to have a 5400 RPM drive. I have Caviar Blue's and Blacks sitting on the shelf because they're ridiculously loud. Greens are quieter and more power efficient. Even then, he's asking for suggestions. I threw out mine because that's what I would do with a 2500 budget if I was going strictly for performance and didn't care about aesthetics or color schemes. As long as he doesn't buy corsair garbage, he should be good to go.

The other issue with the higher RAM speeds, especially with Haswell chips, is it affects how far you can OC your CPU. I mean, sure, in a $2500, $40 for the faster RAM is not much, but why spend ANY money you don't have to. Instead, get the slower RAM because you won't notice any difference whatsoever and may possibly even end up underclocking your RAM to further OC your CPU, save the $40 and treat your self to a nice steak dinner. Just my opinion though.

[Dimsumlol]

The other issue with the higher RAM speeds, especially with Haswell chips, is it affects how far you can OC your CPU. I mean, sure, in a $2500, $40 for the faster RAM is not much, but why spend ANY money you don't have to. Instead, get the slower RAM because you won't notice any difference whatsoever and may possibly even end up underclocking your RAM to further OC your CPU, save the $40 and treat your self to a nice steak dinner. Just my opinion though.

Does it affect it? I have the same RAM in my build and I OC the cpu to 4.9ghz @1.33v. So are you saying I could get 5ghz if I went with 1600mhz ram?

My opinion, when you have a 2500 dollar budget to build a computer, you can buy some more luxurious items. If you want to get it as fast as possible for that price point, why skimp on something like RAM, or PSU, or SSD? Get the best and get the fastest. Everyone and their mama has 1600mzh RAM. Be different.

[Lathais]

Does it affect it? I have the same RAM in my build and I OC the cpu to 4.9ghz @1.33v. So are you saying I could get 5ghz if I went with 1600mhz ram?

Yes it does. You quite possibly could but it seems as though you already got a chip that's pretty far above average so in your particular case, it may not be worth it. However, to someone who got an average or below average chip, it can certainly make the difference in even getting to 4.6

My opinion, when you have a 2500 dollar budget to build a computer, you can buy some more luxurious items. If you want to get it as fast as possible for that price point, why skimp on something like RAM, or PSU, or SSD? Get the best and get the fastest. Everyone and their mama has 1600mzh RAM. Be different.

Well, rich people don;t get rich by spending their maximum budget at every opportunity.

- - - Updated - - -

Here is some more info on OCing Haswells and RAM Speeds:

http://www.overclockers.com/3step-gu...intel-haswell/

In particular, this paragraph:

Speaking of ASUS, let’s start with an example they gave. You might be able to run DDR3-2800 RAM and overclock your i7 4770K to 4.4 GHz. However, drop that down to DDR3-1600 or DDR3-1866 and that same CPU at the same voltage might be able to get to 4.6 GHz now. Everything in Haswell is linked. Reducing RAM speed on poor-to-pretty good chips will almost invariably increase the CPU’s ability to overclock.

Bottom line though, even if it did not affect CPU clock speed, it's $40 that will not make a lick of difference in gaming performance. Why spend money that will not do anything for you? May as well just wipe with it and flush it down the toilet.

[Dimsumlol]

Bottom line though, even if it did not affect CPU clock speed, it's $40 that will not make a lick of difference in gaming performance. Why spend money that will not do anything for you? May as well just wipe with it and flush it down the toilet.

That article is almost two years old. They're talking about 4770k's. Clearly things have changed since then. The standard OC for 4790k's is 4.8 @ 1.3v. - So, 4.9 isn't really blowing doors off of anything.

Bottom line, some people have more money to spend. You obviously went super budget with your build and that's fine. At least you didn't buy AMD. You did get an unlocked processor and have a stock cpu cooler, however. Wasn't that money wasted? Could have bought a locked one and H97 for 40 bucks cheaper. Why would you waste the money? You could have bought a steak instead. Or wiped and flushed it.

[Lathais]

That article is almost two years old. They're talking about 4770k's. Clearly things have changed since then. The standard OC for 4790k's is 4.8 @ 1.3v. - So, 4.9 isn't really blowing doors off of anything.

Bottom line, some people have more money to spend. You obviously went super budget with your build and that's fine. At least you didn't buy AMD. You did get an unlocked processor and have a stock cpu cooler, however. Wasn't that money wasted? Could have bought a locked one and H97 for 40 bucks cheaper. Why would you waste the money? You could have bought a steak instead. Or wiped and flushed it.

