$750 Budget Gaming Build

[malman]

Hello,

New to the forums, but have time to time stalked around here. I used to be a fairly active gamer, but during college I was too busy and now my laptop is too old to play pretty much any modern game (I can only do the likes of LoL and some Steam games).

I've also only owned laptops for my entire life, so there's some things I'm a bit confused on:

- CPU cooling: including fans, how many, liquid cooling, thermal (do you need to apply to a self build, how?)
- Case: not sure what matters much when looking at a case. It's going to be under my desk, so I really don't care for anything flashy
- Wireless: I would need a build that has WiFi (a/b/g/n) in the short term at least. Long term might not be needed

I probably have more questions, but here's sort of what I'm looking for:

I'm looking for a system that is $750 MAX - I will need to acquire Win8 and a monitor (though I believe I can for cheap through work). I'm looking for a system that can run anything current on Medium+/Preferably High at 1920x1080 (I'm not an 8x AA/AF sort of guy coming from a laptop background, but who knows, maybe I will become one if I own a computer that can utilize it) and ideally is a bit future proof.

I threw together some random parts (possibly) at PC Part Picker. Either critique or if it's terrible, please just wipe it and help me out -- http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ukDx

Note: $750 is excluding the OS and monitor to keep it around a grand when I include those.

 

[djangoringo]

It's good one, but i made some changes, a case and ram for the buck and a better gpu same price or less than the link you put it on :

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ukNu

Note : you can put a 7870 if you prefer amd cards, the price would be almost the same.

 

[malman]

It's good one, but i made some changes, a case and ram for the buck and a better gpu same price or less than the link you put it on :

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ukNu

Note : you can put a 7870 if you prefer amd cards, the price would be almost the same.

For cooling is the case fan sufficient? Does the case support USB 3.0?

I see the motherboard has on-board audio, so I should be good with that, right?

Am I good for wireless or do I need to add on a network card?

 

[djangoringo]

Ah yes, you have to buy either a pcie wifi card or a usb wifi adapter, they're cheap though, you can have a good one for ~20$.
The onboard audio is a good one it's the Realtek ALC892, no need for soundcards.
The case is a good one, but it doesn't come with any usb 3.0 in the front panel, i don't know if that's important to you.
It's for now the best budget case bang for buck :

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Bitfenix-Merc-Alpha-Case-Review/1413/7
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4445/bitfenix_merc_alpha_mid_tower_chassis_review/index8.html

 

[malman]

Ah yes, you have to buy either a pcie wifi card or a usb wifi adapter, they're cheap though, you can have a good one for ~20$.
The onboard audio is a good one it's the Realtek ALC892, no need for soundcards.
The case is a good one, but it doesn't come with any usb 3.0 in the front panel, i don't know if that's important to you.
It's for now the best budget case bang for buck :

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Bitfenix-Merc-Alpha-Case-Review/1413/7
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4445/bitfenix_merc_alpha_mid_tower_chassis_review/index8.html

Sold me on the case. I don't even have any USB 3.0 peripherals atm (just a 2.0 media external), but was just wondering.

This is more of a building question, but do I need to get thermal paste for the CPU/GPU? Or does it come with or does it get by just fine with fans? First full blown homebuild and homebuilt desktop, so sorry for the questions.

 

[djangoringo]

It already has a solid state thermal paste in the bottom of the cooler, but i recommend buying a thermal paste like this one : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
And apply over the stock paste, it will lower the temps.

 

[malman]

Best answer selected by malman.