Hello to all, I come from PS4 land and wish to build my first PC

[Andy Rajnak]

Thank you for taking the time to read - I was recommended this site by users on other forums. I've also tried searching topics on this forum. I found one user, RobCrezz, to be very helpful here: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1872282/amd-9370-core-black-edition-4ghz-socket-am3-intel-core-4960x-extreme-6ghz-core-15mb-cache-socket-lga2011.html

Long story short, I wish to buy the parts (or a built PC if the price isn't that much higher) for around 1500$. I live in Canada but I could go to the states (I'd have to buy the PC or all the parts in-store if I go to the states). I mostly play DayZ Arma 2 mod right now, but if I get a good rig I'll switch to PC for all my games. On PS4 I play BF4, WD, and in the future plan on getting FC4 (I played tested it at Ubisoft - fun as hell).

Thanks again, I know these topics must abound.

 

[MostWantedSoulRider]

Parts:
====
Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4GB

Memory: Crucial 2x4GB DDR3-1866

Solid-State Drive: Samsung 840 Evo 250GB

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB

Case: Rosewill Blackhawk

Power Supply: XFX Pro 750W

Optical Drive: LG 24x DVD Burner

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Macho Rev. A

Total Cost: $1,472 - $15 rebate
(as of May 29, 2014)

(1) Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K ($230)
(2) Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ($150)
(3) Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4GB ($448)
(4) Memory: Crucial 2x4GB DDR3-1866 ($88)
(5) Solid-State Drive: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB ($140)
(6) Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB ($84)
(7) Case: Rosewill Blackhawk ($80)
(8) Power Supply: XFX Pro 750W ($91 - $15 rebate)
(9) Optical Drive: LG 24x DVD Burner ($16)
(10) Operating System: Windows 8.1 ($95)
(11) CPU Cooler: Thermalright Macho Rev. A ($50)

Edit: 1500 $ is an awesome budget. You can do a lot with it.

 

[logainofhades]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($84.77 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($539.64 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.79 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($104.94 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1504.63
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-02 13:22 EDT-0400)

 

[Andy Rajnak]

Wow you guys are insanely helpful

So, I have tried integrating both of your suggestions, but the resulting build might not work at all. After doing some research I'm pretty biased towards 770's in SLI, but I might be off. Tell me if the following is ok?

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/wLBNvK

(yeah I know it's over budget, but hey)

 

[MostWantedSoulRider]

Wow you guys are insanely helpful

So, I have tried integrating both of your suggestions, but the resulting build might not work at all. After doing some research I'm pretty biased towards 770's in SLI, but I might be off. Tell me if the following is ok?

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/wLBNvK

(yeah I know it's over budget, but hey)

Good to go. But 750 W PSU might be needed for this rig.

 

[MostWantedSoulRider]

Hey, I read something about SLI.

Many have found stuttering issue with multiple number of Nvidia cards.

Hence I am suggesting you to go ahead with single 780 which is considered to be future proof.

-Hope it helped.

 

[Andy Rajnak]

Wow you guys are insanely helpful

So, I have tried integrating both of your suggestions, but the resulting build might not work at all. After doing some research I'm pretty biased towards 770's in SLI, but I might be off. Tell me if the following is ok?

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/wLBNvK

(yeah I know it's over budget, but hey)

Good to go. But 750 W PSU might be needed for this rig.

Sweet. That's my baseline then, as of right now. Curious though, a guy on gamefaqs wrote the following: "

a good rule of thumb is to have one single strong video card rather than 2 mid range cards and with the 780ti you get 3GB vram instead of 2GB of the 760's."

He wrote this in response to a guy asking what's better between GTX 760 SLI vs GTX 780 ti. I'm thinking of going with gtx 780 (not ti), because it's cheaper for now, and i could always add a second in the future.

I should have also noted that I don't plan on playing on higher than 1080p.

 

[Andy Rajnak]

Sorry SoulRider, didn't see your response about SLI when I started writing. I think single gtx 780 would be better... i mean that card can max most games at 1080, I'm assuming. Bout to find the benchmarks

 

[logainofhades]

A 290x is faster than a 780, just saying. Overclocking really isn't going to give you as much of a boost in performance, either. Here is a modified build, of my earlier one, with a 780ti. It is a bit under what your build was.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($167.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($759.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.79 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($104.94 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1812.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-02 14:18 EDT-0400)

 

[MostWantedSoulRider]

Sorry SoulRider, didn't see your response about SLI when I started writing. I think single gtx 780 would be better... i mean that card can max most games at 1080, I'm assuming. Bout to find the benchmarks

No Problem. GTX 780 will do good.

As a matter of fact, there are lot of things when it comes to High End Games.
Our desires and impulse on gaming are infinite. Once you buy GTX 780, your mind can get easily distracted by looking into more video cards online that are drastically expensive than your current one.

GTX 780 is already found to be a phenomenal card for its price point.

 

[MostWantedSoulRider]

A 290x is faster than a 780, just saying. Overclocking really isn't going to give you as much of a boost in performance, either. Here is a modified build, of my earlier one, with a 780ti. It is a bit under what your build was.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($167.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($759.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.79 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($104.94 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1812.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-02 14:18 EDT-0400)

1812$! I'm drooling on your list, logainofhades

Meanwhile, the benchmark says that gtx 780 slightly outperforms r9 290x

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290X-vs-GeForce-GTX-780

 

[logainofhades]

In the 290x review done by THG, it traded blows with the 780, but often beat it and Titan.