Gaming PC Build

crobillard

Honorable
Dec 15, 2013
23
0
10,510
Hey guys. I've been here a lot over the last few months trying to decide what to build for my gaming PC. So far I've been all around the spectrum, budget builds, high cost builds, etc. I'm coming to the realization that I'm building a PC for my expectations of what I'll use it for. So, I come to you guys once more. I'd like to tell you what I use my PC for currently and hopefully you can tell me what I need out of a build.

I do a lot of internet searching, watch a lot of youtube and movies. I have a pretty large collection of music and I would like to expand. I do some light gaming, but nothing too graphics intensive. I want the games I play to be played on the highest settings possible. Like I said, I don't play anything too crazy graphics-wise, but I find that I can't play these games with very high quality on my current computer. I play Total War Rome 2, SimCity, Walking Dead The Game, and Final Fantasy Realm Reborn. These are the most current games I have been playing. As I have no experience in gaming PCs I'm not quite sure what I'll need here.

I know some of the build is up to preference, so I'm thinking 250GB SSD with a 500GB mechanical HD. I definitely want Windows 7 and a motherboard that has a high quality audio. I don't need high res or anything like that though. I love the Fractal Design R4, so I'm pretty sold on that case.

What kind of build do you think I'll benefit most from?
 
Solution
war total rome 2 locks you into a haswell i5/i7... that game is coded like crap and will tax even a highly overclocked state of the art intel cpu on the highest settings (actually the game is purportedly so badly coded and buggy it's not really playable at all on any current cpu on it's highest settings)

since you're an audiophile i would suggest either a good discrete sound card like a xonar or a high end motherboard like one of the asus ROG motherboards, as they have soundcard quality audiophile pleasing onboard sound.

If i'm on the right track so far, i'll get you a quiet system (i assume you'd like as quiet a computer as possible) build centering on that haswell for you, but i need to know what your budget is.
I should also say, I don't have a specific budget, but I don't think it should be as expensive as some of my other builds have been(approaching $2000) because I'm not playing BF4 or Skyrim or anything like that
 
you can start from this build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Beast 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($56.99 @ Mac Mall)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.95 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $943.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-18 22:15 EST-0500)
 
war total rome 2 locks you into a haswell i5/i7... that game is coded like crap and will tax even a highly overclocked state of the art intel cpu on the highest settings (actually the game is purportedly so badly coded and buggy it's not really playable at all on any current cpu on it's highest settings)

since you're an audiophile i would suggest either a good discrete sound card like a xonar or a high end motherboard like one of the asus ROG motherboards, as they have soundcard quality audiophile pleasing onboard sound.

If i'm on the right track so far, i'll get you a quiet system (i assume you'd like as quiet a computer as possible) build centering on that haswell for you, but i need to know what your budget is.
 
Solution
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($139.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($68.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.95 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($204.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1016.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-18 22:16 EST-0500)
 


You hit the nail right on the head with the ROG board. That is what I was looking at for the sound quality. I'm just not sure if I'll need many of the ROG's other features. Also, not sure if I'll need a crazy amazing sound card. Haha, I really don't do anything heavy enough to warrant the best of the best(I work a lot lol), so I want everything to work well though you know? I want great graphics and great sound, but don't need anything that blows me away. Not even sure I'll overclock.

I'm surprised Rome 2 is still having issues. I was hoping I could play it at some point haha. I've heard some people are having decent success, are the reviews just done on ridiculously high-end SLI/Crossfire-type computers or by someone who is overclocking an insane amount?
 


I like where you are going with this build. Comes at a price that I think is more along the lines of what I think I should be spending. Not big on ASRock though. I've heard their customer service is terrible. I like to back companies that have my back as well. Are you able to suggest another mobo?

I've heard EVGA is good for graphic cards are they better than MSI? Admittedly, while I know MSI is popular, I don't know much about their quality. Love the card choice. Everything else looks good. Do you have a monitor you could suggest for my use?
 


Love that I can purchase a top of the line graphics card in such a reasonably priced build. However, I don't think I'll require a 290x. Obviously, it wouldn't hurt, but I think I'd rather save money, drop the card down, snag a better CPU, so I can Rome 2 effectively, procure more ram (16gigs is what I'm thinking), and a better mobo. I'm just not a huge fan of ASRock. I've heard too many horror stories.

I think I feel pretty comfortable with nixing the cooler. I'll probably just use the stock cooler. If I was convinced to OC, I think I would go with something like a Noctua d14 unless you can think of something similar or better. I like pipe coolers.