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Yet another build, ~$1,000

iLEktron

Senior member
So I narrowed it down to this. I was shooting for around $1000.

Some notes.
-I picked the case just cause, if you have any better in mind please do share.
-Graphics card will do justice for years to come, i think. will be used for occasional gamin
-I have my own ssd
-Motherboard is maybe too much?
-If we can shave some $ but not sacriface too much power, please advise.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($334.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($189.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($346.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($102.18 @ Amazon)
Total: $1303.63
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-02 18:13 EDT-0400)

Please do share your notes. Thank You!
 
Chicago? There are two Micro Centers in Chicago. Bundle your CPU and mobo there for big savings. 🙂

Do you want to overclock? It looks like you didn't overclock your last system.

If gaming is "occasional", what's the primary purpose of this system? For gaming you have excessive RAM that's excessively high-clocked, but you might not for other purposes.
 
Chicago? There are two Micro Centers in Chicago. Bundle your CPU and mobo there for big savings. 🙂

Do you want to overclock? It looks like you didn't overclock your last system.

If gaming is "occasional", what's the primary purpose of this system? For gaming you have excessive RAM that's excessively high-clocked, but you might not for other purposes.

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

Office work, internet applications. Light gaming

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

~1000
(PLUS MINUS 200)

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

USA, I do have microcenter around.


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, Nvidia

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

SSD, Monitors, etc..
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

No plans to over clock.

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

Either 1920 x 1200 or 2048x1152 most likely

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 1 month

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

NO

-------------
I forgot that microcenter has deals on CPU's and Mobo. Any recommendations?
I would like to keep the Ram so I dont have to upgade in 1 or 2 years.
 
I would like to keep the Ram so I dont have to upgade in 1 or 2 years.

Getting overly-expensive, high-clocked DDR3 won't make a difference when it comes to needing (or not needing) to upgrade your RAM. RAM upgrades are only needed at generational shifts, i.e. DDR2 to DDR3 or DDR3 to DDR4. Different RAM speeds within the same generation have very little impact. The reason you'd upgrade RAM within a generation is do take advantage of higher capacity modules, not to change speed.

Anyway, overall your build has some components that are very bad value for money objectively and others that are bad value for money for your use case. This is important because you are $1300 over your budget right now. I'll go over each part:

- CPU: Bad VFM for your use case. Office work and Internet applications are fine on any CPU, and gaming doesn't need more than an i5.
- Mobo: Objectively bad VFM. There are many well regarded and fully-featured Z87 boards that cost around half of the MVIH.
- RAM: Objectively bad VFM as explained above. There are many less expensive 16GB kits
- GPU: Objectively bad VFM and bad VFM for your use case. Even within the GTX 770 family, that ACX is overpriced. The R9 280X is a better card in that performance class, and you probably don't need a card that high performance anyway given your stated need of light gaming.
- Case: Expensive, but OK if you like the styling
- PSU: Bad VFM for your use case. You don't need a 750W PSU for that machine.

So, with those things in mind, it's easy to get parts that meet your needs and be under $1000.

i5 4670K + ASRock Z87 Extreme3 combo @ MC $270
G.Skill DDR3 1600 16GB $130
EVGA GTX 760 $240 AR
Seasonic S12G 550W $75
NZXT H440 $120
Total: $835 AR
 
^ I like mfenn's suggestions. 🙂

Another option for GPU would be the R9 280. There's a current deal for one for $232.99 after rebate and instant savings @ Newegg.
 
sounds like a solid build. My only suggestion would be to get the NZXT Phantom 410 over the H440. The H440 is meant to be a silent case but reviews point to the fans over powering the silence. The Phantom is a very solid case, i've never had any problems with one.
 
NCIX has a really nice deal on Antec P280, if you don't mind the rebate - it's $65 for a case worth $100. Extremely solid case, not necessarily the best silent case (Define R4 is better IMO), but very nice still.
 
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