Gaming PC build advice for next year

Dracolich309

Honorable
Dec 3, 2013
4
0
10,510
Hello!
So next year I'll have a big exam so after thats done I'm planning to build myself a gaming PC that'll play new games for atleast the next 2 years
So I'm pretty clueless right now about building a PC but I've done SOME research and I only know the very very basics of PC building right now so as with your help on picking the parts if you could I would also like you to answer some of my noobish questions :)
So right now my budget is around $1000 but If possible i would like it to be below that maybe $800? :p
Right now I'm pretty sold on the i5 but I dont mind AMD either so yeah
For the parts I have would like to have are:

Processor: Intel Core i5(I know there are models but I havent really understood that yet)
Graphics Card: Geforce GTX 650 Ti

Okay thats all I got heh
Soo i would really like your help on picking part for stuff i already have... I dont need a monitor, mouse or keyboard but I do need an OS
I dont plan to use SLI or Crossfire, I know basically what it is but it seems too complicated and most websites say they don't recommend it so I'm gonna follow what they say..
Alright now questions time!(I know I could just google all this up but i would really appreciate it if someone answers me here) :)
1) Cooling... so like do I have to get a cooler for the parts in the PC? and if I do how do I pick one? How would i know what speeds the fans i get should run on so my PC doesnt overheat?
2)Power supply.. alright i know I'm suppose to calculate how much wattage my parts use but when I do, do I get a power supply thats wattage is as close to the total wattage of my PC or can I get one thats 200 or 300W above it so I can make sure my parts are getting enough electricity
3) Last question(thank god) soo this is about GPU's soo there's AMD and NVIDIA, AMD has radeon and NVIDIA has Geforce but why is it that MSI has GPU's based on Geforce i mean is it still NVIDIA or is it MSI?
Alright thats all sorry for this really long post and sorry for any mistakes i made in this post
EDIT: Did I mention I am also gonna be running a minecraft server with about 30 of my friends soo I kinda want 16 GB of RAM eheh :D
 
Solution
First thing is deciding if you want to overclock or not really. As you aren't really up to speed on building in general, I'd suggest it shouldn't be a priority.
If you do want to overclock, then you need to pick a k-series i5, a 3570K or a 4670K.
If you don't, then pretty much any other i5 without a letter after it is pretty even in terms of performance (S and T models are low power usage, P signifies it has no build in graphics).
There are currently two generations of processor available, "Ivy Bridge" (any processor beginning with a 3, like the 3570K) and "Haswell" (any processor beginning with a 4). Despite what you would intuitively think, the newer versions aren't much faster, the main reason for picking a newer version is access to...

Rammy

Honorable
First thing is deciding if you want to overclock or not really. As you aren't really up to speed on building in general, I'd suggest it shouldn't be a priority.
If you do want to overclock, then you need to pick a k-series i5, a 3570K or a 4670K.
If you don't, then pretty much any other i5 without a letter after it is pretty even in terms of performance (S and T models are low power usage, P signifies it has no build in graphics).
There are currently two generations of processor available, "Ivy Bridge" (any processor beginning with a 3, like the 3570K) and "Haswell" (any processor beginning with a 4). Despite what you would intuitively think, the newer versions aren't much faster, the main reason for picking a newer version is access to future CPU upgrades, the older ones tend to be cheaper.

As a general note, 16Gb of ram is pretty pointless for general gaming, but if you think you can use it, then I'll include it.

Onto question time-

1) Cooling. You don't need to worry about a CPU cooler if you aren't overclocking. The Intel stock cooler might not look pretty, but it does the job. Fan speeds aren't a problem because your system should automatically control the CPU cooler (as long as it is plugged into the correct motherboard header).

2) Power Supply. This is based primarily on your choice of graphics card (and to a lesser degree, processor). More or less everything else uses a pretty small wattage and it's going to be similar for everyone. A GTX650Ti and a non overclockable processor will run fine on any entry level 430-450W PSU from a reputable brand (XFX Core 450, Corsair CX430 for example). Increasing to a mid-high level graphics card could mean scaling up to a 550-600W PSU depending on your choice. When buying a PSU, the maximum 12V amperage is the most important statistic, not the "title" wattage, as you'll see 600W cheap PSUs that can only deliver half of that on 12V (every high power draw component is 12V).

3) Nvidia and AMD design the technology behind the cards, but they aren't the manufacturer. They license the design to various third parties who put their own spin on it with custom coolers and factory overclocks.
In general, two graphics cards of the same type ie two GTX650Ti, will perform fairly similarly, regardless of what extras the manufacturers threw at them.


Other significant questions would be -
What is your display resolution? (this may limit how much is sensible to spend on graphics)
Do you want an SSD? (This will have a fairly minimal gaming impact, but quick system boot and loading times can be nice)



A suggested basic build at your $800 target, it can't be overclocked, but it generally checks the boxes-
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.97 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Antec GX700 ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $808.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-03 22:29 EST-0500)
Now, for a gaming machine that's a little light on graphics, but it still manages to include a graphics card better than a GTX650Ti. Usually, a build of this nature would have an extra ~$50 to spend on graphics. If the 16Gb of ram is non-negotiable and it were me, I'd round up to $900 budget and stick a GTX760 in there.
Note that this is based on deals that are good today (the case has a big discount), but the principle holds true whenever you come to buy.
 
Solution

theawolwarrior

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
104
0
10,710
Rammy gave you a great build but if you need to know more about parts you should watch YouTube channels like newegg and Linus tech tips, they also have guides on how to build pcs which are just great :)