Looking for Possible Tips on Building Computers

[cayial]

Hello. I am looking for some tips on possibly building a mid to upper range gaming pc as opposed to buying one. I am looking to get good performance on games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and below on at least mid to high settings. I thought that a possibility for a CPU is an Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5 GHz, it is powerful and prices on Amazon at about $240. How should I go about looking for some other parts? I really would like to look at a possibility of building a computer, because you can get more power and use for less money than buying a pre-built one. I would also like to have the experience on building them. So, can someone provide some tips for me please? I would like to know mostly which other parts match the CPU I was thinking about and if the CPU would run games like Advanced Warfare well. For a GPU, I was considering something around an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M 1.5GB, and maybe 8GB DDR4 RAM. So, any tips really can help me, and thanks in advance! My budget is about $700-800.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

If gaming is what you want you do, an i5 is a good CPU, although a cheaper locked 4440 or 4460, depending on current pricing, is fine. Overclocking will cost quite a bit and not give you very much.

A H97 motherboard with 8Gb of DDR3-1600 memory is standard. DDR4 is too expensive, along with the motherboard and CPU needed to go with it.

A 128 or 256 GB SSD for boot, OS, and applications would be good, otherwise, a 1Tb HHD for storage.

A decent PSU is essential.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $789.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-25 12:32 EST-0500

 

[Math Geek]

here is an idea. the 4690k is a good cpu but puts your gpu budget too low. i swapped it out for a 4460 which is very good as well just not unlocked. this is a complete build. if you don't need windows or the case or dvd drive or whatever, then the money can go back to the cpu. but this is very solid and will game well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $731.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-25 12:35 EST-0500

edit: sorry forgot ram some how

 

[cayial]

If gaming is what you want you do, an i5 is a good CPU, although a cheaper locked 4440 or 4460, depending on current pricing, is fine. Overclocking will cost quite a bit and not give you very much.

A H97 motherboard with 8Gb of DDR3-1600 memory is standard. DDR4 is too expensive, along with the motherboard and CPU needed to go with it.

A 128 or 256 GB SSD for boot, OS, and applications would be good, otherwise, a 1Tb HHD for storage.

A decent PSU is essential.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $789.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-25 12:32 EST-0500

Thank you for the information DonkeyOatie, it is very helpful to me as a possible build for me to follow. However, I have a probably obvious question, so I apologize in advance, but isn't GeForce GTX a product from NVIDIA? What is Zotac? Thank you for the information though.

 

[cayial]

here is an idea. the 4690k is a good cpu but puts your gpu budget too low. i swapped it out for a 4460 which is very good as well just not unlocked. this is a complete build. if you don't need windows or the case or dvd drive or whatever, then the money can go back to the cpu. but this is very solid and will game well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $731.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-25 12:35 EST-0500

edit: sorry forgot ram some how

Thank you as well for your information. Math Geek. This is also a build I would consider, and I thank you for responding.

 

[Math Geek]

zotac is the manufacturer of the card itself. nvidia is the maker of the gpu chip itself. nvidia provides the chip and reference designes to manufacturers and they then make the board and cooling and such using that chip. same with amd. radeon is the gpu chip but all the brands have cards with these chips in them.

same as buying a dell pc with an intel cpu. dell is the brand of the pc but intel is the brand of the cpu inside it.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

NVidia makes a version of the GTX960. It's referred to as a reference card and is the 'standard' model. Other manufacturers, following NVidia's guidelines take that and enhance it in various ways, but making it run faster, quieter, or cooler, or all of the above.

Read this and you will see. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-launch,28435.html

The Zotac card is comparatively cheap and fast and Zotac is a reputable company. Read some reviews and choose a card that you like the sound of.

You can see that Math Geek and I have selected very similar systems, with similar performance, each with our own slightly different spin.

The GTX 960 and R9 280 are similar in performance.