[Lewshus]

Im looking to build a new computer. This is my first time building one. I want to use it mostly for gaming, but also other things. I have about 2000 to spend. i would like to be able to run all the newest games and be able to support a 4k monitor.


I would like advice on what i should buy and what I should look out for.



thanks

 

[Kimeran]

That's a very nice budget.


Are you wanting to be air cooled or do you want to use some water-cooling or all-in-one cooling units like the Corsair units?


If I were you, since this will be your first build, I would do the all in one unit for the CPU and keep the GPU on air. But get an Nvidia card as they run cooler.


What size of computer you want?


Today you are seeing more of the ITX motherboards for gaming systems...something I like but I also like the flexibility of the much bigger systems.


With your budget I would do an i5-3570k and a Nvidia GTX 780 or 780Ti and a large SSD such as the 1TB Samsung EVO.


There is something to say about simple pc setups because they often "Just work" better than your multi GPU and RAID setups.


Sky is the limit though about how much you can spend.


Do you want multiple monitors?


Do you want to also use it for server use?


Do you want to have multiple GPUs?

 

[Rudy1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewshus  /t/1523830/want-to-build-an-ultimate-gaming-rig#post_24517834


Im looking to build a new computer. This is my first time building one. I want to use it mostly for gaming, but also other things. I have about 2000 to spend. i would like to be able to run all the newest games and be able to support a 4k monitor.


I would like advice on what i should buy and what I should look out for.



thanks

Interesting article on 4K gaming:

http://www.soundandvision.com/content/few-depressing-words-4k-gaming

 

[LexInVA]

2016 is the year of 4K. DVI and VGA will be gone from all products, HDMI and DisplayPort will both have new revisions for 4K PC stuff, the GPUs will be using tech that gives 2-3 times the performance and memory bandwidth, and 4K monitors will be the price of today's regular HD monitors. Save your money!

 

[Lewshus]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimeran  /t/1523830/want-to-build-an-ultimate-gaming-rig#post_24527313


That's a very nice budget.


Are you wanting to be air cooled or do you want to use some water-cooling or all-in-one cooling units like the Corsair units?


If I were you, since this will be your first build, I would do the all in one unit for the CPU and keep the GPU on air. But get an Nvidia card as they run cooler.


What size of computer you want?


Today you are seeing more of the ITX motherboards for gaming systems...something I like but I also like the flexibility of the much bigger systems.


With your budget I would do an i5-3570k and a Nvidia GTX 780 or 780Ti and a large SSD such as the 1TB Samsung EVO.


There is something to say about simple pc setups because they often "Just work" better than your multi GPU and RAID setups.


Sky is the limit though about how much you can spend.


Do you want multiple monitors?


Do you want to also use it for server use?


Do you want to have multiple GPUs?

I would love to have multiple monitors


I dont plan on using it for server use, and I dont know if I need multiple GPU's. Could I not get by with just one really good GPU?


I know I said Id like to have 4k. Can I still play the newest games without using 4k. I mean isnt the reason why we build

gaming rigs for the better graphics or am I mistaken?

 

[Lewshus]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LexInVA  /t/1523830/want-to-build-an-ultimate-gaming-rig#post_24528293


2016 is the year of 4K. DVI and VGA will be gone from all products, HDMI and DisplayPort will both have new revisions for 4K PC stuff, the GPUs will be using tech that gives 2-3 times the performance and memory bandwidth, and 4K monitors will be the price of today's regular HD monitors. Save your money!

hmmmm 2016? I honestly don't think I can wait that long. What would I do in the meantime?

 

[Lewshus]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudy1  /t/1523830/want-to-build-an-ultimate-gaming-rig#post_24528200


Interesting article on 4K gaming:

http://www.soundandvision.com/content/few-depressing-words-4k-gaming

Great article. My question is if games aren't built to handle 4k yet and the framerate will suffer. Whats the sweet spot for resolution and framerate?

 

[Kimeran]

You dont NEED multiple GPUs at all.


You really dont even need a high end GPU like the GTX 780Ti but it allows more "future proofing" and being able to play games at max settings for a longer period of time before needing an upgrade.


I am still using a GTX 560Ti and only recently has there been a few games that I cant run on max settings....


If you want multiple monitors though it is good to have multiple GPUs to keep the frame rates up...but it's still not 100% neccesary if you can live with lower frames per second.

 

[DaGamePimp]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewshus  /t/1523830/want-to-build-an-ultimate-gaming-rig#post_24528791


Great article. My question is if games aren't built to handle 4k yet and the framerate will suffer. Whats the sweet spot for resolution and framerate?

Currently there is little reason to go above 1440p and you'll be spending a good bit more to do so while maintaining 60+ fps with all settings pegged.


Even a single 780ti cannot maintain 60 fps at 1440p with certain games (@ max settings).


