What PC would you build right now with....

[Scavar]

I'm curious to see what people come up with and what they decide are the most important part of their PC setups. Obviously it needs to be able to run Star Citizen. So here's the challenge:

• You are limited to 2000$ USD for the entire project and you have absolutely no spare resources or parts.
• You must include an OS and any other software you feel is required
• It must be self built, no prebuilt/boutique systems
• HARDMODE: Get everything from a single source/website
• EXTRAHARDMODE: Only 1000$ USD, all other requirements still in place

I'm bored, I want to see if anyone will even do this. Maybe I should do it, but I probably won't!

 

[SARGE]

If already built a PC (I always do) does that count...or do I have to build a new one from scratch?

 

[The Chaos Pope]

Here's my single vendor entry: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CBhZvK

This build turned out remarkably similar to my current PC build. PC Part Picker didn't have the Amazon price listing for the OS, so I manually searched for it and entered the price. If you prefer to go with Windows 7, the price is similar. Monitor, keyboard and mouse are taking a fairly substantial chunk of the budget, so if you wanted to go cheaper on those, you could go with a larger SSD or different video card but since it's a gaming machine I think the presentation and interaction is important as well. Could go cheaper on the case as well, but this is the case I'm currently using and I'm pretty happy with it. Easy to work in, good airflow/cooling options and extraordinarily quiet.

Processor is the Core i5-4690K. Unlocked multiplier for overclocking. If you're not interested in overclocking, then the Core i5-4690 is a few dollars cheaper. There's literally $5 difference in the price on Amazon, so I see little reason not to get the unlocked version. Going with an i7 isn't necessary and generally counterproductive for gaming since few games support hyperthreading.

Motherboard supports 32gb of memory and SLI/crossfire so there's room for expansion later. This is the motherboard I'm currently using (with an i7-4790) with a similar memory configuration. BIOS was easy to navigate and set up. The more gaming oriented motherboards will have more/better options for overclocking/SLI etc but will increase the price.

The optical drive was literally the cheapest I could find. The only thing that you'll likely be using this for is installing the OS. If you have an 8gb flash drive, you could install from USB instead.

Video card: The GTX 970 runs Arena Commander smoothly at the native resolution of the monitor (1920x1200) on high. I've also had no issues with everything else I've thrown at my GTX 970. The 970 has ridiculously low power draw compared to previous generations of cards, you should have no issues going with a lower wattage power supply than the one chosen. The PSU was purchased with a much different video card setup in mind (Dual Radeon R9 280x).

Full disclosure: I don't work for Corsair and they're not giving me any money, I just happen to like their products. However, I do work for Dell.

 

[NKato]

A budget of $1,200 is all you need for a decent rig, but I wouldn't build the PC just yet. Wait until the end of 2015 to see what the GPU market offers that can outstrip current and last-gen cards.

 

[maynard]

what NKato said

also DDR4 memory is supposedly twice as fast as DDR3 but way more expensive. The cost will come down over time so you will get more for your $$ closer to launch.

 

[NKato]

what NKato said

also DDR4 memory is supposedly twice as fast as DDR3 but way more expensive. The cost will come down over time so you will get more for your $$ closer to launch.

However, switching to DDR4 requires a motherboard update and along with that, a new CPU. The i7 3770k is unlikely to be available on a compatible motherboard with DDR4. (Which is the chip I have right now)

There's a lot of costs associated, I'm perfectly satisfied with staying on DDR3, since I've got 16GB o' it.

 

[GrammarGestapo]

I wouldn't build now, we're right on the cusp of new generation parts for almost everything. Best to wait.

 

[Hitsugan]

A budget of $1,200 is all you need for a decent rig, but I wouldn't build the PC just yet. Wait until the end of 2015 to see what the GPU market offers that can outstrip current and last-gen cards.

What he said. Stick with yours for now and suffer a little, then get a new one later this year. The best moment is when the new GPU gen comes out, so the older gen is cheaper.

