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Hard decisions

LegendofCbreeze
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Hello everyone!  I am new to these forums but I am a huge fan of Linus and his shenanigans.  I am posting here today because of the very difficult struggle to build my first custom computer.  For the past 8 years I have been active duty military and have bought "gaming laptops" for entertainment overseas. These same rigs just aren't doing it anymore.  Now that my service is done I am looking to build my first gaming rig.  Thing is I only have a budget of about 1500 and that's pushing it.  As far as what I should get I don't know.  I have looked at quite a few builds but I still don't know what to get.  Thing that makes me nervous is I really don't know how well it will perform.  If any of you could reference a build or shed some light on this that would be awesome. Some quick questions I have,  Intel or AMD processor?  Nvidia or AMD and is there an issue mixing and matching?  Can I get solid performance with say 2 750 Ti's vs one 780 or should I shell out that money?  Like I said my budget is 1500 and this is to include a monitor keyboard and hopefully a new mouse but i can make due with the one I have for now.  Money is tight so this will be over a long period of time build and I would appreciate any info you guys can offer.

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Here ya go 

 

 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 280L 122.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($208.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: PNY XLR8 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($133.59 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($369.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($129.99 @ Best Buy) 
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($59.98 @ OutletPC) 
Mouse: Gigabyte GM-M8000X Wired Laser Mouse  ($41.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1481.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-27 21:33 EDT-0400

"You can get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word." -- Al Capone.

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First of all, welcome to the forum, and congratulations on finishing your service! Intel CPUs are generally far superior to AMDs due to their stronger per core performance. For gaming I'd recommend an i5-4690k, or 4670k if you can't get the 4690k. If you plan to do other things apart from just gaming eg recording, streaming, editing which can benefit from good multi core performance I'd recommend an i7. As for Nvidia/AMD, since you're on a budget and want this to last as long as possible it's important to get the best bang for your buck, so I'd recommend an AMD card, perhaps an R9 290 or R9 280X.

i5-4670k @4.2GHz Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 @1135MHz 1600MHz G.Skill RipjawsX 8GB Samsung 840 EVO 120GB Samsung 850 EVO 250GB


Corsair K70 Logitech G502 Proteus Core Logitech G230 Blue Snowball SteelSeries QcK+


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Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 


Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz) 


Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($379.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 


Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($17.00) 

Monitor: Acer G246HLAbd 60Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($139.05 @ Amazon) 


Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse  ($65.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $1507.29

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-27 21:38 EDT-0400

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Hi! welcome to the forums :)

 

Most of the first time builders get these same questions, and the best way to answer them is by you doing research about it. Not only watching someone's videos, but trying to find the pros and cons of every product, and how do they go together.

With $1500 you can do a nice high end complete build, with monitor, peripherals, etc.

The best way to start, is looking at the most 'conservative' choices you can make. Overall, it makes you feel a lot safer when you know it's a very well regarded product/ implementation.

So for someone new to this, go with the safe choices. Multi GPU? Crazy Overclocking? Water Cooling? Flashing bios to get better performance? while these are valid options, I wouldn't recommend them to any beginner.

 

AMD or Intel? It really doesn't matter that much for a gaming rig, the performance difference of the CPU is minimal (7-5fps maybe) As long as the CPU can deliver enough load to the GPU it's fine. For your build, getting a locked i5 and a decent motherboard saves you a ton of money on the overclocking expenses and gives you a great gaming performance. the FX CPUs pack enough juice for gaming, but I feel inclining towards a more modern socket makes your system feel less dated over the years.

AMD or Nvidia? I had better experiences on the red team than on the Nvidia products, and today they offer a great price/performance. GPUs like the R9 290 are hard to not recommend. Nvidia has exclusive features that can appeal to customers, and if you want to try stuff like the Nvidia Shield, it can be worth it to you. There is NO benefit or problem on "mismatching" AMD / Nvidia / Intel hardware.

 

For the rest of the system, tell us more about what are your plans. Form factor? Do you need to move the system every now and then? How much are you into audio and having a good sound quality? Do you live on the US? What type of look do you want? Color schemes? Do you care about aesthetics at all? Would you prefer a quiet system or don't care about it? Do you need an OS?

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Thanks for all of the build references guys they look great.  As for form factor and everything else I am not being picky in the least ATM.  My biggest concern is performance as would anyone that just loves to game.  When I finish school and am raking in the big bucks *sarcasm* I think I will spend more on flashy stuff.  I am pretty much settled at this point and I do not need an OS as I have an old laptop with Windows 7 home premium on it (I really despise Win 8).  I do live in the US and If the comps quiet all the better but not an immediate concern.  And besides my hearing is not the best anymore.  Also I picked up an Astro A50 a few years back and its still kicking so i don't think I need any fancy audio.

 

Edit:  My current game addiction is Planetside 2 if that says anything.

Edit 2:  Also I have been researching a hell of a lot but I feel as though a lot of the websites out there are very biased with Intel.

Edit 3:  I am also understanding that the 800 series from Nvidia are right around the corner will the prices drop for the 700s enough to make it worth it?

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With $1500 bucks you can build a more than decent enough rig. Welcome to the forums.

 

Oh and thank you for your service.

Ketchup is better than mustard.

GUI is better than Command Line Interface.

Dubs are better than subs

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CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($139.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 


Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card  ($379.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case  ($169.99 @ NCIX US) 


Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor  ($134.99 @ NCIX US) 


Total: $1546.34

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-28 10:34 EDT-0400

 

The r9 290 is the beast in this, got one myself and love it. I never included a mouse but that Razer blackwidow will suit your needs for gaming, great build I'd say

Case: Carbide 300R

CPU: i5 4690K @ 3.90GHz

RAM: 8GB DDR3

Mobo: MSI Z97-G45 Gaming

GPU: R9 290 Tri-X

PSU: EVGA SUPERNOVA NEX650G

Storage: 4TB NAS

Drive 1: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM

Drive 2: WD 500gb 7200RPM

___________________________

Keyboard: Vengeance K50

Headset: Vengeance 1500 V2

Mouse: R.A.T 5

Monitor: LG 24EN33

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Looks great and as for the R9 290 I have been reading a lot of reviews on it and I see a lot of complaints.  Mostly people say its a beast but also that it crashes at random and have had bad cards out the box.  None of this was pointed at sapphire but still.

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I also have another question.  What is the benefit to some of the "flare" on motherboards?  Is it essential for good gaming or is it just shenanigans so that you can spend more money?  And if it is worth the pay out in what way?

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Looks great and as for the R9 290 I have been reading a lot of reviews on it and I see a lot of complaints.  Mostly people say its a beast but also that it crashes at random and have had bad cards out the box.  None of this was pointed at sapphire but still.

The r9 290 is good, the stock cooler is insanely loud though. The Windforce card from Gigabyte is much quieter, you shouldn't have any problems with it.

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