Budget, PC Gaming. Those two words don't go well together but I need some help guys.

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Jan 20, 2014
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Ok, so I just picked out some parts for a new computer i'd like. I have a budget of $700 and the pc I really like is $777. I want to stream and play games, record games at ultra settings and keep a good 40+ fps. I know that this may not work with my budget but at least if I could get a few ideas on what I can put instead that's cheaper but still good for gaming and streaming etc.

Here's what I have so far.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/347bQ7


(NOTE) If what you pick or remove is over my budget I will still take a look at your ideas and save up for whatever is needed.
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.22 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($50.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($240.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $772.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-23 01:50 EDT-0400

Changed it to an R9 290 because it will mop the floor with the GTX 960 and is on sale for $240 by Newegg. Changed your motherboard because it is overkill IMO. Went with a cheaper CPU Cooler to keep under budget, but fully up to you. Also an H97 Board would be a good match with an i5 4690 if you don't plan on overclocking.

EDIT:
Second Build with a H97 and i5 4690. Added an SSD to the Mix and changed the Mobo.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.22 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($50.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($240.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $781.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-23 01:54 EDT-0400
 
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Solution
I think what you have there is a good selection of components. I have very similar specs (please see grey text for specs). The Intel i5-4690k is great for gaming, and if you overclock it using Asus'd AI Suite then you can get it up to around 4.4Ghz to 4.6Ghz and it is still cool, silent and gets you extra fps. The GPU the GTX 960, I also have and it's a great card for the money. It never goes above 65 degrees, it's quiet, doesn't use much power and is still powerful.

Here are some of the games I play and the fps I get: (all on ultra/high settings)
Minecraft: 800-1700 fps
TF2: 300 fps
CS:GO: 250-300 fps
Assassin's Creed 1: 250fps
Far Cry 3: 80 fps

So not bad results, I have overclocked my CPU to 4.4Ghz and it has never gone above 60 degrees, with the stock cooler! I did overclock the GPU, but after overclocking the CPU, I found it was better just having the CPU overclocked.

I would change the RAM to Corsair Vengeance personally but the RAM you chose is Corsair too, so thats fine. I would get an SSD, the Samsung 850 EVO. And that's about it!

What games are you going to stream?

Hope this helps :)
 
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if you have a local micro center they hasve your cpu for 199.00 when you walk in and the asus ar the newer version of the a mb for 119.00 this month speical combo deal on there june flyer on there web page. also look at the cosiar r100 case is 37.00 at micro center.
 
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why is it that you think that GPU will mop the floor with a geforce 960? I don't mean it to offend or anything i'm honestly curious. As I have no idea of the power radeon has to offer.
 
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What AMD card?
 
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The R9 290 will get much greater frame rate in all games. The 290 is the little brother to AMD's old flagship card, the 290x. Despite the 960's 4gb of memory, the memory bus is much lower compared to the 290 ( 512 bit vs 128 bit). Here's the Benchmarks, but overall the 290 is a much better card.
 
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Why would you get the 290 when it gets hotter, it's louder, it has no features compared to Nvidia's card, it will overheat if overclocked? The 960 would be much more reliable and if you overclock it and your system it will beat the 290 anyway. With the 290 if you overclock it, it will overheat unless it has a good cooler.

Also will the 290 support Direct X 12? Can the r9 290 do games at 1440p and 4k at a decent fps?
 
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Why would you get the 290 when it gets hotter, it's louder, it has no features compared to Nvidia's card, it will overheat if overclocked? The 960 would be much more reliable and if you overclock it and your system it will beat the 290 anyway. With the 290 if you overclock it, it will overheat unless it has a good cooler.

Also will the 290 support Direct X 12? Can the r9 290 do games at 1440p and 4k at a decent fps?
Click to expand...
1. 290 runs much faster than a GTX 960. (128 bit bus vs 512 bit bus)
2. The XFX Card I recommended costs the same atm, and has a lifetime warranty.
3. The R9 290 is known for being decent at 1440p/4K and beats out the 960 anyways.
4. Overclocking your GTX 960 will not get it higher than the R9 290 unless you win the silicone lottery.
Even with the 960's 4GB of memory, it can't fully utilize it with its smaller memory bus. Look at the R9 290 benchmarks. Also just saying, you can't run a GTX 960 in 4k. Frame rates are terrible. For the sale on the R9 290 it will mop the floor with Nvidia's cheaper GPU. Even the R9 280x beats out the 4GB card, in most games.
EDIT:
Just realized this is the 2GB model. That 960 REALLY stands no chance. The 4GB maybe, but definitely not the 2GB model.
Also average temperatures for this card are around 70C.
To answer your question, "Why would you get it?", I would buy this card if I was looking for good 1080p performance that outperformed the GTX 960 for the same price. The r9 280x beats out the same 960 and the R9 290 is 23% faster than the 280x. If you are making a new PC, i'm guessing you don't plan on OC your GPU that much, but if you are the 960 still will not perform faster. It all lay within the hardware between each card. Let's break it down:
R9 290 GTX 960
GPU Bus (bit) : 512 GPU Bus (bit) 128
GPU Clock : 947MHz GPU Clock: 1178
Stream Processors : 2560 Stream Processors: 1024

Memory
Memory Bus : 512 bit Memory Bus: 128 bit
Memory Size : 4 GB Memory Size: 2GB
Memory Type : DDR5 Memory Type: DDR5

Clock speed isn't everything my friend, and with twice as much memory and stream processors, the 960 has no chance no matter how high the overclock.


Sources:

Hardware Canucks
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-960-vs-AMD-R9-290/3165vs2171
Newegg
 
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1. Oh the 290 runs so much faster than the 960! Not, it only has a few fps difference and those benchmarks could be false/fake.
2. A lifetime warranty doesn't bother many people.
3. Both cards are decent at 1440p, neither are good at 4K.
4. I overclocked my Asus GTX 960 Strix to:
GPU clock: 1500Mhz (and I could still go higher!)
Memoery clock: 8000Mhz
Voltage: 1.8Mv
It is very stable and stays at 40-50 degrees even in the most intensive games.
5. The R9 280x doesn't beat the 960 and I proved this in another thread.
6. 70 degrees for the R9 290, well my 960 never goes above 55 degrees.

So the R9 280x doesn't beat the 960 and the R9 290 isn't that much faster!
 
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As for 1440p, highly unlikely. You do realize the card has 2GB of memory on the 128bit bus? Even at 1080p the most demanding games are using 3gb or more. How am I to believe your benchmarks also? Hardware Canucks provides solid information so I find them a trustworthy source. While your 960 may perform like a god send, the 960 he is looking at not only performs worse than yours, it performs worse than the 290. You could overclock the R9 290 if you wanted to, but obviously it will thermal throttle. Out of the box the r9 290 will win, and I find it very hard to believe your statistics on your 960 given the hardware.

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My final point is this. If you are looking for a more mediocre experience now with room to upgrade, get the 960. If you want to have better performance now, I would get the 290. It is $50 more at this moment then the GTX 960, but it is worth the upgrade. Most games show a 20+ rise in framerate. While overclocking the 960 could improve your experience, the 290 out of the box is much better than the 960. If you are new to PC's I would honestly avoid overclocking all together. The GTX 960 does run cooler and more efficient, but the hardware in the 960 does not stand up to the 290's like I previously showed above.
 
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