First DIY Gaming PC

[coolyr]

Hello!

 

I am looking for some help choosing components for a DIY gaming rig. It's my first DIY build, but I like to think I'm pretty handy (I like Legos hurrr durrr) and tech-savvy.  All help is greatly appreciated! Here are the details:

 

1. Budget

I am aiming for about $1,300 USD but I suppose my range varies a lot.  I have some money to spend, but at the same time I don't want to blow all of it now when I can upgrade later if needed. That being said I am willing to drop more money for recommended gaming components like an SSD, which I think really improves the PC gaming experience.

2. Aim
As stated, I'm shooting for mainly a gaming PC build for higher end games like Far Cry, Crysis, GTAV, etc. Also, I may want some extra memory for work (I'm into finance and investing) and I also may be interested in mining Bitcoins as well, if you think that is worth it these days.

 

3. Monitors
To be honest I don't know much about what monitors are best for PC gaming.  I have an extra 32 inch Magnavox TV my brother gave me that I'm not using, but I am definitely willing to buy another few monitors if you think it's worth the immersion experience. Do TV monitors even differ from a good PC gaming monitor?

4. Peripherals
I will probably want a cooling system to keep the noise level of the computer down and keep safe from overheating. I don't know a ton about overclocking, but maybe I should go for overclocking my CPU since I want a cooling system anyways? Again, never done overclocking stuff before so treat me like a total idiot.

 

I'll need an OS (probably Windows 8, but I don't really care) and I can find a keyboard and mouse on my own. Unless of course you know of an awesome gaming keyboard or mouse that isn't crazy expensive!

5. Why are you upgrading?
I just graduated from college and surprisingly, I'm not swimming in debt and have some extra money. I wish to become, as they say, part of the "PC mustard rice" and have a solid desktop PC to game out on.  I'm basically starting from scratch here but what I really like about DIY builds is that you can add more components later, and you don't have to pay for assembly.

 

Thanks so much in advance! Any and all help is appreciated, and PC part picker builds would be awesome!

[cobie555555]

Hi! Cool to see you are getting into the "PC mustard rice"!
I'm a bit short on time, but I can still say 2 things:

1. Bitcoin mining is only cost-effective if you live in an area with cheap power. There are numerous calculators on the internet that will tell you whether you will be able to make money from it.

 

2. TV's normally have a lot longer response time because they actually process the video going into the tv to make it look better. Some TV's have gaming modes which will stop this from happening. All personal preference really.

 

I will come back later and possibly make a build for ya (if somebody doesn't come first)!
Good luck!

[Suffokation]

Hey Coolyr,

Welcome to LinusTechTips. I think your budget is great and I have put a list together for you.

You could use that water cooler or a Dark Rock Pro 3, A Noctua NH-D15 or a Cryorig R1 Ultimate. They are all more silent than water cooling (water cooling is very rarely the silent option).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 240M 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($112.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($59.79 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($71.88 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($263.98 @ Newegg) 

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

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Monitor: BenQ GW2765HT 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($359.10 @ Amazon) 

Total: $1379.69

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-18 04:17 EDT-0400

[Majestic]

Why all the EVGA power supplies. Afaik they only have a few that are half-decent. But none of them are really stellar.

[Sam Z Man]

Welcome to the forms I designed this parts list for you, as for the cooling system a full water cooling loop can be easily over 400$ so I choose some of the best air cooling options that are sure to be whisper quiet when running even at high loads, and computers no longer overheat themselves to death they will decrease there performance in order to stay cool, but with a cooling solution this intensive that will likly never happen. You could use the TV for now but I would suggest you upgrade to a good monitor latter.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)

CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 93.3 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($74.90 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Kingston Fury 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card ($319.99 @ Newegg)

Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)

Case Fan: NZXT RF-FN122-RB 45.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case Fan: NZXT RF-FN122-RB 45.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case Fan: NZXT RF-FN122-RB 45.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $1240.66

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-18 04:53 EDT-0400

It's fully overclockable if you want to take that route, but not recommended unless you do lots and lots of research first.

[SubZero Cooling]

$1300 is a good budget for a gaming build. The first thing i'd address tho is the bitcoin mining. I think your going to need a bit more than that budget to build a system that will show you meaningful returns in bitcoin or any kind of mining. 

 

These are my recommendations for a good gaming pc build.

 

Case: NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case (Great case, Personal fav, Great for water cooling so you'll have a more quite pc build and the case it self is silence optimized.) $100

Processor: Core I5-4690k (Great for gaming, overclocks well and manages medium to heavy work loads well.) $230

GPU: GTX 970 (Solid card for gaming at 1080p and 1440p) $340

Motherboard: MSI z97 Gaming (Beautiful Board, High quality caps, Great overclocker, lots of gaming and sound oriented features.) $150

RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury (2x8GB) 1866Mhz (Cant go wrong with HyperX, Does well in games and that should be enough for gaming and the type of work you mentioned.) $100

SSD: Kingston Digital 240GB (If your gonna be gaming then an SSD is a must, this should be enough for OS, Games and Programs.) $90

HDD: WD Blue 1TB Sata 7200rpm (Great storage option, if you need more you can always get another one.) $50

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650w 80Plus Gold (One of the best ones out there, Enough to power all the components with head room left) $85

 

Total: $1,145

 

I'd go with a custom water cooling loop for lower operation temps and noise and better overclocks. 

