Custom Gaming PC Build Suggestions

yupper98 · May 21, 2015

I am looking to build a new PC in the next month or so. This is going to be a all-purpose gaming PC, with strong emphasis on durability and longevity. As a frame of reference, my current gaming PC is 5-6 years old, only upgraded RAM and GPU, still runs most games nicely.

Due to past experiences (been at this for some decades now), my preference for manufacturers and brands are highly particular.

1) Mobo
- looking only for ASUS motherboards, with capacity for 16GB ram. I'll be plugging in a DVD burner, an SSD, and 2 HDDs.

2) RAM
- brands do not matter as much. I'll probably just buy the cheapest reliable brand. I do need some specifications though.

3) CPU
- Only interested in Intel. I7 or I5? Really need suggestions on this.

4) GPU
- only nVidia, no AMD (sorry AMD enthusiasts, but AMD driver support is just horrid). 2GB.
- right now, I am looking at the GTX 660 and 760. I want to try and keep the cost of the GPU to less than $200. I can always upgrade the GPU later.

5) PSU
- I always hated calculating just how much I need (650W? 750W?). I have a 600W OCZ PSU on my current machine.

6) May get an SSD just to install my OS on.

7) May look into getting a mid-tower, that provides good air flow and easy installation of components. My current mid-tower is cool, but it's sort of falling apart.

8) extra expenses for a storage HDD.

- I won't need keyboard, mouse, or monitor. I also don't think I'll be needing a new OS (will try to install my current copy of Win7).
- Don't know if I need a cooling unit. In the past, I have relied strictly on cheap fans and thermal pastes.

- budget is tentatively around $1000. I don't need "top of the line" but don't mind shelling out extra for solid components.

Thanks.

hamzahfelix · May 21, 2015

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gWvzxr

For gaming definitely an i5. I recommend the popular overclockable i5-4690k. If you don't overclock you can go for the i5-4590 which is slightly cheaper.

A Nvidia Gpu with 2gb vram and under 200? Definitely the GTX 960. I chose the msi variant of it, but you could go for the gigabyte g1 variant if you want.

For the ssd I would recommend the samsung 850 evo series.

The NZXT S340 is a clean looking solid mid tower case with plenty of space and good airflow.
You can choose between the white or the black version.

For the psu you would want a quality psu above 450w to run. I chose a corsair cx600 because there's a mail in rebate.

yupper98 · May 21, 2015

Thanks for that. Can I ask why i5 over i7 for gaming? I typically don't OC my components.

The mobo I've picked for now is ASUS Z97-A Socket 1150 Intel Z97 Chipset. I am also looking at ASUS Z97-E ATX LGA1150, which seems slightly cheaper, but I don't know the difference between the two.

Alpha3031 · May 21, 2015

Here are mu thoughts (TL;DR at bottom):
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($32.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.76 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($184.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($62.10 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $904.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-21 22:25 EDT-0400

Since you don't want to overclock, there's no point in getting a K series CPU, The Xeon E3 offers i7 Hyperthreading at i5 price. The Z97 MoBo would be good for SLI though. Do you need the newer chipset? Not really. A Z87 would be fine.

A cooler isn't really nessary for this build, but it will make your CPU nice and cool (and allows us to buy the OEM CPU, saving 20 or so).

1x8 GB RAM is better for upgrading to 16 GB, and it's lower latency too.

SSD, 850 EVO is great.

GPU, it really depends what games you play, but I'd suggest a upgrade to a 970. GPU is what governs your game setting really, and you'll struggle to find a CPU bound game that dosen't make 60 FPS. I'd suggest downgradign to the i5 4440 if it allows you to do so.

Case, as said by hamzahfelix, it's a good case.

The True Power Classic is a higher quality PSU than the CX series. No modularity, but I can probably find a slightly more expensive one that is. PSU tier list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

The 750W PSU is SLI capable. If you don't plan on SLI, I'd get a B85 motherboard, use your old PSU (as long as it isn't horrible, tell us the model number).

TL;DR summary: Upgrade to 970 is strongly recommended, should sacrifice CPU subsystem (depending on game). Tell us the games you play and whether you plan on SLI (easy upgrade). Xeon has hyperthreading which is good for future games.

yupper98 · May 21, 2015

Thanks for that. Although half of what you said (chipset stuff) just went over my head

So far, these are the components I've settled on:

Mobo: ASUS Z97-A Socket 1150 Intel Z97 Chipset
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 Quad-Core Processor Socket LGA1150, 3.6Ghz, 8MB L3 Cache, 22nm (although judging from what you said, I gather this would be overkill for my machine?)

I'll look into the Xenon E-3. It's like $150 less than the i7-4790. You are probably right about the GPU. I don't think I can keep it around $200 unless I plan to upgrade the GPU again in another year or 2. Probably better to get something reasonable good, maybe even 4GB. On my current machine, I have a XFX HD 7850 2GB, but it's actually starting to break down and is past manufacturer warranty (2 years), so while at first I was thinking of putting that card into my new custom build, I decided that it's not worth it (gonna recycle it into another machine I'll be putting together for someone else).

What sort of games I play: (modded) Skyrim, planning on getting Witcher 3, Total War Attila, and GTA V. Not into FPS games.

CTurbo · May 21, 2015

The 1230v3 for $219????? wow

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($32.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.76 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($309.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($62.10 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $973.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-21 22:56 EDT-0400

CTurbo · May 21, 2015

There would be no real world performance difference between these two sets of components.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $373.93

vs

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $507.93

So don't spend a whole lot of extra money for nothing.

Alpha3031 · May 21, 2015

Faster RAM for a few dollars more: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx318c9sr8

Yeah, Xeon is on sale ATM, OEM/Tray, so it needs cooler, but overall worth it.

CTurbo · May 21, 2015

2x4GB @ 1600mhz would run faster than 1x8GB @ 1866mhz

Alpha3031 · May 22, 2015

Not when OP upgrades to 16 GB (which was a requirement in the OP). And not really in real life either. It jsut doesn't show that much performance increase (Peak real increase was around 20-30%, just slightly more than 1600-to-1866 scaling). 1866 9-10-11 is lower latency than 1600 9-9-9 slightly (32.15 ns to 33.75 ns for row precharge and row and column address, and 9.65 ns to 11.25 ns CL), which is arguably more important. Also, considering the board doesn't have dedicated memory power phases, meaning 4 modules may be less stable.

yupper98 · May 22, 2015

I was looking into the GTX 970 4GB, when I came across this:

http://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-Responds-GTX-970-35GB-Memory-Issue

Is there are comparable 4GB nVidia card that doesn't suffer from this memory issue?

Alpha3031 · May 22, 2015

@yupper98 Nope, just the 980, next step up. You could look in to the 290 or 290X, but they're AMD. Honestly though, I'd not worry about it. Few games at 1080p (Assumptions) can use more than 3.5 GB VRAM, and the performance drop isn't really that much. Oh, and anything goes over your head, just ask. After all, you need to know what your system is more than we do.

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