Help Planning Build?!?!?!

[jai127]

Hi guys,

I'm an extremely avid gamer.

I play games that are intensive and have moved away from the prebuilt computer I have bought for almost 10 years now.

I need help planning out a build that visually looks stunning as well as coming in under budget.

 

I have a $1500 USD budget, with approximately 300-350 going towards a monitor, mouse and keyboard. I need the components to be aesthetically pleasing due to the need for the PC to be my main focus in my office space. Please also consider that I don't want extremely obtrusive components, like flashy RGB controllers and such. One requirement is that I am somewhat leaning towards a windowed case, but let's see if you can sway me. I don't mind modding the components a bit (paint on RAM or GPU heatsink for example), but I would like the parts to hopefully look great out of the box. You DO NOT have to factor in a OS as I currently own Windows 7 Home Premium. I have built a computer before, but that was someone else's and this is mine. I want it to be able to stand out from the rest of the generic gaming computers.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Jai127

 

[Byzantine]

Where are you from it will help allot.

[jai127]

^  

[jai127]

I'm from California

[D3MON]

here's similar post's
http://linustechtips...ld/#entry978103
and
http://linustechtips...an-handle-help/
and
http://linustechtips...-pc-for-friend/

http://linustechtips...nd/PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1Wnw9

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker....w9/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker....nw9/benchmarks/

 

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($158.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Microcenter) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($125.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($63.75 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($169.99 @ NCIX US) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($115.99 @ NCIX US) 

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card  ($259.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  ($119.34 @ Mwave) 

Total: $1105.01

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-02 13:27 EDT-0400)

CPU-its the same as the 8350, just overclock it to 4.2ghz and be done.
COOLER-its awesome, get it
BOARD-the cheapest 8+2 board you can get, its all black, it has the 990fx chipset with all those features, its not asrock, you have can run crossfire later if you want.
CARD-7950,7970 and 280x are so close in performance it doesnt matter, but you cant really save much by getting the 7950 and the 280x costs more than its worth (atm) though if mantle etc matters to you, sure get it.
CASE-great case for the price, a better one will cost allot more and its not worth buying anything cheaper. get it in white/black its the same price.
RAM-1600mhz is the same price as 1333 so get 1600, theres no benefit to getting 16gb yet so stick to 8 (don't argue ive tested it and read several publishings), save the cash. if you dont like the look and want all black heatspreaders get patriot vipers, but they cost more.
PSU- fully modular, 80+gold (i think) the extra 100watts over a 550 will give you crossfire possibility with minimal efficiency wastage.
hard drive-just in case you dont file manage properly you'll want a 3tb, plus considering the £/gb it makes more financial sense.
SSD-128 and 256gb ssd's are near equal on read speeds but the 128gb controllers tend to suffer in terms of write speeds due to the smaller "chip pool" available to it, plus again the £/gb makes it better value overall.
any questions, ask me.

edit-8350's USED TO overclock higher, now the better binned chips become 9590's and 9370's and theres minimal benefits to overclocking so going beyond 4.4 will just create more voltage requirements and more heat.

NEW EDIT, these kind of builds appear all the time, tech doesnt change THAT much, prices change but thats about it, start with this build and come up with a pcpartpicker build..

[RazerFanBoy]

Not a 7970 ffs.

[jai127]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2EHfP

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

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2EHfP/benchmarks/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($234.99 @ Amazon) 

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

Motherboard: Asus GRYPHON Z87 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($162.99 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($99.51 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.67 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  ($230.30 @ Newegg) 

Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC68 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Corsair 350D Window MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($19.99 @ Microcenter) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($0.00) 

Monitor: Asus VS228H-P 21.5" Monitor  ($127.58 @ Newegg) 

Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($85.22 @ Amazon) 

Mouse: Razer Taipan Wired Laser Mouse  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 

Other: Gryphon Armor Kit ($44.99)

Total: $1555.19

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-22 01:46 EST-0500)

 

 

How's This???

[brob]

White outside, black with touches of red and white inside.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard:  MSI Z87-G43 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory:  Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:  Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card  ($330.98 @ Newegg)
Case:  Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply:  Rosewill Hive 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor:  HP 20xi 60Hz 20.0" Monitor  ($107.58 @ Newegg)
Keyboard:  Keycool 180 Key White Wired Standard Keyboard  ($111.00 @ Mechanical Keyboards)
Mouse:  Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse  ($54.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $1442.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-22 02:59 EST-0500)

[WoodenMarker]

How's this look? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2HBXB

[Vader]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2HClf

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

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2HClf/benchmarks/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ NCIX US) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($94.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($89.00 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.67 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card  ($339.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($94.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($94.99 @ Amazon) 

Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($159.99 @ Best Buy) 

Keyboard: Logitech G710 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($109.99 @ NCIX US) 

Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse  ($54.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $1478.57

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 20:56 EST-0500)