Here is my build, opinions?

[Jones586]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qsPgrH

That is my build, I was supposed to stay under $1000 but I can manage where it is at. Just wanted to get some opinions on all the hardware that I selected. I plan on playing everything but mostly MMORPGs.

Thoughts on switching to Windows 7? I have it on my laptop and am already familiar with it, I have never used Windows 8 and they are close to the same price.

I'm within 24 hours of purchasing everything and just wanted to get final thoughts from people who know more about gaming PCs.

 

[James Mason]

There's no reason to get a Z-series motherboard without a K-series processor, as the point of Z-series is to allow overclocking, and you can only overclock K-series processors.

So you can save money by downgrading to an H7x-series mobo.

Windows 8 is PRETTY different looking from windows 7, BUT you can fix it all that by installing www.classicshell.net and get the improved (slightly) performance benefits of windows 8. Microsoft will probably also make it cheaper to upgrade from windows 8 to windows 9 than it will from windows 7 to windows 9.

This is actually cheaper and better than what you had though:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.85 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($86.99 @ Mac Mall)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.36 @ Newegg)
Total: $1036.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-13 19:37 EDT-0400

 

[Jones586]

There's no reason to get a Z-series motherboard without a K-series processor, as the point of Z-series is to allow overclocking, and you can only overclock K-series processors.

So you can save money by downgrading to an H7x-series mobo.

Windows 8 is PRETTY different looking from windows 7, BUT you can fix it all that by installing www.classicshell.net and get the improved (slightly) performance benefits of windows 8. Microsoft will probably also make it cheaper to upgrade from windows 8 to windows 9 than it will from windows 7 to windows 9.

This is actually cheaper and better than what you had though:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.85 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($86.99 @ Mac Mall)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.36 @ Newegg)
Total: $1036.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-13 19:37 EDT-0400

Well I do plan on overclocking the processor if I need to, I'm not sure that I will need to with today's games but I would like to play everything on ultra settings. According what I have read the Core i5-4690K can be overclocked.

I will probably do what you said and download the shell for windows 8.

With the motherboard I currently have selected I can't overclock?

 

[James Mason]

There's no reason to get a Z-series motherboard without a K-series processor, as the point of Z-series is to allow overclocking, and you can only overclock K-series processors.

So you can save money by downgrading to an H7x-series mobo.

Windows 8 is PRETTY different looking from windows 7, BUT you can fix it all that by installing www.classicshell.net and get the improved (slightly) performance benefits of windows 8. Microsoft will probably also make it cheaper to upgrade from windows 8 to windows 9 than it will from windows 7 to windows 9.

This is actually cheaper and better than what you had though:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.85 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($86.99 @ Mac Mall)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.36 @ Newegg)
Total: $1036.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-13 19:37 EDT-0400

Well I do plan on overclocking the processor if I need to, I'm not sure that I will need to with today's games but I would like to play everything on ultra settings. According what I have read the Core i5-4690K can be overclocked.

I will probably do what you said and download the shell for windows 8.

With the motherboard I currently have selected I can't overclock?

Well you only linked to a thread in your OP, so i opened your last build link from the bottom, and it had a 3rd gen intel Mobo and CPU, and I chose you a better cheaper 4th gen mobo and cpu. 3rd and 4th gen parts aren't compatible with each each, but 4th and 4.5 gen are, sort of.

This was the link i went off of: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2GRzXL

But you couldn't overclock without getting a dfiferent CPU if you went with the old build.

You'd need a CPU with a K at the end of it to do that.

 

[Jones586]

There's no reason to get a Z-series motherboard without a K-series processor, as the point of Z-series is to allow overclocking, and you can only overclock K-series processors.

So you can save money by downgrading to an H7x-series mobo.

Windows 8 is PRETTY different looking from windows 7, BUT you can fix it all that by installing www.classicshell.net and get the improved (slightly) performance benefits of windows 8. Microsoft will probably also make it cheaper to upgrade from windows 8 to windows 9 than it will from windows 7 to windows 9.

