Building a Gaming PC

• 

  abbztract on 27/12/2013 - 21:16

  Here's what I came up with at $2000 for just the tower and internals.

  PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2qRWC

  Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2qRWC/by_merchant/

  Benchmarks: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2qRWC/benchmarks/

  CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($245.00 @ PCCaseGear)

  CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.00 @ Mwave Australia)

  Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($208.00 @ CPL Online)

  Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($109.00 @ Scorptec)

  Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($385.00 @ CPL Online)

  Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($659.00 @ Mwave Australia)

  Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($135.00 @ CPL Online)

  Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($215.00 @ Mwave Australia)

  Total: $1995.00

  If you want to overclock, you should get the 4670K which is $268.

  The SSD will be the boot drive and is a significant boost over the 7200RPM in terms of speed. Thus its the boot drive. The 7200RPM will be the storage drive.

  The GTX 780 is a fantastic GPU and will last you some time. How long? No one knows in this game of GPUs. it may be tomorrow that nVidia or AMD release a GPU that's 10x better than the 780Ti. We don't know.

  You don't need more than a 750W PSU unless you want to SLI or Crossfire later on.

  The case isn't bad either. not the best but not the worst. I would recommend the 750D which is about $240 (so another $100). Fantastic case. Have one myself and its impossible to imagine myself going back to a smaller or less feature-full case.

  Mouse: Logitech 400S. $40-50. Great comfort. Regarded as the mouse with the best sensor out there.

  Keyboard: Get something mechanical. The Shine 2 is highly regarded as a great mechanical keyboard.

  Monitor: I'd recommend something more than the usual 1080p screens. Especially if you want a high end GPU. Maybe even consider multiple screens.

  Let me know if you have anything specific in mind.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 27/12/2013 - 23:56

    +1

    Is that a 780 or 780 Ti? Good price for Ti, little high for regular.
    I saw the 780 for around the $400-450 mark last month or so which at that price is a great purchase. A Ti for $650 would be very solid as well.

    Next cards are meant be to due around July-ish (heres hoping as its my upgrade time when they are released).

• 

  ankor on 28/12/2013 - 00:35

  +1

  Also via pc partpicker http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2qU2k

  $2051 from various places. There will be some amount of price variance based on where you end up going for parts. I think MSY should be quite cheap for everything, but as the other thread cautions, make sure you are not being sold refurb shit and ensure that stuff is properly sealed and warranty cards are in the box.

  Comments-

  This is a full system that includes monitor, mechanical keyboard, mouse, OS, and wireless network adapter. I have not included speakers or headphones though. You will note this is housed in a budget case. I have one, and it's light and does the job fine.

  I went the amd route because I really wanted to fit the gtx 780 in and to stay nearer to the $2000 limit. Despite the lacklustre single core performance of the AMD piledriver cpu, most blockbuster games are now utilising 4 cores so this is finally getting less important. Furthermore, console ports of next gen titles are likely to utilise extra cores more efficiently because of how the new consoles are designed. You may have some issues with core-parking however, so look up how to ensure that all necessary cores are on if performance feels sluggish.

  If there was more money on the table I'd happily go the i5-4440 as a minimum CPU. But the amd ends up being quite cost competitive in terms of the motherboard options, the extra cores and the performance in newer games. However it may take more power at the wall socket to run as a tradeoff.

  I don't see anything on the horizon that justifies more than 8gb of ram in most computers these days in casual or intense computer gaming. Arguably, this setup will keep you going for a good 5+ years in terms of longevity, and you can max out every setting under the sun. I did not choose the r9 290x, on account of the terrible reference coolers and heat and noise they generate. I'm wary of the longevity of a card that is supposed to run at 95deg C.

  You will also have the option of overclocking the AMD cpus, although I don't see a point in doing so unless you actually need the extra performance.

  PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

  Type	Item	Price
  CPU	AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor	$189.00 @ PCCaseGear
  CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$39.00 @ Mwave Australia
  Motherboard	ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard	$127.00 @ CPL Online
  Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory	$102.00 @ CPL Online
  Storage	Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk	$188.00 @ CPL Online
  Storage	Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$69.00 @ CPL Online
  Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card	$659.00 @ Mwave Australia
  Wireless Network Adapter	TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter	$45.00 @ CPL Online
  Case	Cooler Master RC-361-KKN1 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$49.00 @ Mwave Australia
  Power Supply	Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply	$99.00 @ Mwave Australia
  Optical Drive	LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer	$23.00 @ CPL Online
  Operating System	Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)	$115.00 @ CPL Online
  Monitor	BenQ RL2455HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor	$199.00 @ PCCaseGear
  Keyboard	Ducky DK2108-RUSLLA Wired Gaming Keyboard	$99.00 @ PCCaseGear
  Mouse	Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse	$52.00 @ CPL Online
  		Total
  	Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.	$2054.00
  	Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-28 00:39 EST+1100