Intel/NVIDIA semi-budget build. Looking to squeeze out a few more dollars.

[MalFet]

My original budget was $2000, but life happens and I've had to cut that down dramatically. Now I'm at $1200 (USD) maximum budget before tax and rebates. Lower is better. 
 
This is my first actual build. I've educated myself a lot (thanks in large part to LTT) since I started learning a couple of years ago, but I'm looking for seasoned builders to have a look. 
 
My goals for this build are:
 
* Excellent performance in games at 1080p on a single monitor for the next few years
* Reliable performance for occasional audio/video editing
* Can handle the crushing weight of Chrome with a bunch of open tabs/apps
* MOBO supports overclocking and 2x SLI for future upgrades
* Going for a blue and black theme
 
Must Haves and No-Gos:
 
* Gotta have an i5
* Gotta have an NVIDIA GPU (I've had mixed results with my current 7670m)
* Gotta have an SSD boot drive
* AC Wireless is a must
* Don't want a 970. Even if it somehow fit in the budget the whole VRAM thing makes me skittish for future upgrades to resolutions >1080p... The feedback I've gotten is that it's nothing to worry about. I agree if all I'm looking at is 1080p on a single monitor, but what if I upgrade down the line and to multiple monitors at higher resolutions? I think I'd rather upgrade to a current card in 3-5 years than add in a second 970 and risk dealing with a performance hit for accessing that extra 500MB. So there.
 
Does anyone have suggestions to reduce this price without major sacrifices? I know there's cheaper drives out there, but I'm wary of lower quality. Thanks for taking a look!
 
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($187.56 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.88 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.98 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.89 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  ($199.00 @ NCIX US) 

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($45.98 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($132.87 @ OutletPC) 

Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($159.99 @ B&H) 

Total: $1111.12

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 10:49 EST-0500

[Jade]

• Switch to i5-4460. No serious difference between it and the 4590.
• Switch to an h97 board. Neither the 4590 and 4460 can overclock. I now realize you said can handle SLI.

Other than that, there's not to cut down on price, besides going on 'value' ram (no heatsink/shroud.)

 

Edit: No reason not to get a 970. 3.5GB is still largely more than 2GB and will handle resolutions higher than 1080 better than a 960.

[themaniac]

the gtx 970 only has 0.5 gb of vram less than what the marketers said there was so nothing is wrong with it

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.75 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: A-Data Premier SP610 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.00 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($359.98 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Cooler Master N400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($14.98 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($87.75 @ OutletPC) 

Monitor: Asus VX228H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($135.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $1187.38

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 11:14 EST-0500

[Maslofski]

the cpu isnt overclockable

 

as a suggestion, a 970 would work, ive youre scared of the vram thing for FUTURE updates, getting SLI later and then dx 12 will most likely have merged your vram anyways.

 

Edit: wait, so you prefer the 960 with 2 GB of ram to a 970 with 3.5-4GB? this really oesnt make much sense to me

[Senzelian]

Must Haves and No-Gos:

 

* Gotta have an i5

* Gotta have an NVIDIA GPU (I've had mixed results with my current 7670m)

* Gotta have an SSD boot drive

* AC Wireless is a must

* Don't want a 970. Even if it somehow fit in the budget the whole VRAM thing makes me skittish for future upgrades to resolutions >1080p... The feedback I've gotten is that it's nothing to worry about. I agree if all I'm looking at is 1080p on a single monitor, but what if I upgrade down the line and to multiple monitors at higher resolutions? I think I'd rather upgrade to a current card in 3-5 years than add in a second 970 and risk dealing with a performance hit for accessing that extra 500MB. So there.

 

Does anyone have suggestions to reduce this price without major sacrifices? I know there's cheaper drives out there, but I'm wary of lower quality. Thanks for taking a look!

If you only want to use the SSD as a boot drive, then 60GB are already enough. I've a 60GB boot drive right now and I've still 15GB of free space. 

