Planning on building a $1500 gaming system for my friend. Need help.

Shawn221

Distinguished
Jul 10, 2013
170
0
18,680
Okay, so my friend wants a gaming PC to have some fun. He will be playing BF4, TF2, and a few other simple games but wants to be able to host Minecraft servers sometimes and play some more intensive games like Crysis and Titanfall as well. He wants the Fractal Design R4 as his case, since it is the perfect size and he likes the design. He wants an Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU and 16GB of RAM.
He wants an optical drive just incase he needs to use a disk for something, and would prefer an SSD for his OS and HDD for all of his games. He doesnt care much about noise.

The only catch is, he needs to include a Corsair K70, M65 mouse, and two 22" 1080p monitors for him. His budget is around $1500, a little more if necessary.
 

Shawn221

Distinguished
Jul 10, 2013
170
0
18,680

Well, he might do a little recording and editing. 16GB is for that and for the occasional server he will run
 

Shawn221

Distinguished
Jul 10, 2013
170
0
18,680

Not exactly sure about his internet speeds, but if you think he will not use all 16, then 8 is fine for him.

 

combine1237

Honorable
Jul 19, 2012
808
0
11,360
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($334.97 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Arctic White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.24 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1413.05
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-04 15:15 EDT-0400)

I am not the best with monitors, but here is a basic i7 build subtract a hundred if he wants to go with an i5 for no recording.
 

Shawn221

Distinguished
Jul 10, 2013
170
0
18,680


Well each monitor is about $100, so can you subract 200 from this build somehow?
 

combine1237

Honorable
Jul 19, 2012
808
0
11,360
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($267.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($78.36 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.98 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Arctic White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.24 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1309.43
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-04 16:39 EDT-0400)

If he is doing recording, then this. (Would be decent for video editing too, and running a large mc server ~ 60 people)

If he is not recording or editing at all. This would be the best value.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($78.36 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card ($419.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Arctic White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1322.25
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-04 16:44 EDT-0400)

30 person MC server easy. Not Nvidia card though.
 
Solution

combine1237

Honorable
Jul 19, 2012
808
0
11,360


Well a G-Sync monitor might be worth investing in if he is buying it later this year, as it should allow for smoother images at lower frame rates.
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


Well I say lose the expensive peripherals and downgrade the i7 to an i5-4670K, you won't notice the difference in gaming.

Here try this - $300 cheaper and allows for SLI and includes OS license:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.44 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($334.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($116.39 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-07 DVD/CD Writer ($24.31 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (32-bit) ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1297.07
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-04 19:17 EDT-0400)