Poll: Pee-Cee Gamer Jenuses Plz Halp

[BloatedGuppy]

Okay so some time this summer I'm going to be upgrading one of our two gaming machines. The girlfriend is looking forward to Witcher 3 and DA3 and frankly her old boot of a machine is getting a bit creaky in the gaskets, so she's going to inherit mine.

That means shelling out. I'm not a rich guy, and money IS a factor, but I like to aim for a price performance sweet spot. Ideally I'd get reasonably long life span out of the new machine, and I'd like it to be able to handle the next 2-3 years of games without issue at a minimum.

I'll spotlight the components I'm presently looking at, and indicate the areas where I'd like some input.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell Quad Core - 3.4GHz (TB@3.8GHz)
MOBO: Asus Z87
GPU: Asus GeForce GTX770 - 2GB
RAM: 8GB (2 x 4GB) - Kingston HyperX RAM - DDR3 - 1600MHz
PSU: Cooler Master Silent M2 720W - 80+ Bronze

This thing also comes with: Antec KUHLER H2O 620 Self Contained Liquid Cooling System. Storage is storage, it'll have an SSD and a terabyte on a 2nd drive.

So, questions.

1. RAM. Looking forward, is there ANY reason to invest in 16 GB over 8 GB, or is it a pointless expense?
2. Is the 770 a worthwhile bump over the 760? It's almost $200 more, but the passmark grades make it seem like a substantial leap. Don't bother linking me a cheaper model, I'm getting this from a specific spot and the prices are the prices.
3. Is this cooling system worth it? What exactly does a liquid cooling system even do for me, really? I'm not an overclocker.
4. Is there a slight upgrade/downgrade that can be made on GPU or CPU that you feel represents a better price/performance sweet spot?
5. Windows 7 or Windows 8?
6. Is there any real benefit to gaming from an i7 vs an i5?
7. What stands out there as a future bottleneck?

Some errata:

1. My preference is with Intel and NVidia. I'd need a pretty powerful case to consider ATI or AMD over either.
2. I like a reasonably quiet machine. One without a lot of goddamn flashing lights is nice as well. (A quiet land, a peaceful computer)

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

1) Not really, but I got my 16 GB's when RAM was dirt cheap at the moment, so if you can find it cheap, great, if not you are only using two sticks so you have room to upgrade..literally.

2) I would say no, but then again I've always been one about "bang for buck" so I'm a bit biased in this category, if you've got the extra 200 dollars to spend, it won't hurt, but down the line when the 770 is selling for hundreds of dollars less, try not to shed any tears.

3) I don't have a liquid cooling system myself, but my friends that do all enjoy the quietness of their water cooling setup. (which is a positive for you) That being said, you aren't going to be overclocking like the mad scientists do, so water cooling is kinda more for your e-penis size in this situation

4) down the line you'll be doing a GPU upgrade before your CPU I'm sure, but when you do get your CPU upgrade eventually you can bet your bottom dollar you'll have to swap the mobo out with it too (bullshit compatibility reasons, but whatev's). To answer your question, not really, you've hit kind of a sweet spot already.

5) Windows 7, dear god windows 7.

6) i5 all the way, the i7 is not necessary in the slightest, especially when it comes to gaming.

7) as mentioned, the GPU eventually, but that's not for years really (unless you want to ultra bloom super saiyan every game, thennnnn maybe a couple games here and there will not be doing 60 fps on full)

1a) We all got our preferences, the only unbiased thing I can say here is that the next gen consoles are on AMD tech, and are using mantle, so most games will be built with that in mind most likely. We'll see though.

2a) Water cooling will be great for this, but extra pricey.

