Advice on my First Build for Gaming. Two monitors? Overclocking?

[jojalis]

My son wants to build a gaming pc and sent me his parts list. Before buying, can anyone advise on the build? His goal is to play internet games while watching videos at the same time and for it to look good. My goal is to make sure he gets what he needs with an eye to the future, and not to waste money. Essentially, 6 months from now, I don't want to hear him tell me he needs a better 'whatever'. Also, I've been reading the forums and 'overclocking' gets mentioned frequently. I don't know if overclocking is a good or bad thing. I would like to become more knowledgeable about this if anyone has a link that would explain.
So here is the link for the build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YFBdGX
His budget is $1800. I admit I have no idea if these components are adequate. What is missing is an optical drive. There are two monitors in his build so he can multitask on different screens. Is that even possible? Can a pc run two tasks like that simultaneously? Would he need two keyboards? There are two memory cards listed, not sure if that's an error or not.
Thank you!

 

[jojalis]

Why are you considering overclocking? Factory locked processors will do the job for sure. if you are not comfortable with overclocking or have little knowledge of it better drop it and stick with non-k series CPU from Intel. You'll also end up saving bucks in doing so.

Overclocking for persons who are not fully aware of it may not be that easy.

I agree. I was not considering overclocking, but it seemed that the general consensus is that the i5 would last just as long if it's overclocked as the i7 (see quote from Legend001523). Clearly I have to do some research on overclocking before attempting this build, I'd like to know exactly what I am dealing with.

Here is comparison between i5 and i7:
i5 has four cores with one thread per core without hyper threading.
i7 has four cores with two threads per core with hyper threading.

Current gen games tend to use fewer cores so Intel has the best solution in terms of fewer but powerful cores. AMD has more cores but they are not as much stronger in terms of performance as Intel's cores.

Un-clocked i5 will still do the job in a very satisfactory manner. With overclockable i5 you would also need aftermarket or dedicated cpu cooler because stock coolers from Intel won't be able to keep the temps under control.

If you want to avail i7 functionality without paying more price then Xeon E3 is a way to go, though I would only recommend i7/Xeon if you are building the PC graphics rendering/video editing plus gaming. Remember Xeon is basically not a consumer product but rather this product is for server lines particularly Xeon E5 series.

If you think you have the budget and want to remain future proof in any case then consider my this build: -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($103.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.28 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($599.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1775.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 11:12 EDT-0400

No CPU cooler necessary with this?

 

[zeyuanfu]

Why are you considering overclocking? Factory locked processors will do the job for sure. if you are not comfortable with overclocking or have little knowledge of it better drop it and stick with non-k series CPU from Intel. You'll also end up saving bucks in doing so.

Overclocking for persons who are not fully aware of it may not be that easy.

I agree. I was not considering overclocking, but it seemed that the general consensus is that the i5 would last just as long if it's overclocked as the i7 (see quote from Legend001523). Clearly I have to do some research on overclocking before attempting this build, I'd like to know exactly what I am dealing with.

Here is comparison between i5 and i7:
i5 has four cores with one thread per core without hyper threading.
i7 has four cores with two threads per core with hyper threading.

Current gen games tend to use fewer cores so Intel has the best solution in terms of fewer but powerful cores. AMD has more cores but they are not as much stronger in terms of performance as Intel's cores.

Un-clocked i5 will still do the job in a very satisfactory manner. With overclockable i5 you would also need aftermarket or dedicated cpu cooler because stock coolers from Intel won't be able to keep the temps under control.

If you want to avail i7 functionality without paying more price then Xeon E3 is a way to go, though I would only recommend i7/Xeon if you are building the PC graphics rendering/video editing plus gaming. Remember Xeon is basically not a consumer product but rather this product is for server lines particularly Xeon E5 series.

If you think you have the budget and want to remain future proof in any case then consider my this build: -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($103.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.28 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($599.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1775.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 11:12 EDT-0400

No CPU cooler necessary with this?

Nope, it's not OCed, so stock is fine.

 

[EasyLover]

Why are you considering overclocking? Factory locked processors will do the job for sure. if you are not comfortable with overclocking or have little knowledge of it better drop it and stick with non-k series CPU from Intel. You'll also end up saving bucks in doing so.

Overclocking for persons who are not fully aware of it may not be that easy.

I agree. I was not considering overclocking, but it seemed that the general consensus is that the i5 would last just as long if it's overclocked as the i7 (see quote from Legend001523). Clearly I have to do some research on overclocking before attempting this build, I'd like to know exactly what I am dealing with.

Here is comparison between i5 and i7:
i5 has four cores with one thread per core without hyper threading.
i7 has four cores with two threads per core with hyper threading.

Current gen games tend to use fewer cores so Intel has the best solution in terms of fewer but powerful cores. AMD has more cores but they are not as much stronger in terms of performance as Intel's cores.

Un-clocked i5 will still do the job in a very satisfactory manner. With overclockable i5 you would also need aftermarket or dedicated cpu cooler because stock coolers from Intel won't be able to keep the temps under control.

If you want to avail i7 functionality without paying more price then Xeon E3 is a way to go, though I would only recommend i7/Xeon if you are building the PC graphics rendering/video editing plus gaming. Remember Xeon is basically not a consumer product but rather this product is for server lines particularly Xeon E5 series.

If you think you have the budget and want to remain future proof in any case then consider my this build: -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($103.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.28 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($599.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1775.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 11:12 EDT-0400

No CPU cooler necessary with this?

No need for dedicated cpu cooler because this is factory locked CPU. Stock cooler will do the job. Sorry for late reply.