Request: Advice on custom gaming rig

[Menarker]

Hey everyone! My Mac laptop is starting to show definite signs of aging and I'm regretting not being able to play games on Steam and many of the other windows only games. So what I'm thinking of doing is getting a new Windows PC and quite possibly a tablet (although I'll deal with the tablet later). As I'm not very experienced in the art n' craft of choosing parts for a PC, I'm appealing to the expertise of everyone on the board for advice!


Guidelines:

- Budget of around $1500 -$2000. Anything more is iffy but might possibly be possible if ultimate result worth it for a minor addition.
- As stated above, the main intention is to play games and browse internet very well (and to do so for a significant amount of time)
- As I'm severely hearing impaired and use a special head-phone device attached to my hearing aid FM system, sound related components are not essential. That said, if things like sound cards will influence how a game will run like sound driver compatability, then I'll want something decent in that regards too.
- As for the computer monitor, I'm not too picky, but I would like it fairly big. (I'm guessing 20' inches?) Also, a good response time is desired.
- I don't have a tendency (not yet anyhow) to hoard musics, videos, photos or things like that, so maximum capacity is not as important as the PC's ability to run it with high quality smoothly and quickly. (I also have a external hard drive on hand, where I can probably put the files that don't need speed)
- I'm quite risk adverse, so assume that I'm not overclocking and that I'd be iffy about parts with few positive reviews. (You can still mention those parts as an alternative thing to consider or research)

If there are other questions you have regarding the guidelines or my preference, feel free to ask! And thanks in advance for your time and support!

List of parts
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard: ASRock Z77
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO
Video Card: Nvidia Geoforce GTX 770 OR GIGABYTE GV-N770OC-4GD GeoForce GTX 770
Case:
Power Supply: Corsair HX750
Optical Drive: Standard $20 one. (Family has TWO PS3, so I think we got Blu-ray covered)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE

[Aerozord]

A few general things. First, monitor preferences? Its one of the big areas of cost when it comes to a computer but also one of the longest lasting. I also want to let you know, dont worry about a sound card. Onboard ones are more than capable of handling anything a video game can throw at you.

I also think you shouldn't underestimate storage capacity. Modern video games often require 10-20 gigs. That being said a SSD might be the way to go. Incredibly expensive but it will load up your games lightning fast.

[Menarker]

An SSD sounds like something that I'd go for.

As for monitor, I'm not too picky, but I would like it to have a good response time and to be fairly big. (I'm guessing 20' inches?) (Adding this to guidelines above)

---------- Post added at 11:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 PM ----------

I noticed an article on a SSD drive that looks fairly interesting called the Samsung 840 EVO , so I'll use that as a tentative starting point. But of course, feel free to chime in with alternatives if newer and better ones have come out since then!

[synkr0nized]

Originally Posted by Menarker

- As I'm severely hearing impaired and use a special head-phone device attached to my hearing aid FM system, sound related components are not essential. That said, if things like sound cards will influence how a game will run like sound driver compatability, then I'll want something decent in that regards too.

- As for the computer monitor, I'm not too picky, but I would like it fairly big. (I'm guessing 20' inches?) Also, a good response time is desired.

After reading the first of the above points, I'd agree that you probably don't even need to worry about plopping in a dedicated sound card, the on-board features of motherboards likely being sufficient for you.


As to the monitor, 22-24" is pretty standard these days, though folks do push for 27-30" as well. The majority are going to be 16:9, with a resolution like 1920x1080 for HD quality (or higher, of course!). If you are like me and prefer the additional vertical space provided by 16:10 monitors, your choices are going to be much fewer though not necessarilly of poor quality. It will probably depend on what you have in your budget and what brand(s) you trust.

