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Buying a college/gaming PC

rabrot
By rabrot
in New Builds and Planning
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Posted

First of all, this isn't a build but I couldn't find a more appropriate forum subsection.

 

I know it's dumb buying a PC instead of building one, but there are couple of reasons for it. Sorry. :(  The good thing is that these PCs are custom built by the seller (not HP, Dell or branded PCs) and I can easily ask them to exchange any part I want to.

 

I'll use it for college and gaming, no video editing/rendering etc. Nothing heavy on the college side, so you can think of it as a gaming PC. I like games like GTA V, Tomb Raider, Mirror's Edge, Assassin's Creed etc. (if that matters)

 

 

Questions:

 

1. Should I be getting an Intel or AMD processor / nVidia or AMD video card? I was thinking both AMD processor and video card because I'm not doing any video editing and rendering, but I'd love to hear what you guys think.

 

2. The seller is offering a couple of PCs I like. Here are the basic specs, I'll post them detailed later if you guys want me to.

Firestriker: 970A / AMD FX-6300 (black edition) / 8GB / SSD120GB / HDD 1TB / R9 280X 3GB / 600W $1000

Predator: Z87 / Intel i5-4570 / 8GB / SSD 120GB / HDD 1TB / R9 270X 2GB / 600W $1000

Rock: B85 / Intel i5-4440 / 8GB / SSD 120GB / HDD 2TB / R9 280X 3GB / 600W $1100

Pro Gamer: Z87 / Intel i5-4570 / 8GB / SSD 120GB / HDD 1TB / GTX770 2GB / 600W $1150

 

I think you can get the basic idea from those. The last two are pushing my budget, but the first ones are OK, and I could even do some modifications if better parts are needed. 

 

So if you guys could, just give me your thoughts about which one has the best value / money when it comes to gaming. I would really appreciate it! 

 

Also, feel more than free to tell me what's bad, what would be good to change etc.

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Bad Idea grades will suffer. Gaming + College = Bad Grades lol

 

But don't buy a pre-built, make it yourself cheaper.

CPU: i7-4770k @4.8ghz---Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth z97---Ram 32gb Corsair Vengeance---GPU: 2 EVGA GTX 980 4gb way sli---Case: Corsair 600T White---Storage: 500gb 850 Pro & WD Black 4tb---PSU: Corsair RM1000

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The first one would be the only one I consider, but obviously you could do better if you built it yourself.

Setup Video -----------Peasant Crushing Specs----------- 4K Benchmarks


-CPU- i7 3930k @4.8GHz 1.4v -Mobo- Asus Rampage IV Extreme -GPUs- 2x GTX Titan Hydrocopper SLI -RAM- 32GB (8x4GB) Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz -Storage- 500GB Samsung 840 SSD | 2TB WD Green HDD


-Monitors- 3x BenQ XL2420T | 1x Dell U2713HM -Mouse- Steelseries Rival -Keyboard- Corsair K70 Cherry MX Brown -Headphones- Audio Techinca ATH-M50 -Microphone- RØDE NT1-A

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Either fire striker or rock, but you should seriously build it yourself as you could easily save enough money to get a 4690k and r9 290

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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If you want to choose between these 4 I'd take the last. For only 150 bucks more you get more performance and better components.

ASUS ROG Strix X570-E + AMD Ryzen 3800X; EVGA GTX 1070Ti FTW Supersilent; 16GB G.Skill TridentZ 3600; bequiet! Dark Power Pro 10 750W; Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD + 2x 1TB 860 EVO; PHANTEKS Evolve X + Custom Liquid Cooling

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If you want to choose between these 4 I'd take the last. For only 150 bucks more you get a lot more performance!

280x will outperform a 770

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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280x will outperform a 770

 

Wrong. Sometimes the GTX 770 will perform better, sometimes the 280X will perform better. It just depends on the game. But you may noticed I edited my post and removed the "a lot", because I misred the rock build. But I would still go with the Pro Gamer

ASUS ROG Strix X570-E + AMD Ryzen 3800X; EVGA GTX 1070Ti FTW Supersilent; 16GB G.Skill TridentZ 3600; bequiet! Dark Power Pro 10 750W; Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD + 2x 1TB 860 EVO; PHANTEKS Evolve X + Custom Liquid Cooling

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  • Author

Thanks everyone! Fast feedback.

