First Build Gaming computer

ptrickono

Honorable
Oct 5, 2014
128
0
10,680
Hi,
Attached is my a computer build that I think would be good for gaming, this is my first build ever so any tips / suggestions would be appreciated. Do you think this is a good build for under $1000 (that's my budget) or is there anything that can be swapped to get a better gaming PC under this budget? I am located in Canada.
Thanks for your help!

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/ptrickono/saved/N4zXsY
 
Solution
No way is a i5-4690K going to be a bottleneck for any game.
Likely that is AMD FX FUD.
The i5-4690K is the best gaming cpu around. Bar none.
The i7-4790K at $100 more is the very best, if an extra $100 does not bother you.
For that, you get a better binned chip that runs at 4.0/4/4 turbo at stock.
It also has hyperthreads, but that is not very helpful because games rarely use more than 2-3 cores.

My rule of thumb for a balanced gamer is to budget twice the cpu cost for your graphics card.
On that basis, a good graphics card would be at least a GTX970 or even a GTX980.

You will never regret using a SSD for your "C" drive. Don't trust me on that, ask anybody who has one if they will ever go back.
You might get faster level loads on...


Whats the difference between the two?

As well there are two options for the SeaSonic M12II either the 520 or 620.
 
A very good list.
My thoughts:

1. Add a cpu cooler, it will let you oc a bit better and will be quieter.
A $30 cm hyper212 would be ok.

2. I will never again build without a ssd for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do much quicker.
120gb is minimum, it will hold the os and a handful of games. If you can go 240gb, you may never need a hard drive.
I don't.
I would defer on the hard drive unless you need to store large files such as video's.
It is easy to add a hard drive later.
Samsung EVO is a good choice.
Intel is OK too.


 


Would you say that its worth it to go for the a 240gb SSD and completely drop the other hard drive? As well I do have an external hard drive that I could use to store info on if I need to or I do have a laptop that has two 500gb hard drives, would it be possible to use one of those?
 
Worth is something that only YOU can determine.
240gb will hold the OS and perhaps half a dozen games.
A SSD makes everything you do quicker.
Files open instantly.
A windows update takes 1/4 the time.
It is easy to add a hard drive later, and it is easy to clone a small ssd to a larger one if you ever need to.
On the other hand, if you load everything on a hard drive, you wiii be facing a clean reinstall of windows to migrate to a ssd later. The really bad pert of that is the need to reinstall your programs.

Laptop drives are optimized for power savings, not speed. Still, they are sata drives, just like the ssd and certainly could be used for bulk storage.

520w is fine, particularly a top quality unit like Seasonic.
It will run a card as good as a GTX980.

That said,
I have no problem overprovisioning a PSU a bit. Say 20%.
It will run cooler, quieter, and more efficiently in the middle third of it's range.
A PSU will only use the wattage demanded of it, regardless of it's max capability.
 


So an SSD would be only useful for starting up/updating and opening files very quickly?
Also someone mentioned on another forum that this CPU could bottleneck this GPU is that correct? and how would you know? as well would you have any other suggestions for a different CPU that will not bottleneck this GPU?
 
No way is a i5-4690K going to be a bottleneck for any game.
Likely that is AMD FX FUD.
The i5-4690K is the best gaming cpu around. Bar none.
The i7-4790K at $100 more is the very best, if an extra $100 does not bother you.
For that, you get a better binned chip that runs at 4.0/4/4 turbo at stock.
It also has hyperthreads, but that is not very helpful because games rarely use more than 2-3 cores.

My rule of thumb for a balanced gamer is to budget twice the cpu cost for your graphics card.
On that basis, a good graphics card would be at least a GTX970 or even a GTX980.

You will never regret using a SSD for your "C" drive. Don't trust me on that, ask anybody who has one if they will ever go back.
You might get faster level loads on games if that is important.
Consider the Samsung source, but here is their argument for gaming:
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/why/forGamer.html
 
Solution


Alright so essentially what you would change with this build is add a CPU cooler and swap out the hard drive with an SSD?