Help with 1080p gaming PC shopping list
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 4:04 am
Hello there good people of the silentpcreview forum. I've been on here often, but now I think I'm ready to ask for advice.
I need help picking parts for my first build.
purpose:
1080p gaming, particularly EVE Online, light video editing, and everyday email/web/spreadsheets stuff, and maybe some other games.
budget:
ehhm.. as little as I can get away with while still achieving the purpose. I was _loosely_ aiming at €800 / $900
Notes:
Also, I'm located in germany.. But most parts are available at similar prices here. Only there is no newegg here... *weeps*
Indoor temps:
It's around 60°F in here now, and during summer I'm guesstimating it'd be around 70, though it can get to 90 indoors at the height of summer, only for a month at the very most.
____________
Parts I've outlined so far:
Display: I have a Dell U2414H 1920 x 1080 display, I'd use that at first and maybe get another of the same or similar in future... I'm thinking EVE on one display, TS3 and a bunch of spreadsheets and other eve tools on the other display
CPU: Xeon E3-1231 V3 (€250)
because the recommended CPU for EVE is an i7, but it seems the Xeon is much the same only cheaper and without the integrated gpu..?
GPU: GTX 960 (no idea which flavor yet though, evga/msi/gigabyte, two fans..?)
I keep hearing that the 960 is a disappointment, but I understand it should handle 1080p gaming alright and be enough to run EVE on max graphics without breaking a sweat- the recommended gpu is a GTX 560 so the 960 should be more than enough and work for most other games too?
Storage: A SSD is planned for now, maybe add a HDD later on.
RAM: 8GB should do it? Anything else to watch out for?
Oh, and an optical drive would be nice - I work on a rMBP that has no drive, so it'd be nice to have the option. I notice some cases don't have the slot though, so if it comes down to it, I'd prioritise a good affordable quiet case over it having a drive.
Aaaaand then I run into trouble.. The recommendations and reviews on this site are excellent, but I'm still confused as there's a bunch of variables I don't understand. What MoBo specs do I need, besides 1150 socket? Which chipset, H97 or B85..or something else? I know there's a good list of recommended cases, but ATX or microATX? Will a smaller case always be louder or be difficult to build for beginners? I have small hands but it's my first build. Which CPU cooler should I get, and how does that affect the case choice? Which case fans? Do I need a sound card? I'm not an audiophile but EVE has some nice music. How do I know what PSU to get? Since the Xeon has no integrated graphics, should I get a mobo with graphics.. or what purpose does that even serve? What about connectivity? etc etc etc.. ...And then I drown in browser tabs trying to figure all that out.
I share a studio apartment, hence I want it to be quiet
Thank you for reading, any advice appreciated!
-Hex
I need help picking parts for my first build.
purpose:
1080p gaming, particularly EVE Online, light video editing, and everyday email/web/spreadsheets stuff, and maybe some other games.
budget:
ehhm.. as little as I can get away with while still achieving the purpose. I was _loosely_ aiming at €800 / $900
Notes:
Also, I'm located in germany.. But most parts are available at similar prices here. Only there is no newegg here... *weeps*
Indoor temps:
It's around 60°F in here now, and during summer I'm guesstimating it'd be around 70, though it can get to 90 indoors at the height of summer, only for a month at the very most.
____________
Parts I've outlined so far:
Display: I have a Dell U2414H 1920 x 1080 display, I'd use that at first and maybe get another of the same or similar in future... I'm thinking EVE on one display, TS3 and a bunch of spreadsheets and other eve tools on the other display
CPU: Xeon E3-1231 V3 (€250)
because the recommended CPU for EVE is an i7, but it seems the Xeon is much the same only cheaper and without the integrated gpu..?
GPU: GTX 960 (no idea which flavor yet though, evga/msi/gigabyte, two fans..?)
I keep hearing that the 960 is a disappointment, but I understand it should handle 1080p gaming alright and be enough to run EVE on max graphics without breaking a sweat- the recommended gpu is a GTX 560 so the 960 should be more than enough and work for most other games too?
Storage: A SSD is planned for now, maybe add a HDD later on.
RAM: 8GB should do it? Anything else to watch out for?
Oh, and an optical drive would be nice - I work on a rMBP that has no drive, so it'd be nice to have the option. I notice some cases don't have the slot though, so if it comes down to it, I'd prioritise a good affordable quiet case over it having a drive.
Aaaaand then I run into trouble.. The recommendations and reviews on this site are excellent, but I'm still confused as there's a bunch of variables I don't understand. What MoBo specs do I need, besides 1150 socket? Which chipset, H97 or B85..or something else? I know there's a good list of recommended cases, but ATX or microATX? Will a smaller case always be louder or be difficult to build for beginners? I have small hands but it's my first build. Which CPU cooler should I get, and how does that affect the case choice? Which case fans? Do I need a sound card? I'm not an audiophile but EVE has some nice music. How do I know what PSU to get? Since the Xeon has no integrated graphics, should I get a mobo with graphics.. or what purpose does that even serve? What about connectivity? etc etc etc.. ...And then I drown in browser tabs trying to figure all that out.
I share a studio apartment, hence I want it to be quiet
Thank you for reading, any advice appreciated!
-Hex