My current Core 2 Quad is getting kind of slow lately and the DDR2 ram isn't helping at all. So after using this PC for 5 years, it's time for an epic upgrade! I'm thinking of the following specs for my new PC, so feel free to post your opinions.

  • Processor
    Intel Core i5-4690

  • Motherboard
    Still searching, thanks for the input!

  • Graphics Card
    GTX 970 (haven't decided on the manufacturer) though Gigabyte seems to be recommended by you guys

  • Memory
    8 GB DDR3 (anything will do)

  • Display
    that old 24 inch Dell monitor / my other Samsung 24 inch TV monitor

  • Storage
    Samsung 840 EVO 250GB + Western Digital Blue 1TB

  • Optical Storage
    Meh

  • Casing
    Fractal Design R4 / Corsair Carbide 300R

  • PSU
    Still searching for a good one... 550W should be enough right?

  • Audio
    Meh

  • Keyboard
    Probably Corsair K70 (normal) or Coolermaster Quickfire Ultimate

  • Mouse
    Logitech G402

Edited to save some money.

9 years ago*

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memory is a bit overkill (for gaming atleast) but the rest looks good atm I think

9 years ago
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8GB should be enough, but 16GB isn't wrong either.

I guess the VRAM of graphics cards will become more important, so 2GB of VRAM should be the minimum, depending on which games you play.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Good to know, thank you. :D

To stay realistic: I have 16GB RAM (+4GB dedicated VRAM @graphics card) in my laptop, but the only things that will max it out are virtual machines, photo-/videoediting and 3D rendering programs.

9 years ago
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The price, a 16gb kit of decent ram runs about 150 dollars, compared to an 8gb kit which is 60-70 dollars.

If this rig is ment for gaming, 16gb wont be used and 8gb will be plenty right up till he wants to upgrade again in 2-3 years.

9 years ago
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He can use 16GB of RAM even for games if he'll use RAMDisk.

9 years ago
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Computers can still make use of 16GB outside of gaming.

9 years ago
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Looks good, that should be enough to run games for the next 5 years i think... unless there is a huge leap in computer graphics technology and video game development.

9 years ago
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970s are beasts, but 5 years is a long way off for technology.
Yes, it will be able to RUN the game, but I highly doubt he will be able to max out the games 5 years down the road. More so as resolution goes up. 4k is a lot of pixels to push.

9 years ago
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Good choice but if you know how to overclock a cpu I recommend core i5-4690k.

9 years ago
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I like Gigabyte GTX 970 G1. If nothing better comes out, I'll buy it myself :)

9 years ago
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should go with a 2 tb instead (+- 20-30 $ in my country so)

9 years ago
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True, but that money is going to go to waste if he dosen't use it. It seems like a good deal, but if you don't need it, don't get it. Plus that 2 TB one might have a slower RPM than the 1 TB one.

Edit: Those 115 games would take up around 300-400 GB, so it seems like the 2 TB wouldn't be necessary.............unless he has a terabyte of porn......

9 years ago
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If the drive is used mainly for storage, 5200rpm vs 7200rpm wont be noticeable. He has an SSD in place for games I assume. Though if he definitely doesnt need a 2TB drive, I would invest in a larger SSD. This assumes that he is looking to BUY a ssd+1tb hdd and isnt just using them from his old rig.

Drop to an i5-k, 8GB ram, and buy a larger SSD for games.

9 years ago
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I have 300GB of FLAC and other music file types. That stuff can get huge.

9 years ago
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oh rly ? with those recent games all being well over 20-30GB,1TB is not enough,I have 2TB of HDD and 1TB is filled with like 30 games a 2-3 movies and ~30-40GB of programs

9 years ago
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I still have two 500 GB hard disk leftover from my current build.

