Hey Guys!

 

I think I have found a nice build for my price range but have a couple questions about it and was wondering what you guys thought of it. 

 

The Build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qN4B4D

 

My Questions:

 

-Graphics Card

 

So to start off, I have chosen the GTX 970 4GB as my Graphics Card. after seeing a lot of people happy with it - however I'm not sure which 970 would be best for me.. these are the ones I have seen.

 

-Asus STRIXGTX970DC2OC4GD5 STRIX GeForce GTX 970 4GB 1.11Ghz ($334.99)

Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-strixgtx970dc2oc4gd5

 

-MSI GTX 970 GAMING 4G Twin Frozr V GeForce GTX 970 4GB 1.14Ghz ($354.98)

Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g

 

-Gigabyte GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD WINDFORCE GeForce GTX 970 4GB 1.18Ghz ($359.99)

Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970g1gaming4gd

 

-EVGA 04G-P4-2974-KR Superclocked ACX 2.0 GeForce GTX 970 4GB 1.17Ghz ($344.99)

Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42974kr

 

So the ones above are the main ones I saw - Which do you think is the best and for what reasons? 

Note: In my list I just selected a random 970 to get a feel for the price.

 

-CPU

 

For the CPU's I wasn't sure which to put in there, here are some I thought might work well:

 

(Should I stick with an i5 or save up a little more and go with one of those i7s?)

 

-Intel Core i5-4690K Devil's Canyon Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor

 Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117372

 

-Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell Quad-Core 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics

 Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

-Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor    

 Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369

 

-Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor? (Would this even work in my build?)

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116901&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

 

Those are pretty much the only questions I have at this point. If you see anything else that needs to be changed feel free to comment.

I appreciate your time!

 

Thank you, 

 

DeputyJake

 

Edited November 30, 201411 yr by DeputyJake

Good build! I have a EVGA GTX 760 I plan on upgrading to a GTX 970 in the next week or two. Good video card. Hyper 212 Evo cooler is somewhat hard to install but it's a great cooler for the price. However I have a AMD processor.  If you just plan on gaming I feel like the i5 should get the job done. The i7 isn't really necessary.  Now I would go with the EVGA 970 because I've heard that their customer support is really good. Other than that throw an SSD in there for Windows if you like.

Contrary to the comment above me, I would avoid the EVGA 970, they are having several issues with it. Just google EVGA 970 problem. 

 

Personally, I have a GTX 970 and it's not one listed there. I have a Nvidia GTX 970 produced by Nvidia themselves, pictures. http://imgur.com/a/Q0X12

 

It is sold exclusively by Best Buy online & Retail Stores. It's a little higher than normal, but the build quality is outstanding and it truely is a Collector's premium product. 

 

My only other concern with the build is you are getting extremely expensive, top of the line components, but completely trashing and bottlenecking your system with a 1TB WDD Blue Drive. I highly recommend an SSD in there even if you have both a HDD and an SSD. 

 

Additionally, I recommend a 750W PSU for that setup. 

 

i5 is fine. 

 

EDIT: Also just taken into account these are my experiences when it comes to PC building. I personally recommend Windows 8.1, as Windows 7 is set to become a Non-Supported OS soon, which means some companies will not offer you support for using outdated Operating Systems. With Win10 around the corner, I'd go either 8.1 or wait for 10. 

Edited November 30, 201411 yr by Mr.Quiggles

The only thing a HDD will do is slow your loading times. It will not affect how fast your games run or how much FPS you get. I will be investing in an SSD soon for loading my OS. Boot times will be much faster and if I throw some games on it as well my games will launch much faster. Sadly, SSDs are pricy. I am just going to get a 128GB SSD from Samsung for $70. That's all I need for my OS.  

Contrary to the comment above me, I would avoid the EVGA 970, they are having several issues with it. Just google EVGA 970 problem.

Personally, I have a GTX 970 and it's not one listed there. I have a Nvidia GTX 970 produced by Nvidia themselves, pictures. http://imgur.com/a/Q0X12

It is sold exclusively by Best Buy online & Retail Stores. It's a little higher than normal, but the build quality is outstanding and it truely is a Collector's premium product.

My only other concern with the build is you are getting extremely expensive, top of the line components, but completely trashing and bottlenecking your system with a 1TB WDD Blue Drive. I highly recommend an SSD in there even if you have both a HDD and an SSD.

Additionally, I recommend a 750W PSU for that setup.

i5 is fine.

EDIT: Also just taken into account these are my experiences when it comes to PC building. I personally recommend Windows 8.1, as Windows 7 is set to become a Non-Supported OS soon, which means some companies will not offer you support for using outdated Operating Systems. With Win10 around the corner, I'd go either 8.1 or wait for 10.