4K is a futile endeavor for now unless you have money to burn (and that's about what you would be doing) because the current products will be surpassed soon.


Obviously, regarding gaming, resolution plays a significant role but keep your view distance / screen size in mind before shelling out $ on a sub-par 4K performer which requires triple/quad high end GPU's that still may not hit 60 fps.


Many of the 1440/1600p/4K displays cannot match a good 1080p display regarding black level, contrast, response time, etc..


Best of luck,

Jason

 

[Lewshus]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DaGamePimp  /t/1523830/want-to-build-an-ultimate-gaming-rig#post_24529086


Currently there is little reason to go above 1440p and you'll be spending a good bit more to do so while maintaining 60+ fps with all settings pegged.


Even a single 780ti cannot maintain 60 fps at 1440p with certain games (@ max settings).


4K is a futile endeavor for now unless you have money to burn (and that's about what you would be doing) because the current products will be surpassed soon.


Obviously, regarding gaming, resolution plays a significant role but keep your view distance / screen size in mind before shelling out $ on a sub-par 4K performer which requires triple/quad high end GPU's that still may not hit 60 fps.


Many of the 1440/1600p/4K displays cannot match a good 1080p display regarding black level, contrast, response time, etc..


Best of luck,

Jason

so if I go with 1080p, i can afford to get a larger screen. If I may ask, what are some the better 1080p monitors on the market?

 

[Kimeran]

to be completely honest...1440p is a very nice resolution to play at...I really dont see much reason to go to 4k but that's just me. I would build something that can can drive all of your games to 1080p or 1440p at max setting for now.


Technically speaking...4k makes much more sense for computer monitors than televisions anyway...considering you are usually looking at the screen from 2 to 3 feet rather than across the room.


One website that deals alot more with computer builds that you may want to look at are overclock.net and maximumpc.com

 

[DaGamePimp]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewshus  /t/1523830/want-to-build-an-ultimate-gaming-rig#post_24529177


so if I go with 1080p, i can afford to get a larger screen. If I may ask, what are some the better 1080p monitors on the market?

A great gaming display is the Asus VG278HE, I have yet to see a 1440p/1600p that can match it regarding over-all performance (and it's under $400).


* NOTE: these have some back-light bleed around the edges but when properly adjusted it is barely there and usually only detectable on full field black. I did not want to imply this was a perfect monitor, that honestly does not exist.

Jason

 

[wiley165]

Here's a good article to start with planning:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-gaming-pc,3766.html#xtor=RSS-182

 

[MasterHaze]


If I were to design a system on a 2K budget I personally would go for a set-up similar to these 2. (just to give a idea of what could be done)  Below you will find lists for both a amd processor system and a intel processor system that both should cost below 2K if you buy all the parts separate and assemble yourself. I chose these components for decent gaming ability and upgrade ability.

 

amd system:

- Corsair Obsidian Series 900D [Black w/ Side Window Panel]
- Stock Chassis Fans
- 860W Corsair AX860 Platinum Power Supply Unit (Dual SLI Compatible)
- ASUS M5A97 (AMD 970 Chipset) (ATX Form Factor, 4 DIMMS, 2 PCI Expansion Slots)
- AMD® Bulldozer FX-8320 Vishera (3.50GHz) (32nm, 8MB L3 cache) AM3+ Socket (Eight-Core CPU)
- NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 750Ti (2GB) GDDR5 (Includes PhysX) SuperClocked EVGA Edition or NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) GDDR5 (Includes PhysX)
- 1TB (w/ 8GB SSD Memory) 5400RPM Seagate Hybrid 64MB Cache (SATA III - 6GB/s) (SKU - HDD008)
- 24x DVD Writer/Reader + 48x CD Writer/Reader or Blu-Ray Player + DVD Writer/Reader
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO [High Performance CPU Cooler - 120mm Fan] or Corsair H100i Liquid CPU Cooler [with 240mm Radiator]
- 8GB DDR3 1600MHz (4GBx2 DIMMS) Corsair Vengeance Series (High-Performance) - Default
- High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
- ASUS (VE276Q) 27” LCD (16:9) Widescreen Gaming Monitor (Black) (2ms response time)

 

intel system:

- Corsair Obsidian Series 900D [Black w/ Side Window Panel]
- Stock Chassis Fans
- 860W Corsair AX860 Platinum Power Supply Unit (Dual SLI Compatible)
- ASUS Sabertooth Z87 (Intel Z87 Chipset) (ATX Form Factor, 4 DIMMS, 4 PCI Expansion Slots) + TUF Thermal Armor/Radar
- Intel® Core i7-4770K (3.50-3.90GHz) (22nm, 8MB cache) (Quad-Core CPU)
- NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 750Ti (2GB) GDDR5 (Includes PhysX) SuperClocked EVGA Edition or NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) GDDR5 (Includes PhysX)
- 1TB (w/ 8GB SSD Memory) 5400RPM Seagate Hybrid 64MB Cache (SATA III - 6GB/s) (SKU - HDD008)
- 24x DVD Writer/Reader + 48x CD Writer/Reader or Blu-Ray Player + DVD Writer/Reader
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO [High Performance CPU Cooler - 120mm Fan] or Corsair H100i Liquid CPU Cooler [with 240mm Radiator etc.]
- 16GB DDR3 1600MHz (8GBx2 DIMMS) Corsair Vengeance Series - Default
- High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
- ASUS (VE276Q) 27” LCD (16:9) Widescreen Gaming Monitor (Black) (2ms response time)

 

MasterHaze

 

[Bob7145]

Future Proof - Plan on building a new rig every 2 years if you use the top graphics card. If you get a medium range graphics card then plan on getting a new one every year.

"Ultimate" only lasts till next year then your $2000 computer is worth $500.

 

[Kimeran]

MasterHaze,


The two builds you have listed above are both nice. However, if this rig is mainly for gaming I would not do the AMD CPU as it bottlenecks the GPU more than then Intel setup.


With the Intel setup I would downgrade for the i7 and go with a i5-3570k...the Hyperthreading in the i7 will get your only a couple frames per second over the i5 so I dont think it is worth the extra cost....I would then put the saving there into a higher tier GPU than the 750Ti that you have on your build....


I would atleast go with the 770.


I also dont get why you have "High Seed Network Port" in your build...motherboards all have LAN ports....

 

[MasterHaze]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimeran  /t/1523830/want-to-build-an-ultimate-gaming-rig#post_24582738


MasterHaze,


The two builds you have listed above are both nice. However, if this rig is mainly for gaming I would not do the AMD CPU as it bottlenecks the GPU more than then Intel setup.


With the Intel setup I would downgrade for the i7 and go with a i5-3570k...the Hyperthreading in the i7 will get your only a couple frames per second over the i5 so I dont think it is worth the extra cost....I would then put the saving there into a higher tier GPU than the 750Ti that you have on your build....


I would atleast go with the 770.


I also dont get why you have "High Seed Network Port" in your build...motherboards all have LAN ports....

When suggesting builds i always give the two options as some people for some reason like amd's. (don't see why myself, but give the option anyways)

You are absolutely right on the i5 instead of the i7, I  get asked to suggest builds most often by my local friends here that always ask for the best of the best and that makes me sometimes forget that the i5's are still around. Same goes for the pci express lan cards, my local friends who ask for the best of the best always ask for those as they are in general just a few milliseconds faster than on-board lan ports but that is not really important for gamers that are not on pro level. (not that those lan cards are expensive though, just $10-$15 a pop) Was late at night when I posted this and forgot to take "the extras" out of the lists.

 

[Kimeran]

Ah, gotcha.


I build some pretty high end systems myself but unless they are demanded or it's for a rendering computer I never use an i7. But I do have friends who are the same way and wont listen to reason when it comes to i5 vs. i7.


I also almost always try to tell them to look more at the storage solution as well.


One of those RAID cards that uses a couple SSDs as Cache or using Drivebender or something can make a significant improvement in performance compared to just looking at the CPU and GPU like so many do.


I guess you could say I take a holistic approach to building computers....

 

[MasterHaze]


I find it important that every facet of the pc is in harmony, that is why I always choose either a ssd for os disk with some 7200rpm hdd's with built-in ssd cache in raid if a pc has a fast cpu gpu combo or all ssd's in raid. No point in having a fast cpu and gpu if your hard drive is slow as a turtle. And I never skimp on ram either, for gamers that like to overclock I always get kingston hyperx or the corsair oc performance strips and for your average user I always use kingston valueram because of their dependability and lifetime warranty and overall good customer service.

Another thing people sometimes forget is adequate cooling and not just for the cpu and gpu('s) but the hard drives as well to smooth out operation and increase life span of the hdd's.

Here in Ecuador I usually slap a liquid cooling system in there in tandem with some air cooling as the days can get quite hot here. One friend actually had me make him a counter-flow system that incorporated a refrigeration unit from a old minibar fridge to act as the radiator for his liquid cooling system. totally over-kill but also totally awesome.

 

[Kimeran]

100% agree with you.


My current build is in a Caselabs M8 but I havent put it under water yet. I plan to do 2x360 rads on the PSU side of the case with the res. and pumps there as well to try and keep the majority of water away from the CPU, GPU and mobo incase of leaks.


I almost always use Kingston HyperX ram as well. Only reason I didnt go with the HyperX SSD when I got one for my PC was because the OCZ Vertex4 was on sale for a great deal.