Noob building his first gaming build for under $1500. Need help and suggestions!

Jbsoot

Reputable
Apr 7, 2014
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4,510
Hey guys I plan of building my first gaming desktop and am looking for suggestions and opinions on how I should go about it. Trying to stay as far under $1500 as I can. I want to play on high settings for titles now and to come in the next couple years. I have read a little bit and might try to overclock in the future, haven't decided yet. So if you see anything that I can switch out to save some money or need to be upgraded let me know. Here is what my first rough draft build looks like.

**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor] | $189.99 @ Amazon

**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler] | $99.99 @ Newegg

**Motherboard** | [Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard]| $167.99 @ NCIX US

**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory] $79.99 @ Newegg

**Storage** | [Western Digital WD Blue 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive]$73.22 @ Amazon

**Video Card** | [Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card] $329.99 @ NCIX US

**Case** | [Antec P280 ATX Mid Tower Case] $74.99 @ NCIX US

**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B BRONZE 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply]| $69.99 @ NCIX US

**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer] | $21.97 @ OutletPC

**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)]| $89.98 @ OutletPC

**Monitor** | [BenQ RL2455HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor] | $174.99 @ NCIX US

| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1373.09
 
Solution
You should consider whether you need over clocking or not, because it could save you some money. If your not over clocking, you won't really need water cooling, but if you do editing etc it might be an option as it would extend the life of your CPU but you need to consider, will you buy a new CPU every couple of years, or will this be long term, these are all factors that you need to take into account. If your looking for a gaming computer and it will be mainly used for gaming then most games don't need much from the CPU, and infact the money you save from not over clocking, you could spend on a upgraded GPU for better gaming performance. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3LZDC

Have a think but have you also thought about mini itx or micro...

jamesellis

Reputable
May 14, 2014
68
0
4,640
You should consider whether you need over clocking or not, because it could save you some money. If your not over clocking, you won't really need water cooling, but if you do editing etc it might be an option as it would extend the life of your CPU but you need to consider, will you buy a new CPU every couple of years, or will this be long term, these are all factors that you need to take into account. If your looking for a gaming computer and it will be mainly used for gaming then most games don't need much from the CPU, and infact the money you save from not over clocking, you could spend on a upgraded GPU for better gaming performance. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3LZDC

Have a think but have you also thought about mini itx or micro atx, because if your not going for a two way sli this could be a cheaper and better way of going http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3LZTJ, now this will give you your over clocking needs and your good graphics, and plus its quite small.
But have a think!
 
Solution

Ash Blake

Reputable
Mar 18, 2014
37
0
4,530
I need to address a couple of questions before I give my changed edition of your build.
1) What is the desired screen size? How is your lighting in your place for the computer usage?
2) How far do you plan on overclocking?
3) What is the maximum RAM amount you plan on doing?

Here is my Max budget gaming build (2) Is my closer budget build
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3M4kX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3M4kX/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3M4kX/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($167.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($70.03 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($80.03 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($477.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.50 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($10.00)
Monitor: AOC i2367Fh 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($148.17 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Cougar Vortex PWM 70.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($13.97 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cougar Vortex 64.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($10.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Cougar Vortex 64.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($10.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Any Windows 7/8 for 10$
Total: $1454.56

(2)
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3M5CF
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3M5CF/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3M5CF/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($167.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($70.03 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($60.02 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($477.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($10.00)
Monitor: Acer S241HL bmid 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($147.58)
Case Fan: Cougar Vortex PWM 70.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($13.97 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cougar Vortex 64.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($10.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Cougar Vortex 64.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($10.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Any Windows 7/8 for 10$
Total: $1408.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-18 00:07 EDT-0400)
CPU cooler: Do not go with water cooling if you do not planning to get a perfectly cool computer at high clock cycles. This is a nice cooler effective in reaching 4.5GHz. I recommended only gong to 4.2GHz if may be.
(2) No need for one if you plan to OC only a couple GHz above like say around 3.7GHz
RAM: Never hurts to get higher frequency and reliable for lower price
Storage:Seagate Hybrid Drive uses its NAND Flash memory quite well and boots/run frequently used data extremely fast with a 7,200 RPM HDD for the other data at a lower price. This is the future budget storage device. Close to SSD speed and faster than HDD speeds after a certain amount of usage WD Green is for eco-friendly and longevity and reliability, not speed.
(2) SSD for OS and frequent games for fastest speeds while HDD for other data
Case Its pretty much up to preference of which case to get, but I prefer the NZXT because its cheaper with better cable management and cooling option.
PSU: The PSU I chose is top of the class (since your budget is so high) and has great wattage and efficiency
(2) PSU is either similar or slightly lower class than the top tier (above) but priced $40 less
OS: Reddit software swap is reliable for the most part. I can tell you first hand that s5ean is a trust worthy source and you can read the comments on the forum page for proof. Save 80$ for the OS!
Monitor: The response time of 1ms vs 5ms is unnoticeable in gaming and in videos, anything under 16ms for 60hz is unnoticeable to the human eye while 8ms for the 120hz edition. Screen size can change, but 23" vs 24" is almost negligible in my opinion. If you have room for it, I recommend going for 27" IPS 1080p monitor. Everything will be as good as it was on 24", but you will have more screen space. Unless you sit closer than 8" (WAY to close for safety when staring at a monitor. advised to sit 16"+) away, you won't notice the pixel difference.
Others This is up for preferences honestly. I just chose great case fans for fabulous cooling throughout the system with room for 4 more fans if needed!