Gaming PC Under $1350

The time has come- my current gaming laptop doesn't fit the bill any longer and I figured I might as well sell it before it loses all monetary value.

I'm in the market for a gaming PC. I'd like to keep it under ~$1350, but I'd say my absolute maximum is $1400 or thereabout. I can't accurately predict what this machine will primarily be used for with any degree of authority, but I can safely say that some amount of gaming, basic software development and fairly intensive video editing will be done. In terms of games, I can guarantee I'll be running BeamNG, as well as things such as War Thunder and CS:GO.

The build I have put together is this:

__________
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.95 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($101.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.94 @ Adorama)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($52.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($544.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer G226HQLBbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1332.63
__________


I'm fairly well-versed in the realm of computers and their mechanics, but (as it stands currently) this is my first PC build. Any input/alternatives/suggestions are greatly appreciated.
__________
EDIT: revision 1

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.95 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($52.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($339.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($43.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.95 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer G226HQLBbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1195.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-19 16:44 EDT-0400

 

You will need more than a 430W PSU. 650W would be a far safer bet.

 

Get a Windows key off /r/microsoftsoftwareswap, saved money towards PSU.

 

Really? I didn't think it would be that power-hungry. Shows how much I know about this stuff

That being said, I think 650W might be a little bit overkill. Wouldn't 600W be enough?

 

500W PSU minimum for a 980, and go 80+ bronze or better.

Also, 980 is overkill for 1080p, go 970, and save $200.

 

I'm getting the 980 in anticipation of a future monitor upgrade. It's one or the other at this point (in terms of how much I can afford), so I went with the 980 and figured that I'd get a better monitor somewhere far down the road. Now that I think about it, this might not be the best plan...

 

Also if you're going into video editing, it would be best to go with an i7, you're gonna need the extra cores.

 

Okay- revised build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.95 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($52.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($339.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($43.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.95 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer G226HQLBbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1195.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-19 16:44 EDT-0400
__
After getting rid of the OS, switching to the 970, and ditching the Z97 and getting the H97 instead, I was able to get the i7 and 16GB of ram while staying significantly under budget. Figures.

I've fallen out of touch with the latest GPU advancements... how would a 970 run graphics intensive games in comparison to a 980 in 1080p?

 

Cool... I'm guessing you're able to run BeamNG at max? Judging by your videos, I would assume so.

 

No tech here but a 970 anything should run BeamNG at 1080p just fine. 980 for 4K?

 

That makes sense.

For whatever reason, the parts lists didn't update when I saved them. Fixed...

 

This might be in the back of your change, more HZ in the monitor department, 75, 120? That will need a stronger video card. Did you remember DirectX12 if this is to be a gaming computer? PSU should be good, could be gold and then that leaves headway. Buy a few high static flow fans that will remove toupees.

Nobody mentioned BlueScreen's buyers guide to these things, so I hope he does not mind me linking it here. Computer-building-guide

The neat idea I saw recently was, forget the optical drives, buy twin 5inch bay HDD tray adapters. Remove standard HDD cages, mount OS SSD's behind the montherboard and storage disk drives in the bays, plenty of air cooling capacity.

 

When i've upgraded my computer, i concentrated on the better cpu/memory/graphics i could, and cheaped out all other peripherals. this seems to have given my the best 'bang for buck'.

try avoiding upselling. eg if a cheap pair of speakers will do the same job as an expensive set, get the cheapies.

 

Definitely. If BeamNG is the sole basis for a PC upgrade ( like mine was ), then the "horsepower under the hood" is the paramount objective
in my opinion. Peripherals and 2nd tier goodies can come later.

 

While we are on the subject of upgrades, I am thinking about a graphics card for my HP 500-336. I am currently planning on buying the EVGA GeForce 620. Is that a good choice?

 

Good choice if you wish to spend cash for no reason. The 620 wont be any better than your integrated chipset minus having CUDA support and dedicated VRAM, not going to make any difference at all.

Nvidia model numbering is the generation (6) followed by model (20). 6th gen was replaced by 7th gen in turn now replaced with 9 (they skipped 8 for desktop parts, there are 8 series mobile parts). So you are effectively looking at a 2 generations old card. Model 20, the 10 and 20 cards were intended for machines that do not have a video output from factory (certain AMD or Intel Xeon builds do not have any integrated graphics) but dont actually require hardware acceleration for gaming, they are suitable for media playback only and not for gaming. The 50 is your absolute bare minimum card for gaming, 60 and 70 preferable, the 80 and 90 then become more oriented towards maxing AAA games on large resolutions.


620. Pile of wank.

Bare minimum budget card now? 750, preferably a 750 Ti. Recommended, 960 or 970. Thats NVidia wise anyway. I know little about AMD offerings, I hate them, I am yet to come across an AMD GPU equipped machine that hasnt had issues and refuse to touch or recommend them myself, someone else can help on that front, I ain't going there.

 

Of course. I don't really need to worry about that because I have most of the peripherals I need already; I just need a monitor. That monitor I included was the cheapest full HD that I could find.

 

you can save some money and buy an gtx 970 instead, you dont need more horsepower to run BeamNG Warthunder and CS:GO at 4K 60fps