First Gaming PC $2500 budget
Hey guys 'n' gals
Long time gamer here from Sydney, but definitely an alternative gamer ;) So this is my first post here and Im sure you get a lot of posts about building a first gaming PC but here is mine, I have practical tool ability (general trade stuff) but no technical ability so it will be being built by a shop. In terms of peripherals I already own a Razer DeathAdder Chroma Edition and Corsair K70 RGB keyboard but not monitor. So this budget is basically just for the tower, bonus points for included monitor! Here is a list of parts that my mate has already done up for me, interested to hear your thoughts, inputs, changes or wether its not enough or too much. So here are the details :) Budget: $2500 (TOWER ONLY) Mates list: $2,470 Noctua NH-U9B SE2 $75 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM $139 EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0 4GB $509 Corsair RM-750 80 Plus Gold Power Supply $195 ASUS DRW-24D3ST 24x DVD Writer $20.00 MSI Z97 Gaming 5 Motherboard $249.00 Kingston Hyper X Fury HX318C10FRK2/16 16GB (2x8GB) Red $195.00 Western Digital WD Black WD2003FZEX 2TB $185.00 Samsung 850 EVO Series 250GB SSD $169.00 Intel Core i7 4790K $475.00 Corsair Graphite 760T Full Tower Case Black $259.00 |
07:08pm 25/03/15 Permalink
At a superficial level, it looks alright, though things to look out for are making sure your motherboard can handle the memory speed you get (not just DDR3, but the clock speed or whatever they call it - I almost got burned by that last year), and in Australia, make sure you have a hefty case with good cooling (you'll probably want to buy extra fans, probably with some sort of speed controls so that you can control noise or get extra airflow in the extreme seasons, though a lot of motherboards have a few pins for digital fan control now). Nothing as fun as your comp shutting down repeatedly due to overheating, or even worse, getting damaged. That being said, big cases with airflow can also get pretty heavy.
Also, you probably don't need to spend that much to have a fairly decent modern gaming computer which will still last quite a while. As far as I know, anything over an i5 is overkill, even my 7 year old quadcore was handling things mostly well last year, just had to upgrade it because everything else new was incompatible and I needed more ram. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the dvd drive, though it's cheap. I haven't used one in years, the Internet does everything now. |
07:14pm 25/03/15 Permalink
At a superficial level, it looks alright, though things to look out for are making sure your motherboard can handle the memory speed you get (not just DDR3, but the clock speed or whatever they call it - I almost got burned by that last year), and in Australia, make sure you have a hefty case with good cooling (you'll probably want to buy extra fans, probably with some sort of speed controls so that you can control noise or get extra airflow in the extreme seasons, though a lot of motherboards have a few pins for digital fan control now). Nothing as fun as your comp shutting down repeatedly due to overheating, or even worse, getting damaged. That being said, big cases with airflow can also get pretty heavy. Thanks for the speed reply! Ill have to ask about that thanks, also not planning on over-clocking prefer to build a one off beast thats at least 4 years. So I haven't seen that case in person, do you reckon I need more fans/can fit them on/in the case? Heat management is a big problem for the current rig I game on. The only reason Im going i7 is because it is already the standard of about a year ago and same with 8GB RAM. So I guess its an attempt to stay on the future curve as long as possible. Any thoughts for monitors? Looking at just buying one monitor, 1080p (maybe 2K) and not doing anything too fancy. |
07:29pm 25/03/15 Permalink
Oh looking at it now, I should point out that the one lesson I think everybody learned after their first custom PC, was don't get one with the sides open, the LEDs will drive you crazy. Especially if you sleep in the same room as it.
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07:49pm 25/03/15 Permalink
wow good budget
Looking at just buying one monitor, 1080p (maybe 2K) and not doing anything too fancy. don't skimp. go 2 or go home. much better. what's the price step up to GTX980? seems to perform better on benchmarks. http://graphics-cards-review.toptenreviews.com/ also what's you primary gaming. this will help with feedback |
08:07pm 25/03/15 Permalink
If you dropping that much cash on a PC throw a sound card in there too. Onboard sound is fine, a discrete sound card is better.
Do yourself a favour and get some good quality headphones too. Headphones are so good for gaming. IF you have absolutely no plans on overclocking get a K version chip is a waste. i7-4790 is a bit cheaper. However, with that rig you could probably squeeze a fair bit extra with overclocking, so maybe you should think about getting into it. |
08:12pm 25/03/15 Permalink
I just put this modest build together.
Gigabyte gaming 7. Gtx 970.(had to buy a new case to accommodate the length of this card) Intel Core i5. The rear audio is nothing short of incredible, it comes with creative Xfi which i think will run without a dedicated sound card i am still trying to find out for sure before i install it. |
01:57am 26/03/15 Permalink
Honestly a separate soundcard is complete overkill imo. Onboard ones are as far as the tech needs to be unless you have some crazy ass speaker system.
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02:51am 26/03/15 Permalink
for a gaming PC IMO:
Get a cheaper Mobo (Gigabyte Z97M-D3H), cpu ( i5-4690K). Upgrade to a 980. Get a cheaper less annoying case. Just make sure it has dust filters and all that. Get an 144hz monitor Try find a cheap copy of windows if you are a student. Remember that windows 10 is out this year and free for all yarrr. In general some of the prices listed look a tad high, not by much but still maybe shop around. http://cdn.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf |
05:31am 26/03/15 Permalink
Most people say they notice a difference, not audiophiles either. Mainly an expanded 3D sound stage (or whatever), it gives a more accurate perception of 3D positional sound. |
08:45am 26/03/15 Permalink
For the monitor, if your going to be playing alot of competitive online shooters like BF4 then get a high hz refresh rate monitor 120/144hz. Asus and BenQ are good brands.
