Hey everyone,
I'm looking to buy a new PC and have a few questions.
I already made a thread in /r/buildapc on Reddit and I'm posting here again to get a second opinion.
Therefore I'm going to use the same form for the post I used on Reddit.
What is your intended use for this build? The more details the better.
Gaming (mostly competitive / esports games like StarCraft 2 and CS:GO), programming
If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for? (Screen resolution, FPS, game settings)
1920x1080, 120 FPS, low settings
What is your budget (ballpark is okay)?
~1200€ (~1300$)
Post a draft of your potential build here (specific parts please).
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($334.99 @ B&H)
Case: Lian-Li PC-7HX ATX Mid Tower Case ($101.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $927.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-09 05:35 EDT-0400
I still have a SSD (Samsung 840) and a HDD from my old system and plan to use them both again.
Provide any additional details you wish below.
I often have multiple programs running simultaneously including but not limited to
1.) My question there is, would it be worth to get an i7 instead of an i5?
I read everywhere that an i7 does not matter if you only play games because most games don't make use of the extra cores / multithreading, but does it make a difference when running multiple programs simultaneously? Or do I only need more RAM for that?
2.) I currently have 8GB RAM and in the taskmanager it is most of the time at about 75% so I would like to get more.
Is it "viable" to use 12GB RAM or should I just go for 16GB? I'm asking because I didn't really see much builds with 12GB.
I'm also not sure which RAM (from which manufacturer) I should buy. Are there major differences I am not seeing?
3.) Last question, concerning the motherboard. There are so many different versions of the Gigabyte Z97 (see here) and I don't really see a difference, except for the memory type (for example the Gaming 3, Gaming 5 and Gaming 7 version). Maybe someone can help me out there.
I'm looking to buy a new PC and have a few questions.
I already made a thread in /r/buildapc on Reddit and I'm posting here again to get a second opinion.
Therefore I'm going to use the same form for the post I used on Reddit.
What is your intended use for this build? The more details the better.
Gaming (mostly competitive / esports games like StarCraft 2 and CS:GO), programming
If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for? (Screen resolution, FPS, game settings)
1920x1080, 120 FPS, low settings
What is your budget (ballpark is okay)?
~1200€ (~1300$)
Post a draft of your potential build here (specific parts please).
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($334.99 @ B&H)
Case: Lian-Li PC-7HX ATX Mid Tower Case ($101.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $927.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-09 05:35 EDT-0400
I still have a SSD (Samsung 840) and a HDD from my old system and plan to use them both again.
Provide any additional details you wish below.
I often have multiple programs running simultaneously including but not limited to
■ Chrome with ~10-15 tabs, including one or two twitch live streams
■ iTunes
■ TeamSpeak + Skype
■ OneNote / Excel
■ Steam / Battle.Net
■ 1 game like StarCraft or CS:GO
■ Tools in the background like f.lux, Dropbox, pushbullet, iCloud, etc.
■ Second Monitor (if it matters)
1.) My question there is, would it be worth to get an i7 instead of an i5?
I read everywhere that an i7 does not matter if you only play games because most games don't make use of the extra cores / multithreading, but does it make a difference when running multiple programs simultaneously? Or do I only need more RAM for that?
2.) I currently have 8GB RAM and in the taskmanager it is most of the time at about 75% so I would like to get more.
Is it "viable" to use 12GB RAM or should I just go for 16GB? I'm asking because I didn't really see much builds with 12GB.
I'm also not sure which RAM (from which manufacturer) I should buy. Are there major differences I am not seeing?
3.) Last question, concerning the motherboard. There are so many different versions of the Gigabyte Z97 (see here) and I don't really see a difference, except for the memory type (for example the Gaming 3, Gaming 5 and Gaming 7 version). Maybe someone can help me out there.