Gaming PC- Help Wanted With First Build (father & son project)

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

MechaGodzilla

Honorable
Sep 16, 2013
10
0
10,510
I am building a gaming PC with my teenage son as a family project. We have never done this before. Based on forum searches and suggestions, we have revised our specs to upgrade the graphics card and cut back on the CPU and memory. We are not looking to overclock and have decided to stay with a hard drive as opposed to an SSD at this point.

Revised component list:
Case- Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 VN300M1W2N ($119 MicroCenter w/rebate)
CPU- Intel Core i5-4670 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670 ($199 MicroCenter)
Motherboard- ASUS Z87-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel ($159 Newegg)
Graphics- EVGA 02G-P4-2763-KR GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support w/ EVGA ACX Cooler Video Card ($249 Amazon)
RAM- Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74 Amazon)
Hard Drive- Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" ($68 Amazon)
Optical Drive- Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19 Newegg)
Operating System- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM DVD ($91 Amazon)
Power Supply- SeaSonic M12II 750 SS-750AM 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Semi-modular Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready ($109 Newegg)
Monitor- Benq RL2450HT 24” LED Pro Gaming Monitor ($185 Amazon)

All suggestions welcome! Thanks!

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/MechaGodzilla/saved/2rst
 
Solution
geofelt
A very good list. It will work as is.

Some thoughts:

If I could make one suggestion, rethink omitting a SSD. It really makes everything you do feel so much quicker.
120gb will hold the os and a handful of games. You could defer on the hard drive which is easy to add later if you need more room.
With 240gb you may never need a hard drive at all. Look at the Samsung EVO.

Seasonic is one of the best power supplies. The GTX760 only needs a 500w psu, so you could do just as well with a 620 w unit.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096

Since you will not be overclocking, why spend more on a Z87 based motherboard.
A B85 based motherboard will do just as well and be cheaper. Here is...
Sort by date Sort by votes
M

MechaGodzilla

Honorable
Sep 16, 2013
10
0
10,510


Gaming / Surfing / Homework.
Possibly something upgradable for college needs down the road.
Trying to keep the budget about where it is now (around $1400).
The case is a bit overkill IMO, but he wants something that he thinks is cool looking...

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,298
4,146
174,240
A very good list. It will work as is.

Some thoughts:

If I could make one suggestion, rethink omitting a SSD. It really makes everything you do feel so much quicker.
120gb will hold the os and a handful of games. You could defer on the hard drive which is easy to add later if you need more room.
With 240gb you may never need a hard drive at all. Look at the Samsung EVO.

Seasonic is one of the best power supplies. The GTX760 only needs a 500w psu, so you could do just as well with a 620 w unit.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096

Since you will not be overclocking, why spend more on a Z87 based motherboard.
A B85 based motherboard will do just as well and be cheaper. Here is one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131996
Hopefully that is enough to allow you to budget for a ssd.

As to building, I suggest you download and read the case and motherboard manuals in advance. Read them from cover to cover.

I suggest you buy a #2 Phillips head magnetic tip screwdriver. It is invaluable in holding small screws in cramped spaces.

Parts will be keyed to fit only one way. do not force anything.

If you are in a environment with static, dissipate any static by touching the case before handling parts.

Above all, be patient and have fun.
And... why not a smaller M-ATX? How many expansion cards will you ever use? A M-ATX has 4 vs. 7.
Here is the equivalent from asus: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131986
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
B

brett39532

Honorable
Sep 17, 2013
9
0
10,520
I agree with the statement above i would highly recommend getting an ssd. As far as the motherboard goes i dont have a ton of experience in that area but i agree you dont need a board with a ton of overclocking features if you dont plan to overclock.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MechaGodzilla

Honorable
Sep 16, 2013
10
0
10,510
Thanks for the suggestions! Exactly the kind of input we needed with the PSU and Motherboard. We will review everything and update the parts list. We'll re-post when it's locked down.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MechaGodzilla

Honorable
Sep 16, 2013
10
0
10,510
OK, here's what we've decided...

Motherboard- ASUS B85-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel B85 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Power Supply- SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC
Hard Drive- Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1GQRa

The case is still up for debate; we are fortunate enough to be fairly close to MicroCenter, so we are going to take a look at what they have. Maybe scale it back a bit...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom