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My First PC Build - Input?

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  • Components
  • Dual Monitors
  • Build
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August 19, 2014 8:06:18 PM

Here's the components list: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/MicahAlford/saved/pFVD4D

I'm hoping to build a solid gaming PC. My budget is around $1800, including dual monitors and a new mechanical keyboard. I have been assembling the theoretical build for a few months, and will be purchasing soon. Any upgrades that the community can offer without altering the end goal - a strong PC with an $1800 budget - would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

More about : build input

August 19, 2014 8:10:23 PM

Seems to be a good build, but on newer titles that card will limit your performance a bit on 1080-1440p resolutions on higher settings.. I'd recommend the Radeon R9 290 4GB card if you can't go SLI on the 770 or even the 780TI would be a good jump.

I'd go for a slightly stronger power supply as well. If you throw an extra $300-400 into the build you'll be set, but take into mind new 8-core processors, DDR4 RAM, X99 motherboards AND the GTX 880 series all drop VERY soon.. so you might want to wait.

If waiting isn't an option I'd go for an 800W PSU, possibly up the RAM to 2,133Mhz (Not gonna cost much extra at all for these two) and opt for the R9 290 or a GTX 780TI card. Everything else is fine, I'd even go for a third monitor down the road but if you're gonna be using 3 I'd recommend the 780TI or the 290 on an SLI/Crossfire setup. You can overclock your processor/cards at that point and you're good for at least 1-2 years on higher end games on higher settings framerate/performance wise. But like I said, in a month or two a whole new era of components drop and even though I JUST got my system, I plan on upgrading immediately.
August 19, 2014 8:20:24 PM

Etorpine said:
Seems to be a good build, but on newer titles that card will limit your performance a bit on 1080-1440p resolutions on higher settings.. I'd recommend the Radeon R9 290 4GB card if you can't go SLI on the 770 or even the 780TI would be a good jump.

I'd go for a slightly stronger power supply as well. If you throw an extra $300-400 into the build you'll be set, but take into mind new 8-core processors, DDR4 RAM, X99 motherboards AND the GTX 880 series all drop VERY soon.. so you might want to wait.


The R9 290 4GB is a considerable price increase. ~$100 or so. Is it as significant an upgrade to warrant the increase? I would likely have to cut back on other components if I switch to a more expensive card.

Related resources
August 19, 2014 8:24:12 PM

That 770 is going to really kick you in the balls for gaming, unless you're comfortable with running games on medium settings and/or getting framerates under 60FPS.

$100 is not a lot of money to spend for such an upgrade. Believe me. Cutting back on other components will also hurt you. Your best option might be to save up more money and just wait unless you're comfortable with lower settings or impacted framerates on higher settings. You're only spending $100 for a card that's roughly TWICE as powerful as the one listed. Also, 600W's is probably just fine, but if you want to upgrade without buying a whole new PSU I'd up it to 800. That way you're in the ballpark of higher settings and smooth performance for a while, AND you're able to upgrade without issue.

Newegg is having a rebate on the card that will result you only spending roughly $20 more when all is said and done. The 7% discount code and the rebate will play in your favor. Just do it man.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

August 19, 2014 8:40:09 PM

Etorpine said:
That 770 is going to really kick you in the balls for gaming, unless you're comfortable with running games on medium settings and/or getting framerates under 60FPS.

$100 is not a lot of money to spend for such an upgrade. Believe me. Cutting back on other components will also hurt you. Your best option might be to save up more money and just wait unless you're comfortable with lower settings or impacted framerates on higher settings. You're only spending $100 for a card that's roughly TWICE as powerful as the one listed. Also, 600W's is probably just fine, but if you want to upgrade without buying a whole new PSU I'd up it to 800. That way you're in the ballpark of higher settings and smooth performance for a while, AND you're able to upgrade without issue.

Newegg is having a rebate on the card that will result you only spending roughly $20 more when all is said and done. The 7% discount code and the rebate will play in your favor. Just do it man.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...



Do you have a suggestion for a mobo to accompany the R9 290 4gb?
August 19, 2014 8:42:22 PM

I updated the build. Let me know what you think.
August 19, 2014 8:49:09 PM

That's beautiful, and the Z87 mobo you have listed will fit the card just fine.

The video card is up to you, but I'd definitely overclock your processor as close to 4Ghz as possible, and the core and memory clocks on your card can definitely be overclocked a bit without issue.

