Gaming build parts

[sosatchley]

So for a while now, I've been looking into building a rig that I can take with me to college. I've probably spent 50+ hours trying to research different hardware, I really want everything to work perfectly. See, I've always been more of a console gamer (gaming on an old macbook is rough) so I'm pretty fresh to the pc gaming scene, but I know I'd like to get into it. I want a tough computer that stays within a moderate budget. 

Anyway, what I was hoping is that I could list the hardware I have in mind and someone could make sure everything works together okay, and that one of my picks isn't awful or something. 

 

So here's the list of what I've picked with a higher end possible upgrade next to each(1 is primary, 2 is upgrade):

 

Chasis: 

          Thermaltake Overseer RX-I Snow Edition

 

Motherboard:

          MSI A88X-G45 Gaming

 

CPU:

          1. AMD 760K Richland 3.8 GHz

          2. AMD A10-6800K Richland 4.1 GHz

GPU:

          1. MSI R9 270 Gaming

          2. ASUS ROG STRIKER-GTX760-P-4GD5  x 2

Storage: 

          1. Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB

          2. WD Red WE40EFRX 4TB IntelliPower

          1. Crucial M500 CT120M500SSD1  

          2. Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE500BW

 

Power Supply:

          1. RAIDMAX Blackstone series RX-700AC

          2. RAIDMAX Vampire RX-800GH Continuous

 

Memory: 

          1. Team Vulcan 8 gb

 

Cooling:

          1. Phanteks PH-TC12DX_RD Dual 120mm PWM CPU Cooler

          2. Intel BXTS13X Water/Liquid Cooling Thermal Solution

 

Display:

          1. Asus VX238H-W White 23"

          2. LG 34UC97 Curved Ultrawide 34"

 

Peripherals:

          SteelSeries Apex Gaming Keyboard

          Corsair Vengence M95 CH-900026-NA White 15

          Logitech G13 or Razer Tartarus Gaming Keypad

 

Now a few questions...

CPU: I'm not sure what "Hardcore Gaming" entails, or how much of it I'll be doing, but will 3.8GHz suffice? Is 4.1 necessary?

 

Storage: Will I ever need 4 TB of space and 500GB solid state?

 

Power Supply: I've read that this is super important, because if you don't have the right power, it can mess up all of your hardware. For what I have, will 700w suffice? If I upgrade everything, will I need the 800w gold? More?

 

Memory: Memory is pretty pricey, but will 8GB be enough for gaming? Will I be restricted in what I can do if I don't go 16GB?

 

Cooling: First off, is Liquid cooling a must? All I know about it is that it kinda looks cool (especially in the Aventum II) Is there any possibility that it could come apart and spew coolant all over your machine? Other than that, should I consider hard drive fans or memory fans?

 

Peripherals: Keypad - yay or neigh? Also I need a mouse pad, but I'm having trouble finding a white one to match the scheme I've got going on. And If anyone knows a good white gaming keyboard with backlight and function buttons, please let me know. 

 

Anyway, I think that's all I've got. Thanks for any help.

[TheKDub]

What is your budget? and what games would you like to be able to play, at what settings, framerate, and resolution?

[Under_Score]

Why do people still not use pcpartpicker.com BBCode part lists. Also, there's not much we can do without a budget.

[Manny Calavera]

You are spending on wrong places, that case is complete overkill.

You could get intel quad core with that kind of budget.

[Ratzzz]

Yes we need more information to better help you...

1. what will the PC be used for ? Gaming only? video editing ? 3D rendering? just web surfing ?  IF EDITING OR RENDERING which apps do you use?
2. whats your budget ?       (do mail in rebates count against budget?)
3. do you need peripherals?  monitor?  mouse or keyboard , speakers?  headset?  Operating System?
4. what country and what currency?
5. do you have a preferred vendor? (sometimes much more expensive to have only one vendor)
6. any other info that may help us help you.

[sosatchley]

wow. Okay. 

 

 

What is your budget? and what games would you like to be able to play, at what settings, framerate, and resolution?

I'd like to keep it around the $1,500 area. Definitely below $2,000. So far, all I actually play is minecraft (does that make me a shmuck) but I know that there are others I would like to play. For instance, I've only ever played Call of Duty on an Xbox, but If i can do it on a super cool gaming computer, why not?

