First build ever. Graduating Highschool student. Opinions and help please!

[Super Sallad]

I have been gaming on a 5 year old acer laptop for too long. I love games, but they are all beginning to be too fancy for my trusty laptop. It is finally time for me to build my own desktop.

I would really like to knock some money off of this build without losing build quality, stability, or performance too much. I'm not sure I have the optimal build. I really do want my computer to be a beast without having it ravage my wallet. I'm eager to get my parts asap so I can enjoy gaming before I have to start worrying about "the real world".  So anyone that could drop in a push my build in the right direction, make suggestions, save me money somehow, or make my build just better please do!  I'm new to this world of computers that I thought I was so familiar with.  

The point of this computer is to have a future proof "high end" gaming computer that will last me through the majority of college (I'm graduating highschool now).

Ballpark is 1000-1300 dollars. The closer to 1000 the better. Parents are chippin in as grad present!

Thanks to all who take the time to read!

 

Here is what I have right now.  (I want to be able to play games at 1080p at max settings such as the witcher 3, gtav, modded skyrim, etc)  

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($285.00 @ Canada Computers) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($124.99 @ NCIX) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($69.99 @ NCIX) 

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($104.99 @ NCIX) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.99 @ NCIX) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($403.19 @ Newegg Canada) 

Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.98 @ NCIX) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Memory Express) 

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($39.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Total: $1233.10

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-25 02:22 EDT-0400

 

Thanks again!

[KayTees]

 

Thanks again!

 

Looks pretty damn good to me, I've been playing League on a 5 Year-Old Dell Inspiron, getting a PC opened up new games for me  

[DimasRMDO]

Fine to me 

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

 

I have been gaming on a 5 year old acer laptop for too long. I love games, but they are all beginning to be too fancy for my trusty laptop. It is finally time for me to build my own desktop.

I would really like to knock some money off of this build without losing build quality, stability, or performance too much. I'm not sure I have the optimal build. I really do want my computer to be a beast without having it ravage my wallet. I'm eager to get my parts asap so I can enjoy gaming before I have to start worrying about "the real world".  So anyone that could drop in a push my build in the right direction, make suggestions, save me money somehow, or make my build just better please do!  I'm new to this world of computers that I thought I was so familiar with.  

The point of this computer is to have a future proof "high end" gaming computer that will last me through the majority of college (I'm graduating highschool now).

Ballpark is 1000-1300 dollars. The closer to 1000 the better. Parents are chippin in as grad present!

Thanks to all who take the time to read!

 

Here is what I have right now.  (I want to be able to play games at 1080p at max settings such as the witcher 3, gtav, modded skyrim, etc)  

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($285.00 @ Canada Computers) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($124.99 @ NCIX) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($69.99 @ NCIX) 

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($104.99 @ NCIX) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.99 @ NCIX) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($403.19 @ Newegg Canada) 

Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.98 @ NCIX) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Memory Express) 

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($39.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Total: $1233.10

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-25 02:22 EDT-0400

 

Thanks again!

 

I see nothing apart from the SSD that I would recommend changing. I wholeheartedly recommend samsung SSDs, namely the 850 evo. my reasoning is performance and support. I have 4 of the 840 evo running in my house right now, one of which was replaced by samsung when the connector broke off, without a receipt, within 4 days of my RMA request.

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

also, welcome to the forum, don't forget to follow your posts.

[Super Sallad]

Looks pretty damn good to me, I've been playing League on a 5 Year-Old Dell Inspiron, getting a PC opened up new games for me

Thanks for the response!

 

I'm hoping all the games I've missed will be a blast!

[Super Sallad]

Fine to me 

Thanks!

[Super Sallad]

also, welcome to the forum, don't forget to follow your posts.

 

Thanks for the welcome and advice!  I've watched Linus for so many years now, just never was a big forum guy.  Happy I decided to join for this help!  So do you truly believe the price hike is well worth the money for the 850 evo?  

 

Even if it is only 20 bucks

Edited May 25, 2015 by Super Sallad

[KayTees]

Thanks for the response!

 

I'm hoping all the games I've missed will be a blast!

Here to help! Before I built a PC with A8-6600k with a R9 270 mainly just for LoL. It was kind of a budget build, once I downloaded Steam, I was able to play Metro Last Light and numerous games on very high settings. For some odd reason, I decided I wanted to go full Intel and was quenching performance. I spent more than I needed to (mostly on aesthetics). http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/B7bKRB

[Super Sallad]

Here to help! Before I built a PC with A8-6600k with a R9 270 mainly just for LoL. It was kind of a budget build, once I downloaded Steam, I was able to play Metro Last Light and numerous games on very high settings. For some odd reason, I decided I wanted to go full Intel and was quenching performance. I spent more than I needed to (mostly on aesthetics). http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/B7bKRB

 

Oh man is that ever a build.  Pretty.  

As per over clocking how much would you recommend it?  And what would I actually need?  I know the cpu I have selected is overclockable, but I don't really like the idea of liquid cooling and fiddling around in my computers bios and stuff.  Temperature scares me.  Change scares me.  Money scares me.  

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

Thanks for the welcome and advice!  I've watched Linus for so many years now, just never was a big forum guy.  Happy I decided to join for this help!  So do you truly believe the price hike is well worth the money for the 850 evo?  

