Help With New PC Build ($2000 Budget)

[shreddedbullet]

Hey, for the past 3 years I have been using an HP Elite and it has been pretty good, and plays games well. However, I am planning on upgrading and I need some insight on what an ideal PC Gaming build will be for a budget of $2000. I do know I want around 16GB RAM, and a graphics card with at least a 4GB Cache, but from there I don't really know where to go. Also, I want to include a new monitor with at least 120hz refresh rate in the $2000 budget. Also, a Solid State Drive for storage would be nice.

EDIT: This is pretty close to the build I have come up with from research and advice:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gbCwD3

[100% Recycled Awesome]

Zombie Cat PC Master Race eredeti hozzászólása:

100% Recycled Awesome eredeti hozzászólása:

8 actually boots faster and has a fair number of under the hood improvements over 7. Furthermore, boot to desktop effectively makes 8 function like 7. I suspect 95% of the hate that Windows 8 gets is from people who still think it's mandatory to use the tiles.

I would agree, once you add a start button and make it boot straight to desktop its much like windows 7 and you will never have to see the metro screen again.

Yup. I wasn't a fan on Windows 8, but I bought a Dell Venue 8 Pro and it's nowhere even close to being as bad as the Windows 8 haters claim it to be. I use a mix of desktop and tiles and I don't have any issues with navigation.

I actually really like a few touch options, such as the swipe to change programs. I'll often swipe on my iPad and Android phone out of habit....and get nothing as they don't have the same functionality :(.

Microsoft made a big mistake on initial release, but 8.1 is very different from 8 in terms of initial impressions. People need to get over it and give it a fair shake. Like iOS7 was a mess upon release, it took a few patches to get it right (So incredibly happy I waited to upgrade from iOS6 until they fixed the mess on that), Windows 8's update fixes I'd say all of the issues that people were complaining about once you install a third party start menu.

Windows 8.1 on the Atom processor boots faster than my WIndows 7 on an SSD with an i5 4670k powering it.

[Mozendo]

Can the 770 fully use 4GB? I've been told that it can't.

[shreddedbullet]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qw34P6
This is what I have come up with so far. Any more advice?

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

GTX 770 cant make full use of 4 Gb VRAM because it has only 256-bit memory interface. It's more of a sales gimmick.

[shreddedbullet]

Rumpelcrutchskin eredeti hozzászólása:

GTX 770 cant make full use of 4 Gb VRAM because it has only 256-bit memory interface. It's more of a sales gimmick.

So exactly how much does it use? Should I look into a different card?

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

R9 290 or 290X have 512-bit memory interface.
If Nvidia card then GTX 780 or 780 Ti with 384-bit memory interface. There is also 6 Gb VRAM GTX 780 version from EVGA.

[Chocolate]

(ZuWh) shreddedbullet eredeti hozzászólása:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qw34P6
This is what I have come up with so far. Any more advice?

No. You're not making the most of your $2000 budget.

You said you wanted just a gaming PC right? Here, this will maximize gaming performance.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hFQPvK

No offense, but it seems like you don't have any idea of what's best for your money. You've been tricked by marketing to think you'll need an i7 or 16GB of RAM. You don't. It's that simple. In fact, you don't even need to spend the full 2 grand. I've even SAVED you money for games with this build.

CPU - The i5 4690K is the best gaming CPU. There no difference getting the i7 4790K. None.
CPU cooler - It's a cheap, good performing cooler.
Motherboard - You don't need a fancy $300 motherboard.
RAM - I don't know why you think you need 16GB but 8GB is the best amount. 4GB is too little.
SSD - One of the best--if not best reviewed--SSD's in its class.
HDD - 3TB to dump your movies and music into.
CASE - A good looking case with sound dampening.
Power supply - I don't know why you keep picking a platinum rating, but you don't need it. It's only very slightly more efficient. You will NOT see the cost savings you'd get from paying extra unless you run your computer 24-7 every day for months. A bronze rating is perfectly good.
Graphics card - Now here's where your big budget comes in. This is the BEST graphics card you can get right now for the money. You're lucky it recently dropped from $1500 to $1000. The next best card is the Titan Z which is $2000-3000. The graphics card is the biggest factor in how well you game.

[_I_]

770 would be close to using over 2g of ram effectively
more vram will allow for higher settings, but with the settigns maxed it might not hold 60+fps

[Rove]

AMD FX 8350 8 core 8 thread 4GHz 16MB cache CPU + R9 290X 4GB GPU build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yDpBFT
Base Total: $2017.05
Promo Discounts: -$27.39
Combo Discounts: -$30.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$75.00
Total: $1884.66

Intel i7-5820K 6 core 12 thread 3.3 GHz 16.5MB cache CPU + R9 290 4GB GPU build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PcQPvK
Base Total: $2055.06
Promo Discounts: -$33.99
Mail-in Rebates: -$60.00
Total: $1961.07

NOTE: in the Intel build I had to cut down on the GPU (R9 290X to R9 290) and the HDD (4TB hybrid to 3TB regular) as well as cut off the SSD completely to stay on budget.

Personally I'd take the AMD build, however your financial situation, upgrade plan and general taste may be different. The RAM is faster (in spite of being DDR3 vs DDR4 it has a lower CAS), the SSD is there, the HDD is a better bigger SSD/HDD hybrid drive and lastly and most importantly the GPU is the R9 290X instead of the R9 290 which makes it a bit more powerful.