 

[Menageryl]

1. Not really, from a purely gaming perspective... If you do a HELLUVA lot of multi-tasking, have a lot of different apps and tabs open, and DON'T generally close or optimise them before / during gaming sessions, then perhaps. Otherwise, for the foreseeable future, it won't make any difference.
2. I would say yes! One must remember that the consoles and their current "state of the art" will become the new standard by which things are measured. As such you want a GPU that's a little ahead of what's being used in the XBone and PS4 to ensure you make up for the omptimisation-gap introduced by the PC platform - i.e. Windows, drivers, etc. that the consoles don't need to deal with.
3. In your situation it's certainly not a necessity. BUT! You say you like a quiet PC - it'll certainly help with that! It ALSO allows you a little freedom / headroom should you decide to play a little with software-based overclocking down the line if you begin looking for a little more performance without actual hardware upgrades a few years later...
4. I reckon you're more-or-less there. I MIGHT suggest looking at the possibility of a 780. But you shouldn't be unhappy with the decision as-is.
5. Windows 7. No question. As a gamer you REALLY wanna avoid 8 if at all possible!!!
6. No. And there won't be for the foreseeable future! The primary difference between an i5 and an i7 is that each core handles half / double the number of threads. This isn't something that ANY game right now takes advantage of - or will anytime soon.
7. I, personally, would consider a slightly beefier power supply if I were building this machine for myself. Having just enough power can sometimes introduce instabilities one could never have predicted! Having more than enough ensures a stable environment.

 

[Doom972]

1. RAM. Looking forward, is there ANY reason to invest in 16 GB over 8 GB, or is it a pointless expense?

At the moment, games still use 32-bit processing, so there's not point to getting more than 8GB for the few 64-bit games out there. RAM is easy to add and only gets cheaper as time passes anyway, so it would be much better to get 8GB now, and upgrade it if and when it's necessary.

2. Is the 770 a worthwhile bump over the 760? It's almost $200 more, but the passmark grades make it seem like a substantial leap. Don't bother linking me a cheaper model, I'm getting this from a specific spot and the prices are the prices.

I'd get the 760 if I were you. According to GeForce.com, it supports the same technologies. There's a performance difference of course, but I don't think that it's that much of a difference that's worth an extra $200.

3. Is this cooling system worth it? What exactly does a liquid cooling system even do for me, really? I'm not an overclocker.

If you don't live in a particularly hot area, or don't plan on overclocking, I don't see the point of getting liquid cooling.

4. Is there a slight upgrade/downgrade that can be made on GPU or CPU that you feel represents a better price/performance sweet spot?

I recommend downgrading to the GeForce 760 for the reasons I stated above, and upgrading the CPU to an i7 for the reasons I will state below.

5. Windows 7 or Windows 8?

Windows 7 seems very comfortable and reliable right now, and it doesn't try to make you use that terrible metro interface. No games in the foreseeable future seem to require Windows 8. Personally, I'd go with Win7, willing to upgrade if it's ever necessary (Which I doubt).

6. Is there any real benefit to gaming from an i7 vs an i5?

It looks like the recommended system requirements for some upcoming games include an i7 processor, so I'd go with that.

7. What stands out there as a future bottleneck?

Nothing in particular.

 

[karma9308]

So I'm a Jenuz who is supa smrt, but don't take my word too strongly. I'm still kinda learning the ropes myself.

1. I've got 8 gigs of RAM and haven't had a problem with it. Never had the thought that I need to get more, so I think you're good with 8.

2. I don't see the leaps and bounds better out of the benchmark. I've got a 660ti which is near equivalent to a 760 and it's been fantastic. I've still been running a lot of games at max settings and getting ~60 fps. Save the $200.

3. Don't know.

4. If you're not planning on overclocking, you may want to get a cpu just the 4670. It will only save about $20 but I believe there's a negligible drop in performance (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

5. I've heard 8 isn't as bad as it used to be, that said I'll still recommend 7. I have heard gamers in particular have had issues with Win8.

6. I thought I saw that i7s aren't really being utilized to it's potential yet. It may just be better to stick with an i5 and upgrade in a few years if you really need to. Especially since the price difference is so huge.