Regardless of which aspect ratio you prefer, for a gaming monitor you're going to want to look at panel type, as that usually is the primary feature that drives the monitor's response rate and colors/picture quality. Interestingly (to me), IPS monitors (usually much superior color representation and reproduction) don't seem to be hundreds more than TN (usually the best response rates and fastest redraws) anymore (quickly browsing through Newegg prices right now, for example). So basically if you allow for ~200-300 bucks in your budget you can pick and choose from a lot of quality displays. Allot yourself more for the monitor if you want to look at bigger screens.



Dump a SSD into the machine as your boot drive / games install drive. I still run 10K RPM Raptors as I haven't yet given up on my reservations with relying on SSD, but I am pretty much paranoid about data loss and totally aware of that paranoia. You can boot a machine into the desktop in seconds with a SSD setup, and it will make the initial loading into a game a bit quicker.

After that, motherboards these days have tons of SATA ports, and unless you get a small computer case you can easily add hard drives for data as you want. So add one or two or whatever if you have the budget for it, or skip it for now and add them later. No worries.


Without getting into details, I'd point towards Intel processors (i5 at least, i7 likely) and brands like Corsair for the power supply, EVGA for video cards, and GSkill or OCZ for memory. I have had good experiences with their products in machines and feel that their components are of good quality and reliability as well as high performance for gaming.

You could take a gander at video card benchmarks and similar reviews for individual components -- like you seem to have done for the SSD selection already -- to get an idea of which you might aim for, and that will help you piece together the machine while estimating cost. Then if you are over or under budget you can adjust as appropriate (e.g. dropping out an additional hard drive or extra RAM if you need to save money or adding more if you can/want).

Hell, let me toss something together using your list. This is just an idea using a combination of products that are highly-rated and the brands I prefer and would recommend to others. Even though I just did this quickly, I'd be happy slapping together these parts for myself, probably. Given more time/motivation I might be more discerning, though, too. So take this list with a grain of salt, and hopefully the gurus here at NPF will make their superior recommendations.

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K
CPU Cooler: one of the various Cooler Master options - honestly I just picked one that was well-reviewed. I have a Scythe, but I mean as long as it's not the stock cooler you'll probably be OK, especially with no OC
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 - has room for another video card or other expansions if you decide to add components later
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws, 8 GB (2x4GB)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO
Minitor: ASUS 24-inch 16:10 Monitor
Video Card: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 - while it's the 16th card on the high-end benchmark list, it's also the first one on the list to be under 300 dollars (and most of the top 15 are really, really pricey)
Case: Here's a Rosewill I've used for myself and for a friend's build - pretty solid and not expensive
Power Supply: Corsair HX750 - capable of handling more than listed here
Optical Drive: I skipped this; generally speaking anything is fine. If you want, say, Lightscribe or a BluRay burner or something get that, it's only going to be a little more. Probably looking at, what, ~100 for BluRay burners, ~20 bucks for most anything else
Misc: Artic Silver 5 - is it really all that much better? Meh, for ten bucks why not go with it?

I didn't add a mouse or keyboard. If you get a nice mechanical keyboard, you might want to budget ~100-150 dollars.

With current Newegg Prices, the total for all of that is $1,522.40 (plus 100-200 for other parts like the optical drive and keyboard/mouse, making it ~1700). So I mean that's right at the lower end of the range you quoted, leaving you with room for options, such as adding more hard drives for storage, expanding RAM because why not, using a liquid-cooling solution, adding a second video card for SLI, dumping more into a bigger or better monitor, etc.


---------- Post added at 03:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:10 AM ----------

Going the AMD route -- that is, selecting an AMD processor, sticking with the stock AMD CPU cooler as they are often fine for non-OC and less shitty than Intel's, and picking an appropriate AMD motherboard but keeping everything else the same -- saved $234.48.

[Menarker]

Your proposed build is much appreciated! Some of those parts look fantastic! (Though I'm still researching!)

I looked at your suggestion regarding AMD motherboards and found this particular one which has a very high clock speed, something I hear is pretty critical for games and the price is nearly the same as the Intel one you mentioned.

That said, if there is something off/inferior about the one I've linked compared to yours, let me know! I gotta keep in mind that it might not be compatible with some of the other parts!