However I also want you to consider a build for less than $1000 with a more reasonably priced 60 Hz monitor just cause I want to show you that it's much better value for your money and still enough to play modern games nicely for a long time:

AMD FX 6300 6 core 3.5 GHz CPU & R9 280 3GB GPU build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Th6DnQ
Base Total: $917.84
Promo Discounts: -$11.99
Combo Discounts: -$20.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$65.00
Shipping: $7.28
Total: $828.13


Intel i5-4690K 4 core 3.5 GHz CPU & Nvidia GTX 760 2GB GPU build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CC28P6
Base Total: $1021.84
Promo Discounts: -$11.99
Mail-in Rebates: -$55.00
Shipping: $7.28
Total: $962.13

[Eucliwood Hellscythe]

Rove eredeti hozzászólása:

AMD FX 8350 8 core 8 thread 4GHz 16MB cache CPU + R9 290X 4GB GPU build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yDpBFT
Base Total: $2017.05
Promo Discounts: -$27.39
Combo Discounts: -$30.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$75.00
Total: $1884.66

Intel i7-5820K 6 core 12 thread 3.3 GHz 16.5MB cache CPU + R9 290 4GB GPU build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PcQPvK
Base Total: $2055.06
Promo Discounts: -$33.99
Mail-in Rebates: -$60.00
Total: $1961.07

NOTE: in the Intel build I had to cut down on the GPU (R9 290X to R9 290) and the HDD (4TB hybrid to 3TB regular) as well as cut off the SSD completely to stay on budget.

Personally I'd take the AMD build, however your financial situation, upgrade plan and general taste may be different. The RAM is faster (in spite of being DDR3 vs DDR4 it has a lower CAS), the SSD is there, the HDD is a better bigger SSD/HDD hybrid drive and lastly and most importantly the GPU is the R9 290X instead of the R9 290 which makes it a bit more powerful.

However I also want you to consider a build for less than $1000 with a more reasonably priced 60 Hz monitor just cause I want to show you that it's much better value for your money and still enough to play modern games nicely for a long time:

AMD FX 6300 6 core 3.5 GHz CPU & R9 280 3GB GPU build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Th6DnQ
Base Total: $917.84
Promo Discounts: -$11.99
Combo Discounts: -$20.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$65.00
Shipping: $7.28
Total: $828.13


Intel i5-4690K 4 core 3.5 GHz CPU & Nvidia GTX 760 2GB GPU build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CC28P6
Base Total: $1021.84
Promo Discounts: -$11.99
Mail-in Rebates: -$55.00
Shipping: $7.28
Total: $962.13

The GTX 760 is a Waste of money

[shreddedbullet]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2M2xTW
Updated the build again, but I replaced the GTX 770 4GB with a GTX 780 6GB, a different case, and a new power supply.

Sir Swag XIII of North Yoloton eredeti hozzászólása:

(ZuWh) shreddedbullet eredeti hozzászólása:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qw34P6
This is what I have come up with so far. Any more advice?

No. You're not making the most of your $2000 budget.

You said you wanted just a gaming PC right? Here, this will maximize gaming performance.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hFQPvK

No offense, but it seems like you don't have any idea of what's best for your money. You've been tricked by marketing to think you'll need an i7 or 16GB of RAM. You don't. It's that simple. In fact, you don't even need to spend the full 2 grand. I've even SAVED you money for games with this build.

CPU - The i5 4690K is the best gaming CPU. There no difference getting the i7 4790K. None.
CPU cooler - It's a cheap, good performing cooler.
Motherboard - You don't need a fancy $300 motherboard.
RAM - I don't know why you think you need 16GB but 8GB is the best amount. 4GB is too little.
SSD - One of the best--if not best reviewed--SSD's in its class.
HDD - 3TB to dump your movies and music into.
CASE - A good looking case with sound dampening.
Power supply - I don't know why you keep picking a platinum rating, but you don't need it. It's only very slightly more efficient. You will NOT see the cost savings you'd get from paying extra unless you run your computer 24-7 every day for months. A bronze rating is perfectly good.
Graphics card - Now here's where your big budget comes in. This is the BEST graphics card you can get right now for the money. You're lucky it recently dropped from $1500 to $1000. The next best card is the Titan Z which is $2000-3000. The graphics card is the biggest factor in how well you game.

This build is still near the same price as the one I configured. Yes, the graphics card has more VRAM, but you had to ♥♥♥♥ out on some parts like the RAM, SSD, and Processor. If I'm going to spend the full $2000, wouldn't I want more RAM, a bigger SSD and the better processor?

[shreddedbullet]

Also, what card is better, the GTX 780 6GB or the GTX 780ti 3GB?

[Rove]

780 ti 3GB and get some extra RAM instead I think. Since a GPU can share RAM. Not sure when you would run into needing the full 6GB at full speed and couldn't substitute slower RAM for some of it. The memory bandwidth per second is actually faster on the GTX 780 ti so even with less it's potentially better and with 3GB extra shared RAM from system can still switch 3GB for 3GB from GPU to system and system to GPU several times per second if it actually ever needs to work with 6GB video RAM.

Also did you consider my builds?

I put a $240~ 144Hz monitor in them so there was room to take that out and get upgrades if they were lacking anything you wanted that costs that much or less.

[poco loco]

Yes man, get the 780ti.

[KenTheBarbie]

Here are things to make sure of; if this computer is ONLY for gaming, just get an Intel Core i5. I have heard multiple times that the i7 is NOT worth the extra $100 UNLESS you are doing heavy-duty video editing; so for only gaming, I would get an i5 and save that extra $100 for something else. Also, you may want to consider a 1TB HDD, because they run a lot cheaper for more space, then also get a SSD. You can put your more important stuff on the SSD while the less-important stuff can go on the HDD, which should have a lot more space. Those are my recommendations. Good luck!! (: