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[RGM79]

First off; holy shit dude, you're amazing.

To address your main concerns, I am aware of the GTX 970's memory issues. However, it still is a great card that has impressive benchmarks to me. Also, I'll be playing in 1080p until 4k actually is affordable to me so I don't have to worry about running ridiculous resolutions (for now) hahaha. Also, I've always been an nvidia boy, so I doubt I would go for AMD this time around either (however, thank you for the though and input man!)

I literally threw the first Bitfenix comrade listing up there that I saw just to kinda get across the fact that it is the case I wanted. I'll definitely be getting the windowless black version from NCIXUS.

I will also be getting the 256 GB version of the SSD and the 750 watt power supply you recommended. Getting another GTX 970 for SLI later on is a distinct possibility. Why not splurge a little for this?

Again, thanks a million for the help man. I can't wait to order all these parts!

Edit: Here is the revised parts list. Am I good to go?

Looks fine to me. Enjoy your new PC.

I have been doing alot of research on x99 builds including parts custom sleeving watercooling etc... at this point I want to hold off on the x99 build until the end of the year in order to waite and see what new parts companies will have.

For now I want to build something more or less for practicing sleeving/water cooling techniques. I will be buying a caselabs case for this build and also the future build. For this one I am leaning towards an s8 for the next one will be going with a sth10.

In the process of buying all tools and materials for sleeving and also a monsoon acrylic bending kit. I have plenty of other tools since I work in the electrical trade.

Will someone be able to recommend a build for around 1000 us$, not including all watercooling parts and peripherals. I'm thinking a z97 build would be best for now. Modular power supply as I stated I want to do my own custom wiring. Single or double gpu whichever fits better into price range. Will be doing sli or crossfire in future build so not a big deal.

As mentioned this will be a build I will use for gaming but also for practicing overclocking, custom wiring, watercooling etc... thanks in advance.

Oh wow, $1000+ for a Z97 test run for a X99 PC one year later, both with Caselabs cases? I'm jealous, I'm still rocking a mostly 6 year old PC here. Unfortunately, I think you will have to spend more than that - the case is $400 which does take up about 40% of the $1000 budget, and the processor will have to be the overclockable i5 4690K which is about $215, unless you happen to live near a Microcenter and can buy one in-store for $200 flat. That's another ~20% or so of the budget. And because you need a moderately decent motherboard for overclocking, that's another ~15% or so. Normally a cheaper $100 motherboard would be recommended, but because you have the custom water cooling loop and other higher performance parts, I assume you want to be able to overclock higher than what a cheaper motherboard would be capable of. That's ~75% of the $1000 budget, at least $750 that cannot be avoided. You won't have much budget left for the RAM, power supply, storage drive, and graphics card.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Other: CaseLabs Mercury S8 ($359.95)
Total: $891.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 13:59 EST-0500

You may want to consider a cheaper case to cut down on costs. There's only about $110 left for a graphics card.

 

[inpired_1ne]

Looks fine to me. Enjoy your new PC.



Oh wow, $1000+ for a Z97 test run for a X99 PC one year later, both with Caselabs cases? I'm jealous, I'm still rocking a mostly 6 year old PC here. Unfortunately, I think you will have to spend more than that - the case is $400 which does take up about 40% of the $1000 budget, and the processor will have to be the overclockable i5 4690K which is about $215, unless you happen to live near a Microcenter and can buy one in-store for $200 flat. That's another ~20% or so of the budget. And because you need a moderately decent motherboard for overclocking, that's another ~15% or so. Normally a cheaper $100 motherboard would be recommended, but because you have the custom water cooling loop and other higher performance parts, I assume you want to be able to overclock higher than what a cheaper motherboard would be capable of. That's ~75% of the $1000 budget, at least $750 that cannot be avoided. You won't have much budget left for the RAM, power supply, storage drive, and graphics card.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Other: CaseLabs Mercury S8 ($359.95)
Total: $891.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 13:59 EST-0500

You may want to consider a cheaper case to cut down on costs. There's only about $110 left for a graphics card.

The case is not part of the 1k budget, that will be for components only. If I have to spend alittle more that's fine but would like to stay in that area. I want to stick with caselabs because I like the build quality and it leaves me alot of options for watercooling and wiring. Thanks.

