Advice on building a gaming rig

kevinlong

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Jan 16, 2012
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Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime this week, can wait until next week though.

Budget Range: $1000, can go a bit over

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Primarily for gaming, going to be casually browsing and hoping to be able to stream games and possibly some small video rendering for YouTube videos.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Complete new gaming rig

Do you need to buy OS: No unless we can fit one into the budget while maintaing high quality

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: NewEgg Premier Account & Amazon Prime

Location: Seattle, WA

Parts Preferences: Usually always been an Intel/NVIDIA guy but now I'm up for anything that can provide me the best quality

Overclocking: Maybe, not experienced at all with overclocking

SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future?

Your Monitor Resolution: Duo monitors at 1920x1080, looking to game and stream on one and browse the web on the other.

Additional Comments: Need something worth while, I'm at college right now so I can actually only game on the weekends when I have time so anything that will last me awhile is what I need so I won't need any upgrades for a bit

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Sold my last gaming build and been wanting to put another one together.

This build is mainly going to be used to play DayZ, LoL, CS:GO, Rust, etc, but I want to be able to run games like Watch Dogs on high/ultra with no issues.

I have two builds in mind right now:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/P3nnyc

This is a build I've put together through asking for advice and looking through comments and people's threads. But I want to minimize costs as much as I can since I only really game 2-3 days out of the week and the need to spend $1000 isn't something I need to do since I only need it as a part time hobby.

This is the second build I've found, this is the one on PC Part Picker and I like it because it's small and powerful but I've done research on the PSU and it's pretty awful and is bound to explode. But the combo deal involves the PSU with it, so possible upgrade further down the line? It also has a video with step by step installing of the pieces so it makes it easier to install as this would be my second completed build.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vnqzFT

Any advice is appreciated as I have been bouncing back and forth through different threads, been lurking and reading of the past 2 weeks to try and figure something good out.
 
few minor changes to reflect latest pricing

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($279.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $909.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

I don't profess to be a matx mini tower expert but most cases should fit a standard ATX PSU just fine and losing he combo only costs $5 more
 
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