Best PC build for gaming and live streaming?

No. Never.

Building it yourself vs. buying a pre-built rig

Just save up your cash until you hit a solid budget—buying parts one by one is honestly kind of a headache.

Anthony Hayes82 said:That’s basically my plan—just chip away at it month by month, buying parts and installing them as soon as they arrive. Like, maybe I grab a case in month one, the motherboard in month two, then the CPU in month three, and follow that up with a power supply and some budget-friendly RAM since I don't have any old DDR3 modules lying around. I'll probably just pull an old HDD out of my previous rig, give it a little cleaning, and make it work. From there, I'll just keep upgrading—GPU, SSD, more storage, maybe some fancier RAM, a better cooler, some RGB lighting, you know, just making it look sharp...

Since I can't just cobble together a quick build from old scraps and cheap new stuff right now, I figured I'd start from scratch. I want to do this the enthusiast way—investing properly so the whole thing actually looks great.
Right now, there are two things I'm set on: a matte black and red NZXT H440 case and an Asus Maximus VII Hero. After that, I'll figure out how to round out the rest. 🙂

It’s becoming pretty obvious to me that you’re really focused on the aesthetics. You're looking for top-tier performance, but honestly, it feels like overkill if you don't have a balanced build where everything works together.
Buying expensive RAM just because it looks cool doesn't make much sense. I mean, why drop almost an entire paycheck just to get onto DDR4?

If you really want that "showpiece" kind of build, I can definitely suggest some parts that fit a decent budget while still keeping you happy.

And by the way, NEVER buy a pre-built rig.

Forget DDR4, we're talking DDR3 here. There aren't even that many motherboards out there that support DDR4 yet.

Let’s try this: why don't you just list out a full set of components from scratch? Start with the case and work your way up, then post them all right here. I’ll take that list and try to piece together my own custom build without going overboard. My goal isn't just to put a PC together; I actually want to learn how everything fits. Honestly, I know I'm basically daydreaming at this point, but it would be awesome if I could make at least part of this vision a reality.

EDIT: What do you think about this setup...

-Fractal design Define R5 Black Pearl - Fractal
-Integra R2 500 w - Kingston Technology HyperX Fury SSD 120 GB - Kingston Technology HyperX Fury Memory White 8
-Kingston Technology HyperX Fury SSD 120GB
-Kingston Technology HyperX Fury Memory White 8GB
-be quiet! Pure Rock CPU cooler
-ASUS Z97-P
-Intel Core i5-4440
-ASUS R9 270 2Gb

Checking Best Buy ~$2166

That's the plan for now. If I can save up roughly that much over the next six months, I'll obviously buy whatever parts are on sale at that time—assuming the US Dollar doesn't skyrocket out of control first.

Just wait six months until you actually have the cash. A ton of new gear is dropping in the next half year, starting with the new AMD graphics cards... and Intel's latest processors...
☕

The case is from... $333 The R9 270? I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that. I guess I was originally thinking about skimping on the motherboard and just grabbing the R4 for RAM, but then I realized that would probably be a mistake. I ended up going with the Z3+ and a better motherboard along with 4 GB of RAM. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out.

Regarding the price, I bought this rig just three weeks ago, and I guess I was already looking to get rid of it only a week later. $67 More now, and then you're stuck waiting six months.😉

P.S. Thanks to everyone on the forum who helped me out with the build.👍

I’m looking at a six-month wait because I just don't have the cash sitting around right now. My paycheck is pretty thin, and I really want to upgrade to a beefier rig.
What’s the deal with the case? Honestly, it doesn't have to be anything fancy—any decent mid-tower will do—as long as the airflow is optimized and there are dust filters on the intake. It’s easy for people living in places like Siberia to just shove everything into a completely sealed case and call it a day. But here in my apartment, it can hit 90 degrees out, and I’m the one sweating, let alone a processor hitting 75°C or a GPU. My only real option would be to buy an AC unit and aim it directly at the PC, but that’s a terrible idea for both my health and the hardware.
This build list is basically just me winging it. I'm trying to hit the mark, but I keep missing because I’m still learning the ropes. If you don't experiment, you don't learn. Once I finally scrape enough money together, I’ll reach out to the pros here to get their take on the upcoming components. It doesn't necessarily have to be Haswell; it could be Broadwell if a solid chip drops in the next few months. Since I value quality above all else, I’d probably lean toward Intel over AMD, even if it costs a bit more. The one thing I feel confident choosing on my own is the case.