 

[RGM79]

The case is not part of the 1k budget, that will be for components only. If I have to spend alittle more that's fine but would like to stay in that area. I want to stick with caselabs because I like the build quality and it leaves me alot of options for watercooling and wiring. Thanks.

Oh, that's easier to work with. I thought the case was part of the $1000 budget because I didn't think you'd consider the case to be a peripheral.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($359.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $997.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 14:52 EST-0500

That should do nicely.

 

[Exile20]

I think I made a mistake.

I bought a pc with 12 gb, I7(4th) computer and trying to buy a R9 280x.

I could have gotten a 12gb, I5(4th) and save $155 to get a better graphics card with the extra cash.

 

[Rockstar Beaver]

Would you guys say an I5 4460 is a good CPU for tight budget gaming? I'm thinking of picking one up to replace my Athlon X3 II 435 sometime this month

It is very decent CPU. If you are not looking to overclock, that is a very good chip to have. It should last you a very long time.

 

[RGM79]

I think I made a mistake.

I bought a pc with 12 gb, I7(4th) computer and trying to buy a R9 280x.

I could have gotten a 12gb, I5(4th) and save $155 to get a better graphics card with the extra cash.

We usually recommend i5 processors unless you're planning to do something that can make better use of i7 hyperthreading. The 4690K currently represents the best value, more expensive processors only give a very tiny increase in most games' framerate for the extra money.

 

[Exile20]

We usually recommend i5 processors unless you're planning to do something that can make better use of i7 hyperthreading. The 4690K currently represents the best value, more expensive processors only give a very tiny increase in most games' framerate for the extra money.

I didnt think about it until I started shopping around for a GPU. Since a 280x cost around 200, I could have spend 350 on a card. Get a GTX 970 or something.

I felt so burnt from my last pc purchase that I wanted to really future proof my pc.

 

[michaelius]

I didnt think about it until I started shopping around for a GPU. Since a 280x cost around 200, I could have spend 350 on a card. Get a GTX 970 or something.

I felt so burnt from my last pc purchase that I wanted to really future proof my pc.

No big deal really - that cpu will last much longer than gpu so you will repair that mistake with next gpu upgrade.

 

[An1malhouse365]

Ok I've never built a pc before and honestly don't know much of the terminology outside of the barest basics.

With that said, I want to dive in head first and build my first gaming PC. I would ideally like to keep it under 1k but I'll be ordering this piece by piece as I go along and I'm patient so I have some wiggle room on budget. I just want something worthwhile but not too over the top. Any useful tips or videos that I can look at??
Please remember, I have very little experience with computers in general.

 

[Vow of Silence]

My nephew Sam is currently obsessed with playing modded up Minecraft multiplayer with his mates. However, he's playing on an ASUS laptop he got bought to do college work, and he says it's so laggy he can barely play it. He wants to build a pc and has a budget of around £450. He's already got access to a second hand PSU and doesn't need any peripherals or monitor. His mates put the below together for him and he asked me about it. I told him I could do better but secretly I meant that neogaf could do better. He's not a huge PC geek and really just wants something that can play stuff reasonably well. I told him first off that he should get an intel CPU. The rest I'm not sure about. What do you chaps think? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[MetalSlug]

Looking for some assistance. I am looking for a new graphics card for £150 max.
Will be gaming at 1080P.

Current system specs

Case: Aerocool Strike-X One Screwless Mid Tower Gaming Case
CPU: AMD FX8320 Black Edition 8 Core
Motherboard: ASROCK 970 PRO3
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB
Storage: Western Digital 1TB
Video Card: Nvidia GTX 460 1GB
Power Supply: Corsair Builder Series CXM 600W Modular 80 PLUS Bronze Certified
System OS: Windows 7 64-bit

Thanks very much.

 

[inpired_1ne]

Oh, that's easier to work with. I thought the case was part of the $1000 budget because I didn't think you'd consider the case to be a peripheral.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($359.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $997.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 14:52 EST-0500

That should do nicely.

Thanks only thing I would change is the psu. For the psu I would like a fully modular one, would any 850 watt evga or corsair work.