9 years ago
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I would recommend a decent size SSD for games and then a different HDD for normal stuff like videos, musics, pictures, and documents etc. I do believe that these days 2 TB is a good one to get. I have a 2 TB HDD in my desktop and I have just about 400 GB(+100 GB in C Drive for windows) free space. granted I do not have a SSD yet for game and my HDD has about 500 GB of games only. Here is a general breakdown of what my HDD has:


Games = 500 GB (Origin, Steam, Desura, DRM Free, a couple of pirated ones that are not available on any DRM!!)
Movies =
350 GB (Mostly all are Blue Rays so they take up a lot of space)
Music = 75 GB (that includes the music videos also)
Pictures =
400 GB (I am a photographer by hobby so take high resolution pictures anywhere I go. my last trip to Vegas & grand Canyon alone was about 25 GB)
Software = 100 GB (I do my schoolwork and Office work both on my computer, so have a lot of software installed)
Documents/Projects =
100 GB (Again last 7 years of schoolwork and all my office work in on there. so lot of documents


If anyone is anything like me, they probably do need a 2 TB hard drive and they are actually not very expensive for being $70-$100 during these Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday sales.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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steelseries apex keyboards are great

9 years ago
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I can't see a reason spending 70$ on a non mechanical keyboard.

9 years ago
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its a very capable board and most gaming mechanical keyboards are over $70 anyways... its a third of the price of a Corsair Vengeance K70 for example

9 years ago
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Intel Core i7-4790k allways that the cpus with K wiki can explain the reason very well. and i would push it to the top and take 32 GB DDR3 but 16 are fine. rest is perfect for the card >> Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 best cooling and highst gpu clock
mainboard Asus Z97m Plus or better or an gigabyte

9 years ago
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Why would you suggest 32GB of ram when 8GB works perfectly fine for gaming? Unless the op has need of the extra ram for something like editing large RAW photos, or 3d modeling and such, 16GB would be more than enough with 8GB being the best choice.

9 years ago
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I don't know what a normal computer would need 32GB, but I can understand wanting to get 16 and not worry about memory at all for the next computer.

9 years ago
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32gb is for people who have money to blow.

9 years ago
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Take the 16 gigs of ram down to 8 gigs and upgrade your HDD to a 2TB.

Unless you're going to be doing video editing.

9 years ago
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Keyboard you want the Corsair K70 RGB

9 years ago
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I wish it isn't that expensive. Might check out the normal k70s though.

9 years ago
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You're buying an i7, GTX 970, 250 GB SSD and 16 GB of RAM but few extra dozens of dollars for a mechanical keyboard are too much?

9 years ago
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It drives me nuts every time I read shit like this:

"Memory
16 GB DDR3 (anything will do)"

and

"PSU
Any 80+ Gold PSU"

I keep expecting that some day people will get the superficial notions about PCs out of the way as they learn more, and then it never happens. So, pardon my sarcasm for a moment...

"Hey, I want a fireplace. I don't give a shit about the safety ratings, anything will do. What's the worst that can happen? So it burns down the house, destroys all my property, and kills everyone? Big whoop." That's about the same general idea as not caring about your PC PSU. It is literally tied to EVERYTHING in your system, and if one goes bad it can and will fry freaking everything.

Every time I see sentiments like that, the first thought that pops into my head is "Well, there's another idiot who will get his teachable moment when his $60 shit tier PSU ends up going bad and completely destroying a $500 GPU and $300 CPU." Don't skimp on parts for a PC. Ever. Don't write shit off like that. All the parts matter, and if you write one off, it will be your own stupidity to blame when you have issues you can't figure out later, and the PC doesn't live up to expectations, or worse - Utter, catastrophic failure.

Buy good RAM, learn about timings and pick the right speed & timing combo to meet your needs. But most of all, do not forget that PSUs are immensely important. Not only can it fail and destroy your system, but this whole "any 80+" idea is asinine, since you need to make sure that the one you buy is able to provide enough total wattage to power your system, with overhead, and ideally room to expand later. The general rule of thumb is to shoot for the parts you're using to use 50-75% of the total max output of the PSU you buy for the system.

9 years ago
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True, plus I think 16 GB is overkill, unless your going to keep it for 10 years, if not I would sugest bumping it down to 8 GB.

9 years ago
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I dont know of any shit PSUs that are gold certified. I think the part you are really jumping on is that he didnt specify his wattage, which tbh, doesnt call for your reaction about it.
Shit ram wont fry your rig. Most ram is made by the same 2-3 fabricators. Timing on ram is hardly noticeable at its current place in the market. Most people get 1600 or 1866 and wont notice the extra 2ns cycles. Unless he his a hardcore overclocker aiming for a record, you are putting WAY to much emphasis on timings and ram.

