Looking for help with a custom build, going for longevity (i hope) 800$ budget

Mahnmut

Reputable
Mar 21, 2015
3
0
4,510
Hi! So i am looking to build a gaming desktop for the first time... at first i was going to just order a prebuilt PC off of amazon but i thought ehh.. maybe i should do some research before investing this much money into something.. so here i am.

I know a few things i want, i know i want an intel processor either i3 or i5, i know that i would like
a superior motherboard for what i am putting on to it to allow for future upgrading, and i know i want to have good enough parts when the pc first arrives for me to play games like sc2, h1z1 cs:go, etc on high quality,

What i am ok with is to run a game on high or medium, even, until i can upgrade in a month or so and then upgrade again, i want a solid foundation that i will be able to build on.

I have a few ideas so far, i read up on this "system builder marathon 2015" http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-budget-gaming-pc,4065.html and read through alot
of the comments about it. i arrived at one post which had a part list and i thought this might actually be perfect.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BfMfCJ

i am probably going to buy whats on that part list and go with that, it fits my budget and seems to fit what i am looking for, i am posting here to see if anyone (who actually knows what they are talking about (unlike me)) could share some wisdom as to why or why not that would be a good idea. One concern i have is no HDD, what if i need to install windows!

random questions i have
1. how does windows 10 preview work?
2. i need to buy a monitor also(not worried about it in the budget), any suggestions?

the pc on amazon i considered. http://www.amazon.com/CybertronPC-Borg-709-GMBG70934GN-Desktop-Green/dp/B00NC06RKC/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Thanks for reading! any and all input appreciated.
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
You have to download the Win10 preview from microsoft.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($310.19 @ Amazon)
Case: Cougar MX300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $798.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-21 07:53 EDT-0400

Monitor depends on how much you can afford.
 
Solution

Mahnmut

Reputable
Mar 21, 2015
3
0
4,510


thanks for the reply! i like what you posted here with this part list, i think i will go with this. was wondering if you could show me what a build would look like if you put a monitor into the budget? would you have to cut into the video card? also probably a dumb question but how would i download it without any windows to begin with? (very newbie at how that all works) and maybe i should just buy windows 8?

quick edit: really dont need some movie theatre monitor 19inch or so would be just fine
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
You will want at least a 1080p. It would have to cut into the video card. You would have to use a different PC to download the Win 10 preview, then burn it to a DVD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($204.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cougar MX300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Micro Center)
Monitor: Acer S220HQLAbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $792.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-21 08:22 EDT-0400
 

mamasan2000

Distinguished
BANNED
Future upgrades...you will most likely have to replace the motherboard and maybe memory too.
Intels Skylake due out this year will probably use a different socket for CPU.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylake_%28microarchitecture%29

1150 has lived for a long time, I dont expect that to be the case for more than a year.
Skylake should work with DDR3 too but who knows if same can be said about the next Intel after that. Could be DDR4 only. Right now, DDR4 isnt worth the money for a general computer user.