Help with new build...range $1500

[itw.gas]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

gaming - Counter Strike and surfing net

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

~$1500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.

n/a

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Intel i5 n nVidia

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

complete new build

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Just want stock speed as I do not know how to overclock nor do I want to deal with instability. I want something fast but VERY stable.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

....Max?

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

Within next week or so.

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

Windows 8.1 or 7


Ok, I havent built a maching in about 7 or 8 years so I'm sure things have changed since then. I am currently using a Sony laptop to play CounterStrike and would like to build a new machine. Plus, I need a new PC anyways.

Im looking for i5 4670, GTX 770, 1 SSD for boot drive, and 1 10k RPM HDD for storage. Everything else is up in the air as far as brand range of performance goes. I want to stay close to budget. No need for overclocking. As I stated before, I want stability. Oh, I also want the PC to be as silent as possible. e.g. Case, Fans, etc... Not sure if ATX or MicroATX is the way to go. I would rather have something not so bulky!

Thanks!

 

[Ken g6]

Im looking for i5 4670, GTX 770, 1 SSD for boot drive

[thread=2192841]Mfenn's got you covered there[/thread], for under $1000. Which gives you a starting point with some wiggle room in the budget.

and 1 10k RPM HDD for storage. ... As I stated before, I want stability. Oh, I also want the PC to be as silent as possible

Well, faster HDDs are louder, and more expensive. A 1TB 10k RPM HDD seems to run about $200. I would suggest two 1TB drives of a slower speed (7200RPM, or even 5400 if you want them really quiet) in RAID-1. That gives you faster read speeds (though slower writes), for less money, and stability if a drive has a hardware failure. (But remember, RAID doesn't protect against software failure or more general system failure - do backups!)

MicroATX should be fine, but I'll let others recommend cases.

Edit:

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

....Max?

Does this mean you need a monitor too? What size and what resolution? Note that while you say "Max", you probably can't fit a 4K monitor in the budget. 😉

 

[Cerb]

Ok, I havent built a maching in about 7 or 8 years so I'm sure things have changed since then. I am currently using a Sony laptop to play CounterStrike and would like to build a new machine. Plus, I need a new PC anyways.

Im looking for i5 4670, GTX 770, 1 SSD for boot drive, and 1 10k RPM HDD for storage. Everything else is up in the air as far as brand range of performance goes. I want to stay close to budget. No need for overclocking. As I stated before, I want stability. Oh, I also want the PC to be as silent as possible. e.g. Case, Fans, etc... Not sure if ATX or MicroATX is the way to go. I would rather have something not so bulky!

You can do get by for much, much, under $1k, but then what about if you want to play something newer than CS? A GTX 770, while nice, is going to be total overkill for CS at 1080P (which is an assumption). It works for your budget, but know that it's going to loaf with that, and a lesser video card, like a GTX 760, will be able to play anything for the next few years at 1080P, unless you must max out your graphics settings.

No need for a 10k HDD. A 7200 RPM will be fine, and quiet enough, with a Seagate or Toshiba (formerly Hitachi). If you want to improve speed a bit, use SSD caching.

IMO, as far as CPU+mobo+GPU, you don't even need as much as mfenn's current build, in the box.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

....Max?

LCD monitors have fixed resolutions. The resolution affects what GPU power is needed. A higher resolution will necessitate more powerful video cards for the same effective performance as a lower resolution. FI, a 2560x1440 monitor might need a GTX 770 or so to match a GTX 760 at 1920x1080. They can run at lower resolutions, but generally look fuzzy.

 

[DigDog]

i vote for the 770.
holding it makes me feel all warm inside. you should too experience the awesomeness.

but seriously, you could run CS on a toaster. so, let's be reasonable and assume you will at some point try something a bit more .. shall we say .. graphick-y?