Mostly I install everything on one of my two 1TB HDDs.

[Swndlr]

lil bit more, but better by a lot

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.75 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($339.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Micro Center)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor  ($140.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1302.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 11:13 EST-0500

[Gofspar]

the gtx 970 only has 0.5 gb of vram less than what the marketers said theres nothing wrong with it

I can use 3.8 without stuttering, it varies on the card tho. mine wont stutter when I hit the cap. Maybe it's because my insane mem clock.

[themaniac]

I can use 3.8 without stuttering, it varies on the card tho. mine wont stutter when I hit the cap. Maybe it's because my insane mem clock.

yeah that should be enough to prove theres nothing wrong with the card 

[SimpleG]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.75 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.88 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.98 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.89 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card  ($159.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.99 @ NCIX US) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($87.75 @ OutletPC) 

Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($159.99 @ B&H) 

Total: $1110.17

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 11:14 EST-0500

 

-If you don't want a 970, 960 is the best you can get. And it costs 200$, wich is a very bad price for that card

[Sauron]

* Excellent performance in games at 1080p on a single monitor for the next few years

 

Sorry but that's not going to happen on a gtx 960. It's still a decent choice, but don't get your hopes up too high, you may be disappointed. You may also be disappointed by the fact that the i5 4590 only supports bclk overclocking, so a z97 motherboard is pretty much wasted. AsRock's anniversary edition b85 motherboards also support bclk overclocking, so you may want to go for one of those to shave off some money.(whoops no sli... but going for SLI 960s is not a very good idea, I'd give it up from the start) There isn't much else you can spare on save for the case, an nzxt source 220 should do.

[MalFet]

Sorry but that's not going to happen on a gtx 960. It's still a decent choice, but don't get your hopes up too high, you may be disappointed. You may also be disappointed by the fact that the i5 4590 only supports bclk overclocking, so a z97 motherboard is pretty much wasted. AsRock's anniversary edition b85 motherboards also support bclk overclocking, so you may want to go for one of those to shave off some money.(whoops no sli... but going for SLI 960s is not a very good idea, I'd give it up from the start) There isn't much else you can spare on save for the case, an nzxt source 220 should do.

 

I actually had one of those anniversary b85 boards in the build list before I realized it didn't have SLI support.

 

I think you're right about my expectations of the 960. I won't be building for a few months yet, so hopefully a 960ti will fill the gap in between the 960 and 970. I don't want to go AMD... but really it's just on principle. 

[xToFxREAPER]

 

-snip-

 

Personally i agree with the build @themaniac put together, There is nothing wrong with the 970. I personally have used multiple systems with 2+ cards in sli at a large degree of resolutions from 1080p to 4k to triple monitor and it runs just fine. for the amount you are looking to spend the system he pieced together there is an extremely solid performer, If your that set on staying away from the 970 though i would look at an R9 280 or 280x, The Gtx 960 isnt worth the money in terms of price to performance.

[Sauron]

I think you're right about my expectations of the 960. I won't be building for a few months yet, so hopefully a 960ti will fill the gap in between the 960 and 970. I don't want to go AMD... but really it's just on principle. 

 

No offence, but that's not a very nice principle right now AMD is the way to go for graphics cards in most scenarios. Out of price/performance mostly, that's about the only thing that matters in a gpu (save extreme cases).

[MalFet]

 

the gtx 970 only has 0.5 gb of vram less than what the marketers said there was so nothing is wrong with it

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.75 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: A-Data Premier SP610 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.00 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($359.98 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Cooler Master N400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($14.98 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($87.75 @ OutletPC) 

Monitor: Asus VX228H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($135.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $1187.38

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 11:14 EST-0500

 

 

I don't live near a MicroCenter so that case would be a little more, and I don't need an optical drive so that's $15 off right there.

 

Thank you for putting this together. I didn't think I would be able to afford a 970 on that budget even if I was seriously considering it.

