New Workstation

[Varrocks]

Recently, my computer stopped working, but I'm not going to bother fixing it because it couldn't record minecraft or play games that well in general. Anyways, I'm looking to build a new computer/workstation. Just for some extra information, the games I will be playing are Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, Saints Row II, Battlefield 4, Portal 2, and Counter Strike: Global Offence. The applications I will be using are Fraps (to record minecraft), Sony Vegas Pro/Adobe After Effects to edit, and Adobe Photoshop.

 

I would like to record minecraft at a minimum of 120 FPS on max settings (reason being, I play on servers that tend to lag sometimes, and usually when I'm playing at 120 FPS, it tends to drop to 80 or so, which doesn't make that big of a difference. But if I'm recording at 60 FPS, it drops to 20 sometimes, and I don't really like that + I have a 120 Hz monitor).

 

I would like to play all other games listed at High/Ultra settings at 60 FPS+

 

I don't need a monitor, mouse, keyboard, or operating system.

 

Please try to keep the price below $800 if at all possible.

[WereCat]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($241.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.00 @ B&H) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.49 @ OutletPC) 

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

Case: NZXT Source 210 Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $753.43

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-25 17:29 EDT-0400

[Varrocks]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($241.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.00 @ B&H) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.49 @ OutletPC) 

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

Case: NZXT Source 210 Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $753.43

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-25 17:29 EDT-0400

 

 

I don't need a Xeon, it's not a server. It's more of a gaming pc. But I still do more editing and rendering then I do gaming.

[WereCat]

I don't need a Xeon, it's not a server. It's more of a gaming pc. But I still do more editing and rendering then I do gaming.

Well, you are recording and you cant afford i7 so Xeon will do it. Just because you dont want server doesent mean you cant play games on Xeon.

 

Xeon E3 1231 V3 = i7 4770 but without the integrated graphics and thats why it is cheaper. Except it also supports ECC memory (which is meant for servers but you dont have to have it) and cant be overclocked.

 

It is the best thing I could get you for your budget. i5 4690k + Z97 would be prety much the same price as Xeon + H97 but you would lose hyperthreading which would result in worse FPS while recording.

 

Of course, OCd i5 4690k would perform better in most scenarios but not while recording. Especialy when you are using FRAPS for recording. That thing eats CPUs.

[manikyath]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mMnRbv

 

kinda based myself a bit on werecat's build, but i'll explain the difference.

 

first: i highly doubt you'll enjoy the hyperthreading as much as you'll ejoy having some overclocking (especially for minecraft, the single-threaded mess that it is)

second: if you're recording, i'm guessing you're recording your mic as well, a more silent cpu cooler will help here, as well as with overclocking.

third: you're gonna want to store that video somewhere, so a bit more HDD space is always welcome, entering the 2TB drive.

i blindly ripped off the gpu, as it seems like a good pick, especially for the price.

case is personal preference, i suggest looking for an ATX case you like.

blindly ripped off the power supply as well, as i have no clue what to pick here.

[Varrocks]

How about this?

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XnHmHx

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XnHmHx/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($175.82 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($100.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($57.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($49.99 @ NCIX US) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($24.62 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.64 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  ($181.79 @ Amazon) 

Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($128.98 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $848.80

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-25 18:06 EDT-0400

 

120GB SSD for the boot drive, 1TB HDD for general storage, and the 250GB HDD for recordings.

[Mattrixx]

 

120GB SSD for the boot drive, 1TB HDD for general storage, and the 250GB HDD for recordings.

Don't use the v300, those are something to stay away from. I'd try http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-128GB-2-5-Inch-Height-SDSSDP-128G-G25/dp/B007ZW2LY4 for just $8 more, or http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-BX100-120GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B00RQA6LQY for $68 on Amazon. Relatively cheap, and you'll still get the SSD goodness you seem to want.

 

Also, IMO the 250 GB is ripoff... for less than 2x the price you can get 4x the storage, or just get a 2tb drive for the price of those 2. Or, you could raid with 2 of those 1TBs.

[Varrocks]

 

 

Don't use the v300, those are something to stay away from. I'd try http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-128GB-2-5-Inch-Height-SDSSDP-128G-G25/dp/B007ZW2LY4 for just $8 more, or http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-BX100-120GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B00RQA6LQY for $68 on Amazon. Relatively cheap, and you'll still get the SSD goodness you seem to want.

 

Also, IMO the 250 GB is ripoff... for less than 2x the price you can get 4x the storage, or just get a 2tb drive for the price of those 2. Or, you could raid with 2 of those 1TBs.

 

 

The 250GB doesn't really matter; if I were going to be storing multiple videos on the drive like 100+, then I might get a 1TB drive. But because it's only gong to be maybe 10 clips at most, it's not really going to matter. I just need a cheap drive that I can record to.

[Mattrixx]

The 250GB doesn't really matter; if I were going to be storing multiple videos on the drive like 100+, then I might get a 1TB drive. But because it's only gong to be maybe 10 clips at most, it's not really going to matter. I just need a cheap drive that I can record to.

Well, if you're going to drop $850 on a new PC, you might as well get the better deal.

 

Also, you don't REALLY need that (admittedly good) expensive 750w psu for your system, especially if you don't plan on overclocking. Just get the 600w manikyath suggested.

 

 

I'd really suggest just getting manikyath's build and just add another HDD if you really wanted and maybe get a better looking case. It's incredibly good for the money if you do plan on overclocking.

[Varrocks]

Well, if you're going to drop $850 on a new PC, you might as well get the better deal.

 

Also, you don't REALLY need that (admittedly good) expensive 750w psu for your system, especially if you don't plan on overclocking. Just get the 600w manikyath suggested.

 

 

I'd really suggest just getting manikyath's build and just add another HDD if you really wanted and maybe get a better looking case. It's incredibly good for the money if you do plan on overclocking.

 

Could that pc record minecraft at 120 fps max settings? AND play all other games listed on high/ultra at 60+ FPS?

[Mattrixx]

Could that pc record minecraft at 120 fps max settings? AND play all other games listed on high/ultra at 60+ FPS?

(I assume you're talking 1080p)

It'll  crush minecraft. With AAA games running at good settings though, you're getting into something else. You could just add an extra $170 and get a 970 and be good on very high/ultra depending on the game on almost everything out there. If you can, go that route. You'll thank yourself.

[Mattrixx]

Could that pc record minecraft at 120 fps max settings? AND play all other games listed on high/ultra at 60+ FPS?

Or, (continuing on what i posted earlier) you could go with manikyath's build, but get the the i5-4590 with acheaper MOBO (since you won't be able to overclock); and bam, and extra 50 odd bucks to put towards a better gpu.

 

This might be a better option, as you don't seem to want to overclock.