Building New Gaming PC

[denixius]

Hi,

I want to build a gaming PC -not too much expensive- and I searched on the internet for a while. I found these parts.

Case: Aerocool GT Advance Black Edition (Click here to check.)

RAM: 16 GB Kingston 1600 MHz (Click here to check.) Edit: I can use my current PC's RAM.

Graphic Card: ASUS GTX 750 Ti PH GDDR5 128-bit (Click here to check.) (Alternative: Asus GTX760 DirectCU II O.C. GDDR5 2GB 256Bit Nvidia GeForce DX11.1)

Process: Intel Core i7 4790 1150 3.6 GHz 8MB Cache (Click here to check.)

Motherboard: ASUS H81 Gamer (Click here to check.)

Power Supply: Aerocool 750W PCI-e (Alternative: Aerocool VX 600W 39A@12V PFC)

Driver: ASUS 16x BW-16 D1 HT (Blu-ray)

Sound Card: Creative Audigy Value SE 7.1 PCI (Click here to check.) (Alternative: Xonar DX)

I think, graphic card may be low for this system. Or not. What's your suggestions? I know, to build strong gaming PC is very hard. I guess, I need to reduce some of the hardwares, like RAM, power supply or driver.

I want to play Total War: Rome 2 (and other Total War games), The Elder Scrolls Online, Battlefield 4, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (you know this game is not good without mods on this time)... and more. I have good games to play, but my currently system is not good for that games. I can just play that games with low graphics. It's like torture.

 

[Toothless]

A buddy of mine has that GTX760 with a 4770k and plays whatever he wants. I'd say go for GTX970 if you want more gaming power.

 

[denixius]

A buddy of mine has that GTX760 with a 4770k and plays whatever he wants. I'd say go for GTX970 if you want more gaming power.

Hi, thanks for your answer. Of course, I want to play with more power, but my budget not too high.

 

[eidairaman1]

760 non ti or a 260

 

[Toothless]

If you can't go for a 970, then at least a 670 which I know there is one for sale here on the forums for cheap.

 

[Devon68]

Sound Card: Creative Audigy Value SE 7.1 PCI (Click here to check.) (Alternative: Xonar DX)

I say loose the sound card unless you are an audiophile. Nice to have but today's motherboards have good on board sound
Lose the i7 4790 and get the i5 4670k instead
instead the 750W psu get a 650W
whatever you save on the cpu and psu invest into a better graphics card

 

[Fourstaff]

Drop the Sound Card, get an i5 instead of i7, get a better graphics card.

Bonus points: Get a K cpu, overclock it. Total War will thank you for it.

 

[hat]

Got to agree with everyone else. Drop the sound card (do that anyway), change CPU--4670k if you're interested in overclocking, or take your pick from any of the non-k i5s if not (if interested in OC, will need to change the board... need Z series board for overclocking... though some manufacturers found a way to do it on the H series boards, I don't see any mention of overclocking on the page for that specific board). You can go with a lesser PSU and save some cash (or a lesser wattage, higher quality one, though I can't say anything about Aerocool one way or the other).

The 750 ti won't be too terrible for gaming (my 660ti didn't let me down in BF4 even on ultra with a much slower Q6600 cpu), but you may want to spring for more. GTX960 should be out soon, may be worth looking into.

 

[rruff]

I think, graphic card may be low for this system. I want to play Total War: Rome 2 (and other Total War games), The Elder Scrolls Online, Battlefield 4, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (you know this game is not good without mods on this time)... and more. I have good games to play, but my currently system is not good for that games. I can just play that games with low graphics. It's like torture.

If gaming is important, then both video cards are too low end. If you want to prioritize fps/$, then prioritize the GPU. It might even be better to go down to an i3 and spend the difference on a better video card. You can always upgrade to a i5 down the road. I've seen R9 290s dip down to ~$200 and that would be a very solid card. The chart below will give you an idea of relative performance. The R9 290 is more than 50% faster than a GTX 760 and costs ~$50 more.

Where do you live? If the budget is tight at all, I'd suggest not choosing brands and models but rather gather parts by taking a month or so to scan the deals that come up.

Get a Z97 motherboard if you think you might want to overclock... one with decent onboard sound.

If you don't already have 16GB of ram, then 8GB is enough.

 

[KingPing]

My advice as owner of several sound cards is too not buy any sound card unless it is a high end model (Xonar Esssence STX, STX II, Creative Z, ZxR, the DX is fairly good or it's price) and you have proper high-fi speakers/headphones. Drop the Audigy/DX and buy only 8GB ram and use the money to get a GTX970, thats what i would do.

