$900-$1200 Working/Gaming College Student PC

typshere · May 16, 2015

I've spent the last month or so lurking and trying to figure out the best path for building my first computer; this site has been my greatest resource. Know I believe I have picked up enough to put together a build and I want to know what everyone thinks!

Approximate Purchase Date: The last week in May 2015 (5/25-5/29)
Budget Range: $900-$1200

(*All links will be to newegg.com. However I do no necessarily plan to buy from there, just for reference.)
CPU Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler CORSAIR Hydro Series H55 Quiet Edition
*Is this enough for solid overclocking of the 4690K?
GPU MSI GTX 960 GAMING 2G GeForce GTX 960
*1080p
*I really want to be able to play The Witcher 3 (not maxed out but highish), since going with the 960/970/980 series will be saving me $60 (free copy of The Witcher 3, which I would/will buy anyway) I am willing to go to a better card.
Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5
or
MSI Z97M Gaming
Memory G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB DDR3 1866 CAS9 (PC3 14900)
*Wanting to go with either 2x4GB or 2x8GB
Storage
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
Western Digital Blue 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB
Case Corsair 350D MicroATX Case
Power Supply Antec EDGE 650 Full Modular

System Usage from Most to Least Important: VisualStudios 2015/MatLAB/AutoCAD (or similar programming software), Gaming, Excel/Word/OneNote/Powerpoint, and usual computer uses; websurfing and emailing
Gaming Wise: Will be running 1080p. I really want to be able to play The Witcher 3, it happens to come free with the 960, 970, and 980 on newegg. Aside from The Witcher 3, I will not be playing any other demanding games, only Minecraft occasionally
Additional Comments: I would like a quiet PC
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Building: I am building this PC for the experience and a personalized machine that I can use for the coming years

Thanks for you help!

Whateverworks_19 · May 16, 2015

I prefer to use pcpartpicker as reference, perhaps you do not know it. It's a very good site, which is heavily used on this forum.

Here is my suggestion, extremely powerful, very suitable for overclocking and build with an emphasis on fairly silent components.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($135.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($302.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($96.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1134.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-16 12:59 EDT-0400

The reason why I went with the Noctua cooler is because of its immense performance temperature-wise and ability to remain fairly quiet when peaking.

I own the Z97-A myself and thus far the best Z97 board I have had the pleasure to experience myself. It is very suitable for SLI and overclocking.

In my opinion, you need the 970. The 960 is fine, sure, but then I would go for a 280x and compromise a bit of silence for performance. However, your budget allows for the 970, so there is no logical reason whatsoever not to buy it. The Gigabyte card is one of the best cards for overclocking due to its 1x6pin and 1x8pin PCIE power connectors. More power equals bigger overclock, essentially. And then it has three fans to keep the GPU cool.

Lastly, the PSU is a Seasonic and based on the G-series. It is absolute quality and fully modular. It will serve you very well for many years.

targetdan · May 16, 2015

I love this build, only thing I would change is the crucial ssd - go for one of the samsung 850's

typshere · May 16, 2015

Thanks, I'll take a look at that and pcpartpicker! Is there any issue with running a 550W psu for a gpu that suggests a 500W psu, would a little extra breathing room be beneficial for the longevity of the psu?

targetdan · May 16, 2015

Its seen as a good thing yes

Whateverworks_19 · May 16, 2015

typshere :

The full system wattage use will never exceed 350W under peak load when not overclocking. Take overclocking into consideration and you'll have around 100ishW of breathing room. You got plenty of power. The most important thing regarding PSU's, and frankly almost any component, is the quality. Seasonic is renowned for their consistency in quality and their ability to very rarely compromise quality over a bigger quantity. This XFX unit, is one of the best around.

If you opt for another 970 in the future in a SLI configuration, then you'll need another 150-200W.

edit:

It is worth mentioning as well that the Intel CPU is based on the Haswell microarchitecture and the Nvidia GPU is based on the Maxwell architecture, both with an emphasis on performance with lesser heat output and much lesser power consumption, than say the previous generation or even the current one of AMD cards. Not to slam AMD at all, they make quality products.

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$900-$1200 Working/Gaming College Student PC

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