Gaming Build

[elphyne]

my kid needs a newer computer so i figured i'd give them mine, and see about a upgrade for myself. hoping to upgrade to something that is better then what i currently have . which is
cpu - i5-2500K | mobo - MSI P67A-GD55 | video - AMD Radeon HD 6950 2gb | ram - 2x 4gb 1333

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
mostly gaming eso, wow, gw2, thief, bioshock, skyrim, sims 3, assassin's creed, also a bit of photoshop, blender and milkshape
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000 - tax & shipping. i could maybe add up to another $200 if it will give me a noticable performance boost
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
southern california , i have a frys and a microcenter within reasonable driving distance
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
case, psu, mobo, cpu, ram, video card, dvd burner, possible ssd
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
hard drives (Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive) plus 2 500gb sata 3 drives, monitor, mouse, keyboard and possibly sound card (xonar dg) unless onboard is better
6) Will you be overclocking?
no
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920 x 1080 24"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
in the next week or two
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
at least one sata 6gb for my hard drive
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
yes, have windows 7 64 bit


other notes..

my current case is cooler master haf 912. i rather like this case. its just the right height for where i need it, and the front port buttons don't stick out so its hard to accidentally hit them, they aren't on the very top so my cats can't walk across them, the cable management seems decent and the price is pretty good. the only thing holding me back from getting another is usb 3.0 .. while i dont currently have anything that uses it, i'm not sure if that will change anytime within the next year or so.

 

[Dangman]

How long is the drive to Microcenter?

 

[elphyne]

45 min from home, but only about 15 min further from where my husband works

 

[Dangman]

All right, have your husband (not you because it's not worth a 45min drive for the savings at Microcenter) pick up these two parts from Microcenter on his way home from work:
$305 - Intel Core i5 4670K + Asus Z87-A Motherboard Microcenter combo

As for the rest of the parts:
$78 - Corsair CMV8GX3M1A1600C11 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$280 - XFX 9-280X-TDFD Radeon R9 280X 3GB PCI-E Video Card
$140 - Samsung 840 Evo Series 250GB SSD
$21 - Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD Burner
$80 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU
---
Total: $909 plus tax and shipping.

That leaves you with roughly $100 for a new case (I'm basically using your additional $200 to cover the taxes). For the case, there is a HAF 912 that does come with USB 3.0:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119272

However, at $66 shipped, it's a tad too expensive IMO considering its quality and the fact that there are better quality cases out there:
$65 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Case
$75 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black w/ Window ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Obsidian Series 450D ATX Case

 

[tiraides]

I agree with Dangman: Give your HAF 912 to your son and buy yourself a better case. That's a lot easier than trying to install your old parts into a new case.

If you want to add some front-mounted USB 3.0 ports to the HAF 912, just buy a front panel hub.

 

[elphyne]

unless the website is acting up, looks like the Intel Core i5 4670K from microcenter isn't available anymore, what would you recommend instead for cpu / mobo?

 

[tiraides]

Go with the following instead:

$197 - Intel Core i5-4570K Socket 1150 quad-core processor
$73 - MSI Z87-G41 PC MATE Intel Z87 Socket 1150 ATX motherboard
$70 - Kingston HyperX blu KHX1600C10D3B1/8G 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

I found some RAM that was a bit cheaper than what Dangman recommended.

You can find a cheaper version of the DVD burner at NewEgg:

$15 - Lite-On iHAS124-14 OEM DVD burner (included $5 discount promo code EMCPEHC35, ends June 2)

 

[techtechie]

if theres a little money left over invest some in a cooler. liquid or air doesnt matter just somethign better than stock.

 

[Azzkiker]

if theres a little money left over invest some in a cooler. liquid or air doesnt matter just somethign better than stock.

This... get an H80i or equivalent, unless the case you choose can support an H100i.

 

[elphyne]

looks like microcenter does have i5-4590 for $170 in stock locally, since i'm not overclocking, this should be ok right?

if theres a little money left over invest some in a cooler. liquid or air doesnt matter just somethign better than stock.

would i really need this if i'm not overclocking? or is it because the haswell chips run hotter then sandy even when not overclocked? i could always forgo the ssd for the cooling for now

 

[rastaban]

If not OCing and not putting the chip to real strenuous work outside of gaming, the main purpose of an aftermarket cooler is to reduce noise, so you can think of it as a luxury add on.

 

[tiraides]

looks like microcenter does have i5-4590 for $170 in stock locally, since i'm not overclocking, this should be ok right?

Go for it; it's cheaper than Amazon. You can also grab the MSI Z87-G41 at Micro Center and have the store price-match it with Amazon (which has the cheaper price).

would i really need this if i'm not overclocking? or is it because the haswell chips run hotter then sandy even when not overclocked? i could always forgo the ssd for the cooling for now

A good third-party cooler will perform better and run quieter than the stock Intel HSF, but you don't need it if you don't live in a very hot environment.

If you do want a CPU cooler, go for the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. It cools very well for less than $40. (Again, if you buy it at Micro Center, price-match it with Amazon.)

But you should buy the SSD regardless of your CPU cooler decision. It starts up Windows and loads games and programs much faster than any hard drive.