PC GAMING MASTER RACE, ASSEMBLE!!!! First time PC builder here, how does this rig look? - UPDATE #4

[Rob Robson]

Why the 120fps interest?

Not that I'm saying you shouldn't, more frames the better.

However, if you're using a 60hz monitor, the monitor is refreshing 60 times per second. Thus, anything over 60 frames is basically pointless.

Incorrect, headroom is always desirable, and the more headroom you get now the further into the future it'll be before games start becoming unplayable. And cheap G-sync monitors will eventually come, at which points you can have any frame rate you want and never get tearing or stuttering.

Having tried both, I've got to say, 60 hz G-sync > 120/144hz non-Gsync

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Actually, looking at the site you're using, the Western Digital Black is faster, has 250GB more capacity and only $3 more. Lucky Americans.

Anyway, I strongly recommend switching out your current Seagate Barracuda for this [link]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd1003fzex[/link]

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Actually, looking at the site you're using, the Western Digital Black is faster, has 250GB more capacity and only $3 more. Lucky Americans.

Anyway, I strongly recommend switching out your current Seagate Barracuda for this [link]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd1003fzex[/link]

Wow, nice find. Updated my previous post just to add that in. Seriously, good call and thanks for the help.

 

[major_chaos]

Made this after listening to some of your recommendations. How's this build look?: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8J4DmG

Looks like a really good upper mid range build, I don't see any problems. good brand choices too.

Is better cooling going to be needed, or should the onboard fans have it all covered?

Depends on where you are. With no OC-ing and the beefy fans on that case stock cooling should be fine unless you live in Phoenix Arizona or something.

As for the thermal paste,

Fair enough, just don't go nuts just because you have it. Using massively too much thermal paste can be nearly as bad as using too little.

My big question, though, is if any mechanical keyboards with keys anywhere near as super-thin and close together as laptops even exist, since that's what I've gotten used to after getting my start in PC gaming on this laptop of mine.

Sadly I can't think of any mechanical boards designed that way. I have a feeling the size of the switches themselves makes it impossible. You can get some nice gaming focused KBs with keys like you are describing, but they wont be mechanical.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Actually, looking at the site you're using, the Western Digital Black is faster, has 250GB more capacity and only $3 more. Lucky Americans.

Anyway, I strongly recommend switching out your current Seagate Barracuda for this [link]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd1003fzex[/link]

Wow, nice find. Updated my previous post just to add that in. Seriously, good call and thanks for the help.

No worries. A tip for comparing GPUs and CPUs would be to find ones around the same price range, cross-brand is usually more useful, and google searching "(first CPU) vs (second CPU)" and maybe adding CPUboss in there somewhere. CPUBoss is a site that compares CPUs and can give you a good idea of what CPU beats another, especially in cross-brand comparisons. Anyway, good luck.

 

[The White Hunter]

Drop the Seagate drive they're nice and suicicidal, drop the thermal compound since with the cooler that comes stock you wont be overclocking.

Maybe grab a cheaper case and a stronger gpu. My experience thus far with fractal is "meh". Lots of style, but not much else, my arc midi r2 rattles in place sometimes, and the panels can be difficult to get flush with the chassis, and the fan filters are fixed not on magnets... but the R4 is better in most ways.

For a slightly cheaper Corsair case you could maybe scrounge the scratch for a nice 770, since those are dropping in price quite sharply and are a significant performance bump on the 750.

Maybe a slightly beefier PSU for future upgrades could be wise. Nothing insance like 1300W platinum bullshit, but a nice 600-700w corsair brick could save an upgrade.

Otherwise it looks fine.

 

[Pinkamena]

Are you for real going to buy 200 grams of thermal paste? Do you have any idea of how overkill that is? A regular dose when mounting a CPU cooler is about a fifth of a gram. Get a 4-gram syringe of Arctic Silver http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020&cm_re=thermal_paste-_-35-186-020-_-Product

 

[Zipa]

I would also recommend asking around /r/pcmasterrace/, despite it being a circle jerk subreddit the people there are actually really helpful with this sort of thing. Plus the subreddit has a number of different builds listed for various price ranges.

Also yeah 400g of thermal paste is a lot, I would get a smaller amount of something like I C Diamond, its one of the better cooling compounds, I shaved about 6oc off my CPU temps by switching to it from Arctic silver.

 

[MercurySteam]

To specify what I'm looking for in a PC, I'm wanting a rig that can run most modern games at least 1080p 60fps on medium settings, with 120fps being ideal. I'm also wanting to do a duel monitor setup, which ties into the choice of GPU since I have a preference for HDMI (can be used on virtually all TV's, though multiple HDMI ports isn't a necessity).

Hate to break it to you mate but with a GPU like the one listed I think you'll be getting 30FPS average in newer titles or 60FPS on min settings. As you can see [http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1130] It's not the most powerful card so 120FPS isn't realistic even if you you're running on min settings. Even then you need a 120Hz monitor which don't always come cheap.

Me one the other hand:

Yeah 120FPS at 1080p is no problem (but I had thrice your budget though).

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

WTF? Your CPU is more expensive than the GPU. Do you know how overkill that is and it doesn't really gain you much in terms of gaming. ALWAYS put more money towards the GPU. Get an FX-8320 and a decent motherboard. It shouldn't cost more than $220 for both! Put more money towards a better GPU. You don't need all that thermal paste, and you don't need anything other than a regular $20 DVD writer. Every single cent that you can save should go towards a better GPU. Which means that if you can find a cheaper PC case, you should. GPU is the real heart of a gaming rig. The latest GTX 970 is pretty amazing. If you can come up with a build that lets you get that, you'll have a pretty beefy gaming rig.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Updated the OP with the improved rig that I'm now looking at, after hearing the suggestions so far. Let me know what you all think of it now, and thanks again for all the advice so far!

Are you for real going to buy 200 grams of thermal paste? Do you have any idea of how overkill that is? A regular dose when mounting a CPU cooler is about a fifth of a gram. Get a 4-gram syringe of Arctic Silver http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020&cm_re=thermal_paste-_-35-186-020-_-Product

I simply like the idea of having a bunch of paste around for future uses, including possibly helping others build their own rigs. It's not meant to be used all at once. Also, Pink pony is best pony (when written correctly, anyways <_<).

Drop the Seagate drive they're nice and suicicidal, drop the thermal compound since with the cooler that comes stock you wont be overclocking.

Maybe grab a cheaper case and a stronger gpu. My experience thus far with fractal is "meh". Lots of style, but not much else, my arc midi r2 rattles in place sometimes, and the panels can be difficult to get flush with the chassis, and the fan filters are fixed not on magnets... but the R4 is better in most ways.

For a slightly cheaper Corsair case you could maybe scrounge the scratch for a nice 770, since those are dropping in price quite sharply and are a significant performance bump on the 750.

Maybe a slightly beefier PSU for future upgrades could be wise. Nothing insance like 1300W platinum bullshit, but a nice 600-700w corsair brick could save an upgrade.

Otherwise it looks fine.

Done and done, though I did spring for a larger case. New rig is here; how does it look now?: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8J4DmG

*Snip*

Upgraded the GPU to a Radeon R9 270. How's that sound?

No worries. A tip for comparing GPUs and CPUs would be to find ones around the same price range, cross-brand is usually more useful, and google searching "(first CPU) vs (second CPU)" and maybe adding CPUboss in there somewhere. CPUBoss is a site that compares CPUs and can give you a good idea of what CPU beats another, especially in cross-brand comparisons. Anyway, good luck.

Aaaaand... bookmarked! That's for pointing that site out to me. I've really been needing a site like that.

I would also recommend asking around /r/pcmasterrace/, despite it being a circle jerk subreddit the people there are actually really helpful with this sort of thing. Plus the subreddit has a number of different builds listed for various price ranges.

Also yeah 400g of thermal paste is a lot, I would get a smaller amount of something like I C Diamond, its one of the better cooling compounds, I shaved about 6oc off my CPU temps by switching to it from Arctic silver.

Good idea. Will probably do that once I'm done getting tips from you all though, since it's easier to keep track of it all if I just do one site at a time.

Will remember about the C Diamond compound. I'm just liking the 200g AS version since it means I'll have plenty for anything I may need it for in the future, but a better paste is still a better paste.

My big question, though, is if any mechanical keyboards with keys anywhere near as super-thin and close together as laptops even exist, since that's what I've gotten used to after getting my start in PC gaming on this laptop of mine.

Sadly I can't think of any mechanical boards designed that way. I have a feeling the size of the switches themselves makes it impossible. You can get some nice gaming focused KBs with keys like you are describing, but they wont be mechanical.

Might go with one of those then, though I'm still very much undecided. I'll probably figure that out after I get the build up and running. Thanks again!

 

[The White Hunter]

-snip-

Not sure of the case brand, never even heard of it tbh, but it does look all quite good. Why'd you drop the boot SSD though? Having a small SSD for boot does wonders for your perception of speed in a system. Turns minute long boots into seconds.

As for the mechanical keyboard thing no, they're no usually quite bulky by nature.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

-snip-

Not sure of the case brand, never even heard of it tbh, but it does look all quite good. Why'd you drop the boot SSD though? Having a small SSD for boot does wonders for your perception of speed in a system. Turns minute long boots into seconds.

As for the mechanical keyboard thing no, they're no usually quite bulky by nature.

Someone recommended dropping it to cut the price down a bit, though I might push the budget or downgrade the BRD to a simple DVD-drive to add a small SSD anyways. Jury's still out on that.

 

[Pinkamena]

I simply like the idea of having a bunch of paste around for future uses, including possibly helping others build their own rigs. It's not meant to be used all at once. Also, Pink pony is best pony (when written correctly, anyways <_<).

Even if you install a new cooler once per week you won't get through a tenth of it before it goes bad. Besides, when it comes to thermal paste, you should always stick with the well known brands. It has a big impact on CPU temperatures, and getting the cheap stuff can be even worse than not having any paste at all. In my opinion (and experience), getting 200 grams of thermal paste for 15$ is a very bad idea.

 

[DoPo]

-snip-

Not sure of the case brand, never even heard of it tbh, but it does look all quite good. Why'd you drop the boot SSD though? Having a small SSD for boot does wonders for your perception of speed in a system. Turns minute long boots into seconds.

I'd personally advise against getting a small SSD. For a few bucks more you can get 250GB or so - if budget is tight right now, you can buy only the SSD and delay the HDD or vice versa. Alternatively, there are the hybrid hard drives but I never really tried them, so can't say whether they are good or bad.

 

[The White Hunter]

-snip-

Not sure of the case brand, never even heard of it tbh, but it does look all quite good. Why'd you drop the boot SSD though? Having a small SSD for boot does wonders for your perception of speed in a system. Turns minute long boots into seconds.

As for the mechanical keyboard thing no, they're no usually quite bulky by nature.

Someone recommended dropping it to cut the price down a bit, though I might push the budget or downgrade the BRD to a simple DVD-drive to add a small SSD anyways. Jury's still out on that.

Hmmm odd. I find that it's well worth having one, just makes windows so much snappier to load that it's worth it. Blu-ray is much less worthwhile unless you havea crazy pile of BD drives and you can guarentee the ongoing support for new releases (most of them do not keep support going).

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Wireless is needed, since I will not be able to guarantee that the computer will be close enough to the router or modem for ethernet to be viable. It also just gives a degree of versatility that I'd like to have.