I'd prefer everything to be at High settings, just so it's pretty. For the Asus, it would be 1080p, but if I could get ahold of one of those curved LGs, the resolution would be 3440x1440. 

As far as framerate preference goes, I have no Idea, because, unfortunately, I'm used to like 12fps. How many does it take for it to be "smooth"?

 

Why do people still not use pcpartpicker.com

 

I don't know what that is, but I guess I should start finding out. 

 

You are spending on wrong places, that case is complete overkill.

You could get intel quad core with that kind of budget.

 

All I wanted with the case was white and blue, and in that category, the Overseer's just about the cheapest there is. And please explain the quad core thing. Would that be better than AMD?

 

 

 

1. what will the PC be used for ? Gaming only? video editing ? 3D rendering? just web surfing ?  IF EDITING OR RENDERING which apps do you use?
2. whats your budget ?       (do mail in rebates count against budget?)
3. do you need peripherals?  monitor?  mouse or keyboard , speakers?  headset?  Operating System?
4. what country and what currency?
5. do you have a preferred vendor? (sometimes much more expensive to have only one vendor)
6. any other info that may help us help you.

1. Gaming to begin with, but yeah, I think I'd like to do some videos and 3D stuff. For editing, I've no idea what apps to use, but I've toyed around in Gimp and Blender. 
2. Budget is around $1,500
3. Monitor, keyboard, and mouse I've added to the list, but yes, I'll also need a headset, and there I'm absolutely blank. For operating system, I was going to go with Windows 8, just because they said everything ran a little smoother than in 7, though I imagine I'd want to upgrade to 10 right when I can. Would that be a bad idea? Could a brand new and possibly buggy OS mess up what I already have?
4. US and USD
5. I imagined that I would just go through Newegg. That's where I did the bulk of my searching. Are there better options?

[sosatchley]

Well, I've taken a look at pcpartpicker.com and I cannot praise it enough. The place is brilliant.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is, I've selected all of my desired parts and possible upgrades, and it appears everything works out.

Which just leaves my gaping insecurities about whether said hardware is good enough...

[brob]

You may want to consider an Intel build. Perhaps something that is easy to transport.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($194.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($82.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($339.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 380T Mini ITX Tower Case  ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor  ($158.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: SteelSeries Apex [RAW] Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($56.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse  ($59.98 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1448.12
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-28 00:51 EDT-0400

[sosatchley]

Thanks for the input, Brob. But if it's okay, why would Intel be any better than AMD? I have heard that intel is better quality, but why?

As a numbers oriented person, all I see is that the processor is slower, yet twice as expensive. I also noticed the beast of a GPU you selected. Is a good video card more important than the processor?

Thanks.

[Rebelattack]

Thanks for the input, Brob. But if it's okay, why would Intel be any better than AMD? I have heard that intel is better quality, but why?

As a numbers oriented person, all I see is that the processor is slower, yet twice as expensive. I also noticed the beast of a GPU you selected. Is a good video card more important than the processor?

Thanks.

 

take this CPU: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k

and take this PSU if you think about SLI later on, it has a fantastic review: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

[sosatchley]

 

 

take this CPU: http://pcpartpicker....-bx80646i54690k

But why take it? All I saw was slightly better cache specs, and I have no idea what those are. 

[Rebelattack]

But why take it? All I saw was slightly better cache specs, and I have no idea what those are. 

 

Also has better core speeds standard and boosted, didn't know it has better cache it is good believe me (and the read wiki for basic info on it). Also it is unlocked and therefore good for overclocking and if you don't overclock get the 4690 one.

[brob]

Thanks for the input, Brob. But if it's okay, why would Intel be any better than AMD? I have heard that intel is better quality, but why?

As a numbers oriented person, all I see is that the processor is slower, yet twice as expensive. I also noticed the beast of a GPU you selected. Is a good video card more important than the processor?

Thanks.

 

Raw speed is not everything. Intel cores are much more powerful. 

 

A good video card is important in gaming and video editing. I included a pretty powerful gpu in part because it will have a longer useful life.

 

The build I posted is under the preferred budget figure that was provided and powerful enough to provide several years of good performance.