Which of These Builds are Better? (and a Few Other Questions)

[Killscreen256]

I have been looking into getting a new computer for a while, and I came up with two builds. The only problem is that I don't know which one would be better for what I want to do. I figured I would ask here to get some opinions on which is better. I might as well also ask if there's any improvements I can make, any glaring problems with either build, or any way to make either build cheaper while still meeting the requirements detailed below.

Also, I don't really have the time or knowledge to build my own, and I'm afraid I would mess something up while building it, but I do know there are places online that can build your computer for you. I have a few of them noted down, but I want your recommendation on a website like that I can use to order the computer from. I know building it yourself is cheaper and overall better, but I can't really build it myself right now.

Lastly, is an optical drive necessary for a gaming pc? I would kind of like to have one just in case I would need it, but if it's unnecessary or too expensive I wouldn't mind not having one.

Build 1 [pcpartpicker.com]

Build 2 [pcpartpicker.com]

Requirements:

• Must not cost more than $1500 USD, though ideally it should cost around or less than $1200 (on the list for pcpartpicker)
  
• Must be able to run most, if not all, games that are out right now on at least medium settings, preferably high settings.
  
• Must be able to run all but the most demanding minecraft modpacks on at least medium settings, preferably high settings.
  
• I would say that it should be able to run minecraft at high settings, but obviously, if it can run modpacks at all, it will be able to run vanilla easily.
  
• Optionally, I may also record videos, but I'm not sure if I would want to or not, or how hard it would be.

[[wan-clan.org] Gordy Freeman]

I'd get the HDD and Video card from the 2nd one, with the NZXT case from the first one.

[tacoshy]

for both builds get rid of the OS and spend the money on a nice Smasung 850/960 Evo 250GB for the OS. You can use Windows for free or activate it real cheap.

Specific explanation you can find on my main group.

I wouldnt miss an optical drive. Alot of games espacially in the stores which sometimes are even cheaper then origin or steam itself come on DVD. Just recently installed The Division, Battlefront 2015 and Titanfall 2 from it to save 60GB downloading. Also I like to watch movies from it and to just install all the old games incl. the ones that come for free from magazines. In the end you can buy a used one for 5$ or a new one for <15$.

recording videos could profit a lot from having an i7. If you not intend to overclock an i5 I would save on the MoBo by taking a B250 and a non-K CPU like i5-7500.

[Damian]

I don't use part picker, why ? It doesn't has all part and this page "partpicker" is 100% sponsored by 4-5 shops, so part picker shows you only parts that these 5 shops have.

https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=WL-833394

But if you want part picker so bad...
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9Tw2sJ

[tacoshy]

Originally posted by Damian:

I don't use part picker, why ? It doesn't has all part and this page "partpicker" is 100% sponsored by 4-5 shops, so part picker shows you only parts that these 5 shops have.

https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=WL-833394

But if you want part picker so bad...
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9Tw2sJ

which is not true it contains as many shops as your link too...
Also both your builds are terrible. i5-7400? why for 5$ more you get the 15% stronger i5-7500...bad SSD no HDD as anyone could be good with only 240GB space they days. Why the hell a 3GB 1060 when he has the budget to even buy a GTX 1070? 70$ for a semi-modular 450W PSU? Are you serios? Also only 1x8GB slow RAM which is more expensive then the way faster DDR4-3000? Also ignoring dual channel...

[King_BR0K]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tM3pPs
This is $1500, but it can do high resolution

[Killscreen256]

Made some of the changes that were recommended, and here's the build that I came up with so far.

I had to use the 200R ATX case because it was the only case that had any compatible optical drives on the site. Also, I'm probably just going to buy the windows 10 license normally, though I may change my mind about this later.

Build[pcpartpicker.com]

Is this good? Also, is an i7 necessary for recording videos, or can I substitute it for an i5 to save money?

[King_BR0K]

Get a Z270 motherboard, it will be worth it to get the i7

[Killscreen256]

Made the motherboard change that was suggested, and guess I'm going for the i7 unless anyone says otherwise. Here's my build so far.

Build [pcpartpicker.com]

Any last changes I can make to reduce costs without impacting the performance that much? This computer is slightly more expensive than I was expecting, so any way to reduce the cost without impacting performance too much would be appreciated.

[King_BR0K]

If you don't need 2tb storage, you can reduce it, and you don't need to buy windows, you can get it for free

[Killscreen256]

Decided that I would most likely get a 1tb hdd instead to save money like it was suggested. May change my mind and get the 2tb one, but I most likely won't. Unless anyone else has any more suggestions, this is the build I'm going with.

Likely final build [pcpartpicker.com]

I'm also most likely just going to buy windows 10, as I don't really know my windows 8.1 product key (my current pc is this terrible store bought one) and all the ways I looked up either require messing with the bios, or looking for a sticker on the case that I can't find, though it could be on the bottom of it or inside it, places I haven't checked yet. Even then, I don't really know where to get windows 10 unactivated, which kind of complicates things. I just figured it would be easier to buy it.

Also, I had another question that no-one answered yet. Basically, I don't really want to build it myself if I can help it for fear of breaking something, but I do know there are websites that can build you computer for you and ship it to you. I have a few of them written down, but I want some recommendations of these kinds of sites. I may just build it myself if it's absolutely necessary, but I would rather use one of those sites.

