Tips please for my gaming PC build

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sk8monkey88

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So in the nest month or so I will be spending 1200 on a new gaming rig, I am new to PC gaming and even newer to building a PC, below is a list of items that I have found on Newegg that I think would be pretty nice, please give me some feedback and recommendations.

Newegg is not the only site I will be buying from, I don't really have the money now for deals and stuff so I know the price might go up (this is just a a wishlist so far), but I will be buying the parts online. I cant go over budget and anything left over is going to games.

My goal is to run BF4 on high settings or better, but I do want it to last a while before upgrading again. I don't need a mouse or HDD (I have a 1TB external that I will convert into internal when I get the PC built) and I would prefer a mechanical backlit keyboard.


Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0 <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811129021>

MSI A88X-G43 FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813130744>

SAPPHIRE DUAL-X 100365BF4L Radeon R9 270 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card With Boost & OC Battlefield 4 Edition <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814202062>

AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6300WMHKBOX <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819113286>

SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820147247>

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231460>

ROCCAT Ryos MK Glow ROC-12-751-BK Black USB Wired Gaming Illuminated Mechanical Keyboard <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16823436010>

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16824236117>
 
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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc - Gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? - $1200, no more could go less.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible. - Virginia Beach, VA

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. - CPU, MOBO, VID Card, RAM, SDD, Case, Keyboard, Monitor, PSU, Processor.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model. - Will not be reusing anything, this is my first PC.

6) Will you be overclocking? Not now.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? - 42" TV (will not be using)

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? - Within one to two months.

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. - I'm not sure, what ever gets me the best gaming performance within budget.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? - I do, I can use either windows 8.1 64bit or 7 64bit.
 
sk8monkey88 said:
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible. - Virginia Beach, VA
Click to expand...
HOw long is the drive to this Microcenter location?:
http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/fairfax.aspx
sk8monkey88 said:
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? - Within one to two months.
Click to expand...
You're still planning too early as pricing is a major factor as to what parts we recommend. Just because a part is a good deal now doesn't mean it'll be a good buy in a month let alone two months. Please come back when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying and ask for advice then. That way you'll get an up-to-date build list.

With that said, even if you were going to build today, that setup is just not good:

1) That case is a horrible buy since it's cramped, has no cable management features, and the overall construction quality is cheap. There are cheaper cases that are better built than that Antec 900. I recommend any of the following cases instead:
$70 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black w/ Window ATX Case
$93 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$105 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom 530 Black Full Tower ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Obsidian Series 750D ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$170 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$170 - NZXT Phantom 630 Gunmetal Full Tower ATX Case
$170 - NZXT Phantom 630 White Full Tower ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case
$250 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case
$245 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW ATX Case

2) That CPU and motherboard are completely incompatible. That motherboard is a socket FM2 motherboard whereas the CPU is a socket AM3 CPU. You need a socket AM3 motherboard if you want to use that CPU or a socket FM2 CPU if you want to use that motherboard.

3) Until more info comes out about Mantle (supposedly before February), your best bet for a gaming PC will actually be Intel CPUs.

4) Based on current pricing, that RAM is ridiculously overpriced for that performance you're getting.
 
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Dangman said:
How long is the drive to this Microcenter location?:
http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/fairfax.aspx
Click to expand...

I can answer that: Virginia Beach is a three-hour drive from Fairfax. We can't use Micro Center as most of its best deals are in-store specials.

Dangman said:
You're still planning too early as pricing is a major factor as to what parts we recommend. Just because a part is a good deal now doesn't mean it'll be a good buy in a month let alone two months. Please come back when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying and ask for advice then. That way you'll get an up-to-date build list.
Click to expand...

And don't bother buying your parts piecemeal. If any of your parts arrive DOA, you may not have enough time left to return or exchange them. Revisit this thread when you're a week or two away from ordering everything AND you have the full $1200 on hand.

If you're that impatient, however, you can answer these "follow-up" questions:

- How knowledgeable are you about mechanical keyboards? Do you have a preferred switch? Could you live without backlit keys?