7. Your specs sound incredibly similar to my current rig, so based on that I'd say the cpu, though only slightly.

 

[Savagezion]

I have to comment on this thread simply because this is probably the best poll in the history of forever. As far as the specs go, it looks pretty solid to me. I am no jenus myself. But my thoughts on the build are that the i7 isn't something to latch onto yet. I do want to build an i7 tower myself but it feels like a gamble honestly. It very well could be just a bottleneck of tomorrow. By that, I merely mention my worry that the i7 will get "skipped over" but I don't have anything solid to substantiate that claim. It's one of the main reasons I toggle back and forth between it and the i5. However, the socket is what I bet on more than anything else. That said, your build looks solid. This is the "fun" of PC gaming. Hehe. Your build will never be "good enough". It's why we love to show our builds off like a bunch of arrogant assholes. Hell, I went AM3+ on my current build.

5. Windows 7 or Windows 8?

I love Windows 7 and think of 8 as a new Vista. For whatever that is worth. Really, I just don't care for the UI of 8 mostly. Windows 7 is like an upgrade to XP, which is like an upgraded 98 - and Windows 98 was awesome, hands down.

6. Is there any real benefit to gaming from an i7 vs an i5?

Not currently, and there isn't a whole lot to support that it will be other than benefits of intel itself but the i5 holds that as well. If an i9 or whatever gets announced in a couple years, so much for the i7. I see more value in the socket than the processor from where I stand, but the socket may end up being worthless too. Yay, unpredictable technology. Hehe. i5 is the safe bet I think, and its cheaper to boot.

7. What stands out there as a future bottleneck?

The mobo. Which will almost always stand out as the bottleneck as it determines your upgrade ability. Outside of it, I would guess the PSU and see 800W quickly becoming the standard. Not that you are in danger there really. However, if you upgrade to a higher video card or something down the road, the PSU could be inadequate and you may need to spend more money on top of the upgrade itself to upgrade the PSU. Then you also could even point at the i5 itself as it is kind of "old tech" at this point but its also the "best" option on the market atm so... yeah.

Guppy, your build is perfectly fine. As good as can be really. Now its just a matter of speculation of the future and the "Ford vs. Chevy" pissing match.

 

[duwenbasden]

1. I go for 16. Less things to worry about in the future, give Windows more swap space to use, and the price difference will be marginal at best.
//edit: If you are ever going to get mods for games, you must have 16 -- My Skyrim instance usually goes to 5GB.
2. I still kick myself repeatly for getting 2x560Ti as opposed to a single 570. If you are into modding and/or deal with games that uses 2K+ texture, ALWAYS get the x70+ cards.
3. You want a silent rig, so sure.
4. Nope. I'd go for broke for the 780 though.
5. 7, everything 8 improves on 7 is unnoticeable with your rig.
6. No. Your bottleneck is likely everything else at this point.
7. Your SSD will still be the bn of your rig.

Others:
I'd go for 2xSSD + 1HDD -- the first smaller SSD for the OS and non-games, the second larger SSD for frequently played games, the HDD for everything else.

 

[Starnerf]

If you don't plan on overclocking then you don't need the K model CPU or the Z87 chipset. You'd be fine with a regular 4670 and an H87 chipset. You also wouldn't need the water cooler, but if it comes with something else you might as well use it. It'll be a lot quieter than the stock HSF.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

1. Although it's not needed, I would go for more RAM because 8GB is pretty much standard nowadays in medium rigs.

2. I've heard a lot of good things from many people that the -70 series are the perfect balanced point between not too high and and not to low end. If you already have a 760 I don't think it's worth upgrading unless it's either for a 780 or higher.

3. I don't like liquid cooling one bit (way too much maintenence). I have been an "air cooling route" type guy and it hasn't failed me. Noctua coolers are simply fantastic so recommend getting air cooling over liquid (it's even cheaper).

4. Nope..the only big investment when you usually upgrade is most of the times your GPU over everything else, hence why in the other points I recommended to just jump on a 780 or 780ti and be "good" for a couple of years without the fear of having to upgrade.

