Gaming Rig Help ($2,000)

[Hankysmoo]

Hey Guys,

I've been out of the loop for a while and want to build a gaming rig for a friend that can stream games like League of Legends and fps like Team Fortress 2 on twitch.tv at 720p+ without lag. Budget is under $2,000. He doesn't want to overclock for now but may down the line. Please help me put together a good machine for him! Thanks!!

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming while live streaming.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread.
Under $2,000.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I plan to run the system at default speeds...maybe overclock further down the line.

5. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
At least 1920x1080.

6. WHEN do you plan to build it?
This month.

7. What items do you need help with? (No need for OS, monitor, keyboard, mouse)
CPU and HSF(if necessary), Video Card, SSD HDD, Midtower Case, Ram, Mobo (w/ onboard sound), Video Capture Card if it will help with streaming?

 

[DSF]

So with $2000 you have the budget to get a really nice monitor and play at a high res. (And/or go with a 2-monitor setup.) Would he rather spend most/all of his budget and do that, or keep it at 1080P and spend less of his money?

If he just plans to keep it at 1080P spending $2000 would be wasteful, it would be wiser to spend about $1200-1500 at the most and save the rest for future upgrades.

 

[Hankysmoo]

So with $2000 you have the budget to get a really nice monitor and play at a high res. (And/or go with a 2-monitor setup.) Would he rather spend most/all of his budget and do that, or keep it at 1080P and spend less of his money?

If he just plans to keep it at 1080P spending $2000 would be wasteful, it would be wiser to spend about $1200-1500 at the most and save the rest for future upgrades.

Thanks for the advice. He will use his monitor from his current rig. What's a good system to build for 1200 to 1500?

 

[Sleepingforest]

Check the $1000 build that mfenn put up, but get a CPU cooler ($25-50 more), a larger SSD ($60-80 more), and a Fractal R4 case ($50 more) for a total of about $1200.

 

[Hankysmoo]

Check the $1000 build that mfenn put up, but get a CPU cooler ($25-50 more), a larger SSD ($60-80 more), and a Fractal R4 case ($50 more) for a total of about $1200.

What's so good about a Fractal R4 case? Do I need to buy extra fans?

 

[Sleepingforest]

The R4 is really quiet and cools pretty well. It doesn't need more fans for a single GPU.

 

[mfenn]

Check the $1000 build that mfenn put up, but get a CPU cooler ($25-50 more), a larger SSD ($60-80 more), and a Fractal R4 case ($50 more) for a total of about $1200.

Pretty much. Even the stock $1000 build is way overkill for a LoL and TF2 machine (those are very easy games to run).

 

[Sleepingforest]

Yeah, a friend is running TF2 at over 200 frames with an i5-3470 and a 7850 stock. It's crazy how much things have advanced in 7(?) years.

 

[Hankysmoo]

This is the PC I spec'ed out so far:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/EGXu

Any advice/recommendations before I pull the trigger? I'm hoping this computer will be able to play and stream LoL and TF2 at 60fps @1080P max settings without any struggles (Will it be able to do this at stock speeds?). If not, please let me know if I need to upgrade the cpu further.

Thanks guys!

 

[Sleepingforest]

The PSU is still too powerful for what you need, and the Fractal R4 is really a better case than the 400R, but I suppose personal preference does play a role. You could probably find cheaper RAM too--"gaming" RAM with heatspreaders is no better than normal RAM.

LOL and TF2 will run on even really weak computers (one is designed that way and the other is simply extremely old); you'll have no problem streaming them at a good framerate.

 

[Hankysmoo]

I thought the psu would be good in case my friend wanted to go sli in the future. I then selected the case because of the combo.

Can you recommend a good psu and ram for this setup? I will probably opt for the Fractal R4 as well since you praise it so highly .

 

[Sleepingforest]

Go with this Crucial RAM for $43 plus shipping (sold out at Newegg for $42 FS, but it may go back in stock). It's low voltage, so you can tighten up the timings and increase the voltage to 1.5V if you want.

There is a Corsair CX600 at Newegg for $50 after a $20 rebate (ultimately the same cost as the 500W model). It probably won't support SLI, but SLI generally isn't worth it (SLI costs more than selling your old card and getting a new one, takes up more space, requires more watts, produces more heat, has glitches, and won't always work with games).

 

[mfenn]

I agree with Sleepingforest. Additionally, the motherboard is overkill and the GPU is just a plain bad value. Get these instead:

- Mobo: Biostar TZ77B $110 - comes with free RAM
- GPU: Sapphire 7950 3GB $290 AR - still way overkill for those games