Wanting to build a quality gaming PC. Looking for feedback with part selection compatibility.

[dookiequeen]

Hello, I am hoping to build myself a good quality gaming PC that would give me good performance at a reasonable price. So far I have a general list of parts picked out that I would like to use in this build. I am very new to this, and would appreciate some feedback on my choices. Below are the parts and why I picked them out:

Spoiler

CPU-Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor

I was recommended this CPU as it is good for a solid gaming PC. I'm not really into heavy video editing and photoshop, so I don't think it's necessary for me to look into bumping that up into an i7. I am looking for something that will generally keep me satisfied for the forseeable future.

CPU Cooler-Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler

For this PC, I am unsure if I'd actually need liquid cooling or not (though I'd prefer not to). I have seen this fan mostly suggested for non-water cooling builds, but am wondering if it will be adequate for what I am trying to make here.

Motherboard-MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

Right now I'm unsure on what mobo I'll need. I'm looking for something with SLI that will be beneficial should I wish to upgrade in the future.

Memory-G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

I was told by a friend that G.Skill would be a good brand for memory.

Storage-Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive


I was looking into this and I think a SSD will be good for this build.

Video Card-EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card

I'm looking for a GPU that'll allow me to run most games near or on the highest settings. I am unsure right now about overclocking.

Case-Corsair Graphite Series 230T Orange ATX Mid Tower Case

So while browsing cases I saw this one and it looked pretty cool to me. I'd need to do more research and see if everything will fit nicely into it though.

(I was also looking at this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146148)

Power Supply- ???

I know that a good quality PSU is extremely important in a build. I was looking for something that's modular, and that'll be good enough for this build.

Optical Drive-Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer

I know these are are fairly inexpensive, but I wanted something with blue-ray.

OS-Win7 Professional

Monitor-Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor

Looked like a decent monitor for the cash. I would rather not buy an expensive high quality one at the moment.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2UUV2

My budget is around 1500-1600 total. I'm quite nervous about attempting to build a PC myself, as I am afraid I'll end up messing something up and wasting my limited amount of money. I looked at pre-builds and don't think it's worth spending the extra 400. So any help or feedback would be massively appreciated, thanks.

 

[BaddieMcBad]

Hey man! I'm in the same boat as you are. I knew as much about PC's as you do now a couple months ago. Now I've built my own and it runs like a champ! I'll give you a good parts list and some video guide links.

But first I need to know:

A. What games will you be playing/want to play? If you're not going to be doing graphics intensive games, you won't need to spend as much.
B. What resolution do you want to play them at?
C. Do you have a monitor you want to use? Because with a $1500 budget you could easily fit in a nice 1080p monitor.

 

[dookiequeen]

Hey man! I'm in the same boat as you are. I knew as much about PC's as you do now a couple months ago. Now I've built my own and it runs like a champ! I'll give you a good parts list and some video guide links.

But first I need to know:

A. What games will you be playing/want to play? If you're not going to be doing graphics intensive games, you won't need to spend as much.
B. What resolution do you want to play them at?
C. Do you have a monitor you want to use? Because with a $1500 budget you could easily fit in a nice 1080p monitor.

A. I'd like to be able to run recent games at their full potential, or at least close to that with good frames. Generally I have games that this crap PC can run, with a few exceptions, but I'm looking to expand my library.
B&C Planning on getting a nice 1900x1080 soon. Right now I only have a 1440x900.

 

[BaddieMcBad]

Alrighty then, here would be a good system for your price range:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2UYdZ

a system like this should run BF4 on maximum graphics vertical sync'd your monitors refresh rate. Honestly the GPU is probably overkill for a single 1080p monitor, but it will be better in the future when more graphics intensive games come out. And you can add a second one if you feel the need.

The CPU is overclockable, so you can do that in the future if the need arises.

As for video guides on how to actually build a computer, I learned pretty much everything from these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWkH_8b1Q9Y

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUzdNcZeM-s

 

[BaddieMcBad]

Oh I'm sorry, whoops! I didn't see that you linked specs in the OP. Yes, that would be a great system, but for the motherboard I would go with the one I linked to you because I can confirm asus boards are great.

As for the power supply, the one I linked would be ideal, but with your build you could get away with a 750w to save money. Just make sure it's from a good brand (corsiar, seasonic, XFX, ect)

 

[realchaos]

I wouldn't try to fit a 290X in there, especially since it's out of stock and you won't be able to get a decently priced 290X for a long time.
Also, i wouldn't bother with the Kingston V300s because they changed the flash used in those. It's not that fast nor reliable now.
No point of an 850w psu because the Asus Z87-C won't properly support crossfire either.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($228.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($80.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($489.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit - OEM (64-bit) ($99.97 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1564.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-17 16:44 EST-0500)

-Added a cpu cooler for overclocking.
-Better quality motherboard.
-Faster and more reliable SSD.
-GPU is actually in stock. It may be a bit weaker than the 290X, but it can still max out anything at 1080p.
-Better quality case with better airflow and cable management.
-Cheaper PSU, can still support SLI.
-IPS monitor.

 

[BaddieMcBad]

^That is probably better

 

[dookiequeen]

Thanks you both for the help. I'll edit this post what I think will be my final build here in a second.

Ok, so this is what I have. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2V21A

I chose the 680 as I would plan on doing SLI with it in the future. How does this build look?

 

[realchaos]

Looks good, but why the GTX 680? The 680 was never a good card to begin with, since it's much more expensive than the 670 and provides minimal performance increase over it. The $330 GTX 770 is a rebranded GTX 680 with better memory bandwidth, so there's really no point in going with the 680. The GTX 780 would blow the 680 out of the waters. The 780 can be SLI'd too.