1500 gaming PC - Review and suggestions please

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

Its been a long time since I've built a PC and things have changed a lot. I have a $1,500 budget for a gaming PC. If possible could you please review the system and let me know if there are improvements I can make...

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qNM6K8
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qNM6K8/by_merchant/

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($128.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.28 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1400.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-15 19:27 EDT-0400

Shamar Holtz · Oct 15, 2014

Looks perfect. but get a i5 4690k instead of the i7, they have the same performance but you'll save about $100 if you get the i5

Shamar Holtz · Oct 15, 2014

You'll get 70+ fps on all games at ultra quality ^_^

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

Thanks! Will I need to change the motherboard or will it work with the current motherboard?

I tend to keep my PCs for three or four years will the I5 still be decent by that time?

One more question do you think I will have heat issues with this PC if I dont overclock?

Thanks for your time and help!

JackNaylorPE · Oct 15, 2014

1. Since this is a gaming PC, you could save $100 with a 4690k....savings $100

2. That memory is tall, might hit ya cooler. This is better, faster and less money.... savings $23
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226199

3. This is almost 70% faster than the WD Black and same price.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2013/-17-PCMark-7-Gaming,2915.html
9.78 MB/s versus 5.80 MB/s

4. Ya want the at least B2 version of that PSU but the G2 is the top end w/ $10 year warranty) and is just $5 more at $80 .... best $25 you'll spend

5. The HAF-X was one of the best cases in its day ... it's day being 5 years ago. I'd look at the Enthoo Luxe which ups the ante with built in fan controller, build in LED system and built in LED controller..... spent $15 more of ya money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkRJsjuvQVY
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=Enthoo+Luxe&N=-1&isNodeId=1
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

So ignoring the CPU .... I saved ya $23 .... spent $25 and $15 getting better case, faster memory and much, much, faster HD ....so ya down $17 but have better stuff. And yes, faster RAM does make a difference in gaming, look at THG reviews.... but faster is a no brainer when it's also cheaper and doesn't hit ya cooler.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/32-gb-ddr3-ram,3790-10.html

As for the cooler.... the Hyper 212 is a great budget cooler ..... but 2 things:

1. It is very easy to over tighten the clamping mechanism, I have done 3 rebuilds for people who broke their MoBo and / or CPU and there's at east that many active threads here on the board, so be careful not to overtighten.

2. A better cooler will get ya 7 - 10C cooler temps.

Unfortunately prices are $10 higher this week so it will cost ya $40 more than the Hyper 212 Evo for the Phanteks ... you can match color to your case / MoBo whatever.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=PH-TC14-PE&N=-1&isNodeId=1

$15 more will get ya the best in da business.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF1H68938

So w/ $1500 budget ... If I have had $100 of your money to spend .... better me than ya wife / GF

.... what would I do.

-I'd keep the i7.
-I's upgrade the cooler to the Phanteks +45
-I'd upgrade the RAM to the Mushkins -$23
-I'd upgrade to the faster SSHD sunce that SSD will help you load faster only what's on it... rest of your stuff on HD can now load almost as fast
-I'd upgrade the case for something newer with more features +$15
-I'd upgarde the PSU to the one with the 10 year warranty +$25

You should be at about $1462 now, still under ya budget.

Shamar Holtz · Oct 15, 2014

You wouldn't have heat issues whether you did or didn't oc, but tbh you have the best Pc that money can buy, without doubling up on gpus. So you won't need to OC

As for this pc being future proof? Yes it will last you

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

JackNaylorPE :

1. Since this is a gaming PC, you could save $100 with a 4690k....savings $100

2. That memory is tall, might hit ya cooler. This is better, faster and less money.... savings $23
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226199

3. This is almost 70% faster than the WD Black and same price.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2013/-17-PCMark-7-Gaming,2915.html
9.78 MB/s versus 5.80 MB/s

4. Ya want the at least B2 version of that PSU but the G2 is the top end w/ $10 year warranty) and is just $5 more at $80 .... best $25 you'll spend

5. The HAF-X was one of the best cases in its day ... it's day being 5 years ago. I'd look at the Enthoo Luxe which ups the ante with built in fan controller, build in LED system and built in LED controller..... spent $15 more of ya money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkRJsjuvQVY
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=Enthoo+Luxe&N=-1&isNodeId=1
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

So ignoring the CPU .... I saved ya $23 .... spent $25 and $15 getting better case, faster memory and much, much, faster HD ....so ya down $17 but have better stuff. And yes, faster RAM does make a difference in gaming, look at THG reviews.... but faster is a no brainer when it's also cheaper and doesn't hit ya cooler.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/32-gb-ddr3-ram,3790-10.html

As for the cooler.... the Hyper 212 is a great budget cooler ..... but 2 things:

1. It is very easy to over tighten the clamping mechanism, I have done 3 rebuilds for people who broke their MoBo and / or CPU and there's at east that many active threads here on the board, so be careful not to overtighten.

2. A better cooler will get ya 7 - 10C cooler temps.

Unfortunately prices are $10 higher this week so it will cost ya $40 more than the Hyper 212 Evo for the Phanteks ... you can match color to your case / MoBo whatever.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=PH-TC14-PE&N=-1&isNodeId=1

$15 more will get ya the best in da business.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF1H68938

Really good info! Im going to go through these links. Will the CRYORIG fit in the case. Thing is HUGE!

