Need help building a ~$1500 computer

[Hofflerand]

Approximate Purchase Date: The sooner the better! My old PC died.

Budget Range: I'd be willing to spend around $1500.

System Usage: Gaming!

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Either Newegg or, if I want to avoid shipping time altogether, maybe from this location that's nearby - www.microcenter.com/site/stores/queens.aspx (my friend tells me it's good but I've never been there)

Location: NYC

Parts Preferences: I don't truly know the difference between, say, Intel and AMD.

Overclocking: Yes, if my computer doesn't end up too loud.

SLI or Crossfire: Is this two graphics cards? I'm a pretty big noob. If so probably not.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Additional Comments: Quiet PC! The last one I had custom built was very loud - now I need the other extreme. I'd also like to try an SSD (200 GB or maybe a little lower) with a backup HDD of around 1 TB.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I'm not sure why my old PC died. It was around time to upgrade anyway so I might as well spend my time and money learning to build a PC from the ground up.

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[mastrom101]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($473.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Orange ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.00 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1428.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 00:49 EDT-0400)

If you like the color scheme.

 

[nikoli707]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($469.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1494.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 02:01 EDT-0400)

 

[zemiak]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($71.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($166.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($153.09 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($499.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1486.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 02:40 EDT-0400)

This build is overclockable and will only be as loud as the CPU cooler, which is not very loud.

An awesome motherboard with tons of features, you can read all about it here - http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z87PRO/

Fast corsair 2x4GB of RAM at 1866MHz

Top quality Samsung 840 EVO 250GB Solid State disk + a Western Digital 1TB HDD for other space.

GTX 780 Graphics card that will max any game at 1080p at 60fps. It's from EVGA with ACX cooling which has two quieter axial fans.

Beautiful Corsair 300r case with lots of space and room for airflow and cable management - http://www.corsair.com/en-us/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case

A Gold+ rated PSU from Corsair 650W, which will leave you plenty of room for any overclocking that you do in the future.

 

[4cloud]

Have a look at this solid build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3tSCw

 

[Hofflerand]

I wanted to say thanks again to everyone in advance. I'm looking into your builds and trying to find the perfect one for me. I may post here again at a later date.