Dec 6, 2019
5
1
10
Hey, this is the first time I'll be attempting to build a PC and I want to make sure I've picked both good and compatible components:

CPU: Intel CORE i7 4790K LGA 1150

Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB)

Graphics Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 AMP! Core Edition

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" 250 GB

Power Supply Unit: Rosewill Bronze Series RBR 1000-M

Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid-Tower

The games I'm wanting to build this to play are Jurassic World: Evolution and Total War: Warhammer I or II. Oh, another thing I need to mention, I have NOT purchased these components yet I wanted to run these parts through here before making any big decisions. I've ran across this site a few times while looking up some of these components and the threads I've seen have seen to be pretty knowledgeable on stuff like this so I'm here hoping to get some of that advice too.
 
Solution
Dec 6, 2019
5
1
10
Why are you building with such old hardware? What is your system budget? 1000w PSU is a waste, for such a system. Don't need more than 650w, for that setup.

Well, to answer the first question I looked at the recommended system requirements for both games and these parts meet those requirements and another reason is so I don't have to spend too much on the latest stuff. Let's say my budget is $1,500 at most. I went with that PSU because I tend to want to have more than I need just in to be safe. I also intend on purchasing these parts piece-meal like one part a month, depending on how expensive said part is that I'll be buying, since I am on a very tight budget.
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
$1500 would build you a far better system, than that.


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($309.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 GAMING X ATX AM4 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB MINI Video Card ($489.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Metallic Gear Neo Air ATX Mid Tower Case ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Custom: MetallicGear Skiron RGB MG-F120PRGB_BK RGB LED Case Fan ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1479.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-06 11:56 EST-0500
 
Solution
Dec 6, 2019
5
1
10
$1500 would build you a far better system, than that.


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($309.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 GAMING X ATX AM4 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB MINI Video Card ($489.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Metallic Gear Neo Air ATX Mid Tower Case ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Custom: MetallicGear Skiron RGB MG-F120PRGB_BK RGB LED Case Fan ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1479.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-06 11:56 EST-0500

Okay, cool. Like I said I'm COMPLETELY new to all of this so I just had to use my best guesses. Two questions though, 1) is the second storage necessary? Could I get by with just the SSD? 2) Could this setup work with a disc drive? I admittedly don't know how many PC games nowadays come with physical discs, but better to ask now if I need one instead of not and realizing I do need one.
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
What about your monitor?

  • What is your monitor's resolution?
  • What is your monitor's refresh rate?
  • Does your monitor have FreeSync, GSync, or neither?
    • If FreeSync, what is the FreeSync Range?
If you're not sure, the brand and exact model number of the monitor will be very helpful.

Depending on these answers, you might not need as high-end of a video card.
 
Last edited:

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
Okay, cool. Like I said I'm COMPLETELY new to all of this so I just had to use my best guesses. Two questions though, 1) is the second storage necessary? Could I get by with just the SSD? 2) Could this setup work with a disc drive? I admittedly don't know how many PC games nowadays come with physical discs, but better to ask now if I need one instead of not and realizing I do need one.

These days, if you ever needed to read an optical disc, you'd probably go with an external, USB-connected disc player. But it seems that optical drives included with a PC are starting to go the way of the floppy drive. You could get one to put in the case itself the way traditional systems worked back in the day, but . . on my own main PC, which dates back to early 2015, I can't recall when I last used the optical drive. Or even if I ever used it.

As to the storage question - it depends on how many games you plan to have installed at once, etc. Modern games are getting bigger and bigger.

It might be a little overkill, but maybe going with a single 2TB SSD would cover it. Or, you could go with just the 1TB SSD, and if you eventually find that it's too limiting, could add a second drive afterward.
 
Dec 6, 2019
5
1
10
s
What about your monitor?

  • What is your monitor's resolution?
  • What is your monitor's refresh rate?
  • Does your monitor have FreeSync, GSync, or neither?
    • If FreeSync, what is the FreeSync Range?
If you're not sure, the brand and exact model number of the monitor will be very helpful.

