I’m a second-time poster now seeking advice on an affordable gaming build after building an HTPC about a year and a half ago. I'm coming off a 3.5 year old first generation i7 laptop with an HD5650, so anything will seem like a big step up. With that said, I'd like to build something with legs so that I'm not building something completely new in another 3-4 years. As I'm not a hardcore gamer, maybe something where I could drop in a 2nd GPU in about 2-3 years to extend this build for another 2-3 years.
Why Are You Upgrading: Laptop is running slow, slow, slow! Even after reinstalling Windows 7. The hard drive is probably about to crash, and it has always had overheating issues when running dual monitors anyway.
Approximate Purchase Date: This week. Today if possible. I'd like to build on Saturday.
Budget Range: Shooting for around $1000, but I'll extend another $100 to $150 to meet my goals. I generally don't trust rebates, so the less of those the better. I've already spent $768 and saved about $140 on coupons/codes alone depending on the day you compare.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Work Productivity (primarily MS Office with limited use of Adobe CS4), Storage of Personal Files
Are you buying a monitor: No
Parts to Upgrade: I'm completely comfortable with most of the components that I've already purchased, but I'd appreciate help on these last few items: Case, Power Supply, and GPU (maybe).
Do you need to buy OS: No
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg & TigerDirect for free 2-day shipping without tax, Micro Center (about 10 minutes away), and Amazon free 2-day shipping with tax
Location: Northern Virginia, US
Overclocking: Maybe (Probably in the near future, but not a big priority today)
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (in a couple of years as noted above)
Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (I have 2 screens, but will just game on 1 for now)
Parts Preferences:
Overall: Intel & Nvidia (but I could be persuaded to go AMD on the graphics)
Case: Durable but not ridiculously heavy ATX Mid Tower. Style that's either classic but contemporary (like the Fractal Arc Midi R2 or Corsair 400R) or leans artistic but not too gamer (like the NZXT Phantom 410). Strongly prefer 2 USB3.0 ports on the front panel; fan control on front panel a plus; fan LED control on front a plus.
Power Supply: Semi or fully modular with a 80+ Gold or Platinum rating required. Hoping for enough wattage to grow with me; maybe in the ballpark of 750W? I have no idea how much extra wattage overclocking does or doesn't pull.
GPU: I've already purchased an EVGA GTX 760 w/ ACR, but I'm reconsidering a GTX770 if I could find one below $300 by a reputable company. It seems like there is enough of a performance jump between the 2 to make a $50-60 bump worth it for now, and in a couple of years, 2 770s in SLI would be much more powerful than 2 760s, no? I've heard great things about EVGA, and their prices correspond to the reputation. What other companies are good? I've never bought a video card before.
Purchased Parts:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK ATX LGA1150
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" SSD
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Dual Superclocked ACX (could return for a 770 as mentioned above)
Parts to Purchase:
Case: I'm strongly considering the Corsair 400R
Power Supply: No clue. EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply?
GPU: Any GTX 770 recommendations?
Full proposed build including future CPU Cooler and HHD @ PCPartPicker
Why Are You Upgrading: Laptop is running slow, slow, slow! Even after reinstalling Windows 7. The hard drive is probably about to crash, and it has always had overheating issues when running dual monitors anyway.
Approximate Purchase Date: This week. Today if possible. I'd like to build on Saturday.
Budget Range: Shooting for around $1000, but I'll extend another $100 to $150 to meet my goals. I generally don't trust rebates, so the less of those the better. I've already spent $768 and saved about $140 on coupons/codes alone depending on the day you compare.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Work Productivity (primarily MS Office with limited use of Adobe CS4), Storage of Personal Files
Are you buying a monitor: No
Parts to Upgrade: I'm completely comfortable with most of the components that I've already purchased, but I'd appreciate help on these last few items: Case, Power Supply, and GPU (maybe).
Do you need to buy OS: No
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg & TigerDirect for free 2-day shipping without tax, Micro Center (about 10 minutes away), and Amazon free 2-day shipping with tax
Location: Northern Virginia, US
Overclocking: Maybe (Probably in the near future, but not a big priority today)
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (in a couple of years as noted above)
Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (I have 2 screens, but will just game on 1 for now)
Parts Preferences:
Overall: Intel & Nvidia (but I could be persuaded to go AMD on the graphics)
Case: Durable but not ridiculously heavy ATX Mid Tower. Style that's either classic but contemporary (like the Fractal Arc Midi R2 or Corsair 400R) or leans artistic but not too gamer (like the NZXT Phantom 410). Strongly prefer 2 USB3.0 ports on the front panel; fan control on front panel a plus; fan LED control on front a plus.
Power Supply: Semi or fully modular with a 80+ Gold or Platinum rating required. Hoping for enough wattage to grow with me; maybe in the ballpark of 750W? I have no idea how much extra wattage overclocking does or doesn't pull.
GPU: I've already purchased an EVGA GTX 760 w/ ACR, but I'm reconsidering a GTX770 if I could find one below $300 by a reputable company. It seems like there is enough of a performance jump between the 2 to make a $50-60 bump worth it for now, and in a couple of years, 2 770s in SLI would be much more powerful than 2 760s, no? I've heard great things about EVGA, and their prices correspond to the reputation. What other companies are good? I've never bought a video card before.
Purchased Parts:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK ATX LGA1150
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" SSD
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Dual Superclocked ACX (could return for a 770 as mentioned above)
Parts to Purchase:
Case: I'm strongly considering the Corsair 400R
Power Supply: No clue. EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply?
GPU: Any GTX 770 recommendations?
Full proposed build including future CPU Cooler and HHD @ PCPartPicker