- What's the brand and model of your external drive? How old is it? How much free space is currently left?

- Which version of Windows 7 do you have? Do you have Windows 8 Pro?

- Which games (in addition to BF4) are you planning to play first?

- Do you plan on overclocking anything over the next 12 months?
 
I agree with what dangman said.

For 1200 budget, I would go for a full 24 inch monitor and and an intel i5, and double your ram. If you want to play modern games on max settings, that kind of system will hold up for years, with a video card refresh every 2 or so years that costs under 200. Get a nice easy to clean and maintain case, and a robust PSU around 400-500 watts.
 
- How knowledgeable are you about mechanical keyboards? Do you have a preferred switch? Could you live without backlit keys? - Not too knowledgeable, though I do know that mechanical are typically better for gaming, and yes I could live without backlit keys.

- What's the brand and model of your external drive? How old is it? How much free space is currently left? - It's a WD 1tbMy Passport

- Which version of Windows 7 do you have? Do you have Windows 8 Pro? - Windows 7 is from a friend, so I'm not too sure as to what version it is. Windows 8 is not the pro version and it has been updated to 8.1.

- Which games (in addition to BF4) are you planning to play first? - L4D2, DayZ, SSF4, Skyrim.

- Do you plan on overclocking anything over the next 12 months? - No.
 
This is what I could come up with for $0.83 over after rebates:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/arentol/saved/3CAN

This build gives you a solid Mobo, Case, CPU, PSU, and RAM that will last you for many years to come. The videocard is also more than adequate for 1920x1080 gaming and will continue to be so for at least two more years, probably longer. Graphics requirements are not going up very fast anymore like they were in the 00's, so you can buy mid-level cards one generation old and still get fantastic performance these days.

Suggestion: Pass on the mechanical keyboard for now. Get the cheapest normal keyboard you can find. Take the extra $50 and upgrade the monitor to the one you already suggested and upgrade the PSU to a 650watt 80 Gold certified one like the Corsair HX650. The mechanical keyboard is the easiest part to upgrade later.
 
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Since you are not going to be over clocking, you might care to look at the rig in my sig which uses a Nofan CR 95 to be totally silent when not gaming.
 
Okay, sorry for not posting for a while, I've been busy. The money has arrived I am limiting my purchase window to one week. like what arentol did by providing a link to a bundled PC, that would be the most helpful so that all the parts arrive at or around the same time, and it makes my life a lot easier due to the fact that I wont have much time to look for stuff myself.

Sorry if I'm being a pain, but ship life is demanding.
 
$185 - Intel Core i5-4430 processor
$75 - MSI B85M-G43 micro ATX motherboard
$70 - Kingston HyperX Red KHX16C10B1R/8 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$250 - EVGA 02G-P4-2763-KR GTX 760 2GB video card
$146 - Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
$20 - LG GH24NS95 SATA DVD burner
$70 - XFX Core Edition PRO550W 550W power supply
$70 - Corsair 230T ATX mid-tower case
$157 - Asus VS247H-P 23.6" 1920x1080 LED monitor
$100 - CM Storm QuickFire TK mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches
=====
$1143 - Total before taxes and shipping

I put a greater emphasis on the video card and the mechanical keyboard than anything else, but this isn't a slow computer by any means. Amazon now charges sales tax to Virginia residents, but the items that I found there were too good to pass up.

You won't be able to overclock with the Core i5-4430 or the B85-based motherboard. However, the i5-4430 will outperform the FX-6300 in most games (with a discrete video card).

I chose the 250GB Samsung 840 EVO because it's faster and gives you more space than the 120GB model.

The key feature of the mechanical keyboard I chose is the Cherry MX Red switches, which many prefer for gaming. You can save some money on the keyboard by choosing one without any backlighting, like the SteelSeries 6Gv2.
 
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I think that I will be going with the set up that tirades built minus the DVD burner and using a different keyboard, one that was cheaper, thanks for the help.
 
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