gaming pc build

[squall1945]

My current set up for a pc build focused on gaming. Any thoughts, and or recommendations are all recommended as this is my first time doing this.

http://

 

[atheus]

Looks pretty good. My main suggestion would be that if you can afford it, consider going with a ~250 GB SSD for your main drive, and then a cheaper 2TB or so HDD for bulk file storage. A computer running off an SSD feels amazingly faster. It would add about $200 to your overall build cost.

My other suggestion would be that if you're just using 8GB of memory, get a single 8GB chip rather than 2x4GB. There really isn't a performance or price difference, and you leave the door open to more upgrades down the road. One minor point would be that you could get away with a 450-500 watt power supply if you want, but 650 is fine too, if you're looking for the ability to pop a GTX 980 Ti or some SLI 960's or 970's in there down the road, or whatever.

 

[Silverbear]

That's a pretty good build, I did some slight tweaking:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.22 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.79 @ OutletPC)
Total: $902.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-18 04:49 EDT-0400

-MSI Gaming Motherboard, has great overclocking features, and I just prefer MSI in general.
-You don't necessarily need a Caviar Black HDD, A Caviar Blue will give you the same performance at a cheaper cost
-Added lower latency RAM
-Added a 280X, same price as the GTX 960 but will give you better performance in almost every game and has 1GB more of VRAM to help at higher resolutions
-Added a cheap but solid CPU cooler, you don't want to be gaming with a stock cooler

I didn't know if you already had the TX650 PSU (since there is no price on the list) so I added an XFX just in case.

 

[squall1945]

8GB instead of 4? I'll go that route. what brand ssd do you recommend or does it really matter? SLI? That's two gpus running in one system correct? What's the difference between running two gpus vs having one powerful gpu? Or which would be the best choice to go in gaming?

 

[squall1945]

I currently own the PSU, and the case the rest I don't own.

 

[Silverbear]

Great SSD to use as a Boot Drive:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OAJ5N6I/?tag=pcpapi-20

Two 970s in SLI can beat a 980 at a more expensive price tag of course:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_970_SLI/9.html

I added an SSD to my build if you wanted to use it as a boot drive and got rid of the PSU and Case since the TX650 is pretty good and you already have them:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.22 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.79 @ OutletPC)
Total: $849.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-18 05:06 EDT-0400

Also, 2X4GB RAM is fine, you don't save any money going with a single RAM chip and you'd lose 18% of memory bandwidth. And RAM works better in kits, if you get one 8GB chip now and get another 8GB chip 2 months later, they could be the same exact product but not work together.

 

[atheus]

8GB instead of 4? I'll go that route. what brand ssd do you recommend or does it really matter? SLI? That's two gpus running in one system correct? What's the difference between running two gpus vs having one powerful gpu? Or which would be the best choice to go in gaming?

At this point in time, I wouldn't bother thinking about dual GPU build — especially if you're starting from scratch. A single 970 or 980 can do a brilliant job with pretty much any game unless you're trying to do 4k, in which case you're in for a much more expensive system. For 1080p a 960 can handle itself plenty well too.

When you add a second GPU you're going to be using a lot more electricity and making a lot more heat in your case. It's just all around wasteful and unnecessary for most people, not to mention certain games won't even get much of a boost if it isn't optimized for SLI properly.

The time to think about a second GPU is in a few years when there is a new generation of GPU's on the market, and your current GPU is dirt cheap. Sometimes you can throw a second copy of your current GPU in for a small price tag and get a few more years out of your current equipment. Even then, though, I tend to stick to a single GPU. I like a small electricity bill, and a small carbon footprint.

 

[squall1945]

I wasn't planning on going SLI or anything starting out. That would definitely be a down the road kind of thing. So now I'm just looking at the gpu then which one should I get the R9 280x or gtx 960. I'm going to look into those 2 today. Thanks for the help everyone.