You Can Build A Better Gaming PC For $1500 Than You May Think: Best $1500 Gaming PC January 2014 Parts List!

[Joshyy]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($124.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory:  PNY XLR8 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($127.58 @ Amazon) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($214.00 @ Amazon) 

Storage:  Western Digital AV-GP 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  ($499.99 @ Newegg) 

Case:  Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($65.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply:  SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($86.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Optical Drive:  Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer  ($14.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)  ($94.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $1509.47

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-05 15:35 EST-0500)

This build would demolish that build you made up. 

[lexidobe]

I meant it is ALSO SLI ready. Also no need for 16gb, not even for your reasons because a gaming pc will not need to upgrade to 32gb of ram.

As stated earlier, you could create an 8GB Ramdisk as a cache for the SSD and or hard drive. RAM can read and write at over 6 GIGABYTES per second. A Ramdisk will greatly improve performance.

[brob]

I've included an optical drive even though I don't think it necessary. It is an i7 and it does have 16GB. I believe it will also outperform the OP.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i7-4770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($292.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard:  ASRock H81M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Mwave)
Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($134.95 @ B&H)
Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($82.02 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:  XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($327.95 @ B&H)
Video Card:  XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($327.95 @ B&H)
Case:  Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply:  Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive:  Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer  ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1499.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-05 16:11 EST-0500)

[lexidobe]

Dual GTX 760 cards in SLI is significantly faster than a single GTX Titan or a GTX 780 TI. I created a new build with a few improvements. For example, I did not go so overkill on the power supply. Savings: $40. I also still used 16GB of RAM, but cheaper RAM. Savings: $45. I dropped the H80i and used a Noctua NH-D14 instead. Savings: $26.24. I still have an I7-4770K, but I also have better than GTX 780 graphics. What do you think about this? Is this good?

[lilc]

Dual GTX 760 cards in SLI is significantly faster than a single GTX Titan or a GTX 780 TI. I created a new build with a few improvements. For example, I did not go so overkill on the power supply. Savings: $40. I also still used 16GB of RAM, but cheaper RAM. Savings: $45. I dropped the H80i and used a Noctua NH-D14 instead. Savings: $26.24. I still have an I7-4770K, but I also have better than GTX 780 graphics. What do you think about this? Is this good?

Please just post the permalink instead of picture.

I wouldn't recommend buying two 760s when you can get a 780 and sli that in the future.

Also the 8320 is way more efficient for your money than the 4770k.

[lexidobe]

S

Please just post the permalink instead of picture.

I wouldn't recommend buying two 760s when you can get a 780 and sli that in the future.

Also the 8320 is way more efficient for your money than the 4770k.

Sorry about that. Here's the permakink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2wdCv

[WoodenMarker]

Ahem.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ TigerDirect) 

CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($124.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($82.02 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($329.99 @ NCIX US) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($329.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case:  Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case  ($46.07 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply:  Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.99 @ Microcenter) 

Optical Drive:  Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer  ($14.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)  ($94.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $1387.96

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-06 00:10 EST-0500)

[Stefan Becker]

This build would not happen in Denmark... Not at that price.

[Kiukaz]

Okay... let me try....

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2wHno

[lexidobe]

Okay... let me try....

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2wHno

You did not include an OS! With one (like my build), it would be $50 over the budget! I chose the parts that I did because:

1. An I7-4770K performs a lot better in some games. Most games do not benefit from an I7-4770K over an I5-4670K? Many games actually do greatly benefit. Battlefield 3 benefits a lot. Lots of other games greatly benefit also.

2. A Noctua NH-D14 is very close to an H100i in performance and is $41 cheaper. You would most likely not get an extra 100MHz of clock speed from 5 degrees cooler temps.

3. The Noctua thermal compound is very good. It is not what I would buy again only because it is so expensive for a small amount. The performance is better than Arctic Silver 5 and 1 degree from as good as Arctic MX-4.

4. The Gigabyte motherboard that you chose is great, but not any better than the Asus that I chose either. However, Asus has MUCH better support. The Asus is also $25 cheaper.

5. The 120GB SSD has better performance than a 60GB. You can also fit dozens of games, files, etc. in addition to the OS on a 120GB drive.

5.5. I chose the same hard drive as you did because it is cheap, quiet, reliable and pretty quick for a hard drive.

6. My dual GTX 760 graphics cards in SLI performs much better than any single card on the marlet, including GTX 780 TI and GTX Titan. It is also cheaper than a GTX 780.

7. For this system, to me, there is no need for exotic cases.

8. The Corsair 200R comes with 3 fans already. In my opinion, 3 fans is good enough.

9. The power supply is way overkill. 620W is plenty for my system.

As stated before, I chose 16GB or RAM for futureproofing. Yours is out of the budget when you buy an operating system anyway. How is yours better?

