$1200 Gaming / Multimedia build questions

malvolio

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2012
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With your guys help last year I built a heck of a rig and my buddy decided to follow suit, he sent me the list of parts he was thinking of and I have input them into PCpartpicker and changed some things around. I am trying to find ways to optimize his build and get a little more bang for the buck but he is firm on "Future Proofing" his rig. I believe his budget is around $1200 and he plans to game, work, and graphical editing on it.

Initially I wanted to downgrade the CPU however for only $100 more it seems worth to stick with 4770k

I do think 8gb of faster ram would be more beneficial than 16gb. Are there any brand/speeds you guys think would fit?

I also think the Case is wasting its USB 2.0 ports on the USB 3.0 header motherboard. Any similar cases with usb 3.0 ports?

Additionally I need to locate a good heatsink for his processor (no water cooling)

The reason for all amazon is that he has cards for it so all parts must be available on Amazon

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($337.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($258.27 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Guardian 921 RB ATX Mid Tower Case ($85.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($21.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $1184.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-23 00:52 EST-0500)
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
I'd actually downgrade the CPU and upgrade the GPU - for gaming that's where you will benefit. 16GB is a waste of money for gaming purposes (and you are correct in that assumption), and you can definitely get a better PSU. The Corsair CX series are not that great. Also no cooler (which will be required to overclock) and that motherboard is way too expensive for this budget.

This would be a better system for gaming:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($82.05 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($63.04 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($339.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($90.43 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($71.30 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($24.29 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1230.06
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 18:30 EST-0500)

Better GPU and includes a copy of Windows.