Need Help With A Build ($1200 USD)

[Zero Jager X]

Hello all,

Firstly, I would like to see hello and that I have been a long time lurker on this forum for years.

I have been asked to build my cousin a brand new computer that he will be using for general native PC gaming as well as emulation with programs such as Dolphin.

I know native PC games rely on GPU while Dolphin relies on CPU.

I would like to strike a nice balance between the two so that he may experience the best of both worlds.

Any advice on where to start would be greatly appreciated!

As stated in the title, I have about $1,200 USD to play with.

I made a quick pcbuild myself but I'm not sure if this is the best bang for my buck
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t44Lqs

[admin89]

3 things i want to point out
_H97 doesn't support overclocking while i5 4690k is made for overclocking
_380W power supply for GTX 970 + overclockable CPU ??? . Lol , you will need twice as much
_You have 1200USD and you still go with an i5 , for real ? .
You waste too much money on the cooler . Use that extra money to get an i7 4790k (tips : $90 off if you grap it on microcenter store) . i7 4790k has maximum turbo boost ~ 4.4GHz . At that speed , overclocking isn't necessary and you can get a cheaper board (Asrock B85 Anniversary)

[DatKid20]

Let me get home and I'll edit this post with a build that's great for Dolphin in $1200. Just want to know if you PC game or not though.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4CXxkL

[tential]

I think he wanted a CD Drive+Wireless card.
Also, probably could save some money and not take an 850 Pro SSD. There are tons of sales running everyday on slightly less performing SSDs. I doubt OP will notice windows booting/things loading slightly slower given how fast SSDs already are. Is there really a difference between 8 and 7.95?
Finally, no reason to switch the case to a Xigmatek case when the Fractal Design Define R4 is one of the most applauded cases out there. It's also cheaper as well.
Tweaktown liked both cases giving the Xigmatek a 90% and the Fractal Design Define R4 a 98%. I don't think either is a "bad" choice, but I really like the Fractal Design Define R4, and the design itself is perfect for HTPC usage(I own it myself and it blends into a room perfectly), while the Xigmatek shouts "I'm a PC!" still and that may not be the look the OP is going for.
I like the Fractal Design Define R4, but well, I also purchased one so I'm slightly biased.

Good build otherwise, just me nitpicking.

[ssakash]

No need to waste your money by going for an I7. Just get a I5-4690k it will be quite enough.

[Zero Jager X]

Admin89
You are right on the mobo and power supply. That was a quick 5 min build I threw together at work. The power supply is actually awful after looking at it for even 1 second. Do you think a jump from a i5 to an i7 is worth it for $100?

Datkid20
Thank's for the build. That definitely makes more sense.

Tential
A CD Drive and Wireless Card would be nice but now that I think about it, I'm probably just going to reuse the CD Drive and Wireless Card from the previous tower.


Here's a question regarding Datkid20's build. Is it worth it to get the Samsung 850 Pro? There's a deal on a Crucial M550 SSD on Newegg and Amazon for $90. That's a huge discount and I can use the money elsewhere in this build like say the i7 4790k suggested by admin89. The question becomes, is it worth the discount even though according to this performance comparison:

http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Samsung-850-Pro-256GB-vs-Crucial-M550-256GB/2385vs2000

That the Samsung is clearly better? Is the performance gain negligible?

[DatKid20]

I would get the Crucial as long as you look up reviews for it and find that it is reliable. The I7-4790k isn't worth it if you don't need hyperthreading.

[admin89]

Quote:Do you think a jump from a i5 to an i7 is worth it for $100?

i7 4790k turbo clock speed is 4.4GHz , no need to overclock . You will need to overclock i5 4690k to 4.4GHz if you want the same performance as i7 in Dolphin . However
_Overclocking will shorten lifespan of CPU and increase power consumption (you will pay more for power bill and higher wattage power supply)
_Even if you overclock the i5 4690k , no way in hell i5 will be as fast as an i7 . (4cores 4 threads vs 4cores 8threads) . In multi-tasking or video encoding , i7 will crush maximum overclock i5 . Keep in mind that recent PC games has started supporting multi-threaded CPU , i7 is future-proof
You could get a dirt-cheap board such as Asrock B85 Anniversary and 430-500W PSU from Seasonic if you chose i7 4790k . Stock Intel cooler is fine for that i7

[Zero Jager X]

Ok so we are approaching the home stretch. At this point I'm just fine tuning and having a little fun with the little extra money we have to throw around.

So, I have decided that this is the build we are going with:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/n3TvvK

To explain the SSD and HDD:

The models are just place holders but in actuality I bought a crucial m550 256gb SSD for $90 during a great sale. Was originally $200.
Got a 1 TB HDD at 7200 RPM for $50.

That leaves us with ~$100 to play with even after choosing to go with an i7 for an extra $80.

I found a pretty decent price on 16gb of ram. Up from the 8gb proposed in the build in the link.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226337&ignorebbr=1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

There didn't seem to be any differences between the two sets as far as specs go. (At least as far as I can see)

Is it worth that extra $50 to double the RAM in this build? If not, where else can I maximize the use of that final $100? Is there any better mobo's to upgrade to?

[AnyOldName3]

RAM over 8GB is only really useful if you're doing video editing, complex 3D rendering, scientific computing, or other professional tasks, or using RAMdisks. RAMdisks are fun and fast, but not hugely necessary if you've got an SSD with most of your important stuff on.