PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($103.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($224.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $951.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Looking for a decent 1k build that can handle 120fps constant in TF2 and CSGO (the most intensive game I would play is like Bioshock Infinite) so I can upgrade to a 120hz in the future. Above is what I have so far but I just kinda threw it together without much prior knowledge.

I'd recommend switching the 3570k to a 4670k ($210 at NCIX atm) and the Z77 Pro3 to the Z87 Pro4 ($105 at NewEgg)

#182
Overclocking yes or no?

No.

Processor - i7-3630QM

Ram - 16 g

Nvidia HD graphics 4000 and NVIDIA ge gtx 680M

It's a laptop, btw.

No reason to use outdated parts. LGA1155 is last gen, current intel gen is LGA1150, pick up a Haswell and a LGA1150 mobo for the same price.

#185
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($204.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($239.35 @ TigerDirect)
Total: $1027.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

If you can get windows any cheaper or a free OS (Linux, SteamOS, whatever you want) you can get a 120Hz monitor.
60 fps on Ultra are pretty much guaranteed. 120fps average (will be below 120 sometimes) in Bioshock Infinite (1080p, high) might possible if you overclock the 280. If you want any more than that you'd probably have to delay the 120Hz monitor like you orginally planned, to get a better GPU.

You can also drop the CPU down to a 4570 to get closer/stay under 1k.

#186
That's nice honey.

Hey. My computer's getting pretty old and now that I have money, I'd like to upgrade it. Now I haven't really looked into it too much as of lately, so I'm not too sure what to get, and figured I could start from people suggesting things here. What I want from a computer:

BUDGET: ANYWHERE FROM 1000$ TO 2000$

I'd like my computer to be able to land an easy 300+ fps on TF2 while running a fps cfg of coure, and a good amount of fps on cs:go as well. Being able to run modern games at decent fps is also a must for me, considering I do play quite a lot of recent games when they get out.

The computer must also have:
- An SSD (ideally 240GB or higher)
- An nvidia GPU (not a fan of the other options tbh)
- An intel processor (once again not a fan of the other options and intel has always been really good to me)

Also, I will need a copy of windows. Should I get windows 7 or windows 8? Figured windows 8 is probably better since win 7 will eventually lose support. I already have a monitor, keyboard, mouse and everything needed outside of the computer. Thanks in advance. While everybody tries to make PCPartPicker lists, I'll do some researches on my own and try to find what I want/don't want.

What mobo would you recommend? The current one I have only comes in LGA1155.

also; a diff cpu i assume

Hey Flatline,
For the LGA 1150 motherboard- Do you think you would ever do SLI or crossfire, or are you more of a single GPU person?

If you're likely to only use a single GPU this is a good budget option- has killer NIC and very good onboard sound quality for the price point:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157501&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

You also get an M2 express slot, Asrock IMO is the best for budget boards. I'm actually doing a build right not using this, and it seemed like the best bang for the buck feature wise.

the i5-4690k is what you would be looking at for processors if you're looking at the latest unlocked i5.

I probably wouldn't ever use dual GPUs. I'll look at what you've recommended.

So this is what it looks like now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($224.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $987.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

I was thinking of getting a case fan as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.25 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus Z97M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.12 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£74.91 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.04 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£218.12 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£64.19 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£50.92 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.32 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£185.99 @ Aria PC)
Keyboard: Zalman ZM-K500 Wired Mini Keyboard (£29.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1005.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

First build after saving for some months, aiming for £1k including a monitor, already have a Windows license. 128GB SSD required, other specs can be lowered a bit to meet price limit. 120fps 1080p in CS:GO as a target for gaming, though I'll also be using it for OpenCL video rendering so I'd like a good GPU.
Basically just not sure about the PSU. I'll probably overclock the i5 in the future and I don't know if this is too much or too little.

Looking for keyboard & monitor suggestions too. Wired & tenkeyless, don't care for mechanical or gaming brands. 1080p minimum, 16:10 preferred, don't care for super low latency. I put in the Zalman and Dell in for a rough price estimate.

Any other comments are also welcome of course, if I've made a mistake somewhere please point it out.

A quick question: do you think an i5 would be enough to stream tf2 at 720p, or is it worth dishing out the extra hundred for the 4 threads?

i5 will be more than enough

#192
I thought you didn't want to overclock (#185). The build in #188 was based on the assumption you didn't.

#193
OC'ing I guess?
Any reason for the RAM?
Need CUDA?
Monitor for Photo or Video editing?
http://teamfortress.tv/thread/12649/the-keyboard-thread
Mechanical is worth it though, imho.

#194
i5 is indeed enough.

Talked to Bluee outside of this thread, given him a more balanced build albeit with an £1,100 budget. Needs OpenCL so AMD would be better than NVidia for that, but it's on lots of proprietary software on Linux that's only been tested with NVidia.

Got David's build below 1k with a few tweaks.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.25 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z87M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£63.94 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£110.27 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£218.12 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£31.19 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£45.36 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.32 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£185.99 @ Aria PC)
Keyboard: Zalman ZM-K500 Wired Mini Keyboard (£29.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £978.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

GA-Z97M-G43 if you want an M.2 slot.
The N200 and the Prodigy are about the same size. If you still want mini-ITX and don't need an M.2 slot get the GA-Z87N-WIFI.
Are you going to calibrate that monitor?