I have picked a monitor out, but now I'm starting to have second thoughts on it after logainofhades gave that much better setup that could do much better than the setup I came up with on my own. So if you could suggest a good monitor that can go with the setup logainofhades suggested pleas feel free to do so.
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
Well, there's a few things to consider with monitors. Ok, more than a few... I hope this doesn't come off as overwhelming.
  1. Monitors last a very long time - you may be using the same monitor after this PC is gone and you've built another one years down the road.
  2. You are going to be looking at this thing constantly when using the PC - you want the screen to be as comfortable and pleasing to your eyes as possible.
  3. Monitor preferences are EXTREMELY subjective. I may think something looks great, and you might agree with me, or you may think I'm out of my mind.
  4. Higher resolutions = more demand on the video card.
  5. Some people prefer higher resolution for a given screen size, and some are fine with lower resolution on that same size. For example, there are quite a number of people I've seen post who say that 1920x1080 is too low of a resolution for a 27" monitor, whereas I thought it was great. Similarly, both I and my son think that the 2560x1080 34" ultrawide monitor my son has looks great, where other will say that for a 34", that results in pixels that are too big, and you should go at least 3440x1440 with a 34".
  6. Ultrawide vs wide. Widescreen is a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is what TV/movies are mostly using. Ultrawide is 21:9. Some like one, some like the other. I used to think that ultrawide was a gimmick, until I actually used one. Now I feel like it's a "can't live without it" thing. The additional field of view that it gives you in most games is amazing, though a few games (not many) won't play nice with it. Still, that's my own personal opinion. Ultrawides are a bit more expensive than their 16:9 counterparts, though.
  7. Curved vs flat screen. Curved screens were another thing I thought were a gimmick. However, I find that with ultra-wide, it's actually very helpful. If you're running a standard 16:9 widescreen, I wouldn't bother with a curved screen, but if you're going ultrawide of 34" or more, you'll want a curved scree. Still, like the preference for ultrawide, this is my own opinion, and others may disagree.
  8. Refresh rate. This is something of a pet-peeve of mine. Honestly, to me, it seems that 60Hz (and thus 60 fps displayable) is just fine, though I wouldn't argue with 75Hz/fps. My suspicion is that the human eye/brain can't really register much more than maybe, at best 100Hz/fps, nor physically react to things that come that fast. There are quite a number who disagree with that, but I have yet to see any repeatable, scientific process that verifies this. What I have been able to find is that the fastest human response time was about 13ms, which equates to something on the order of 80-ish frames/sec.
    THAT SAID... it seems that monitors that go up to 144Hz refresh typically aren't priced much more than their 100Hz and 75Hz counterparts. So, if the quality and price of two monitors is about equal, but one of them has a higher max-refresh, go for the higher max refresh.
  9. Adaptive Sync. The two technologies were GSync (Nvidia proprietary, and costs extra), and FreeSync (AMD, but based on an open VESA standard). It used to be that you were locked into GSync for Nvidia, and FreeSync for AMD, but Nvidia, starting with their most recent generations of cards, has finally officially started supporting FreeSync. No question here, get a FreeSync monitor. The wider the FreeSync range, the better, and LFC (Low Framerate Compesnation, used when the frame rate dips below the minimum number on the FreeSync range) is something I'd strongly recommend getting (not an absolute the way I say FreeSync itself should be, but strongly recommended). Basically what FreeSync and GSync do is adjust the refresh rate of the monitor on the fly, depending on how many frames/sec the video card is able to put out when gaming. This keeps things looking smooth, with no tearing effects.
LFC - only available on monitors where the max refresh rate is more than double the minimum refresh rate. Say for example, a monitor has a FreeSync range of 48-100Hz. If the frame rate dips to, say 45fps, LFC will set the refresh rate to 90, and display each frame twice. It gives the illusion of the refresh rate being 45Hz. Thus the minimum will effectively be half of what the lowest refresh rate is - so, in this example can handle things smoothly down to 24fps (half of the 48Hz minimum of the FreeSync Range)

IF AT ALL POSSIBLE - if there is a store within a reasonable distance of you that has a large variety of monitors on display, and that you can try out, I would HIGHLY recommend going there in person and trying. Reviews of monitors are all well and good, but your eyes are ultimately the best judge. In my case, there is a MicroCenter about 45 minutes away, and it was well worth the drive to find out that yes, I really do like how the large, ultra-wide screen looks.


If I were to recommend something off the cuff, I'd say go for a 34 or 35 inch ultrawide monitor, with Freesync, with 3440x1440 resolution, with a FreeSync range that goes up to 100fps (or higher), and that has LFC. Maybe 2560x1080 resolution would be just fine for you as well, but, while I like that on the size of monitors I mentioned, I suspect that's a minority opinion. Definitely read up on reviews. Also, AMD has a database of FreeSync monitors here that's pretty comprehensive, although the UI is a little bit clunky when switching sizes, brands, etc. that you want to filter on.


I know I've just thrown a HUGE, possibly overwhelming, amount of info at you at once.... but a monitor is one of those things you want to be sure you're happy with, because you'll likely be living with it for a long time.
 