 

[GreiverBlade]

My advice as owner of several sound cards is too not buy any sound card unless it is a high end model (Xonar Esssence STX, STX II, Creative Z, ZxR, the DX is fairly good or it's price) and you have proper high-fi speakers/headphones. Drop the Audigy/DX and buy only 8GB ram and use the money to get a GTX970, thats what i would do.

Drop the Sound Card, get an i5 instead of i7, get a better graphics card.
Bonus points: Get a K cpu, overclock it. Total War will thank you for it.

I say loose the sound card unless you are an audiophile. Nice to have but today's motherboards have good on board sound
Lose the i7 4790 and get the i5 4670k instead
instead the 750W psu get a 650W
whatever you save on the cpu and psu invest into a better graphics card

agreeing with everyone
ditch the soundcard and get a decent Z97 or H97 mobo with a ALC1150 onboard sound ... dedicated soundcard are kinda non required lately ...
PSU you are over your requirement (look my main rig ... 650w and way more power hungry than what you plan, and even that 650w is over reality in my rig but : safeside for OC headroom .)
a i5 4690/4670/4690K/4670K is way enough for gaming
ram 8gb is way enough you could also spare money on that for changing the GPU/getting a better mobo

my mainrig is actually a good setup for any games and replace my 290 by a 970 or lower (if you like nvidia) and you still have a good rig, (well 970 and higher will beat it ofc)

 

[denixius]

If you can't go for a 970, then at least a 670 which I know there is one for sale here on the forums for cheap.

Hımm. Maybe I can loose my RAM completely, and reduce the power supply to 650. It would give me though partly budget.

I say loose the sound card unless you are an audiophile. Nice to have but today's motherboards have good on board sound
Lose the i7 4790 and get the i5 4670k instead
instead the 750W psu get a 650W
whatever you save on the cpu and psu invest into a better graphics card

I understand. But, why everyone say this; "i5 CPUs are good than i7 CPUs"? I noted your PSU suggest.

Drop the Sound Card, get an i5 instead of i7, get a better graphics card.

Bonus points: Get a K cpu, overclock it. Total War will thank you for it.

That's an interesting suggestion. I'll search more information about that. Thanks.

Got to agree with everyone else. Drop the sound card (do that anyway), change CPU--4670k if you're interested in overclocking, or take your pick from any of the non-k i5s if not (if interested in OC, will need to change the board... need Z series board for overclocking... though some manufacturers found a way to do it on the H series boards, I don't see any mention of overclocking on the page for that specific board). You can go with a lesser PSU and save some cash (or a lesser wattage, higher quality one, though I can't say anything about Aerocool one way or the other).

The 750 ti won't be too terrible for gaming (my 660ti didn't let me down in BF4 even on ultra with a much slower Q6600 cpu), but you may want to spring for more. GTX960 should be out soon, may be worth looking into.

I can try overclock, I need to research that. But still wonder why i5 more good than i7? I also research the power supply issues. My friends says, "128-bit graphics card can not be purchased at this time." But yes, it's very interesting, why I choose GTX 750 Ti PH with i7 4790.

If gaming is important, then both video cards are too low end. If you want to prioritize fps/$, then prioritize the GPU. It might even be better to go down to an i3 and spend the difference on a better video card. You can always upgrade to a i5 down the road. I've seen R9 290s dip down to ~$200 and that would be a very solid card. The chart below will give you an idea of relative performance. The R9 290 is more than 50% faster than a GTX 760 and costs ~$50 more.

Where do you live? If the budget is tight at all, I'd suggest not choosing brands and models but rather gather parts by taking a month or so to scan the deals that come up.

Get a Z97 motherboard if you think you might want to overclock... one with decent onboard sound.

If you don't already have 16GB of ram, then 8GB is enough.

Thanks for the chart. I'm living in Turkey by the way. My budget is 980$ and maybe this budget low for PC gaming. I don't want to try overclocking before the research. First I need to research well overclocking. GTX 970 too expensive in my country, damn!

My advice as owner of several sound cards is too not buy any sound card unless it is a high end model (Xonar Esssence STX, STX II, Creative Z, ZxR, the DX is fairly good or it's price) and you have proper high-fi speakers/headphones. Drop the Audigy/DX and buy only 8GB ram and use the money to get a GTX970, thats what i would do.