5. Windows 7 here...think of it as "the XP of this generation". I detest Win8 interface with all my being so unless Windows 9 is similar to Win7..I won't be changing it any time soon. Win XP had 10 year lifespan so were good on that front.

6. It won't bottleneck, i5 is more than enough to run all of the games without any issues. I have a i5 2500k OC'ed to 4.5Ghz and it runs everything like a champ. There is no need for you to buy an i7.

7. For future bottleneck it really depends really, but mostly the GPU out of everything. People tend to upgrade their GPU mostly after 4-5 years. I'm saving to upgrade from 560ti to a 780ti myself but I'm still half way through it moneywise.

Hope this helped a bit.

 

[DoPo]

I suppose I'll just go with what most people here said, but...there you go - joining the choir:

1. RAM. Looking forward, is there ANY reason to invest in 16 GB over 8 GB, or is it a pointless expense?

No, there is no reason to invest in 16 gig. I myself have that much (bought my current PC end of January/beginning of February-ish) but I've futureproofed a bit - I am planning do do some development on my machine and I also want to run VMs on it. Erm, I haven't because I've been lazy busy saving the world so far. Anyway - so far, I've barely ever utilized 35-40% of it, much less 8 gig, so you should be good with that much. And in the future, the easiest upgrade you can do is stick more RAM in, so putting money for that upfront is unnecessary.

2. Is the 770 a worthwhile bump over the 760? It's almost $200 more, but the passmark grades make it seem like a substantial leap. Don't bother linking me a cheaper model, I'm getting this from a specific spot and the prices are the prices.

I've got a 760 and it runs really well. My flatmate has a 770 and so far there hasn't really been that much of a difference between the two. I suppose his would be better in the long run and he will be able to max out the capabilites better, say, by downsampling [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509076][footnote]I found out about this a week ago and it's nice - it's AA on fire. So would your video card be, if you do resolutions such as 3200:1800, which I tried.[/footnote]

3. Is this cooling system worth it? What exactly does a liquid cooling system even do for me, really? I'm not an overclocker.

It's easier to overclock. Also, quieter but I am not sure if it's worth shelling out for just that - you can get quieter fans, too, for less price (and probably slightly more noise but I doubt you want to be alerted for any dropped pins and such).

4. Is there a slight upgrade/downgrade that can be made on GPU or CPU that you feel represents a better price/performance sweet spot?

You can get a CPU that is not k-series - the 4670 is the same as 4670k but the latter allows overclocking. I should note - if you are going to drop that, you can also drop the Z-series motherboard as those are also for overclocking.

However, saying that, I would actually encourage you to go with Z and k series parts, then overclock. It's peretty much a free upgrade for your CPU. You don't even need to do any extreme stuff - it should just take about 10 minutes or so to find safe higher parameters for the CPU which would not require any better cooling and things. If you do have water cooling, you can go higher but even with fans you can squeeze more out of it than the defaults.

Still, if you really need to cut costs - drop the k and Z - it should save you a few bucks.

5. Windows 7 or Windows 8?

7. I would admit - I have not tried 8 but I don't see why should I - the old saying "If it ain't broke - don't fix it" applies to me - I have 7 and it performs satisfactory. Also - 8 costs more than 7. Still, if you can get it for less money, then perhaps go for it.

6. Is there any real benefit to gaming from an i7 vs an i5?

Not really. Not currently, at least, it is possible the current console generation would change that but...it may not be the immediate future. Go for i5. I got an i7 myself but again - I'm planning to develop stuff on it.

7. What stands out there as a future bottleneck?

I'd say RAM might come first later on. But it's easily fixable - by the time you would feel the need, you should be able to by 16 for about the same price you can get 8 now. And depending on how the industry goes, it'd be either video card or CPU next but not for a few years to come, most likely. I can guess it'd be CPU but it's mostly because that's how things have been going so far - I'd be (maybe pleasently) surprised if devs made heavy use of a CPU.

