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Build me a Gaming PC, budget $1500 for tower
Looking to buy and build my first computer, need suggestions on pretty much everything.
Won't be overclocking but might in the future.
I'm in Canada and prefer if you'd link me to Newegg.ca or tigerdirect.ca
Budget $1500 looking to get 8-16gb ram. Everything else has to be good but mainly trying to focus on a really good CPU/GPU.
Thinking of:
Processor: Intel core i7? I know AMD has cheaper processors but are they as good? why/whynot?
Graphic card: GTX 770? It's $400, but is there any other card that's better for the same price or a bit more?
CPU cooler: evo 212 - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&Tpk=evo%20212
Comments
Here are a few ideas
Optical drive- http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136259
Case- http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352031
HDD for storage http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
Memory- http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
CPU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899
OS- http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416550
CPU Cooler - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
SSD - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147193
GPU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121770
Mobo- http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131980
Total - $1492
You may can hunt around for cheaper prices or bargains on a few items if you so choose.
I picked a samsung 840 pro 256g SSD. I personally use samsung ssd and so to me they are worth the extra money. I picked an Asus GPU ( 770 ) and Asus Mobo. You can choose different manuf, if you want and go up or down on price point.
An I-5 instead of an I-7, 8gb of DDR3 1600 is also what I picked out.
Why build a Tower when you don't need all that wasted space, build a MATX instead. Total cost: $1,191
Case: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182 $109.00
Mobo: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157294 $139.00
Cpu: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501 go with the 3770 if you don't plan on OC. $340.00
Ram: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144 $74.00
Video Card: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161404 step it up to a better card if u got the budget. $260.00
SSD: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192 might be better one's out there! $129.00
Power Supply: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139031 $99.00
Heatsink: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 $36.00
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
You're completely missing a power supply.
Why make things more cramped than you have to? Also, there's no OS license, no optical drive, and no hard drive there. While those omissions can be justified in certain situations, you'd better have a good justification for doing so.
Because I don't know the OP's situation. Storage HDD's and optical drives are super cheap so its not worth my effort looking it up and linking it. The OP may or may not have a Boxed OS, again i have no idea, but then again he does not need a recommendation for an OS.
I have built quite a few Matx's over the years, and yes some can be cramped but with the case i linked that is not an issue.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Ah so I am. Had a phone call in the middle of looking up stuff and just forgot it I guess o.O.
Can either drop the HDD or drop down to a 128gb SSD and add a PSU
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182263
Should still be close to the stated budget. I would get the 128gb SSD instead of the 256gb one to save the money and stick to $1500 or close enough.
128gb SSD http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192
With those changes total is $1481
But they are having a shellshocker deal on the SSD right now, so that price will go up on that SSD soon.
Shipping across the border is expensive, so you can often save money by not doing it.
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=70541&vpn=BX80637I53570K&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1382
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=69231&vpn=Z77A%2DG45&manufacture=MSI&promoid=1062
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=55445&vpn=CMX8GX3M2A1600C9&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1062
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=65701&vpn=ST1000DM003&manufacture=Seagate&promoid=1382
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=83073&vpn=MKNSSDCR240GB%2D7&manufacture=Mushkin%20Enhanced
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=78975&vpn=GH24NS95&manufacture=Others&promoid=1382
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=84358&vpn=N770%20TF%202GD5%2FOC&manufacture=Others&promoid=1062
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=66063&vpn=CC%2D9011014%2DWW&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1360
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=76943&vpn=SSR%2D650RM&manufacture=Seasonic%20Electronics
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=64385&vpn=RR%2D212E%2D20PK%2DR2&manufacture=COOLERMASTER
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=77180&vpn=WN7%2D00404&manufacture=Others&promoid=1062
That comes to $1393 before rebates. I'm not sure about shipping costs.
IMO the I5 is a great cpu, and all you need for gaming and everyday needs. Unless you have specific needs or just want an I7 then an I5 is the way to go. Especially considering the cost of an I7. If your going to put it to good use then its money well spent. If your going to play games, watch movies, stream, ect. then its overkill.
