First build from the ground up

[JustTooDank]

1. Budget & Location

My budget is around $1700, and I'm in the United States. California.

2. Aim
I want a good gaming rig that will last a couple years. I'd like to be able to play Crysis 3 on max settings ~45+fps, but I will probably be playing games like BF4 more. I may also do some streaming. No heavy editing though.

3. Monitors

1 monitor. 1080p or better. Somewhere between 26"-30". I haven't factored this into my budget, because I have a 32" TV I can use for a while. I'm planning on waiting for affordable g-sync panels.

4. Peripherals

I'll need a keyboard and OS, already have a mouse.

5. Why are you upgrading?

I've wanted a gaming rig for a while, and with the recent death of my laptop, I figured now's the best time.

 

Laptop details: The hard drive is on the brink of failure, essential boot files have corrupted (can't boot into windows or ubuntu), and there are clicking noises from the drive. The optical drive is also broken, and I figured if I want to save anything from the HDD, my best bet is to leave it alone until I can put it in my new rig, and backup right away. I've already foolishly let hard drives die in the past without backing up, and I hope I can avoid it this time.

 

 

 

Anyways, here's my current ideas:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($217.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard:  Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard  ($143.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory:  G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Samsung Product Series:840 Pro 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($139.99 @ Adorama)
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  ($499.99 @ Newegg)
Case:  Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($108.10 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply:  SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($85.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive:  Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)  ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard:  Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse:  Corsair Raptor M30 Wired Optical Mouse  ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $1653.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-09 05:31 EST-0500)

 

 

I already have the mobo, cpu, cpu cooler, and mouse. I'm not sure on the keyboard but I'm pretty sure I want Cherry MX brown switches.

[Jvagle875]

I'd get this ssd instead: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct240m500ssd1 You really won't notice a performance hit, but you will notice the doubled storage.

[Deddie]

Why Z77?

And you could change the SSD to something cheaper as you won't notice a difference between the 840 Pro and another modern SSD.

You could get cheaper RAM too.

Otherwise the build looks pretty good.

[dizmo]

Looks good.

I agree with @Jvagle875 on the M500.

I'd keep the 1866 RAM, consider a 2 TB HDD if you have a lot of music or movies, and I'd grab an EVGA B Stock card. You can get an ACX 780 for $439.

I'd reconsider the disc drive. I never use mine.

With the money saved maybe invest in a better mouse.

[SAV1OUR]

boop

everything but mouse and stuff 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($217.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ NCIX US) 

Motherboard:  Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard  ($143.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory:  Kingston Beast 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($93.74 @ Amazon) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($89.99 @ Adorama) 

Storage:  Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($51.40 @ Amazon) 

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

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

Case:  Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply:  Corsair RM 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($159.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $1597.05

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-09 05:46 EST-0500)

[JustTooDank]

Looks good.

I agree with @Jvagle875 on the M500.

I'd keep the 1866 RAM, consider a 2 TB HDD if you have a lot of music or movies, and I'd grab an EVGA B Stock card. You can get an ACX 780 for $439.

I'd reconsider the disc drive. I never use mine.

With the money saved maybe invest in a better mouse.

Will note the SSD change.

 

Where do I find B Stock cards?

 

Also, the optical drive is a necessity. I have to burn CDs for clients, and I like keeping my music on hard copies. I have roughly 200gb of music/movies on a 500gb external right now.

 

 

 

 

everything but mouse and stuff

 

 

Why SLI? Is the performance of 770s in SLI + larger PSU worth ~$300 more than a single 780?

[SAV1OUR]

Where do I find B Stock cards?

 

Also, the optical drive is a necessity. I have to burn CDs for clients, and I like keeping my music on hard copies.

 

 

 

 

Why SLI? Is the performance of 770s in SLI + larger PSU worth ~$300 more than a single 780?

sli 770s will out preform a single 780 and you can go with 750w but i just like to be on the safe side 

[dizmo]

Will note the SSD change.

 

Where do I find B Stock cards?

 

Also, the optical drive is a necessity. I have to burn CDs for clients, and I like keeping my music on hard copies. I have roughly 200gb of music/movies on a 500gb external right now.

 

 

 

 

Why SLI? Is the performance of 770s in SLI + larger PSU worth ~$300 more than a single 780?

 

You can get the B Stock cards directly from EVGA.

Haha, people still use CDs? Interesting.

I'd suggest checking out MDisc's if you store information on them. I've had discs degrade over time, losing some data.

 

SLI is a good performance boost but honestly I wouldn't bother if you're gaming at 1080p. It's overkill. A 780 is more than sufficient.

Here's a comparison of a 780 vs 2 770's. You have to check out the benchmarks separately if you want to see the 1080p results.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1036?vs=1064

Not all games play well with SLI in which case you'll be limited to the performance of a single 770.

[JustTooDank]

sli 770s will out preform a single 780 and you can go with 750w but i just like to be on the safe side 

 

I figured they would perform better but I wasn't sure about the price difference. I was thinking of running 780s in SLI sometime in the future.

[SAV1OUR]

I figured they would perform better but I wasn't sure about the price difference. I was thinking of running 780s in SLI sometime in the future.

you can do that but you would need to up the psu you were thinking about, but if you want a performance now set up get the sli 770s 

[lachyman]

Here is my suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.29 @ Amazon) 

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($108.10 @ NCIX US) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($152.99 @ NCIX US) 

Memory:  A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($74.17 @ Amazon) 

Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($82.50 @ Amazon) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  ($489.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case:  NZXT H440 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply:  Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Monitor:  Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($149.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $1577.00

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-09 06:41 EST-0500)

 

Spend the rest on other things you need, discard the OS to afford other things.

[WoodenMarker]

Edits: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Qbxt

[JustTooDank]

Thanks for the help all. My rig is almost finished.

I have one question though.

Is there a way I can make sure all the components function before I have them all?

So far, I have:

CPU

CPU cooler

MOBO

RAM

PSU

Secondary HDD

DVD drive

Keyboard/Mouse

Display

I still need the case, ssd(that I will boot from), and the OS itself (I also need the GPU but I can deal with integrated graphics in the meantime). I have read about shorting the PWR pins, but is that a good idea? Or should I wait until I have all the components? I just want to make sure the parts function, go into the bios and make sure everything is recognized, etc. If I have to RMA anything I want to do it ASAP

[brob]

Thanks for the help all. My rig is almost finished.

I have one question though.

Is there a way I can make sure all the components function before I have them all?

So far, I have:

CPU

CPU cooler

MOBO

RAM

PSU

Secondary HDD

DVD drive

Keyboard/Mouse

Display

I still need the case, ssd(that I will boot from), and the OS itself (I also need the GPU but I can deal with integrated graphics in the meantime). I have read about shorting the PWR pins, but is that a good idea? Or should I wait until I have all the components? I just want to make sure the parts function, go into the bios and make sure everything is recognized, etc. If I have to RMA anything I want to do it ASAP

 

As long as one is careful there is nothing wrong with testing the components you have. The motherboard has to sit on a non-conductive surface. The usual suggestion is to use the top of the motherboard box. You can use the stock cooler which is a little safer as it is shorter and puts less stress on a loose motherboard. If the power supply is properly connected to the motherboard you can briefly short the two pins on the front panel header labeled something like PWRSW to turn it on.