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New Gaming PC, advice needed

D

dragon7

Junior Member
Hi Guys,

I'm about to build a gaming pc for myself after 5 years(Didn't have a PC for the last 5 years as I have been/am using laptops for my computing needs)

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

Gaming and general computing, Gaming mostly. (as my laptop would be fine for general computing/light gaming lenovo y570 with Nvidia 555m)


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

Around 1400ish

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

US, bay Area


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.

Even though I'm not a fanboy i prefer Intel chips and Nvidia gpus due to my past positive experience with them. Also I have ordered an

GIGABYTE GV-N770OC-4GD GeForce GTX 770 4GB from NewEgg so I have chosen a gpu already.

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

none available


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

Not OC

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

I have a few questions about this

I prefer to go 1440p but from what I could find online the GTX 770 might not be able to work at ultra/very high settings on some games for such a higher resolution monitor. (in year or two later, when and if i need it I can get another 770 and sli it with the one I have, this would enable better 1440p support)

So in the meantime I'm thinking of getting a lower resolution one either 1080p or 1200p

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

within one to two(maybe three at most) weeks



Here is the general idea I have of my system, please feel free to suggest modifications of revamp it altogether 🙂


Processor+motherboard = about 350$ with tax
i5 4670K + MSI Z87-G43 combo

GPU (already ordered) = ~450

GIGABYTE GV-N770OC-4GD GeForce GTX 770 4GB

RAM : 16gb DDR3 1600 ram = ~ 110
(please suggest some good brands/models)

HDD (Im thinking of getting 1 ssd's and 1 normal HDD0

1 256GB 840 Pro for games + os = ~250

1 1TB regualr hdd for non-speedy needs (storing viedos etc etc) =~70


I'll try to get deals on this(or other suggested items) whenever possible.

Other items include a dvd drive, a keyboard (not sure which ones to get)
Also need a case, power supply


Any advice is welcome! Thanks in advance 🙂
 
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Welcome to the boards !

Your budget should be big enough to go 1440p right away, though some compromises need to be made, and a single 770 won't run everything perfectly. I don't think it'd make sense to go 1080p now and think about 1440p 1-2 years later because you already have a 4GB card, and in 1-2 years there will be new cards that would make more sense upgrading to rather than going 770 SLI

Two options:

1) return the 770 4GB and get a 770 2GB, then build a PC around 1080p gaming for the time being and plan for 1440p in 1-2 years (upgrade monitor and GPUs only)
2) keep the 770 4GB and go 1440p now, and buy another 770 4GB when you want/have the money

Here's how option 2 would play out:

Monitor The cheapest is a basic Auria EQ276W $399 from Microcenter
CPU & Mobo i5-4670K + MSI Z87A-G45 $320
RAM 2x4GB Patriot 1600MHz $54 AP (16GB not needed for your purposes)
GPU Gigabyte 770 4GB $450
HDD WD Caviar Blue 1TB $66
PSU Rosewill Capstone 650W $68 AP
Case Corsair 300R $50 AR AP

Total $1407 + shipping from MC

Note that I left out an SSD because the budget is already exceeded and doesn't include a DVD drive ($20) nor a basic keyboard ($20). You can always add the SSD later on. If you only need the DVD drive to install windows, you could install from USB and not buy a DVD drive.

A 1080p build with a GTX 770 2GB could include a 250GB SSD without even going over budget.
 
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Hi lehtv, thank you for your detailed reply! I really appreciate it!

I think I prefer the option 2.
But also am thinking of adding a 128 gb ssd =~$110 ? to it because i want my OS dive to be on the SSD and don't want to go through the hassle of re installing system when I get a new SSD later down the road.might b over budget a bit but Im willing to do it now than do it later.

Maybe an year later, i can buy another 770 4gb for SLI.

Thanks again!
 
I ordered the motherboard,cpu,gpu,case,monitor and the psu 😀

Im thinking if I should go for 16gb ram (sometimes i run 2 or 3 vms for work related stuff in my laptop and they take a lot of ram, so 8gb was not enough for my laptop)

If im going 16gb RAM which would be a good option? should I go 2X8 or 4X4? . If its only about 50 or60$ more than the 8gb option for the 16gb I wont mind getting it..and seems like there are 16gb Ram for around 110, but not sure which models are good and work well with this MB.

