recommend a build?

can someone recommend a build in the 1200-1300 dollar range?

i want an intel processor and a GTX970 that isnt EVGA. those are my only two stipulations. i have a 7.1 sound card, monitor, peripherals, copy of windows, and case that i can use from my last build.

havent really kept up with the best bang per buck components in the last few years so just hoping to get some advice.

thanks.

Wait, what games are you going to play on this thing? You don't have a good word to say about any of them.

I know I won't be of any help with this question, but: "Why not EVGA?" I'm using a GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0 by EVGA, and it has been absolutely fine. Of course, that is my personal experience and not of the general consensus that feels otherwise. I cannot recall reading anything bad about EVGA in correlation with the GTX 970 models that they have produced. Feel free to chime in here.

I will say this though, for 1200-1300$, you should be able to build yourself a fine gaming PC. Good luck to you.

I've also never heard anything bad about EVGA components. My build includes an EVGA motherboard and video card and I have had zero problems.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2b2kzy is it good enough? I hope you have a good case with 2 intake, and 3 exhausts like the Corsair 200R

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/B66Bxr

CPU: i5-4690K @ 3.5 GHz - $230

CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS-B - $25

Mobo: ASRock Z97X Fatal1ty Killer - $123

RAM: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2X4GB) @ 1866mhz - $82

SSD: 120GB Corsair Force LS - $46

HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda - $54

GPU: X2 MSI GTX 970 Twin Frozr V - $700

PSU: EVGA 600B - $40

Total: $1300

its a thermaltake armor full tower. i would say it is plenty good enough.

what about the intel i7 4790K? i dont really plan on overclocking since the 4ghz mark is plenty for just about any game. and im not sure about SLI... a lot of games dont support it or have issues with it, so it has always seemed like a waste of money to me.

Actually most games support SLI/Crossfire and there are no issue drivers good on both Nvidia and AMD sides. But if you want a 4790K and a single GTX 970 then here's a build for you.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WQh9yc

CPU: i7-4790K @ 4.0 GHz - $310
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i - $90
Mobo: ASUS Z97-Pro - $160
RAM: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2X4GB) @ 1866mhz - $82
SSD: 240GB Corsair Force LS - $90
HDD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda - $83
GPU: MSI GTX 970 Twin Frozr - $350
PSU: Corsair CX600 - $50
Total: $1215

But if you really want to save a bit of money then here's a bit cheaper build for you (with i7).

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BzW9yc

CPU: i7-4790K @ 4.0 GHz - 310
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120M - $45
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z97X Gaming 5 - $120
RAM: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2X4GB) @ 1866mhz - $82
SSD: 256GB Corsair Force LX - $86
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda - $54
GPU: MSI GTX 970 Twin Frozr - $350
PSU: Corsair CS550M - $50
Total: $1097

A) SLI is no longer an issue - it's 2014.

B) going for i7 is waste of money unless you plan on editing stuff.

thats funny, because every other day there is a post on here about SLI not working with X game....

Only the crappy ports, most games support SLI on launch, while others FIX it within no longer than a week.

EDIT: do what you want, it's your money, if I had such amount of money I wouldn't even think twice about getting 2 GPU setup.

Well since you don't want SLI, with this amount of money (1200-1300) you can go for Haswell-E 6core:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MbKcNG

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MbKcNG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($374.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.03 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-UD4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($223.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($249.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $1296.97

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-08 07:30 EST-0500.

ps: For $69 more you can add an SSD too.

ps2: A 4790K setup (for 1200-1300) could easily have a GTX980

ps3: My builds are without rebates. :)

I agree with this, if you really insist not going with SLI, the quad channel RAM is a good idea and will boost part of the games performance.