The first one would be the only one I consider, but obviously you could do better if you built it yourself.

 

Either fire striker or rock, but you should seriously build it yourself as you could easily save enough money to get a 4690k and r9 290

Would you guys change something about the Firestriker?

 

I know building it would be so smarter and cheaper, but I just can't for several reasons. I wish. Maybe in the future.

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I know building it would be so smarter and cheaper, but I just can't for several reasons. 

Can you elaborate on these reasons?

Setup Video -----------Peasant Crushing Specs----------- 4K Benchmarks


-CPU- i7 3930k @4.8GHz 1.4v -Mobo- Asus Rampage IV Extreme -GPUs- 2x GTX Titan Hydrocopper SLI -RAM- 32GB (8x4GB) Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz -Storage- 500GB Samsung 840 SSD | 2TB WD Green HDD


-Monitors- 3x BenQ XL2420T | 1x Dell U2713HM -Mouse- Steelseries Rival -Keyboard- Corsair K70 Cherry MX Brown -Headphones- Audio Techinca ATH-M50 -Microphone- RØDE NT1-A

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Can you elaborate on these reasons?

Sure. I wouldn't know how to, my parents wouldn't let me, I don't have time, I need warranty on the system, it wouldn't be that much more efficient for me because parts are expensive in my country and this seller is pretty good with prices (f.e. I wouldn't save much by building an exact copy of the system compared to one build by them), I don't yet have an apartment so I don't have a place to do all this at. 

 

I know it sounds whiny and ungrateful and some of the reasons are just stupid, but that's just how it is... 

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Sure. I wouldn't know how to, my parents wouldn't let me, I don't have time, I need warranty on the system, it wouldn't be that much more efficient for me because parts are expensive in my country and this seller is pretty good with prices (f.e. I wouldn't save much by building an exact copy of the system compared to one build by them), I don't yet have an apartment so I don't have a place to do all this at.

I know it sounds whiny and ungrateful and some of the reasons are just stupid, but that's just how it is...

Most time consuming thing is actually installing the OS without ssd, lol.

If parts are picked well, building isn't time consuming at all, nor is it difficult.

Anyone who has a sister hates the fact that his sister isn't Kasugano Sora.
Anyone who does not have a sister hates the fact that Kasugano Sora isn't his sister.
I'm not insulting anyone; I'm just being condescending. There is a difference, you see...

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I wouldn't know how to,

my parents wouldn't let me,

I don't have time,

I need warranty on the system,

it wouldn't be that much more efficient for me because parts are expensive in my country and this seller is pretty good with prices (f.e. I wouldn't save much by building an exact copy of the system compared to one build by them), I don't yet have an apartment so I don't have a place to do all this at. 

 

I know it sounds whiny and ungrateful and some of the reasons are just stupid, but that's just how it is... 

If something fits, thats where it goes. 

Why not? It saves money, and its very helpful to know how a computer actually is built/works/etc... 

It takes like 20 minutes--up to 2~ hours if you've never done it before. 

Most components come with a 3-year (at least) warranty standard (free). 

You need about 4 square feet of space--enough to stand/sit and rest the computer case. 

You could get exactly what you want and not anything you don't. Even competitive places usually aren't all that competitive. 

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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Can you guys just help me with what I asked? I can't build it and that's it. Sorry if it sounds rude.

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Can you guys just help me with what I asked? I can't build it and that's it. Sorry if it sounds rude.

 

I don't think it is rude. In fact rude are people who insist that they know better regardless of facts.

 

That said, are you aware that some retailers will assemble a system from the parts you buy from them? NCIX for example will do this for ~$50, http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=7842. They include a 1 year warranty.

 

The Rock would be a decent system. Unless you need 2TB of storage I'd suggest a 1TB hdd.

 

The Pro Gamer would be better. But it doesn't need a z87 motherboard. A B85, H81, or H87 motherboard would do just fine.

80+ ratings certify electrical efficiency. Not quality.

 

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