Can anyone review over my $900 dollar build for gaming?

[Passalacqua]

I would love for someone to review my build for a gaming PC under $1000. This is my first time so i would love some suggestions. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7Lhy23

 

[logainofhades]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1226 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($216.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.45 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($80.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.75 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($332.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Noctis 450 ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $948.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 11:30 EDT-0400


if you aren't overclockingm a Xeon E3 chip is better. this is an insignificant 200 MHz slower than the I5, but is 4 cores/8 threads, andc $10 cheaper. By trimming a few things (the Motherboard to an H81, the cheaper CPU, a slightly cheaper hard drive, an AMD 290X instead of the NVidia 970 you were looking at, slightly cheaper power supply) I was also able to squeeze in a 240 GB SSD for OS and your most popular games. with rebates, its $885

The 290X is a little slower than the 970 at 1920x1080, but faster at 4K or multi-screen games, but the SSD will more than make up for a few FPS with faster loading times

The 1226 is just an i5, as it lacks hypertheading. You need 1230v3, or higher, for that.

 

[gerr]

Thank you everyone for the info! I truly appreciate it! As of now this is what I have...
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wXskK8

You wont ever be able to OC with that setup as the H97 chipset doesn't allow overclocking, only the Z97 chipset. So you have 2 choices, either pick a Z97 based mobo if you plan on OC'ing some day, or pick a CPU that doesn't OC if you never want to OC. With your current setup, you would have to replace the whole mobo in order to OC, which is a major pain.

Non-OC:
For a few bucks more, go with the Xeon E3 1231v3. While it's 100Mhz slower, it has Hyper Threading and a larger cache, making it more powerful than the stock i5-4690k. And you wont need as good of a CPU cooler, though I still recommend something better than the stock Intel. I have used the Arctic Cooling ACFZ11-LP on several of my non-OC builds and really like it.

OC:
You will need a Z97 based mobo. I still like my recommendation of the ASRock Z97 Extreme4 as it's on a great sale, but there are other options for a little less.

 

[Passalacqua]

Thank you everyone for the info! I truly appreciate it! As of now this is what I have...
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wXskK8

You wont ever be able to OC with that setup as the H97 chipset doesn't allow overclocking, only the Z97 chipset. So you have 2 choices, either pick a Z97 based mobo if you plan on OC'ing some day, or pick a CPU that doesn't OC if you never want to OC. With your current setup, you would have to replace the whole mobo in order to OC, which is a major pain.

Non-OC:
For a few bucks more, go with the Xeon E3 1231v3. While it's 100Mhz slower, it has Hyper Threading and a larger cache, making it more powerful than the stock i5-4690k. And you wont need as good of a CPU cooler, though I still recommend something better than the stock Intel. I have used the Arctic Cooling ACFZ11-LP on several of my non-OC builds and really like it.

OC:
You will need a Z97 based mobo. I still like my recommendation of the ASRock Z97 Extreme4 as it's on a great sale, but there are other options for a little less.

Can you explain what hyper threading is and what a larger cache does? I am new at this.

 

[logainofhades]

As I seem to be struggling on how to word things today. :lol:

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology)1 uses processor resources more efficiently, enabling multiple threads to run on each core. As a performance feature, it also increases processor throughput, improving overall performance on threaded software.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/hyper-threading/hyper-threading-technology.html

A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average time to access data from the main memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from frequently used main memory locations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_cache

 

[gerr]

Hyper Threading...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnS50lJicXc

The cache I refer to is the Level-3 cache, which is just high speed memory that is accessed before going to your RAM. While not night & day, the more cache the better, and the Xeon's & i7's have 8MB of L3 cache(2MB per core) where the i5 has 6MB of L3 cache(1.5MB per core).

Neither will make a huge difference in gaming, but both will add something, HT more than cache.

 

[Passalacqua]

Hyper Threading...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnS50lJicXc

The cache I refer to is the Level-3 cache, which is just high speed memory that is accessed before going to your RAM. While not night & day, the more cache the better, and the Xeon's & i7's have 8MB of L3 cache(2MB per core) where the i5 has 6MB of L3 cache(1.5MB per core).

Neither will make a huge difference in gaming, but both will add something, HT more than cache.

So, if you were making a mostly gaming PC, which one would you go with?

 

[logainofhades]

As I do more than just game, even when gaming, I would personally choose the Xeon.

 

[Passalacqua]

As I do more than just game, even when gaming, I would personally choose the Xeon.

Ok but what if I am not doing many things at once. So say while im playing a game, I am only doing that, and when I am on the web, i am only doing that. In other words, would doing one thing at once make the Intel Core i5-4690K be better a better choice?

 

[gerr]

The GPU will make most of the difference, so all these options will only make a 1-3 FPS difference, so think about the future instead.

If I were building for the future, I would want a mobo that supports overclocking incase I want to do that at a later time. I would also want a mobo & PSU that could handle SLI incase you want to buy a 2nd 970 at a later time. Only Z97 mobo's can do both.

To fit within your budget, sacrifices will have to be made. While SSD's are nice and do speed up your system in general, because of their minimal impact on games, I wouldn't get one now. Also, I know you like your case, but you are dropping a LOT of money into it when there are cheaper options that are just as good at cooling, if not better. My original suggestion does all this while saying within your $900 budget. If you can bump you budget up to $1000, then get a 250GB SSD...

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 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.64 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($330.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $888.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 12:39 EDT-0400

 

[Passalacqua]

The GPU will make most of the difference, so all these options will only make a 1-3 FPS difference, so think about the future instead.

If I were building for the future, I would want a mobo that supports overclocking incase I want to do that at a later time. I would also want a mobo & PSU that could handle SLI incase you want to buy a 2nd 970 at a later time. Only Z97 mobo's can do both.

To fit within your budget, sacrifices will have to be made. While SSD's are nice and do speed up your system in general, because of their minimal impact on games, I wouldn't get one now. Also, I know you like your case, but you are dropping a LOT of money into it when there are cheaper options that are just as good at cooling, if not better. My original suggestion does all this while saying within your $900 budget. If you can bump you budget up to $1000, then get a 250GB SSD...

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 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.64 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($330.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $888.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 12:39 EDT-0400

I can go up to 1000... maybe a little over.

 

[gerr]

At $1000, you can either include a 250GB SSD, or get your original case. Which one is more important to you?

 

[Passalacqua]

At $1000, you can either include a 250GB SSD, or get your original case. Which one is more important to you?

Well, if it goes like $30-50 over 1k, ill go both

 

[Passalacqua]

So hows this?
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BW3tYJ

 

[gerr]

Looks good to me!

I wouldn't wait very long as that's a really good sale on that mobo, so make that your 1st purchase. They are normally $140 with most sales dropping them to $120 or so.