Help me pick parts for my first gaming PC?

jason1297

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Nov 28, 2015
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I'm saving up for my first gaming PC and am considering the following parts:
-intel i5 4460 or 4690k
-msi radeon r9 380 4gb
-hyperX fury 2x4gb 1600MHz ddr3 RAM
-WD caviar blue 1tb
-Kingston 120gb SSD (bought)
-Corsair carbide spec m2 case (bought)
-Samsung DVD drive (bought)
-Corsair CX-600M PSU
-Tplink tl-wdn800 n900 wireless PCI E adapter
-3 120mm fans

I have a few questions about the build:
-Should I go with the i5 4460 or 4690k? Is there a major difference?
-The 1600mHz ram is the same price as the 1866mHz. If I buy the higher one and the motherboard only takes 1600, do I have a problem?
-Which motherboard would be best? I'm not really looking to pay much, but I want a decnet one.
 
Solution
Ofcourse the GPU makes the most difference, but in combination with the high speed memory and CPU speed you'll overall get consistently higher results. I personally don't want to rule out that the cheapest i5 along with DDR3-1600 memory will offer weaker performance. The benchmarks prove it.

Great example of how the difference is more than marginal:

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUTPgWYTqyk"][/video]

i5-6500 + 2666 Mhz memory: ~78 fps
i5-6500 OC + 3200 Mhz memory: ~108 fps


I'm thinking of upgrading to Skylake with high speed memory because of this too.

RCFProd

Expert
Ambassador
For Intel Haswell:
Go with DDR3-2133 or 2400 if you'll play Fallout 4, GTA V, Far Cry Primal, Assassin's Creed Syndicate or any other similar modern open-world game. They use high speed RAM very effectively and grand you an additional ~10 fps suprisingly. So obviously it is worth it. You need a Z97 board for DDR3-1600+, so It's recommended over H97. I'd pair it with the 4690k.

However can you not afford Skylake? i5-6400 + ASRock B150 Gaming Hyper will let you OC both the CPU and memory.
 

djreedj

Honorable
Jan 14, 2016
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Difference isnt major, but you cant overclock the 4460, you can overclock the 4690k.
If your motherboard only takes 1600, if wont accept 1866 the ram will run at 1600
The motherboard I list below served me well for a long time, until I updated BIOS and had to RMA it, but that was my fault.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.86 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $355.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-01 03:14 EDT-0400

 

RCFProd

Expert
Ambassador
Haswell OC vs Skylake OC

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($221.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $398.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-01 03:16 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B150 GAMING K4/HYPER ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $368.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-01 03:18 EDT-0400

For a single GPU setup, the Skylake list with the i5-6400 is much better value.
 

jason1297

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Nov 28, 2015
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I don't really want to overclock, I just picked the 4690k in case I do in the future. So id the 6400 better than the 4460 and 4690k despite its lower amazon price?

 

RCFProd

Expert
Ambassador
If you grab the 6400 and B150 Gaming Hyper you can overclock it whenever you wish to plus you save money compared to an i5-4690k build. I'd grab the B150 Gaming Hyper as it will run your RAM at higher speeds. These higher speeds prove to make a difference in open world games.
 

jason1297

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Nov 28, 2015
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So the skylake list with the other components I mentioned is the way to go? Would it be able to play skyrim and GTA well?
 




I've got an i5 4440/R9 390X rig and it runs games great with 16GB of 1600Mhz RAM on an H97 motherboard; you'd get far more out of a better GPU than CPU or RAM speed here.

I have another rig running a 4770K/390X and the differences are negligible as far as CPU is concerned for the vast majority of games; like 1-5 FPS on average, with the exception of Rome 2 on Max settings where the 4770K pulled 46FPS vs the 29FPS of the 4440, but not that big a deal in that kind of game imo. Shadow of Mordor performance was exactly the same between the two, same for Attila Total War. In Dying Light and Shogun 2 the 4440 actually squeaked ahead of the 4770K by a couple of FPS. If I had to choose budget wise between a 4690K or a 4460 vs a better GPU, I would get a better GPU. The difference here between a lowly 4570S and a 4690K equipped with the same GPU is so negligible as to not be noticeable in game http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1368?vs=1261. As to FO4 with my 4440/390X I get 40-50FPS @3200x1800 VSR with a mix of ultra/high and draw distances maxed, good enough for me. If you can bump up to a 390/390X I would do that. That being said the i5 6500 should be plenty and a hair cheaper than haswell/refresh at this point; keep in mind that I only buy from amazon and newegg myself as I've had very good experiences with both. with that in mind here are the options I would recommend taking into consideration what you listed as bought and adding the Operating system:

