Building my first PC

Sep 19, 2010
475
499
Alrighty, so I've been tossing around the idea of building a PC for the better part of a year now and with Black Friday coming up, I decided now is the time to go for it. Unfortunately, I have zero PC building experience. That's where you guys come in. :D

I posted over on /r/buildapcforme, but I didn't get much response. I was wondering if you guys could check it out and give me a few suggestions. I'd really appreciate it. Like I said in the post, my "max" budget is $1100USD, but I'd be willing to spend a little more if it would make a large difference. Thanks everyone! :)

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcfor..._time_builder_looking_to_get_a_gamingediting/
 

Freyja

aa
Jul 31, 2009
2,994
5,813
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Directron)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($118.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Directron)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.93 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.89 @ Directron)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($327.85 @ B&H)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($60.34 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master GXII 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($0.00)
Total: $1117.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-22 21:39 EST-0500

1. For video editing I'd recommend an i7 cpu at least because you can benifit hugely from hyperthreading, but unfortunately can't really fit it into the budget. I see this CPU picked a lot by people and they all say it's a really solid one for gaming and pretty good for content creation as well.
2. Aftermarket CPU cooler probably isn't entirely necessary if you're not overclocking so feel free to take this out to cut a little bit of price if necessary. But overclocking is very easy these days. You should.
3. I'd also recommend going up to 16GB for video editing as well if you can afford it, but it's probably not the world's largest difference. 8 Is all you'll need for gaming for a long time.
4. HDD storage would be the cheapest thing to upgrade, 2TB and even 3TB drives aren't that expensive. Up to you.
5. I'm a really, really big fan of the 970. It's expensive, and you can get a R9 290 for cheaper, but the 970 has simply kickass performance and very low power consumption/heat generation. I'd definitely shell out the extra for it as it will easily run TF2 and most modern games at max at 1080p.
6. I'm not sure about the case, but it's cheap and looks nice, has decent reviews.
7. You mentioned in your buildapcforme post that you want a monitor too, but I assumed that you already had one of those. Monitors are easy future investments so I put it in here but priced it at $0 to give some room for other components.

That's the best I can do with my extent of PC part knowledge. Someone will have to throw their opinion in too.
 
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DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
Whoa, does this mean we'll finally get to watch your videos in better quality and with more than 10 fps? :O
Awesome, I'll gladly help out!

Anyway, I read the form on reddit a couple of times and thought for a while and I think these are the best part suggestions I can come up with for now that'll suit you the best, I also put the reasoning behind each part choice below the list so you can read why:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Directron)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($199.49 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VX248H 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow 2014 Stealth Edition Wired Gaming Keyboard ($85.99 @ Directron)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($46.15 @ Amazon)
Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud Pro Headset ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Other: Transcend TS-RDF5K USB 3.0 External Flash Card Reader ($7.96)
Other: Steelseries QcK+ Mouse Pad ($18.80)
Total: $1409.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-22 19:56 EST-0500

CPU - Intel Core i5-4590 ($159.99): At this price point, this is a great processor choice if you're not going to be overclocking, and its 4 cores will serve you very well for rendering videos and stuff. AMD's CPUs in the same price range tend to have more cores, but Intel's have much better single-thread performance, as well as higher efficiency. This CPU is also compatible with the H97 chipset.

CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($31.99): This is pretty much the go-to after-market budget cooler for all PC building enthusiasts since it has an amazing price-to-performance ratio, and it will surely keep your non-overclocked 4590 cool at even the heaviest loads.

Motherboard - ASUS H97M-E ($94.24): ASUS is a very reputable motherboard manufacturer and I usually find their software utilities the most intuitive compared to others. This model will fit nicely with the rest of the system.

Memory - G.Skill Sniper 8GB ($57.99): Basically, this was the cheapest RAM kit I could find with these specs atm, so yay. 16GB could potentially benefit you when multitasking or when using very heavy programs, but I went with 8GB to keep the price lower. G.skill is also a pretty reputable brand.

Storage(SSD) - Samsung 840 EVO 250GB ($119.98): 840 EVO is a great line of SSDs that I have used in several systems, and 250GB seemed like the optimal capacity for someone who's gonna have a bunch of adobe programs installed on it in addition to games. I usually reccomend the 120GB model, but I personally have a 256GB SSD in my system and it's almost filled to the brim since I also have a lot of adobe programs and other stuff installed.

Storage(HDD) - Seagate Barracuda 2TB ($79.99): Seagate's Barracuda drives are a bit cheaper than WD's faster "Caviar Black" series, and the Black 2TB drive in my computer is really, really loud so I'd probably recommend the barracuda (or a WD Blue).

