Building a Gaming PC

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($208.88 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: *Apotop 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.98 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: *Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: *PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg)

Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: *EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $768.55

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-21 01:14 EST-0500

Theres no reason to get a Z97 board and a non-k CPU, nor is there any reason for an aftermarket heatsink (other than noise levels). And at under $1000 he can easily throw in a GTX 970 and get significantly more performance as well as longer lifespan out of the system.

ForsakenLive · January 21, 2015

Go with Haswell (latest generation, socket 1150).

SSDs need to be 120gb to be worth it at least.

GarnetDevil · January 21, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($52.42 @ NCIX US)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.88 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($338.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)

Total: $1004.20

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-21 01:23 EST-0500

This build includes windows

dizmo · January 21, 2015

Theres no reason to get a Z97 board and a non-k CPU, nor is there any reason for an aftermarket heatsink (other than noise levels). And at under $1000 he can easily throw in a GTX 970 and get significantly more performance as well as longer lifespan out of the system.

Not entirely true. Z series boards often have features that H series boards do not, up to and including the number of USB ports.

While in this case he likely doesn't know the OP's usage requirements, it's worth noting.

79wjd · January 21, 2015

Not entirely true. Z series boards often have features that H series boards do not, up to and including the number of USB ports.

While in this case he likely doesn't know the OP's usage requirements, it's worth noting.

USB hubs exist. Most times even an H81 board has all the features that the user needs (excluding those who want to overclock -- even though thats doable on an h81 board too).

JonnyKennedy · January 21, 2015

I5 4460

Gigabyte sniper B5

GTX 970

8 gb RAM

120gb SSD

1tb HDD

500 Watt PSU

and a nice case

Or do you want to overclock?

dizmo · January 21, 2015

USB hubs exist. Most times even an H81 board has all the features that the user needs (excluding those who want to overclock -- even though thats doable on an h81 board too).

They do, not everyone wants to use them.

Why add another point of failure.

H81 is only good for up to 16gb of RAM, if they want more they're out of luck.

It's good for budget systems with little opportunity to upgrade without buying a new board.