Building a new gaming PC!

[EnergyBlast]

I already have a 750 ti SC 2GB that works pretty good. (I will upgrade later. ) I have a monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard already.

Hi guys, I am going to build myself a new PC mostly for gaming. I will spend around $500-$550 on this rig. (Should I keep my harddrive so I don't lose my Operating System?) Can any of you guys help me find or pick parts for this new setup? I would like 8GB RAM and a great i5 processor for the build ( or if you think anything is better you can tell me ).

This is going to be my first build and I need help picking out the best parts for my budget. If you guys want anymore info, feel free to ask.

Thanks!

 

[Archgaull]

I know you said you have a hard drive already, but this SSD will greatly increase load times. You can substitute the SSD for a Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EZEX HDD, or remove it entirely.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Raidmax ATX-502WUU ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.94 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $505.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-25 21:42 EDT-0400

 

[USAFRet]

(Should I keep my harddrive so I don't lose my Operating System?)

That almost certainly will not work.
With a whole new system, you'll have to reinstall the OS.

 

[EnergyBlast]

(Should I keep my harddrive so I don't lose my Operating System?)

That almost certainly will not work.
With a whole new system, you'll have to reinstall the OS.

Thanks for telling me that. Do you happen to know the best hard drive and OS I could get that aren't expensive?

 

[LucoTF]

(Should I keep my harddrive so I don't lose my Operating System?)

That almost certainly will not work.
With a whole new system, you'll have to reinstall the OS.

Windows 8 is fairly good at detecting hardware changes and just rolling with it.

Windows 7 is not, but you can run sysprep to strip all drivers from a windows installation which allows the hdd to be transplanted into a new machine.

In both cases no reinstall is necessary (although it is recommended as it is 'cleaner')

 

[logainofhades]

You can keep your hard drive, but you would have to reformat it, most likely with a new copy of windows, unless yours isn't an OEM version. You can go with an SSD, install new copy of windows on that, then wipe the other drive clean, after backing up things you want. Then use that HDD as a storage drive.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Xigmatek Recon ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $559.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-26 09:55 EDT-0400

 

[EnergyBlast]

You can keep your hard drive, but you would have to reformat it, most likely with a new copy of windows, unless yours isn't an OEM version. You can go with an SSD, install new copy of windows on that, then wipe the other drive clean, after backing up things you want. Then use that HDD as a storage drive.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Xigmatek Recon ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $559.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-26 09:55 EDT-0400

This one looks good. With the OS and cheaper items, are they all guaranteed to work together?

 

[logainofhades]

Yes they will work together, just fine. Ignore the warning about the bios update, for haswell refresh CPU's. That board was released, with Haswell Refresh support, from the very start.

 

[EnergyBlast]

Yes they will work together, just fine. Ignore the warning about the bios update, for haswell refresh CPU's. That board was released, with Haswell Refresh support, from the very start.

Will I need to buy anything to install the SSD correctly? Can I install a SSD by itself? I am probably going to go with a new hard drive instead, so I can have more room.

 

[logainofhades]

You shouldn't need to buy anything. That case has 2.5" drive slots, motherboard will come with the SATA cables.