First Time PC Builder - Looking to Max out Games at 1080p

[stoormtroopeur]

Hello everyone, I am a first time PC builder and new to the forums so let me first thank you in advance for looking at my post and helping out a complete beginner.

I have been PC gaming for a while on a gateway FX 6802 I purchased from Future Shop about 5 years ago with the help of a more tech savvy friend. I have decided I want to dive into building a custom rig and would very much appreciate some help with choosing parts.

Here is some more info:

Approximate Purchase Date: September of 2015

Budget Range: $1000 CAD after taxes (13% in ON) and shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming at 1080p with max settings for current and future games, Web surfing.

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, RAM (from my old PC - 12GB of DDR3), optical drive, sound card.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, ncix.com, canadacomputers.com etc.

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: Maybe; so long as it does not require any extensive cooling.

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080,

Additional Comments: I would like to have a mid-tower windowed case preferably a minimalist design, nothing too flashy. I would like to upgrade this machine in the future, possibility for expansion would be nice.

As a side note I have done some research myself albeit with limited results. I am still not very sure how to go about choosing a CPU or motherboard. I have come up with a draft list of parts here:

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/FsC3vK

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Benevolence]

Looks good, personally I'd spring for a better PSU (it will last longer, save $ in electricity).
Additionally you may wish to get an SSD drive for your system and games, and use the HDD for storage.
Also you can get a MUCH better price for that GTX970 if you shop around a bit, $400 is a bit excessive for that card specifically. The 970 is definitely the hot ticket at the moment, but shopping around can save you about $50USD.
Use the money you save on the GPU to buy a nice CPU cooler and some noctura fans (better performance / quieter)
http://lifehacker.com/five-best-cpu-coolers-1677306362

EDIT: Just saw that you are planning on buying later this year. It might be worth holding out for the new 4th gen Intel processors. As for pricing, things shift on an almost weekly basis, so use this as a starting place and tweak your build as things get cheaper over the summer.

DOUBLE EDIT: Drop that 2TB seagate drive and go for the 4TB drive. There's a huge difference, as the 2TB and 3TB have terrible fail rates, but the 4TB has proven to be rock-solid thus far, seems like Seagate really cleaned up their act after the 3TB's netted a 45% fail rate (2/yr).

 

[CTurbo]

This is better and cheaper. What about RAM?

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/xxqxP6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/xxqxP6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($218.32 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($80.95 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $944.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-22 21:06 EST-0500

 

[mas7873]

This is better and cheaper. What about RAM?

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/xxqxP6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/xxqxP6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($218.32 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($80.95 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $944.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-22 21:06 EST-0500

Get the unlocked CPU (4690k) if you're wanting to overclock in the future and a Z97 motherboard. Should still keep you in your budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($258.32 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.95 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $998.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-22 21:15 EST-0500

 

[CTurbo]

That could possibly be the worst Z97 motherboard for overclocking. It was made with the Pentium g3258 in mind. Plus, an after market cooler would have to be added. All in all, overclocking would cost around $100 more to do. It's not worth it.

 

[mas7873]

Except he stated he may want to overclock. And I just used that mobo to keep it in budget, if OP wants to spend an extra few bucks than he can.

 

[ZeroGravity780]

WHATEVER you do dont go for AMD with your budget. Intel CPUS offer much greater performance per core than AMD.

 

[mas7873]

I made the switch from an 8350 to an i5 4690k because of everyone's opinion on it (figured I'd test the waters), honestly didn't see a huge improvement in real usage (of course benchmarks will be different). There's nothing wrong with AMD but since this rig is primarily for gaming then yes intel would be better, but AMD is still good for a budget builder.

 

[ZeroGravity780]

[PCPartPicker part list](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/rGCfCJ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/rGCfCJ/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k) | $258.32 @ TigerDirect Canada
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $34.89 @ DirectCanada
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xsli) | $119.99 @ NCIX
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $62.98 @ DirectCanada
**Video Card** | [MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-912v308002) | $389.76 @ DirectCanada
**Case** | [Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/azza-case-csaz206s) | $49.99 @ Newegg Canada
**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr) | $74.99 @ NCIX
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1025.92
| Mail-in rebates | -$35.00
| **Total** | **$990.92**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2015-02-22 21:55 EST-0500 |

 

[stoormtroopeur]

Looks good, personally I'd spring for a better PSU (it will last longer, save $ in electricity).
Additionally you may wish to get an SSD drive for your system and games, and use the HDD for storage.
Also you can get a MUCH better price for that GTX970 if you shop around a bit, $400 is a bit excessive for that card specifically. The 970 is definitely the hot ticket at the moment, but shopping around can save you about $50USD.
Use the money you save on the GPU to buy a nice CPU cooler and some noctura fans (better performance / quieter)
http://lifehacker.com/five-best-cpu-coolers-1677306362

EDIT: Just saw that you are planning on buying later this year. It might be worth holding out for the new 4th gen Intel processors. As for pricing, things shift on an almost weekly basis, so use this as a starting place and tweak your build as things get cheaper over the summer.

DOUBLE EDIT: Drop that 2TB seagate drive and go for the 4TB drive. There's a huge difference, as the 2TB and 3TB have terrible fail rates, but the 4TB has proven to be rock-solid thus far, seems like Seagate really cleaned up their act after the 3TB's netted a 45% fail rate (2/yr).

A better PSU in terms of more power or a better brand?

 

[ZeroGravity780]

Better brand, the CX series is notorious for having bad components.

 

[Benevolence]

750W is plenty of power, with room to grow. You can get by with a 650W IMO.
I'm suggesting a better rating, and you can get something a little cheaper which will work just as good. Turbo suggested a good one in his parts list. http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-ea650green
It's much cheaper, and will serve the same purpose unless you want to go with two beefy GPU's in the future, or you can get a 650W Gold rated for around $90-100. Everyone's got an opinion so you just have to find a middle ground between quality parts/lifespan, price and performance.

 

[stoormtroopeur]

Thanks everyone for the great answers so far. It seems as though many people are recommending Intel CPUs. A youtuber named Jay's Two Cents claims that AMD CPUs generally offer more bang for your buck. Is there any truth to this? Also what are some general guidelines for looking for a gaming CPU? I heard that 4 cores are necessary, and that hyper-threading does not necessarily improve performance. Is this true and what else should I be looking for?

 

[ZeroGravity780]

Sure an AMD 8 core processor sounds more appealing but when an i5 4 CORE processor can beat it what does that tell you. Intel CPUs always have a higher performance per core ratio than AMD thats why they are more expensive and more used for gaming. And no hyperthreading is not used in gaming.

 

[CTurbo]

Even an i3 would outperform the FX8350 most of the time. The AMD FXs are old now. When they cam out, there were competing with Intel's second gen cpus. Fast forward 3 years later to today and they just can't keep up.

 

[CTurbo]

I still stand by this at the best you can do under $1000 before rebates

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/xxqxP6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/xxqxP6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($218.32 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($80.95 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $944.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-22 23:05 EST-0500

 

[mas7873]

Most games do not take advantage of a larger amount of cores, this is where intel excels (I'm talking about the i5 series) they have fewer more powerful cores which is better for gaming. However, it is also true that AMD chips are generally cheaper than intel so for someone on a budget AMD might be a good choice, or for someone who does a lot of video editing/rendering and can't afford an i7 CPU. Like I mentioned previously, I've owned an FX 8350 and currently own an i5 4690k I saw some performance increase in gaming but it wasn't massive. The way I see it is do some research on both AMD and intel and decide what would be best suited for your needs.