Help with Gaming/Streaming PC - $1000

[Andrew_R]

So I really don't know a whole lot about what different parts are better or anything like that. I am going to be building a gaming PC for stuff like CS:GO, Minecraft, H1Z1, GTA V and similar games (also just started playing Borderlands with friends). Possibly stuff like Call of Duty, Battlefield, etc. Planning on getting Fallout 4. I also have Rainbow Six: Siege and The Division on preorder for Xbox One, but I might switch those to PC if I can. Basically, I want to be able to play whatever comes out on PC instead of Xbox. I want to hopefully be able to play on high settings at 60 fps.

I want to have a dual monitor setup and be able to stream/record while (hopefully) maintaining 60 fps. The dual monitors would be more used for multitasking rather than multi-monitor gaming. I saw that Xeon processors are good for streaming, and that a GTX 970 is good for graphics-intense games. I also would prefer a SSD of some sort, and I want the particular case that I have included if at all possible.

Budget is $1000 USD, no OS needed, and I will likely not be overclocking. Again, I've never built a computer before or created a parts list for myself. This list is just what I could combine from a couple different websites. Let me know if something looks weird or can be improved, or what you think I should go with given the circumstances.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($75.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Gunmetal/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $984.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-17 13:57 EDT-0400

 

[UrbanZyrx]

You have done your research my friend. I just made one small switch. I would suggest 16gb of RAM just because your going to be streaming, it will help with the amount of applications and software you have running at one time. You also had RAM speeds that were unsupported on your mobo.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($75.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($93.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($309.41 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Gunmetal/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1013.98

 

[Andrew_R]

You have done your research my friend. I just made one small switch. I would suggest 16gb of RAM just because your going to be streaming, it will help with the amount of applications and software you have running at one time. You also had RAM speeds that were unsupported on your mobo.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($75.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($93.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($309.41 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Gunmetal/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1013.98

Thank you for the RAM suggestion, I have changed my build accordingly. I also noticed that the original RAM I listed was very overpriced for 8 gigs.

As far as the processor goes, I had someone previously suggest to me to go with an Intel i7-4770 over the Xeon that I listed. Now, from what I researched, a Xeon performs similar to an i7 but has no integrated graphics (doesn't matter to me), and is not overclockable. Overclocking is not something that I'm really looking to do, if I don't have to. And if I were to go with the i7, I would have to lower the RAM to 8GB and the SSD capacity would drop to 120GB to stay in budget. Seems like some potentially big hits for something that wouldn't really benefit me at all over the cheaper, similar Xeon processor.

Question is, is my research correct? Would the Xeon actually be the best choice for me? Keep in mind, I have never gotten involved with streaming/recording, but I want the possibility to be there. I want to be able to do it. But the main priority of this build is, in fact, gaming.

And the ultimate question. Is this a GOOD gaming computer for what I will be spending? This will be my first build and I want something that will be very good for me and for the money, and will last a while.

Here's my part list now:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($75.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($93.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($339.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Gunmetal/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1048.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-19 14:19 EDT-0400

 

[Andrew_R]

Also, when looking at the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970, which model should I get? On the Amazon page, it takes me to the Mini ITX version. Then there's also the G1 Gaming and the WindForce versions. Which would I go for?

EDIT: The other two appear to be too long for the case that I chose. I have updated the build in the previous post with the MSI GTX 970 instead.

 

[UrbanZyrx]

Yes, your research is correct, the Xeon would be the best CPU for you. Even if streaming/editing isnt a thing for you at this moment, you defiantly want to have the capability of doing it at anytime. If your not looking at overclocking then again there's no reason to go with a locked i7. In regards to your second post, just find a good named brand for your GPU. Some might be slightly more expensive then others because they're pre-overclocked/have higher clock speeds. Look at ASUS, MSI, or EVGA series (all will do fine).

 

[Andrew_R]

Yes, your research is correct, the Xeon would be the best CPU for you. Even if streaming/editing isnt a thing for you at this moment, you defiantly want to have the capability of doing it at anytime. If your not looking at overclocking then again there's no reason to go with a locked i7. In regards to your second post, just find a good named brand for your GPU. Some might be slightly more expensive then others because they're pre-overclocked/have higher clock speeds. Look at ASUS, MSI, or EVGA series (all will do fine).

Great, thanks a lot for the help, I really appreciate it!

 

[UrbanZyrx]

Ahhh no worries, glad I could find a solution to your questions.

 

[Andrew_R]

Hello again, I wanted to ask opinions just one last time. I have added everything I will need as well as the peripherals (making the overall cost ~$1500). I also changed the motherboard to the ATX version rather than the micro-ATX version that I had (didn't really see a reason for the micro over the standard). I also am going with only 8gb of RAM initially. I decided that I would build now with 8, and if I see that I need more then I will buy another 8.

I'm not really looking for opinions on the monitors or the keyboard themselves, more so the actual PC. I want to make sure these are all good/compatible parts and that I am getting a good build for what I'm paying.

So, before I start ordering parts tomorrow, let me know what you think!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($246.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($108.36 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($339.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Gunmetal/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($17.85 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N250PCe 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($18.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($130.99 @ Best Buy)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($130.99 @ Best Buy)
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Chroma Wired Gaming Keyboard ($162.75 @ Amazon)
Total: $1505.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-29 15:40 EDT-0400

 

[UrbanZyrx]

Everything seems to be good IMO. You could get another case, since that one has come up in price. Just making sure, your not looking to SLI in the future, correct?

 

[Andrew_R]

Everything seems to be good IMO. You could get another case, since that one has come up in price. Just making sure, your not looking to SLI in the future, correct?

No plans on it as of right now. This will be my first build so I think I'm going to keep it simple in that regard.

Also, for this list I went ahead and checked the prices from each of the different places (sometimes shipping doesn't show up properly from certain stores on PCPP). The case was much lower from NCIX, but shipping was over $20, so I just used Best Buy instead because it would've been slightly cheaper. Most of the prices were the lowest from Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg, and I'm happy with buying from all three of them anyway, so I did an override wherever their prices were lower than the others.

 

[UrbanZyrx]

Okay thats fine. Ya the only thing is in the future if you decide to SLI you will need a stronger PSU, preferably a 650-850w depending on your budget.