First Gaming Desktop: $1000-$1200 Budget

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Approximate Purchase Date: No deadline - have a couple of months before I need it fleshed out

Budget Range: $1000-$1200 After Rebates; After Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, movies, Excel work, general Internet usage

Are you buying a monitor: Nope! Just jumped on a deal for this one, http:// - let me know your thoughts!

Parts to Upgrade: Need everything - first time building from scratch

Do you need to buy OS: Yes but I plan to buy a version of Windows 7 through my university at a discounted price so no need to include it in the budget

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Whatever is fine

Location: Dallas, TX, USA

Parts Preferences: Would prefer Intel CPU

Overclocking: Don't plan on it

SLI or Crossfire: Not sure?

Your Monitor Resolution: See above.

Additional Comments: I'm open to GPU suggestions but please advise me on how to compare GPUs easily since I have a couple months to wait for deals on parts - potentially, a better GPU could go on sale and be within my price range. I am unsure though how much more I would have to spend to see a significant increase from one GPU to another - so I'm uncertain if it's worth waiting around for GPUs to go on sale.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Want to have a desktop that will last me for quite a while in terms of being able to play the newest games on max/near-max settings.

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

IF you don't plan to buy for a couple of months, come back and ask again then. Prices will change so drastically over a one month period that there's no point in selecting components until you're closer to the target purchase date. A significant price difference overall could be involved with that much timeframe.

TheNewGeek420 · May 3, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97 PRO GAMER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($163.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.47 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($323.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($96.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.49 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1191.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-03 02:00 EDT-0400

if you need to go ahead and change the cooler if you dont like the color scheme, but that is one of the best coolers on the market so yeah. You also could change that motherboard, but up to you, I just kind of it and it had asus so i thought "doesnt hurt to stick it on" and there it is on the list. honestly you could change anything you like. Hope this helped!

TheNewGeek420 · May 3, 2015

Darkbreeze :

i agree but i think he saying that he doesnt have to build instantly, not that he isnt going to build until a couple months, although i guess you realized that. Though @touchtoplay really should just get the parts ASAP.

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

TheNewGeek420 :

Approximate Purchase Date: No deadline - have a couple of months before I need it fleshed out

That's what I read. Also, if you're going to post PCPartpicker code, click the bbcode button above the build on the PCP site and post that code. I'll fix this one for you but in the future builds that look like that will get nuked. It's too hard to read and is generally distracting.

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Thanks for the prompt replies!

Darkbreeze :

I wouldn't mind if I was able to buy the PC relatively soon, but again I'm not on any deadline. I think primarily I just wanted to scope out what I could achieve given my budget and from that potentially wait to see if I could score any deals in the meantime. As you said the price can fluctuate wildly over time, so that gives me the opportunity to score big ticket items like GPU, CPU, or mobo at better prices.

Also, would you think an i7 is necessary over an i5 given my listed uses? If not, what would necessitate the purchase of an i7?

Thanks!

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

For now, this would be a good option. Prices are probably even lower including rebates, which I don't include. This includes initial out of pocket cost:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($218.99 @ Directron)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($300.60 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks PH-ES614PC_BK ATX Full Tower Case ($88.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1035.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-03 02:13 EDT-0400

If you DO have plans to SLI or Crossfire, then a different board would be needed as H97 doesn't support SLI and only supports x4 speeds on the second card for crossfire. In that case, this would be a good option.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($218.99 @ Directron)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($300.60 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks PH-ES614PC_BK ATX Full Tower Case ($88.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1077.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-03 02:12 EDT-0400

TheNewGeek420 · May 3, 2015

i could tell i didnt do it right. thx for the fix! ill make sure to do that!

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Sorry! Let me clarify -

I don't NEED to build it right at this immediate moment, but I certainly wouldn't mind jumping on it and building it now if the community believes that the conditions are currently favorable (e.g. prices are pretty good at the moment, not expecting any drastic changes in the tech in the next upcoming months that would be relevant to me or my budget, etc). My expected deadline is in a few months - late July to be exact. Hopefully this clears things up!

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

Build posted above.

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

If you wanted to you could even take it a step further an get the 8 thread processing of the i7, without the integrated graphics, but would be limited to not overclocking, which doesn't seem to be an issue anyhow. Same clock speed as the 4690, same single core speed as the i5/i7, same 8 threads as the i7, but much cheaper than the i7.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($300.60 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks PH-ES614PC_BK ATX Full Tower Case ($88.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1113.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-03 02:17 EDT-0400

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Thanks! I hate to ask again, but would an i7 be necessary for my purposes? If not, what type of usage warrants an i7 over an i5?

Also is the choice between an AMD or Nvidia GPU primarily personal preference? I've always had Nvidia GPUs and have had little to no problems but don't want to rule out AMD just because I've never used it.

I don't intend on overclocking, because I'm not very knowledgeable about it - same goes for the whole SLI/crossfire subject which was why I put I wasn't sure about it in my original post.

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

If you prefer NVidia cards, just swap out the 290x for a GTX 970 since you don't plan on gaming over 1080p with your monitor selection anyhow. I'd recommend the Gigabyte G1 gaming or ASUS Strix.

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

touchtoplay :

See second build post. i7 isn't necessary for gaming as the performance for gaming is similar to i5, but the extra 4 threads might be helpful in the future as games take advantage of additional cores and hypertheading.