[Syraz]

 

Ahem.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ TigerDirect) 

CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($124.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($82.02 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($329.99 @ NCIX US) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($329.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case:  Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case  ($46.07 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply:  Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.99 @ Microcenter) 

Optical Drive:  Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer  ($14.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)  ($94.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $1387.96

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-06 00:10 EST-0500)

 

 

WoW I like that, I just can change the storage and case around and I will be under what my wife wants me to spend..yay no doghouse

[EMPthePanda]

Why cheap out on a case that much, for a build in that price range i would be expecting a case the is atleast $100 or more

[lexidobe]

Why cheap out on a case that much, for a build in that price range i would be expecting a case the is atleast $100 or more

Unless you need an exotic case to fit all your parts in, or there is another benefit, I do not believe in fancy cases. I do not believe in using the cheapest case you can find either, but that has to do with it arriving at your house damaged, not performance. I think the Antec One looks great, is very easy to build in due to 2.5" drive cages instead of having to use a mounting bracket for SSDs, and things like that. It is also VERY sturdy and well built. I also like how small and compact it is without making it harder to build in. Port wise, I think that it has all the ports you need. For this build, I do not have any problems with an Antec One. Why do you say to get a nice case when the Antec One has everything that you need? How would a "nice" case be better? I would rather have a nicer GPU or better SSD than a fancy case.

[Kiukaz]

You did not include an OS! With one (like my build), it would be $50 over the budget! I chose the parts that I did because:

1. An I7-4770K performs a lot better in some games. Most games do not benefit from an I7-4770K over an I5-4670K? Many games actually do greatly benefit. Battlefield 3 benefits a lot. Lots of other games greatly benefit also.

2. A Noctua NH-D14 is very close to an H100i in performance and is $41 cheaper. You would most likely not get an extra 100MHz of clock speed from 5 degrees cooler temps.

3. The Noctua thermal compound is very good. It is not what I would buy again only because it is so expensive for a small amount. The performance is better than Arctic Silver 5 and 1 degree from as good as Arctic MX-4.

4. The Gigabyte motherboard that you chose is great, but not any better than the Asus that I chose either. However, Asus has MUCH better support. The Asus is also $25 cheaper.

5. The 120GB SSD has better performance than a 60GB. You can also fit dozens of games, files, etc. in addition to the OS on a 120GB drive.

5.5. I chose the same hard drive as you did because it is cheap, quiet, reliable and pretty quick for a hard drive.

6. My dual GTX 760 graphics cards in SLI performs much better than any single card on the marlet, including GTX 780 TI and GTX Titan. It is also cheaper than a GTX 780.

7. For this system, to me, there is no need for exotic cases.

8. The Corsair 200R comes with 3 fans already. In my opinion, 3 fans is good enough.

9. The power supply is way overkill. 620W is plenty for my system.

As stated before, I chose 16GB or RAM for futureproofing. Yours is out of the budget when you buy an operating system anyway. How is yours better?

1. I don't need an i7 4770k

2. I don't like huge coolers

3. I just prefer Arctic MX-4

4. I like the Gygabyte, it's black-ish

5. I will only store my OS on the SSD....

5.1 true.

6. The 760's will last you for a while, but the 780 will last even longer because i will be able to SLI it later.

7. The 200r is just poor... a build like yours and a cheap case like that, just doesn't sound and look appealing. and also the R4 comes with a fan controller, which is nice, and useful 

8, i like the airflow, for good cooling and silent performance.

9. Future proofing.

10. if i would need more ram, i would just buy it later,,, 

[lexidobe]

1. I don't need an i7 4770k

2. I don't like huge coolers

3. I just prefer Arctic MX-4

4. I like the Gygabyte, it's black-ish

5. I will only store my OS on the SSD....

5.1 true.

6. The 760's will last you for a while, but the 780 will last even longer because i will be able to SLI it later.

7. The 200r is just poor... a build like yours and a cheap case like that, just doesn't sound and look appealing. and also the R4 comes with a fan controller, which is nice, and useful 

8, i like the airflow, for good cooling and silent performance.

9. Future proofing.

10. if i would need more ram, i would just buy it later,,,

Where's the operating system? With an OS, you would be $50 out of the budget anyway. Free Linux is likely incompatible with some drivers and is not for gaming.

[Kiukaz]

Where's the operating system? With an OS, you would be $50 out of the budget anyway. Free Linux is likely incompatible with some drivers and is not for gaming.

i already have the OS

[N00B_person]

OH MY GOD IVE SAID THIS SO MANY TIMES. You can game comfortably on a vastly cheaper i5, which you can use the stock cooler for and not have to worry about overheating. People keep forgetting that the coolers that the chips came with are DESIGNED to go under the strains that games put it through. Water cooling is thus unnecessary. You dont need that much wattage either, 650 watts will cover you fine. that leaves you more than $100 to get a better case and possibly graphics card. Hell, you could save a little more and buy another gpu if you wanted

 

Otherwise, a lovely build. have fun

[lexidobe]

OH MY GOD IVE SAID THIS SO MANY TIMES. You can game comfortably on a vastly cheaper i5, which you can use the stock cooler for and not have to worry about overheating. People keep forgetting that the coolers that the chips came with are DESIGNED to go under the strains that games put it through. Water cooling is thus unnecessary. You dont need that much wattage either, 650 watts will cover you fine. that leaves you more than $100 to get a better case and possibly graphics card. Hell, you could save a little more and buy another gpu if you wanted

