$1200-$1300 gaming rig

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ggny76

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Aug 19, 2015
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Well, I was going to go with prebuilt but now thinking of building my own. I thought I would ask for advice on a good build here. Most important points from the template:

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP. Sometime in the next few days.

Budget Range: $1200 preferably. No higher than $1300.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Movies, Web.

Are you buying a monitor: No.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Location: Ithaca NY, US.

Overclocking: Maybe?

SLI or Crossfire: No.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

That's about it. I have no preferences on web sites to buy from or brands. I'm just looking to play my games at very high/ultra at 1080p. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time!
 
Solution
g-unit1111
I would go for something like this - I would go for Skylake over a previous gen Xeon:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4+ ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($160.13 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.98 @ Best Buy)
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MasterDell

MasterDell

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.98 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($319.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($88.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1159.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-25 21:29 EDT-0400

Not really any need to spend more. There are a lot of different option you could go with here..


This would give you the absolute most value:

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: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.49 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.98 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($88.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1338.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-25 21:31 EDT-0400

The above rig would be amazing. Especially for what you are paying. Completely overkill for 1080p gaming but that isn't necessarily a bad thing..
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
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I would go for something like this - I would go for Skylake over a previous gen Xeon:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4+ ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($160.13 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.98 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($318.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Directron)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1256.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-25 21:50 EDT-0400
 
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G

ggny76

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Aug 19, 2015
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4,510
Thanks both very much for taking the time to do that. It was very helpful! I think g-unit's build is probably more what I'm looking for. I actually do like the xeon build, but anywhere over $1300 isn't going to work. Thank you so much again! Both of you!
 
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MasterDell

MasterDell

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Because barely any noticeable gain in IPC beats actual # of threads right? :lol:.. And I think I would take a 980 Ti over a 970
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
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But you're sacrificing a lot to get that 980TI. I personally don't believe in cutting corners on builds to get, say a $700 GPU on a $1300 budget, but hey, do what you want. And you are aware that a 980TI is *MEGA* overkill on 1080P, right?
 
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MasterDell

MasterDell

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I literally said the 980 Ti would be completely overkill. What corners did I cut? The Xeon will outperform the 6600k both now and especially in the future. Hyperthreading will especially help in newer games and Witcher 3 does a nice job of proving this.

Overkill is never a bad thing and this card will still be able to max out games out in 2 years @1080p. I can't really speak the same for the 970. Also, if OP wants a 144Hz monitor or a 1440p monitor, the 980 Ti would be perfect for that
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
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I didn't see anything really egregious per se, but if I was spending more on a system like that I'd at least invest in a case around the $100 range, and get a full modular, Seasonic, Corsair, or EVGA power supply. On a $1300 or $1400 budget I wouldn't get anything less than an EVGA G2 750W or a Seasonic X 750W. I agree that overkill isn't necessarily a bad thing but at the same time, you can't really plan for the future no matter what budget you have. If you spend $1300 on a rig for 1080P but in the future plan to upgrade to 4K, I could see that the 980TI would come in handy then. But if you have no plans for anything higher than 1080P or 1440P then the GTX 970 / 980 would be a better fit, don't you agree?
 
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MasterDell

MasterDell

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1440p and a 970 is not appropriate. At all. The Neo Eco is also a seasonic PSU so I'm not sure why the branding matters. I have a $2400 CAD rig with a Phantom 410 that I got for $69. The cable management is impeccable and I couldn't want anything more. But that's just me. I'm going to stop tracking this thread as we clearly have different opinions.

Cheers :)
 
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