Help with First Gaming PC Build ~$1000

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Hello!
I have been planning to build my first PC and have been browsing this excellent forum for the past few weeks. I would like to build a complete gaming PC in the ballpark of $1000 (could go up if needed), including the monitor, keyboard, OS and HDD. The computer will be used for web browsing, gaming (COD, BF4, WOW), and watching movies (in order of use). I am not sure if I will need to overclock, but would need the most simple solution to do so if it is necessary (i.e., no water cooling, etc.). I am a lifetime console gamer and have never played any graphically intense games on a PC, so I don't know if I absolutely need ultra settings or the highest FPS.. I think 30-40+ FPS will be sufficient, but I don't know. I just really want a snappy system for surfing the web and applications as well. I have Amazon Prime and would prefer to use that unless the price difference is enough to justify another website. I do not have a preference for Intel or AMD, just whichever will give me the best performance. I was initially wanting to go the AMD route with fx6300 but have since opened up to the i5. I found this system from a Google search for $1000 builds (all parts sold on Amazon Prime):
CPU: i5-4690K
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z97-D3H
GPU: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport (2x4GB)
SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB
HDD: Western Digital Blue 1TB
Case: Corsair Carbide 200R
PSU: Corsair CX500
Optical Drive: LG 24x DVD burner
OS: MS Windows 8.1
Total: $1,003.00
I realize this build is missing the monitor, but if this suits my needs otherwise, would you recommend it? How would you change it?
Thanks!
Floyd

amd4lif3 · Nov 7, 2014

get a different psu the cx series is quite problematic

Kaliz · Nov 7, 2014

Looking good, nuice balanced gaming build, allthough i would recommend getting a lower prized i5 and a higher end GPU. Change the PSU to a quality 550watt one from XFX or Seasonic and you'd be good

Xyos · Nov 7, 2014

I would recommend a couple things here. Unless you are very strapped for cash, try to go for more memory. If you do heavy browsing with lots of tabs, leaving them up while gaming, etc you can easily go beyond 8 gigs. If you only have a few tabs open at once then dont worry about it.

I dont know what kind of monitor you have currently, but you should at LEAST get a 1920x1080 monitor. A quality monitor is very important if this is for gaming. You dont want to have this awesome rig but have the monitor display the game at 1440x900!

Thats it really. Rig looks solid. You should be able to max BF4 at 1920x1080 pretty easily here and maintain over 60 fps, maybe 2x MSAA on. WOW and COD will run ez mode.

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Thank you all for the input! So another PSU, i5 and GPU.

Kaliz, are you saying that the price isn't right on this particular i5, or you would go with a different, lower priced CPU? Do you have a recommendation for another GPU?

Xyos, more memory; noted. And I don't have a monitor. My last PC was a Dell bought in 2001.

I'm really looking forward to this computer.

Kaliz · Nov 7, 2014

i5-4570K and a R9 280X

Good luck picking !

tiny voices · Nov 7, 2014

Get the 4690k if you are overclocking, or a 4460 if you are not overclocking. I would not recommend the 4570/4670 due to their poor thermal control due to junk TIM which was fixed in the Haswell-Refresh lineup.

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Kaliz,

Doing an amazon search, I don't see the 4570K. Only a 4370K and 4670K. And a 4570 without the K..?

tiny voices · Nov 7, 2014

HE meant 4670k which is poor compared to the 4690k, which is what you should be looking at. The only 2 CPUs to consider are the 4690k (overclocking) and the 4460 (no overclocking)

Kaliz · Nov 7, 2014

tiny voices :

He is right!

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Ahh ok, thanks tiny voices. So would you recommend going with the 4690k and overclocking for what I need and my lack of experience? Is the performance drop to a 4460 that much and could I stick with the rest of the listed components with that CPU? Thanks again!

tiny voices · Nov 7, 2014

the 4460 is great. There is no need for overclocking on a CPU like these. It is more for a hobby and fun than actual performance gains. If you get the 4460, you get drop down to an h97 motherboard and use the saved money for a better GPU and actually get BETTER game performance.

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Ok. So an i5-4460, H97 mobo and the R9 280X gpu which Kaliz recommended would be a good fit with the rest of the system?

Kaliz · Nov 7, 2014

absolutely, you wont be dissapointed in any way, great balanced gaming rig!

tiny voices · Nov 7, 2014

Those would be a great choice if you are not interested in CPU overclocking.

Make sure you change the PSU to an Antec, XFX, Seasonic unit.

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Ok, many thanks to both of you! I am going to try putting all of these together on Amazon and will let you know what I come up with!

tiny voices · Nov 7, 2014

Sounds good!

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Here is what I came up with (minus display, keyboard):

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vCJkzy

How does it look?

Kaliz · Nov 7, 2014

You selected all the parts we would recommend, great PC! Only thing missing is a 1 or 2 TB HDD for your bulk files , videos and game library.

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Thanks Kaliz. I will add one. Do you have any recommendations for displays in the $150-200 range? I'd like at least 23".

Kaliz · Nov 7, 2014

Preferably a Ilyama, BenQ, Samsung or LG monitor with 2ms refresh rate. I'm not into monitors that much, but for about 120$ you can get a very decent 23" 1080p monitor with TN-panel.
IPS-LED panels are excellent , but are high prized.

Xyos · Nov 7, 2014

Great bargains are popping up close to black friday on monitors. You can find a 24 inch 1080P for like 150-160 bucks on a good sale! Wait until black friday/cyber monday for even more insane deals!

Tyroneshuz · Nov 7, 2014

Ok, thanks for the heads up Xyos! I figure I won't be ready to buy the monitor until Black Friday anyways. Do you guys have any preferred websites for deals? I have always found techbargains.com to be a pretty good resource.

tiny voices · Nov 7, 2014

You can get an IPS panel for $120-$150 no problem.

Xyos · Nov 7, 2014

newegg.com, tigerdirect.com, amazon.com

Help with First Gaming PC Build ~$1000

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