The Emperor's Cogitator

Jman1906 · September 21, 2015

Hey all,

Looking for some advice on my first build from the awesome LTT community.

Budget and Location:

My budget is maximum $2000 (including peripherals) and I live in the US.

Aim:

I want to upgrade from my MacBook (Nvidia 650m card) to a real gaming rig. My goal is to make a powerful system to run modern games well at 1080p, 60fps, at high but not necessarily ultra settings. Preferably something on the quieter side, especially when idle. Planning on overclocking in the future, only when I know the system is stable at stock. Went with ITX form factor because I don't plan on using SLI and it saves space.

Parts:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($327.99 @ NCIX US)

CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GT 113.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($129.99 @ Newegg)

Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste ($9.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($150.00)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($83.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.16 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case ($64.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: be quiet! 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($110.00)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full (32/64-bit) ($119.99 @ Newegg)

Monitor: ViewSonic VX2452mh 60Hz 23.6" Monitor ($155.52 @ Amazon)

Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Wired Gaming Keyboard ($79.00 @ Amazon)

Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Channel Headset ($99.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $1827.59

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-21 14:28 EDT-0400

Frankly I'm not sure what keyboard to get. I want something 10-keyless but otherwise I've never really bought a mechanical keyboard.

Aytex · September 21, 2015

r9 390?

Trik'Stari · September 21, 2015

Drop the 4790k for a 4690k, and get a 980 instead of a 970 (or a 390 instead of a 970 if you don't want to drop the 4790k)

blackadder · September 21, 2015

Everything looks good to me. If you do get. 390x as said above get a bigger psu just in case, should still be fine with 500 watts, just close. Also you can skip water cooling and get a better gpu or something too, all up to you. Also 970 at 1080or 390 is about the same but the 390x is all around better.

Curufinwe_wins · September 21, 2015

I don't know if you need a mouse... And I assume that peripherals are up for grabs. Obviously just grab what you would like, but I don't recommend razer keyboards.

1080p Build good enough for now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

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

CPU Cooler: LEPA AquaChanger 240 103.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste ($9.89 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($150.00)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($83.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.49 @ OutletPC)

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($95.00 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($308.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case ($62.98 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: be quiet! 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($110.00)