Need help building a new gaming rig for a budget under 1400$

[Nabil_2]

Hello all,

I have not built a gaming rig in about 4 years, I had bought the Alienware 17 gaming laptop fully maximized for around 4000$ 2 years ago and had it stolen last year, which sucks. It was my first laptop gaming experience and I want to go back to desktops, so I need recommendation to build a new desktop.

I am not up to date with today's components. But I would like to have a budget desktop which I can upgrade little by little to optimize it.

My budget is 1400$ tx included and I live in Quebec, Canada, I can build the system myself. I only play RPGs and MMORPGs, the most GPU intensive game I will be playing is Witcher 3, but if it ends up costing me a few hundreds more just for this game, I can skip it for now as I know that it's really GPU intensive.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 2 weeks

Budget Range: Total is up to 1400$ tx and shipping included

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Mostly mmo and rpg gaming.

Are you buying a monitor: No, already have one.

Do you need to buy OS: Not sure, I have my alienware OEM win 7 on a USB and the serial number, not sure if I can use it or not, if not, then I need a new OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Don't have any, in the past, I used to buy the parts in local stores

Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Parts Preferences: The only two musts are Intel for CPU and Nvidia for Graphics

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Not necessary for now, but maybe for the future

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200 Dell Ultrasharp

Additional Comments: Games I play: LOTRO, Rift, EQ 2, Guild wars 2, ESO. Also, in the summer, in my apartment, it gets very hot, so something with good cooling is needed.

 

[Barty1884]

Ok, $1,400 is a capable budget for what you want.

The Windows install media from your Alienware, being OEM is not transferrable, so Windows will need to be included.

So, a Haswell build - with a GTX 960. Keeps your overclocking & SLI options available
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.10 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97 PRO GAMER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($172.61 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($55.23 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($118.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.10 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($299.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Raider ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1390.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 12:18 EST-0500

Or a Skylake option. Again, same options maintained.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($346.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($102.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($179.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($57.60 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($118.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.10 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($299.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Raider ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1429.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 12:20 EST-0500

 

[Nabil_2]

Great thank you very much for the quick answer, the help is really appreciated, for the 40$ more, I guess the second option is better as there is faster memory and a better CPU.

Out of curiosity, would this system play Witcher 3 at decent settings?

Also for Win 10, is it good for gaming or still a lot of bugs?

Thank you

 

[Barty1884]

To be honest, they're probably about equal with each other performance-wise. Whether you'd want to spend that slight extract to be on the latest microarchitecture is entirely your call. Realistically though, going forward you'll need DDR4, so if you buy it now, at least you have it.

Sounds like you need more CPU intensiveness that GPU, hence the 960 (as you specified nVidia only for GPU). Still a good card and you should have no problems pushing medium-high settings on Witcher 3

Windows 10, the bugs were rare anyway. A lot of the problems stemmed from 'upgrades' and not 'clean installs'. I've had minimal problems (AMD's Crimson drivers fixed my only issue). As you'd be performing a clean install, I wouldn't expect you to have any problems at all.

Besides, with DX12 being exclusive to Windows 10, you'll likely end up on W10 sooner than later anyway (and I understand MS are getting really 'pushy' about the upgrade now)

 

[Nabil_2]

Excellent, well thanks again for the help!! I just thought about it, and I might wait until my other pay to add a little to my budget to get the DDR4 as you suggested and maybe an upgrade on the graphics card, not sure yet, but I will go with the second solution overall.

 

[Barty1884]

As far as the GPU upgrade, you might want to consider AMD solutions too - they're falling behind on CPUs by a long distance to Intel, but the gap really isn't there between AMD / nVidia for GPUs.

The R9 380 is priced well & sits somewhere between the GTX 960 and GTX 970, but the R9 390 has the slight nod ahead of the 970.
The VRAM (8GB) of the 390 would also help if you wanted to push your resolution on - to 4k infact.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($346.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.98 @ NCIX)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($63.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($112.60 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.10 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Raider ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1456.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 13:30 EST-0500

I've had to change out the cooler - to avoid blowing your budget. Changed the motherboard out to one that is CrossFire compatible (AMD's version of SLI) incase you wanted to keep that option open. AMD Cards use more power, so the 750W PSU would have to be changed out - if you want to keep the CrossFire option.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($346.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.98 @ NCIX)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($63.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($112.60 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Raider ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.98 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1509.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 13:33 EST-0500

 

[Nabil_2]

Well to be honest, if I decide to wait one more paycheck instead of acting impatiently, I can go up to 2000$ budget lol! I would rather pay less, but if I'm gonna be penalized for the performance, then I'd rather go up to 2000$. I want to upgrade later, but don't want to start too low either. What are your thoughts?