 

[cyrok]

So I currently have a GTX 760 and I'm sorta stuck. I want to upgrade graphics card but not sure if its worth the upgrade to the GTX 960 or should I go another avenue to improve performance
Essentially here are my specs

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
Memory: 24576MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 24522MB RAM
Page File: 4351MB used, 23754MB available
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760.

I know there are a lot of variables, The ram its been a while it is DDR3 just don't remember what the speed is. What do you guys think?

 

[LilJoka]

My nephew Sam is currently obsessed with playing modded up Minecraft multiplayer with his mates. However, he's playing on an ASUS laptop he got bought to do college work, and he says it's so laggy he can barely play it. He wants to build a pc and has a budget of around £450. He's already got access to a second hand PSU and doesn't need any peripherals or monitor. His mates put the below together for him and he asked me about it. I told him I could do better but secretly I meant that neogaf could do better. He's not a huge PC geek and really just wants something that can play stuff reasonably well. I told him first off that he should get an intel CPU. The rest I'm not sure about. What do you chaps think? Any help would be much appreciated!

You forgot a Power Supply?

Im a little over budget but overall a much more premium and better performing build. Intel CPU will help in the future too.

ITX build is smaller overall, although this case isnt the best example. The motherboard has built in wireless.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£150.00 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI H97I AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£77.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£52.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£169.99 @ Novatech)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case (£64.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£38.87 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £592.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 22:06 GMT+0000

An mATX option is a bit cheaper with a bit more standard case. Youll need a wireless PCI card added to the this build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£142.49 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£66.17 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£52.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£169.99 @ Novatech)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£19.97 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£38.87 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £528.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 22:11 GMT+0000

Last option to cut cost is go with an Intel i3 Hyperthreaded CPU like an i3-4330.

 

[Stubo]

My nephew Sam is currently obsessed with playing modded up Minecraft multiplayer with his mates. However, he's playing on an ASUS laptop he got bought to do college work, and he says it's so laggy he can barely play it. He wants to build a pc and has a budget of around £450. He's already got access to a second hand PSU and doesn't need any peripherals or monitor. His mates put the below together for him and he asked me about it. I told him I could do better but secretly I meant that neogaf could do better. He's not a huge PC geek and really just wants something that can play stuff reasonably well. I told him first off that he should get an intel CPU. The rest I'm not sure about. What do you chaps think? Any help would be much appreciated!

What's the situation re: windows and networking? Does he need to factor in a windows key into the budget? I'd recommend a wired connection or power line adapters if possible over wireless but again this would need to be factored in.

As long as the existing PSU is of reasonable quality then I'd look at something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£66.17 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£52.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£139.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£19.97 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £460.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[kharma45]

Looking for some assistance. I am looking for a new graphics card for £150 max.
Will be gaming at 1080P.

Current system specs

Case: Aerocool Strike-X One Screwless Mid Tower Gaming Case
CPU: AMD FX8320 Black Edition 8 Core
Motherboard: ASROCK 970 PRO3
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB
Storage: Western Digital 1TB
Video Card: Nvidia GTX 460 1GB
Power Supply: Corsair Builder Series CXM 600W Modular 80 PLUS Bronze Certified
System OS: Windows 7 64-bit

Thanks very much.

R9 280 for £140 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IYD0HYO/

 

[MetalSlug]

Thanks kharma45!

 

[kharma45]

No worries. If you want to stick to Nvidia your option is a 750 Ti or a 660, but in terms of pure performance they don't match the 280 generally.

 

[Vow of Silence]

You forgot a Power Supply?

He's already got a power supply, I think it's 550w, not sure of the make though. Thanks for the builds!

What's the situation re: windows and networking? Does he need to factor in a windows key into the budget? I'd recommend a wired connection or power line adapters if possible over wireless but again this would need to be factored in.

I'm not sure about windows keys, I think he might be able to re-use an old windows 7 one. Wireless is a must as he won't have ethernet to his bedroom, any suggestions for motherboards with built in wireless or a wireless network card?

I like these builds, seems like there's a clear pattern of choice parts for this budget, cheers guys!

 

[Vic]

Just received the Thermaltake F5 Fan Controller and yeah, I think it's going back by the end of the week. Can't even turn the fans all the way down :-(

Edit: Actually, will wait and see. Temps are not so bad with a flash video playing in Firefox and I have 15 days to send it back.