This is actually cheaper and better than what you had though:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.85 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($86.99 @ Mac Mall)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.36 @ Newegg)
Total: $1036.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-13 19:37 EDT-0400

Well I do plan on overclocking the processor if I need to, I'm not sure that I will need to with today's games but I would like to play everything on ultra settings. According what I have read the Core i5-4690K can be overclocked.

I will probably do what you said and download the shell for windows 8.

With the motherboard I currently have selected I can't overclock?

Well you only linked to a thread in your OP, so i opened your last build link from the bottom, and it had a 3rd gen intel Mobo and CPU, and I chose you a better cheaper 4th gen mobo and cpu. 3rd and 4th gen parts aren't compatible with each each, but 4th and 4.5 gen are, sort of.

This was the link i went off of: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2GRzXL

But you couldn't overclock without getting a dfiferent CPU if you went with the old build.

You'd need a CPU with a K at the end of it to do that.

Sorry, here is the build I was wanting opinions on.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qsPgrH

 

[Greybeard Croft]

You'd need a CPU with a K at the end of it to do that.

Or grab the Intel Pentium G3258 Anniversary, that bad boy is like $70 bucks and UNLOCKED.

Update: That is if you want to Overclock.

 

[gear999]

It seems fine except for a few things.
Why cheap out on the motherboard? You need a Z series mobo to OC. I'd say get a cheaper air cooler (212 EVO, Noctua coolers, etc) and get an ATX Z series mobo. Also no need for such an expensive case. The rest seems fine.

 

[mlga91]

Get an z97 motherboard, so you can overclock that 4690k, with water cooling you can get insane speeds on that thing. If you dont plan to overclock, you can replace that i5 with a locked one, take out the water cooler (because you will not need it) and get a r9 290x.

 

[Greybeard Croft]

This is more a joke build then anything but yeah take a look anyway.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pVTzXL

 

[Jones586]

Get an z97 motherboard, so you can overclock that 4690k, with water cooling you can get insane speeds on that thing. If you dont plan to overclock, you can replace that i5 with a locked one, take out the water cooler (because you will not need it) and get a r9 290x.

Ok cool, so if I keep everything I have except the motherboard what should I get? There is a huge list of Z97 boards and I have no clue what to pick.

 

[Jones586]

This is more a joke build then anything but yeah take a look anyway.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pVTzXL

Looks like it's a video card heavy build? I thought about building this way but sounds better to do more of a balanced build.

 

[mlga91]

Get an z97 motherboard, so you can overclock that 4690k, with water cooling you can get insane speeds on that thing. If you dont plan to overclock, you can replace that i5 with a locked one, take out the water cooler (because you will not need it) and get a r9 290x.

Ok cool, so if I keep everything I have except the motherboard what should I get? There is a huge list of Z97 boards and I have no clue what to pick.

You could try this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157528&cm_re=z97-_-13-157-528-_-Product

Or if you want to try sli or crossfire configurations in a future you can try like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130771&cm_re=z97-_-13-130-771-_-Product

 

[Greybeard Croft]

This is more a joke build then anything but yeah take a look anyway.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pVTzXL

Looks like it's a video card heavy build? I thought about building this way but sounds better to do more of a balanced build.

It is, but that processor is unlocked, and being a dual core, requires less power and generates less heat, so more OC headroom.
I think...
Again, more or less a joke build.

 

[James Mason]

This is more a joke build then anything but yeah take a look anyway.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pVTzXL

Looks like it's a video card heavy build? I thought about building this way but sounds better to do more of a balanced build.

It is, but that processor is unlocked, and being a dual core, requires less power and generates less heat, so more OC headroom.
I think...
Again, more or less a joke build.

But even overclocked it only performed marginally better than a non overclocked i3.

And to overclock it you ahve to spend more money on the motherboard, and cooling. Whereas you can run an i3 with a cheap h81 board and the stock fan.

