Help building gaming computer amd or intel please

Robert Pk

Reputable
Sep 21, 2014
4
0
4,510
Purpose of PC: Gaming, and light video editing ( not very often like for school projects and that )
Budget: $900-950 USD
AMD or Intel i dont know, but which ever is best for this price.

The build has to include monitor, keyboard and mouse since this is my very first gaming build pc and i have nothing.
If u can link it to pcpartpicker
Thank youu!!
 
Solution
I didn't include the Operating system, but you can get that anywhere for the same price pretty much.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($102.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($205.66 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Power...
I didn't include the Operating system, but you can get that anywhere for the same price pretty much.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($102.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($205.66 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($28.52 @ NCIX US)
Total: $956.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-24 03:23 EDT-0400
 
Solution

mdocod

Distinguished
DarkBreeze has a great build, but the actual cost-to-door as configured is closer to $1050 without an OS.... the "$956" price tag there does not include shipping on 6 items, and is based on filling out and actually receiving 5 mail-in-rebates. Sounds to me like that is shaping up to be a $1150 build by the time it's all said and done (with OS).

Here's a CPU centric build that will stay under $1000 after you pick up a copy of windows.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($247.94 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE4-GP 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($80.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($129.99 @ Best Buy)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $898.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-24 07:48 EDT-0400

The above focuses on CPU performance, especially for video editing, etc. The GTX750Ti is also a very well suited high value GPUfor pro-apps as the maxwell architecture offers fantastic GPGPU performance in both openCL and CUDA accelerated applications while sipping very little power. The GTX750Ti will be best suited to playing a medium to high visual quality settings depending on the game. If you would like to move the build towards a more visual quality oriented build in games, switch the CPU for an i5-4690 (on sale for $188 at amazon right now), and use the savings to buy a cheap R9 280. If you can afford another $100 somewhere, adding an MX100 256GB SSD would be the next logical way to improve the system.
 
Ok, not to knock your build, because it would actually be a nice build for somebody, just not for me if I was picking out the parts.

Keeping in mind this is due to MY personal preferences I have to address the fact that I don't like the choice of an ASRock board for Xeon, or any non-budget, cpu. They are thin and have trouble with heat. Customer service is iffy as well. For budget boards they are fine, you don't expect wonders from a sub-100.00 board in most cases anyhow. Plus, the H97 chipset won't allow any overclocking, if you decide to change CPU's later and want to overclock.

The 750 TI is weak on modern titles. If he does any serious gaming, at all, he's going to be sad about performance almost from the gate, and wanting to upgrade which will then cost another big chunk of money when he could have paid an additional small chunk, and been happy for a long time.

The case is a poor choice, even at that price range, as it only has a single fan up front, a single fan on top and can only support a 240mm radiator in the front if liquid cooling is ever used. Just poor cooling solution altogether. There are much better cases in the same price range or close to it. Also, tower coolers like the 212 EVO or others will not work in this case if the side fan is used and if the side fan is not used you have very little case cooling considering there is only one other intake fan.

Not a bad PSU though. It's a good choice. Tier 2A.

The monitor is a 5ms response model. That might not matter for most users, but gamers may notice the lag.

I recognize you came in under budget with some headroom for the OS, but for me, the selection of parts could be better. If you're going to spend 900.00 on a system, you might as well spend another 250.00 initially and get parts that are going to make you happy in the long run. Especially since you'll be getting a good chunk of it back in rebates.



 
And actually, it's only 75 bucks in rebates. And generally speaking, when you're buying things online it's usually a forgone conclusion that there will be shipping costs to add to the overall price. If you settle for only ever buying everything that has free shipping, you'll be pretty limited. But again, that's me. That build might suite his purposes or somebody else's just fine as the only thing really fundamentally problematic is the case.
 

mdocod

Distinguished
Darkbreeze,

All of your criticisms of my build seem to be based on a hypothetical where the build is intended for you and not the OP.

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N200:

The N200 is exceptionally well suited to the build that I have placed inside of it, a build with very low power dissipation and a small footprint. Your list of flaws about the case (many of which are inaccurate or irrelevant), is a list of "flaws" that would apply to ANY case that is SMALL (microATX). It's like complaining about the ground clearance of a sedan or the fuel economy of an SUV. Different tools for different purposes with different tradeoffs. The upside to the N200 is that it is small. The downside, is that it is not well suited to a fire breathing overclocked FX-8350 rig with dual GPUs, water loops, and a 1.2KW PSU. You're holding the N200 to a standard that need not apply as your standard of what makes a good computer case for your machine is not relevant here. I happen to like my big fat Fractal Core 3500 (i need to update my profile/rigs as I'm running an 8350 in a 3500 now), but I know that such a case is pointless for a build that can fit comfortably in a microATX case.

