$2000 Build for gaming

[Crossingfields]

Would like advice on this build im making must be green and black themed! cheers M8

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 4GB AMP! Extreme Edition Video Card  ($609.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($116.81 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1994.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:17 EDT-0400

[Mr.Reggin]

get a cheaper gpu and a Samsung 840 evo 500GB. the v300 have a new/shiti controller that makes 'em very slow

[Megazero]

Would like advice on this build im making must be green and black themed! cheers M8

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($54.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 4GB AMP! Extreme Edition Video Card  ($609.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($116.81 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99)

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $1994.70

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:17 EDT-0400

What about case? and your build is overkill on some part so... 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($109.97 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($349.99 @ NCIX US) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($349.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99) 

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $2072.85

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:41 EDT-0400

Without case since it usually depend on personal taste anyway.

 

[PercySavageEG]

I don't think you will need a 1000W psu, unless you are doing 3-4 way sli with extreme over clocking, you won't need anything above 750W

[Crossingfields]

were actually going to build it into a desk so we dont need a desk and id perfer 1 gtx 980 to 2 970's

[SimpleG]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($122.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($187.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($85.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($208.97 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($569.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case  ($174.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $2145.84

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:44 EDT-0400

[Crossingfields]

whoops forgot to change that since i switched GPUS

[PercySavageEG]

 

What about case? and your build is overkill on some part so... 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($109.97 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($349.99 @ NCIX US) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($349.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99) 

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $2072.85

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:41 EDT-0400

Without case since it usually depend on personal taste anyway.

 

why are you suggesting 2 GTX 970? SLI doesn't always scale perfectly and 2 970 means you are wasting more pcie lanes and slots and it also costs a bunch more for almost no change in performance

[BrandedUpontheGrave]

An i5 build with a 900 series GPU is unlikely to exceed 500 watts at full load.

[Crossingfields]

alright here's an updated list im using a 650W power supply because hes planing to buy another 980 later and overclock them both and his cpu

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($208.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($569.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2041.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:52 EDT-0400

[Megazero]

why are you suggesting 2 GTX 970? SLI doesn't always scale perfectly and 2 970 means you are wasting more pcie lanes and slots and it also costs a bunch more for almost no change in performance

Here we go again... What you said is correct... for the previous generation like GTX 770 and 780. For 970 and 980 it's different. First of all, price, 2 970 cost 660USD, 1 980 cost 550 so it's only about 110$ more expensive, BUT the things is, 1 970 is only about 10-15% slower than 1 980, so for games that dont support SLI, a 970 is still a beast, especially since it trade blow with a GTX 780. Second, most of the high demanding games nowaday will support SLI from launch if the title is sponsor by Nvidia, or will have the driver to support SLI within a week over Geforce Experiences, and in term of performance 2 970 is alot better than 1 980. The scaling issue usually come with 3 ways or 4 ways SLI where it's not worth it anymore, but for 2 ways, the performance improve by around 80%.

Also, hello fellow VNese :3

[Megazero]

alright here's an updated list im using a 650W power supply because hes planing to buy another 980 later and overclock them both and his cpu

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($208.97 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($569.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99)

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $2041.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:52 EDT-0400

Seem good to me, although I have 2 questions:

-Is this rig for gaming only? or do you do heavy video editing/3D rendering etc as well?

-Why a 512 GB SSD? You do know that most game dont gain benefit from running on a SSD compare to running on a HDD right? The loading time may be abit faster, about 1-5 seconds (with the exception of BF4 which got alot faster, about 20-30 secs) but in game it's exactly the same. And it even less useful if it's online games since you have to wait for everyone else anyway. So usually if it's for gaming only, I'd suggest a 120 to 240 GB SSD so you can install a few games that can actually benefit from it such as BF4, and 512GB+ is usually for people who do photoshop stuff that run on SSD alot.

Ofc you can have a 512GB SSD in a gaming build, it just dont seem useful/worth the money to me

[MeepLikesToBuildPc's]

alright here's an updated list im using a 650W power supply because hes planing to buy another 980 later and overclock them both and his cpu

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($208.97 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($569.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99)

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $2041.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:52 EDT-0400

this is good

[Shoopman]

I'm looking to build almost the exact same rig with SLI 970s. Does anyone know if it will stand up to next gen games at 1440p? I'm looking for a smooth 60 FPS at high settings or above. If not, what would I need to change in order to achieve this?

[PercySavageEG]

Here we go again... What you said is correct... for the previous generation like GTX 770 and 780. For 970 and 980 it's different. First of all, price, 2 970 cost 660USD, 1 980 cost 550 so it's only about 110$ more expensive, BUT the things is, 1 970 is only about 10-15% slower than 1 980, so for games that dont support SLI, a 970 is still a beast, especially since it trade blow with a GTX 780. Second, most of the high demanding games nowaday will support SLI from launch if the title is sponsor by Nvidia, or will have the driver to support SLI within a week over Geforce Experiences, and in term of performance 2 970 is alot better than 1 980. The scaling issue usually come with 3 ways or 4 ways SLI where it's not worth it anymore, but for 2 ways, the performance improve by around 80%.