 

[Greybeard Croft]

This is more a joke build then anything but yeah take a look anyway.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pVTzXL

Looks like it's a video card heavy build? I thought about building this way but sounds better to do more of a balanced build.

It is, but that processor is unlocked, and being a dual core, requires less power and generates less heat, so more OC headroom.
I think...
Again, more or less a joke build.

But even overclocked it only performed marginally better than a non overclocked i3.

And to overclock it you ahve to spend more money on the motherboard, and cooling. Whereas you can run an i3 with a cheap h81 board and the stock fan.

You can get that cpu to over 4ghz with the right cooler easy.
I understand there are so many better options for value/performance, this is just a great chip to OC for 80 bucks..
That was really my point.

 

[James Mason]

This is more a joke build then anything but yeah take a look anyway.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pVTzXL

Looks like it's a video card heavy build? I thought about building this way but sounds better to do more of a balanced build.

It is, but that processor is unlocked, and being a dual core, requires less power and generates less heat, so more OC headroom.
I think...
Again, more or less a joke build.

But even overclocked it only performed marginally better than a non overclocked i3.

And to overclock it you ahve to spend more money on the motherboard, and cooling. Whereas you can run an i3 with a cheap h81 board and the stock fan.

You can get that cpu to over 4ghz with the right cooler easy.
I understand there are so many better options for value/performance, this is just a great chip to OC for 80 bucks..
That was really my point.

Ghz isn't everything. going only by Ghz will lead you down the wrong path.

 

[Greybeard Croft]

This is more a joke build then anything but yeah take a look anyway.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pVTzXL

Looks like it's a video card heavy build? I thought about building this way but sounds better to do more of a balanced build.

It is, but that processor is unlocked, and being a dual core, requires less power and generates less heat, so more OC headroom.
I think...
Again, more or less a joke build.

But even overclocked it only performed marginally better than a non overclocked i3.

And to overclock it you ahve to spend more money on the motherboard, and cooling. Whereas you can run an i3 with a cheap h81 board and the stock fan.

You can get that cpu to over 4ghz with the right cooler easy.
I understand there are so many better options for value/performance, this is just a great chip to OC for 80 bucks..
That was really my point.

Ghz isn't everything. going only by Ghz will lead you down the wrong path.

True, it is only a dual core as well. IMHO I'd buy these chips as disposables for overclocks.

 

[Jones586]

Here is the exact build I ended up with except I only payed $1425 for everything at Micro Center.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jones586/saved/PH7G3C

Thanks everyone for the help, turned out to be easier than I had thought to build it myself.

Now all I need to do is get more storage. Should I just add a regular HDD or should I get SSD?

Also every time I reboot my USB WiFi receiver disconnects, I unplug it and plug it back in and it works fine. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks again.

 

[RobCrezz]

A combo of a 240gb SSD + a 1 or 2tb HDD will be a good setup.

Try your USB Wifi in a different port, it might just be a badly made usb wifi. I would suggest using Powerline Ethernet plugs on a desktop computer, better performance than wifi and way more reliable.

 

[mlga91]

Here is the exact build I ended up with except I only payed $1425 for everything at Micro Center.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jones586/saved/PH7G3C

Thanks everyone for the help, turned out to be easier than I had thought to build it myself.

Now all I need to do is get more storage. Should I just add a regular HDD or should I get SSD?

Also every time I reboot my USB WiFi receiver disconnects, I unplug it and plug it back in and it works fine. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks again.

Most people use a ssd for the OS and a hard drive for general storage, so, i sugest to also get a HDD, if you still have problems with the wifi adapter use a pcie adapter.

 

[Jones586]

A combo of a 240gb SSD + a 1 or 2tb HDD will be a good setup.

Try your USB Wifi in a different port, it might just be a badly made usb wifi. I would suggest using Powerline Ethernet plugs on a desktop computer, better performance than wifi and way more reliable.

I wish I would have known about those when I went to best by lol I think I still can take back my USB and switch so I'll probably do that.