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How much money should I spend?

Tags:
  • Next Generation
  • Games
  • Systems
  • Motherboards
  • Call of Duty
  • Graphics Cards
Last response: in Systems
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August 1, 2014 9:57:24 AM

Hey guys,

I have saved some money the last few years. Could someone advise on me how much I should spend on a gaming PC? I want to build a PC that can run games from the 2014-2015 era (BF4, Watch Dogs, Far Cry 4, BF: Hardline, AC: Unity, CoD: AW, GTA: V etc). I know that performance also determines on the game and that these estimates do not always give justice but I'm just trying to give a rough estimate of games I might play.
I would really appreciate if someone would fill in the gap for me with an estimate price, not because I'm lazy, it's a lot of money I'll have to spend and I want to make the right purchase.

Sincerely a PC gaming noob

Ultra

CPU $ ____
Motherboard $ ____
Ram $ ____
Graphics card
PSU $ ____
Cooling $ ____

High

CPU $ ____
Motherboard $ ____
Ram $ ____
Graphics card
PSU $ ____
Cooling $ ____

Medium

CPU $ ____
Motherboard $ ____
Ram $ ____
Graphics card
PSU $ ____
Cooling $ ____

More about : money spend

a b V Motherboard
a b U Graphics card
August 1, 2014 10:05:37 AM

You should not spend more than $1600~1700 on a gaming computer. I'll give you a good build in a few moments.
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August 1, 2014 10:07:51 AM

TechCIDLC said:
You should not spend more than $1600~1700 on a gaming computer. I'll give you a good build in a few moments.

Thanks.
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August 1, 2014 10:08:01 AM

That's hard to answer right out. Look at the quarterly builds in the Toms articles, they cover those 3 basic ranges of performance.
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Best solution

a b V Motherboard
a b U Graphics card
August 1, 2014 10:14:04 AM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($62.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.85 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($459.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1364.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-01 13:19 EDT-0400

Here's a good gaming build. With this build you should max out almost all games, and have smooth framerates.
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a b V Motherboard
August 1, 2014 10:17:31 AM

They will probably have issues with that Z87 motherboard and Haswell refresh. At the very least it will need a firmware update and if the OP doesn't have another non-refresh Haswell chip lying around (unlikely) it will be a PITA. Why not swap it out for a Z97 board? They're more futuristic anyway (I refuse to say future-proof in relation to PC's!)
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a b V Motherboard
a b U Graphics card
August 1, 2014 10:18:59 AM

plywrlw said:
They will probably have issues with that Z87 motherboard and Haswell refresh. At the very least it will need a firmware update and if the OP doesn't have another non-refresh Haswell chip lying around (unlikely) it will be a PITA. Why not swap it out for a Z97 board? They're more futuristic anyway (I refuse to say future-proof in relation to PC's!)

Oops! :p  Didn't notice.
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a b V Motherboard
August 1, 2014 10:21:03 AM

Haha easily done! Don't worry I've got your back :p 
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August 1, 2014 10:38:41 AM

TechCIDLC said:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($62.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.85 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($459.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1364.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-01 13:19 EDT-0400

Here's a good gaming build. With this build you should max out almost all games, and have smooth framerates.


Wow thanks for the fast response dude! Would you mind if I made another topic asking if someone might know some improvements/price reductions?
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a b V Motherboard
August 1, 2014 10:42:51 AM

Well...that build is very nice but if it's price reductions you're looking for.....

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 ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.85 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($389.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec HCG M 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1166.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-01 13:42 EDT-0400
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August 1, 2014 11:13:04 AM

plywrlw said:
Well...that build is very nice but if it's price reductions you're looking for.....

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 ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.85 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($389.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec HCG M 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1166.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-01 13:42 EDT-0400


What would the performance gap be, would it be 20-30 FPS or from Ultra to High?
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a b V Motherboard
August 1, 2014 11:26:04 AM

The performance will be about the same, better in some games worse in others depending on whether the game favours AMD or Nvidia.

The cpu cooling fan will be a bit louder.

The power supply is bronze efficiency instead of gold but is still fantastically well made.

I have a similar case in gray, its really well built and roomy.
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August 1, 2014 11:32:28 AM

plywrlw said:
The performance will be about the same, better in some games worse in others depending on whether the game favours AMD or Nvidia.

The cpu cooling fan will be a bit louder.

The power supply is bronze efficiency instead of gold but is still fantastically well made.

I have a similar case in gray, its really well built and roomy.


Could I use the GTX780 and the Antec PSU together?
Can I still overclock the i5 with the Hyper 212 Evo instead of the noctua?
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a b V Motherboard
August 1, 2014 11:37:48 AM

Yes and yes!
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August 1, 2014 11:56:21 AM

plywrlw said:
Yes and yes!


Awesome! Thanks a lot TechCIDLC and plywrlw!
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