1. My preference is with Intel and NVidia. I'd need a pretty powerful case to consider ATI or AMD over either.

Now, I, and I'm pretty sure most others, would agree with you, however, recently (well, relatively) it was brought to my attention that the now current console generation is dominated by AMD, moreover, they've been pushing for Mantle - it is possible that AMD would actually get an edge over Intel and nVidia not based on sheer power but because a lot of people would be developing and optimizing for them. It is something to consider but maybe not for the near future.

2. I like a reasonably quiet machine. One without a lot of goddamn flashing lights is nice as well. (A quiet land, a peaceful computer)

Get an SSD, if possible (I recommend the Samsung 840 EVO from personal experience - it's also cheap-ish, especially right now on Amazon [http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399414853&sr=8-1&keywords=evo+samsung]). It's just so quiet when there are no spinning things in the box. And yes, this does mean fans too, but you can ignore those or go with liquid cooling - your choice.

However, the most important question, or rather - answer, remains. The thing we all actually need to discuss but nobody truly does: the correct choice is, of course, "But it's super good." Because it is. And yes, you should go for it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

However, the most important question, or rather - answer, remains. The thing we all actually need to discuss but nobody truly does: the correct choice is, of course, "But it's super good." Because it is. And yes, you should go for it.

I went for it. Mmmmm it was so good.

I almost got waylaid by Chinese food due to a co-worker's smelly lunch, though. It was a close thing.

OT - Thank you for the feedback everyone. Keep it coming. I'm listening.

 

[DoPo]

OT - Thank you for the feedback everyone. Keep it coming. I'm listening.

OK, then - not sure why, but if you want feedback, here is feedback: grow a beard. But not just a beard - big, bushy beard. Something Hagrid would be pleased with. Also - dye it. I personally like purple but not sure if it would look OK on you.

Feedback given.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

OK, then - not sure why, but if you want feedback, here is feedback: grow a beard. But not just a beard - big, bushy beard. Something Hagrid would be pleased with.

Why am I reminded of this...

 

[DoPo]

OK, then - not sure why, but if you want feedback, here is feedback: grow a beard. But not just a beard - big, bushy beard. Something Hagrid would be pleased with.

Why am I reminded of this...

Yes, your beard need to incite exactly that reaction in people. Aim for that.

I don't, however, know why you were reminded of that clip but it still helped.

 

[COMaestro]

So you're buying this [http://www.a-power.com/product-25845-460-1]? Tell me you aren't paying that much...

 

[Rob Robson]

Okay so some time this summer I'm going to be upgrading one of our two gaming machines. The girlfriend is looking forward to Witcher 3 and DA3 and frankly her old boot of a machine is getting a bit creaky in the gaskets, so she's going to inherit mine.

That means shelling out. I'm not a rich guy, and money IS a factor, but I like to aim for a price performance sweet spot. Ideally I'd get reasonably long life span out of the new machine, and I'd like it to be able to handle the next 2-3 years of games without issue at a minimum.

I'll spotlight the components I'm presently looking at, and indicate the areas where I'd like some input.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell Quad Core - 3.4GHz (TB@3.8GHz)
MOBO: Asus Z87
GPU: Asus GeForce GTX770 - 2GB
RAM: 8GB (2 x 4GB) - Kingston HyperX RAM - DDR3 - 1600MHz
PSU: Cooler Master Silent M2 720W - 80+ Bronze

This thing also comes with: Antec KUHLER H2O 620 Self Contained Liquid Cooling System. Storage is storage, it'll have an SSD and a terabyte on a 2nd drive.

So, questions.

