need advice on a PC gaming build.

[DudeistBelieve]

I've decided I want to take up PC gaming building as a hobby.

The goal for my first one is to make a reasonable portable desktop on a budget. I want to make something you can throw into a decent size gym bag and take to people's houses. The only thing I'm not skipping on, and please advise me here, is the graphic card. I'm going with a GTX 970 because it's my only frame of reference so far with gaming PCs. I want the build to not have to worry about not being able to play a game for the next couple of years.

Budget is $600 - $800.

CPU- Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cooler- CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard- ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
RAM- Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Hard Drive- Toshiba Product SeriesT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
GPU- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card
Case- Corsair 380T Mini ITX Tower Case
PSU- EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

Right now, PC Parts Picker places this at $828 dollars. Anyone see how I could knock a $150 dollars off this thing more than I have without sacrificing the portability of the case or the gaming ability?

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I'm not a PC guy, far from it, but with all the new graphics cards coming out it might be wise to wait a bit. I myself am incredibly interested in AMD's RX480.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I'm not a PC guy, far from it, but with all the new graphics cards coming out it might be wise to wait a bit. I myself am incredibly interested in AMD's RX480.

more than one person has said that to me.

Thing is... I don't know if I can put that on a mini ITX

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

I'm not a PC guy, far from it, but with all the new graphics cards coming out it might be wise to wait a bit. I myself am incredibly interested in AMD's RX480.

more than one person has said that to me.

Thing is... I don't know if I can put that on a mini ITX

The 480 doesn't look like it's any bigger than the 970. It should be within the normal range of dimensions for a standard GPU, so it should fit. It's a good option to consider, as it's a fantastic price, and offers superior performance to the 970, although I personally find that AMD driver support is not as good as NVIDIAs.

Also, if you are not planning to overclock the CPU, you could probably get away with just using the stock cooler that comes with the CPU and save some money there.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I'd wait for AMD's new GPU's. The RX480 is rumored to be in the GTX980 range for $200. You also don't need a Z97 board if you're going for a locked CPU. H97 is all that you need.

And why that case specifically? Just curious.

 

[helwyr]

The 3.5gb VRAM will hurt you in the long run... Hold off and wait for the new AMD card and or the 1060/1050

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I'm not a PC guy, far from it, but with all the new graphics cards coming out it might be wise to wait a bit. I myself am incredibly interested in AMD's RX480.

more than one person has said that to me.

Thing is... I don't know if I can put that on a mini ITX

The 480 doesn't look like it's any bigger than the 970. It should be within the normal range of dimensions for a standard GPU, so it should fit. It's a good option to consider, as it's a fantastic price, and offers superior performance to the 970, although I personally find that AMD driver support is not as good as NVIDIAs.

Also, if you are not planning to overclock the CPU, you could probably get away with just using the stock cooler that comes with the CPU and save some money there.

Really? I'm just going by the PC Parts Picker website and it won't let me pair AMD cards with it for some reason other than Firepros... I'd consider AMD...

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I'd wait for AMD's new GPU's. The RX480 is rumored to be in the GTX980 range for $200. You also don't need a Z97 board if you're going for a locked CPU. H97 is all that you need.

And why that case specifically? Just curious.

It has a handle?

That and it looks like it be real easy for a first timer to use for a first build.

 

[votemarvel]

You'll be able to shave some money off by ditching the Kingston HyperX Fury Black and going with their basic RAM. In my experience the 'gaming' RAM simply isn't worth the extra money.

The processor and graphics card are the same as I have in my PC. And I agree with the poster above who said that you may as well use the stock fan since you can't overclock the i5-4460 anyway. Though my GTX970 is this beast which most definitely would not fit in your case of choice.

You will need to check if your card of choice will fit before buying it, just to save the hassle of a return. That's true if you go for the 970 now or the AMD 480 later on, all cards of a type are not the same size.

