Can anyone review over my $900 dollar build for gaming?

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gerr
Looks good to me!

I wouldn't wait very long as that's a really good sale on that mobo, so make that your 1st purchase. They are normally $140 with most sales dropping them to $120 or so.
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Suztera

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Passalacqua

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Ok thanks for the info, but I want to try non-overcloak first and see how I like that. But, I do want the option to overcloak if I wanted to. Also, what is your opinion on overcloaking?
 
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Suztera

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See overclocking as a hobby. Don't focus on an overclocking build if your budget doesn't fit it. Overclocking offers minor performance increase in certain applications or none at all for gaming.
If you want the ability to overclock, get a Z97 motherboard. Note you should get a better cpu cooler as well than the stock cpu cooler that comes with the cpu.
 
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gerr

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.64 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($330.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $888.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 11:14 EDT-0400

You were spending way too much on a case, so picked a very good and popular case that is much less expensive. Also, the mobo I picked is a great one, but is on short term sale for a very low price, so jump on it quickly if you can. Also included a decent OC CPU cooler so you can do some OC'ing, but if you want a heavy OC, ie 4.5Ghz and higher, you would need a better cooler.
 
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Passalacqua

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Ok... with that said, I am not going to overcloak it. But, I do want the Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690
with The Asus GRYPHON Z87 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-gryphonz87
How does that sound?
 
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Suztera

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Personally a waste of money on the Z87 motherboard. You have to really want it for aesthetics but its your choice. It should work assuming the BIOS on that motherboard has the required version or higher to run an i5 4690.
 
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entropy4money

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1. Don't get that video card - http://www.pcworld.com/article/2875740/nvidia-explains-geforce-gtx-970s-memory-performance-issues-admits-error-in-specs.html. Get a 290x instead.
2. That PSU has good reviews, but if you have more money get EVGA SuperNova G2.

That's my advice.
 
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Passalacqua

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Ok... so if you were going to pick a mother board, which one would you pick?
 
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Suztera

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logainofhades

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If not wanting to overclock, I would build it like this. Case is personal choice, so I left it alone, even though I think it is overly expensive.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($81.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($330.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Noctis 450 ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $959.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 11:28 EDT-0400

Changing the case, though, you could get a nice SSD, as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($81.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.98 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($330.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $956.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 11:30 EDT-0400
 
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Passalacqua

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What exactly does the SSD do?
 
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ScrewySqrl

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1226 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($216.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.45 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($80.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.75 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($332.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Noctis 450 ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $948.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 11:30 EDT-0400


if you aren't overclockingm a Xeon E3 chip is better. this is an insignificant 200 MHz slower than the I5, but is 4 cores/8 threads, andc $10 cheaper. By trimming a few things (the Motherboard to an H81, the cheaper CPU, a slightly cheaper hard drive, an AMD 290X instead of the NVidia 970 you were looking at, slightly cheaper power supply) I was also able to squeeze in a 240 GB SSD for OS and your most popular games. with rebates, its $885

The 290X is a little slower than the 970 at 1920x1080, but faster at 4K or multi-screen games, but the SSD will more than make up for a few FPS with faster loading times
 
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entropy4money

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SSD will let you install your OS in it and maybe 2-4 games. It makes OS boot blazing fast, and will make the loading times of the games installed in it much faster. That's it, that's all you get from an SSD.
 
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gerr

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If you don't want to OC, that allows you to add an SSD, which speeds up your whole system...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling ACFZ11-LP Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.71 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($80.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($330.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $905.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 11:40 EDT-0400
 
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entropy4money

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SSD will have absolutely no effect on FPS. that is completely false. An SSD speeds up anything that's installed in it in terms of loading times. Basically your OS will run faster, boot much faster. But there will be absolutely no improvement on gaming other than loading time, for the games you have installed in it. If you get an SSD you also need an HDD for storage unless you only play 3 video games.
 
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gerr

gerr

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Correct, but it will have an impact on game transitions & cut scenes as well as speeding up the system as a whole outside of gaming. Well worth the money IMO.
 
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entropy4money

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Agree. Again, anything that is installed on it will load faster. So it is relative. For example, If your OS is installed on it but you install microsoft office in the HDD, then microsoft word won't benefit from SSD. I understand what you mean by it will speed the whole system, it is not a false statement. But people tend to think of it as "speeding the whole system" as having a better engine, which is really the processor, not the storage unit. So I personally think the statement can be confusing for some people.
 
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gerr

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That's why I suggested a 250GB SSD rather than a 120GB SSD as you can load your most used programs onto the SSD itself. For apps like Office, difference would be minor, a few seconds faster load.

The OP could always go with a Hybrid-HDD and get the best of both worlds, or setup SSD-Caching if they have the know-how to.
 
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entropy4money

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You are right. don't get me wrong, I totally agree with you on the 250gb SSD + HDD for other storage. And yes, office was just an example. I just want the OP to understand what an SSD really does.
 
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