I think 4x4 might be cheaper, but in the distant future(2 years down the lane?) if I want to put 32gb of ram on my machine (have future pipe-dreams of a Ramdisk 😀 ) 8x8 would be a better deal as i need not replace the 4x4..but its about an year or two away so by that time the price difference wont be much anyways.

Also does low latency ram make any difference? or just marketing hype?


Some quick questions
1

Keyboard
Dont want to spend a lot, but would like to have a reasonable keyboard for gaming instead of only going by lowest price

Any suggestions?


2
Windows
I dislike windows 8 (have it on my work laptop and it sucks). Am planning to get windows 7 instead, however is there a cheaper way to buy it than the regular ~100 system builder version? now that windows 8 is out. Just wondering.


3
Thermal paste?
In my old pc(which I got rid of about 5 years ago) I noticed that if I used aftermarket Thermal paste i got about 10C heat reduction for the cpu. I do not have any experience with the i5 4670 and don't know how hot it gets during gaming. The Corsair 500R seems to have great cooling, so not sure If I should get some thermal paste to replace the stock intel one or not.

Thanks!
 
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2x8 is always better than 4x4 as it leaves two slots open for future upgrading / troubleshooting, and it puts less strain on the memory controller. And it usually doesn't cost any more per gigabyte either. Lower latency does make a little bit of difference, but MHz is more important although it's not very important either. RAM is just RAM, it is not a major factor in performance as long as you have enough of it. G.Skill Ares 2x8GB 1866 $117 AP

1
Logitech G105 Call of Duty $27 (super low price for this, great choice if you don't mind the MW3 theme)
MS Sidewinder X4 $48

2
No, you'll have to buy the OEM DVD

3
Decent enough thermal paste is provided with the cooler

Since all these additions seem to blow your budget, I'm kind of wondering if it makes sense to go 1440p anymore. Unless it's OK that your budget is $1600 instead of $1400. Don't let scope creep catch you off guard
 
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Win7 is $90 at Amazon every day, so that saves you $10.

I wouldn't bother with new thermal paste unless you actually go with an aftermarket cooler.

I agree with 2x8GB over 4x4GB, especially now that there isn't a premium for it.
 
Thank you lehtv and Thermie!

Yep, these kinda blow my budget, but truth be told I don't mind being over 200 or so above my budget...the 1400ish was a self imposed limit because I don't want to pay too much for a gaming machine.

I like the keyboard and Amazon suggestion for win 7! 🙂

Btw for the G.Skill Ares 2x8GB 1866 I have a quick Q, does it support the 1150 socket? cos the specs says "Compatible with Intel LGA1155 and AMD Llano/AM3+ platforms" ,I'm sure it would work, but im probably going to check the MB supported memory list just to be certain
 
dragon7 said:
Thank you lehtv and Thermie!

Yep, these kinda blow my budget, but truth be told I don't mind being over 200 or so above my budget...the 1400ish was a self imposed limit because I don't want to pay too much for a gaming machine.

I like the keyboard and Amazon suggestion for win 7! 🙂

Btw for the G.Skill Ares 2x8GB 1866 I have a quick Q, does it support the 1150 socket? cos the specs says "Compatible with Intel LGA1155 and AMD Llano/AM3+ platforms" ,I'm sure it would work, but im probably going to check the MB supported memory list just to be certain
Click to expand...

You won't have a problem running any DDR3-1866 RAM on a Haswell board. The only reasons it says LGA1155 is because the headline was written before Haswell came out.
 
Termie said:
You won't have a problem running any DDR3-1866 RAM on a Haswell board. The only reasons it says LGA1155 is because the headline was written before Haswell came out.
Click to expand...

Awesome! thanks. My setup is complete, waiting for the parts to arrive in about a week!

Thank you guys for all your help. never realized how awesome this forum is till now
 
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