Hey there!

First of all, thanks for the reply. I do have a couple of questions though. You say that the i5 is fine, would you reccomend going with the i5-4690k or the i5-4670k?

Also, I'm not very familiar with HDD's and SSD's.. Are you reccomending I keep the 1TB HDD the same and just buy another SSD? If so, which SSD do you suggest. Sorry for all the questions, I'm still learning. ;) By the way, the pictures are hilarious - did you put that together?

Thanks again for your help!

Jake

Hey there!

First of all, thanks for the reply. I do have a couple of questions though. You say that the i5 is fine, would you reccomend going with the i5-4690k or the i5-4670k?

Also, I'm not very familiar with HDD's and SSD's.. Are you reccomending I keep the 1TB HDD the same and just buy another SSD? If so, which SSD do you suggest. Sorry for all the questions, I'm still learning. ;) By the way, the pictures are hilarious - did you put that together?

Thanks again for your help!

Jake

 

If you intend on overclocking, I recommend the 4690k, otherwise the 4670k will be good. If you didn't know, the "K" stands for an overclock able processor, so the 70k can still do overclocking. 

 

Storage is important, so I'll take the time to explain it. Hard Drives have been around for a while. They're slow, can crash (and lose all the data on them), but very cheap and don't cost a lot of money. 

 

SSDs are a new technology brought to the market within the past few years. They're much smaller, contain no moving parts (Flash memory, like a flash drive), and in some cases 10-20 times faster than a hard drive. But, they're expensive usually around $1 a GB making a 1TB SSD too expensive to buy in replace of your hard drive choice.

 

So you need both, and know how to use them. 

 

Putting your OS on the SSD is a smart idea, this will make is very snappy. Programs you use a lot will also benefit from SSD's speed advantage.

 

The Hard Drive should be used for mass storage, like games which can be redownloaded if the Hard Drive crashes. Also on the hard drive you could record video to it, programs you don't use a lot, ect. Just be aware a HDD can fail at any time, I personally have 13TB worth of hard drives lying around for 4 years now and none of them have failed, but still. 

 

I think you get the point. You have to intelligently strike a balance between price, performance, and mass storage by using both. Fast things go on SSD, everything else on HDD. It may be a little confusing, but hard drives won't be around in a few years anyways.

 

Now as for purchasing an SSD, I personally have an Intel 520 Series and Samsung 840 PRO I believe. They are both 128GB. (I have Windows 8.1 on one, and Windows 7 on the other). 

 

I would buy either a 128GB or a 240/256GB capacity by either Samsung or Intel. Samsung has a great, more aggressively priced series than the Pro series called the EVO series, you could look into that. 

 

And thanks for the comment! I did go out and buy that graphics card as an early Christmas gift and put it together and take some photos. :D

If you intend on overclocking, I recommend the 4690k, otherwise the 4670k will be good. If you didn't know, the "K" stands for an overclock able processor, so the 70k can still do overclocking. 

 

Storage is important, so I'll take the time to explain it. Hard Drives have been around for a while. They're slow, can crash (and lose all the data on them), but very cheap and don't cost a lot of money. 

 

SSDs are a new technology brought to the market within the past few years. They're much smaller, contain no moving parts (Flash memory, like a flash drive), and in some cases 10-20 times faster than a hard drive. But, they're expensive usually around $1 a GB making a 1TB SSD too expensive to buy in replace of your hard drive choice.

 

So you need both, and know how to use them. 

 

Putting your OS on the SSD is a smart idea, this will make is very snappy. Programs you use a lot will also benefit from SSD's speed advantage.

 

The Hard Drive should be used for mass storage, like games which can be redownloaded if the Hard Drive crashes. Also on the hard drive you could record video to it, programs you don't use a lot, ect. Just be aware a HDD can fail at any time, I personally have 13TB worth of hard drives lying around for 4 years now and none of them have failed, but still. 

 

I think you get the point. You have to intelligently strike a balance between price, performance, and mass storage by using both. Fast things go on SSD, everything else on HDD. It may be a little confusing, but hard drives won't be around in a few years anyways.

 

Now as for purchasing an SSD, I personally have an Intel 520 Series and Samsung 840 PRO I believe. They are both 128GB. (I have Windows 8.1 on one, and Windows 7 on the other). 

 

I would buy either a 128GB or a 240/256GB capacity by either Samsung or Intel. Samsung has a great, more aggressively priced series than the Pro series called the EVO series, you could look into that. 