IMO
I think I'm going to get a full tower case, just so I have 0 trouble with space, can anyone recommend one?
So far:
CPU: i7-4770k Haswell: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116901
Video Card: EVGA SuperClocked w/ ACX Cooling GTX 770 2gb 256bit GDDR5 - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181032
RAM: 16gb G.SKILL Ripjaws Z 240-pin 2133 - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231619
Case: Thor v2 - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147158
Mobo : ASUS Z87-Plus Lga 1150 - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131980
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128gb - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192
Hard Drive: 1tb Western Digital: - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast 650w - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139031
Also now how easy it looks I'll be overclocking the ram and processor.
These look good?
Unless you're going to feed integrated graphics from it, clocking memory higher than about 1600 MHz doesn't matter.
Also, that puts you at $1179. Once you add a video card, power supply, OS license, and optical drive, you're probably going to be way over your stated budget.
Oh well, then I won't overclock the ram. Also I can do like $1800 max.
Added Gtx 770 evga and this PSU : http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139031
will 650 w be enough?
A case is just a matter of preference really. Just pick one you like and fits in the budget and buy it.
It would be really hard to screw up buying a full tower case o.O
And you might as well get this PSU http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010 . Its $119 after rebate and is a better 750w PSU. If your going to build a big badass PC then might as well not skimp on a power supply of all things.
If you're overclocking anyway, then you might as well save some money by getting a Core i7-3770K with an LGA 1155 motherboard rather than a Core i7-4770K with an LGA 1150 motherboard. The former overclocks better than the latter, which makes up for being clocked less aggressively at stock speeds. That might save you $50, as older LGA 1155 motherboard are cheaper just because they've been around longer and vendors may be trying to get rid of them.
There's really no point in paying so much for 2133 MHz memory. Saving some money there is pretty easy to do, even if you insist on 16 GB.
While Corsair's TXM series is decent, on your budget, I'd get a higher quality power supply.
And 120 GB of SSD space can fill up fast. On a huge budget, there's no need to skimp and refrain from doubling that capacity.
Thanks for the help, I'll be sticking with the asus z87 motherboard and the i-7 4770k. Switching the corsair H100i to evo 212 though. I am going to take your advice and just buy 1600 mhz ram, 2133 seems to be a waste.
Totally disagree with you there, there are some very horrid cases out there. Don't buy a case only to come to hate it down the road. You need one that is easy access to remove the HDD's and have a mobo tray, also a case with pre-built in filters will save you lot of time cleaning the dust bunnies out of your case. Also a case that has inlet and outlet ports for the PowerSupply separate from the case will reduce over heating of the PSU and housing.
A full tower case with an atx mobo is a mistake if you don't need it. You are paying a premium price for that extra space if its only going to be used as a gaming computer and not going to be overclocked or just mildly overclocked. I would bet most of his pci slots will go unused and his heat footprint will be the same as an matx . lol
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Going to have to agree with stayontarget on this one. While airflow is generally speaking less of an issue in most full tower cases when compared to some Micro ATX centric ones that is not universally true. And there are in fact some excellent "mATX" cases such as the one listed by stayontarget which offer outstanding airflow compared to the majority of full towers. My own wifes system (can be viewed under my profile, white system) is based on the cheaper version of that same model.
Standard ATX based builds tend to be overkill for the majority of gamers to include a lot of unused hardware and thus so are most cases build around them as they tend to cost more. And while Mini ITX boards will generally offer enough functionality if you are serious about OCing these boards tend to fall quite a bit short of their slightly larger cousins, mATX.
Obviously there is a matter of personal preference when it comes to building a new system and that is part of the joy in it. I just see WAY too many people think they need a full tower and standard ATX which simply isn't the case for the majority of gaming systems unless SLI or Xfire is a priority.
I had actually recommended a mid tower case to the OP. I personally do not see the need for a full tower case for most people. But its his money and his build.
