Beginner to building computers. Budget vs performance

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BrntHay

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Jan 14, 2015
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I am building a computer to play Witcher 3 (mostly because that is the most demanding game on the market). Here are my specs. I would like to keep this build around 1200 (with out shipping). Can you see any areas that i will need to change? Any places were I can save money? If I do not plan to overclock (a little afeard of it on my first try at this) will i still need a after market cooler?

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within 2 months

BUDGET RANGE: After Rebates, 1200-1300 before shipping

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Surfing the Web

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.newegg.com or any other recommendations

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

OVERCLOCKING: No Maybe In the furture

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No, Maybe in the furture

Edit: Fix link
 
Solution
C
The i5 on stock should be strong enough to handle the game. I suggest seeing whether you need to overclock it or not before actually saying you would have to overclock.

In regards to your question, it's not a dangerous task if you take it slowly.
Just up the multiplier 2-3 increments at a time until you hit instability, then lower it one increment at a time until you reach stability if you want to avoid changing voltages. If you don't mind changing voltages, bump the voltages a single increment at a time until you hit a stable point. Then you can rinse and repeat or keep it where it is. I suggest avoiding the voltage bumps. Because they'll add extra heat which will require a stronger cooler.

In regards to potential builds. My suggest...
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Thank you. Fixed now.

As you can see I am WAY over budget. And it drawing alot of power. Advice on how to make this cheaper and still get the performance i need would get GREAT!!!

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

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK2 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($133.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($329.95 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1281.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-15 04:18 EST-0500

microcenter has 40. combo deals on cpu and mb. so the mb would be 139.00.
 
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PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NWrcFT
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NWrcFT/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK2 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($77.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($329.95 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1145.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-15 04:22 EST-0500

drop down to an i5 and 8g of ram then add more ram latter.
 
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This draws about 500W max but in games will draw about 400W max so 650w is MORE than enough.
Tried to stay close to your build while boosting quality wherever possible.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($317.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.48 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: A-Data XPG SX910 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($80.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1184.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-15 04:22 EST-0500
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hwqbrH
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hwqbrH/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($77.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($123.87 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($77.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($329.95 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1122.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-15 04:28 EST-0500
 
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I was thing about going to the i5 but I would have to overclock to get what I needed. How hard it is/ dangerous is it to do for a complete beginner?


 
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The i5 on stock should be strong enough to handle the game. I suggest seeing whether you need to overclock it or not before actually saying you would have to overclock.

In regards to your question, it's not a dangerous task if you take it slowly.
Just up the multiplier 2-3 increments at a time until you hit instability, then lower it one increment at a time until you reach stability if you want to avoid changing voltages. If you don't mind changing voltages, bump the voltages a single increment at a time until you hit a stable point. Then you can rinse and repeat or keep it where it is. I suggest avoiding the voltage bumps. Because they'll add extra heat which will require a stronger cooler.

In regards to potential builds. My suggest is what follows:

I took smorizio's suggestion and just replaced the parts I feel were slightly unnecessary or could be upgraded.

The motherboard is unnecessary in my opinion. The one I suggest is enough for a nice overclock and to hold all your parts. Price is lower as well.

RAM, just go with any 1600Mhz CAS9 RAM is fine.

SSD, went with something cheaper. You could go back to the samsung one if you want. It's probably slightly faster, but I don't think the speed would be as noticeable from this one to that one sort of thing. A ssd is a SSD. They are generally faster than mechanical drives. I do suggest getting a 1TB storage drive maybe unless you have one already.

Went with a cheaper case, you'll still have budget to pick one you actually like.

PSU, went with something cheaper and enough for the system and overclocks.

GPU, I lowered the pricing on most of the other parts for this. Bumped the GPU from smorizio's suggestion of a 970 to a gtx 980.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($140.96 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial V4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($546.49 @ B&H)
Case: Cougar MX300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1201.34
 
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