Please Help Me With a Approx. $1200 Gaming PC Build

slinky1000

Honorable
Jun 8, 2013
11
0
10,510
Approximate Purchase Date: In around 3 weeks.

Budget Range: I would like for it to be around 1200. Its alright if its a bit under or over.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming is the priority, then internet/videos.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or Amazon

Location: United States, plan on buying online.

Parts Preferences: No Preference

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: Unsure, Plan on upgrading to an Asus VS247H-P 23.6-Inch Full-HD LED-Lit LCD Monitor about 1-2 weeks after purchasing the new computer

Additional Comments: I don't care if it looks incredibly plain. I just want it to be able to handle most games that I play on the highest graphic settings. I play a lot of League of Legends, as well as Indie/strategy games off of Steam. I wont be playing anything too graphic intense, but I would like to be able to handle such games at decentish graphic settings. My currents computer is really bad and just isn't cutting it. Overall I'm looking for a computer I can just put together and it will be able to handle most things, I wont be doing anything such as overclocking or the such.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I'm just tired of slow performance and having to play all my games on super low graphics settings. Most games I cant even play on that. So yeah.

Here's the build that I ended up coming up with. So let me know if this is any good, or if you have entirely different recommendations or parts I should swap out for.
Also as a side note, the list I'm about to show you wont include the OS, or the 1TB Hard Drive, I just dont know how to remove them.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rnm7CJ

Thank you so much for the help.- Sam
 
Solution
Since you have no plans to overclock or SLI, I'd recommend switching to an H97 based motherboard and a non-'k' cpu. I've left everything else alone.

You mention the list will not include the 1TB hard drive, do you already have a storage drive? You'll need one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($70.26 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar...
Since you have no plans to overclock or SLI, I'd recommend switching to an H97 based motherboard and a non-'k' cpu. I've left everything else alone.

You mention the list will not include the 1TB hard drive, do you already have a storage drive? You'll need one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($70.26 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($301.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($71.30 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1023.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-16 15:30 EDT-0400
 
Solution
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qp9yqs
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qp9yqs/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($143.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($70.26 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($301.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1207.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-16 15:34 EDT-0400
 
swap out the older 4670k for the newer 4690 with the better tim and the newest x97 motherboard. if you can wait till after November to buy the next intel cpu will be out using 1151 pin mb. and newer chipset. also waiting a few months the newer nvidia 800 and amd gpu will drop. with haswell cpu they run better on faster ram. with a high end 700 gpu you need a 750w power supply or it can brown out under gaming.
 

slinky1000

Honorable
Jun 8, 2013
11
0
10,510


So just the newer processor and motherboard as well as a higher power supply and i'll be good?
 

slinky1000

Honorable
Jun 8, 2013
11
0
10,510


Yeah, I have an OS and a 1TB Storage Drive in my current computer that I'll just take out when I my new computer. I figured that would be good, and would keep down the cost a little bit.
Would it be possible to swap the OS from my hard drive to Solid State after I set everything up?
 

pigsinspace72

Reputable
Feb 18, 2014
563
0
5,060


With a different motherboard requires a new install of OS
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Do you have the install media and activation key for the existing OS?

And yes, the actual existing drive will be fine as a boot or secondary drive. But the OS needs to be clean installed on the new machine.
 

slinky1000

Honorable
Jun 8, 2013
11
0
10,510
Alright I have no problem getting a OS on top of everything if I could run into problems. So I should use Windows 8?
Someone above said I needed a better power supply? Can anyone confirm that?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Win 7 vs Win 8 is almost completely personal preference. Win 8/8.1 does run a little bit better, and is the way forward.

That PSU is fine.