First Time Build $800-1200 Budget

gjohnson94 · Aug 31, 2014

Well I've decided to try my hand at building my own PC for the first time and would greatly appreciate and tips and advice. I have a friend that is a computer engineer but he is constantly busy with work and not always free to help me so any input is appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date: Hoping to buy and finish the build within a month

Budget Range: $800-1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (mainly league of legends right now, hoping to get back into more modern games once I complete my build) Streaming, Downloading/Torrenting, Music, Various Office Work. I use my computers for many different things so I would prefer a strong all around build still geared toward gaming.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Not sure which websites are Best most of my pricing and research has come from lurking in this community or browsing Newegg and pcpartpicker

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: Based on some of the things I've read and input of my friend I think im going to go with an AMD CPU/system

Overclocking: I dont know much about overclocking but I want to learn and be able to once I finish the build

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

So far I've picked out these parts for my build, these decisions were based mainly on my reading here and browsing the Web. I'm looking for a decent build to start with and be able to upgrade when I have the need or want to.

Still not entirely sure on a cooling system, network/wifi card, case, and whether or not it would be worth the money to add a 128 or 256GB SSD on top of the 1TB HDD. I haven't picked out a PSU yet because I wanted input on my build first, and I am also unsure how much extra I should compensate for when Overclocking.

Any criticism, tips, or advice on my build would be appreciated because as I said this is my first time build.

This is what I have so far.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CFsqrH

EasyLover · Aug 31, 2014

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: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.39 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.23 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($364.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN725N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($8.88 @ Amazon)
Total: $1186.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-31 11:41 EDT-0400

Shneiky · Aug 31, 2014

I will meet you in the middle at 1000.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.66 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Enermax ECA3310A-B ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1002.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-31 11:43 EDT-0400

This will be enough for any modern or soon to be released game at 1920x1080 ultra. The case that is included in this build can be changed. Case aesthetics are purely individual and depend on your own taste, so feel free to change it if you wish. Cheers.

randomhkkid · Aug 31, 2014

I'd go Intel for best performance if I were you.

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.66 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($122.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($364.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($71.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1060.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-31 11:57 EDT-0400

gjohnson94 · Aug 31, 2014

I've done a little bit of research and from what I've read I think I would prefer the AMD CPU, I generally do alot of multi tasking on my computer while playing games as well as picture and video editing. From what I've seen from other users in that case the AMD would preform slightly better. I know intel has more powerful cores and output from what i've read AMD does better with heavy multitasking and Editing ect.

As far as the graphics cards you suggested one is an AMD Radeon the other is a Nvidia, what are the pro's and con's betweent the two?

If possible I'm trying to keep it on the lower end of my budget for now and add in higher end/extra parts later. So any suggestions for a CPU/Mobo/GPU that can be used to add on more powerful upgrades later but staying on the lower end of the budget would be great.

Any input on the benefits of adding a SSD on top of the HDD? Should I just wait till later down the line? Or would it be better to start with the SSD and add in the HDD later. I know the SSD is for your favorite programs and your OS for faster boot up and load speeds but unsure if its worth it at this point in time.

Edit: Also if possible I would like to try and stay on the lower end of my budget, I don't mind spending the extra cash if it will give me a massive boost in performance, but from some of what I've read if I learn to OC my parts I have now (or have my friend do it for me) I can come very close to, if not better than an i5 in some circumstances. I mainly picked these out based on the ability to upgrade and add on for better preformance in the future for the low cost I pay now. ( as far as from what i've been reading anyway I may be wrong)

Also if you could give input on why you suggest the parts you suggest over mine I would appreciate it, I like to learn what I can about something new and am also considering earning my degree in Computer Engineering/ Science so the more I can learn, the better.

EasyLover · Aug 31, 2014

gjohnson94 :

Have you checked my proposed build? It has SSD as well. Intel is better than AMD and for your stated reasons, Intel i5 would do the job in a better way. It has 4 cores with 1 thread per core and you are not doing any thing which calls for 8 core processors from AMD or Intel's i7/Xeon. Even if you think you are having certain lags, you can OC your i5 to deliver more performance. OCing CPU will help in desktop Apps but it has little effect on gaming.

So better stick with Intel and you won't be disappointed.

nVIDIA and AMD both produce good quality graphics cards. You can't go wrong with either. nVIDIA has PhysX, TXAA, optimized drivers, G-Sync, power efficient, less noisy etc whereas AMD has freesync, mantle, core based bridging capability etc.

R9 290 has 4GB VRAM which would come handy for future gen games.

randomhkkid · Sep 3, 2014

gjohnson94 :

I agree with easy lover. Even a midrange Intel CPU like a lower end i5 will be superior to most/all AMD cpus apart from in certain tasks such as unzipping files in Winrar. Could you like me to the articles you have read that state the AMD CPU will suit your needs better?

AMD GPUs will generally draw more power for the same performance as the Nvidia GPUs do however they also tend to be slightly cheaper and perform better at high resolutions due to more VRAM and a higher memory bandwidth.

If you want to save money try this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($137.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($389.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $943.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-03 07:01 EDT-0400

If you want a good SSD at a decent price check out a Crucial MX100 however bear in mind that SSDs still aren't 'cheap' compared to hard drives. On the upside though an SSD will lead to a faster boot time and general responsiveness increase. I would say it's worth it but they are costly and not normally what you buy when doing a budget build.

For the PSU I picked a 750W unit, this should be enough for even 2 GPUs in the future. Though if you want to heavily overclock and are considering a second 290 you may want a 850W unit.

To be honest for gaming overclocking your CPU will not give you as much gains as if you were to overclock your GPU so that is normally more important especially as a 4 core intel CPU shouldn't be bottlenecked in any games.

Guest · Sep 3, 2014

Includes nearly everything. You may add a SSD in the future.

Spent a large amount of money on monitor, headphones, etc.

If you don`t need those, get better GPU, add a SSD and get unlocked i5, 4690k if you want to O.C.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($273.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($57.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 660W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($116.66 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($94.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Logitech G105 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Gigabyte GM-M6800 Wired Optical Mouse ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Headphones: Creative Labs Sound Blaster EVO 7.1 Channel Headphones ($88.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $1246.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-03 07:23 EDT-0400

Edit: Corsair 300R is a cool, high quality case in my opinion, also Seasonic X series is one of the best.

EDIT2: Don`t get the R9 280X. Get the GTX 970 if possible. Also if you are still interested, I can build something better for the same price.

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