Also, hello fellow VNese :3

ok, I guess things changed but if it was me, I wouldn't spend another $100 on it as it means you are losing pcie lanes and it might heat up your pc more, personally I would rather OC the 980 and use the extra $100 on an I7 but I guess that's just me.

 

Ps: It's nice to meet people all over the internet that came from the same place as me, it just proves how the internet can really connect everyone together

[Megazero]

I'm looking to build almost the exact same rig with SLI 970s. Does anyone know if it will stand up to next gen games at 1440p? I'm looking for a smooth 60 FPS at high settings or above. If not, what would I need to change in order to achieve this?

It will... probably... since the problem with "next-gen" game is not how powerful the computer is, but how much attention the developer give to the PC port... PC games have had some shitty port so far like Watchdogs that can barely reached 60fps on 1080p even with 2 GTX Titan Black SLI...

In term of raw power, SLI 970 can drive games at 4k at around 50-60fps, so 1440p should be no problem

ok, I guess things changed but if it was me, I wouldn't spend another $100 on it as it means you are losing pcie lanes and it might heat up your pc more, personally I would rather OC the 980 and use the extra $100 on an I7 but I guess that's just me.

 

Ps: It's nice to meet people all over the internet that came from the same place as me, it just proves how the internet can really connect everyone together

Well... what else would you use PCI-E lanes for anyway :3? for mobo that support 2 ways SLI they usually have another PCIx8 so you can plug in sound card or wifi card or whatever(not that you need them). And if the 970 and 980 stock cooler can do 4 ways SLI without getting overheat like R9 290x at all, 2 way wont be a problem :3 i7 is ok, but for gaming it's not really needed.

[Shoopman]

It will... probably... since the problem with "next-gen" game is not how powerful the computer is, but how much attention the developer give to the PC port... PC games have had some shitty port so far like Watchdogs that can barely reached 60fps on 1080p even with 2 GTX Titan Black SLI...

In term of raw power, SLI 970 can drive games at 4k at around 50-60fps, so 1440p should be no problem

Well... what else would you use PCI-E lanes for anyway :3? for mobo that support 2 ways SLI they usually have another PCIx8 so you can plug in sound card or wifi card or whatever(not that you need them). And if the 970 and 980 stock cooler can do 4 ways SLI without getting overheat like R9 290x at all, 2 way wont be a problem :3 i7 is ok, but for gaming it's not really needed.

Will the video cards be bottlenecked by anything else in the build? Would going up to an i7 really make a difference? I'm trying to save money where I can but having a smooth framerate is critically important.

 

Does anyone have experience with the PB278Q monitor? Input lag and response time are also very important to me, I play a few games semi-competitively and those fractions of seconds matter. Would a TN panel just be better in general? I would also feel a little sad if the monitor I get does not support G-Sync. That leaves me me with either a 1080p monitor with Gsync, or the ROG swift which is absurdly expensive and apparently of questionable quality judging by reviews.

[Megazero]

Will the video cards be bottlenecked by anything else in the build? Would going up to an i7 really make a difference? I'm trying to save money where I can but having a smooth framerate is critically important.

 

Does anyone have experience with the PB278Q monitor? Input lag and response time are also very important to me, I play a few games semi-competitively and those fractions of seconds matter. Would a TN panel just be better in general?

Nope, like I said i7 is only needed if you are going to do heavy video editing/3D rendering as it make the process alot faster since those stuff can actually use more than 4 cores. Games dont, so an i5 is perfectly fine, it wont bottle neck any GPU.

[Crossingfields]

I know that 2 970's would be better for performance but then id have to change settings a lot of the time and a single 980 might be better for the future since two 980 will easily run games for the next 5 yers hopefully... he might do a little recording/editing but not much

[Guest]

alright here's an updated list im using a 650W power supply because hes planing to buy another 980 later and overclock them both and his cpu

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($208.97 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($569.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99)

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $2041.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:52 EDT-0400

I would suggest a better power supply. You can get this Rosewill Capstone for $64.99 with the rebate and promo code.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/rosewill-power-supply-capstone750m

[brob]

alright here's an updated list im using a 650W power supply because hes planing to buy another 980 later and overclock them both and his cpu

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.96 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Kingston Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($208.97 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($569.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)  ($69.99)

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($459.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $2041.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 13:52 EDT-0400

 

You may want to consider Kingston HyperX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory or Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory which might (depends on your taste) fit the color scheme a little better.

 

Get a larger and better psu. 650W would be tight with two gpu and heavy overclocks. I suggest SeaSonic G-750 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply or EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply.

 

What will be used to cool the cpu?