Anyway, I'm likely going to buy this computer around the weekend, give myself more time to decide on which hdd to get. I'll most likely post when I order it and/or when it's set up and say how well it runs.

[Black Mambo № 5]

I'd honestly just swap out that 7700K in favour of a Ryzen 7 1700, which comes with a stock cooler and can be OC'ed on it till at least 3.8-3.9GHz easily and costs less than 7700K.

For a mere 10-15% performance in selected games(single threaded focus), the 7700K doesn't offer a good value proposition when compared to Ryzen 7 1700(which can again be OC'ed easily on a cheaper B350 chipset). Especially since you are thinking of video recording etc.
Below is a video of a professional TechTuber who switched to Ryzen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzzdkUvKhk

In the video below you can simply upscale the amount of background applications and the results would be more or less same given the fact that in most games the 7700K is pegged at 90-99% CPU utilization, so you have literally no headroom left for anything else.
(The video however is a comparison between the lower end i3s and Ryzen 3, but since upscaling is a thing you can get similar results in a case of Ryzen 7 vs 7700k)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whXFKsSbvro

Considering the fact that you get literally double the cores and threads and you want to record videos, and possibly even stream them, then grabbing the Ryzen 7 is a easy choice over anything else currently.

You can also save that 32$ from the cooler since Ryzen 7 comes with a really competent stock cooler. You can also save another 20$ from the motherboard if you decide for a B350 Chipset from AMD(which is also very competent and OC'able). And you can still save about 20-30$ more on the Ryzen 7 1700 itself. That leaves you with about ~70-80$ to work with. Add a few bucks more and you can probably grab a cheap GTX1070(assuming prices have normalized).

Or you can even use those 70-80$ to get a SSD(which you do not have in your build currently), your system will feel more snappier and faster to work with. Having your OS on an SSD is pretty much worth it now-a-days. Loading times are faster, apps launch quicker and in-game loading screens are significantly reduced.

Currently, Ryzen offer way to many advantages over the i7 7700k, which only beats it in gaming performance but the margins aren't high enough to justify purchasing it.

With GTX 1070 but no SSD -- https://pcpartpicker.com/list/x8z4LD ~ $1253
With GTX 1060 & SSD -- https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JNWkQV ~ $1202
(In both the builds I've just chosen the top end B350 mobo but you can replace that with MSI Tomahawk or an AsRock B350 board and shave another 10-25$ off it)
(Also I've chosen a 250GB SSD, but that is not necessary if you're only going to run your OS on it then 150Gb is more than enough)

[Killscreen256]

Not sure if I should use the Ryzen. One of the games I'm going to be playing is minecraft, which, if my research is correct, is single-threaded. I'm even going to play heavily modded minecraft, which uses a large amount of cpu power compared to vanilla, which is already rather cpu heavy.

Probably going to stay with what I came up with earlier, as the i7 has more powerful cores despite only having half the cores of the Ryzen, unless of course anyone knows if the Ryzen can run heavily modded minecraft well (ex. a mod pack with 100 - 150+ mods at 30+ fps with decent settings).

Also, your builds are kind of expensive. Maybe if I do get the Ryzen, I would just replace the i7 in the list to make the build cheaper, unless that would cause issues. I might get an ssd as well if I can get the price low enough, but I doubt the price can get much lower without impacting performance.

[Black Mambo № 5]

For Minecraft specific numbers you'll have to dig into YouTube. I've never played Minecraft so I'm not aware of any exact keyword to search for. However given the Ryzen popularity recently, there are bound to be ample amount videos regarding this.
I suggested Ryzen 7 in a more general use-case scenario but if Minecraft is the only thing you'll be playing and if per your research the i7 works better on that then no harm grabbing it.

Yes the builds I posted were merely placeholders as I suggested you can swap out the expensive B350 mobo for something less cheaper(but about as good). Or just do away with the GTX1070.

SSD even if you make the Intel build I'd say will come in handy with OS booting etc. definitely aim for at least a 150GB model(the one in my build is 250GB so that's costlier).

[Killscreen256]

I'm not going to be playing just minecraft, but I did look into it a bit so far. While the i7 is better for single-threaded games like minecraft, the Ryzen is better for games that use multiple cores. That's one reason I can't decide: do I go with the i7 and lose out on performance for recording and video rendering while playing skyrim or some other games, or go with the Ryzen and lose out on performance in modded minecraft? I just can't decide which would be better to get.

I'm probably getting the i7 as it runs heavily modded minecraft better, and apparently some people have been getting relatively poor performance with the Ryzen in minecraft for reasons I haven't found out yet. I don't mind if it does worse for rendering videos and playing other games, I've been wanting to play modded minecraft and skyrim, among other games, for a while and as long as they run with decent performance while recording, then I'm fine with it. Though, as I stated before, I'm still not sure if I would want to record videos yet. At least the option is there if I decide I would want to.

[Killscreen256]

Well, I checked for sites that could build this computer for me, and none of them stocked the parts that are required for this build. Unless I can find one that does, which is unlikely because I checked about a dozen of them, guess this means that I need to build this myself unfortunately. Does anyone have any tips for building a computer for a complete noob like myself, like what not to do or stuff to watch out for? Is there any videos that can help as well that you reccomend?

Also, I realized that the ram used in the build can get sold out. Just in case it does, though it's unlikely to at this point, is there any good alternatives that you could recommend as a backup?