Despite what someone above says the GTX970 does have 4gb of onboard, it's just the last .5 isn't as fast as the rest of it. I can't say I've noticed any problems with it, I run The Division with all the bells and whistles on at 1080p with an unlocked frame rate and it is as smooth as butter.

 

[SquidVicious]

Which 970 are you looking at? I have two of the Gigabyte G1's and they are almost 12 inches long so I'm not sure if that will fit in your case. I'm pretty sure the MSI one's are quite a bit shorter, but you do have to take that into consideration. You may also want to think about getting a 650w PSU as the 970's minimum requirement is around 500w. That doesn't always mean it will be drawing that much just to run, but it's better to be a little over than under.

Also, do you have a copy of Windows already factored in? Also a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Hmm, I don't see much you could do to knock out cost from that current build. It looks like you put together a pretty sensible parts list. You might be able to cheap out a little on the motherboard since you're not going to be doing any overclocking. Best advice I can give you (and already said by others)is to skip the cooler and wait just a little longer to see if AMD's new cards come in at the competitive price point they're rumored to. If you're committed to buying sooner, I'd just buy the parts separately as they go on sale rather than all at once. You can score some amazing deals if you can be that patient.

 

[Neonsilver]

Cooler- CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler

An extra cooler is unnecessary unless it gets really hot in your area or you wish to overclock. Buy an edition of your cpu together with a cooler. those sets usually cost about the same as just the cpu. So it would save you some money. If you find out afterward it isn't enough (CPU running slow to prevent from overheating or the PC suddenly shuts down) you can still get a new cooler

Hard Drive- Toshiba Product SeriesT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Consider adding a SSD as a cache, that could speed up the pc.

Motherboard- ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard

Does it have to be a Mini ITX board? A normal ITX board could be cheaper.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Does it have to be a Mini ITX board? A normal ITX board could be cheaper.

He wants something small that he can carry around. That severely limits his options.

 

[Monk5127]

Do you live close to a Micro Center? http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/ this should help in bringing the price down.
I also concur with the posters who recommended waiting until the end of the month to see what the RX480 brings.
Finally, don't get a Haswell motherboard/CPU it's old generation hardware. You should be looking at H170/Z170 and 6xxx series processors as they are current. This will also use DDR4 RAM which will be cheaper $/GB vs DDR3. If your budget permits it is also worth going for decent speed DDR4 (3200+/3600+) as it helps Skylake performance. Or more to the point, lower speed DDR4 will hinder performance on Skylake. (See here http://www.techspot.com/article/1171-ddr4-4000-mhz-performance/page3.html )

Despite what someone above says the GTX970 does have 4gb of onboard, it's just the last .5 isn't as fast as the rest of it. I can't say I've noticed any problems with it, I run The Division with all the bells and whistles on at 1080p with an unlocked frame rate and it is as smooth as butter.

Read this for a better understanding of how the GTX970s memory is configured : https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-Discloses-Full-Memory-Structure-and-Limitations-GTX-970

 

[votemarvel]

Despite what someone above says the GTX970 does have 4gb of onboard, it's just the last .5 isn't as fast as the rest of it. I can't say I've noticed any problems with it, I run The Division with all the bells and whistles on at 1080p with an unlocked frame rate and it is as smooth as butter.

Read this for a better understanding of how the GTX970s memory is configured : https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-Discloses-Full-Memory-Structure-and-Limitations-GTX-970

Thanks for posting the link but I had already read the article.

However it remains a lot quicker and simpler to say that the last .5 isn't as fast, over far more technical descriptions which pretty much boil down to the same thing.

Usually I do like to ramble on but on this subject, quick and simple is better for me. Get me on why Mass Effect 1's combat is the best of the trilogy however and I'll write you War and Peace on the subject.

On topic. I would also say that you shouldn't be afraid to look to the second hand market for hardware. Sure it is a riskier proposition than new but if you are careful you can save a lot of money on a build.