 

Or if your not interested in a custom loop for cpu cooling you could go with a Corsair Hydro h100i (Enough to keep your processor cool even when overclocked) $100

 

Total: $1,245

(All Prices were taken from amazon and does not include rebate.) 

 

Keyboard and mouse, I think that's really up to you, there are a lot of gaming keyboard and mouses out there, it all depends on what your going for.

 

Hope this helped in some way, Good Luck with the build.

[Zackslay3r]

Hello! Glad to see a new member of the community! As a Aussie, i had to do a lil bit of work for you my american friend. but i have a build that would be a solid machine.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($88.89 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($135.49 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($123.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($349.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Micro Center) 

Total: $1296.31

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-18 05:48 EDT-0400

[Guest]

Why all the EVGA power supplies. Afaik they only have a few that are half-decent. But none of them are really stellar.

You should do more research, as EVGA have some fantastic power supplies in their range. The lower end units are nothing special, but the G2/GS/P2/PS/T2 ones are excellent.

[coolyr]

Welcome to the forms I designed this parts list for you, as for the cooling system a full water cooling loop can be easily over 400$ so I choose some of the best air cooling options that are sure to be whisper quiet when running even at high loads, and computers no longer overheat themselves to death they will decrease there performance in order to stay cool, but with a cooling solution this intensive that will likly never happen. You could use the TV for now but I would suggest you upgrade to a good monitor latter.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)

CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 93.3 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($74.90 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Kingston Fury 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card ($319.99 @ Newegg)

Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)

Case Fan: NZXT RF-FN122-RB 45.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case Fan: NZXT RF-FN122-RB 45.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case Fan: NZXT RF-FN122-RB 45.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $1240.66

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-18 04:53 EDT-0400

It's fully overclockable if you want to take that route, but not recommended unless you do lots and lots of research first.

 

Thanks for the build Sam Z Man! I was wondering about the memory options though, do you think 2 1x8 sticks are necessary? I have heard that one stick would be more than sufficient for almost all games - is there some kind of added benefit to having all that extra memory?

 

Also, I like the idea of a cooling system and multiple fans to keep things really quiet. Had some bad experiences with my computer frying from the inside out.

 

Thanks a bunch man!

[coolyr]

 

Hey Coolyr,

Welcome to LinusTechTips. I think your budget is great and I have put a list together for you.

You could use that water cooler or a Dark Rock Pro 3, A Noctua NH-D15 or a Cryorig R1 Ultimate. They are all more silent than water cooling (water cooling is very rarely the silent option).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 240M 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($112.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($59.79 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($71.88 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($263.98 @ Newegg) 

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

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Monitor: BenQ GW2765HT 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($359.10 @ Amazon) 

Total: $1379.69

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-18 04:17 EDT-0400

 

 

This looks like a great build Suffokation, thank you so much! The monitor seems a bit pricy (not a bad thing), any reason this monitor would be preferred over having something like 3 different lower cost gaming monitors? Could it handle overclocking well?

 

 

 

Hello! Glad to see a new member of the community!   As a Aussie, i had to do a lil bit of work for you my american friend. but i have a build that would be a solid machine. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($88.89 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($135.49 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($123.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($349.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Micro Center) 

Total: $1296.31

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-18 05:48 EDT-0400

 

 

Thanks for the help from the land down under, man!  Looks like a great build.

 

Well, looks like I have a lot of option to choose from and consider, which is great! I'll definitely do some more research on parts and overclocking (any good places to look?), which I know nothing about. Also, just want to thank you all profusely and say I already love this community.

 

Sorry for double posting! Appreciate the help everyone, really!

[Sam Z Man]

Thanks for the build Sam Z Man! I was wondering about the memory options though, do you think 2 1x8 sticks are necessary? I have heard that one stick would be more than sufficient for almost all games - is there some kind of added benefit to having all that extra memory?

 

Also, I like the idea of a cooling system and a fans to keep things really quiet.

 

Thanks a bunch man!

I went with 16gbs because I personally like running things in the background a lot while gaming but you would be fine going with 2 4gb sticks of RAM.

[coolyr]

I went with 16gbs because I personally like running things in the background a lot while gaming but you would be fine going with 2 4gb sticks of RAM.

 

I also like to run things in the background so I will definitely consider 16gbs of RAM, but probably a bit more in the future.

 

Also, a buddy of mine told me to go with the  r5 case instead of the h440. He has the h440 and says for a pure air build that's gonna hit up in there with the less efficient airflow. Does he know what he's talking about?

[Suffokation]

I also like to run things in the background so I will definitely consider 16gbs of RAM, but probably a bit more in the future.

 

Also, a buddy of mine told me to go with the  r5 case instead of the h440. He has the h440 and says for a pure air build that's gonna hit up in there with the less efficient airflow. Does he know what he's talking about?

Well, yes and no. I own H440 and I love it. But, the R5 has demonstrably better cooling.