I'm trying to decide which is a better option for a beginning gaming PC

GoldMonkeyTMM · Jul 2, 2015

Here are two different part lists. Most parts are similar; however, the first is cheaper and uses an AMD processor while the second uses an i5 4690k processor. Please suggest anything for changes or better ideas for parts if you have them.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bKbLgs

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pTL2wP

This will be the first gaming PC i have ever built and I'm trying to decide on which I should use. I'm planning on playing games from Besiege to Fallout 4 so will this get me there with decent settings?

Thank You

EDIT 1 (10:30 PM, 7/2/15)
Thank you all for your help. As you know this is my first build and i think im getting pretty close to the final product. I have been using all of your suggestions and mixing and matching and it looking good. For those of you that say i should get a Ps4, I have one right now. I got it the beginning of last summer and it has been great! The reason I am building a PC is because a few of my friends have gaming PCs and it has always intrigued me. As Ryarwood99 said, I'm really jsut starting this and i want the satisfaction of building it. Thank you all again for the help and the an updated product will be here soon.

EDIT 2 (11:02, 7/2/15)
I think im getting pretty close to the final product. Thank you for all of the help! I've used all of your suggestions and I've created this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4cqHTW

Please check it out and send feedback. I need as much help as I can get because I have a general understanding of components but I'll take any suggestions.
Thanks again.

Ryarwood99 · Jul 2, 2015

Get a 2x4GB RAM kit for dual channel. P.S. I only looked at the Intel.

GoldMonkeyTMM · Jul 2, 2015

BTW I don't really want to spend over $1050 with the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and OS.

Tom Tancredi · Jul 2, 2015

GoldMonkeyTMM :

Then get a PS4. It will play all those games nicely too, and you only spend $200+ for a refurb one. For example GTA V plays 1080P High @ 30FPS. Now if you want those games to be playing all "like I see on youtube' which is 1080P 50+FPS on High-Ultra, it COSTS alot of MONEY on PCs to do that BETTER quality and performance than on Consoles (because PCs are tweaked JUST for gaming and nothing else).

Decent video cards to produce those levels on those sorts of games are the ones running over $200 like the 970. I would HIGHLY recommend before investing in the 280 you check its benchmarks and what your planning to play / settings you want and compare how that will work for you / or not.

CTurbo · Jul 2, 2015

Here is a better 3rd option

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X OC Video Card ($263.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 730T Black ATX Full Tower Case ($82.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $768.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 22:28 EDT-0400

Eliot Ness · Jul 2, 2015

The AMD FX-8350 is a good choice if you are on a budget, for my new build I went with the 8320 because it is cheaper and I'm going to overclock it. It all depends on what you want/willing to spend. If you aren't going to be doing video editing or something like that then the i5 4690k is overkill and not really needed. Also if you don't plan on multi tasking/two monitors then I'd go for a 2GB GPU.

CTurbo · Jul 2, 2015

The i5 4460 is faster and cheaper than the FX8350.

Eliot Ness · Jul 2, 2015

CTurbo :

Sorry I meant it would be a better choice for overclocking if he isn't overclocking I'd go for that. If all 8 cores of the fx8350 is being used it would out perform, but single core would be faster on the i5 4460.

Archaic59 · Jul 2, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($81.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($314.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $768.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 23:06 EDT-0400

Tom Tancredi · Jul 2, 2015

OOOORRRR (just stumbled across this) get a Lenovo Y50 15.6" (1920x1080) Touchscreen Gaming Laptop: Intel Core i7-4700HQ, 8GB/1TB + 8GB SSD, GTX 860M 2GB $507.99 - $20 coupon = $487.99 + Free Shipping @ Cowboom.

https://slickdeals.net/f/7946711-lenovo-y50-15-6-1920x1080-touchscreen-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-4700hq-8gb-1tb-8gb-ssd-gtx-860m-2gb-507-99-20-coupon-487-99-free-shipping-cowboom?

Eliot Ness · Jul 2, 2015

Tom Tancredi :

Him getting the PS4 to play Fallout 4 would be a bad idea since every fallout game on PlayStation doesn't perform too well. He might also want a PC to get mods for Fallout because that is always fun. Me personally I like PC over console for the graphic options and game options.

Archaic59 · Jul 2, 2015

^ Lenovo admitted to purposely putting malware/spyware/adware/whateverware on some of their computers. Why would anyone ever buy from them again?

http://www.zerohedge.com/print/502249
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/02/19/lenovo-caught-installing-adware-new-computers/
http://www.orrazz.com/2015/02/lenovo-committed-one-of-worst-consumer.html

Tom Tancredi · Jul 2, 2015

Eliot Ness :

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-4-pc-mods-expected-to-come-to-ps4-too/1100-6428164/
Todd Howard, the creative lead at Bethesda, has suggested that Fallout 4's PC mods could eventually be accessed from PlayStation 4, hours after revealing the feature for Xbox One.

Also you can see how it plays on them as that is the actual XBone video of in-world play, and yeah Xbone sucks normally worse than PS4 per many many many reviews.

Again the ONLY reasons I suggest it is:
1) PRICE
2) PRICE
3) PRICE
4) For NON-DIY/Techie/Geeks NO OTHER solution works at the moment EXCEPT the Alienware Alpha BUT again see 1,2 & 3.

Also note: ANY GAME FOR A CONSOLE WILL ALWAYS WORK, a game for PC MAY WORK IF you have all the right parts. That is a main driving point for Joe/JaneDumbConsumer (see #4).

Tom Tancredi · Jul 2, 2015

Archaic59 :

Old news, we know about the Fubar software, but then again Sony had it's DRM, that doesn't stop you from "buying from them again" a Sony Vega 54" Ultra-HD 4K TV for only $399 at this weekend July 4th sales now does it?

Lenovo makes good products, they work, they made a mistake, done move along. Besides 95% of these posts (and this OP for example) are not DIY UberGeekers whom must and can only Built It Myself. They get for the price from HP, Lenovo, Sony, Dell, etc. assurance they can bring it back when they want, will be able to "call someone" 24x7 about it on their Call Center lines, and most of all WARRANTIED from being faulty. Can't say that when KittyBooBoo decides it be fun to jump on your as your inserting the CPU bending the pins or worse causing a nice static charge POOF!

Archaic59 · Jul 2, 2015

@ Tom tancredi-
-Blah blah blah, ya they made a mistake, a fatal mistake. They knowingly betrayed their consumers and people should never forget it.
-This is a computer components forum, not a pimp your favorite laptop or kiddie console forum. Enjoy your spyware laptop.

Ryarwood99 · Jul 2, 2015

Guys, come on. This guy just wanted help with his PC (not called a PS4). Maybe he doesn't want a laptop. Yeah he may build the PC for gaming but when I built mine I a) had a ton of fun and b) have learned a lot and c) found something I thoroughly enjoy doing. Now some of us are getting our feeds blown up from you two arguing! For the record I had/have a PS4. More accurately I have a paper weight now because I never use it. Tom you are right in some ways but I'm sure the OP has already thought about the console options and weighed risk vs reward and decided on a PC.

madchemist83 · Jul 3, 2015

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($52.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($239.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($86.75 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer GN246HL 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($236.22 @ B&H)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($27.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1069.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-03 00:59 EDT-0400

I'm trying to decide which is a better option for a beginning gaming PC

Reputable

Reputable

Reputable

Judicious

Pizza Monster

Reputable

Pizza Monster

Reputable

Polypheme

Judicious

Reputable

Polypheme

Judicious

Judicious

Polypheme

Reputable

Distinguished

Share this page