 

[superninja12]

the r9 390 can max out all games with your budget(except hair works but that isn't even possible with a 700$gpu).

 

[Barty1884]

Depends what you want to upgrade later - realistically, if you spend your money right initially, all you'd need to upgrade would maybe be your GPU in a couple of years (or, if you go near the 'top of the line' from a GPU perspective, all you'd need to do is lower your settings over time. It'd still be more than capable in 5 years, depending on what you do/play).

Putting a build together "to upgrade" rarely works out well in the long run (except the GPU that I've covered off).

Spending $2k from the outset, considering what you use it for would not be a good investment (in my opinion, of course).


If I were you, it'd take the i5 build + R9 390, increase the RAM to 16GB (simply because the price difference isn't much), with a slightly better CPU liquid cooler than the H55 and the 750W PSU for a single GPU.
Pay a little more than $1,500 initially, then all you have to worry about in future is overclocking (which you're already set up for) and replacing the GPU if you need to in a few years - although, considering what you'd use it for, I doubt you'll need to replace for a long time.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($346.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i GT 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.98 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($112.60 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Raider ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1540.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 13:54 EST-0500

 

[Nabil_2]

And all the games are optimized well on the 390? I know that a couple of years ago, Nvidia had made a big push adn AMD gpu were not worth getting because of some optimization issues.

 

[superninja12]

the games atm are optimalized well for your resolution and a 390 on a 2k screen the 390 is par with a gtx 980.

 

[Barty1884]

The disparity isn't really there anymore - at least not to the same degree. Some games do favour one or the other, that's true, but rarely to the point of any truly noticeable difference.

Driver availability has also improved dramatically - if you find something that favours nVidia or AMD more than slightly, the next driver release will usually fix that.

Honestly, each nVidida/AMD card has a comparable from the competitor - with AMD's being slightly cheaper in a lot of cases, but with the slight trade off of increased power consumption

the games atm are optimalized well for your resolution and a 390 on a 2k screen the 390 is par with a gtx 980.

Depending on the exact game etc, but generally that's a fair enough comment.

Pushing your resolution on past 2k and the 390 would serve you a little better (although you haven't mentioned going beyond the 1920x1200 monitor you have at the moment)

 

[Nabil_2]

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($346.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i GT 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.98 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($112.60 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Raider ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1540.12

I feel much more comfortable going with this solution than the previous ones, and it's not much more expensive, the only upgrade I'll do to it now is the tower as I don't like how it looks hahahaha!!

I will take a chance with the 390 card, I just checked some reviews and it seems like a good card.

Thank you a lot for all the help guys, I'm a happy camper now haha!

 

[superninja12]

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($346.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i GT 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.98 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($112.60 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Raider ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1540.12

I feel much more comfortable going with this solution than the previous ones, and it's not much more expensive, the only upgrade I'll do to it now is the tower as I don't like how it looks hahahaha!!

I will take a chance with the 390 card, I just checked some reviews and it seems like a good card.

Thank you a lot for all the help guys, I'm a happy camper now haha!

do you play runescape by any chance? and was your name guruboy or in that area?

 

[Nabil_2]

I tried it once, but can't say I played it, I lasted 10 minutes before I quit lol!! It's not my cup of tea

 

[superninja12]

haha okey

 

[Barty1884]

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($346.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i GT 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.98 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($112.60 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($429.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Raider ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1540.12

I feel much more comfortable going with this solution than the previous ones, and it's not much more expensive, the only upgrade I'll do to it now is the tower as I don't like how it looks hahahaha!!

I will take a chance with the 390 card, I just checked some reviews and it seems like a good card.

Thank you a lot for all the help guys, I'm a happy camper now haha!

Glad you're happy. Be sure to post back with some pictures of your build! Good luck!

As far as the case, that's 100% personal preference. I only selected it as it was very reasonably priced, fairly plain (which is the 'safe' bet, not everybody wants bright neons & windows etc), from a reputable manufacturer & could accommodate the components.

The case is the one area it's pretty much impossible to go wrong, as long as you consider motherboard form-factor, GPU length and cable management potential.

 

[Nabil_2]

Excellent, will post a picture as soon as I receive the parts and build it