$1200-1800 Gaming PC

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DoctorSMASH

DoctorSMASH

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Dec 11, 2013
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Hi I've been lurking this sub-forum for a bit looking at builds people are doing and also went on pc parts picker for a bit but I really don't know what parts to get. I was wondering if anyone would give a build suggestion for a $1200-1800 price range.

Approximate Purchase Date: Boxing day - prices would be lower I'm guessing.

Budget Range: $1200-1800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming.

Are you buying a monitor: No - I have 2 monitors already, both of their max resolutions are 1680x1050

Do you need to buy OS: No - I have Windows 7 64-bit already

Location: Victoria, BC, Canada.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: None

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Maybe, I'd prefer not to though.

SLI or Crossfire: No, I've read of people having many problems with crossfire / SLI playing the games I play a lot of (DotA 2 and LoL)

Your Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050 for each of my 2 monitors

Additional Comments: The games I typically play aren't too demanding (DotA 2 / LoL / Skyrim) but I do like to be able to play most games well as I buy new games that appeal to me. My current PC has a terrible time playing games that are graphics / cpu intensive and typically have low fps or freezing lag which is anti-fun.

Sorry for not having a build thought out on my own, I don't value my computer building skills very highly. Every time I have selected parts by myself something has gone horribly wrong so I don't want my poorly selected parts affecting build someone might suggest.
 
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sportfreak23
With that resolution and the 2 main games you play all the builds I have below will be over kill. But for something like BF4 you will have a great experience, your budget range is also pretty wide and open so depends on you as well.

If you game on a single monitor then you can consider lowering your graphics card to a gtx 770 or even 760 which is still good for when you upgrade to a 1080p monitor and play other intensive games. I can't seem to find a 280x in stock to add into the build and the 7970 are priced higher. As said earlier your budget leaves alot of room in each build. Cases are just a filler in each build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz...
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maurelie

maurelie

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Oct 26, 2013
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12,960
Here is something for your budget

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($240.50 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($145.08 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.83 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($108.15 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($519.79 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Thermaltake Chaser A31 ATX Mid Tower Case ($78.98 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.50 @ Vuugo)
Total: $1365.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 03:11 EST-0500)
 
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thasan1

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Mar 27, 2013
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do you plan to play games on a ingle 1680*1050 monitor or 2? if 1 then a 1200$ build will be a bit overkill.

anyway's here's one:

CPU: intel core i5-4670K $240.50
MOBO:gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H$139.99
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 $77.84
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk$249.99
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $62.44
GFX: radeon R9-290X (you have to wait till january as 3rd party cards will arrive by mid-late january)$600
Case: your choice.
PSU: SeaSonic S12II 620 $94.98

first sorry for the poor looking build. second,even if you intend 2 1680*1050 monitor R9-290X looks overkill,so go with R9-290 instead its around 400$ but you still have to wait till january. if not GTX 780 is also a good option. if you want to build with a single 1680-1050 monitor HD 7850 should be more than enough for you.
 
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Patrick Guenter

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Oct 16, 2013
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10,860
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($349.00 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($87.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($206.46 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($160.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Memory Express)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($567.84 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I Epic Edition (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($65.97 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: Cooler Master GX 750W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($107.50 @ Vuugo)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.50 @ Vuugo)
Total: $1793.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 03:38 EST-0500)
 
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sportfreak23

sportfreak23

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Dec 4, 2013
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With that resolution and the 2 main games you play all the builds I have below will be over kill. But for something like BF4 you will have a great experience, your budget range is also pretty wide and open so depends on you as well.

If you game on a single monitor then you can consider lowering your graphics card to a gtx 770 or even 760 which is still good for when you upgrade to a 1080p monitor and play other intensive games. I can't seem to find a 280x in stock to add into the build and the 7970 are priced higher. As said earlier your budget leaves alot of room in each build. Cases are just a filler in each build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.75 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ Memory Express)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme9 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($179.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.83 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($194.00 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($339.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($18.00 @ Vuugo)
Total: $1216.28
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 03:51 EST-0500)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($240.50 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($116.38 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($193.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.83 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($194.00 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($519.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($24.59 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $1633.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 03:58 EST-0500)

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/2iAkT
^ i5 no overclocking build.

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/2iAlU
^ i7 4770k build.
 
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Marcopolo123

Marcopolo123

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Jan 31, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.75 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($140.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.83 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($108.15 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($65.41 @ DirectCanada)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($18.00 @ Vuugo)
Total: $1106.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 06:08 EST-0500)
 
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DoctorSMASH

DoctorSMASH

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Dec 11, 2013
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Thanks for the suggestions, do you think upgrading my main monitor would be a good thing to do as well? Right now I'm using a Samsung Syncmaster T220 and a fairly low quality monitor. Would getting a 1920x1080 monitor impact what computer parts I should get by much? Also I don't use both monitors for games just the main one.
 
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DoctorSMASH

DoctorSMASH

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Dec 11, 2013
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10,510


I feel like I'm leaning towards the upper end of my budget as I don't want to upgrade for a while. I like the i7 build you suggested, do you think going from 8gb of ram to 16gb of ram would make a difference playing high end games?
 
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sportfreak23

sportfreak23

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Dec 4, 2013
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16gb is way more then you need for games so far. I just put it in basically as a filler. 8gb is all you need for now, can't say how 2 years down it'll be enough, but most gaming builds are adding 16gb in. You can always add more later when you need.

But mostly for high end games its the GPU that affects your FPS and graphics settings.
 
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DoctorSMASH

DoctorSMASH

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Dec 11, 2013
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10,510


Okay thanks! I do float between other games too however, I played Star Wars The Old Republic for a bit and it ran horribly for me, Skyrim never ran too well either. I'm a bit afraid of going underbudget and having some games run poorly.
 
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DoctorSMASH

DoctorSMASH

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Dec 11, 2013
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10,510
Oh okay, I've always balanced my builds to have the GPU and CPU roughly costing the same, maybe that's what's been causing my computers to not run games very well.

Edit: If I'm not planning on upgrading for a while (at least 2 years hopefully) do you think it'd be a good idea to invest in an i7 over an i5?
 
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sportfreak23

sportfreak23

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Dec 4, 2013
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Well its up to you if you want an i7 and i5, right now a i5 is fine, but we can't say exactly when more games utilize more then 4 cores or use hyper threading. I think for sure a i7 will futureproof u longer. I would say its easier to upgrade a single GPU card then to just get a new motherboard / processor.

I'm on my phone so hard to type but I'm sure someone will give you some insight on here ;p
 
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thasan1

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Mar 27, 2013
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@DoctorSMASH well i think games wont require hyper threading in the near future, even so i5 is still a beefy CPU.

now since you have a max 1800$ budget you can easily get a 1080p monitor for 100-150$ and a GF GTX770/ R9-280X for 300$. so id say go with 1080p i personally havent used 1080p but many people say its good. and R9-280X/GTX 770 is quite powerful so it should last 2 years playing most games on high.
 
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