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Personally, would you suggest that I get the Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor or the Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor? I'm all about "future-proofing" my desktop as much as possible but don't want to play too much into speculation so I think I'd be satisfied with sticking to an i5 over an i7. Again, I put unsure or no in regards to overclocking and SLI/crossfire in my original post because I have little knowledge on the subjects.

Can you tell me what's the best way to compare GPUs/CPUs? Based on your GPU recommendations, I see that my budget gives me around $350~ to spend on a GPU and $250~ on a CPU. Correct me if I'm jumping to incorrect conclusions, but from this I could check on deals for GPU/CPUs that fall within this price range and then compare the performance to the ones you just recommended to me to see how good of a deal I'm getting (and if I should bite on the deal).

For example, I said I live by a Microcenter and noticed the i5 suggested is on sale for this price ($189): http://www.microcenter.com/product/434177/Core_i5-4690K_35GHz_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor#

Should I jump on it?

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

PCPartpicker, if you click on the link where it says PCPartpicker part list above each build, which takes you to that build on their site, generally compares the prices of all major vendors including:

Adorama, Amazon, B&H photo, Best buy, Dell small business, Directron, Harmon Kardon, Logic supply, Logitech, MacMall, Microcenter, Monoprice, Mwave, NCIX US, NZXT, Newegg, Outlet PC, PCM and SuperBiiz. The chances of finding a cheaper price on any individual component, aside from local sales at retailers in your area that might be closing items out, is extremely minimal. I've spent a good deal of time trying to find prices lower than what's listed there but haven't done so yet.

For myself, the Xeon E3 v3 is what I'd choose and is in fact about to get ordered for myself in about two weeks. I already have an R9 290x, so I can't say without doubt the performance is extremely good. I have yet to find a title I can't game at high or ultra at 1080p, but I haven't put FC4, DAI or GTA V to the test yet either.

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Darkbreeze :

I just found the price history function right before you posted this! I jumped on that Microcenter deal for the i5 as I saw it was the second all-time low for the processor. I know you recommended the Xeon, but hopefully the differences between the two aren't significantly dramatic? I couldn't resist after seeing the price history and figured with the 10 day return policy I'd rather secure the deal now and think about it in the meantime. What do you think?

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

The i5 is fine too. It's got great gaming performance and does well enough in other areas.

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Great! Also, I'll probably look into picking up the GTX 970 over an AMD GPU, but I was wondering if the extra cost was worth upgrading to a GTX 980?

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

It depends on what resolution and how many monitors you plan to have.

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Since I bought this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236335, it'll be in 1920x1080. I won't be getting a second monitor any time soon but definitely in the future (2017). It'll be more for work, so it's hard to say whether I'll utilize it to expand the view for gaming (Though I kind of doubt it).

In sum, I plan to just play on one monitor at a 1920x1080 resolution for now. The builds you proposed were about $200 under my max budget of $1200 - so that's why I asked if it's worth upgrading to a 980. Does the extra cost come with a decent boost in performance over the 970 and will it make the relevance of my GPU last considerably longer? Or is it likely that I'll need to update other parts anyways before the 980 goes out of date?

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

About 15-20% better performance, but you pay about 50% more for the card, so it hardly makes sense except that if you planned to game at higher resolutions and preferred using a single card solution only to avoid any of the pitfalls that might come with SLI on certain titles, then it would make sense. Myself, if I was going to pay that much I'd get two 970's which isn't that much more than a single 980 but has much more firepower. In reality for a single monitor gaming experience at 1080p, one 970 should be fine. If you really need that extra twenty percent performance and don't mind paying a premium for it, then by all means go for the 980.

There won't be any titles you can't play at Ultra due to the GPU, on a single monitor, with the 980. There'll be few even with the 970.

touchtoplay · May 3, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Awesome - so basically the 970 based on my planned setup should be sufficient to play (most) games on ultra for a good amount of time. Paying 50% more for a 980 right now doesn't seem to warrant the few additional games that need it to play on ultra. If it turns out down the line that I need a bit more performance, the mobo allows me to utilize SLI/dual-GPUs meaning I could buy an additional 970 later. Since we can't exactly tell how the component requirements of games will be like in the future, I'm saving myself the cost now of probably unnecessarily paying a premium for the 980 which I may never/seldom use to its full capacity. Does that sound about right?

Darkbreeze · May 3, 2015

Yep, exactly. I would have liked to have seen you get an 8 threaded CPU, BUT, you can always upgrade that down the road as well if you decide to upgrade the GPU and feel the 4 cores aren't cutting it. PLUS, by then Broadwell will have been released and depending on how that shakes out it might be a better option when the time comes. I'm interested in seeing if an 8 thread Broadwell based Xeon is going to be among the releases for this gen as well.

touchtoplay · May 4, 2015

Well hopefully I'm not building at a time when it seems like the new and better thing is just around the corner.

Do you perhaps know if the fan you listed (CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler) comes with the thermal paste pre-applied? I heard that applying the right amount of thermal paste can be difficult and can make or break your build.

Also, are there certain brands of RAM to always get or avoid? I'm hoping to poach on a cheap deal on RAM, but I'm unsure if I could just buy any good-priced RAM that gives me the memory I want (8GB).

First Gaming Desktop: $1000-$1200 Budget

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