Which configuration for a game tester?

[shortyhouse]

Hi everyone,

I'm actually working as a game tester and CSR for video-game industry, so I would like to buy a PC (I'm a Mac user at home). I'm not a huge gamer myself, but I would like to be able to play almost any heavier game (like Crysis or BF4, for example) for professional reasons. I might also be doing some video/photo editing, but nothing really heavy.
My budget is not so high, so I would like your opinion on best Motherboard/CPU/Graphic card configuration.
- P9X79 (Pro or not) or Z87 series? And if Z87, which one?
- 4820K or 4770k?
- ASUS GEFORCE GTX770 DIRECTCU II OC 2GB (or similar) or ASUS RADEON R9 280X DIRECTCU II TOP 3GB?

Basically I'm looking for the best reliable and stable configuration (for gaming and light video/photo editing) and that I can upgrade in the future if necessary.

All suggestions and advice are welcome.
Thanks

 

[Sangeet Khatri]

Well.. if you want a new rig, then you are at the right place. Anyways you need to tell your budget for this build. We need to know that to recommend a build for you. Budget is the important thing for a build.

So, can you tell me what is your budget.

 

[shortyhouse]

My budget is around €1500 including mouse and keyboard. But be aware that I'm in Europe, so prices may be a bit higher than in the US

 

[Sangeet Khatri]

Which country in Europe anyways?

Also as for the parts, this is what I recommend.

1. CPU : Get the i7 4770k.

2. Motherboard : Get any of these options.. Asrock Z87 Extreme 3/4/6 or Asus Z87-A or Gigabyte Z87 UD3. They are all good boards. My personal favorite is the Asus Z87-A out of these, but all are pretty good.

3. Storage : Get a 1TB or 2TB HDD, depends on your storage needs, they are pretty cheap. As for hard drive, get one of these three.
--> Seagate Barracuda
--> WD Caviar Blue
--> WD Caviar Black

The Seagate Barracuda and the WD Caviar Blue are very fast drives, get any one of them, but if you want the best performance possible then get the WD Caviar black, but it costs a bit more but it is damn fast.

4. RAM : For Video Editing, you need at least a 16GB RAM. Get 32GB to be safe and you are good to go. Anything above 1600Mhz should be fine.

Note :- For 1600 and 1866 Mhz, look for Cas Latency 9, for 2133 Mhz, look for Cas Latency 10 for best possible performance.

5. SSD : Get a 120GB SSD from Samsung (which I personally trust for SSDs), there are three models to choose from :
--> Samsung 840
--> Samsung 840 EVO
--> Samsung 840 Pro
They all are fast, so get any one that fits your budget better. But I recommend the 840 EVO as it is a great bang for the buck. The 840 Pro is still the best one if it fits your budget.

6. Graphics Card : For testing games, having the best possible GPU makes sense, hence get the Nvidia 780 if possible. If not, then get the AMD R9 280X instead. It is little bit slower but costs half as much. Also it is the second only to the 780.

7. Power Supply : This is one of the most important components for a build. The criteria for choosing a good PSU are :
--> Get a PSU from good company like Corsair, Seasonic, XFX, FSP, PC&P.
--> For a build that costs 1500 Euros, at least a 80 Plus Gold or a 80 Plus Platinum PSU is recommended.
--> Read the reviews well, and ask for recommendation here if possible.

8. DVD Drive : Grab any one that is cheaper, no one cares about DVD Drive now. Asus DVD Drives are good enough.

9 Operating System : Get Windows 7 or Windows 8, whatever you are comfortable with. I personally like Windows 8 more with the Start Menu app installed and ignoring all the Metro Stuff. Windows 8 accounts for more stable Minimums and better averages in games.

10. CPU Cooler : Well.. if you are not overclocking, then the stock cooler would do just fine, but if you are overclocking, then you need an aftermarket cooler. Now there are three-four of my personal favorites :
--> For low budget : Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO : Don't look at it's price, it performs exceptionally well for the money.
--> For about 80 dollars : There are two recommendations, Noctua NH-D14 and the Phanteks PH-TC-14PE. Go for whatever you like, they both are equally good and are really awesome for overclocking stuff.

11. Case : Go for a Mid Tower case from good companies like Cooler Master, Corsair, Fractal Design, Bitfenix, NZXT, etc. Look for reviews before actually buying something and yeah feel free to ask us about any particular case which is available there.

I hope this advice help. I am not familiar with the prices at Europe hence cannot recommend parts directly since I am not sure about their pricing and availability.

 

[shortyhouse]

Hello Sangeet Khatri,

Thanks for so many informations! I'm in Portugal and here's the retailer I intend to buy my PC: http://www.alientech.pt/index.php Even being Portuguese, you can have an idea of prices and references.
Please, give me your opinion about the configuration below

ASUS Z87-A SKT 1150
INTEL I7 4770K 3.5GHZ 8MB SKT 1150 BOX
EVGA GEFORCE GTX770 DUAL BIOS ACX SUPERCLOCKED 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E
G.SKILL PC3-14900 1866MHZ SNIPER 16GB DDR3 16GB CL9 (2X8GB) DDR3
COOLER MASTER HYPER 412S
COOLER MASTER SILENCIO 550
CORSAIR RM 550W MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD
ASUS DRW-24B5ST SATA BLACK BULK
SAMSUNG SERIES 840 ULTRASLIM 120GB 2.5" SATA III
WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA III 3.5
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 8 64BIT EN OEM

Meanwhile, I would have some questions.
Better a 250GB SSD and a WD Blue Caviar or like it is above?
The graphic card is really expensive but there so many GTX 770. They recommended me that specific version.

Let me know your opinion and what would you change? This is just 17€ above my budget, but I still would need the mouse and keyboard

Thanks again!

 

[shortyhouse]

Hello Sangeet Khatri again,

After having some answer in other threads, I've made some changes to my build. Please let me know what do you think about this one and what would you change:

ASUS Z87-A SKT 1150
INTEL I7 4770K 3.5GHZ 8MB SKT 1150 BOX
ASUS RADEON R9 280X DIRECTCU II TOP 3GB GDDR5
CORSAIR PC3-15000 1866MHZ 16GB VENGEANCE PRO BLUE CL9 (2X8GB) DDR3
COOLER MASTER HYPER 412S
COOLER MASTER SILENCIO 550
CORSAIR RM 750W MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD
ASUS DRW-24B5ST SATA BLACK BULK
SAMSUNG SERIES 840 ULTRASLIM 250GB 2.5" SATA III
WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA III 3.5
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 8 64BIT EN OEM

The 770 is really expensive and maybe doesn't worth a difference of more than €100. For the RAM, G.Skill or Corsair (price is the same)? How about cooler and case?

Thanks again

 

[Sangeet Khatri]

1. Also 120 GB boot drive should do just fine. Though if you want more then you are free to do so. I mean, different people have different needs.

2. The 280x and the 770 perform neck to neck. They are at the same level, so just get the one which is cheaper. So, it should be just fine.