1. RAM. Looking forward, is there ANY reason to invest in 16 GB over 8 GB, or is it a pointless expense?
2. Is the 770 a worthwhile bump over the 760? It's almost $200 more, but the passmark grades make it seem like a substantial leap. Don't bother linking me a cheaper model, I'm getting this from a specific spot and the prices are the prices.
3. Is this cooling system worth it? What exactly does a liquid cooling system even do for me, really? I'm not an overclocker.
4. Is there a slight upgrade/downgrade that can be made on GPU or CPU that you feel represents a better price/performance sweet spot?
5. Windows 7 or Windows 8?
6. Is there any real benefit to gaming from an i7 vs an i5?
7. What stands out there as a future bottleneck?

1. Star Citizen is confirmed to have a minimum requirement of 8GB RAM, and The Witcher 3 and The Division are looking like they will be in that ballpark. What I would do is buy a single DIMM of 8GB 1600mhz CL8 RAM (for example Crucial Ballistix Tactical) and then add another later when funds are more plentiful. You will not have dual channel RAM but the performance difference is somewhat of an urban legend and for normal gaming you won't notice it.

2. No. The 770 doesn't really push you over a noticeable edge compared to the 760. The AMD R9 270x is another worthwhile option to look at in this price range, very good value per dollar.

3. The Antec Kühler is not a great AIO, and actually I would say go with an air cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO or Raijintek Themis, which are great budget options that still allow a decent overclocking experience. When you have a tight budget, there is more performance to gain elsewhere but the CPU cooling solution. An extra 0,3Ghz will not be as noticeable as a good SSD or a tier better graphics card.

4. Price to performance I would say the AMD R9 270/ 270x are the reigning champions, though an MSi Gaming TF GTX 760 is good too.

5. Windows 8 is lighter (go with 8.1 in that case) which is the reason I have made the switch. It shows around 7-8% improvement in game performance in certain games (example: Far Cry 3)

6. No. Not yet, at least. Right now, and for past games, in i7 will usually be worse for gaming, as it generates more heat for a gaming-useless feature, and thus doesn't overclock as well. Star Citizen claims to be developing with hyperthreading in mind.

7. No SSD. A good 250-256GB SSD is what you should target with the money you saved on cooling and downsizing the GPU to a 270x. I would recommend a PNY XLR8 branded one as they are very cheap as of right now with decent performance. Big games installed on SSDs exhibit much shorter loading times. Example: Skyrim, other sandbox/ open world games or MMOs. (The Witcher 3 certainly will) - SSDs also last a long time, are shock resistant, reliable, boot your OS faster and feels generally much snappier in Windows.


Also, the PSU you chose is too high cap, so you could save some more on downsizing to the 620W version of the same SKU. Your finished system's total peak power draw should be around 330W. So you could even go down to 500W.

Good luck!


EDIT: Here's what I could cook up - http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Lofty/saved/4Bfc

I would get 2x Aerocool Dead Silence Fans with this, the black and gray ones without LEDs.

 

[nuttshell]

Also, the PSU you chose is too high cap, so you could save some more on downsizing to the 620W version of the same SKU. Your finished system's total peak power draw should be around 330W. So you could even go down to 500W.

It took this long for someone to notice this?
Anyway, listen to this guy, his advice is best atm.

 

[Mr.Savage]

That means shelling out. I'm not a rich guy, and money IS a factor, but I like to aim for a price performance sweet spot. Ideally I'd get reasonably long life span out of the new machine, and I'd like it to be able to handle the next 2-3 years of games without issue at a minimum.

If you want the best price to performance ratio, then you'd likely want an AMD CPU, I'll explain below.

I'll spotlight the components I'm presently looking at, and indicate the areas where I'd like some input.


PSU: Cooler Master Silent M2 720W - 80+ Bronze

I've read a few bad things about CM PSUs, they can be of subpar quality, and the PSU is usually something you don't want to skimp on. They're not terrible, but I'd personally recommend a Seasonic or Corsair PSU. I'm a bit paranoid about this type of thing though, seeing as on my first PC build ever in 2004, I went with a low quality PSU, and the first time I turned the computer on, the PSU literally fried the whole system, with sparks flying out of it and everything.

