Build me a PC for $1300 please!

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 4, 2015

I'm Going from Console to PC and I have no clue what parts I need for a great gaming PC.

My budget is $1300 MAX (or a little over) I have a 32" TV I can use as a monitor, but I'd rather buy one. I have Windows 7 and my dad is saying I should just upgrade for $100.

I would like the gaming PC to play either all or many games 1080p (or higher) at 60fps (or higher)

I would LOVE it if someone could help me! THANK YOU!

Archgaull · Feb 4, 2015

This would work very well, and I'd use the TV as a monitor. There's no point in sacrificing hardware quality just so you can get a peripheral you don't need immediately.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($87.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($549.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($47.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($18.75 @ Amazon)
Total: $1207.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-04 20:55 EST-0500

Math Geek · Feb 4, 2015

the build above is solid but a 980 for a 1080p tv is the very definition of overkill

how about a nice 970 for around $300 and the other $250 going to a monitor that he kind of wants anyway. i am sure for $250 he can get a very nice monitor to game on. the 970 will still max out any game at 60+ fps at 1080p and will for a while. the water cooler is also a bit much unless he knows he wants to massively oc that cpu. if not, then a $30 hyper 212 evo is plenty for a modest oc of the 4690k. as a new builder and first time attempt, assuming a high end oc is a bit too much to expect for the op.

that is an easy $300 saved to go to a very nice monitor.

just my thoughts anyway. here is where i would go myself for that budget. includes a solid 144 hz 24" monitor and enough psu to run a second 970 if you ever decide to go that way. still $100 left in the budget for windows if you chose to go that way. keep in mind win 10 comes out this year and it is supposed to be a free upgrade for win 7 or 8 users. so using your win 7 still allows for win 10 free later when it comes out.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($338.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: AOC G2460PQU 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($277.58 @ Newegg)
Total: $1202.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-04 21:20 EST-0500

very solid build with oc and sli possible as is. though the 970 is already overclocked a bunch out of the box.

TofuLion · Feb 4, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($132.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1297.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-04 21:24 EST-0500

add cpu cooler later (overclocking won't give you as much of a performance boost as the 970 SLI) and add an SSD in the future as well. stick with the TV you have, and when you need to upgrade it, this build would also handle 1440p no problem.

Math Geek · Feb 4, 2015

620w is a little low for dual 970's. swap it out for the 750w antec i used to ensure it would have the power it needs. not saying it needs all 750w but 650w is about as low as i would go for sli 970's and an oc'ed 4690k and the antec is a good sale price right now.

hopefully this is a good range of options for you

each one of these builds is good in it's own way. just have to decide what you want right now and what you can wait on.

TofuLion · Feb 4, 2015

Math Geek :

must have missed that antec being on sale. i agree, great find! while 620 would be enough, nothing wrong with some extra head room and 80+ Gold as well for a lower price? sold.

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 4, 2015

Archgaull :

First off I LOVE your A Day To Remember Profile picture.

But I'll probably do this build but NOT the Water Cooling system since I'm a Noob at building PC's and I have no clue how to take care of a Water Cooling System and I'm afraid I'll mess something up and it leaking water into the Computer! But other than that I feel like this build is a pretty solid build. and are you sure that a 650W PSU is enough? and I don't think I need to pay $20 for a Optical Drive since I have one from an old PC. Same with a second HDD. But I'm not 100% sure

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 4, 2015

Math Geek :

the build above is solid but a 980 for a 1080p tv is the very definition of overkill

how about a nice 970 for around $300 and the other $250 going to a monitor that he kind of wants anyway. i am sure for $250 he can get a very nice monitor to game on. the 970 will still max out any game at 60+ fps at 1080p and will for a while. the water cooler is also a bit much unless he knows he wants to massively oc that cpu. if not, then a $30 hyper 212 evo is plenty for a modest oc of the 4690k. as a new builder and first time attempt, assuming a high end oc is a bit too much to expect for the op.

that is an easy $300 saved to go to a very nice monitor.

just my thoughts anyway. here is where i would go myself for that budget. includes a solid 144 hz 24" monitor and enough psu to run a second 970 if you ever decide to go that way. still $100 left in the budget for windows if you chose to go that way. keep in mind win 10 comes out this year and it is supposed to be a free upgrade for win 7 or 8 users. so using your win 7 still allows for win 10 free later when it comes out.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($338.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: AOC G2460PQU 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($277.58 @ Newegg)
Total: $1202.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-04 21:20 EST-0500

very solid build with oc and sli possible as is. though the 970 is already overclocked a bunch out of the box.

But I ALSO could do the other build without a Monitor and Water Cooling System and just buy a monitor around November. But also could do this AND get a monitor. Nnot sure yet

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 4, 2015

TofuLion :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($132.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1297.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-04 21:24 EST-0500

add cpu cooler later (overclocking won't give you as much of a performance boost as the 970 SLI) and add an SSD in the future as well. stick with the TV you have, and when you need to upgrade it, this build would also handle 1440p no problem.

Stupid question.. But what's SLI? I think its Two Graphics cards but other than two Graphics cards what does SLI do?

Archgaull · Feb 4, 2015

WoodyTheGamer :

Lol it's nice to see someone recognizes them. I was lucky enough to see them live, they're even better live.

As for the PSU, 650 is plenty. PC Part Picker estimates the system will use around 350, so 650 is fine. Although it is water cooling, this is a more traditional style and you don't have to worry about leaking or maintenance, it's a simple plug and play system. I have the H50, and it works absolutely beautiful in my system. As for having an old CD Drive, by all means use it, I just like to cover all bases when I make a build, same with the HDD, as long as it's compatible.

TofuLion · Feb 4, 2015

WoodyTheGamer :

"Scalable Link Interface (SLI) is a brand name for a multi-GPU technology developed by NVIDIA for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output." it's not just two graphics cards, they are linked and work together. the GTX 970 is a rare case where the SLI configuration actually performs better than the tier above it.

as you can see, 970 SLI is more than capable even at higher resolutions. this would make the best "future-proof" set up and allow you to upgrade to a much better monitor in the future.

Math Geek · Feb 5, 2015

that is the beauty of this forum. you ask and then get a number of different viable options. we can't make up your mind for you but at least we can give you solid choices to consider. every one of these has its strong points. you just have to figure out what you want most. the tv would be a fine monitor for now or the monitor i chose would also be a great option. watercooling offers great oc potential and sli would offer great graphics performance. however, i would avoid the sli 970's at this time. they can be tricky and unless your experienced with drivers and troubleshooting, you may not get it working. you see it all the time, here and on other sites where they try to benchmark sli set-ups and give up when they can't make it work. i am not saying you are likely to have issues but that it happens enough that even skilled builders and testers often have trouble.

a single 970 now with room to add another later on the mobo and psu, would be a better first time build in my opinion. the fps benchmarks above are awesome but your tv won't take advantage of them as it is probably 60 hz and 1080p resolution. which means limited to 60 fps at 1080p. notice the single 970 is just above the 60 fps mark at 1440p, it will be much higher at 1080p so it will be capable of a lot more fps than your screen can handle. the 144 hz screen i suggested would not be maxed out at 1080p with this game!! a single 970 now maxes your screen and a second on later on would be useful for a higher resolution or multiple monitors should you go what way later on. just my 2 cents.

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 5, 2015

Archgaull :

WoodyTheGamer :

Lol it's nice to see someone recognizes them. I was lucky enough to see them live, they're even better live.

As for the PSU, 650 is plenty. PC Part Picker estimates the system will use around 350, so 650 is fine. Although it is water cooling, this is a more traditional style and you don't have to worry about leaking or maintenance, it's a simple plug and play system. I have the H50, and it works absolutely beautiful in my system. As for having an old CD Drive, by all means use it, I just like to cover all bases when I make a build, same with the HDD, as long as it's compatible.

OH! You're so lucky! Ive been wanting to see hem for a long time!

My HDD is a WD. It says the model is WD5000AAK, So I have no clue if its compatible

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 5, 2015

TofuLion :

WoodyTheGamer :

"Scalable Link Interface (SLI) is a brand name for a multi-GPU technology developed by NVIDIA for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output." it's not just two graphics cards, they are linked and work together. the GTX 970 is a rare case where the SLI configuration actually performs better than the tier above it.

as you can see, 970 SLI is more than capable even at higher resolutions. this would make the best "future-proof" set up and allow you to upgrade to a much better monitor in the future.

Ahh, okay. This is looking like the best setup for the money.