Yes, but it's still Haswell architecture and RAM speeds still affect OCs.

My personal build is a slightly different story. First off, when I upgrade mine, my wife's gets the same treatment, so you gotta double my budget. The PSU, RAM and HDD were actually recycled from old rigs. I extended my budget slightly(which ended up hurting some other plans we had) to get what I could with the plan being later this year or with taxes next year to add add more fans to the case, get an NH-D15(unless something better comes out), an SSD and a new monitor with a top of the line GPU to follow the next year. Therefore, that is not wasted money, it's a future investment. I have friends that will gladly buy my 2 year old used 960's off me as they will be running my old 6850's until then, lol. I was upgrading from an AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE and a Radeon HD6850. What I did not do was put in a way overpowered PSU or RAM that does me absolutely no good.

Yes, some people have more money than others, but they did not get it by spending on things that do them absolutely no good. Why does it feel like you are specifically attacking me now? Both here and in another thread?

[Dimsumlol]

Yes, but it's still Haswell architecture and RAM speeds still affect OCs.

My personal build is a slightly different story. First off, when I upgrade mine, my wife's gets the same treatment, so you gotta double my budget. The PSU, RAM and HDD were actually recycled from old rigs. I extended my budget slightly(which ended up hurting some other plans we had) to get what I could with the plan being later this year or with taxes next year to add add more fans to the case, get an NH-D15(unless something better comes out), an SSD and a new monitor with a top of the line GPU to follow the next year. Therefore, that is not wasted money, it's a future investment. I have friends that will gladly buy my 2 year old used 960's off me as they will be running my old 6850's until then, lol. I was upgrading from an AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE and a Radeon HD6850. What I did not do was put in a way overpowered PSU or RAM that does me absolutely no good.

Yes, some people have more money than others, but they did not get it by spending on things that do them absolutely no good. Why does it feel like you are specifically attacking me now? Both here and in another thread?

I'm annoyed with you. You link me an article from two years ago and tell me that getting slower RAM is better, when I have a 4790k and that RAM and I know what I'm getting out of it. It's frustrating, especially since I have first-hand experience with the parts and you're telling me what it's capable of while not owning any of them.

You seem *very* budget oriented and there's nothing wrong with that. I think you need to understand that people budget out their builds based on what they can reasonably afford. If someone says 2500, or 4000, you shouldn't just start throwing in cheaper alternatives because that's what you would do. Take a look at the parts available and pick the very best ones. It's a high-end build. No reason to skimp on a SSD or PSU or RAM or MOBO. Get the best of the best. Let them worry about their financial situation.

[Lathais]

I'm annoyed with you. You link me an article from two years ago and tell me that getting slower RAM is better, when I have a 4790k and that RAM and I know what I'm getting out of it. It's frustrating, especially since I have first-hand experience with the parts and you're telling me what it's capable of while not owning any of them.

You seem *very* budget oriented and there's nothing wrong with that. I think you need to understand that people budget out their builds based on what they can reasonably afford. If someone says 2500, or 4000, you shouldn't just start throwing in cheaper alternatives because that's what you would do. Take a look at the parts available and pick the very best ones. It's a high-end build. No reason to skimp on a SSD or PSU or RAM or MOBO. Get the best of the best. Let them worry about their financial situation.

While the article is 2 years old, it remains that with slower RAM you can get higher CPU clocks. That is still a fact. Yes, you have first hand experience, but I'm willing to bet if you put 1600 RAM in your system, you could break 5.0. The exact numbers in the article may not be current, but the fact that in Haswell, everything is tied together and RAM speeds affect CPU Overclocks is still true.

Yes, I am very budget oriented, so I come in here and provide information to help people save money. They do not have to listen to me, but I give them the information so they can make an informed decision. It's their money, they can do what they want. So I provide the options to them and help to educate them so they can make a more informed decision. I do not just max out their budget and say here you go then insult anyone showing them possible ways to save money if they so choose.

[Remilia]

Just downclock the RAM. Anything above 1600MHz is overclocked RAM unless it's Corsair RAM. Then it's always overclocked above 1333MHz.

[Lathais]

Just downclock the RAM. Anything above 1600MHz is overclocked RAM unless it's Corsair RAM. Then it's always overclocked above 1333MHz.

Exactly, if you are going to downclock it anyway, why bother to spend the extra on the OCed RAM? Better yet, why ever buy it if you can just OC the 1600 on your own?