 

Even if it is only 20 bucks

yes. I think it is definitely worth the extra money to go for a samsung 850 evo. the performance is awesome, the software is great, which is often overlooked but I like, the support is fantastic. I called from east coast US and after going through the options when dialing 1-800-samsung, somebody in New Jersey picked up the phone on the second ring.

the reliability seems to be very good, as I haven't had any fail on me, nor has anyone I know. the only SSD I've had to RMA was from a connector that was broken during installation by a buddy of mine who is new to PC building and forced the cable on too hard.

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

Oh man is that ever a build.  Pretty.  

As per over clocking how much would you recommend it?  And what would I actually need?  I know the cpu I have selected is overclockable, but I don't really like the idea of liquid cooling and fiddling around in my computers bios and stuff.  Temperature scares me.  Change scares me.  Money scares me.  

overclocking isn't necessary at all. I like to do it, but with a good CPU like that, you don't need to. 

if it makes you uncomfortable, don't do it. if one day you decide you want to try it, go for it after educating yourself on overclocking.

[Super Sallad]

yes. I think it is definitely worth the extra money to go for a samsung 850 evo. the performance is awesome, the software is great, which is often overlooked but I like, the support is fantastic. I called from east coast US and after going through the options when dialing 1-800-samsung, somebody in New Jersey picked up the phone on the second ring.

the reliability seems to be very good, as I haven't had any fail on me, nor has anyone I know. the only SSD I've had to RMA was from a connector that was broken during installation by a buddy of mine who is new to PC building and forced the cable on too hard.

 

I will definitely go with your recommendation then.  Thanks!  

[KayTees]

Oh man is that ever a build.  Pretty.  

As per over clocking how much would you recommend it?  And what would I actually need?  I know the cpu I have selected is overclockable, but I don't really like the idea of liquid cooling and fiddling around in my computers bios and stuff.  Temperature scares me.  Change scares me.  Money scares me.  

Overclocking is ezpz. I thought that liquid cooling was complex but really, its easily, it's no difference from mounting the stock cooler except the fact that you have to apply your own thermal paste. Overclocking on this CPU? Depends on the chip really, some can't even overclock to 4GHz, some go over 4.5GHz, I got lucky and hit 5.2 due to a glitch which was suppose to be an OC of 4.8GHz. Temperatures, as long as you stay under 70 degrees, you should be fine. Only things you really have to twiddle with in the BIOs is changing clock speeds (OCing) and also OC'ing your RAM if you need it.

[Super Sallad]

overclocking isn't necessary at all. I like to do it, but with a good CPU like that, you don't need to. 

if it makes you uncomfortable, don't do it. if one day you decide you want to try it, go for it after educating yourself on overclocking.

 

A story for another time then!

[DimasRMDO]

Thanks for the response!

 

I'm hoping all the games I've missed will be a blast!

You can max out most games, unless the game isn't well optimized like Assassin's Creed Unity.

[Super Sallad]

Overclocking is ezpz. I thought that liquid cooling was complex but really, its easily, it's no difference from mounting the stock cooler except the fact that you have to apply your own thermal paste. Overclocking on this CPU? Depends on the chip really, some can't even overclock to 4GHz, some go over 4.5GHz, I got lucky and hit 5.2 due to a glitch which was suppose to be an OC of 4.8GHz. Temperatures, as long as you stay under 70 degrees, you should be fine. Only things you really have to twiddle with in the BIOs is changing clock speeds (OCing) and also OC'ing your RAM if you need it.

 

One day then.  I shall.  one day....

[Super Sallad]

You can max out most games, unless the game isn't well optimized like Assassin's Creed Unity.

 

RIP

[CatzRuleZWorld]

To save a few bucks you could get a 4460 and a cheaper motherboard. Also, you could get a BX100 SSD; they're highly rated and very close to samsung's.

[Super Sallad]

To save a few bucks you could get a 4460 and a cheaper motherboard. Also, you could get a BX100 SSD; they're highly rated and very close to samsung's.

 

Pardon my ignorance but 4460?

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

To save a few bucks you could get a 4460 and a cheaper motherboard. Also, you could get a BX100 SSD; they're highly rated and very close to samsung's.

he's considering overclocking in the future, so he should stick with the 4690k as the i5-4460 can't be overclocked.

I don'y know about the BX100 personally. I have a crucial M500 250gb personally, and while it is fast, it isn't nearly as fast as my samsung drives.

it still does make the computer snappy though.

[Super Sallad]

he's considering overclocking in the future, so he should stick with the 4690k as the i5-4460 can't be overclocked.

I don'y know about the BX100 personally. I have a crucial M500 250gb personally, and while it is fast, it isn't nearly as fast as my samsung drives.

it still does make the computer snappy though.

 

Oooohhhhh, the un-overclockable one.  That makes sense.  Yes one day I will overclock so I would rather stick with the ones with "k"s beside their numbers.  "k"s are good.  

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

Oooohhhhh, the un-overclockable one.  That makes sense.  Yes one day I will overclock so I would rather stick with the ones with "k"s beside their numbers.  "k"s are good.  

K's are indeed good.

sometimes Gs are. I <3 my G3258. it's a boss and does 4.7 GHz on the stock intel heatsink. what a G!

[Super Sallad]

K's are indeed good.

sometimes Gs are. I <3 my G3258. it's a boss and does 4.7 GHz on the stock intel heatsink. what a G!

 

Man it is alive and kicking.  

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

Man it is alive and kicking.  

I'm waiting for a quad core unlocked pentium without any integrated graphics. it'd be single handedly the best chip for a budget gaming machine.

a man can dream, can't he?

knocking off the graphics core would reduce the die size to justify cramming 2 more cores in a pentium part.