He should do some looking and see what case fits his needs. If he cant look up and pick a decent case for himself then he probably should not be building anything anyways.
A case really is a matter of preference. If you buy a full tower case and totally screw up so bad with the purchase it effects the functioning of the PC by overheating then you will have to have actually tried to fuck up.
I can pull up a list of 20 full tower cases right now that would fit anyone who wants a gaming PC needs. Does he need a full tower case IMO? NO,... His dime and his build tho.
Personally a midtower or smaller with good fan placement and airflow would be better. Its not my build tho.
edit:
To OP here are a few cases that may / may not fit your needs for a full tower
-http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119213
-http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119245
-http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352030
-http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235014
Those are just a few options. There are many more good full tower cases if you want to go that route.
If you want something that large, find it aesthetically pleasing and have no qualms about the price that case will do just fine.
Another option that you can get an idea of what a complete system would look like inside based on information provided by the community here would the Coolermaster Storm Stryker.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119260&Tpk=coolermaster%20storm%20Stryker
If you look at the post by Iselin regarding picking out the case (should be near the top of the forums) you can see the complete build at the end of the thread.
EDIT: Agree wholeheartedly with what jdnewell has stated below.
IMO yes. That case is just fine if thats the one you like.
Unless your building some uber type rig with 3x sli / crossfire, max overclock, ect. that put out an inordinate amount of heat then most cases of that type will do.
Some will have extra features such as better cable management, mobo trays, carry handles, features to make it quiet, PSU placement, Removable HDD cages, ect..
Good air flow is what your mainly looking for. And cases of that size and caliber will have sufficient air flow for your needs and beyond. The rest is just making sure it has the features you want..
Some people like full tower, I personally prefer a mid tower, some prefer smaller cases like mini's. Find something YOU like, with the features you want, do some google searches and read reviews to make sure its the case that fits YOUR needs and buy it.
This is just my opinion. Others may differ.
A full tower case with an atx mobo is a mistake if you don't need it. You are paying a premium price for that extra space if its only going to be used as a gaming computer and not going to be overclocked or just mildly overclocked. I would bet most of his pci slots will go unused and his heat footprint will be the same as an matx . lol
There are some bad cases out there. But do you ~need~ a motherboard tray, removable hard drive bays, and air filters? Is a full sized tower and a full ATX motherboard a "mistake"?
No.
That case stuff is all nice, but hardly a requirement. None of that stuff makes your PC any faster, or work any better. In fact, I bet most people will put their gaming computer together, maybe upgrade it twice during it's average 5-year lifespan, maybe remember to dust it out once a year, and that's about it. The case will be open a grand total of about 5-6 times in it's entire life, with hardware only be swapped maybe twice.
So do you need a motherboard tray in that case, if you just put the motherboard in once and never replace it in it's useful life? Hardly. Does it make installation easier? Without a doubt. But if your just doing that once, how much is that worth. Same with hard drive bays. With that in mind, would it not be equally important to chose a case with plenty of working room, rather than trying to cram a mATX motherboard into a mATX case with much tighter tolerances for cable management, fan headroom, heatsink clearance, and possibly most importantly, clearance to get your hands in there to secure/plug/install all the components?
Case comes down 95% to aesthetics - whatever looks good to you. The smaller the case you pick, the more important air flow considerations and sizing is. You are right, not everyone needs a full tower case or a full ATX motherboard, but it would hardly hurt a build if you used them. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a mistake on the basis that it could harm your build or give you a worse computer; you will just have to give up more desk space, and it may (or may not, depending on how you pick your parts) cost a little bit more money.
I'm not saying mATX is bad, or that full tower cases are necessarily good - I'm just saying it doesn't really matter. That decision is 95% whatever the builder/owner thinks looks good and wants to work with. Ultimately, you can build very good mATX builds, and very good full tower builds, and the price difference between the two can be very small (and swing either way, easily). "Wasted space" doesn't really hurt anything at all.