9 years ago
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+1

9 years ago
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They exist. Take a look on Newegg for Coolmax, Thermaltake, Raidmax, etc.

80+ honestly doesn't mean jack. It's only an efficiency rating which maybe in general calls for higher quality components but still doesn't guarantee anything. Some companies are known for sending different platforms to be rated and then selling a worse performing product.

9 years ago
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I was thinking about Seasonic or Corsair PSUs so I know my stuff. Haven't decided on one yet though.

However I really do doubt the need for faster ram. That increase in speed isn't going to make much of a difference.

9 years ago
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I recommend EVGA for your Graphics Card. As for the keyboard, I'm using a Razer Blackwidow, and it's pretty nice.

9 years ago
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Blackwidow is nice but it's not as high quality as the Corsair Gaming K series RGB keyboards. Blackwidow does have easier software to use though.

9 years ago
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Only go for 16GB RAM if you're looking to run VMs, game servers, or Video Editing on your PC otherwise 8GB is fine. Also you may as well go for a water cooling kit? And make sure you use Windows 8 from the start :)

Edit:
Cheap non-mechanical keyboard and mouse - cooler master devastator combo is really good value.
Mechanical keyboard - ducky all the way

Monitor - don't use an 'old' LCD monitor if you're bothering to buying all these other goodies. You'll want a 2ms IPS monitor :)

9 years ago
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For the GPU, definitely look into getting a Gigabyte G1 Gaming. Just make sure it'll fit your case since it's a long card 312mm (~12.2"). This thing is an OC monster and you'll be hitting 1500+ mhz and 7800 mem easily.

9 years ago
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Make sure the graphics card you get has a good amount of VRAM, I'd probably get 3 GB but it's your decision :)

9 years ago
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Aren't all GTX 970s 4GB cards?

9 years ago
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you have a point... lol

9 years ago
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That build is illogical.

  • i7 is overkill for gaming and not even unlocked, get unlocked i5.
  • 16 GB of RAM is overkill for gaming, 8 GB is enough, especially with high RAM prices nowadays.
  • GTX 970 is overkill for 24'' 1080p monitor, get a cheaper GPU or 27'' 1440p IPS monitor or 120 Hz monitor.
  • Get a reliable brand for PSU such as Seasonic or XFX (which should be rebranded Seasonic).
9 years ago
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Thanks for the input guys, edited to save a bit of money. My stupid speaker broke and I want a better keyboard that isn't exactly cheap. Plus I figured I wouldn't be editing videos and pictures too much, although this build will also be used for stuff other than gaming. :)

9 years ago
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Are you going to overclock? Some people are telling you to get an unlocked CPU (the models with K in the end), but there's no point in getting one, if you're not going to overclock. If you're going to overclock, you need a CPU cooler. If you're not going to overclock, I'd recommend getting a Xeon E3-1230v3, which is basically i7-4770 without an integrated GPU and costs about as much as the i5 you currently have. With the Xeon you could also get a cheaper motherboard (Z87 and H87 chipsets).

9 years ago
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Cool thanks for the advice. Didn't know that.

No I'm not planning to overclock, since the unlocked i5 costs more than the i7 in my country. Weird? Maybe...

9 years ago
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R9 290 (or 290x) isn't all that bad either (but I dont know how you feel about AMD even though it'll probably be cheaper.). And I would check Slickdeals for cheap prices on all those parts especially around black friday.

9 years ago
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For graphics cards Gigabyte, MSI, or Asus in that order.

9 years ago
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how good of a card maker is XFX in your opinion?

9 years ago
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Not great, they suffer from heat issues, I'd avoid them.
If you're thinking of going with an AMD card go with what I said above and Sapphire, but I'd stick with 970.

9 years ago
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I have the Fractal Design R4 case. It has really nice quality and it is quite silent. I removed one of the HDD cases for better airflow since I have 2x R9 270x crossfire setup, but the temps are really ok and you can adjust the case fan speeds by a voltage switch if you fear that you need more cooling during gaming.

I would recommend investing in a silent cpu cooler though, the stock intel cpu cooler makes some nasty high frequency noises at higher fan speeds. this should do fine

9 years ago
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