Thoughts on this build? What can I change for the better?

[jpugh99]

A friend of mine told me that he has no budget and wants to build a PC. I decided to help him and this is the build I came up with. He isn't very tech savvy so no water cooling or anything too difficult.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vpfvBm.
He said he's willing to spend $5000 dollars but I see no point in going that high. He is going to use it to play new gaming titles and a few old ones. I feel like this build is still sort of overkill. Thoughts?

 

[Lightning7]

Some games have problems with SLI, I would rather take a GTX 980 or a GTX 980 ti over two 970s.

 

[blazorthon]

It's overkill for 1080p gaming. For 1440p, 1080p3D, and 4K with lowered settings, it's more ideal. However, you can make some changes to save money and improve overall performance anyway.

For one, ditch the ridiculously expensive RAM. You can get double the capacity of DDR3-2133 for less money than that kit and you won't notice any performance difference.

Second, switch the 970s out for a single 980 Ti. The 980 Ti is a better option. You can also save a lot of money with a cheaper case, unless your friend really needs a huge $150 full tower. Considering that the monitor is only a 1080p monitor, a single GTX 970 would be a good option to save money.

Also, are you going to overclock the build? If not, then consider a cheaper motherboard. You can easily save another $50 to $100 that way.

 

[blazorthon]

Here is a better memory kit for the money:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f32133c11d16gxl
DDR3-2133 2x8GB. There are even 4x8GB kits for $150, but 32GB is overkill for a gaming oriented computer.

 

[jpugh99]

It's overkill for 1080p gaming. For 1440p, 1080p3D, and 4K with lowered settings, it's more ideal. However, you can make some changes to save money and improve overall performance anyway.

For one, ditch the ridiculously expensive RAM. You can get double the capacity of DDR3-2133 for less money than that kit and you won't notice any performance difference.

Second, switch the 970s out for a single 980 Ti. The 980 Ti is a better option. You can also save a lot of money with a cheaper case, unless your friend really needs a huge $150 full tower. Considering that the monitor is only a 1080p monitor, a single GTX 970 would be a good option to save money.

Also, are you going to overclock the build? If not, then consider a cheaper motherboard. You can easily save another $50 to $100 that way.

He wanted to pick out the case and he won't budge on that. He is most likely going to try overclocking, and I will help him on that, so I want to give him the choice if he wants to. I'll go with cheaper RAM and a 980 Ti.

 

[RazerZ]

The extra tube of thermal paste isn't needed, the 212 EVO comes with a packet. Also replace the Logitech headset for the HyperX Cloud.

 

[jpugh99]

I talked to him and he said he wanted a great quality headset/mic so I decided to switch the headset for Sennheiser HD 598 Headphones and a Blue Microphones Yeti Pro 4-Pattern USB Microphone. I don't know much about this but they look like very good quality items. If there is anything better then please let me know. Also, I prefer Arctic Silver 5 over the Coolermaster stuff. Just preference and it's only $5.

 

[RazerZ]

I would get the 558 since they are on sale for $80 and have nearly the exact same sound as the 598. They both share the same drivers. For the Mic I'd look into a USB cardioid dynamic mic since it's heart shaped pick up pattern will pick up only his voice while blocking out ambient noise from the background and the sound of his mouse/keyboard.

 

[jpugh99]

I would get the 558 since they are on sale for $80 and have nearly the exact same sound as the 598. They both share the same drivers. For the Mic I'd look into a USB cardioid dynamic mic since it's heart shaped pick up pattern will pick up only his voice while blocking out ambient noise from the background and the sound of his mouse/keyboard.

Okay, thank you for the help.