Best gaming pc build under $1500

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Blade1

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Jun 21, 2013
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I'm gonna be selling my old pc & want to start building my own gaming rig instead of buying them from a retail store, but my budget is $1500 not including monitors, keyboard, mouse etc

I plan to just keep upgrading it one by one when i have the money for it probably making it around a $3000 pc but for now just under the $1500 mark.


Can you guys help me with all the best parts i can use for building my gaming pc with a $1500 budget.
 
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J


If you're looking to drop $1500+$250 for a cool case, this would be my pitch:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($117.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.89 @ Amazon)
Storage:...
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Swordkd

Swordkd

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Oct 3, 2012
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($117.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($449.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1522.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-22 20:36 EDT-0400)

You have the budget, no reason to not get a Haswell/Z87 motherboard set-up. The fastest 770 video card out right now. Plenty of horsepower from your power supply to support overclocking, and even an SLI set-up. Plenty of space for your storage drive(you can drop down to the caviar blue to save 20 dollars and make your 1500 dollar budget, but what's 20 more dollars when you are plunking down 1500?), and plenty of space for your OS and games on your SSD. Very good case, excellent cable routing and it's probably one of the nicest out right now for the price. The ram is only a little more expensive than standard ddr3 1600(7 dollars or so) so might as well get 1866.

I'd rather opt for the Swiftech h220 cpu cooler, but it's constantly out of stock. The Kraken x60 is a very solid unit though, and actually cools better. It's just not as quiet.

This is essentially a top of the line build for 1080p gaming, without going overkill like getting a Titan or going SLI initially.
 
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Blade1

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Jun 21, 2013
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Looks amazing! Is there any cool looking cases though with plenty of space for all of this? im willing to pay about $250 max for the case and still get all those other items you listed.
 
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Jack Revenant

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Apr 16, 2013
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If you're looking to drop $1500+$250 for a cool case, this would be my pitch:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($117.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.89 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($679.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (Grey) ATX Full Tower Case ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1658.79
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-22 21:17 EDT-0400)

The NZXT Phantom 820 is my absolute favorite case (short of crazy stuff like the Silverstone Temjin 11). It's extremely cool (temperature-wise), it has LED strips whose color you can control, and it has space for just about anything you'd care to put in it.
 
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mastrom101

mastrom101

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Jun 12, 2010
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With a $1500 build that will slowly upgrade to a 3K build, You face some decisions:
1. Do you need tri-sli?
2. Do you want the added performance of a 780 over the 770?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($139.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($228.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.80 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($76.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1465.71
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-22 21:28 EDT-0400)


CASES:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-caph820g1
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-rc932kkn3gp
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-rc942kkn1
 
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Swordkd

Swordkd

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Oct 3, 2012
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Cases are a matter of personal preference honestly. If there is one you really like, find a review on it and decide if it fits what you want. Some are better than others at air flow, cable routing, "cool" factor etc., but at that price point they should all do well enough to be a *good* case.

I wouldn't spend the money on a 780 right now. 200 dollars more than the video card I linked, it's just not worth it. I went with the best rated motherboard for z87 from Tom's reviews, although the Asrock is nice as well. I just don't like Asrock's website for updating drivers on the board. I also said I prefer the Swiftech h220 cooler, but good luck finding one in-stock. Check if you live near a Microcenter as well, you'll save quite a bit of money on the Cpu.
 
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opponentmule2

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Jun 7, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18LC1
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18LC1/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18LC1/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.89 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($93.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($404.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1286.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-22 22:10 EDT-0400)

Don't spend more money than this on your tower components. I would suggest just spend the rest on a very nice monitor so you can actually use that 770. This 770 is almost 50$ cheaper and it's the same performance. 1.15 ghz vs 1.14 ghz.

Everything's really good on this, great MOBO, good case, great PSU, great GPU and everything else. Take advantage of these awesome discount sales.

Really, unless you're going to go for 2-3 monitor gaming, one 770 will max anything. So it's more than enough. Save the money for the SLI in 1-2 years, or spend it on monitor, keyboard, or mouse or anything you like. You really don't need to spend more than this
 
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Swordkd

Swordkd

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Oct 3, 2012
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You have a valid point. Only thing I'd honestly change would be drop the OS and upgrade to the 256gb 840 Pro. My build will have higher FPS in games, better Ram benchmarks and better Storage benchmarks and overclock higher. Would you notice the difference between the two builds? Other than storage space on the SSD, I doubt it. Either way it'll be a hell of a PC.
 
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opponentmule2

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Jun 7, 2013
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Yea i agree man. The liquid cooling is better, and the storage and OC is better. However, it's so minor that it just doesn't make sense to spend the extra 200-300$ on them. I think my build has the best value for performance, and it has very reliable and high quality components as well.

Although i've to disagree with you on the upgrade to the 256gb SSD. I think a 120GB is more than enough, and upgrading to pro is just a minor upgrade for the money. You won't really notice too much of a difference in speed on two good SSD. I've a 120GB, and i can store my OS, and over 10 games on there.

With a simple click of the drag and drop button everytime you stop playing a game for a while, you can save yourself over 100$. I think 120GB of SSD is more than enough.

Without the OS, the build will be only be around 1190$!!! A hell of a lot performance for this amount of cash
 
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Swordkd

Swordkd

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Oct 3, 2012
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Looks really nice actually. If you want that case though, I'd definitely swap out the Kraken x60 for the Swiftech h220. Availability is a pain, but I'm not sure if that case supports dual 140mm radiators. It does support dual 120mm though, which is what the h220 is.
 
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fiachamp

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Mar 22, 2006
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I've really enjoyed cases like the fractal arc mini or midi. Modular hard drive bays and well placed wiring holes make it super easy to setup. If you want more advice on building a pc - you should check out http://Rightrig.tumblr.com
 
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tommyturner12

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Apr 30, 2014
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http://pcpartpicker.com/user/tommyturner12/saved/mPkqqs

This is the build I'm currently planning. If you'd like, you can drop the 980 and get a 970 for $250 less, which you can then overclock to performance levels of a 980. With the extra $250, you can add more storage, or get an i7, or pick up another card for SLI, or even throw my CPU, Motherboard, and RAM out the window and get a Haswell processor along with an X99 board and DDR4 RAM. Whatever you prefer.

You can just keep the 980 as well, and then overclock it to 1500 MHz through MSI Afterburner, which should let you play most games at 1600p on max settings smoothly. Or you can get a new case, which sounds like something you'd like to do, however I'd strongly advise against it because the Fractal Design Define R4 has a 5 star rating on Newegg (71 Ratings) and is rated as one of the best cases among PC gamers and Enthusiasts due to it's silent and subtle approach along with the wonders it performs when it comes down to noise cancellation.

But it comes down to what you prefer, more power and efficiency, or style, or both?
 
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