Building a gaming desktop for a friend, is this good for the price? (~$1000) - Hardware & Software

So a friend of a friend asked if I could make him a desktop pc that's good for gaming and has "high-end audio" as well. Seeing as how I consider myself an amateur at best at PC building, I put this together. I managed to get some good parts, but was wondering if getting an audio card would be really necessary? Also, I'm waiting for clarification on whether or not he wants windows 7 or 8.1, so I put 7 in there as a placeholder, and whether or not he needs a monitor to go with the setup Link to build on partpicker: [URL="http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Schmaaa/saved/QDhmP6"]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Schmaaa/saved/QDhmP6[/URL] [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74770k"]CPU[/URL] - i7-4770K 3.5Ghz Quad Core - $334.99 [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z87g45gaming"]Mobo[/URL] - MSI Z87-G45 ATX LGA1150 - $129.99 [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbxl"]RAM[/URL] - G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8Gb (2x4gb) DDR3-1600 - $82.98 [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dx001"]HDD[/URL] - Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200rpm Hybrid - $77.24 [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp42774kr"]GPU[/URL] - EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2Gb Superclocked ACX - $320.91 [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcadefr4blw"]Case[/URL] - Fractal Design Define R4 w/window (ATX Mid Tower) - $100 [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120pg0750gr"]PSU[/URL] - EVGA 750w ATX12v/EPS12v - $123.98 [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04"]Optical Drive[/URL] - Lite-on iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer - $19.98 OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM - $84.99 [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-vg248qe"]Monitor[/URL] - Asus VG248QE 24" - $249.23 TOTAL PRICE = 1504.29 This is pretty much a first rough draft, so any suggestions are welcome. He said the target price range is $900 - $1200 Let me know if I made any bonehead mistakes or if any of my links are borked. EDIT: Okay, thanks for the help. We've gotten our heads together and worked out a good system for the price range.

Not sure if this is that accurate or not, but [URL="http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-280X-vs-GeForce-GTX-770"]here's[/URL] a comparison of the Radeon R9 280X vs GeForce GTX 770 by GPU Boss.

Do you actually need the i7? Unless you do encoding or rendering it's actually not helpful. Also, I would recommend Windows 8 instead. Your call though.

[QUOTE=Killervalon;45385492]Do you actually need the i7? Unless you do encoding or rendering it's actually not helpful. Also, I would recommend Windows 8 instead. Your call though.[/QUOTE] If you guys are switching him to AMD, he'll want Windows 8.1 instead. Dumbasses at AMD gave up trying to make the latest beta drivers work for Win8 and are subsequently dropping driver support forever, even though they've been functioning just fine on 7 and 8.1 for the past two months.

Why are you using the UK pcpartpicker while putting prices in dollars? Does your friend live in the UK or the US? [editline]14th July 2014[/editline] You can use the markup to export PCPartPicker lists by the way, you don't need to manually write everything up like you did [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ntQGbv]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ntQGbv/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] [b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k]Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] (£161.94 @ Aria PC) [b]CPU Cooler:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhd14]Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler[/url] (£64.98 @ Amazon UK) [b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97a]Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard[/url] (£107.94 @ Aria PC) [b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml8gx3m2a1600c9]Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] (£59.98 @ Amazon UK) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw]Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive[/url] (£84.99 @ Amazon UK) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dx001]Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive[/url] (£55.19 @ Aria PC) [b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9290aedfd]XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card[/url] (£257.99 @ Aria PC) [b]Case:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/thermaltake-case-cc9011024ww]Corsair 330R ATX Mid Tower Case[/url] (£68.74 @ CCL Computers) [b]Power Supply:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ssr650rm]SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply[/url] (£90.78 @ Scan.co.uk) [b]Optical Drive:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04]Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer[/url] (£11.74 @ CCL Computers) [b]Operating System:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700403]Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)[/url] (£72.61 @ Ebuyer) [b]Monitor:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-vg248qe]Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor[/url] (£258.29 @ Scan.co.uk) [b]Sound Card:[/b] [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-sound-card-xonardx]Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card[/url] (£53.46 @ CCL Computers) [b]Total:[/b] £1348.63 [i]Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available[/i] The i5 is cheaper than the i7 and makes no difference unless your friend does a lot of compiling. The 4690K is also a slightly newer haswell refresh, and the motherboard has been changed to a better one too. I added a high-end air cooler so your friend can do good overclocking. If he's only lightly overclocking, he can save money with a 212 EVO instead. The RAM is a tiny bit cheaper, but looks better with that motherboard and has a shorter heat spreader since there's no reason to have taller ones I added a SSD for faster boot times, more system responsiveness and better responsiveness for anything your friend might put on it. It's always worth putting into a system with the budget I switched out the GPU for an R9 290 which is a lot better than the 770/280X and costs the same as that EVGA 770. The Fractal Design cases are not very user/builder friendly from what i've seen, so i switched it out to a similar Corsair case. This one is entirely up to your friend however, there are a lot of good alternatives from Corsair/NZXT/others to choose from The seasonic PSU has a bit less wattage but it's a lot better quality than that EVGA. 650W will be more than enough for this build. Switched out win7 for win8 since there's no reason not to get win8 if you don't have specific programs you know are incompatible. He can just install windows 8.1 through windows 8 and install classicshell/start8 to remove the metro interface, making it nothing but a smarter+faster windows 7. The soundcard isn't strictly necessary, but if your friend wants high-end audio, this should work well. [editline]14th July 2014[/editline] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6dx2WZ]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6dx2WZ/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] [b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k]Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($229.99 @ NCIX US) [b]CPU Cooler:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhd14]Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler[/url] ($59.99 @ NCIX US) [b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97a]Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard[/url] ($143.99 @ Newegg) [b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-memory-bls2kit4g3d1609ds1s00]Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($77.99 @ Micro Center) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw]Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive[/url] ($129.99 @ Amazon) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dx001]Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive[/url] ($77.24 @ Amazon) [b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9290aedfd]XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card[/url] ($399.99 @ NCIX US) [b]Case:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermaltake-case-cc9011024ww]Corsair 330R ATX Mid Tower Case[/url] ($79.99 @ Amazon) [b]Power Supply:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ssr650rm]SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply[/url] ($99.97 @ OutletPC) [b]Optical Drive:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04]Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer[/url] ($19.98 @ OutletPC) [b]Operating System:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615]Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)[/url] ($102.98 @ Newegg) [b]Monitor:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-vg248qe]Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor[/url] ($249.23 @ Amazon) [b]Sound Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-sound-card-xonardx]Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card[/url] ($84.99 @ Newegg) [b]Total:[/b] $1741.32 [i]Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available[/i] Build for the US instead [editline]14th July 2014[/editline] If you want cheaper prices, the SSD can be taken down to 120GB or a cheaper brand, the cooler can be taken down to a 212 EVO, the motherboard+processor can be switched to a cheaper non-overclockable combo(that will perform a tiny bit worse), the GPU can be taken down to a 280X, power supply can be taken down to a cheaper model, then there's always the monitor adding to the price

