First time building a PC - $2k

[cfcfaerber]

I want a fast and quite gaming pc for <$2k out-the-door. This is what I put together, any advice would be awesome!

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FQbDmG) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FQbDmG/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74770k) | $325.99 @ Amazon
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-h100i) | $94.99 @ Amazon
**Thermal Compound** | [Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/arctic-silver-thermal-paste-as535g) | $7.62 @ Amazon
**Motherboard** | [Asus Sabertooth Z87 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-sabertoothz87) | $226.23 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmz16gx3m2a1600c10) | $159.98 @ Amazon
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7pd256bw) | $149.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001) | $83.24 @ Amazon
**Video Card** | [Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970g1gaming4gd) | $369.99 @ Amazon
**Case** | [Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-750d) | $149.99 @ Amazon
**Power Supply** | [Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-ax860) | $169.99 @ Amazon
**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas) | $16.99 @ Newegg
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700578) | $94.99 @ B&H
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $1849.99
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-18 21:21 EDT-0400 |

 

[bsod1]

Everything is fine, except you chose an older motherboard, plus you can get lower profile memories. Hold on.

 

[garrettk4]

Swap out the z87 board and get a z97 board. Also swap out the 4770k and get the 4790k. They are newer chips and they are faster. Also get the 64bit version of windows.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Why all Amazon? All newegg would probably be cheaper.

Do you plan to overclock?

If yes, get a better, cheaper Z97 board, if no get a H97 or 87 board and drop the K from the processor or consider using a Xeon instead, but, for gaming, go for the top end i7 for the clock bonus of about 15%, or use a much cheaper i5.

16Gb is overkill for gaming, and if you plan to overclock, you might consider faster memory. Again, unless you plan on extreme overclocking, I think that air cooling and cheaper coolers would do just as well, and without overclocking, an EVO 212 would be fine.

 

[okcnaline]

That looks pretty bad for $2000. If all you do is gaming, then just get an i5-4690K and it'll be over. Or go extreme and onto the lands of X99.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme3 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($208.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card ($555.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 1200W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($264.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1989.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-18 21:41 EDT-0400

 

[bsod1]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($322.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($238.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.24 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card ($559.99 @ B&H)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($94.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1967.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-18 22:21 EDT-0400

I would go with i5-4690k, 8 GB, but here you have 2k and just in case games start using multiple cores in the future, this processor should serve you well. Might as well spend a little more for the sake of longevity.

The air cooler is better/quieter.

 

[tsuneo6]

you can also get a cheaper gaming PC without noticing any performance loss if you go for a i5 4690k CPU, it's 100 cheaper and works just as well in games.

8GB RAM is sufficient for gaming, so you can spare a bit of money on that aswell

and if you feel like you have to spend the 2k, get yourself good looking full tower and a curstom watercooling system to get the "quietest" possible system

the i7 4790k is better ofcourse, but like I said, it wont give you much difference in gaming experience. if you are planning on editing and streaming, then the i7 will be a better choice. you can even get some LED strips or so to put in your case, just for the sake of the looks

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The top i7 does have a 10% higher clock speed now and can be overclocked further, so although it's not much, it's something.