 

The way this thread is going I seem to be making a mistake precluding the 970 as an option. 

[themaniac]

I don't live near a MicroCenter so that case would be a little more, and I don't need an optical drive so that's $15 off right there.

 

Thank you for putting this together. I didn't think I would be able to afford a 970 on that budget even if I was seriously considering it.

 

The way this thread is going I seem to be making a mistake precluding the 970 as an option. 

well you can change the seller and that build is just an edited build i had save in pcpartpicker i just didn't take the optical drive out of it and you could get a 970 in a $750 budget if you wanted to and yes you are making a mistake by precluding as an option

[MalFet]

No offence, but that's not a very nice principle right now AMD is the way to go for graphics cards in most scenarios. Out of price/performance mostly, that's about the only thing that matters in a gpu (save extreme cases).

 

LOL none taken. I know that I should be more open minded. I just have a mobile AMD card now that's been OK. Plus their driver support isn't as strong.

 

Maybe I'll bite the bullet and get a 970... otherwise I promise to broaden my horizons... maybe

[MalFet]

well you can change the seller and that build is just an edited build i had save in pcpartpicker i just didn't take the optical drive out of it and you could get a 970 in a $750 budget if you wanted to and yes you are making a mistake by precluding as an option

 

I mean no offense, your suggestion is extremely helpful. Thank you.

 

One more question. I see there's only a single RAM module. Won't 2 smaller modules be faster since I can run them in dual channel?

[themaniac]

I mean no offense, your suggestion is extremely helpful. Thank you.

 

One more question. I see there's only a single RAM module. Won't 2 smaller modules be faster since I can run them in dual channel?

yeah like i siad before it was one of my saved build you can change it if you like and yes it would be faster

[stconquest]

I dropped the SSD, you can always grab one later and it does not impact your gaming performance.  I wanted to squeeze in a 144Hz monitor.

 

For the price, the GTX 970 is a fantastic value.  If you don't go with a GTX 970, then you have to go 290(X).  Anything less at you budget is a shame.

 

Run this stock until you want to overclock, then buy a CPU cooler:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($328.99 @ Directron)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($87.75 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer GN246HL 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($236.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1189.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 11:53 EST-0500

[MalFet]

I dropped the SSD, you can always grab one later and it does not impact your gaming performance.  I wanted to squeeze in a 144Hz monitor.

 

For the price, the GTX 970 is a fantastic value.  If you don't go with a GTX 970, then you have to go 290(X).  Anything less at you budget is a shame.

 

Run this stock until you want to overclock, then buy a CPU cooler:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.75 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($62.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.00 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($328.99 @ Directron)

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($87.75 @ OutletPC)

Monitor: Acer GN246HL 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($236.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $1189.44

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 11:53 EST-0500

 

This is a great option as well. Thanks!

[mwthomas10]

I dropped the SSD, you can always grab one later and it does not impact your gaming performance.  I wanted to squeeze in a 144Hz monitor.

 

For the price, the GTX 970 is a fantastic value.  If you don't go with a GTX 970, then you have to go 290(X).  Anything less at you budget is a shame.

 

Run this stock until you want to overclock, then buy a CPU cooler:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.75 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($62.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.00 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($328.99 @ Directron)

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($87.75 @ OutletPC)

Monitor: Acer GN246HL 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($236.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $1189.44

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 11:53 EST-0500

This is a GREAT build.  I have three comments:

 

1. If you want to upgrade your ram later make sure your mobo has quad-channel support and that the ram has quadchannel, OR buy 1 8gb stick of ram now (you might get 1-2fps lower in some games, typically one) and buy another one later as dual channel support is pretty much universal now.  

 

2.  If you were ruling out a 970 because of the vram thing, then why did you opt for a 2gb 960?  

 

3.  Also, NVidia cards get a decent chunk more performance out of their VRAM because they have SUBSTANTIALLY higher memory clocks.  Just wanted to throw that out there....