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09:47am 26/03/15 Permalink
Do yourself a favour, get a Zowie mouse.
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10:51am 26/03/15 Permalink
For that much cash, i would be trying to squeeze in a 1440p 27" monitor and a 980GTX.
Also check whirlpool for their current system builds, usually pretty helpful. Whirlpool PC Wiki |
11:05am 26/03/15 Permalink
If you dropping that much cash on a PC throw a sound card in there too. Onboard sound is fine, a discrete sound card is better. I can't tell the difference between my Xonar Essences STX II and the onboard of my Asrock x99. Why? Room noise, mid priced Razer headphones, ears that are not superhuman... I'd not bother with the soundcard. The resolution you want to push also has a significant impact on your build. If you want 4k or ultrawide gaming you need a beefy GPU (and a deep wallet ... e.g. ultrawide screens are ~$800 mark) |
12:01pm 26/03/15 Permalink
So you don't notice that the 3D sound stage is more accurate?
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12:02pm 26/03/15 Permalink
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0 4GB wasn't it recently revealed that 970's are only 3.5GB? |
01:04pm 26/03/15 Permalink
^ That was a misunderstanding of the way the memory was being utilized.
You don't have to spend much more for a 4k monitor than an ordinary monitor mine ($539) is 4k x 2k @ 3840 x 2160 the only draw back is it goes from 60Hz to 30Hz @4k,you can even get 3D monitors for a similar price |
01:41pm 26/03/15 Permalink
60htz is bare minimum you want for FPS gaming. 120/144 hz monitor is what you want.
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01:55pm 26/03/15 Permalink
Yeah, you're spending that much on a pc and not getting dedicated sound!?!?
Obes must be deaf. |
02:35pm 26/03/15 Permalink
So you don't notice that the 3D sound stage is more accurate? You say it like it's a fact. No I did not notice the difference on Razer Carcharias headphones. Then on top of that a number of the gaming focused high end (nfi how they work that out) headphones, are USB! and will totally ignore the fact you have spent money on a sound card! e.g. Rocat Kave XTD Sennheiser PC 363D Turtle Beach Ear Force Z SEVEN Razer Kraken and Megaldon Plantronic Gamecon Commander |
03:49pm 26/03/15 Permalink
Well yeah, if they are USB then there's not much point to a sound card.
I guess the headphone have a DAC built in? My kids have some Razor headphones which connect both via USB and jack - I assume jack is for microphone, usb for sound, dunno never bothered to look. |
03:52pm 26/03/15 Permalink
Personally I would...
Get a cheaper motherboard Get a cheaper case Change from a 4790K to a 4790 Use the freed up funds to Get a bigger SSD If you get a 4K montor, try to squeeze in a GTX 980 If you get a 1080p monitor then a 970 is enough. |
04:21pm 26/03/15 Permalink
Well Obes The sound cards generally have better DAC's and AMP's on them.
But sure, if you want to spend $2500 and skimp on something then Audio's where you would start I guess. |
04:56pm 26/03/15 Permalink
sif corsair graphite, go the obsidian 750d, a little bit cheaper and so much classier. I blow every time I walk into the pc room, it's that good.
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05:26pm 26/03/15 Permalink
Sound cards no.
Top tier gpu yes go 980 not 970. Personally CPU that will over clock yes. Also do not underestimate the case choice a good case will last many builds so have a good think about that choice. |
05:50pm 26/03/15 Permalink
I would not be so quick to get a 980.
The Gigabyte Windforce 970 G1 is a real beast (big factory OC). A GTX 980 is a solid $800 spend. A Windforce is $530ish ... And if you SLI the Gigabyte 970s you are in the Titan Z ($1500?) performance space. And even if you can't afford SLI now aim/prepare for it now, get something that is SLI ready. e.g. Intel Core i5 4690K Asrock Z97 Extreme4 16GB RAM SSD + HDD Gigabyte 4GB Geforce GTX 970 G1 (UMart just call it the Gigabyte gtx 970 or something) Case up to you (your current pick is ugly to me ... Silverstone FT02B for life!) EVGA SuperNOVA G2 850W Gold PSU DVD Drive (maybe) CPU Cooler of some sort (Don't spend lots unless you plan on overclocking). That should be under 2k. Leaves you $500ish for a monitor, keyboard, mouse and headphones. If you do go a 970, get the Gigabyte (not the EVGA). If you go an SSD (on a budget), get the Crucial or Transcend. Ram is one place you can save money (it's rarely the bottleneck). Well Obes The sound cards generally have better DAC's and AMP's on them. And how many people would tell the difference in a double blind test? The very next thing sound card pushers say is "can't do double blind for audio ... it's subjective ...". Good we agree it's subjective and most people can't tell! |
08:46pm 26/03/15 Permalink
Honestly a separate soundcard is complete overkill imo. Onboard ones are as far as the tech needs to be unless you have some crazy ass speaker system. None of the mics I have have worked on my last 2 PC's with onboard sound. A USB sound card fixed that. However the USB sound card was a double bird killer with a single rock. I bought it to use on the laptop at LAN's coz the headphone plug on it was in a bugger of a spot and the volume controls sucked bulls nuts. |
10:05pm 26/03/15 Permalink
None of the mics I have have worked on my last 2 PC's with onboard sound Meanwhile My 101 year old great grandma worked it out... |
10:41pm 26/03/15 Permalink