Last edited:
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Dec 6, 2019
5
1
10
Well, there's a few things to consider with monitors. Ok, more than a few... I hope this doesn't come off as overwhelming.
  1. Monitors last a very long time - you may be using the same monitor after this PC is gone and you've built another one years down the road.
  2. You are going to be looking at this thing constantly when using the PC - you want the screen to be as comfortable and pleasing to your eyes as possible.
  3. Monitor preferences are EXTREMELY subjective. I may think something looks great, and you might agree with me, or you may think I'm out of my mind.
  4. Higher resolutions = more demand on the video card.
  5. Some people prefer higher resolution for a given screen size, and some are fine with lower resolution on that same size. For example, there are quite a number of people I've seen post who say that 1920x1080 is too low of a resolution for a 27" monitor, whereas I thought it was great. Similarly, both I and my son think that the 2560x1080 34" ultrawide monitor my son has looks great, where other will say that for a 34", that results in pixels that are too big, and you should go at least 3440x1440 with a 34".
  6. Ultrawide vs wide. Widescreen is a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is what TV/movies are mostly using. Ultrawide is 21:9. Some like one, some like the other. I used to think that ultrawide was a gimmick, until I actually used one. Now I feel like it's a "can't live without it" thing. The additional field of view that it gives you in most games is amazing, though a few games (not many) won't play nice with it. Still, that's my own personal opinion. Ultrawides are a bit more expensive than their 16:9 counterparts, though.
  7. Curved vs flat screen. Curved screens were another thing I thought were a gimmick. However, I find that with ultra-wide, it's actually very helpful. If you're running a standard 16:9 widescreen, I wouldn't bother with a curved screen, but if you're going ultrawide of 34" or more, you'll want a curved scree. Still, like the preference for ultrawide, this is my own opinion, and others may disagree.
  8. Refresh rate. This is something of a pet-peeve of mine. Honestly, to me, it seems that 60Hz (and thus 60 fps displayable) is just fine, though I wouldn't argue with 75Hz/fps. My suspicion is that the human eye/brain can't really register much more than maybe, at best 100Hz/fps, nor physically react to things that come that fast. There are quite a number who disagree with that, but I have yet to see any repeatable, scientific process that verifies this. What I have been able to find is that the fastest human response time was about 13ms, which equates to something on the order of 80-ish frames/sec.
    THAT SAID... it seems that monitors that go up to 144Hz refresh typically aren't priced much more than their 100Hz and 75Hz counterparts. So, if the quality and price of two monitors is about equal, but one of them has a higher max-refresh, go for the higher max refresh.
  9. Adaptive Sync. The two technologies were GSync (Nvidia proprietary, and costs extra), and FreeSync (AMD, but based on an open VESA standard). It used to be that you were locked into GSync for Nvidia, and FreeSync for AMD, but Nvidia, starting with their most recent generations of cards, has finally officially started supporting FreeSync. No question here, get a FreeSync monitor. The wider the FreeSync range, the better, and LFC (Low Framerate Compesnation, used when the frame rate dips below the minimum number on the FreeSync range) is something I'd strongly recommend getting (not an absolute the way I say FreeSync itself should be, but strongly recommended). Basically what FreeSync and GSync do is adjust the refresh rate of the monitor on the fly, depending on how many frames/sec the video card is able to put out when gaming. This keeps things looking smooth, with no tearing effects.
LFC - only available on monitors where the max refresh rate is more than double the minimum refresh rate. Say for example, a monitor has a FreeSync range of 48-100Hz. If the frame rate dips to, say 45fps, LFC will set the refresh rate to 90, and display each frame twice. It gives the illusion of the refresh rate being 45Hz. Thus the minimum will effectively be half of what the lowest refresh rate is - so, in this example can handle things smoothly down to 24fps (half of the 48Hz minimum of the FreeSync Range)

IF AT ALL POSSIBLE - if there is a store within a reasonable distance of you that has a large variety of monitors on display, and that you can try out, I would HIGHLY recommend going there in person and trying. Reviews of monitors are all well and good, but your eyes are ultimately the best judge. In my case, there is a MicroCenter about 45 minutes away, and it was well worth the drive to find out that yes, I really do like how the large, ultra-wide screen looks.


If I were to recommend something off the cuff, I'd say go for a 34 or 35 inch ultrawide monitor, with Freesync, with 3440x1440 resolution, with a FreeSync range that goes up to 100fps (or higher), and that has LFC. Maybe 2560x1080 resolution would be just fine for you as well, but, while I like that on the size of monitors I mentioned, I suspect that's a minority opinion. Definitely read up on reviews. Also, AMD has a database of FreeSync monitors here that's pretty comprehensive, although the UI is a little bit clunky when switching sizes, brands, etc. that you want to filter on.


I know I've just thrown a HUGE, possibly overwhelming, amount of info at you at once.... but a monitor is one of those things you want to be sure you're happy with, because you'll likely be living with it for a long time.

You weren't kidding that's a lot to know before buying a monitor, but you're right I'm gonna be looking at this for a long while so I better be comfortable with my choice. I can say this for sure though, I do enjoy a curved screen. I upgraded from my old Vizio flat-screen, from like the late 2000's, to a curved Samsung UHD T.V. from their 8 series and I I love the hell out of it. So I suppose I've already checked off one feature that I'm looking for.
 
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