After all that is said and done, you'll have a pretty damned powerful system. You should be pulling high frames on high/ultra settings for around 2 years. Provided you stay in the 1080-1440p range and the games in question aren't poorly optimized. Either way, you're all good man.

In the future, the first chance you get, crossfire a second 290, add 16GB's of RAM and possibly even upgrade to an i7 if possible and you can skip the next generation altogether if you want. The RAM/Processor is optional depending on if you're JUST gaming or plan on doing hardcore rendering and such. I'd definitely get a second 290 on down the road, however. The RAM you could surely do without (just mentioning the 32 option later on because you might want to skip DDR4 and 32GB's DDR3 will surely out perform 16GB's DDR4) and an i7 would help out a bit with CPU intensive games like Arma 3 but this is entirely optional and certainly not needed as stated. Your current build should serve you more than well for a good chunk of time.
August 19, 2014 8:50:42 PM

Etorpine said:
That's beautiful, and the Z87 mobo you have listed will fit the card just fine.


Do you have any opinion on the Tri-X Sapphire vs others?
August 19, 2014 9:00:29 PM

Unless you want to buy a 780TI (like my cards, only I have two on SLI) the Tri-X 290 is your best option. The 780TI is around the same performance, only lacking a GB for vRAM but it has other advantages over the 290 (better drivers being a big one). I'd stay right where you are and crossfire another Tri-X when you get a chance, the RAM and i7 upgrade is entirely up to you and not needed as of now. That build is nice.
August 19, 2014 9:07:05 PM

My recommendation http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cfhxxr
I do recommend single display over dual But its up to you. If going multi monitor setup go Triple it's much better. If not then stay on single. It's just my personal view.
August 19, 2014 9:10:30 PM

That's going $200 over his budget, I don't think he wants to shell out the extra money just for an i7 if he doesn't need it.
August 19, 2014 9:13:06 PM

Etorpine said:
That's going $200 over his budget, I don't think he wants to shell out the extra money just for an i7 if he doesn't need it.


Well yeah and I also said single monitor.And if an i5 then this what I would recommend http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k
August 19, 2014 9:20:13 PM

I took 'display' as a graphics card. He might need the display, game on one monitor for multitasking purposes. The R9 is a definite upgrade over the 770 on his part though. Not sure if it's just me (probably is) but the link doesn't work.
August 19, 2014 9:22:50 PM

Etorpine said:
I took 'display' as a graphics card. He might need the display, game on one monitor for multitasking purposes. The R9 is a definite upgrade over the 770 on his part though. Not sure if it's just me (probably is) but the link doesn't work.

Its a link to i5 4690k. Which would cost OP 100$ less which would be almost equal to his original build.
August 19, 2014 9:26:11 PM

As far as the i7 goes, I couldn't care less. The upgrade isn't worth it for gaming alone. I'm not going to be doing design or anything. And for the monitors, I have a small apartment with a smaller desk, without the space for three monitors.
August 19, 2014 9:28:54 PM

He was recommending you go down to only one monitor as opposed to the two you have already chosen. If the i5 he listed is cheaper and equal to the one you chose I'd go for it as well as the upgraded power supply and R9 290 I mentioned, I'd also go for the 2,133Mhz RAM over the 1,800 he chose for response reasons. The motherboard he listed could be useful, buy going to the z97 from the z87 isn't needed and more than likely on your budget you'd have to drop the PSU down to 600W again to do it, and I personally would not recommend it.

I'd keep the z87 and eventually upgrade to the x99 when you get a chance, just my two cents.

One last thing, you MIGHT want to opt for a bigger case considering the one chosen might have to have some drive bay modification (not going to be hard, just annoying) to fit that card. Also for future upgrading reasons. You can get a bigger case for not a lot of money at all.
August 19, 2014 9:32:34 PM

MicahAlford said:
As far as the i7 goes, I couldn't care less. The upgrade isn't worth it for gaming alone. I'm not going to be doing design or anything. And for the monitors, I have a small apartment with a smaller desk, without the space for three monitors.


Dual monitor setup is good for multitasking and workstation PC's. But for gaming alone not worth it. Just get a bigger single monitor.
August 19, 2014 9:38:51 PM

I'm going to be using two monitors for multitasking, to some extent. Gaming on one, stream/OBS on the other. The second monitor won't be used for gaming at all.