Thanks David & Setsul.

Went digging a bit more and CUDA is supported, so Nvidia isn't a problem.
Overclocking eventually. RAM was just lifted from another build guide, no real reason for it. Aiming for 8-16G, which you've probably picked up from David's build. I usually have 2 VMs running while working, and I'd like to bump them to 4GB each.
I will be calibrating the monitor, plan to do some light video editing and UI design work.
Leaning towards mATX.

Thanks for the keyboard thread too, I'll take a look at it.

Sorry, another Q.
Would you reckon a gtx 760 with a 4670k will be enough for tf2 on say, dx9frames while keeping a stable 120-200 or so fps? Thank you.

Edit: my monitor is going to be 144hz

#199
Glad I could help.

#200
Yes, if the next updates don't hit too hard 240fps should be possible.

I didn't want to overclock, my mobo was a gen old and my other processor wasn't compatible with the new gen

I still can't figure out what you mean. The question was about the new build.
I'm always going through a checklist.
Location & budget: US, 1k
Parts at hand: none
Performance: 120fps TF2 & CS:GO, Bioshock Infinite ? fps @ ?
Overclocking: ?

Correct me if anything is wrong and fill in the ?s.

I have a 6850 and want to upgrade. I'm looking at getting something around $150Cad so I'm looking at the 750ti but also found this deal on a 6970. Would I get more performance buying 1 of these single cards or should I get a 2nd 6850 for $90? Also I'm running a 500w psu so I'm not sure if I'll have enough for 2 cards.

750 ti http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487025 (140+10shipping-10rebate)
6970 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131578 (120+15shipping)

WHAT DO I DO!?
I'm not looking to play anything crazy. Just want more frames in tf2. Running a 2550K @ 4.0ghz with it.

750ti isn't exactly a straight upgrade

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-6970-vs-Radeon-HD-6850
6970 is a straight upgrade other than power usage

finally
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-6970-vs-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti
I'd say the 6970 is better than the 750ti in alot of the areas that matter. Also don't expect anymore fps in TF2 with either of these cards really, TF2 is mostly limited by the CPU.

keep in mind thought that the 6970 uses roughly as much power as 2 6850s, but it only takes 1 slot on your motherboard and needs only 1 power adapter while both 6850s would need power adapters.

#204
PSU model?
Depending on the game (scaling) 2 6850s should get you better performance. However Crossfire can introduce a couple of issues, most notably microstuttering. Also if you have a 1GB 6850 you shouldn't run Crossfire unless you're running all games at less than 1080p.
Check the motherboard, it might not support Crossfire anyway.

Forget about the 6970. Get a 260X instead. Same performance as the 6970 or 750Ti, same power consumption as the 6850.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r7260x2gd5oc
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127762

The 750 Ti uses the least power but it'll be more expensive than the 260X.

#205
I'm not sure how the 750 Ti isn't a straight upgrade, same performance as the 6970 at a quarter of the power consumption. http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1061?vs=1130
Also the 6970 would need two power connectors aswell. The 750 Ti needs none.

Sorry, just saw this.

~100fps @ bioshock @ 1366x768 (would probably upgrade to 1920x1080 later)
no overclocking
hopefully getting tf2/csgo to run well @ 120hz (if i ever upgrade to 120hz in the future)

Wasn't really aware a site actually had a compiled list like this. On every site I found gpuboss, and hwcompare showed that the 6970 and 6850 had better Shaders, Pixel, and Texture rate which the vast majority of the time = better card. The only thing I could find that the 750ti had going for it really was power usage.

Unless of course those benchmarks on anandtech were using DX 11 in which case it would make perfect sense that the 750ti did -slightly- better

Also might be worth looking at R7 265s and R9 270s (if those go on a good sale)

What should I expect my fps to be in TF2 if I decide to go with this build? (probably minus the 144hz monitor)
And streaming shouldn't cause my fps to really drop with this build, should it?
I won't be able to buy anything til the end of the month but I just wanted to have an idea of a good build so I can order it as soon as I have the money.

Need some help on my first PC build. Basically the most intensive thing I want to do is be able to play TF2 at near max quality, and stream at 60 fps, HQ at least.

For now,

Intel Core i7 4770 - 200$
Motherboard - ?
GPU, I'm thinking this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-Radeon-R9-290-TRI-X-4GB-GDDR5-/201148104551?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item2ed55c7f67
Case, Corsair Air 540 with 3 extra fans, 80$
Kingston HyperX Beast 2 x 4 GB Ram 2400 mhz, 90$

Tips?

Hopefully this is the right place for this

I've recently come upon a decent sized influx of cash, and I am hoping that you all could help me choose what to upgrade on my current pc.
Here is my computer: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285

Everything that it listed there, I have except my cpu is an AMD FX-4200, the graphics card is a Radeon 6670, and the case is some Azza case.

I realize that it is pre-made, but when I bought it a while back, I was quite scared of building a pc from scratch, so I took the coward's way out.

The end goal of this is to upgrade the computer to an extent that I can record demos and such in fraps/dxtory and have it not lag, and have enough space to hold the end file (My current 500gb drive is almost full, so any suggestions on an additional drive would be greatly appreciated). I have an upgrading budget of around $300-400.

I will be very grateful for any help I receive