 

[RGM79]

He's already got a power supply, I think it's 550w, not sure of the make though. Thanks for the builds!



I'm not sure about windows keys, I think he might be able to re-use an old windows 7 one. Wireless is a must as he won't have ethernet to his bedroom, any suggestions for motherboards with built in wireless or a wireless network card?

I like these builds, seems like there's a clear pattern of choice parts for this budget, cheers guys!

If wifi is a must, consider this build, aside from having built in wifi, it's also Kore compact.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£142.49 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z87I AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£47.84 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Savage 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£50.90 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£146.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case (£33.41 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £459.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 22:46 GMT+0000

Edit: that Gigabyte R9 280 linked above also looks nice.

 

[Vow of Silence]

If wifi is a must, consider this build, aside from having built in wifi, it's also Kore compact.
[

What's Kore compact?

 

[LilJoka]

What's Kore compact?

Think he meant more compact lol

 

[Vow of Silence]

Think he meant more compact lol

Lol. I thought it was the new hotness. I NEED A NEW KORE COMPACT PC.

 

[tigerin]

Very few people actually need 32GB of RAM. What are your PC's specs, and what do you use it for? You'll probably see a bigger difference saving for a larger SSD, better CPU cooler to overclock with, or a better graphics card.



I'm not really a mouse/keyboard/monitor guy. I use a Cooler Master Quickfire TK compact keyboard with a weird numpad/arrow key design that isn't for everyone, a cheap mouse, and a normal cheap 1080p monitor. For the R9 280X, you'll probably be best served with a 1080p monitor, that's all I can really say, 1440p or higher will be a bigger strain on the graphics card.

Someone else will probably have better suggestions.

10 keyless mechanical (CM) and a CM Spawn if the shape is decent enough for you should be right around $100.

Monitor I'm not that great a monitor person myself, but the ones in the OP should still be okay, but might have updates and sales.

Thanks for being so helpful guys.

How long do you think this built will last me until I have to upgrade or build a new gaming pc again?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Limited time over clocking with the 5930k has made me remember about c-states. Managed to get 4.4ghz on a 1.290vcore. I can get that higher. Good part is the memory is still at 3000mhz stable.

 

[CommandThrower]

Sorry, I started writing that post initially intending to recommend this XFX 550 watt power supply ($49) which is 140mm long just like your Cooler Master 500 Watt model and the EVGA 600B. Then I saw the XFX 650 watt model for only a few dollars difference, and rewrote the post for that PSU without considering that it'd be a different size, I guess I missed some critical thinking when I wrote that post at about 4am local time for me.

Fractal officially says that power supplies greater in length than 160mm would interfere with the power supply. The EVGA 600B and the XFX 550 watt model should be short enough to fit with a long graphics card like the above-mentioned Sapphire R9 280X and XFX R9 280, I think Fractal would have accounted for the power cables coming out of the PSU.

I won't lie, as I have recommended, the parts will be a tight fit, but that comes with the size of the case. For the sort of performance you want at a cheaper price level, large graphics cards are the norm. That said, I wouldn't consider the Asus simply because it is expensive. An R9 280 that costs as much as another R9 280X? Not a good buy.

How about this Sapphire R9 280 Dual-X ($173 after $20 rebate) as a compromise? It's cheaper than the Asus, and shorter at 261mm (10.31 inches).

Again, I appreciate the help. I hadn't considered looking at the Fractal Design page for the Node 304 to get more precise specifications. That original Sapphire card you recommended will indeed fit, as it barely comes within the 310 MM limit of the Node 304. At worst, I'll just have to send the thing back if I can't make it fit.

Anyhow, I appreciate the power supply recommendation, and I will for sure upgrade both my video card and power supply.

 

[Daria]

I'm taking the plunge over to PC from console and I wanted to try to get a comparable experience around the same price.

I already have a display and I can find a cheap board/mouse combo sometime before I order all of this. The OS I can get a copy from my friend. I also already have an extra 500GB HDD that I'm going to put in at first until I can upgrade to a SSD and bigger HDD. Anything I'm missing or could I trim anything down cost wise?

I'm hoping to build this within the next two-three months.

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS10B ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $333.92

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

I'm taking the plunge over to PC from console and I wanted to try to get a comparable experience around the same price.

