Best gaming rig for $1000-$2000, first time builder

TheBlackTower

Reputable
Aug 11, 2015
3
0
4,510
Looking to build a new gaming rig, messed up first post, hope this ones better sorry :(
Approximate Purchase Date: this week
Budget Range:$1000-$2000
System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming
Are you buying a monitor: yes, want to try and get one of those widescreen monitors and would like to be able to use my old monitor as well on the same pc if thats possible.
Do you need to buy OS: Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: most reliable
Location: Kenner, LA 70065
Parts Preferences: no preference
Overclocking: no
SLI or Crossfire:maybe
Your Monitor Resolution: best i can get for my budget
Additional Comments: just looking for a good gaming rig to run some of the newer games on max settings, while being able to stream, and surf the web at the same time w/o it overheating or lagging.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading?: my old pc is 10 years old and i've been wanting to upgrade for years and now i can financially.
 
Solution
Great, I shall build you a Haswell build because Skylake processors and motherboard prices haven't settled yet. You can choose to change that if you want by changing the CPU + Motherboard + RAM

This IS an overclocking build without the CPU cooler. I chose this because you might want to SLI in the future.

If you do not, get the non-K version or the Xeon 1231v3 with an H97 board.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)...

bsod1

Distinguished
Great, I shall build you a Haswell build because Skylake processors and motherboard prices haven't settled yet. You can choose to change that if you want by changing the CPU + Motherboard + RAM

This IS an overclocking build without the CPU cooler. I chose this because you might want to SLI in the future.

If you do not, get the non-K version or the Xeon 1231v3 with an H97 board.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($678.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($91.75 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB258Q 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($354.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2019.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 12:14 EDT-0400

 
Solution

bsod1

Distinguished
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($263.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER H6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($678.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($91.75 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB258Q 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($354.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1917.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 12:23 EDT-0400
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 POWER 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($145.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Mushkin Reactor 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($90.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($678.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Enermax ECA3253-BW ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($155.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($88.88 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1972.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 12:26 EDT-0400
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
Here's what I would do building that kind of system from scratch:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($499.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($117.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Directron)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($91.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1670.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 12:30 EDT-0400
 

Mattz982

Honorable
Nov 5, 2013
748
0
11,360
Slightly over-budget but you can always go down on some components, otherwise any of the others are great! I did put in a 21:9 monitor, not sure if thats what you are refering to by a widescreen monitor, otherwise you can save money by getting a normal 16:9 monitor and not the ultrwide

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FC9B3C
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FC9B3C/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! SHADOW ROCK LP 51.4 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($176.06 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB STRIX Video Card ($739.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($91.75 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($12.10 @ Newegg)
Monitor: LG 25UM57-P 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($189.00 @ B&H)
Total: $2053.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-14 13:16 EDT-0400

Otherwise I would go with bsod1's build, either of them
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


If you've got that budget why not get Skylake? :??:
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


Is it really that much of a difference though? The build I posted is $1,670 which has the new i7 and DDR4. Your build without monitor is $1723.60, so with the price difference, the Haswell build is actually $53.60 more. I mean I'm not trying to discredit your build, but $50 is $50.
 

icegod

Reputable
May 17, 2015
185
0
4,710



Logain's build has a gtx 980 ti, yours have a gtx 980, mystery solved
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


That it does. :lol:

OK if you take the GPU and monitor out of the picture, the differences between systems are $1170 for my build and $1043.68 for logain's build. So really it's a difference of $126, which might seem like a lot of money, but on a rig with a $2,000 budget it doesn't mean anything in the long run. You won't notice that much of a price gap.