Wife needs help with a new build!

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lachance4107

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Nov 19, 2014
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Hey guys! First off I just wanted to say the community on this forum is one of the best I've ever seen on the internet and its awesome that you guys are willing to offer your knowledge to help out others. I built my last computer a year ago from your support so thank you :)

Purpose: So here's the situation, my wife has become a pretty big steamer and is now wanting to transition to running her xbox one stream through a PC so she can use an overlay and all that. She also wants to start playing World of Warcraft with me and edit the videos she records for both of them to be posted on YouTube. So I'm thinking she may need a pretty large HDD for the video files.

Cost: So far we have saved up about 500$ for the PC and plan on spending around 800$, however we are willing to put what we have to into it (without going much over 1500$) to complete these tasks efficiently.

If you guys are able to give us a build that would serve us well I would highly appreciate it!

She also is looking for a case to match the color scheme of her headset which is the light blue and grey Astro A40s but I told her that probably won't happen.

Thanks again guys!

Edit: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor and OS I can handle

Edit: Currency is in US dollars and if the quality of the case is affected a good amount by the color then I would definitely prefer quality

Edit: The headset Boosted linked is the correct one.

Edit: The system should be able to run 60 fps on WoW while streaming and recording if not at least 30 or more fps but definitely while running the best video settings.
 
Solution
Jacob McIntosh
In a PM from OP to me,
Just read through your most recent post on the thread. Still unsure on how to reply on there from my phone which is why I'm messaging.

What I'm concerned with is the water cooling. I haven't set up a water cooled system before and not sure if that's something beyond what I could learn to do on YouTube. I love the idea of blue internals with a clear case though. While I'm willing to spend the 1200, I'd like to keep it lower like I said. While I don't want the system pushing it's very limits, I don't need a configuration that will be able to complete what I'm doing 3x over, heh. I'm not trying to put money I don't need to into the build, however if the cost of the parts really is worth the difference in...
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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I am assuming since you listed price in $ you are in USA?
$800 is pushing it, but will easily be under $1500.

Do you need a monitor?
Do you need a copy of windows, if so do you want 7 or 8.1?

Getting a case near the gray color might be possible, for a blue case you would end up with an ostentatious case by a lower end brand that is more outside looks then quality and builder features (form over function).
 
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chris_shadez

chris_shadez

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Oct 22, 2013
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here's a preliminary black/blue build just $40 off the $800 budget, more time could be spent on finding a decent grey or white + blue case though

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 ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($118.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($71.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($85.39 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.67 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Apevia X-HERMES-BL ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $840.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-19 10:57 EST-0500
 
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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Not a bad build but if not going to overclock it is a waste to get overclock cpu.
Why a 750w power supply with a gpu that doesn't even require 350w, you always want to overbuild but still.
Like I stated, ostentatious low quality brand case.
GPU will stream and play WoW fine, anything beyond that then it will be holding you back. If you want to put the money into it, a GTX 970 will be just over $300 and will max out any game that comes out over the next few years.
 
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Jacob McIntosh

Jacob McIntosh

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Aug 24, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.97 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($158.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($66.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital AV-GP 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($97.40 @ Mwave)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Dual Superclocked ACX Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1277.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-19 11:04 EST-0500

Here's what I came up with. Before I start the parts breakdown, the PSU and GPU are both overkill. I'll get to why later.

-i7 4790K: Awesomely powerful, hyperthreaded (good for video editing) processor, and its a K so it can be overclocked.
-Corsair H105: Watercoolers can run quieter and cooler than an air cooler, and this one fits in the case. Yes, it is overkill, but it will run super quiet, and allow for some nice overclocks.
-ASRock Z97E-ITX: An ITX form factor board, blue, with built in WiFi.
-G.Skill Ares: 16BG of blue RAM, 1866, CL10. Ram is Ram.
-Storage: 1 128GB SSD from SanDisk for OS and game storage, and a 2TB hard drive from Western Digital for mass storage.
-GTX 770: This is where I went a bit overkill. Your wife could use the iGPU on the i7 for WoW, but if she even wants to try anything else more graphicaly demanding, this is a good option. If not, it could be scaled back to an R9 270X or a 750Ti or 760.
-Corsair 250D: I went Mini ITX for this build because it sounds like it SLI or a separate sound or network card will be used in the future. If so, let me know and I'll re-do the motherboard and case choices. Unfortunately, it isn't blue, but it has a window to see all the blue internals.
-PSU: This is another overkill option, but it was cheap and is a good unit from Corsair. It will allow for very healthy overclocks, and a more powerful AMD video card (or a Nvidia card, but all the new ones are more power efficient than the 770, so more power wouldn't be an issue)

Tell me what you think. If it's too expensive I can make a few revisions so that it's closer to your ~$800 goal.
 
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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This is a $1200 build that will suit current and future needs.

i7 because you need it for video encoding
16gb because you will also use it for video encoding
GTX 970 GPU if wife wants to play more serious PC games - if not you can drop to a GTX 770 and save $75
Quality SSD drive plus additional 2tb hard drive
Nice case, if you don't like that one then I would look at a Fractial Design Arc 2. The Define R4 is also nice if you want something more minimalistic looking.
Good quality gold PSU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($289.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($144.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 240 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1244.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-19 11:38 EST-0500

Edited: changed build, had wrong GPU in there.
 
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chris_shadez

chris_shadez

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Oct 22, 2013
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i was going closer to the lines of $800. Why a 750W? it was in the same price bracket as the 500W's and a high tier, so future proofed for an SLI. Why unlocked cpu? OC may be a tempting possibility in future. But again... i was aiming closer to the $800 budget end rather than the $1500
 
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Jacob McIntosh

Jacob McIntosh

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Aug 24, 2013
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In a PM from OP to me,
Just read through your most recent post on the thread. Still unsure on how to reply on there from my phone which is why I'm messaging.

What I'm concerned with is the water cooling. I haven't set up a water cooled system before and not sure if that's something beyond what I could learn to do on YouTube. I love the idea of blue internals with a clear case though. While I'm willing to spend the 1200, I'd like to keep it lower like I said. While I don't want the system pushing it's very limits, I don't need a configuration that will be able to complete what I'm doing 3x over, heh. I'm not trying to put money I don't need to into the build, however if the cost of the parts really is worth the difference in performance then I can make that work for sure.

Sorry if I'm being difficult, I really do appreciate the help. I'll watch for your next post as what will probably be the solution we decide on.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. Because the watercooling unit selected is an "all in one", you just have to attach the radiator to the case and the water block to the CPU, as you would any other air cooler. It's not that hard, and Corsair includes instructions on how to do it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.97 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($158.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($66.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital AV-GP 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($97.40 @ Mwave)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: BitFenix Spectre PWM 51.3 CFM 120mm Fan ($11.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1106.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-19 12:12 EST-0500

Here's an updated version of the first build. It has an air cooler, and a blue LED fan, because you would be looking at an ugly Noctua fan using the cooler. I also dropped the 770 for a R9 270X, and the PSU for a lower quality, cheaper 450watt unit from Corsair.
 
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