Advice on Building Gaming Desktop (First Build)

LegitTopHat

Honorable
Jan 15, 2014
4
0
10,510
I apologize if this is in the wrong section of the forums (First post) but I would greatly appreciate some help on my current project; I want to build a powerful desktop dedicated to gaming. My currently owned laptop just isn't performing as fast as I wish it could. As a rule of thumb I want to be able to play something like Skyrim or Battlefield 4 on 1080p or higher around 60 frames or higher NEVER below (Also I am a huge Minecraft fan so I would wish to know how well it would run with what I have). I am not on a budget, as I am spending my money nowhere else right now, but I do not wish to spend crazy amounts of money on slightly more beneficial items so try to keep it as cheap as possible without sacrificing any performance. Additional tips and help is also nice.

The build I've looked into (Not confirmed, just what I've looked at so far):
-CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115234
-Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
-RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
-Graphics Card [ I need help on this! I have seen many good and bad options, can't decide!]
-SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00YW3571
-HDD [ Can't decide, all have such bad reviews]
-Power supply [ Haven't even looked into yet ]
-Case [ I can decide on this, just waiting to confirm the build before I look into this]

Other notes:
-I am not sure about overclocking, I know some of this build is okay with it but my processor is not. My only fear is having to get water cooling. It's noisy, hard to put in, and expensive.
-Are my parts good and compatible so far?
-What I am doing with my storage is I'm putting important programs and games (along with the OS) on the SSD and the rest of my stuff on a relatively large capacity HDD.
-Thank you guys in advance for your help on my journey to becoming a true PC gamer, I know it's a lot of questions and I'm sorry for that.
 

whitecat

Honorable
CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-K ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($101.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($80.06 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($88.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.61 @ B&H)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $875.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-15 21:53 EST-0500)
 

scoobydenon

Distinguished
Feb 27, 2011
492
0
18,960
Ok looking good thus far. Power supply Corsair, XFX, Seasonic & Thermaltake these are good brands except for the CM series from corsair. From what you are spending, don't buy a cheap PSU. 650-750 is all you should need with plenty to spare. Get 80 Plus & Modular you'll be glad you did. Graphics card, you have an intel processor I recommend Geforce GTX 770. That should be able to do what you want it to. Seagate Barracuda or WD black are decent HDD's. Just make sure they are 64mb of cache and 7200rpm. You really don't need to do any overclocking on this system anyway. Good luck on your build...
 
Now that MANTLE benchmarks (not fully tested yet) show some huge improvements in Battlefield 4, I'm sometimes recommending AMD graphics cards if that's a game you are very interested in, and don't have other needs like STREAMING (NVidia has Shadowplay), and aren't too interested in NVidia G-SYNC monitors.

I would be HAPPY to give a build, and others can help, but we really need a BUDGET to work with. Don't just say "I'm not on a budget" as I can easily build you a PC with a 2x780Ti SLI setup (about $1500 for the two graphics cards alone). My recommendation is a minimum of $1000 for the PC and internal hardware plus $100 for Windows 8.1 64-bit (not Windows 7; though get START8 for $5 for Windows 8).

Overclocking:
There are Pros and Cons, but this heavily depends on your budget as well. Many CPU's can't even be overclocked. Intel overclockable CPU's usually have a "K" at the end.

SSD:
120GB Samsung 840 Evo

HDD:
2TB WD Green (or similar).

SSD and STORAGE:
You should actually be putting your games on the HDD instead. I've been testing many, many games on a 1TB SSD to determine the benefits and it MOSTLY boils down to a boost in LOADING time for the game initially, new levels, etc. but rarely an advantage while playing. Games like SKYRIM benefit from jumping around the MAP or entering buildings faster, and a few games with poor coding work a little better (rare).

However, the COST does not justify putting games on an SSD for most people as that money is better spent elsewhere, especially on a better GRAPHICS CARD.

The average loading time advantage of an SSD is just over 2x. It's not nearly as fast as you might think due to other bottlenecks with optimizing the code.

SSD/HDD on a high budget:
1) 120GB SSD for Windows/apps
2) 250GB SSD for games only (just the ones like Skyrim that really benefit. You can easily MOVE games in Steam between folders via backup/restore so this SSD would be a SECOND STEAM FOLDER.)

3) 2TB or 3TB HDD (Main Steam folder, OS Image Backups via Acronis True Image, Downloads etc.)

*Again, give me at least a ROUGH budget to work with. If I get a chance, I'll put together something, though with a high budget I will switch gears to a single GTX780Ti graphics card due to heating/noise issues with AMD's high-end cards. Mantle is neat, but there are other factors to consider.
 
$2382 build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2C1F9

Quick comments:
- 500GB SSD is meant for partitioning
(120GB Windows/apps; remaining as 2nd Steam folder or other games; for games that BENEFIT more from SSD like Skyrim)
- use Samsung Magician software (overprovision, optimize, test, firmware)
- Windows 8.1 64-bit highly recommended (and Start8)
- slight red/black theme
- new liquid cooler (Corsair H105) with better, thicker rad.
- EVGA 780Ti with ACX cooler (recommend similar 780 for $200 less on lower budget)
- i7-4770K CPU (recommend i5-4670K on lesser budget)
- 16GB DDR3 @1866MHz CAS9 (recommend same but 8GB for lower budget)
- Gigabyte board well reviewed
- BluRay Writer
etc.

LOWER BUDGET?
-$100, i5-4670K
-$200, GTX780 967MHz
-$50, different 750W Power Supply
-$80, 8GB of same DDR3 memory
-$220, just the 120GB SSD for Windows/apps
-$90, basic Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO cooler
-$44, basic DVD player

If you made ALL the above changes you'd still have a really awesome PC for almost $800 cheaper.
 

whitecat

Honorable


Well , but at what price ?! if EVGA were so bad , they would have gone bankrupt .
 
Update:
I put up a really EXPENSIVE build above, then a lot of CHANGES you could make to reduce the price. If you made all the changes the price drops to about $1600. With a GTX770 graphics card that would be roughly $1400. I could shave some off that too with a cheaper MOTHERBOARD, CASE, Power Supply but unless I'm forced to on a lower budget I'm happy with my choices.

The PROBLEM with all the recommendations thus far (including mine) is that you have to commit to a budget. Also, nobody is going to agree on that budget or what's "good enough."

I do recommend the GTX770 as a minimum and the GTX780 on the higher end, and the i5-4670K would seem to be the optimal CPU for you.

So here's the ROUGH guideline I'm recommending:
- i5-4670K CPU
- 1150 Z87 motherboard (good reviews)
- 8GB DDR3 1866MHz CAS9 memory (2x4GB kit)
- GTX770 or GTX780 graphics card (optionally a good R9 if value and no noise issues)
- quality 750W PSU
- 120GB Samsung Evo SSD
- 2TB or 3GB HDD
- suitable case with USB3 front panel
- Windows 8.1 64-bit
- DVD or BluRay Writer
- good CPU cooler ($30 CM Hyper 212 EVO or better)