This comment was posted to reddit on Mar 06, 2015 at 11:43 pm and was deleted within 20 hour(s) and 37 minutes.
Beginners Help
Sorry about the delayed reply! Try the following build, it will max out all games at 1080p 60fps+++++ and will still max out most competitive games up to 4K resolutions 60fps.
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total (before mail-in rebates)
$913.52
Mail-in rebates
-$83.00
Total
$830.52
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-06 23:43 EST-0500
CPU and cooler: The FX-8320 performs comparably to the often-recommended 4690K but costs $60-100 less, making it a better value choice, especially since games are going to be mostly GPU-bound. The CPU cooler, the Hyper 212 Evo, is one of the best, and best value, cooling solutions for your CPU.
Motherboard: The Gigabyte 970A UD3P is a great full-featured ATX form factor board with plenty of built in power and cooling for overclocking and getting the most from your CPU
GPU: The R9 290 has about the same performance as the GTX970 but is priced $70-$100 less. I'd like to note that the Anandtech benchmarks were performed with the R9 290's stock cooler, which was Terrible for cooling and noise. Any of the aftermarket coolers (such as the XFX unit in the above build) will get better performance and cooling while running quieter than the original benchmarks.
Case: The Corsair Graphite 230T looks good, has modular HDD bays, great airflow, easy cable management, and comes with 3 fans from factory. If you don't like red fans (or even fans that light up), the BitFenix Spectre Pro (newegg link for pictures - buy from here, just search the model #) is probably the best looking static-pressure-optimized fan that comes in PWM/non-PWM/LED/non-LED models in sizes from 120mm to 230mm. The 230T comes with great fans, but if you need to replace them, those fans will be the best bang for your buck.
HDD/SSD: The hard drive has plenty of space for the price, the SSD will reduce load times for Windows and your most used programs. Woo!
OS: DO NOT buy Windows7/8/8.1 retail. Get it for $10-$25 from /r/microsoftsoftwareswap from a legit/verified seller. It will be a legit key that comes with your free Windows10 upgrade.
RAM: For most major brands, all RAM is basically created equal. G.Skill is extremely reliable as a brand, and they don't charge an arm and a leg. I chose the single 8GB stick to give you maximum upgrade room and because games don't benefit from dual channel RAM to speak of. If you prefer 2x4GB or want to go with 16GB there's definitely room in the budget.
PSU: EVGA makes great power supplies, and 750W easily powers this build with room for a 2nd GPU or just other additions to the build. It is 80+ Bronze certified so you know it will be efficient and not start a fire in your house. <3