Video Card - ASUS GTX 760 DCU II ($199.49): The GTX 760 is an awesome card that I have used in two different builds for my friends. They can run newer games like BF4 maxed out at a steady 60 FPS, so TF2 will run great with lots of power to spare. Since it's Nvidia, you can also use their features like Nvidia Shadowplay (which is awesome) so you can record videos at minimal framerate loss. ASUS' DirectCU II cooler is the best that I know of for this card, and it's very quiet.

Case - Fractal Design Define Mini ($99.99): The Define Mini is one of my favorite cases, it is sound-dampened just like its bigger brother (the R4) and it has the same awesome design and internal layout. I have used this for 2 different builds and they have both turned out very nice and quiet.

Power Supply - Corsair CX500 ($49.99): Corsair has some great power supplies, and their budget series is no exception, so this will probably be good. 500 watts is also plenty for this system.

Optical Drive - ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS ($16.99): Cheap and good enough for an optical drive these days.

Operating System - Windows 8.1 64-bit OEM ($90.26): Simple single license of Windows 8.1. I'm not sure if you'll get a free upgrade to Windows 10, you should probably look more into that.

Monitor - ASUS VX248H ($169.99): Although I'd personally get a more expensive 144Hz monitor, this seems like the most balanced option I could fit into your budget.

Keyboard - Razer Blackwidow 2014 Stealth ($85.99): I have the Blackwidow 2013 and I think it's a great keyboard. The 2014 model is the same except it uses Razer's own branded switches manufactured by Kailh (which are basically a straight-up copy of Cherry MX with slightly less travel distance). Some people have questioned the quality of Kailh switches compared to Cherry, but I don't think there's really anything wrong with them. This keyboard will also work great if you get the Deathadder 2013 since they use the same software. This "Stealth" version of the keyboard has the Razer "Orange" (copy of MX Browns) rather than the Razer "Green" (copy of MX Blues) switches, which means keystrokes won't have the signature audible MX Blue click.

Mouse- Razer Deathadder 2013 ($46.15): The Deathadder is basically the god of gaming mice, only recently rivaled by the Logitech G502. Compared to all the other mostly-crap Razer mice, the Deathadder has both a really comfortable shape and one of the best optical sensors on the market. The G502 supposedly has an even slightly better sensor, but I chose the Deathadder since it's cheaper.

Headphones - HyperX Cloud ($79.99): This is the american Kingston version of the QPAD QH-90, which is basically one of the only "gaming-headsets" in existence that are actually good.

SD Card Reader - Transcend TS-RDF5K ($7.96): I don't really know much about SD Card readers but this seemed like a good one so I just threw it in since you said you wanted one for some reason.

Mouse Pad - Steelseries QcK+ ($18.80): An extremely popular cloth mouse pad that is absolutely huge (the only mouse pad size that matters).



I had a hard time fitting a good build with all the accessories into your budget, but this felt close enough while still being great. The Black Friday sales might make up for it, and here are some great alternative suggestions for a potentially better deal in case you find them instead at a way discounted price on Black Friday:

CPU: i5-4690 / i5-4460
Memory: Any 8GB/16GB Corsair Vengeance kit with less than 10 CAS latency
SSD : Pretty much any ~250GB SSD from a reputable brand (OCZ, AData, Corsair, Kingston HyperX, etc.)
Video Card: Any GTX 760 with a good non-reference cooler (TwinFrozr, WindForce, ACX, etc.)
Power Supply: Any 500W+ power supply with at least a 80+ Bronze efficiency rating from Corsair, SeaSonic, Fractal Design, or EVGA's Supernova G2 (not G1) series
Optical Drive: Anything that works
Monitor: Any nice 144Hz monitor
Mouse: Logitech G502 / Logitech G402


Anyway, feel free to ask any questions about my part choises, and I wish you great luck on your build and your journey to the glorious realm of 60+ FPS PC gaming! :)



EDIT: Was the $1100 budget only for the PC components? If so, I can probably make a much better build, similar to Aly's.
 
Sep 19, 2010
475
499
Yeah, I would love to get the monitor in the $1100 budget, but I would be willing to extend my budget another $200 if it would benefit me greatly. Of course, the extra $200 would include the monitor, so maybe it wouldn't make a world of difference. Thank you guys for both of these builds! Both look really solid, so I'll be keeping an eye out for Black Friday deals on the parts. ;) Thanks!
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
Yeah, I would love to get the monitor in the $1100 budget, but I would be willing to extend my budget another $200 if it would benefit me greatly. Of course, the extra $200 would include the monitor, so maybe it wouldn't make a world of difference. Thank you guys for both of these builds! Both look really solid, so I'll be keeping an eye out for Black Friday deals on the parts. ;) Thanks!

Note though that the 4670K in Aly's build is both slightly outdated (Haswell instead of Haswell Refresh) and unnecessary since you're not going to be overclocking. (The K on the end means it's unlocked for overclocking). The intel "Z" chipsets are also meant for overclocking, so what you should really be getting is a new non-K Haswell Refresh CPU (like the one I suggested) and a new H97 motherboard. (H = no overclocking).
(Unless you change your mind and do want to overclock.)