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 5, 2015

Math Geek :

that is the beauty of this forum. you ask and then get a number of different viable options. we can't make up your mind for you but at least we can give you solid choices to consider. every one of these has its strong points. you just have to figure out what you want most. the tv would be a fine monitor for now or the monitor i chose would also be a great option. watercooling offers great oc potential and sli would offer great graphics performance. however, i would avoid the sli 970's at this time. they can be tricky and unless your experienced with drivers and troubleshooting, you may not get it working. you see it all the time, here and on other sites where they try to benchmark sli set-ups and give up when they can't make it work. i am not saying you are likely to have issues but that it happens enough that even skilled builders and testers often have trouble.

a single 970 now with room to add another later on the mobo and psu, would be a better first time build in my opinion. the fps benchmarks above are awesome but your tv won't take advantage of them as it is probably 60 hz and 1080p resolution. which means limited to 60 fps at 1080p. notice the single 970 is just above the 60 fps mark at 1440p, it will be much higher at 1080p so it will be capable of a lot more fps than your screen can handle. the 144 hz screen i suggested would not be maxed out at 1080p with this game!! a single 970 now maxes your screen and a second on later on would be useful for a higher resolution or multiple monitors should you go what way later on. just my 2 cents.

This is so legit! I don't think I've met a better site to ask for help.

TofuLion · Feb 5, 2015

WoodyTheGamer :

i think this is the best setup for the money. however, math geek has a solid point, the SLI setup would be more than you need for the 1080p @ 60 Hz. i have a single 970 running on an HDTV and almost everything i play, i get solid 60 FPS. the 'optimize' settings actually try to set my GPU to render a higher resolution and downscale it to 1080p to allow higher details (it's called DSR), but i manually set it back to 1080p because i find it sometimes dips down to 40 and it annoys me

the only exception being AC Unity, which can barely handle 1080p (max settings of course) and i average just over 40 FPS with overclocking my GPU as high as i can get it. it's a shame because i am a big fan of the series, and if i had SLI i don't think it would happen.
so even if you didn't get a higher resolution monitor right away, say waited til november, you could still make use of the SLI with DSR, or really pain in the ass games like AC Unity.

Math Geek · Feb 6, 2015

touche' strong counterpoint

ZeroGravity780 · Feb 6, 2015

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($121.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.97 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($87.59 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($131.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.75 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1244.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-06 11:22 EST-0500

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 6, 2015

TofuLion :

WoodyTheGamer :

i think this is the best setup for the money. however, math geek has a solid point, the SLI setup would be more than you need for the 1080p @ 60 Hz. i have a single 970 running on an HDTV and almost everything i play, i get solid 60 FPS. the 'optimize' settings actually try to set my GPU to render a higher resolution and downscale it to 1080p to allow higher details (it's called DSR), but i manually set it back to 1080p because i find it sometimes dips down to 40 and it annoys me

the only exception being AC Unity, which can barely handle 1080p (max settings of course) and i average just over 40 FPS with overclocking my GPU as high as i can get it. it's a shame because i am a big fan of the series, and if i had SLI i don't think it would happen.
so even if you didn't get a higher resolution monitor right away, say waited til november, you could still make use of the SLI with DSR, or really pain in the ass games like AC Unity.

so, should I go with SLI or just one graphics card? I don't think I'd mind if it dipped down to 40fps but I don't know

WoodyTheGamer · Feb 6, 2015

ZeroGravity780 :

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($121.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.97 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($87.59 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($131.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.75 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1244.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-06 11:22 EST-0500

I Think this is a pretty nice build! Thank You!

TofuLion · Feb 6, 2015

to be honest, you'd be best off outfitting your rig with all the extras (good cpu cooler, 250+ GB SSD, maybe even a better monitor) and make sure you have a very well rounded machine, and keep the option of SLI open for the future. while SLI would be very beneficial, it would also leave you lacking a bit (SSDs provide a huge performance boost to load times of OS and games). at the end of the day, its your choice, go with your gut. but i wouldn't recommend a GTX 980, stick with the 970 it's the best price/performance available at this time.

TofuLion · Feb 6, 2015

this is how i would go, under the above stated philosophy:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($132.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($101.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1180.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-06 21:07 EST-0500

save that $100 for a better monitor upgrade in the future. stick with windows 7 you'll be able to upgrade to 10.

ZeroGravity780 · Feb 6, 2015

WoodyTheGamer :

ZeroGravity780 :

I Think this is a pretty nice build! Thank You!

Your welcome!

Build me a PC for $1300 please!

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