Know nothing about building computers but would like a gaming rig for roughly $1200ish USD

claboy · May 19, 2014

Hiya guys!

So, as the title suggests, I know next to nothing about building computers. I've heard however that you get a lot more bang for your buck if you build your own computer rather than buying one. I'm looking to spend roughly $1200 USD on a computer, and will go slightly over if the benefits weigh that heavily. I've already got a monitor and my school provides a free OS so all I need is the computer parts essentially. I'd like to boot from a SSD but access everything else from a HDD (doesn't have to be to big). My monitor is 1080P if that helps at all.

Thanks guys!

vrumor · May 19, 2014

Check your PMs.

random stalker · May 19, 2014

first, you need to distribute these 20 stars
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New games? I'm all game!:
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ahmedkhalifa1999 · May 19, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.02 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($488.79 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H440 (Red/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: NZXT FN-140RB 62.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($8.09 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: NZXT FN-140RB 62.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($8.09 @ Amazon)
Total: $1229.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-19 15:59 EDT-0400)
What about this build ?

natedawg72 · May 19, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($339.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1159.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-19 16:15 EDT-0400)

I chose an i5 (quad core) since, if this is primarily for gaming, your money is better spent towards the video card than an i7. It's a non-k version as well, since you didn't specify about overclocking. The motherboard is broadwell compatible incase you wanted to upgrade when the next processors come out. Who knows if they will be worth upgrading to though.

8GB of ram with room to add more if needed. 8GB should be enough for awhile.

Case is largely an aesthetics thing, so choose whatever you like.
For power supply I chose a high efficiency model from a good manufacturer.

If you don't need the CD drive don't buy it. I don't have one, never need it for playing any of the new games these days.

Video card is an Nvidia GTX 770. That will play any game on the market pretty darn well, considering you will be using a single 1080p monitor you probably won't need more graphics capabilities for awhile.

There is some room to trim savings on this list, or to reconfigure to fit your needs. And youtube is full of how-to build a PC videos, it'll be quite easy to put it together.

4cloud · May 19, 2014

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3N9nL

Joseph DeGarmo · May 22, 2014

You can get an unlocked K processor so that way you can overclock the CPU later down the road when you need extra performance to keep up with newer generation CPUs. By then, you should be able to know more about how to properly overclock CPUs.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($72.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($495.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.95 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1334.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-22 00:02 EDT-0400)

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Know nothing about building computers but would like a gaming rig for roughly $1200ish USD

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