I already have a display and I can find a cheap board/mouse combo sometime before I order all of this. The OS I can get a copy from my friend. I also already have an extra 500GB HDD that I'm going to put in at first until I can upgrade to a SSD and bigger HDD. Anything I'm missing or could I trim anything down cost wise?

I'm hoping to build this within the next two-three months.

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS10B ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $333.92

Single channel memory is usually not recommended but if you plan to add another identical stick later on it will be fine. Is the anniversary edition pentium an option? I think that's the one that allows for crazy OCs.

IIRC some games like Far Cry 4 demand quad cores, although I don't know if it actually stops you from playing it. A 260X will not quite match a PS4, I think the 265 is a close match for it.

 

[The Llama]

Single channel memory is usually not recommended but if you plan to add another identical stick later on it will be fine. Is the anniversary edition pentium an option? I think that's the one that allows for crazy OCs.

IIRC some games like Far Cry 4 demand quad cores, although I don't know if it actually stops you from playing it. A 260X will not quite match a PS4, I think the 265 is a close match for it.

The G3258 is the anniversary edition, fyi.

And yeah, the PS4's GPU is basically halfway between a 270 and 270x (though it has the same number of compute units as a 290x).

 

[Stubo]

If wifi is a must, consider this build, aside from having built in wifi, it's also Kore compact.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£142.49 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z87I AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£47.84 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Savage 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£50.90 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£146.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case (£33.41 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £459.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 22:46 GMT+0000

Edit: that Gigabyte R9 280 linked above also looks nice.

This with the 4460 (extra £1.50 for extra 100mhz as long as there's no mobo haswell refresh issues) looks perfect to me. Maybe with the gigabyte to cut down closer to budget if necessary. Very nice build.

 

[RGM79]

I'm taking the plunge over to PC from console and I wanted to try to get a comparable experience around the same price.

I already have a display and I can find a cheap board/mouse combo sometime before I order all of this. The OS I can get a copy from my friend. I also already have an extra 500GB HDD that I'm going to put in at first until I can upgrade to a SSD and bigger HDD. Anything I'm missing or could I trim anything down cost wise?

I'm hoping to build this within the next two-three months.

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS10B ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $333.92

Looks decent, since you're on a budget I'll see if I can do some "minmaxing" in a bit when I get home. Single channel memory is ok for now, there are few differences and not all games benefit from dual channel, and you'll probably add more for dual channel later. However, there may be higher speed RAM like 1866/2133MHz for a decent price.

Thanks for being so helpful guys.

How long do you think this built will last me until I have to upgrade or build a new gaming pc again?

Quite a long time, depending on whether you mind turning down graphics settings to keep games playable. The 280X has maybe a year or two of decent potential left, while you won't need to replace the CPU/motherboard for at least 3 years, definitely longer if you overclock.

Think he meant more compact lol

Lol. I thought it was the new hotness. I NEED A NEW KORE COMPACT PC.

I blame autokorerect.

 

[RGM79]

Ok I've never built a pc before and honestly don't know much of the terminology outside of the barest basics.

With that said, I want to dive in head first and build my first gaming PC. I would ideally like to keep it under 1k but I'll be ordering this piece by piece as I go along and I'm patient so I have some wiggle room on budget. I just want something worthwhile but not too over the top. Any useful tips or videos that I can look at??
Please remember, I have very little experience with computers in general.

When do you plan to buy the parts? Ideally you'll want to buy most of your parts at the same time. If it will take more than a few months to get the money together and finish buying all the parts, I'd actually advise you to save up and wait instead. There are a few things on the horizon for 2015, like AMD's new R9 3xx graphics cards due in the next month or two, or Intel Broadwell and Skylake processors due out around Q2/Q3 of this year.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

So I currently have a GTX 760 and I'm sorta stuck. I want to upgrade graphics card but not sure if its worth the upgrade to the GTX 960 or should I go another avenue to improve performance
Essentially here are my specs

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
Memory: 24576MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 24522MB RAM
Page File: 4351MB used, 23754MB available
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760.

I know there are a lot of variables, The ram its been a while it is DDR3 just don't remember what the speed is. What do you guys think?

The 960 isn't a good upgrade to the 760, you are looking at 10% better framerates in the best case scenario.