Option 1 with R9 380:

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JXkTvK) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JXkTvK/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80662i56500) | $194.99 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gah110ma) | $41.38 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f42133c15d16gvr) | $56.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-internal-hard-drive-shfs37a120g) | Purchased For $0.00
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $47.73 @ Amazon
**Video Card** | [XFX Radeon R9 380 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9380p4255) | $189.99 @ Newegg
**Case** | [Corsair Carbide SPEC-M2 MicroATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-cc9011087ww) | Purchased For $0.00
**Power Supply** | [XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9) | $66.98 @ Newegg
**Optical Drive** | [Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-optical-drive-sh224dbbebe) | Purchased For $0.00
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-kw900140) | $86.86 @ Amazon
**Wireless Network Adapter** | [TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/tp-link-wireless-network-card-tlwn881nd) | $18.97 @ Amazon
**Case Fan** | [Kingwin CF-012LBW 40.0 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingwin-case-fan-cf012lbw) | $5.99 @ Amazon
**Case Fan** | [Kingwin CF-012LBW 40.0 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingwin-case-fan-cf012lbw) | $5.99 @ Amazon
**Case Fan** | [Kingwin CF-012LBW 40.0 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingwin-case-fan-cf012lbw) | $5.99 @ Amazon
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$721.86**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-04-01 04:30 EDT-0400 |

or with an R9 390

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/tFsJFT) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/tFsJFT/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80662i56500) | $194.99 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gah110ma) | $41.38 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f42133c15d16gvr) | $56.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-internal-hard-drive-shfs37a120g) | Purchased For $0.00
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $47.73 @ Amazon
**Video Card** | [XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9390p8bd6) | $319.99 @ Amazon
**Case** | [Corsair Carbide SPEC-M2 MicroATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-cc9011087ww) | Purchased For $0.00
**Power Supply** | [XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9) | $66.98 @ Newegg
**Optical Drive** | [Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-optical-drive-sh224dbbebe) | Purchased For $0.00
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-kw900140) | $86.86 @ Amazon
**Wireless Network Adapter** | [TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/tp-link-wireless-network-card-tlwn881nd) | $18.97 @ Amazon
**Case Fan** | [Kingwin CF-012LBW 40.0 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingwin-case-fan-cf012lbw) | $5.99 @ Amazon
**Case Fan** | [Kingwin CF-012LBW 40.0 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingwin-case-fan-cf012lbw) | $5.99 @ Amazon
**Case Fan** | [Kingwin CF-012LBW 40.0 CFM 120mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingwin-case-fan-cf012lbw) | $5.99 @ Amazon
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$851.86**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-04-01 04:32 EDT-0400 |

don't be fooled by the overclocking bits, in action it hardly makes a difference (if you want to do it for fun then that's a different story), see here for the ancient Bloomfield i7 965 @3.65Ghz keeping pace with a 6700K @4.7Ghz http://www.maximumpc.com/bloomfield-takes-on-skylake/#page-2 ; note also that the Skylake systems here are running DDR4 3000 and the i7 965 is still nipping at their heels with its DDR3 1333Mhz RAM in a demanding open world game, The Witcher 3.
 
on your build swap out the cx power supply it not a good unit. look at toms hardware power supply tier list get one on the tier one/tier two list. spend some money replace the intel stock cooler if your going to game. the h7 or any good air cooler that fit in your case will work better then the stock intel one. wait on buying the gpu next week 5-6 nvidia doing there pascal gpu launch.
 

RCFProd

Expert
Ambassador
Ofcourse the GPU makes the most difference, but in combination with the high speed memory and CPU speed you'll overall get consistently higher results. I personally don't want to rule out that the cheapest i5 along with DDR3-1600 memory will offer weaker performance. The benchmarks prove it.

Great example of how the difference is more than marginal:

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUTPgWYTqyk"][/video]

i5-6500 + 2666 Mhz memory: ~78 fps
i5-6500 OC + 3200 Mhz memory: ~108 fps


I'm thinking of upgrading to Skylake with high speed memory because of this too.
 
Solution