Final PC Build for Gamer Girlfriend

[lordsloss]

Here is the rundown. I have a girlfriend who has never had a decent computer to game on in her life. She always plays on low settings and never really was able to see how beautiful some games could play. I decided to build her one that would last her a good while and I need some help on finalizing the parts. I work at BestBuy so I can get a nice deal on many of the parts and they have 18 months no interest so I am buying as much as I can from there. I have a large budget, about $1500 - $2000 if need be. She will be gaming pretty heavy with many new and old games, we want to video edit a lot now so I am looking at the i7 and she will multitask a lot. It is our anniversary, her birthday, and Christmas present so it needs to be awesome for her. Here are the parts I have selected:

PSU: 1000W EVGA SuperNova (needs to be enough for SLI 970 and fully modular) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438013&cm_re=1000_watt_power_supply-_-17-438-013-_-Product

GPU: GTX 970 (not sure which one, will SLI later)

Case: CoolMaster HAF 932 full tower

Cooling: Coolmaster Hyper 212 EVO

Motherboard: Asus Z97-PRO (honestly not sure which one in this case but needs to be able to have wifi built in instead of Ethernet)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB

HDD: 2T (any brand in particular?)

SSD: 256gig (brand suggestions?)

CPU: i7-4790k

Monitor: ASUS MX279H or Acer GN246HL (any other suggestions?)

Keyboard and mouse is her preference so not sure yet.

Anything else? Thank you for all the future help! I'm ready to buy whenever and since cyber Monday is coming up I think now is the right time.

 

[-Lone-]

I think you got a very good idea, here, I made a build for you, tell me if you will like it, included the monitor, excluded the OS and extra fans, don't know which one you might want or like. Tell me what you think.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xx7pNG

Edit: That PSU is enough for your future SLI, and I didn't want to change the case because I don't know what you want from it, did you want a little more style so it looks good or pure performance. So I kept the same case since you chose it, and I guess you liked it.

 

[frag06]

No need for 1000W, a quality 750W would easily run SLI 970's. The EVGA G2 750W or 850W would be enough.

Z97-Pro is a good board.

For a 2TB drive, the WD Black series.

SSD, I suggest the Crucial MX100 or for the best, the Samsung 850 Pro.

I'd take the Acer in this case, 144Hz would be the best for gaming. There is also the Asus VG248QE.

I'd change the case. A Corsair 750D, Phanteks Enthoo Pro or Luxe would be a better choice.

 

[mdd1963]

SKip the SSD, (yes, she will have to wait 5 seconds longer for Windows to boot, and 5 seconds longer for games to load), and invest the savings into a GTX980 over a 970...

The entire rig will now last a year longer, likely playing newest titles easily into 2017!

 

[Helldog26]

SKip the SSD, (yes, she will have to wait 5 seconds longer for Windows to boot, and 5 seconds longer for games to load), and invest the savings into a GTX980 over a 970...

The entire rig will now last a year longer, likely playing newest titles easily into 2017!

The marginal gains in a 980 over a 970 is so ridiculously small that a SSD would be way better in the long run. The 970 can be over clocked to a 980 so why waste money on the 980? I say get the SSD all day long. Hell maybe even get 2 of them.

 

[lordsloss]

I think you got a very good idea, here, I made a build for you, tell me if you will like it, included the monitor, excluded the OS and extra fans, don't know which one you might want or like. Tell me what you think.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xx7pNG

Edit: That PSU is enough for your future SLI, and I didn't want to change the case because I don't know what you want from it, did you want a little more style so it looks good or pure performance. So I kept the same case since you chose it, and I guess you liked it.

This looks pretty good. Do you think that is the best 970? There are so many brands and makes I am not sure which one to get. I will also go with whatever case she really likes. She likes the HAF right now, but is willing to change views.

 

[Helldog26]

I have heard nothing but good things about the ASUS 970 suppose to be the quietest and coolest card out there. The Zotac can be OCed higher slightly but is louder and hotter.

 

[-Lone-]

I think you got a very good idea, here, I made a build for you, tell me if you will like it, included the monitor, excluded the OS and extra fans, don't know which one you might want or like. Tell me what you think.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xx7pNG

Edit: That PSU is enough for your future SLI, and I didn't want to change the case because I don't know what you want from it, did you want a little more style so it looks good or pure performance. So I kept the same case since you chose it, and I guess you liked it.

This looks pretty good. Do you think that is the best 970? There are so many brands and makes I am not sure which one to get. I will also go with whatever case she really likes. She likes the HAF right now, but is willing to change views.

Ah, now that I have your permission to change the case, I'll get right on it for more style with same or more cooling You could get my case if you wish, $50 more, but LOTS of fan options everywhere to keep your systems super cooled. It has LEDs outlining half the top and front of the case and LEDs shining down your systems inside the case, you can change to any color you want (that is if you or your gf like LEDs ), it is a full tower, you can fill anything upgrade you want to make in the future in there. Phantom 820, check it out and tell me what you think 😀

Edit: I don't know if you want liquid cooling or not, but I prefer it myself to keep my systems super cooled than using air. But if you're not going to do anything super heavy, I suppose you won't need them

 

[frag06]

The STRIX is good, but if you're overclocking there are better options (MSI Gaming, Gigabyte G1).

I'd look at other cases. The 932 isn't bad, but there are better cases.

 

[franktorres67]

Ha ha - go with MSI!

See http://www.tomshardware.de/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-gtx-980-roundup-vergleichstest,testberichte-241658-15.html

Gigabyte performs the best but I believe MSI is the best all round card per http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/14

 

[lordsloss]

I think you got a very good idea, here, I made a build for you, tell me if you will like it, included the monitor, excluded the OS and extra fans, don't know which one you might want or like. Tell me what you think.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xx7pNG

Edit: That PSU is enough for your future SLI, and I didn't want to change the case because I don't know what you want from it, did you want a little more style so it looks good or pure performance. So I kept the same case since you chose it, and I guess you liked it.

This looks pretty good. Do you think that is the best 970? There are so many brands and makes I am not sure which one to get. I will also go with whatever case she really likes. She likes the HAF right now, but is willing to change views.

Ah, now that I have your permission to change the case, I'll get right on it for more style with same or more cooling You could get my case if you wish, $50 more, but LOTS of fan options everywhere to keep your systems super cooled. It has LEDs outlining half the top and front of the case and LEDs shining down your systems inside the case, you can change to any color you want (that is if you or your gf like LEDs ), it is a full tower, you can fill anything upgrade you want to make in the future in there. Phantom 820, check it out and tell me what you think 😀

Edit: I don't know if you want liquid cooling or not, but I prefer it myself to keep my systems super cooled than using air. But if you're not going to do anything super heavy, I suppose you won't need them

The STRIX is good, but if you're overclocking there are better options (MSI Gaming, Gigabyte G1).

I'd look at other cases. The 932 isn't bad, but there are better cases.

Any suggestions on cases from yourself?

 

[frag06]

Mid-tower would be the Corsair 450D and H440, both are two of the best on the market.

For full tower I recommend the Corsair 750D, Phanteks Enthoo Pro and Luxe. There is also the NZXT 630.

 

[lordsloss]

Everything is finalized besides one thing. Which RAM should I get. I see a few different types of Corsair Vengeance RAM and am not sure which one would be best suited for my rig? Thanks.

 

[-Lone-]

I like the trident x series from Gskill, they look cool and works well.

 

[franktorres67]

the corsair vengeance are nice.

 

[frag06]

I assume you're buying the RAM from Best Buy, so can you list the choices?