Building my own gaming PC under $15000- Some help??

mgm8822

Honorable
Sep 22, 2013
2
0
10,510
Hello everyone,

I intend to build my own gaming pc, and I would like to keep the price under $1500. I am a newbie with regard building my own computer, and have not been all that involved in computer technology over the last 10 years . I did build my own computer over ten years ago in high school, but have not really paid attention to computer technology since. Any help you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated.

As a side note, I was looking at configuring a computer on the Origin PC website, so I used that as a foundation for choosing my components. However, being the cheapskate that I am, I just could not justify paying for the markup on the Origin PC.

My proposed components are as follows:

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K - 239.39

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM- $19.99

BitFenix Prodigy Midnight Black / Black Steel / Plastic Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case - 69.99

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - 59.99

EVGA 03G-P4-2781-KR GeForce GTX 780 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card - 649.49

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - 31.99

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850M 850W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Semi Modular High Performance ... 119.99

Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX - 92.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM - 99.99

CORSAIR Hydro series H50 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - 54.99

TOTAL = $1564.88


I have a few questions:

1. Do you see any areas where I am paying money for no additional performance/are there comparable products to anything listed here in a lower price?

2. I need some help making sure my computer does not overheat- is the Corsair sufficient to cool an i5-4670K? Anything else I need to do to ensure the computer does not overheat?

Any help you could give would be appreciated. And go easy on me please- I haven't attempted this for over a decade!

Thank you all for your replies. Pursuant to Jack Relevant's post, I will add the following:

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: This month

Budget Range: $1500 maximum; willing to go slightly over if there is a good performance based reason for doing so.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming PC

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: Yes


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Originally thought Newegg, but will go to whoever has the cheapest parts.

Location: Central New Jersey, United States, 07920 zip code

Parts Preferences: N/A

Overclocking: Not at this time. I'mgetting back into building my own PC, and not comfortable doing this on my own just yet.

SLI or Crossfire: Not right now, but possibly in the future


Your Monitor Resolution: Not quite sure at this time.

Additional Comments: I added the 850 Watt power supply because I want the computer to be upgradeable in the future.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Looking to get back into some gaming.

 
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 ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($176.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($394.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($87.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1431.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-22 15:18 EDT-0400)

Skip the nVidia 780 for now, it's not worth the extra 250 dollars over the 770. Great motherboard, good Ram at 1866mhz, same Cpu. Standard 1tb HDD with a 250 SSD for your OS/games. Great case, Psu has enough power to SLI the video card if you want to later, it's also semi-modular which is nice for cable routing. Skip the added sound card, the onboard sound has come a long ways in 10 years. Not worth buying one unless you are recording or a serious audiophile, and you'll want to spend 100+ easy.
 
Solution
We can most certainly assist you in checking over those parts (and I definitely see areas where efficiency could be improved), but there are two issues:
1: We don't know location, usage (beyond gaming), or whether you plan to do things like overclock or set up an SLI/CrossFire either currently or down the road. We have a build request template which we ask people to fill out (http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice), which allows us to get a more clear picture of what would best suit your needs.
However, more importantly, 2: In about three days, AMD will be giving official information on their new R-200 GPU series, so I would strongly recommend waiting. You might well end up paying more for lower performance if you buy now than if you wait a mere few weeks.
 
1. Do you see any areas where I am paying money for no additional performance/are there comparable products to anything listed here in a lower price?
To mITX MoBo you can NOT fit videocard + PCI soundcard.
mITX MoBo do have only one pci-e slot. so you can not any other card if you use videocard on that only pci-e slot.
Corsair H80i is maybe better cooler. Or H100i
Bit Fenic prodigy do have issues with PSUs all psu will not git that case.
Seasonic will maybe dit better.
Look this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XnU8MPjp1Y
This too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bzE8uv0C-B0#t=331
But bitfenix is coming to mATX size.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4d6R7SSJoM
Hope this heps to make better build :)
 

Adam Young

Honorable
Aug 18, 2013
77
0
10,660
I agree with swordkd, maybe go for a PCI-E SSD instead of a conventional SATA III SSD. You'll get double the performance if you are willing to spend the extra money. Also i'd advise getting some Corsair SP 120 fans for your system and for the radiator ;) much more airflow
 

mgm8822

Honorable
Sep 22, 2013
2
0
10,510




Sorry about that. I added an extra "Zero" and don't know how to change it.