EDIT: Had a better look around and the Intel i7 model has other things like extra caching and less heat-emission. So I'll probably stick with your suggestion there for CPU.

[Bells]

If it's a gaming rig is an i7 really necessary? As far as i know you can easily keep an I5 and that will keep you gaming for the next few years easy.

Also, for everything Cooler wise i suggest NOCTUA, it is just fantastic stuff... a bit big, but their coolers are just amazing. also case fans. You can do amazing things with just Air colling, but temperatures are things you need to give some thought to if you want a gaming rig playing at the top.

[Menarker]

I'm really hoping to not have to upgrade again for a while, so I'm willing to spend a bit more now to make it last longer overall.

Need to head to bed soon, but dropping off this link here for my record to compare Memory sticks. (Of which Sync's suggestion was high on the list but not the highest)
http://www.squidoo.com/best-gaming-ram#module150579632

[synkr0nized]

Originally Posted by Menarker

I looked at your suggestion regarding AMD motherboards and found this particular one which has a very high clock speed, something I hear is pretty critical for games and the price is nearly the same as the Intel one you mentioned.

Processor/CPU, and the advantage of most AMD selections is the decreased price. Overall, Intel processors perform better anyway, so selecting one that's in the same price range doesn't net you an advantage, in my opinion. One of my first self-built machines was an AMD, and I enjoyed good performance for its gaming life (it currently drives a media machine that I connect to my television). That said, I would stick with Intel if I didn't feel I needed a couple hundred for other parts.

Originally Posted by Bells

If it's a gaming rig is an i7 really necessary? As far as i know you can easily keep an I5 and that will keep you gaming for the next few years easy.

This is true. However, some i5 are still only dual-core and not quad-core (though Intel's hyperthreading supposedly gives us additional virtual cores, such as the 8 my computer thinks it has in total). Does this matter? We could get into a discussion of whether or not any games properly use multiple cores, the benefits of a good video card being important, whether or not the video card or the CPU is the bottleneck for a given game/piece of software, etc.

Also, looking at benchmarks, the i7s dominate the i5s. For that matter, newer Xeons lay the smack down on everything (a buddy of mine has a Xeon in his machine, and it damn near flies through anything he tosses at it), but I'm not going to ever advocate thousands of dollars just for the processor in someone's gaming rig.

If you have the budget for it, I don't see any reason not to go with the best and pick an i7. If you want to pump in more other features, perhaps look at the savings gained by selecting an i5 -- you should still be fine gaming at top settings.

For me, I tend to consider processor upgrades as more annoying than others and go as high as I feel is reasonable in part selection for the CPU. RAM, storage, and even video card(s) are the easiest things to replace, literally only taking a few minutes with minimal disruption to the inside of the case (depending on hard drive caddy layout, I guess). That said, when the socket types of so many processors are compatible you could also get one processor now and replace it with a stronger one later if you wanted. I know some people who like to basically upgrade the core parts of their machine every year or so, never going with top of the line hardware but still staying ahead of game requirements and spreading out their budget that way.

[Menarker]

Looked at graphic cards using this page as one of the guidelines (Synk's suggested card was listed on it.)

Synk, I can agree with what your reasoning for what you chosen for the graphic card especially when keeping it on budget, but I decided to opt for one a step higher in the price range with the same company, the Nvidia Geoforce GTX 770.

EDIT: Although I just noticed this one here which is interesting too! GIGABYTE GV-N770OC-4GD GeForce GTX 770

[synkr0nized]

Nothing I post is set in stone! Thankfully computing in general and heavy-processing activities like editing and gaming hit such a large audience anymore that there are plenty of good products on the market.

I know for me it's a lot of fun to piece together a machine, and then it's a lot of fun putting it together and booting it up that first time knowing that you did it yourself, start to finish (well, aside from making the actual components :P). I hope you enjoy it as well.

If I have been of any help, that is terrific.