 

[GrammarGestapo]

1200 is not a decent rig, it's an exceptionally expensive rig. Here's something anti-squeaker found that is a great sub-1000 dollar rig, not including OS, monitor, and keyboard+mouse.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/G3fjgs

 

[Captain]

Personally - Chomping at the Bit...
But, just know if I can hold the hinges of the wallet together till June/July time frame, that will be the best price break on 2014 High-end Gear.
The 5820 i7 looks to get you good multi-threading & performance w/o breaking the bank. And from everything I have heard, you'll want to stick with MB's & GPU's that will handle SLI (not Cross-Fire), as SLI is looking more wide spread, with new game support and much more stable than CF.

 

[GrammarGestapo]

Personally - Chomping at the Bit...
But, just know if I can hold the hinges of the wallet together till June/July time frame, that will be the best price break on 2014 High-end Gear.
The 5820 i7 looks to get you good multi-threading & performance w/o breaking the bank. And from everything I have heard, you'll want to stick with MB's & GPU's that will handle SLI (not Cross-Fire), as SLI is looking more wide spread, with new game support and much more stable than CF.

meh, crossfire and SLI are not the best idea. Unless you've purchased the most expensive GPU, you're better off going up a tier.

 

[CGPepper]

I dunno on what verge we are right now, but stacked ram gpu is not due until 2016-2017(nVidia). In theory, ddr4 is a beast, but in real world tests there is almost non performance gain for twice the price. Beast cpu will keep being a beast.
Get i7-4790k /i5- 4690k and gtx 980 / 970 and upgrade mid/late 2017 while running everything like a warm knife through butter in the process

 

[GrammarGestapo]

I dunno on what verge we are right now, but stacked ram gpu is not due until 2016-2017(nVidia). In theory, ddr4 is a beast, but in real world tests there is almost non performance gain for twice the price. Beast cpu will keep being a beast.
Get i7-4790k /i5- 4690k and gtx 980 / 970 and upgrade mid/late 2017 while running everything like a warm knife through butter in the process

bleh, Nvidia.

 

[DragonHeart]

I upgraded a few weeks ago, got this sweet baby for 2k.
With i7-4790k, GTX 980, 16g ram, 240g sdd, and all the shiny extras like liquid cooler and blue steel lights.
I'm ready for SC anytime !

 

[Annitias]

A i7 would be on my list. While I saw a few go i5, reason being CE3 (cry engine) chews threads and spits them back out. An upcoming sdk should open CE3 to use all 8 threads fully.

Also DO NOT buy a GPU this month. You be be pissed come next month when info starts coming out.

As a big win7 fan, 8.1 is slightly cheaper on sale now and can be set to run like 7 (as well as 1.9% faster than 7 in benching)

As far as memory, good c9/10 ddr3 2133 will beat most ddr4 on the market with the exception of the faster 3000+ (read: stupid expensive).

A big SSD is not needed to enjoy SC. Seriously, you can pick up a decent 120gb for less than 70 on sale quite often. Any more is really not needed at this point but nice to have.

Don't need to drop a ton to get a good case. PSU is important. Super important. For a normal gaming rig, expect to drop 80-110 on this.

Cooling. I will say this once. The stock cooler will work for just about everyone unless you need to push it hard or can hear ants in the wall. I do run custom water but it is massive overkill.

 

[Exarkun007]

What RussianJ said. Seriously. It's been stated many times that SC is being made for the bleeding edge hardware on release. Build a PC now and you'll be running it on medium and crying yourself to sleep.

 

[Annitias]

What RussianJ said. Seriously. It's been stated many times that SC is being made for the bleeding edge hardware on release. Build a PC now and you'll be running it on medium and crying yourself to sleep.

My 5ghz 4770k/ 4x 290x rig should still be fine at launch :cool:

 

[Exarkun007]

My 5ghz 4770k/ 4x 290x rig should still be fine at launch :cool:

4x 290? You trying to melt your way out of Siberia comrade?

 

[Annitias]

4x 290? You trying to melt your way out of Siberia comrade?

Quite the warmer there. Close all the upper floor vents, shirtless and shorts. Room is still in the mid 80sF

 

[Scavar]

I never said I was building a PC right now, haha. I agree with everyone saying that now is a poor time to actually build/buy/upgrade stuff. From everything I've been seeing it looks like the middle of this year will be opening up a lot of new things. Still thanks for everyones suggestions and thoughts, maybe it'll help out someone who needs to upgrade now, or who is just looking.