New System - Budget $1600 to $1800 - Recommendations Appreciated

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Johnny100Pesos

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Jun 25, 2012
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Approximate Purchase Date: January or February 2014

Budget Range: $1,600.00 to $1,800.00 After Rebates and After Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Work (word processor, research on internet). I don't plan to use the comp as a multimedia center.

Are you buying a monitor: Yes AND all other peripherals

Parts to Upgrade: Need entire new system.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: None - whichever is cheapest. I live close to a Fry's too.

Location: San Diego, CA

Parts Preferences: I am willing to splurge $300 or $400 on the card, so I was thinking GTX770.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (in the future)

Your Monitor Resolution: need to buy new monitor, depends on monitor purchased

Additional Comments: the computer will be used for gaming and for work (research, writing). I already have an i5-3750k that someone gave me as a gift. I was wondering if I should use it and save myself some money or buy a new processor (i5-4670K which I guess is newer). Also, as far as the case, I really don't mind the noise, my greatest fear is heat (and dust) since I have no AC and it can get quite hot where I live in the summer.

Thanks!
 
Solution
game junky
For what you're wanting to do, your 3570k will be more than sufficient. The main benefits of Haswell are their energy efficiency and their integrated GPU performance vs previous generations. Haswell is faster but you will not see a distinctive difference between the 3570k and the 4670k. If you were planning on doing lots of video encoding or 3D modeling, I would tell you to get an 1150 mobo paired with a 4770 proc but I think you will be incredibly happy with the processor you have without having to spend a dime. Use that money to get a secondary monitor or a nice pair of 2.1 speakers for your comp. You will be much happier spending that money elsewhere, I promise.

As far as OS, that's still a matter of personal preference. I would...
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
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Assuming you don't need keyboard, monitor, mouse, and OS this is what I would do:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($117.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($86.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card ($699.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1517.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-06 01:33 EST-0500)
 
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game junky

game junky

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This one has a lot of embellishments that you can tone down, but since you have a nice budget you might as well splurge especially since you don't need the processor which takes over $200 off the price of this one. Water-cooling is a nice sustainable option, the video card is over the top (it's what I actually use in my rig that was made to play battlefield 4 on ultra). Do you need a 27" display - no but if you can afford it, why not.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2gbjt
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
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I would not purchase Corsair XMS RAM - it's based on much older hardware. You want G Skill Ares or Corsair Vengeance instead. Water cooling is good if you have the resources to make a full open loop, otherwise don't bother with plastic blocks if you can possibly help it.
 
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TechnoD

TechnoD

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Jun 25, 2012
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just my two cents (building off "game junky's" parts suggestion) -
a. a hyper 212+ would probably be more than sufficient in his case, and even allows for some solid overclocks (I've got mine at 4.4ghz stable)
b. if he has 1600, than maybe a beefier case. probably a full size phantom or a HAF would be good
c. I would switch the 770 GTX for a Radeon 290 at least, since its faster and cheaper than the 770.
d. I have used a lot of different keyboard and mice setups, and the most economical and best solution I have found is:
- Microsoft sidewinder x4 keyboard
- Anker gaming mouse (search amazon for it, absolutely wonderful mouse)
e. MSI z77-g45 is a great full atx, sli/crossfire compatible mainboard.

Im sure that there is more that could be configured or changed, but that's all I've got (time for).
Best of Luck
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
42,533
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Why would you go LESS on the GPU? I'm not really following here. If you've got the budget get a Noctua D14, it's still the best air fan / heat sink you can get for not a lot of money and even smashes most of the upper end dual fan radiators.

The Sidewinder X4 is a good keyboard, if you can afford a mechanical keyboard I highly suggest getting one. Thermaltake makes a low cost mechanical keyboard but I can't remember the exact model.
 
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J

Johnny100Pesos

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Jun 25, 2012
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Thank you all for replying. Now, I have a couple of follow up questions if you will oblige me:

1.) Is there any downside to not getting the newer processor (i5-4670k), that is, will I have to upgrade in a year or two?

2.) As far as OS, I see some people pick Windows 7 over Windows 8. Is that a matter of preference or will it have an impact on gaming...and work, of course.

Thanks!
 
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game junky

game junky

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Feb 2, 2012
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For what you're wanting to do, your 3570k will be more than sufficient. The main benefits of Haswell are their energy efficiency and their integrated GPU performance vs previous generations. Haswell is faster but you will not see a distinctive difference between the 3570k and the 4670k. If you were planning on doing lots of video encoding or 3D modeling, I would tell you to get an 1150 mobo paired with a 4770 proc but I think you will be incredibly happy with the processor you have without having to spend a dime. Use that money to get a secondary monitor or a nice pair of 2.1 speakers for your comp. You will be much happier spending that money elsewhere, I promise.

As far as OS, that's still a matter of personal preference. I would only suggest Windows 8 for a touchscreen laptop/tablet - I have 8.1 on my Surface Pro and it still has too many quirks for me to want to use it on a daily basis on anything not touch-enabled. My recommendation would be to go to a brick and mortar and try 8.1 so you can get a sense of how it functions for day to day usage. If you like it, buy it. If you hate it (which a large portion of users do), go with 7 Home Premium or Pro. There may come a time down the road where some mainstream game titles will require Win8 (early on, it looked like BF4 was going that route), but until that day comes I am not going to upgrade my OS even though I have an upgrade copy from pre-launch.
 
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Johnny100Pesos

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Jun 25, 2012
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Great! Thank you so much for answering all my questions.
 
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