I just used the UK one because I followed a link there to look at parts and didn't feel like changing to the US one if I could just change to dollars. And honestly, I've never really made a build with an SSD, and I don't have experience with Hybrids. Do they require any certain setup knowledge or do you just install them normally, and install the OS and whatever you want to load quickly on the SSD and everything else on the harddrive? Because if I'm going to get an SSD and a normal hard drive I may as well get rid of the Hybrid drive I have in there and see if I can find a normal hard drive for less. Also, he lowered the max price to $1200, so I'm gonna run some stuff by him and see what I can do. if he already has some stuff he can reuse that'll knock off quite a few dollars. I might switch to a less expensive GPU instead of the R9, I was thinking a GTX 660 since I've seen quite a few for around $160, that wouldn't be too much of a performance drop would it? I mean as long as it can play most stuff on High it'll be fine, and my GTX 460 can still do most games on at least medium, and it's being bottlenecked by my processor.

[QUOTE=Schmaaa;45387523]I just used the UK one because I followed a link there to look at parts and didn't feel like changing to the US one if I could just change to dollars. And honestly, I've never really made a build with an SSD, and I don't have experience with Hybrids. Do they require any certain setup knowledge or do you just install them normally, and install the OS and whatever you want to load quickly on the SSD and everything else on the harddrive? Because if I'm going to get an SSD and a normal hard drive I may as well get rid of the Hybrid drive I have in there and see if I can find a normal hard drive for less.[/QUOTE] That's exactly how you do it. It's really simple.

[QUOTE=Levelog;45387588]That's exactly how you do it. It's really simple.[/QUOTE] Thanks. But would getting a hybrid remove the need for an SSD? I looked at the one I had picked out and it actually had a smaller SSD cache than I thought, so I might look for another one unless a 7.8 GB cache is enough

An SSD is still a massive improvement over a hybrid. If I were you, I'd get an SSD and a normal HDD

[QUOTE=Schmaaa;45387523]Also, he lowered the max price to $1200, so I'm gonna run some stuff by him and see what I can do. if he already has some stuff he can reuse that'll knock off quite a few dollars. I might switch to a less expensive GPU instead of the R9, I was thinking a GTX 660 since I've seen quite a few for around $160, that wouldn't be too much of a performance drop would it? I mean as long as it can play most stuff on High it'll be fine, and my GTX 460 can still do most games on at least medium, and it's being bottlenecked by my processor.[/QUOTE] That is a terrible GPU for this price range, you should be able to fit in a 280X without an issue If you can tell us what he can reuse, we could get it down to around 1200 I also didn't notice it was a hybrid drive, you should switch that to a regular Seagate 1TB Barracuda instead

okay, with the price range of $900 - $1200, here is the build as it is now. [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/"]http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/[/URL] CPU - Intel i5-4690K -$229.99 CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM - $59.99 Mobo - Asus Z97-A ATX LGA 1150 - $143.99 RAM - Crucial Ballistix Sport 8Gb (2x4Gb) DDR3-1600 - $77.99 GPU - XFX Radeon R9 270x 2Gb Double Dissipation - $182.98 ($199.99 w/o mail-in rebate) HDD - Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive - $129.99 - Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive - $52.91 Case - Corsair 330R ATX Mid Tower Case - $79.99 PSU - SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX power supply - $99.97 CD Drive - Lite-On iHas124-04 DVD/CD Writer - $19.98 OS - Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) - $102.98 Sound - Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192KHz Sound Card - $79.99 Total Price - $1245.75 The CPU cooler is probably the first thing I'll cut for price, if he decides he doesn't want to mess with overclocking his CPU. Will the Sound card actually have any noticeable effect on sound quality, or is it basically only to allow 7.1 surround speakers?

If he decides he doesn't want to overclock, you can immediately downgrade to a regular 4690 and get a motherboard with an H97 chipset instead, and take the CPU cooler right off the list. If he lives in a particularly hot place and still doesn't want to overclock, however, you could swap the Noctua out for at least a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. A soundcard is basically just a gimmick unless your buddy is an audiophile, the motherboard's onboard audio chip is sufficient in most cases. [editline]14th July 2014[/editline] You really need to ask him the specifics before you start buying things. Make sure you know [i]exactly[/i] what he wants/needs in the system.