Also, as others have said, I'd go with a lower wattage one as well. It'll be more efficient, and hopefully a bit cheaper.

So, questions.

1. RAM. Looking forward, is there ANY reason to invest in 16 GB over 8 GB, or is it a pointless expense?
2. Is the 770 a worthwhile bump over the 760? It's almost $200 more, but the passmark grades make it seem like a substantial leap. Don't bother linking me a cheaper model, I'm getting this from a specific spot and the prices are the prices.
3. Is this cooling system worth it? What exactly does a liquid cooling system even do for me, really? I'm not an overclocker.
4. Is there a slight upgrade/downgrade that can be made on GPU or CPU that you feel represents a better price/performance sweet spot?
5. Windows 7 or Windows 8?
6. Is there any real benefit to gaming from an i7 vs an i5?
7. What stands out there as a future bottleneck?

1. Nope, at the moment no game even touches 8gb, so you shouldn't need 16gb for the foreseeable future. And if you do, you can always pick up more. No need to preempt it.

2. Eh...I'd say no. From what I've read, in most games, you'll see about a 10-20fps improvement with the 770, for $200 more, that just isn't worth it to me. You'd only want it if you started gaming in 2560x1440, where 10-20fps means staying above 60fps. Otherwise, 760 is a better deal overall.

3. I personally don't care for water cooling. It's really only useful for massive overclockers, any normal user is totally fine with air cooling. The main reason I don't like it is, if your pump fails (And they do fail quite a bit), your SOL. It'd be a ***** to fix it, so most end up just buying a whole new unit.

With air cooled, on the other hand, if your fan fails, you just slap a new one on for $10 bucks and your good to go. The heatsink itself will last forever. It's also significantly cheaper.

For air cooling, I usually recommend the Coolermaster 212 Evo, it's the best bang for buck cooler on the market, currently.

4. With Nvidia GPU's, not really. The 750 TI is quite a big step down from the 760. So I'd stick with that. as for CPUs, Yes there is. I'll get to that in a bit.

5. Windows 7, absolutely no question. I've read of numerous problems people had trying to get their games that ran perfectly fine on 7, working on 8. It just isn't worth it.

6. Not normally, but secrets shall be revealed...

7. Ehm...Nothing, really.

Some errata:

1. My preference is with Intel and NVidia. I'd need a pretty powerful case to consider ATI or AMD over either.
2. I like a reasonably quiet machine. One without a lot of goddamn flashing lights is nice as well. (A quiet land, a peaceful computer)

This is where shit gets interesting.

I did a metric crap ton of research on what the best CPU for the money is, back when I built my current rig. And what I found is this: You have 2 choices. Seriously.

There's a criminally underlooked Intel CPU that most builders never consider, behold, the Xeon E3-1230 V2!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117286

"But...Mate, that's a Server CPU, are you nutty?"

Ahh, that's just it though, it isn't! It is in fact, a re-branded i7 4770, but without the onboard graphics! Bloody brilliant, eh?
So your basically getting an i7 for i5 prices, it's the steal of the century. and by losing the onboard GPU (Which you'll never use as a gamer anyway), it uses less power, and in turn, creates less heat.

The only downside of the Xeon is that it cannot be overclocked, but since you don't want to do that anyway, it's pretty much perfect for you. And it has hyper-theading (8 threads!).

the V2 is the 1155 Ivy Bridge model, there is the V3 if you want 1150 Haswell, but it costs a bit more and uses more power, for pretty much no gain from what I can see.

So that's the first choice, whats the second?

The venerable AMD FX-6300. When overclocked, this is simply THE best value CPU on the market currently. Now, It's not as good as the Xeon, but it gets the job done almost as well, for half the price.

So, which you choose is really up to you. I personally went with the FX-6300, because I thought the gains of the Xeon weren't worth it, but it was quite tempting.

You could consider other CPUs, but those two really are the very 'best' of their class, for mid-range and high-end.

So...Yep, that's all I have to say about that.