JackNaylorPE · Oct 15, 2014

I did some edits at the bottom so take a look ... the white Phanteks case with the white Phanteks cooler looks so frakin hawwwwwt and ya only give up about 1 - 1.5C

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

JackNaylorPE :

Thanks..Making changes now. One last question not sure which HD you are recommending in line 3.

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

Ok...I believe I have it corrected....

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($86.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.28 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe ATX Full Tower Case ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1329.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-15 20:22 EDT-0400

JackNaylorPE · Oct 15, 2014

tbonez3858 :

The 1st one on the THG charts

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178381

Replace the Blue with that and your screaming. yell back if you need overclocking help. I'll post a guide for ya

ooh one more thing .... first off, your MoBo is a great board. If ya have trouble getting either the GFX card (also great) or the MoBo, consider the MSI GD65 and the MSI 970. In this price range I like the MSI and Gigabyte and not much else. Only thing I can say about the MSI versus Gigabyte selections for those two is MSI has the better assembly video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LldCS7N7DHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvNnv7nh2Es

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

JackNaylorPE :

tbonez3858 :

The 1st one on the THG charts

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178381

Replace the Blue with that and your screaming. yell back if you need overclocking help. I'll post a guide for ya

ooh one more thing .... first off, your MoBo is a great board. If ya have trouble getting either the GFX card (also great) or the MoBo, consider the MSI GD65 and the MSI 970. In this price range I like the MSI and Gigabyte and not much else. Only thing I can say about the MSI versus Gigabyte selections for those two is MSI has the better assembly video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LldCS7N7DHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvNnv7nh2Es

Thanks! Do you think I need a bigger SSD? I put a 120 gb on there.

JackNaylorPE · Oct 15, 2014

Not if you have the SSHD

SSD boots in 15.6 seconds
SSHD boots in 16.5 seconds

You can't tell the difference w/o a stop watch. I only put it SSDs if I can't spend the $100 better somewhere else:

i5 => i7
8 GB = > 16GB
970 => 980

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

JackNaylorPE :

So are you saying to run the SSHD as a single drive and forget about the SSD? By the way thank you very much for your help!

JackNaylorPE · Oct 15, 2014

It all depends on how ya wanna spend ya money. We use our laptops to make As-Built Drawings in the field... so speed is key. I was getting a bit frustrated with peeps bringing me back lappies and desktops and asking me to clean off the C:\ drive (SSD) all the time. So we bought two lappies .... one with a SSD + HD and one with a SSHD ..... none one can tell them apart .... well at least until the C drive gets full and I have to clean it again

.

I then build a desktop and put two 250 GB SSDs in RAID O and two SSHDs in RAID 1. I wa snot impressed with the RAID but I figured Id give it another shot as hadn't ever found it useful but last attempt was 4-5 yearts ago. After 3 months I broke both arrays and all 4 drives work independently .

I can boot off either SSD or one of the SSHDs...without a stopwatch, ya can't tell which drive ya booting off.

So .... if budget is limited a 2 TB SSHD is a fine choice...... you really won't miss the SSD....at least we don't. If ya got money left over, then by all means grab the SSD .... just be prepared to do the necessary file location management since everything wants to install on C:\ ... and even if you install it elsewhere ... things like java updates will go and move it on ya ....as will Adobe, AutoDesk and other vendors who in insist on putting "CommonFiles" on C:\ no matter where ya put the other stuff.

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

JackNaylorPE :

It all depends on how ya wanna spend ya money. We use our laptops to make As-Built Drawings in the field... so speed is key. I was getting a bit frustrated with peeps bringing me back lappies and desktops and asking me to clean off the C:\ drive (SSD) all the time. So we bought two lappies .... one with a SSD + HD and one with a SSHD ..... none one can tell them apart .... well at least until the C drive gets full and I have to clean it again

.

I then build a desktop and put two 250 GB SSDs in RAID O and two SSHDs in RAID 1. I wa snot impressed with the RAID but I figured Id give it another shot as hadn't ever found it useful but last attempt was 4-5 yearts ago. After 3 months I broke both arrays and all 4 drives work independently .

I can boot off either SSD or one of the SSHDs...without a stopwatch, ya can't tell which drive ya booting off.

So .... if budget is limited a 2 TB SSHD is a fine choice...... you really won't miss the SSD....at least we don't. If ya got money left over, then by all means grab the SSD .... just be prepared to do the necessary file location management since everything wants to install on C:\ ... and even if you install it elsewhere ... things like java updates will go and move it on ya ....as will Adobe, AutoDesk and other vendors who in insist on putting "CommonFiles" on C:\ no matter where ya put the other stuff.

Great news that just made my life MUCH easier. Thanks again!

JackNaylorPE · Oct 15, 2014

I think if i were now id have to get another 970

.... can't have money left over. I heard if ya but 2 MSI cards that girl in the MSI video comes over ya house to install them

tbonez3858 · Oct 15, 2014

JackNaylorPE :

LOL...I cant find a single one, let alone two!

JackNaylorPE · Oct 19, 2014

I have seem them twice on the egg..... posted here and they were gone in 10 minutes....also on Amazon.....also gone in a few minutes and 10 minutes after that were re-listed at a higher price.

1500 gaming PC - Review and suggestions please

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