@Etorphine, I already changed to the 2133 dimms, for an extra $8 or so, and to the R9 290 4gb. The power supply I upgraded to a 750W, for only another $10 or so. So far, with those 4 modifications, my build price has gone up only about $150. I can probably afford that.
August 19, 2014 9:40:01 PM

As for the case, I'm very happy with the one I've chosen, and I don't think I'll ever need a full tower. You mentioned drive bay removal, and I'm already prepared for that. I only need two drive bays, so the space will be easily created.
August 19, 2014 9:42:00 PM

If that i5 he linked is similar performance wise and cheaper, go with it. Otherwise I'd stay where you are and overclock. Other than that you're pretty much golden unless you like the Z97 motherboard (I will admit they're sexy and pretty big, but not needed for your build) I wouldn't upgrade. Like I said, if you go with the i5 he listed and have equal performance and manage to save some cash, get a bigger case. Or just get one period, a mid-size tower isn't optimal for powerful PC's especially if you plan on upgrading in the future (which you should unless you feel like spending mad cash on a whole new build, that's the beauty of desktops)
August 19, 2014 9:51:02 PM

Etorpine said:
He was recommending you go down to only one monitor as opposed to the two you have already chosen. If the i5 he listed is cheaper and equal to the one you chose I'd go for it as well as the upgraded power supply and R9 290 I mentioned, I'd also go for the 2,133Mhz RAM over the 1,800 he chose for response reasons. The motherboard he listed could be useful, buy going to the z97 from the z87 isn't needed and more than likely on your budget you'd have to drop the PSU down to 600W again to do it, and I personally would not recommend it.

I'd keep the z87 and eventually upgrade to the x99 when you get a chance, just my two cents.

One last thing, you MIGHT want to opt for a bigger case considering the one chosen might have to have some drive bay modification (not going to be hard, just annoying) to fit that card. Also for future upgrading reasons. You can get a bigger case for not a lot of money at all.


i5 4690K aka "The Devils Canyon". Has higher and more stable OC with lower temperature. Than the 4670K.
As for Z97 ..It has Broadwell Support and SATA express which will give much faster SSD performance than Normal SATA 6 Gigabits.
And The CX series doesn't have much reputation for its longevity.
August 19, 2014 9:54:47 PM

He's not using an SSD for his main drive. But, I just noticed the upgrade only costs $5, so I'd definitely go for it Micah.
August 19, 2014 9:57:19 PM

If I were to upgrade to the i7 4790k, and change MOBO to a Z97, is there a specific one I should choose? There are many listed. I'm looking at the Asus Z97- Pro and Z97-A, and the price difference is $40. Is there a significant advantage to the Pro?

Update: The i7 being chosen for a benefit to live-streaming (the multithreading is supposedly a significant boost to capability when streaming).

Here is a link for the updated build. It certainly has a price increase, but I can probably afford this if I prolong the build an extra paycheck or so. http://pcpartpicker.com/user/MicahAlford/saved/pFVD4D
August 19, 2014 10:05:07 PM

The i7 4790k should be just fine, and I wouldn't spend the extra $40 on the pro as there's not many advantages has and as far as I can tell you wouldn't get any use out of it. Besides, save up and upgrade to the X99 later and pop in some DDR4 and possibly a new 8-core and the new graphics cards coming out later on. Then you'll be solid for years.


UPGRADE that case, seriously. Mid-tower is not the way to go for custom gaming builds. And your updated build is getting close to mine in terms of performance. Only pretty much beating you in graphics, I have two GTX 780TI's and my processor is 3.7Ghz without turbo boost but it's been overclocked a good bit along with my cards. Your RAM is better than mine, though. I'm stuck with 1,600Mhz, been thinking of OC'ing it 200Mhz if possible. I'm not spending money on new RAM since DDR4 is so close.
August 19, 2014 10:19:07 PM

I don't feel like I need to upgrade case size. The larger it gets, the more problem it will become. I'd rather not haul the thing around between moves and what not.

Unless there is a really good reason to do so.
August 19, 2014 10:37:32 PM

Bottom of the page, is a warning that reads.

"In order to fit, the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card may require removing drive bays from the NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case. The case only supports video cards up to 230mm in length without removing drive bays, while the video card is 305mm long."

There's your reason.

And larger = more problems is NOT true, more ventilation capacity, more hardware/upgrade capacity, etc. Only problem is dust, which can be easily fixed with filters on the vents and frequent use of air duster products (just don't be stupid and inhale them.).
August 19, 2014 10:46:40 PM

By problem, I mean space problem. I have a small studio apartment and a big case was not exactly what I was looking for.

And removing the drive bays isn't a concern. I've done a lot of research on the case, and it has I believe 6 or 7 drive bays in two units, the upper being removable to accommodate the larger cards.
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