Is this a good setup for gaming forM the next few years

jaymarshi123 · Oct 14, 2013

ksham · Oct 14, 2013

If you have access to Microcenter, definitely take advantage of their bundle deals to save some money. Other than that, the build looks solid.

michael908 · Oct 14, 2013

Newegg has that card for $300, I'm not sure if microcentre price matches, but you'd be overpaying $50.

g-unit1111 · Oct 14, 2013

You don't need 16GB of RAM for a gaming rig. I would personally go Intel for the CPU, but stick with the R9 for your GPU. What is your budget?

jaymarshi123 · Oct 15, 2013

g-unit1111 :

My budget is right at 1400.0

photonboy · Oct 15, 2013

g-unit1111 :

I'm in complete agreement.
While I do recommend AMD at times for lower budgets, an i5 such as the i5-3570K or i5-4670K is my choice. It may cost slightly more but it's pretty minor if you consider your total PC investment (hardware, network, games) over a four-year period (under 2%).

8GB vs 16GB:
The advantage of more than 8GB is ZERO for gaming. Not 5% or even 2%. Zero, and this will not change in the near future. If it does you can add more later. Otherwise it's just added HEAT into your case. Not sure why I see articles recommending 16GB or using it for game benchmarks implying it matters. Probably because they do video editing benchmarks as well.

New AMD card?
It's basically the same as the old card with some audio feature you may or may not use. Not sure if you get any free games like the HD7000 series (average cost about $25 per game at Steam so roughly $75 to $90 value). Compare Apples to Apples though as perhaps some of the new cards have better coolers, voltage regulation, higher clock, 4K video support?, new audio etc.

BUDGET:
If you provide a budget clearly stating what it is for (i.e. Windows? Monitor?) you can likely get some optimal builds recommended. My recommend would be a Z87 motherboard (Asus, Gigabyte or Asrock) and i5-4670K CPU, 8GB (2x4GB) of G. Skill 1866MHz etc. (Windows 8 64-bit and Start8 recommended.)

Mail In Rebates:
Avoid if possible. Go look at the details. If you had FIVE rebates here's what you might have to do (they vary):
a) fill in paperwork
b) MAIL it
c) wait for pre-paid cards
d) Spend them (conditions of spending? Spend separately? Not sure..)
e) Don't WAIT too long or you may have to spend $3 per month (yep)

Cheers.

g-unit1111 · Oct 15, 2013

photonboy :

That is a good point, and I'm not sure where this nonsense is coming from as well, maybe a few benchmark jockeys on Youtube started getting creative in their ways to get higher scores on 3D Mark. Not only that, RAM has been rapidly escalating in cost lately. 16GB packs that were $80 6 months ago, are now $145. 8GB packs that were $45 6 months ago, are now $75. It's getting insane, and that's not the area where I recommend blowing tons of money, especially if your budget is $2K or less. I remember when I first joined here we went through that with hard drive prices due to the Thailand floods, now that's getting back to normal and it's happening with RAM. What goes around comes around. :lol:

It's basically the same as the old card with some audio feature you may or may not use. Not sure if you get any free games like the HD7000 series (average cost about $25 per game at Steam so roughly $75 to $90 value). Compare Apples to Apples though as perhaps some of the new cards have better coolers, voltage regulation, higher clock, 4K video support?, new audio etc.

Give it a month and AMD will probably start including free games or Steam coupons to entice buyers. It will be interesting to see if GPUs will start supporting 4K ultra HD monitors.

This is what I would do on this budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.93 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($304.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($110.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1270.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-15 01:15 EDT-0400)

- Intel i5-4670K will be a better overall CPU
- Noctua D14 is still the undisputed king of air heat sinks
- Included new AMD R9 280X
- Super Flower quality PSU

photonboy · Oct 15, 2013

g-unit1111,
I personally like your build overall, but I would make the following changes:

1) COOLER:
The Noctua NH-D14 is a great cooler but the fans are VOLTAGE controlled. Many motherboards only support PWM for CPU FAN control now. I don't have time right now to play around with pricing so I'll simply recommend a minimum of the:
COOLER MASTER 212 EVO

I've been researching LIQUID COOLERS and discovered issues with cooling the Voltage Regulators near the CPU. Experts are recommending sucking air INTO the case to get some air flow over them. Seems to be a lot of Pros and Cons with Liquid vs Air.

2) RAM:
For about the same price you can get 1866MHz memory from G. Skill which can benefit over 1600MHz at times. It's a small difference but then the price is basically identical.

3) POWER SUPPLY:
The one you recommend is great, but you can get a ROSEWILL 750W for about $100 which has awesome customer reviews for reliability. There are some pretty good ones for $80 even so the budget will dictate that a bit.

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Is this a good setup for gaming forM the next few years

jaymarshi123

Honorable

g-unit1111

ksham

Splendid

michael908

Honorable

g-unit1111

Titan

jaymarshi123

Honorable

photonboy

Titan

g-unit1111

Titan

photonboy

Titan

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