Gaming first PC build 1st time builder.

[Jukey]

Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as I decide on the build.

Budget Range: I am trying not to go to much higher in price if possible, it is currently around $1400 ~ $1500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Watching Movies, Internet

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: As long as it can be shipped to me.

Location: Battle Creek, MI, U.S.A.

Parts Preferences: intel compatible

Overclocking: Yes, in the future

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Plan on playing Skyrim, BF4, SWTOR I am sure there are more but I have not gamed on a pc for some years.

Why Are You Upgrading: I want a gaming pc.

My part list so far


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.96 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX US)

While the MSI motherboard is currently my top pick I was also considering these:

Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Microcenter)

Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($154.99 @ Microcenter)

Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ NCIX US)



Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($155.99 @ Amazon)

Is 250 GB needed? It was suggested by a friend, or would a 120 GB one be fine?

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
I plan on adding a second sometime within the next few months.

Power Supply: Corsair GS Series 800W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($115.85 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($253.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($32.98 @ Newegg)
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-01 02:27 EST-0500)

I could use a CPU cooler suggestion and possibly a case suggestion as well.

Thank you in advance for the help and advice.

 

[Bad_Kitty13]

overall good build
msi mobo is good but doent have led debug light if that matters to you or not, i would go with that or the asus
120gb is fine unless you have games you want to put on it 120gb can still hold a few games but not much
you can get a lower cas latency ram to improve performance for 74.99 they are blue though
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl8d8gbxm
power supply is a solid tier 2 reliable supply should do you good

if you want to overclock get an after market cpu cooler dont oc on stock cooler

 

[markador4]

I really like the fact that ASRock Extreme 4 has an HDMI in. (I don't know if the 6 has it, it probably does...[at least my intuition tells me so] I find that of most value between all the mobos that you have listed. Mostly because I just hook up my computer to my TV and I like to have my peripherals running through my computer. But, if you are just sticking to just the computer to monitor I like the Asus better.
250 GB gives you some more room to keep more games playable at any time for faster load speeds. If you're rotating between playing 4 games or so 120 fills up really quick. But, if you're just running your OS and 1 or 2 games, 120 would be fine.
I THINK that you would be better off just getting a 4GB gtx right from the start instead of getting a 2GB and buying a second later, however I'm not positive. I don't know much about SLI but I think it only uses half of the VRAM on the card. (please correct me if I am wrong).

 

[Bad_Kitty13]

I really like the fact that ASRock Extreme 4 has an HDMI in. (I don't know if the 6 has it, it probably does...[at least my intuition tells me so] I find that of most value between all the mobos that you have listed. Mostly because I just hook up my computer to my TV and I like to have my peripherals running through my computer. But, if you are just sticking to just the computer to monitor I like the Asus better.
250 GB gives you some more room to keep more games playable at any time for faster load speeds. If you're rotating between playing 4 games or so 120 fills up really quick. But, if you're just running your OS and 1 or 2 games, 120 would be fine.
I THINK that you would be better off just getting a 4GB gtx right from the start instead of getting a 2GB and buying a second later, however I'm not positive. I don't know much about SLI but I think it only uses half of the VRAM on the card. (please correct me if I am wrong).

if he was to be doing heavy modding or gaming at resolutions above 1080p then yes a 4gb card would be good. but he is trying to achieve max fps due to the 144hz monitor he has. and if he slis 2 2gb 770 that does not mean he has 4gb of vram the graphics cards work in tandem in sli/cfx so in reality it is stil just 2gbs of vram

 

[Immaculate]

Wait for more gsync monitors, they will be cheaper than the modded ones now. Maybe by then Maxwell is here. Z97 could even be close. As for MSI gaming mobos, do GD65 it has better VRM setup or an ASUS ROG board preferably, but their pricey. 8GB RAM should do but I could see benefiting from more in future titles. As for PSUs akways go with SEASONIC. 850w is usually recommended for SLI GTX 780s. CPU cooling, dont get an All in one water cooler like H80, H100. AIOs do not cool the motherboards VRMs like traditional air cooling. Some high end boards have water blocks so they can get cooling that they lost from switching to water from air. As for air coolers, Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO and Xigmatek Gaia are good cheap coolers, but the frostiest and quietest are from Noctua, the NH-U14S being the best medium. SSDs, definitely get a 250GB drive, modded Skyrim takes quite a bit of space. They make 2x8GB RAM sets with speeds like 1600Mhz CAS8, 8-8-8-24, some even CAS7, 7-8-8-24. Fractsl Design Define R4 is a very nce windowed case with plenty of room inside.