 

And thanks for the comment! I did go out and buy that graphics card as an early Christmas gift and put it together and take some photos. :D

 

I'm also unfamiliar with overclocking - but I don't think I will do that if it could harm the PC. So I guess I'll go with the i5-4670k. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain the HDD's and SSD's, I understand it now. 

 

I guess I will plan on getting the 1TB Blue Caviar HDD with the Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD?? (Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw)

 

As for the Motherboard, do you think the MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard is a good one? (I forgot to ask you this before)

 

Also, like you suggested, I changed the PSU to a Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply. Will that work?

 

And Lastly, the Graphics Card that you got at Best Buy is this one, right? 

(Link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-4gb-gddr5-pci-express-3-0-graphics-card-silver-black/9855169.p?id=1219441201895&skuId=9855169)

 

Here's an updated build if it helps you: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nwgq7P

(The BestBuy Graphics Card is at the bottom of the list because I had to add a custom part.)

 

I'm just a little concerned about the price of this build. I was originally looking to make this build no more than $1000. The Best Buy card is $40 more than the STRIX card, but since you own the Best Buy one and have had a good experience with it I'm guessing it's probably worth the extra $40 to spend on it. Also for the SSD I might have to save up some money and purchase it later on. 

 

Anyways, thanks again for all your help with this. You've put in a lot of time to help me out and I really appreciate it. :)

 

Jake

 

By the way, I checked out your YouTube channel to see if you had any LCPDFR gameplay videos with your 970 yet but I couldn't tell if you did or not. ;) Let me know if you do! I'm eager to see it!

Edited December 2, 201411 yr by DeputyJake

I'm also unfamiliar with overclocking - but I don't think I will do that if it could harm the PC. So I guess I'll go with the i5-4670k. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain the HDD's and SSD's, I understand it now. 

 

I guess I will plan on getting the 1TB Blue Caviar HDD with the Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD?? (Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw)

 

As for the Motherboard, do you think the MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard is a good one? (I forgot to ask you this before)

 

Also, like you suggested, I changed the PSU to a Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply. Will that work?

 

And Lastly, the Graphics Card that you got at Best Buy is this one, right? 

(Link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-4gb-gddr5-pci-express-3-0-graphics-card-silver-black/9855169.p?id=1219441201895&skuId=9855169)

 

Here's an updated build if it helps you: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nwgq7P

(The BestBuy Graphics Card is at the bottom of the list because I had to add a custom part.)

 

I'm just a little concerned about the price of this build. I was originally looking to make this build no more than $1000. The Best Buy card is $40 more than the STRIX card, but since you own the Best Buy one and have had a good experience with it I'm guessing it's probably worth the extra $40 to spend on it. Also for the SSD I might have to save up some money and purchase it later on. 

 

Anyways, thanks again for all your help with this. You've put in a lot of time to help me out and I really appreciate it. :)

 

Jake

 

By the way, I checked out your YouTube channel to see if you had any LCPDFR gameplay videos with your 970 yet but I couldn't tell if you did or not. ;) Let me know if you do! I'm eager to see it!

 

If you don't know what you're doing, Overclocking can screw things up. 

 

If you don't ever intend on overclocking, there's really no reason to get the Hyper 212 Evo either. But I highly recommend sticking with it if you think you might want to try out overclocking one day. (I have the same CPU Cooler). The Intel processor comes with a stock fan, so that's why I said the cooler isn't necessary if you don't ever intend on OC. 

 

That SSD looks like a great choice! But if it's out of your price range, that's understandable. I recommended one because the bottleneck of most modern computers is the speed of the hard drive, it's always working at 0 or 100%.

 

That 750W PSU looks much better, Corsair is a fantastic brand, one of my personal favorites. 

 

Honestly, if you're looking to save money, the Strix card would do just as well, if not better than mine card. I do recommend that crad, Asus is another great brand, and the only reason I went with the Nvidia one is more or less because it looks nicer than it's performance/price. 

 

I don't have any gameplay with my GTX 970 yet, there is some clips here are there with my 660 SLI. GTAIV Wasn't liking the 970 too much, I might need to reinstall the game or do some commandline edits, so I wouldn't purchase the Best Buy card before I give the OK, but the card performs phenomenally, it's just that particular game. 

 

And I'm happy to help anyone in need of computer help. :)

 

EDIT: That board also looks solid of a choice. 

Edited December 2, 201411 yr by Mr.Quiggles

If you don't know what you're doing, Overclocking can screw things up. 

 

If you don't ever intend on overclocking, there's really no reason to get the Hyper 212 Evo either. But I highly recommend sticking with it if you think you might want to try out overclocking one day. (I have the same CPU Cooler). The Intel processor comes with a stock fan, so that's why I said the cooler isn't necessary if you don't ever intend on OC. 