There's an option you might not have heard of called powerline ethernet [http://www.cnet.com/topics/networking/best-networking-devices/power-line-adapters/]. I didn't believe this magic at first, but it lets you sent your Internet though the powerlines of your house. It goes router to powerline box on a wall outlet, then another box on the same circut in your house then to the computer. I use it myself and its more stable than my laptop's wifi. Its also expensive, my set cost $60. But if you want it, its possible

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2HH7G0/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=

ASUS VG248QE 24-inch LED-lit Monitor 144Hz refresh rate 1ms pixel response time & 3D capable $264.99

I actually own this monitor. Its pretty good, not IPS but the color is balanced, and it can be upgraded to g-sync if OP desires using a kit from Nvidia along with 3D. Plus the 144Hz is divisible by 24 so its supposed to make movies and videos shot in 24 fps look better. If it matters, it also has speakers built in. I wanted speakers for watching youtube videos but didn't want more crap on my desk. They're not awful and they get the job done, if I want good sound I'd invest in headphones

But yeah, I'd second the 970 vga's if you want 120fps. According to Anand tech, they out perform the 780 on most games and run cooler to boot. MSI's 970 is about $350. The gigabyte supposidly has a better cooler, but its $380. Avoid EVGA's, its coolers isn't great

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Hmmm odd. I find that it's well worth having one, just makes windows so much snappier to load that it's worth it. Blu-ray is much less worthwhile unless you havea crazy pile of BD drives and you can guarentee the ongoing support for new releases (most of them do not keep support going).

Can you explain that to me? I don't get it. Do Blu-Ray drives have some sort of whitelist on what movies they'll accept or something? How would Blu-Ray writing work then, if other BDR's wouldn't recognize the discs? I'm confuddled.

I simply like the idea of having a bunch of paste around for future uses, including possibly helping others build their own rigs. It's not meant to be used all at once. Also, Pink pony is best pony (when written correctly, anyways <_<).

Even if you install a new cooler once per week you won't get through a tenth of it before it goes bad. Besides, when it comes to thermal paste, you should always stick with the well known brands. It has a big impact on CPU temperatures, and getting the cheap stuff can be even worse than not having any paste at all. In my opinion (and experience), getting 200 grams of thermal paste for 15$ is a very bad idea.

Good point, and something I wasn't aware of. What would you recommend for paste then?

 

[Pinkamena]

I simply like the idea of having a bunch of paste around for future uses, including possibly helping others build their own rigs. It's not meant to be used all at once. Also, Pink pony is best pony (when written correctly, anyways <_<).

Even if you install a new cooler once per week you won't get through a tenth of it before it goes bad. Besides, when it comes to thermal paste, you should always stick with the well known brands. It has a big impact on CPU temperatures, and getting the cheap stuff can be even worse than not having any paste at all. In my opinion (and experience), getting 200 grams of thermal paste for 15$ is a very bad idea.

Good point, and something I wasn't aware of. What would you recommend for paste then?

Arctic Coolings "Arctic Silver" brand is a good bet. Read some reviews of the different types you can get.
Also, you don't strictly need to buy Windows. There's other ways of getting an OS.

 

[Zipa]

You also may want to

Hmmm odd. I find that it's well worth having one, just makes windows so much snappier to load that it's worth it. Blu-ray is much less worthwhile unless you havea crazy pile of BD drives and you can guarentee the ongoing support for new releases (most of them do not keep support going).

Can you explain that to me? I don't get it. Do Blu-Ray drives have some sort of whitelist on what movies they'll accept or something? How would Blu-Ray writing work then, if other BDR's wouldn't recognize the discs? I'm confuddled.

I simply like the idea of having a bunch of paste around for future uses, including possibly helping others build their own rigs. It's not meant to be used all at once. Also, Pink pony is best pony (when written correctly, anyways <_<).

Even if you install a new cooler once per week you won't get through a tenth of it before it goes bad. Besides, when it comes to thermal paste, you should always stick with the well known brands. It has a big impact on CPU temperatures, and getting the cheap stuff can be even worse than not having any paste at all. In my opinion (and experience), getting 200 grams of thermal paste for 15$ is a very bad idea.

Good point, and something I wasn't aware of. What would you recommend for paste then?

There is nothing wrong with blu ray drives themselves, however you do need extra software to be able to play them most of which you have to pay for. Something like Windows Media Player or iTunes won't be able to play them.