HELP! Finding the Right Parts for Building My PC

RabidWhale

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Nov 19, 2014
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I am a big gamer but i also do other stuff like music creation with FL Studios. I'm looking into building a PC and need some help/tips. These are some of the components I've been looking at. Please let me know if there are any better solutions for around the same price range. If possible id like to stay under $1500 and the less $ the better.

Processor - Intel Core i7-3770K

PCU Cooler - Corsair H100i,

Motherboard either a ASrock Z77 Extreme4 or ASUS Z87-A (if they are even compatible with my PCU!)

RAM - Corsair Vengeance 16GB(2x8GB) DDR3 1600MHz

GPU - ASUS GeForce GTX 970-STRIX (Is this the best option in GTX model as well as manufacture. Should I go with a Gigabyte or MSi)

Storage Drives - WD 1TB Hard Drive and Intel 730 Series 240GB SSD

Power Supply - IDK.. I need an opinion on this. what would best run with the stuff I've listed so far? How many Vs should I need.

PC Case - Cooler Master Trooper Rev. 2 (If there's something better for the money please let me know. also looks do mean something to me in a case)

Monitor - as for a monitor im pretty clueless. all I know is I want good quality display that's not too expensive.

Other - I may be interested in upgrading to two GPUs (or SLI) in the future so id like my motherboard and other things to have that capability.
 
This is what I'd do with 1200$, with room for one or two monitors and an extra GTX 970:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($252.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan ORANGE 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($135.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF XM (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1201.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-19 16:39 EST-0500
 
A non overclocking buidl:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Dark Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: PNY Optima 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.99 @ Directron)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($21.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer G246HLAbd 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1306.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-19 16:42 EST-0500

And a overclocking one:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.97 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($123.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Dark Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: PNY Optima 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.99 @ Directron)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($21.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer G246HLAbd 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1421.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-19 16:45 EST-0500

I just put a cheap case, since offers good value, is still below your budget so you can choose another case.
 
Solution


Thank you! this will certainly help. Just some quick questions. First off, what is the benefit of choosing the Intel Xeon over say a core i7 or a i5 and also whats the difference in getting different manufactures for the GPU. Like you suggested EVGAs version but is there really any benefit in getting that one over the ASUS model?
 


Thank you sooo much! this helps a ton in deciding what parts to get. Whats your opinion on keyboards?
 

Some Xeons (including the one selected) are essentially i7s without the integrated graphics. That;s it.
I myself prefer EVGA, but the brand would be entirely your choice. The main difference is that the Superclocked card comes with a higher clock than the Strix card. A small detail i like a lot is that EVGA includes a DVI to VGA adapter in ALL their products (that I have checked). It's handy if you have an old monitor, like me. EVGA also includes a few stickers:)