$1800 Gaming Rig

[Mbarmem]

Hello everyone,

I have been using gaming laptop for a while now and my laptop is currently unable to play new games. I have decided to get a PC instead of a laptop this time around. Since i've been using a laptop for a while now, i'm not up to date with most of the PC components. My budget is $1800 USD excluding the monitor.

Here are some of the builds that i am currently thinking of:

1. Build is based around Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz and Sapphire Radeon R9 295X2 8GB
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($325.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($87.49 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($198.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 295X2 8GB Video Card ($605.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($101.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1689.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-01 17:12 EDT-0400

2. Build is based around Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz and GeForce GTX 980 4GB
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($325.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($87.49 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($198.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card ($514.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($101.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1603.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-01 17:33 EDT-0400

3. Build is based around Intel Core i7-5820K and GeForce GTX 980 4GB
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($362.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($87.49 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI X99S Gaming 7 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($249.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($523.20 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($101.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1744.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-01 17:14 EDT-0400

 

[RafaSimpsons]

Just 2 questions, do you want to overclock and what resolution will you be playing at?

 

[Mbarmem]

Just 2 questions, do you want to overclock and what resolution will you be playing at?

I'll either play at 1080p or 1440p. Never done overclocking so dunno yet.

 

[g-unit1111]

No reason to spend the extra $150 to get a 5820K for gaming, you won't get that back in terms of performance. The second build is what I'd go with, but put the money you'd be spending on a 5820K toward getting a GTX 980TI. That is where you will see the most improvement.