Building gaming pc on $2000 budget. Im a newbie!

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TribulationFu

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Apr 12, 2015
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Hey everyone, this is my first post here and I am completely new when it comes to building a pc. I want to learn though. I was hoping that you guys could give me some insight on how I should go about picking everything about my pc.

So first thing is first, the things I know I want. I know that I want to run the Geforce GTX 980 graphics card and I also want an ssd to put my OS on for fast startup. I have a 1TB harddrive from my now fried pc that I can use. (question 1: how will I know if I can use that harddrive and if it is compatible?) I would like to be able to upgrade my pc in the future for dual graphics cards and ram. (second question: what does having dual graphics cards allow you to do?) This next part is a must! I want it to have a great liquid cooling system (not a cheap one) and a great PSU because my last motherboard fried due to this. (want to prevent that from happening again). With that being said those are the basic guidelines to the pc I would like.

I guess my last question for you guys is how you all pick your processors and motherboards. I have been reading alot about how many of the nice processors are using a 2011-13 socket and that it would be a waste to buy those processors due to this fact. Why is this the case and what type of socket should I be looking for? Sorry for all the questions but I am trying to get the best pc possible for my price range and want to learn at the same time for future purposes.
 
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qwerty987123

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for your questions
1 your hdd will be compatible
2 dual cards increases the graphical processing power so you can play at higher fps or at a higher res
3 socket wise you have 2 options 2011-3 or 1150. the 2011-3 has better cpus and uses ddr4 rather than ddr3 ram but all of this costs more so the 1150 socket is the best option as there is no difference in gaming perfomance
 
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TechyInAZ

TechyInAZ

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Answer for question 1: make sure the HDD is SATA 3 then your all set.
Answer for question 2: Dual graphics cards, better known as SLI/CrossfireX will in theory allow you to double your frame rate when adding another card. However in real world benchmarks, it varies from 50%-95% performance increase.

If you want an expensive and GREAT liquid cooling system, then you need to go with a custom loop. I do not advise doing this until your an experienced pc builder. But if you want a liquid cooler you can buy an AIO like the Kraken x61 or Corsair H110i GT.
 
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TribulationFu

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@qwerty987123, I have just seen that higher end pc's have cooling systems in them plus they cool better than fans from what I have read. I do not mind having to upkeep it because I enjoy messing with pc's. I also wanted it because it looks cool haha. As for the custom loop or the closed loop cooler, I do not know what the difference is. As for the 2011-3 vs an 1150, I thought it was talking about a year haha. Such a fail on my part! So I want to find an 1150 socket. What exactly does this allow? Anything special?

@TechyinAZ, 1. How do I check to see if it is SATA3. 2. I have seen the SLI/CrossfireX terms used but I do not know the differences between the two so what should I be looking for when comparing?
 
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qwerty987123

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If the coolers you have seen have lots of tubing and are colourful then they will be custom loop which i wouldn't recommend for newbie but if they are closed loop then their performance is comparable to that of a quality air cooler which tend to be cheaper. The 1150 socket is the most common and for it i would recommend either an i7 4790k or an i5 4690k but with your budget i would suggest the i7. Sli refers to having multiple nvidia gpus and crossfire refers to multiple AMD gpus. With current gpus it would be sli you are looking at as the 980 as you requested is the best excluding the 295x2 and titan x which i personally wouldn't bother with unless this is a build for 4k gaming.
 
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TribulationFu

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Ahhh. Interesting. So since I am using the sli, what does it mean sli 2 way. And how will I know if I can upgrade to more than 2 graphics cards. Also where ddr3 ram is concerned. How do I know which is the best? Also how will I know everything will fit into the case? Sorry these are all questions I just thought about when looking at responses. Oh and how will I know if it will keep everything cool enough?
 
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TribulationFu

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So when it says 2 way sli, that means it has 2 of the graphics cards put together already? for ex: Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (2-Way SLI). You have 2 marked down to buy but that means it already comes with 2 of the GeForceGTX 980's since its 2 way sli? I think I am reading your explanation wrong.
 
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qwerty987123

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That build above is very similar to the one which i was going to suggest.
it says 2 way sli because it is 2 cards but you can go up to 4 way with but beyond 2 way there performance increase is not significant. upgrading to more than 2 cards i wouldn't do due to the performance increase not being great and airflow to the cards is greatly reduced however if you really would want 3 cards then you would need a case with enough expansion slots and a board with enough pcie slots. With ram it is all similar there are three main variants, price, CAS latency and frequency. You will want the cheapest ram which runs at 1600mhz and cl <9 or 1866mhz cl <10. With the case on the manufacturers website it will tell you information about max heatsink height, max gpu length and things like that as well as what form factor motherboards it supports however for this you will most likely have an atx (normal/most common size) motherboard in a mid tower case. Finally everything should stay cool enough especially with a d15 on your cpu.
 
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TribulationFu

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ok, I think i am starting to see what direction I want to take my pc now. So I know for sure I definitely want the I7-4790k as my processor. I also want the 2 980's graphics cards.

@qwerty987123, why do you say I want to get the cheapest ram? And for the cooling, I know you all are recommending fans but what are the pros and cons of fans vs liquid cooling besides the having to change the liquid cooling.
 
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qwerty987123

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This is what i would recommend with sli it would be $2200 but the difference between this and the build by shadow is that this has 16gb of ram rather than 8. It has a better psu which has a slightly lower wattage but still enough for sli and overclocking. It also has an ssd which is twice as big which is the main difference in cost but if you only want some games and your os on it then the 250gb one will do. Finally mines a different case which is down to personal preference.

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

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card ($539.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1667.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-12 13:11 EDT-0400
 
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TribulationFu

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Actually would you recommend getting the 980's or the 970's? From what I hear there isn't alot of difference between the 2 and obviously the price on the 970's are way cheaper. What do you guys think about this?
 
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