Other than that, Aly's build is pretty good aside from the case (not very quiet), the graphics card (I wouldn't consider Zotac as one of the best graphics card manufacturers) and the Power Supply (I think there are usually better PSU options than Cooler Master's). I also agree that an i7 might be a really good upgrade in your case, but also very expensive.
 

puxorb

L69: Emoticon
aa
Dec 15, 2013
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Also, you can check out my PC build which fell pretty much into your price range.



I think the total without monitor as around $900 when I bought all the parts.
(Although I did go a bit overkill with the monitor, adding $400.)
Also I chose a different case and I went with Aly's suggestion on the motherboard in case I ever overclock in the future.

The GTX 760 is probably still the best GPU for the price. I get around 200-250 fps on a 24 person server in TF2 at a resolution of 2560x1080. The Intel i5 4460 is really fast and does well under really intensive loads. Any other game I play is upwards of 60 fps constantly.
 

Freyja

aa
Jul 31, 2009
2,994
5,813
Note though that the 4670K in Aly's build is both slightly outdated (Haswell instead of Haswell Refresh) and unnecessary since you're not going to be overclocking. (The K on the end means it's unlocked for overclocking). The intel "Z" chipsets are also meant for overclocking, so what you should really be getting is a new non-K Haswell Refresh CPU (like the one I suggested) and a new H97 motherboard. (H = no overclocking).
(Unless you change your mind and do want to overclock.)

Other than that, Aly's build is pretty good aside from the case (not very quiet), the graphics card (I wouldn't consider Zotac as one of the best graphics card manufacturers) and the Power Supply (I think there are usually better PSU options than Cooler Master's). I also agree that an i7 might be a really good upgrade in your case, but also very expensive.

Overclocking is so easy though, and would benefit him greatly! But yeah, it's unecessary if you don't want to. I don't really trust Zotac either but it was the cheapest option and I've seen other people use it and haven't hear much complaining, so.
 
Last edited:
Sep 19, 2010
475
499
I went ahead and bought all my parts over the past few days and managed to snag everything up for around $1200. Thanks to everyone who suggested parts, especially Aly and Donut who provided reasoning behind the pieces.

Here's the build I went with:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($185.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($68.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.42 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VX248H 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow 2014 Stealth Edition Wired Gaming Keyboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1262.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-01 01:32 EST-0500

I leaned a little more towards Donut's build, but both of your posts were very informative and provided a lot of insight for me. I'll let you all know how it turns out. Thanks again! :)
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
I went ahead and bought all my parts over the past few days and managed to snag everything up for around $1200. Thanks to everyone who suggested parts, especially Aly and Donut who provided reasoning behind the pieces.

Here's the build I went with:


I leaned a little more towards Donut's build, but both of your posts were very informative and provided a lot of insight for me. I'll let you all know how it turns out. Thanks again! :)

Why did you go for a full ATX case with a Micro-ATX motherboard and an AMD graphics card with no CUDA / Mercury engine / Nvidia Shadowplay support? (Unless they had huge discounts)

Other than that, awesome build!
 
Sep 19, 2010
475
499
The case went on sale for $70 and to be honest, I didn't realize the motherboard was a Micro-ATX. As for the graphics card, it went on sale and I heard a lot of good things about it, so I decided to go for it. Kind of a rookie when it comes to all of this, but I'm glad you guys were willing to help out!
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
The case went on sale for $70 and to be honest, I didn't realize the motherboard was a Micro-ATX. As for the graphics card, it went on sale and I heard a lot of good things about it, so I decided to go for it. Kind of a rookie when it comes to all of this, but I'm glad you guys were willing to help out!

Well the 280 is a great gaming card, but in your case I would definitely have gone for an Nvidia card since Adobe programs use a lot of Nvidia features for hardware acceleration, and Shadowplay is awesome for recording.
 
Sep 19, 2010
475
499
Well the 280 is a great gaming card, but in your case I would definitely have gone for an Nvidia card since Adobe programs use a lot of Nvidia features for hardware acceleration, and Shadowplay is awesome for recording.
Ah, I see. Well you live and learn, I suppose. Either way it'll be a step up from the laptop I've been using for the last four and a half years ha.
 

puxorb

L69: Emoticon
aa
Dec 15, 2013
531
798
I prefer NVIDIA all around and it would be better for Adobe programs, but the r9 280 is a fantastic card for the money. It's pretty powerful too, so enjoy TF2 at 300 fps, and super fast editing!
 
Sep 19, 2010
475
499
I prefer NVIDIA all around and it would be better for Adobe programs, but the r9 280 is a fantastic card for the money. It's pretty powerful too, so enjoy TF2 at 300 fps, and super fast editing!
Yeah, I ended up getting the R9 280 for around $160, so I was really happy about that. :)