Hi all, I met someone playing Arma 3 yesterday who was interested in building a computer but didn't really know how to build one or where to start learning. I referred him to this forum but he still wants me to recommend a build for his needs to him, which is fine.
Anyways, he says he does do some twitch streaming, and he does do some light video editing, though it's not super important.
The computer will mostly be used for gaming, and light work sometimes.
He wanted to go with the i5 4690k instead of an FX 8350 so that he could get better performance in Arma 2 and 3.
This is the build he put together and asked me if it was good: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nssgK8
I told him that personally I would change the CPU cooler to the Hyper 212 EVO, and that I would add an SSD, such as a Kingston HyperX 3k.
Also, he said his budget is around $1200.
So what do you guys think he should get? I told him I would email him with a list of parts I think would be best for him, and you can never go wrong with this communities help.
Thanks in advance,
~Tas
Well, if this is his first build, then he probably hasn't overclocked. Does he plan to overclock?
I agree with the Hyper 212. SSD would be nice, but imo not mandatory.
Power supply is a bit overkill as well, even with two GTX 970s.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2X4vvK
I asked and he said "what is overclocking?" so, probably no.
Anyways, apparently he lives in Kenya so I referred him to a shipping service that ships to Kenya. I like your suggestion and I'll probably recommend it to him, thanks!
The build looks mostly fine. The PSU only needs to be around 500-600W (for one 970) so that 750W for the current build is unnecessary. The SSD choice just comes down to how much he wants to spend. The HyperX 3K is solid and the SSDNow variants are decent value for money too.
If the 4690k performs anything like the 3570k, the FX-8350 would run circles around it in Arma 2 and 3 from what I remember of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4et7kDGSRfc . Doing some more research into particular games on particular CPUs would be worth your time.
I have to stronggly disagree with the SSDNow recommendation... they are absolutely terrible SSDs... get a Crucial if you're ggoing low-end, or Samsung/Intel if he wants a high-end one... Corsair also makes a pretty good one in their mid-range and higher line... their low-end Force LX has fantastic read but slow write speeds (which for an OS drive is fine)...
I would also like to state you can't have a fast feeling computer without an SSD... all the processing power in the world can't overwrite the slow read/speed of the HDD :P
So I would build Tech Noob's recommendation and add a decent SSD... what's $60 in a mound of <$1000? But the performance increase is one of the biggest components in the system...