The Cohhilition

Hey guys. I'm pretty new to the Cohhilition community, but have been enjoying it immensely. I think this summer, I'm gonna try to finally make the switch over to a desktop. I've been gaming on laptops that are not at all meant for it, and have been tossing around the idea of potentially streaming, and all that. So, here's what I'll be working with and looking for. Any help is very much appreciated! Thanks!

My budget is $1250
I live in: Akron, Ohio
Operating system: I'll probably be using windows 8.1. doesn't need to be included in budget.
Monitor: I've got a couple monitors laying around the house I'll probably use. Or perhaps a television. Doesn't need to be included in the budget.
Gaming resolution : I'll probably run two monitors. One for the game, and one for web/streams/chat/etc. Resolution, probably 1080p.
Peripherals?: I'm used to using a laptop keyboard with a Naga mouse. So, I don't think I would initially need a fancy keyboard.
Will you do overclocking? Probably not? I'm not entirely hip to how that all goes. If it's relatively easy, and wouldn't sacrifice stability issues, then I wouldn't be against it.
What are you planning to do with the pc?: Mainly gaming. And gaming wise, I mostly play MMOs, and some indie stuff on steam. I'd like to be able to stream with it. My roommate and I are planning on starting a podcast, so probably audio editing. However, I can most likely do that stuff on my current laptop.

Here's a little something I whipped up, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3uEDR.
It will handle gaming no problem, as well as audio editing. Included the unlocked CPU so you can overclock if you wish. The GPU has dual DVI output and DisplayPort so you can run 2+ monitors simultaneously at 1920x1080 no problem. Of course nothing is set in stone, but with a $1250 budget, you'll get a machine that's along the lines of what I've put together here.

That was super fast, thanks! I get some money here in about two weeks, and will be makin the purchases then. Thanks for the help!

I made a little different setup : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3vadz

I downgraded the 840 Pro to a 840 EVO (mainly write speed difference for regular users, and not something you'll notice a bunch)
I also downgraded the HDD from 2TB to 1TB

I swapped the case and the mobo

and then.. I could upgrade the GFX from GTX770 to a GTX780!
the PSU was also swapped for a 750W psu (still 80PLUS Bronze certified)

And there's still $30 to spare.. so in theory you might be able to find a 2TB disk instead of the 1TB one.

I haven't been the greatest at picking motherboards, and I was having trouble finding a Z87 board under $100, but Ashardis did and thats good. In general I would go with Ashardis' setup, although I do prefer the Antec case. ;D

the antec case has no USB3.0 front port! you have $30 extra to spend on a case, so should be able to find one

i would go with ash's build but i do love the more mid-high end motherboards so i made some adjustments:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3vl9h
the board has a better board than ash, better psu and a faster hdd but its 20$ over budget so..... i think its worth it because you got sli opportunities for the future and the board looks solid for overclocking if you should do that(although you need a better cooler). Btw my friend has that case and he is really font of it, it is really light and he said it was good bang for the buck.

Quick question on this. None of the builds mention any sort of cooling. Does that mean that the case fans and GPU/CPU stock fans will be enough?

I hadn't even though of this to be honest lol. If you go with Ash's case, no fans are included but up to 6 can be used it seems, although, you shouldn't need more than 2-3, 1 120mm in front, 1 120mm in back and maybe 1 120mm on top. It seems like my case comes with 4 fans included which would be plenty for airflow.
The only other thing you'd need to really worry about is maybe upgrading the CPU cooler to something like a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (or similar) and really only if you plan to OC your cpu. A good enough CPU cooler won't run you more than $40 generally.

If you take Ash's build, and add another $60 to it, that could easily be your final budget to include a CPU and case fans.

the box cooler that comes with the CPU is "adequate".. but for a nicer, less noisy, experience, the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO is a very nice cost-friendly solution.
having atleast 2 120mm fans all in all (1 in front, 1 in the back) pulling air in/out in total is worth it.. depending on which case you pick these come with or can be put in at build (or later).

The GFX uses its own coolers and they'll do fine.. provided that the air inside the case is replaced at a decent pace, hence the aforementioned 2x120mm fans.

Thank you so much for your help so far, guys.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3xajN

This is what I'm lookin at right now. It's a little over budget, but I can get all the parts in store at the Micro Center near me. I don't mind paying slightly more to not have to wait for the mail, and the convenience of just driving over to RMA anything that might need it. Also, they had some pretty solid bundles with the 4670k processor and MOBO, so I am able to save about a hundred bucks, which isn't reflected in the partpicker site. Let me know what you think, and if any of the parts are garbage, or whatnot. I think most of them were suggested from you guys, other than the case and I added an optical drive, because I refuse to admit we don't live in the 90s anymore.

you dont need the fans since the case already got two
http://www.microcenter.com/product/3982 ... Bare_Drive
take this drive since seagates got shorter lifespan
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4263 ... Controller
if you want to save 25$ ive used this drives in two builds and i dont really know why everyone favours samsung except that their pro series has long lifespan.
also i would like a higher end psu:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4045 ... wer_Supply
you do as you want but this i what i would have done

The build looks really solid to me!

Regarding hellojello, I can only see 1 case fan included with the case, not two, I could be mistaken though. The Corsair PSU is plenty good for this build.

If the case does indeed only come with 1 fan, throw the 2 Kingston fans you're buying on the front panel blowing across your drives into the case and you'll be good to go! If it comes with two, I would imagine 1 would already be in the front, so throw 1 of your Kingston fans up front and the other on the top-back slot (if you cpu cooler allows it, otherwise top-front), and you'll have a good setup.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the advice! Where do you see how many fans come with the case? I had originally put the two fans onto the build because I couldn't find where the fans were listed on the case, so I just assumed no fans. edit: i just read a bunch of the newegg reviews on the case, and it comes with two fans. I might hold off on getting the two cheap ones in case they aren't necessary.
At this point, it's just a waiting game to get my check around the second week of next month. I'll update when I get the stuff, or if there are any changes I decide on. I might still upgrade the PSU, as my experience, coupled with the advice from many many people on the interwebz, shows that you get what you pay for, and the PSU quality seems like something that should have high priority on not cutting corners.

thelg59 wrote:The build looks really solid to me!

Regarding hellojello, I can only see 1 case fan included with the case, not two, I could be mistaken though. The Corsair PSU is plenty good for this build.

If the case does indeed only come with 1 fan, throw the 2 Kingston fans you're buying on the front panel blowing across your drives into the case and you'll be good to go! If it comes with two, I would imagine 1 would already be in the front, so throw 1 of your Kingston fans up front and the other on the top-back slot (if you cpu cooler allows it, otherwise top-front), and you'll have a good setup.

Good luck!

Yeah i know the power supply is good enough but i like the more highend and to get fully modular,gold and 5(up to 10) years warrenty i think is worth the 30$. i was looking at an unboxing of the case and i saw two fans but i think it depends, in linustech's video about arc midi r2(i think) there is three fans but you only get two. btw are those fans worth buying they seem really low quality

So I had another question. I just realized how much easier and safer it is to overclock CPUs and GPUs these days. Would that CPU cooler be sufficient for an overclock up to about 4.3-4.4 gHz?

Don't see why it wouldn't be. I've seen numerous threads on Tom's Hardware and Anandtech stating they've gotten an i5-4670k to that range (and higher) with the CM Hyper 212 EVO with no problems.