Considering the goals of the build given by the OP, I find it hard to understand how ANY of your criticisms of a microATX tower here are applicable. A microATX build is perfectly suitable for single GPU builds up to ~500-700W worth of total power dissipation in well designed cases like the N200. Speaking of well designed:

Here's the N200 pictured next to some "mid towers."
n200vs.jpg


Here's the inside of the N200, with 4x120mm case fans installed (including the side fan) with a CM T4 on the FX-6300 in there, and room for a 5th 120mm fan up front (1 of 2 installed on the front). Decent cable management is possible behind the tray (including the big fat ATX power cable).
n200.jpg

The SATA power connectors "dangling" are because this machine is waiting for some drives to be completed. It is an FX-6300 + HD7870XT and the case provides plenty of cooling with 4 low RPM fans to run furmark/Prime95 together indefinitely, even with the CPU overclocked to ~4.4ghz. (That's over 400W of combined thermal dissipation).


FYI: The case has room for a 240mm raditator up front, and a 120mm radiator in the back, though I really don't see the point. I have run pumped-liquid cooling systems before and was not impressed. There isn't an upside to it unless you're pushing for competition level overclocks that would never be practical for daily use anyway. In my experience, decibel for decibel and size for size, heat-pipe coolers and liquid coolers offer very nearly the same cooling potential, so the only way for the pumped-liquid cooling option to have any advantage over heat-pipes is if the radiators grow to a sophisticated system with more surface area than a heatpipe cooler can support hanging over the CPU. At that point, you'll have more money in cooling than in the CPU itself. At that point the build is a novelty, so any argument about a case needing to support such a configuration, is ultimately a defense of the impractical/pointless/novelties. I can have all the impractical pointless novelties I want in my computer (including a tiny little red button on the back that does nothing, just to screw with people), but I'm not going to get on a forum and pedal build ideas built around them without disclosing that there is a novelty aspect to the philosophy for a particular argument I am making.

In fact, the N200 is one of the finest cases in it's class ($40-50 microATX form factor). You're comparing it to an $80 mid-tower and complaining about everything that is effected by SIZE. Bigger is only better if the space is going to be used for something.

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GTX750Ti,

Within the realm of modern GPUs, there is no such thing as being "weak" on performance, only on visual quality. The GTX750Ti can play any game made at 60FPS, just with less visual quality than something like an R9 280 or GTX770. Performance does not originate with the GPU, visual quality does. If you're an ultra-settings snob, then the bottleneck is not the CPU or the GPU, it's the stubborn captain occupying the space between the keyboard and the chair. If you're practical about the limitations of the GPU selected for a build, and select visual quality settings that are appropriate for the GPU, then any game can be enjoyed without a performance related problem on any modern GPU from ~$100+.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7764/the-nvidia-geforce-gtx-750-ti-and-gtx-750-review-maxwell/14

Most games at medium quality settings are doing just fine on the GTX750Ti. If you're playing for the view, then I encourage you to go for a hike, the real world is still more beautiful. If you're playing for the gameplay, for the competition, for the storyline, etc, then the graphical settings shouldn't matter all that much to you.

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Your build will now be critically examined and I will now moan about all the nit picks I see wrong with it. (I'm not going to sit here and let you tear into my build with a bunch of nonsense, and not return the favor).

To-the-door cost is the most important price tag people are interested in. Posting a build that misrepresents itself by nearly $100 in to-the-door costs is isn't very helpful IMO.

The OP mentioned no interest in overclocking. The Xeon offers the same execution performance in video editing as an overclocked i5, with no overclocking required.

Having a chipset that can overclock is meaningless if board isn't built for it. You've selected a Z97 board with 3-phase CPU power. That's a cruel joke, far worse than the ASRock board I have selected, which offers overbuilt VRMs for a chipset not intended for overclocking.

Ripjaw X 4GB dimms are configured with only 8x8 bit components, (single rank). They will perform worse than slower kits configured dual rank (16x8 bit components). The ballistix kit is better.
 
You've got some valid points. There is also a lot of personal preference in there, which you began your tirade by ripping me about. No big deal though. As you said, price out the door creates tremendous limitations and often causes a choice in parts that would have otherwise been avoided. No big and no point in going further. Gotta keep things chippy once in a while though. I still hate the case though and believe that for within ten bucks of that price there are other cases that make a better choice.