Building my first Gaming PC with a $1800 budget

[Aerliurn]

Hello everyone, I am choosing the parts for my gaming PC, and I just wanted to know if there were any changes anyone could suggest that would be better/more cost efficient. I am planning on overclocking the CPU as well as using this build for video editing/recording, gaming, streaming, and possibly a small server. I hope this build will accomplish at least most of these tasks. Here's what I have lined up:

CPU: Intel i7 4790K @ 4 GHz $314.99

Cooling: (I have two coolers, one liquid, one air that I'm having trouble choosing between)
-Corsair H100i Liquid Cooler $89.99
-Phanteks PH-TC14PE 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler $74.99

Motherboard: MSI Z97-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 $131.99

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 146.81

Storage:
-Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB SSD $79.99
-Western Digital Black Series 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM $83.98

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB Lightning $349.99

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case $114.77

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular PSU $124.99

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer $16.98

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit $98.98

WiFi Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 $38.83

Keyboard/Mouse: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse $28.03

Headset: Logitech G930 $99.98

Speakers: Cyber Acoustics CA-3602 30W 2.1ch Speakers $37.99

There is no monitor because I have one already so I'm just going to stick with that. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to tell me in a post below, thanks.

 

[-Lone-]

I think you should get a Samsung SSD instead.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te120bw

 

[-Lone-]

Is this the kind of build you want? I excluded the peripherals and OS because I don't know what you want. I just upgraded the RAM, mobo, SSD, and case a bit.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MybJRB

Edit: This motherboard has a built in 802.11ac bluetooth wifi, so it is better than the wifi adapter you want to buy and have to install.

 

[melonhead]

the build list that you have is good. i also like the second one that lone listed.

edit-forgot to mention...i would go with a gtx 970 over the ati

 

[RookieOfTheYear]

That is looking like a very nice rig my friend. I would change a few things. I personally would rather have a GTX 970 over the R9 290x. And as Lone stated, go with the samsung 840 evo SSD instead.

I prefer air coolers over water. You get a little bet cooling from water, but I would rather not run the risk of a leak. But that is just my personal preference. I also think you can save a few dollars on a couple of different parts. Let me make a build for you with the changes I stated.

 

[Aerliurn]

That is the type of build I'm going for. I'll put in some peripherals and add an OS then I'll make some changes if it doesn't fit the budget.

 

[RookieOfTheYear]

Here would be my suggested build for you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($304.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($71.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team Vulcan GOLD 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($135.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($124.95 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($101.46 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($101.46 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.95 @ B&H)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($169.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($73.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($27.95 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Cyber Acoustics CA3550RB 68W 2.1ch Speakers ($46.98 @ Directron)
Total: $1769.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-10 19:04 EST-0500

 

[Aerliurn]

Alright, what I'm going to do it try to combine each build you guys suggested and take the best out of both of them, then I'll post the results.

 

[Aerliurn]

What I did was add the Wifi motherboard, downgrade the case, and added headphones to the build:[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Nn2PYJ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Nn2PYJ/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790k) | $304.99 @ SuperBiiz
**CPU Cooler** | [Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhd14) | $71.98 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [Asus Z97-PRO(Wi-Fi ac) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97prowifiac) | $198.98 @ SuperBiiz
**Memory** | [Team Vulcan GOLD 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/team-memory-tlyd316g2133hc11adc0) | $135.98 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw) | $124.95 @ OutletPC
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st3000dm001) | $101.46 @ OutletPC
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st3000dm001) | $101.46 @ OutletPC
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42974kr) | $351.98 @ Newegg
**Case** | [Cooler Master HAF 922 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-rc922mkkn3gp) | $86.98 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b10750vr) | $48.99 @ NCIX US
**Optical Drive** | [Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-optical-drive-sh224dbbebe) | $14.98 @ OutletPC
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615) | $89.98 @ OutletPC
**Keyboard** | [Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-keyboard-sgb3011kkmf1us) | $27.95 @ Amazon
**Headphones** | [Monoprice 8323 Headphones](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/monoprice-headphones-108323) | $33.95 @ Amazon
**Speakers** | [Cyber Acoustics CA3550RB 68W 2.1ch Speakers](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cyber-acoustics-speakers-ca3550rb) | $46.98 @ Directron
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $1741.59
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-10 20:17 EST-0500 |

 

[-Lone-]

I have never even heard of Team Vulcan, so I can't tell you if they're good or not, I like to go with Corsair or G.Skill for RAM. As for CPU cooler, I don't suppose you care about how it looks, lol. But everything else looks good, but I prefer gold than bronze for PSU

 

[RookieOfTheYear]

Team have been making ram, thumb drives, SD card ect. for quite some time. I trust them. I would say G.skill is better, but that is a great deal on fast ram. You're right, the Noctura CPU cooler does not look the greatest, but it does a damn good job of cooling the CPU.