 

[markador4]

I really like the fact that ASRock Extreme 4 has an HDMI in. (I don't know if the 6 has it, it probably does...[at least my intuition tells me so] I find that of most value between all the mobos that you have listed. Mostly because I just hook up my computer to my TV and I like to have my peripherals running through my computer. But, if you are just sticking to just the computer to monitor I like the Asus better.
250 GB gives you some more room to keep more games playable at any time for faster load speeds. If you're rotating between playing 4 games or so 120 fills up really quick. But, if you're just running your OS and 1 or 2 games, 120 would be fine.
I THINK that you would be better off just getting a 4GB gtx right from the start instead of getting a 2GB and buying a second later, however I'm not positive. I don't know much about SLI but I think it only uses half of the VRAM on the card. (please correct me if I am wrong).

if he was to be doing heavy modding or gaming at resolutions above 1080p then yes a 4gb card would be good. but he is trying to achieve max fps due to the 144hz monitor he has. and if he slis 2 2gb 770 that does not mean he has 4gb of vram the graphics cards work in tandem in sli/cfx so in reality it is stil just 2gbs of vram

thanks for clearing that up. What I meant to say was to buy 1 4GB 770 instead of 2 2GB 770s but if 4GB is more than he needs I guess there's no need then!

 

[Jukey]

Thanks for the feedback so far I have updated my list to this: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.96 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($155.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($253.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1449.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-01 13:39 EST-0500)

Would I be able to do some modding with the 2gb or should I consider the 4gb, and since it says that it is oc'd out of the box should I get a cooler now or can it wait until I get the second?

 

[Immaculate]

Skyrimwith high res textures and modded has been known to cause bad stutter due to lack of VRAM. Usually 2GB is enough for 1080p but with texture mods and everything else it use more VRAM than 2GB. The 4GB GTX 770 would be good pick. Theres also a new memory fix for the CTDs people were getting. Look up something like "Skyrim memory fix Sheson". Sheson being the person who made the fix. This fix can get you playing with a Ugridstoload 13 all day without CTDs.

 

[Immaculate]

MSI Twin Frozr cooling is excellent at cooling. Only cooler you need is a CPU cooler, preferably Noctua.

 

[Bad_Kitty13]

Thanks for the feedback so far I have updated my list to this: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.96 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($155.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($253.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1449.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-01 13:39 EST-0500)

Would I be able to do some modding with the 2gb or should I consider the 4gb, and since it says that it is oc'd out of the box should I get a cooler now or can it wait until I get the second?

if you are going to be doing modding you should go with a 3gb or 4gb card. modding on most games goes above 2gb on 1080 gaming. usually for the 770s all the non reference cooler versions have a 4 gb version for a 40-50 price increase. just log onto pcpartfinder and on the advanced search side bar select 770 and 4gb and it will populate. and msi does have a 4gb twin frozr.

 

[Jukey]

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Would this be a good one t9o go with the msi's are sold out and can they be oc'd?

 

[Bad_Kitty13]

yes evga is one of the best manufacturers (of gpus) and yes it can be overclocked

 

[Jukey]

Thanks so much for all of the info and suggestions I think I have my build all figured out now. I will try to pick a solution in a bit but you ask helped immensely.

 

[Immaculate]

For GTX 770s go EVGA, try to get a DUAL bios version, or a DUAL BIOS Classified version. DUAL BIOS allows for a sepearte BIOS dedicated for overclocking.