After a 10 year hiatus from PC-gaming, I've decided to give it another try since I can't convince my friends to buy a PS4 to play games. My long time away from PC-gaming is making me kinda nervous and feeling pretty clueless when trying to pick out components for the build. I was hoping I could get a bit of feedback on what I've been looking at so far, and if there's anything you guys think I should consider changing. I haven't really decided on a budget for my build at this point, but I want a computer that will be able to play most games for a couple of years before I have to upgrade. Due to this I'm quite open to suggestions if you think I've made a terrible decision at any point.

So here goes:

Chassi: Fractal Design R5

Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VII RANGER

CPU: I guess I should go with a i7 right? I'm open for suggestions here.

RAM: Once again I'm open for suggestions and I'm not sure if I'm gonna go ahead and get 16gb right away or settle for 8gb to begin with.

Videocard: I'm leaning towards a Geforce 960 or 970.

I could also use a little help on how powerful my Power supply needs to be to keep all this running and hopefully not having to replace it if I decide to upgrade some parts.

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

For games, an i5 is more than enough. If you're not overclocking, an i5 4460 is a good choice, if you're overclocking, I'd recommend the i5 4690k. The "k" indicates it is overclockable through changing the multiplier.

8GB of RAM is also quite enough. Games like Far Cry 4, DA:I and Crysis 3 don't come close to using all 8.

That motherboard is WAY overkill, is there a reason you want to go with it? Figure out what you want out of your rig (SLI? Overclocking?), and then look for the most affordable motherboard in that class. There are a lot of guides out there on the different types of motherboards, I recommend the /r/buildapc reddit, just scout that place out and read as much as you can. There's guides on the side as well.

A 970 is *miles* ahead of a 960, I highly recommend it over the 960.

A reputable brands power supply (EVGA, Corsair, ) 500w minimum. 500w is more than enough for an i5/970 rig. As you demand more out of it, you'll want to increase the quality/wattage. I'm currently using an 80+ bronze 500w EVGA power supply, and it's doing a great job.

If you feel like it, PM me too and we can talk more.

@melvargh: Thanks for the quick reply! I should have mentioned that I'm planning on using the computer for video-editing as well as gaming, so I figure a i7 would be the way to go, right?

Ah yeah, then for sure go with an i7.

@t0ffe: I can't find much info on your motherboard (did ASUS replace it with a different model?) but for PC gaming I usually ask these questions first before getting into specifics:

1. What resolution are you looking to play at?
2. Is 60 FPS a requirement or a nice bonus? Would you be willing to drop some settings to get to your target?
3. How much cash do you have to work with?

Now, it seems you don't have a budget in mind but are leaning towards a 960/70, so something nice and midranged, I'm guessing. In that case:

1. Skip the i7s if gaming is your primary concern. The extra features of the i7s are wasted on most gaming builds, and you can save over $100 if you go with an i5 instead. You can get a 3.5Ghz quad core brand new i5 for around $225.
2. Power supplies are the backbone of any system. Go for something in the 700-800W range and make sure it's rated at least 80 PLUS Bronze or better. It'll be efficient and leave you head room in case you decide to go with beefier parts in the future.
3. Whatever amount of RAM you decide to go with (8GB is acceptable but a bit low, 16GB is much nicer), don't waste your time getting super overclocked expensive RAM.
4. Convert the savings in CPU and RAM into a 970 over a 960. The 960 is nice but the 970 is the real sweet spot this generation. GPUs are normally the primary bottleneck.
5. Make sure your CPU and Motherboard are the same socket type.

Mull those tips over, and feel free to ask any other questions you have.

As a Fractal Arc Midi owner I love your case choice. :p

Mobo is a nice board.

i5 are still better values and HT still doesn't show enough gains in gaming to be worth it though if you do any video editing or somethign a long those lines the i7 is still better.

On ram front the issue I have is how the prices have just become complete BS since the last time I spent 35 bucks on 8GB DDR3 on Sammy wonderam... I don't think it's worth it to get 16GB yet but at the same time I don't think getting two 4GB sticks is a great move for the cost either. Obviously you can't go 1 8GB stick so the lesser of all evils is still 8GB now in a 4GBx2 cofig and buy two more sticks later if and when you need it. Though since you do editing 16GB in a 8GBx2 config is probably best for you.

Go 970 since you'r leaning towards to NV but I still think the 290 is the best value and will be a better card in 2 years time much like a 7950 is the better card today over a 680 just on the 2GB vs 3GB of ram.

PSU front just get decent 550w for 1 GPU or 700+ if you plan to go dual gpu ever. Try to stay on gold efficiency for the most piece mind but there a more than a few bronze units that are decent enough like the Hive line from Rosewill.

*edit* Found this Rosewill Valens on the PSU front for single GPUs. Though I'm not sure how it compares to their old Capstone platform since info on the family seems scarce. Should be fine though since it still comes with a 3 year warranty and gold rated from a reputable company.

@melvargh: My choice of motherboard is actually based on me reading that it's an easy board to use if you wanna overclock your CPU, especially if you get a ROG front base. However, I don't think I'll be spending money on that since I'm worried it might not fit inside the front door of the R5 case. But I will definitely check out the reddit-page and see what else might suit my wants and needs :)

@t0ffe:

Out of the z97 boards I've used to build PC for folks my personal favorite that doesn't break the bank is the ud5h @175 it's still on the higher side but I really liked the layout and Bios options. Though there are very nice options from 130-160 as well.