The case isn't lacking anything, and I'd probably grab it myself, but not if it means sacrificing better components inside. Maybe work on your airflow better before you commit to this.

http://www.nabava.net/out.php?enc=Z7...e1069d38669d02

But I mean, it's your money. You could buy cases for hundreds of dollars, but I don't know what you'll have left over to actually put in it.

I don't live in Siberia, I live in San Diego, so that comparison is pretty pointless. If you're worried about temps, you've got a decent GTX 960; it'll be hard to find something cooler and quieter.

Anthony Hayes82 said:That’s true, but if I can scrape together enough cash in about six months, I'll just grab whatever is actually on the shelves then. Of course, that assumes the USD doesn't suddenly skyrocket and screw us all over.

Honestly, we might as well just wait those six months. We can figure out what to pick and how much we can actually spend once the time comes. Trying to build a parts list right now feels like a waste of breath since everything could change by tomorrow anyway.

Alright, maybe we'll touch base again in about six or seven months, if not sooner. 🙂

Thank God you finally realized 😁 there’s really no point in overthinking it now—it's not like you buy a car and expect a brand-new model to drop just a few months later, right? 😁 Tech components change at the speed of light, with some new gadget constantly coming out to shake things up.

Alright then, I'll see you guys in about 6 or 7 months—maybe sooner, depending on how things shake out with work.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Just save up until you hit a decent budget. Buying stuff one piece at a time is kind of a joke.

Why not? There's a new component dropping every month, so it's basically constant hype. 😁

I'd much rather have one big burst of excitement than just constant little drips of hype all year long. 😁
Speaking of upgrades, I’m planning to hunt down a GTXic 970 (Asus Strix) next week, or maybe the week after at the latest. My only hesitation is finding someone who actually knows how to overclock a CPU, because honestly, I don't trust myself touching the voltage settings just yet.
I really think I can push my I5 2500 k from 3.3GHz up to 4.5GHz if I play it right.

I might wait until the 8th, or just find someone who starts playing GTA5 right away to see how the game actually breathes on their rig.

Overclocking is a massive headache and a total time sink. You bump up the frequency by a tiny fraction and spend half an hour testing stability, then you nudge it up just a bit more and test again. Once things start crashing, you tweak the voltage by a decimal point and restart the whole cycle. It’s a tedious loop.
That’s why I’ve always been a fan of the way Asus handles their mainstream boards—they feature 5way-optimization, which basically automates the entire overclocking and testing process. They’re incredible, they just cost way too much for what most people actually need.

It’s complicated, certainly. But then again, there are those who find genuine joy in the process, ensuring everything is tailored exactly to their specifications 🙂

Drew Sanchez82 said:Big hype beats small increments any day. 😁
On the subject of upgrades, I'm grabbing a GTXic 970 (Asus Strix) next week or the one after. I just need to find someone who knows how to overclock a CPU because I'm too chicken to mess with the voltage myself.
I reckon I can push my I5 2500 k from 3.3 to 4.5GHz.

I'll wait for Larry Ortiz5 or whoever jumps on GTA5 first to see how much it chokes their rig.

you shouldn't have issues even with stock settings on a 970 😁

try OC without touching the voltage first and see where you land 😁

I’m not even going to touch the overclocking on my GTXic 970. Honestly, I already messed up the temps on my current R9 270, and that was even after I followed every single guide online to a T.
The 970 is just going to behave the exact same way.

Maybe if I find someone else on the forums living around New York City, I'll just pay them some cash to handle the CPU overclocking for me instead.😁

Drew Sanchez82, are you still dealing with that issue under full load? Just so you know, a full load problem isn't related to overclocking. You're likely looking at a virus or some malware that's hijacking your GPU for mining, like this kind of thing or this type of scenario
.

Yeah, it’s still absolutely killing me under full load. But I "fixed" it by opening Task Manager. For some weird reason, as long as WTM is running, my GPU finally chills out.
Honestly, though, it probably won't even matter because I'm picking up a GTX 970 pretty soon.

I'll give those suggestions from the forum a shot, though I'm a little skeptical since I feel like I've already tried everything under the sun.

I ran a scan with Malwarebytes too, but nothing worked—it cleaned up a bunch of junk, but the issue is still hanging around.
Now I'm just wondering, is this miner going to mess with my new 970 once I get it installed?