Yes, everyone's suggest in this direction, I don't to buy sound card.

agreeing with everyone
ditch the soundcard and get a decent Z97 or H97 mobo with a ALC1150 onboard sound ... dedicated soundcard are kinda non required lately ...
PSU you are over your requirement (look my main rig ... 650w and way more power hungry than what you plan, and even that 650w is over reality in my rig but : safeside for OC headroom .)
a i5 4690/4670/4690K/4670K is way enough for gaming
ram 8gb is way enough you could also spare money on that for changing the GPU/getting a better mobo

my mainrig is actually a good setup for any games and replace my 290 by a 970 or lower (if you like nvidia) and you still have a good rig, (well 970 and higher will beat it ofc)

Another i5 suggestion. Really I'll buy that i5.

Well, thanks everyone. You guys, helped me better about the issue. I'll review the system again.

Bests,

 

[Toothless]

i5s have basically the same gaming power as i7s unless the game eats threads.

It might be best if you saved up more OR got a good deal on a 670 and up.

 

[denixius]

i5s have basically the same gaming power as i7s unless the game eats threads.

It might be best if you saved up more OR got a good deal on a 670 and up.

Okay, than I'll research the i5 CPU and increase my graphic card budget.

 

[GreiverBlade]

My budget is 980$ and maybe this budget low for PC gaming.

and my main rig in the System Specs is way under 980$ but i got my case/gpu on second hand all the rest is brand new and carefully selected in many different etailer/retailer

and the 970 is not cheap where i live even a 290X is cheaper and the 290 come close to a 760/770 now ... (i got my 290 half the price of a regular 290)

i5s have basically the same gaming power as i7s unless the game eats threads.

wel let say, just for encoding/WCG computing or heavily multithreaded (and optimized ... which is ... a utopia) game a i7 is ... almost useful, otherwise the HyperThreading is not really useful, only a handful games need more than 4 threads.

short: a i5 = a cheaper i7 without HyperThreading

so minus the Soundcard, i5 instead of i7 a good H97/Z97 a 650w psu 8gb instead of 16gb ... you should have some $$$ for a real GPU (not that the 750 is a piece of cr... but almost ... )

also for power consumption

this is a 4670K with a 290X picked the most power hungry gpu for a reason (and regular component)
Minimum PSU Wattage:447 W
Recommended
PSU Wattage: *

my system in his current status (4690K Oc+290 + pump setup)
Minimum PSU Wattage:416 W
Recommended
PSU Wattage: *

 

[hat]

Yeah, just to add to what everyone else said and maybe clarify:

For a gaming build, there is like zero reason to go with an i7. The i7 should have more L3 cache and a slightly higher stock clock speed (clock speed concerns don't matter if you are buying a K series CPU), but the biggest difference is the i7 has hyperthreading, meaning each core has two threads instead of one, so it will be "seen" as an 8 core CPU. This allows heavily multithreaded applications (think video encoding, professional applications etc) to take fuller advantage of the CPU cores. An i5 does not have hyperthreading so those heavily multithreaded apps won't see the performance an i7 can achieve, but for gaming, i5 and i7 are basically the same. In a limited budget, you will be far better off saving the cash you were spending on an i7 and grabbing an i5 instead and putting that money into a better GPU.

GTX960 is not available yet, it is supposed to launch late this month. I think it would be a very solid video card.

About power supplies... I would recommend this one, if you can find it over there. Since you're already buying a new power supply anyway, the 80 plus platinum certification means that the power supply is very efficient, saving on the electric bills (and less heat generated). At 520w, it will handle any overclock and any single GPU you throw at it. It should be a very solid and reliable power supply. Seasonic generally has a great reputation among PC enthusiasts.

 

[denixius]

and my main rig in the System Specs is way under 980$ but i got my case/gpu on second hand all the rest is brand new and carefully selected in many different etailer/retailer

and the 970 is not cheap where i live even a 290X is cheaper and the 290 come close to a 760/770 now ... (i got my 290 half the price of a regular 290)


wel let say, just for encoding/WCG computing or heavily multithreaded (and optimized ... which is ... a utopia) game a i7 is ... almost useful, otherwise the HyperThreading is not really useful, only a handful games need more than 4 threads.

short: a i5 = a cheaper i7 without HyperThreading

so minus the Soundcard, i5 instead of i7 a good H97/Z97 a 650w psu 8gb instead of 16gb ... you should have some $$$ for a real GPU (not that the 750 is a piece of cr... but almost ... )

also for power consumption

this is a 4670K with a 290X picked the most power hungry gpu for a reason (and regular component)
Minimum PSU Wattage:447 W
Recommended
PSU Wattage: *

my system in his current status (4690K Oc+290 + pump setup)
Minimum PSU Wattage:416 W
Recommended
PSU Wattage: *

I reduced CPU to and removed RAM, also sound card. And tried to pick GTX 970, it's still too expensive. I just choose some parts.