 

Otherwise, a lovely build. have fun

Thanks for your feedback! I agree that my I7 is overkill for 70% of games. The only reason that I chose it is for those few games that do benefit and for other tasks that may benefit, like encoding video. Still, with Haswell-E coming out soon, 4 core CPUs will probably become standard, as a 6 core would only be $400. In the future, Hyperthreading will help a lot, as more and more programs are being written to benefit from the I7's Hyperthreading. I agree that a stock cooler is good enough if you do not overclock. Except, a lot of people do overclock, and would like a better cooler. I chose the overkill power supply incase you want to add another GPU later on, you would not have to replace the power supply first. Better to have Hyperthreading, a good cooler and power in reserve and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[lexidobe]

i already have the OS

You can not use a Windows product key on a computer if you are using the same key on another computer. If you do, you get a "This Version Of Windows Is Not Genuine" on both computers. It will restart every hour and you get a black wallpaper. I am not trying to be a jerk. I am just warning you.

[Kiukaz]

You can not use a Windows product key on a computer if you are using the same key on another computer. If you do, you get a "This Version Of Windows Is Not Genuine" on both computers. It will restart every hour and you get a black wallpaper. I am not trying to be a jerk. I am just warning you.

well, i'm still gonna get a gtx 770 not a 780, because my budget is only 1300-ish, so good luck with your build (still get the I5 4670k...)

[EMPthePanda]

Unless you need an exotic case to fit all your parts in, or there is another benefit, I do not believe in fancy cases. I do not believe in using the cheapest case you can find either, but that has to do with it arriving at your house damaged, not performance. I think the Antec One looks great, is very easy to build in due to 2.5" drive cages instead of having to use a mounting bracket for SSDs, and things like that. It is also VERY sturdy and well built. I also like how small and compact it is without making it harder to build in. Port wise, I think that it has all the ports you need. For this build, I do not have any problems with an Antec One. Why do you say to get a nice case when the Antec One has everything that you need? How would a "nice" case be better? I would rather have a nicer GPU or better SSD than a fancy case.

I'm not saying that you need a fancy case i'm just saying i wouldn't cheap out on a product that is going to case your $1,500 machine. If i was building a computer with that much money i would opt for a case made out of more metal and less plastic, not saying the case is bad by any means, i'm just saying that I would only consider it in a lower budget build.

[WoodenMarker]

I'm not saying that you need a fancy case i'm just saying i wouldn't cheap out on a product that is going to case your $1,500 machine. If i was building a computer with that much money i would opt for a case made out of more metal and less plastic, not saying the case is bad by any means, i'm just saying that I would only consider it in a lower budget build.

Look at some Antec One reviews. It's not exactly a cheaply built case. 

[8darKnight9]

this is a build ready for gaming and full of evolution possibilities

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($269.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($139.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($85.98 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($79.99 @ Micro Center) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($88.97 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($331.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: Corsair C70 Military Green (Green) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.99 @ Amazon) 

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($16.99 @ Newegg) 

 

Total: $1486.85

 

I know you can do better but this is what i think:

1- i7 will last longer than any i5 he'll be still performing very well even in 5years

2- overclocking is easy with Z87chipset and H100i cooler

3- iwent with a single slot 8gb of memory to let evolution option

4- r9 280x is very good and with 860w power supply you have the option of cross fire

5- no os included cuz you can get it cheaper and you may have it already

[Joshua Ondangan]

If you guys want something that can evolve further here is one.

 

you can evolve your cpu to a i5 or i7 K cpu, you can change the gpu to a better one. has a sexy looking chassis, decent psu, a ssd for os and hdd for games,  got 8.1 too .

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3D9XA

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard:  MSI Z87-G43 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($117.99 @ NCIX US) 

Memory:  Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($77.25 @ Amazon) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($79.99 @ Micro Center) 

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($88.97 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB FTW ACX Video Card  ($139.99 @ Newegg) 

Case:  Corsair 600T Silver ATX Mid Tower Case  ($159.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply:  SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($88.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $903.15

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-03 13:09 EDT-0400)

 

edit: Here is a more decent and reasonable one.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3DaoW

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.99 @ NCIX US) 

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard:  MSI Z87-G43 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($117.99 @ NCIX US) 

Memory:  G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($74.99 @ NCIX US) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($79.99 @ Micro Center) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.44 @ Amazon) 

Video Card:  Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($499.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case:  Corsair Vengeance C70 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($107.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply:  SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($88.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($94.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $1449.34

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-03 13:23 EDT-0400)

[brob]

 

. . .

3- iwent with a single slot 8gb of memory to let evolution option

. . .

 

Going with single channel memory on the off chance that one might want 32GB at some point in the future is not a terribly good idea. Go with 2x4GB, that will still allow for an upgrade to 24GB without replacing memory.