The CPU is still fine, if you have the cooler maybe overclock it to over 4GHz.

 

[hooijdonk17]

Storage GAF, help me out.

I'm in the market for a hard drive. My current hard drive is a 2013 model Western Digital Blue 1TB WD10EZEX, and I've been 100% satisfied with it. However, I'm running out of space, so I'm considering buying something like a 2TB or 3TB storage drive for multimedia.

Apparently, Seagate moved to 1TB platters and have this ST3000DM001 drive that's really fast, and I'm kind of interested in actually getting this and using it as both system and storage, selling my old drive. My experience with Seagate reliability has always been terrible though, so I'm kind of in a shitty point. (Ars agrees with me: http://arstechnica.com/information-...ned-once-more-hgst-rules-seagate-is-alarming/)

On the WD front, they don't make Blue drives larger than 1TB, and I'm kind of hesistant about using a Green drive for a system disk, and can't afford a Black drive (neither do I want the noise, etc.) Maybe I should go for a Red 3TB drive? Or just buy a 2TB Green drive and use it as a pack mule - this is what I'm leaning towards.

I'm also seeing a lot of Toshiba drives around lately, and I have no idea how good they are. They are quite cheap, like 10-15% cheaper than WD and Seagate, so I'm kind of wary. Should I capitalize on the cheapness?

Lost..

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

I would have said Samsung till I read that Seagate now owns them and are using previously well regarded Samsung model numbers for their own horrible hard drives. I have 4x 2TB Samsung Spinpoints that have been in my NAS for over 5 years now.

I have a 3TB WD Red that I've been using for a couple of years now and I've never had any problems with it.

Toshiba, Hitachi who are now WD and actual WD drives are decent makes with relatively low failure rates.

 

[hooijdonk17]

Ok, going for a WD Green 2TB or 3TB then. I don't really care much for storage drive performance, I will probably upgrade the WD Blue to an SSD at some point.

 

[kharma45]

Ok, going for a WD Green 2TB or 3TB then. I don't really care much for storage drive performance, I will probably upgrade the WD Blue to an SSD at some point.

Green's aren't the most reliable though, that's worth keeping in mind. I wouldn't use one.

 

[Kezen]

The 960 isn't a good upgrade to the 760, you are looking at 10% better framerates in the best case scenario.

The CPU is still fine, if you have the cooler maybe overclock it to over 4GHz.

Sometimes more than 10% :
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_960_STRIX_OC/13.html

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

Fair enough, the reviews I read the scores were much closer, guess it is CPU dependant.

 

[Kezen]

Fair enough, the reviews I read the scores were much closer, guess it is CPU dependant.

In cases where the 960 has a more substantial lead over the 760 this is due to Maxwell being stronger at compute.

 

[Frankfurter]

The G3258 is the anniversary edition, fyi.

And yeah, the PS4's GPU is basically halfway between a 270 and 270x (though it has the same number of compute units as a 290x).

Actually in terms of computational power the PS4 is pretty much on paar with HD 7850 and R270. R270X is a bit more powerful.
And the PS4 GPU has nowhere near the compute units of 290x. It has 1154 stream processors in total versus 2816 for the 290x.

I'm taking the plunge over to PC from console and I wanted to try to get a comparable experience around the same price.

I already have a display and I can find a cheap board/mouse combo sometime before I order all of this. The OS I can get a copy from my friend. I also already have an extra 500GB HDD that I'm going to put in at first until I can upgrade to a SSD and bigger HDD. Anything I'm missing or could I trim anything down cost wise?

I'm hoping to build this within the next two-three months.

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS10B ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $333.92

I'm not sure if you'll be that happy with that system. The CPU only has 2 cores, which is ok if you are on a budget, but it also doesn't have HT, which means you will have trouble playing any games that make heavy use of more than 2 threads.
4GB of RAM is okay-ish as a low end build, but I don't see how single channel makes much sense, unless you want to add another 4GB within the next 6-12 months. The GPU is also pretty much low end.
I'd recommend upping your budget by about $150, that way you'd actually get a proper system.

 

[LilJoka]

I'm taking the plunge over to PC from console and I wanted to try to get a comparable experience around the same price.