Aerocool GT-R Black Edition 5
INTEL Core i5-4690K LGA 1150 6MB 3.5GHz Quad Core 22nm
MSI Z97 GAMING 5 DDR3 VGA DVI HDMI DP GLAN(Killer) SATA3 USB3.0
Asus GTX970 STRIX OC GDDR5 4GB 256Bit DX12 Nvidia GeForce

This parts total is 1059.43$ more expensive than previously system. I think, the problem is my country. Hell! Very expensive!

Yeah, just to add to what everyone else said and maybe clarify:

For a gaming build, there is like zero reason to go with an i7. The i7 should have more L3 cache and a slightly higher stock clock speed (clock speed concerns don't matter if you are buying a K series CPU), but the biggest difference is the i7 has hyperthreading, meaning each core has two threads instead of one, so it will be "seen" as an 8 core CPU. This allows heavily multithreaded applications (think video encoding, professional applications etc) to take fuller advantage of the CPU cores. An i5 does not have hyperthreading so those heavily multithreaded apps won't see the performance an i7 can achieve, but for gaming, i5 and i7 are basically the same. In a limited budget, you will be far better off saving the cash you were spending on an i7 and grabbing an i5 instead and putting that money into a better GPU.

GTX960 is not available yet, it is supposed to launch late this month. I think it would be a very solid video card.

About power supplies... I would recommend this one, if you can find it over there. Since you're already buying a new power supply anyway, the 80 plus platinum certification means that the power supply is very efficient, saving on the electric bills (and less heat generated). At 520w, it will handle any overclock and any single GPU you throw at it. It should be a very solid and reliable power supply. Seasonic generally has a great reputation among PC enthusiasts.

I think, I can't buy anything.

 

[Toothless]

Wait for the 960.

 

[denixius]

Wait for the 960.

I guess this year will be held for sale 960.

 

[FireFox]

Totally agree with @Toothless wait for the 960.

About power supplies... I would recommend this one

+1 Good suggestion @hat

 

[denixius]

Well, how about this graphic card?

Gigabyte R9 280X Windforce 3X 3GB DDR5 384 Bit PCI Exspress

 

[Devon68]

Well, how about this graphic card?

Gigabyte R9 280X Windforce 3X 3GB DDR5 384 Bit PCI Exspress

That's a good card.
What is the resolution of your monitor? For 1920x1080 and lower this will be great.

 

[denixius]

My monitor resolution is 1920x1200. Is it not compatible?

Here is the latest build:

Case: THERMALTAKE ELEMENT T 700W MidT ATX Black Case – 169$

PSU: Seasonic M12II 80+ Plus Bronze 620W (SEA-M12II-620) - 99,00$ / Removed.

Process: INTEL Core i5-4690 LGA 1150 6MB 3.5GHz Quad Core 22nm (Haswell) - 239,76$

Motherboard: Asus H81-GAMER Intel Socket 1150 1600MHz DDR3 USB3 SATA3 ATX - 115,54$

Graphic Card: Gigabyte R9 280X Windforce 3X 3GB DDR5 384 Bit PCI Exspress (GV-R928XOC-3GD) - 279,00$

HDD: Toshiba 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB 3,5" SATA III DISK (DT01ACA100) - 59,74$

Optical Driver: LG GH24NSB0 24X SATA Black DVD-RW (OEM) - 19,90$

 

[xfia]

a 280x could manage but you would be better off with a 290(x) or gtx 970

really depends on the games.. the chart above is relative to a lot of popular demanding games i think

pretty sure skyrim modded can push you over 3gb of vram at 1080p so i would definitely recommend a 4gb gpu

 

[denixius]

a 280x could manage but you would be better off with a 290(x) or gtx 970

really depends on the games.. the chart above is relative to a lot of popular demanding games i think

pretty sure skyrim modded can push you over 3gb of vram at 1080p so i would definitely recommend a 4gb gpu

I see. I'll check for 4GB.