Struggling with Video Card decision

VickyG · Aug 3, 2014

Building my first system. Reworked a bunch of parts based on suggestions from you guys.

I want a quiet, pretty fast system that can play League of Legends, social media games, music, stream videos and handle whatever I throw at photoshop.

The budget is about $1300. I already own the CPU, memory and Windows 7pro. I'm a big ASUS mobo fan so if suggesting a different one please keep it in that family.

Video card -- always been a NVidia kind of gal so I'm having issues picking a card. In my budget range, >$250 it seems I get more bang going radeon. Suggestions?

Read a lot about PSUs - hope I ultimately picked a decent one.

Sorry if I have too many questions but I'm a newbie.

Thanks for any suggestions!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gYd4YJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gYd4YJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-PRO(Wi-Fi ac) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($209.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($68.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($144.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($24.15 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1247.01

legend001523 · Aug 3, 2014

Some things to consider:
1. You have a z87 chipset but you have a z97 board
2.You have a none overclockable cpu but you've listed a motherboard for overclocking (Begins with z)

PsychSC2 · Aug 3, 2014

@legend001523:
The Z97 boards is compatible with 4th Gen Intel Core i5/i7 Processors.
And for your number 2., he can always have the option to upgrade to an unlocked CPU in the future if he doesn't have the budget now. Good thing is that he has the ability to upgrade his CPU.

@VickyG:
Your build is perfectly great. At least you can have the option to upgrade your CPU to a devil's canyon i7 in the future. Good pick.

legend001523 · Aug 3, 2014

PsychSC2 :

I know, but for first time builders, a bios update can be tricky

PsychSC2 · Aug 3, 2014

legend001523 :

Maybe you're referring to 5th Gen Processors running on Z87 Chipset boards as it requires for Z87 board bios updates to run 5th gen Intel Core i5/i7 processors.

And lol for the double post. Hahaha.

TopLuca · Aug 3, 2014

I tweaked it slightly to look like this
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Rrmyt6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Rrmyt6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($287.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($144.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($24.15 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1300.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
( its matches your budget exactly ) XFX Power Supplies are quality ( made by seasonic ) , Better GPU , Better CPU , Good Asus board and there's a good SSD and 1 TB of Caviar Black as well as Liquid cooler )

legend001523 · Aug 3, 2014

PsychSC2 :

legend001523 :

Maybe you're referring to 5th Gen Processors running on Z87 Chipset boards as it requires for Z87 board bios updates to run 5th gen Intel Core i5/i7 processors.

And lol for the double post. Hahaha.

I know right?

ahh yes, so confused, been a long day, I see words and I just assume things

Dark Lord of Tech · Aug 3, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-PRO(Wi-Fi ac) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($209.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($144.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($24.15 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1292.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-03 17:17 EDT-0400

bignastyid · Aug 3, 2014

Looks good, the PSU is a good PSU. The motherboard will work just fine with a 4670, has SLI support(for a 2nd 760 later on if needed, although a bigger psu would be required) and will support upcoming Broadwell CPU's if you want to upgrade later. If you are not planning on SLI later you could get a cheaper motherboard. The Asus GTX 760 is a good card. You could get a r9 280 for about the same price, it will perform similarly(maybe a bit better), but since you prefer Nvidia the 760 isn't a bad choice. You can get a 1Tb Seagate hdd cheaper than that 500Gb WD http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003

VickyG · Aug 4, 2014

PsychSC2 :

I do have my eye on the devil lol and I did pick the mobo partly because it has room for future upgrades

VickyG · Aug 4, 2014

bignastyid :

I was thinking SLI later on if one 760 turned out to not be enough so I'll spend the extra $20 now and get the 650 psu. Never had a Seagate hdd -- are they as good as WD black? Now I'm thinking too -- my iTunes library is on a WD external passport 500 gb drive now - I'd like to leave that as my backup and put it back on my computer. Is it totally stupid overkill to put that on the WD 500gb (which I already own) and get the Seagate for all other files like games, documents, photos etc??

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it!

VickyG · Aug 4, 2014

Thanks everyone for the input. I've taken a little something from all of ya

I've noticed that a cpu cooler comes up a lot in the forums... my cpu comes packaged with a fan, I'm not overclocking anything, I will have four 120mm case fans and of course the gpu has it's own fans so do I need a cpu cooler???

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