4670k
CM h212+ (or EVO)
Z87 mobo .. Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H
Gb 770 windforce. 2Gb. dont listen to the lies, it's plenty VRAM for *anything*
any-brand 120Gb SSD (tbh, even a 60 would do - its what i use)
any-brand 1Tb HD, 7200rpm.
case of your choice.
borrow a DVD reader from your friends - you just need it once for the install, thats it.
2x4Gb corsair 1600 ram, the vengeance. funny how this used to be their top tier branding, now its just cheap throwaway ram. but it works flawlessly.

time for you do some work. go here:
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/

and find out how much wattage your PC will use; take in account overclocking too;
then go here:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Review_Cat&recatnum=13
read some reviews; they are in historical order, so no need to go too far back.

match your power usage to a PSU, with the load usage sitting right where your PSU has the highest efficiency; normally, thats somewhat above 50% load.
or don't take my word for it, i'm addicted to power supplies. my pc draws 450w and yet i use a 1000w psu. i paid good coin for it, but i love the 93% effciency, full modular build, and i know it's of exceptional quality, plus the warranty is stellar.

this is what i have. i'm playing titanfall beta, i cranked the settings to max (1080p), and it doesnt even break a sweat. same when playing hawken, blacklight, minecraft at ludicrous draw distances, etc.

if you need a monitor, i'd drop some money on the benq 120hz, or anything else which does Lightboost.

(asus does great products all around ,but they have terribad customer service)

 

[Cerb]

Well, the OP has no need for Z87 nor the K CPU. Aside from that, I mostly agree, but that if the OP needs any peripherals, like monitor, keyboard, and mouse, they should get higher priority. A monitor can last through 2 or 3 GPUs no problem, FI, as can a mouse or keyboard (and if you're starting from nothing, with a decent budget, why not go ahead and get a nice keyboard, amiright?).

So...OP, do you need keybaord, mouse, mousepad, monitor, speakers/headset...basically everything but a desk, or what?

 

[mfenn]

match your power usage to a PSU, with the load usage sitting right where your PSU has the highest efficiency; normally, thats somewhat above 50% load.

This is an incredibly wrong way to go about sizing a power supply for several reasons:

1. The outervision.com power calculator notoriously overestimates how much power a PC can draw. There is a reason that it is sponsored by power supply manufacturers, they want to sell more expensive PSUs. A gaming system will draw something like 60-70% of what they spec.

2. While it is true that a power supply is most efficient at or around 50% load, the efficiency is NOT a bell curve. The efficiency barely changes at all between 40% and 90% load, but drops like a rock under 40% load. Running at 80% is not significantly worse than running at 50%.

3. Unless you're running an HPC compute cluster, render farm, or something like that, your PC's average power draw is going to be essentially equal to its idle draw. Sizing your PSU to be most efficient under load means that you're going to have a power supply that is incredibly over-provisioned, meaning that you not only pay more up front, but also over time. This is because your PC's idle draw is going to represent sub-10% load, meaning that you're getting horrible efficiency out of your PSU, 60-70%.

So yeah, for a single-GPU system with a real world power draw of 300W on a good day, a 550W PSU is more than sufficient.

 

[itw.gas]

thanks for all of your input. i was hitting close to $2k range with everything. i might just go with mfenn's build n keep price down. since this will build will get more use from the kids then anything else.

 

[itw.gas]

btw...i have about a $460 credit at bestbuy. just wondering if their products are the same as other retailers. i know that some BB products have different product numbers cuz they are manufactured for BB. any idea on whats best to get at BB

 

[frozentundra123456]

btw...i have about a $460 credit at bestbuy. just wondering if their products are the same as other retailers. i know that some BB products have different product numbers cuz they are manufactured for BB. any idea on whats best to get at BB

You could get a monitor, power supply or graphics card, at least the ones in my area usually stock all 3. They are usually overpriced though, and if you decide to buy, base the purchase on your own research---dont trust the sales person to give any sort of good advice. A monitor would probably be your best bet to get at a reasonable price.

 

[itw.gas]

mfenn

how does Newegg gift card promo work exactly? does using the promo take additional money off? What is "AR" and "AP"? "after rebate" and "after promo"? Just curious as to why your prices on your budget builds are lower than the links provided.

thanks!

 

[mfenn]

There are four types of discounts that Newegg typically runs:

1. Promo codes. These usually appear in green text somewhere after the product name. Enter the code at checkout to get some amount off. I refer to these as AP.

2. Mail in rebates. Fill out a form after you receive the product, mail it in, and sometime later you will get a check / prepaid debit card in the mail. I refer to these as AR.

3. Gift cards. Purchase an item and after your credit card is charged, Newegg will email you a gift card code that you can apply to a future order. I refer to these as AP

4. Combo deals. Pretty simple, just buy the parts through the combo link and receive a discount. I refer to these as combo.

I also only do the builds once per week and prices change on a regular basis, so some prices will naturally shift over time.