I already have a display and I can find a cheap board/mouse combo sometime before I order all of this. The OS I can get a copy from my friend. I also already have an extra 500GB HDD that I'm going to put in at first until I can upgrade to a SSD and bigger HDD. Anything I'm missing or could I trim anything down cost wise?

I'm hoping to build this within the next two-three months.

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS10B ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $333.92

Too cheap to make it a worthwhile investment. Like most have said spend about $150 more to really enjoy the experience.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($61.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($169.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $470.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-24 07:15 EST-0500

 

[LilJoka]

Ok, going for a WD Green 2TB or 3TB then. I don't really care much for storage drive performance, I will probably upgrade the WD Blue to an SSD at some point.

Get the Toshiba as the ACA drives are using Hitachi tech but also have 1Tb platters.
Greens have poor reliability.

 

[riflen]

Tftcentral finished their review of the Acer XB270HU - the 27 inch, IPS-type, 144Hzz, G-sync/ULMB monitor. It's the first monitor to have these specs and they say it's every bit as good as promised. Exciting times in display!

An excellent review from TFTCentral that puts it ahead of the RoG Swift PG278Q overall. How many people were waiting for IPS type panels before trying out variable refresh displays?

 

[SLV]

Hey all, so i was actually not sure whether to post this here, or in film gaf, but i guess ill just try here, a buddy of mine needs to put a 4k video production rig together, so that work with 4k footage is seamless. So he wanted to know gaffers opinions. As far as i understand, budget is not much of an issue, he sent me the following spec, on what he is looking at, any advice, sugestions ? Thanks !

So is there anything better as a singular computer, than what he is currently looking at, and above all will this work well with raw 4k footage, as you work with it.

HP Z820 Workstation

Windows® 8.1 Professional 64

HP Z820 1125W 90% Efficient Chassis
Intel® Xeon® E5-2690 v2 3.00Ghz 25MB 1866 10C 1st CPU (Only supported with 1125 W chassis.)
Intel® Xeon® E5-2690 v2 3.00Ghz 25MB 1866 10C 2nd CPU (Must be same speed as Processor 1.)

HP Z820 Localization Kit
HP Dual Processor Air Cooling Kit

NVIDIA Quadro K6000 12GB

256GB DDR3-1866 (8x32GB) 2CPU LR RAM

512GB SATA 1st Solid State Drive

512GB SATA 2nd Solid State Drive

3TB 7200 RPM SATA 3rd Hard Drive (Second drive must be SATA)

3TB 7200 RPM SATA 4th Hard Drive (3rd HDD must be SATA and must be same capacity/speed)

3TB 7200 RPM SATA 5th Hard Drive (4th HDD must be SATA and must be same capacity/speed)

HP SATA Blu-ray Writer Optical Drive
HP Single Unit Packaging
HP RAID 5
LSI 9270-8i SAS 6Gb/s ROC RAID Card (Not Supported with eSATA PCI Bulkhead Kit, HDD1 SED drives and Z Turbo storage device)

And he mentioned something like adding this all in there as well

Blackmagic Design DeckLink 4K Extreme Capture & Playback Card

So, overkill, just right for 4 k ? Advice please, thanks !

Anyone ?

 

[Spiritwalker]

Gonna upgrade my PC soon, this is what I have in mind:

Gonna keep my current RAM (16GB) and SSD/HDD, as well as monitor and accessories.

My question is, should I also keep my i5-4570? It has served me pretty well so far.

 

[LilJoka]

Gonna upgrade my PC soon, this is what I have in mind:

Gonna keep my current RAM (16GB) and SSD/HDD, as well as monitor and accessories.

My question is, should I also keep my i5-4570? It has served me pretty well so far.

If you already have an i5 4570, why are you buying a new motherboard?

All you should be changing is your GPU, MSI GTX 970 Gamer is the one i would chose.

What are your full current specs?

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

I'm still running my i5 4440 on a H87 board, Haswell are very good CPUs and it's not worth upgrading to a K series. I wouldn't bother buying a new motherboard.

That is a solid list, if you can find one of a similar price I'd switch out the Zotac, they are screamers fan noise wise.

 

[LilJoka]

Anyone ?

I think its fine, only doubt is the RAM, not sure if video editing will really use that much, but someone more experienced on that should point you in the right direction.

At work we had people browsing the internet in machines like this lol.