Wanting to build my first gaming pc.

[Djones9431]

I'm wanting to build my first gaming pc but I'm unsure on what to get. I'm wanting to run the latest games at 1080p and 60 fps, my budget is about $1500 I prefer it to be Intel based. Help please.

 

[Brillis Wuce]

If you want a broad overview...
i7 4790K
Z97 Motherboard
8-16 GB RAM (1600-2400 MHz)
GTX 970/980
650-850 watt PSU

Are you looking for specific parts?

 

[DarkSable]

^ I would argue with that setup quite a bit.

1) Buying an i7 for gaming is just a waste of money - it's $100 more and is about 2 fps faster.

2) 8GB of ram is way, way more than enough for a gaming PC.

3) For 1080p and 60Hz, there's no reason to get a 980 - even a 970 is overkill, but since it can be afforded easily, go with it. If you don't care about completely maxxing out every single setting, a $200 960 is an incredibly smart buy.

4) The system you list there isn't even going to draw 400w under full load - a 500w or 550w of GOOD quality is a way better buy than a cheap 850w PSU.

 

[miggtt699]

I'm wanting to build my first gaming pc but I'm unsure on what to get. I'm wanting to run the latest games at 1080p and 60 fps, my budget is about $1500 I prefer it to be Intel based. Help please.

Would this do?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.69 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($160.91 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($179.99 @ Directron)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($170.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($526.30 @ Directron)
Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1536.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-13 15:41 EST-0500

 

[Brillis Wuce]

^ I would argue with that setup quite a bit.

1) Buying an i7 for gaming is just a waste of money - it's $100 more and is about 2 fps faster.

2) 8GB of ram is way, way more than enough for a gaming PC.

3) For 1080p and 60Hz, there's no reason to get a 980 - even a 970 is overkill, but since it can be afforded easily, go with it. If you don't care about completely maxxing out every single setting, a $200 960 is an incredibly smart buy.

4) The system you list there isn't even going to draw 400w under full load - a 500w or 550w of GOOD quality is a way better buy than a cheap 850w PSU.

I understand where you're coming from, and I won't bog down this thread too much, but more and more games are utilizing more cores (look at BF4 performance with i5 vs i7), 16 GB of RAM is great for running things while gaming or multitasking (HWMonitor, PrecisionX, Task Manager, LiveStream), and even my GTX 970 doesn't get 60 fps on all games, hence the 980.

 

[Guest]

first of all my friend don't buy an i7... go for i5-3450 (quad core with hyperthreading)... and as for the video card you should go for the gtx 750ti 2gb ddr5 which actually has a low psu requirements, u will have ta buy a motherboard of socket LGA 1155 which is actually cheaper and if this is for gaming purposes... the Gigabyte motherboard is the green card for u.. u must have a ram of atleat 6-8 gb ddr3, u must have a good case so Zebronics is a better option than Corsair. For a better PSU corsair cx 430 W will be more than enough and last but not the least u must have an HDD of 7200 rpm 1TB or 2TB.. This configuration is decent for your full hd gameplay. Thank You!!

 

[ykki]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Chaser A31 ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.60 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($92.00 @ B&H)
Total: $1510.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-17 00:32 EST-0500

 

[Brillis Wuce]

first of all my friend don't buy an i7... go for i5-3450 (quad core with hyperthreading)... and as for the video card you should go for the gtx 750ti 2gb ddr5 which actually has a low psu requirements, u will have ta buy a motherboard of socket LGA 1155 which is actually cheaper and if this is for gaming purposes... the Gigabyte motherboard is the green card for u.. u must have a ram of atleat 6-8 gb ddr3, u must have a good case so Zebronics is a better option than Corsair. For a better PSU corsair cx 430 W will be more than enough and last but not the least u must have an HDD of 7200 rpm 1TB or 2TB.. This configuration is decent for your full hd gameplay. Thank You!!

I'd just like to clarify a few things for Djones:

1. i5's don't have hyperthreading
2. 750ti is a good card, but not 1080p/60 fps good.
3. LGA 1155 is the older generation. It won't work with most CPU's available now.
4. Zebronics is a big hit or miss.
5. The CX series is a low quality line-up of power supplies.

 

[DarkSable]

I understand where you're coming from, and I won't bog down this thread too much, but more and more games are utilizing more cores (look at BF4 performance with i5 vs i7), 16 GB of RAM is great for running things while gaming or multitasking (HWMonitor, PrecisionX, Task Manager, LiveStream), and even my GTX 970 doesn't get 60 fps on all games, hence the 980.

Your post just above this one is absolutely correct, and this one has merit... if you can totally blow the money, there's no reason not to pimp out... but there's also no reason not to if the money could be useful somewhere else. That being said, a few points:

1) I have looked at the performance of Battlefield 4, and we're talking about a 2-3% increase in performance. That, to me, is NOT worth $100. Hyperthreading does very little for gaming because of the type of workload that gaming sends it, and I don't foresee that changing drastically enough in the future to make it worth $100 now instead of hedging bets and upgrading later if it's absolutely required.

2) 8GB of RAM (and no pagefile) is enough to open a folder of 100 bookmarks in Chrome, at once, with no slowdown. Or to run Battlefield 3, a project in Photoshop, AND 30 tabs in chrome simultaneously. HWMonitor, PrecisionX, and Task Manager would barely make a blip, and there's no game that requires more than 6GB on its own. (And that game is Skryim with dozens of mods.)

3) As for the 970 vs the 980... it's a lot more money to get a graphics card that will only be able to 'max out' the very few games the 970 can't for half a year, after which they'll both simply be very good GPUs that can still run nearly everything perfectly. If you want the 980, get it, but the smart money is on the 970.

Not trying to argue with you, just giving the other side of the coin.

 

[Brillis Wuce]

I understand where you're coming from, and I won't bog down this thread too much, but more and more games are utilizing more cores (look at BF4 performance with i5 vs i7), 16 GB of RAM is great for running things while gaming or multitasking (HWMonitor, PrecisionX, Task Manager, LiveStream), and even my GTX 970 doesn't get 60 fps on all games, hence the 980.

Your post just above this one is absolutely correct, and this one has merit... if you can totally blow the money, there's no reason not to pimp out... but there's also no reason not to if the money could be useful somewhere else. That being said, a few points:

1) I have looked at the performance of Battlefield 4, and we're talking about a 2-3% increase in performance. That, to me, is NOT worth $100. Hyperthreading does very little for gaming because of the type of workload that gaming sends it, and I don't foresee that changing drastically enough in the future to make it worth $100 now instead of hedging bets and upgrading later if it's absolutely required.

2) 8GB of RAM (and no pagefile) is enough to open a folder of 100 bookmarks in Chrome, at once, with no slowdown. Or to run Battlefield 3, a project in Photoshop, AND 30 tabs in chrome simultaneously. HWMonitor, PrecisionX, and Task Manager would barely make a blip, and there's no game that requires more than 6GB on its own. (And that game is Skryim with dozens of mods.)

3) As for the 970 vs the 980... it's a lot more money to get a graphics card that will only be able to 'max out' the very few games the 970 can't for half a year, after which they'll both simply be very good GPUs that can still run nearly everything perfectly. If you want the 980, get it, but the smart money is on the 970.

Not trying to argue with you, just giving the other side of the coin.

I gotcha, man. Good points.