 

That SSD looks like a great choice! But if it's out of your price range, that's understandable. I recommended one because the bottleneck of most modern computers is the speed of the hard drive, it's always working at 0 or 100%.

 

That 750W PSU looks much better, Corsair is a fantastic brand, one of my personal favorites. 

 

Honestly, if you're looking to save money, the Strix card would do just as well, if not better than mine card. I do recommend that crad, Asus is another great brand, and the only reason I went with the Nvidia one is more or less because it looks nicer than it's performance/price. 

 

I don't have any gameplay with my GTX 970 yet, there is some clips here are there with my 660 SLI. GTAIV Wasn't liking the 970 too much, I might need to reinstall the game or do some commandline edits, so I wouldn't purchase the Best Buy card before I give the OK, but the card performs phenomenally, it's just that particular game. 

 

And I'm happy to help anyone in need of computer help. :)

 

EDIT: That board also looks solid of a choice. 

 

Man! What were you doing up at 5:01 AM?   

 

I'm glad to see these builds are starting to fall into place, I know I've probably thanked you too many times but I really do appreciate it. And yes - please let me know if re installing GTA IV helps fix the problem. 

Man! What were you doing up at 5:01 AM?   

 

I'm glad to see these builds are starting to fall into place, I know I've probably thanked you too many times but I really do appreciate it. And yes - please let me know if re installing GTA IV helps fix the problem. 

 

Yeah I have to wake up at 5:40 every morning for school. It's awful. Thankfully, this is the last year I have to do this. 

 

I appreciate the kind words, I'm glad to see your build falling into place too. :)

It's easy to overclock on MSI boards, and I have the same CPU and RAM that you will have, and the MSI Z87-G45.  I'm able to OC to 4.0GHz on the stock CPU cooler no problem.  Just make sure your case is well ventilated =)

Btw, GTAIV does work with my GTX 970.

 

It had a weird error where it put all the settings to the lowest possible and said that the hardware installed may not meet game requirements, so I made a commandline.txt that added -norestrictions and that seemed to work.

Btw, GTAIV does work with my GTX 970.

It had a weird error where it put all the settings to the lowest possible and said that the hardware installed may not meet game requirements, so I made a commandline.txt that added -norestrictions and that seemed to work.

Sweet! I'm glad you figured it out! Let me know when you post some LCPDFR videos. :D

Btw, GTAIV does work with my GTX 970.

It had a weird error where it put all the settings to the lowest possible and said that the hardware installed may not meet game requirements, so I made a commandline.txt that added -norestrictions and that seemed to work.

Hey! I noticed that the BestBuy 970 card has only 1 fan compared to the STRIX cards and etc. Does your card get hot a lot?

Thanks!

Hey! I noticed that the BestBuy 970 card has only 1 fan compared to the STRIX cards and etc. Does your card get hot a lot?

Thanks!

 

I get 31-32 degrees Celsius at idle, and about 77-78 degrees Celsius under 100% load. 

I get 31-32 degrees Celsius at idle, and about 77-78 degrees Celsius under 100% load.

Oh okay. Is that normal?

Edited December 11, 201411 yr by DeputyJake

Oh okay. Is that normal?

 

Yeah those are fantastic temps!

Yeah those are fantastic temps!

Awesome! You're coming down to Texas to help me build this computer, right? ;) haha

Awesome! You're coming down to Texas to help me build this computer, right? ;) haha

 

Ahaha, I'd like to leave this cold snowy Massachusetts weather. Unfortunately, you're on your own to build it. :)

Ahaha, I'd like to leave this cold snowy Massachusetts weather. Unfortunately, you're on your own to build it. :)

 

Hey Mr. Quiggles!

 

I know you said te i5-4670k would be fine for my build but, theninja35 showed me that you can purchase an i7-4790k at MicroCenter for $249.99. I looked at NewEgg to see how much they offer the i7-4790k for and it is $339.99.

 

So, right now I could get the i7-4790k for around $20 more than the i5-4670k ($229.99). Should I do that? Why are the two prices so much different?

 

Here are the two i'm talking about:

 

MicroCenter i7-4790k: http://www.microcenter.com/product/434176/Core_i7-4790K_40GHz_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor

NewEgg i7-4790k: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369&ignorebbr=1

 

(I know that the MicroCenter is in-store pickup only but I'm fine with that since it's around a $100 discount compared to NewEgg.)

 

Thanks,

 

Jake

Edited December 22, 201411 yr by DeputyJake