In preparation for Black Friday deals. Approve my build?

[Jay_Gally]

Hi all. I've been doing my research the past month or so trying to perfect a pc build. I plan on mainly enjoying some pc games finally as most of my gaming experiences comes from consoles. I also would like to stream some gameplay from my xbone/PS4 occasionally. I don't intend to stream while playing pc games however.

I'd like to hover around the 1k price point. As you can see, I'm a tad above it now. But I'm open to changes.

Let's get to my build. It's my first build so any/all input is appreciated.

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 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($199.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($116.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($313.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cougar Vortex PWM 70.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($14.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1263.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-26 12:41 EDT-0400

 

[Litaphn]

Thats a very good build. I would suggest going for a GTX 970 instead of the R9 390, mainly because it has a lower power requirement and doesnt heat up quite as much as the R9 390. But if you plan on gaming on a monitor at a resolution of more than 1080p, then go with theR9 390. You can save money bygetting a i5 4690 as long as you dont plan on overclocking. That way you can save money on the cooler too. Overclocking affects performance a lot,but it will not tremendously change your gaming experience. Also instead of getting a 2*4gb sticks of RAM, get one stick of 8gb RAM. Then later on you can upgrade it to dual channel RAM by buying another stick when you have the funds.

 

[Darkseiders]

I would recommend the R9 390, because you can use it for 1440p later on without upgrading your GPU. The i5-4690k is only ~$15 extra. That cooler is basically as much as you need for just about anything, and I wouldn't go any cheaper than that. Overall, This build looks great!

 

[faalin]

Thats a very good build. I would suggest going for a GTX 970 instead of the R9 390, mainly because it has a lower power requirement and doesnt heat up quite as much as the R9 390. But if you plan on gaming on a monitor at a resolution of more than 1080p, then go with theR9 390. You can save money bygetting a i5 4690 as long as you dont plan on overclocking. That way you can save money on the cooler too. Overclocking affects performance a lot,but it will not tremendously change your gaming experience. Also instead of getting a 2*4gb sticks of RAM, get one stick of 8gb RAM. Then later on you can upgrade it to dual channel RAM by buying another stick when you have the funds.

"Also instead of getting a 2*4gb sticks of RAM, get one stick of 8gb RAM. Then later on you can upgrade it to dual channel RAM by buying another stick when you have the funds"


That is some bad advice there, always get sticks in pairs. Trying to add another stick down the road doesnt always work. Im running two different Mushkin 2x4gb kits in my computer, both of them are blacklines 1600mhz cl8 bought a month apart. The only way to get them to work together is to drop them to a CL9 and up the voltage from 1.5 to 1.65v.

If you want 8GB which is fine for games now a days get a 2x4gb kit, if you want 16GB get a 2x8GB kit. dont buy a stick now and then add a stick later.

 

[Jay_Gally]

Funds really isn't a tremendous issue right now as I have some disposable income. The 1k price point is just where I feel comfortable with getting the most out of the tech that's out there and what games can run. With what I have, it seems to me that I can have a good gaming experience with almost any game out right now. I'm comfy with being at $1,200. I just wanted to make sure it passed the eye ball test. Thanks for all the input so far!

 

[Jay_Gally]

I would recommend the R9 390, because you can use it for 1440p later on without upgrading your GPU. The i5-4690k is only ~$15 extra. That cooler is basically as much as you need for just about anything, and I wouldn't go any cheaper than that. Overall, This build looks great!

Thanks for the advise. The majority of my research on gpu's at my price point suggested the difference between the two to be negligible. The R9 was better by ~3% over the gtx, but it did run hotter. I've considered making the jump to the 390x where the difference is more noticeable but then I'd be tempted to fine tune everything.

 

[faalin]

Spec wise it not a bad build and you should be very happy with it.


For me though i have narrowed down my fanboy'ism to an ROG motherboard, Mushkin ram, Intel SSD, and Nvidia EVGA videocard. But thats just me, its the same parts i have used for the last 3 build ive made.

 

[Jay_Gally]

Spec wise it not a bad build and you should be very happy with it.


For me though i have narrowed down my fanboy'ism to an ROG motherboard, Mushkin ram, Intel SSD, and Nvidia EVGA videocard. But thats just me, its the same parts i have used for the last 3 build ive made.

Just me thinking ahead. If I wanted to, with everything I have, could I easily just put in an I7 and replace the I5 if need be? Maybe upgrade the gpu also. I've been looking into the Fallout specs and I'm having second thoughts.

 

[Darkseiders]

You don't really need an i7, but yes you can.