I'm from Sweden so my budget doesn't really reflect the prices in $, since it would become somewhat cheaper if I bought it in the states. But I'm expecting to spend somewhere between 1400-1600$ (including a display, keyboard and mouse)

Ah! Yeah the selection might also be vastly different on top of prices varying. I had to ship headphones to a buddy of mine a while back (Denmark) since they were like $160 here but like $340 after shipping and import taxes and stuff if he bought the same thing there.

What store/site do you plan to buy from? If I may ask.

I'm still probably about a month or two away from actually ordering anything, but when I do I think I'll use Komplett.se. Mostly because I've ordered from them before and have never had any problems with their service and I'm a tad bit lazy and would really prefer to order everything from one place. But yeah, the motherboard you recommended doesn't appear to be available from their store, but I found a ud3h for 175$.

@t0ffe I don't like the ud3h as much for the price. I'm looking through the site and something like this would be my picks based on the money and personal preferences.

MSI z97 Gaming 5 I don't like the GB gaming line since they're a hair smaller than the ATX standard and I just don't like the way those feel when mounted. Though there are many options around the price and other very nice boards.

Crucial ballistix sport 16GB This is an odd one since it's the cheapest one they sell somehow but the other two more expensive 1600 ram both have worse timings somehow. Ram is ram so you won't need anything fancy and the cost of going higher won't be worth it. Also with faster ram they add the fancy taller heatsinks that will limit you on CPU coolers.

CPU the i7 4790K since you're going with video editing and obviously make sure it's the K version for your to OC.

On the GPU front I still think the 290X is a better card so my choice would be a the Matrix 290x at a nice price or an 8GB variant the MSI TF IV 290x but to be fair my NV choice would be a EVGA SC 970 . I will say since I didn't jump on the 970/980 line I'm not sure what the situation is on the voltage lock fronts and which are more constrained than the others so if anyone could help on that front it would be greatly appreciated.

Also I just realized I'm a ASUS AMD guy and EVGA NV guy as my last few cards I've owned where EVGA 460 1GB SLI/670/GTX 780 (my current card) and AMD ASUS 5870 Ref/Matrix 7970/GTX Titan. Though I also did own the Sapp E6 5870 and 7950s at certain points so I guess I'm also a Sapphire guy. :p

On the PSU front the CM G750M is a great value though the guts aren't too great but at that price it's hard to say no for a starter PC. You know what No NO NO! Just get the Cooler Master V750S I know it seems like a lot more money for the same wattage but it's just a much better PSU. Though I will say PSU market got weird with Corsair RM550 and Silverstone ST450SF costing the same price as the CM V750S. Also you guys are getting screwed in the warranty department with a ton of these coming with 2 years..... I guess Corsair is a good value since they come in with the full 5 years so maybe look at the RM650/RM750/RM850 as well.

Also you didn't ask but I'm a Noctua NH-D14 guy for the heatsink and don't like the Hyper 212+ for i7s since the heat with HT on is a bit too much with a nice OC. Some of the AIO coolers are not so bad but I'm not the biggest fan of most though I own one (not on my main rig though).

Anyways those are what I would pick based on the prices and ranges. The RAM/CPU are the two best for your needs and the V750 is the best gold for the price. There some other decent bronze PSUs if you need to save money but I think the prices difference is too small for a worse PSU with much lower wattage. Mobo and GPU there are a few different aesthetically pleasing options so look around in those categories and see what you like those are the one I liked the most based on my RMA and bios experience with both companies.

Sorry for the super long read but I wanted to make sure I put everything down before bed. I willbe up in about 5 hours for the Mario Party live stream though. :p

@junkboy0: Well the warranty is 3 years by law and I think it used to be 2years by law which is why many stores still lists 2 years.

Many brands do offer longer but if the dealer doesnt put any text in the [enter warranty here] field the item gets listed as 2 or 3 years by automatic :)

I've been using Asus motherboards for a few builds now, currently have an Asus Sabertooth so I'd recommend going for an Asus Rog board if you're looking at one. Like other people have mentioned go for the I7 since you're looking at video editing. If you can afford it get the 970 over the 960. One of the most important things is to get a SSD for the operating system, I have an additional one for the games I'm currently playing/play most often & wouldn't switch back.

@junkboy0: Wow, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this for me! And don't worry about the long text. I'd rather read and understand why I should by buy these components and not just buying something just because it looks to be good. :)

@junkboy0: Nice list of components, but as an EVGA SC 970 owner myself, I would make the suggestion of paying the extra 100 SEK for the newer "SSC" version. While not a crippling flaw, the SC versions have a slightly sub-optional cooling solution.

Also my card has noticeable coil-whine when running at high frame rates, but that could of course just be my particular card.

I see some people recommending skipping the i7 for an i5. Both The Witcher 3 and Project Cars recommend the 3.4ghz i7 so would it be worth the extra money to future proof? Personally I'm putting the i7 4790k into my new build.

@thelastgunslinger: I would say so. We are at the tail end of a transition between PC generations (it's not as clear of a delineation as a console generation). There are more games than ever that require the extra CPU bandwidth an i7 provides, so I would go for one of those. Now, there are exceptions to the rule though; for example, if your finances force you to make a choice between an i5 and a GTX 970 or pick up and i7 and a GTX 960, then the i5 combo is better for gaming.

I guess when trading one for the other the better GPU makes a lot of sense. I'm going with a Sapphire R9 290X/i7 combo.

@hakunin: Appreciate the help that was the component that took the most amount of time and the'res actually a MSI TFIV cooler 970 that's a hundred SEKs cheaper that was my second choice but I like my EVGA so bumped it for that. Funny since the other 99% of the time the SSC is just the SC with a slighter higher clocked bios so thanks for info!

@rethla: Great info, I was wondering most all the PSUs I was looking at had all listed 24 months under warranty when they're 3-5 years here.