Help picking parts for PC

Kelaski

This is my first PC I will be building and I have a budget of $1400-1500. I'm wondering if someone can help me choose parts that can run games like GTA, Call of Duty, Valorant, and CS:GO on 1080p. The motherboard must also have WI-FI support. (Peripherals not needed)

magarity

Do you already have parts like keyboard and mouse and monitor or do those need to fit into the 1400? What resolution screen do you have or want because that drives what video card is needed. Higher resolution needs a lot more graphics power.

Valorant's anti-cheat is a horrible security risk for your PC, I know it's popular, but it's a badly written game in that respect :/ You won't do your banking on this PC, will you?

Kelaski

I have all the peripherals and the monitor is 1080p, and no I won't do important things like banking on this PC.

magarity

Here's a list to get you started just a little under this budget:

https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder-intel.aspx?load=eca1b998-74b7-49ea-bec3-2291090b5ec4

Do you live near a MicroCenter? You can take this list in and the people at the Build-Your-Own desk can narrow it down exactly.

Here's the thing, the next better CPU or next better GPU would bump you right up against your budget max, but not both of them. So while I'm sure what I've picked out will play those games fine, you could bump up one or the other primary component and get a little better performance. I'm just not sure which one to recommend getting the next better.

I didn't know what kind of case you might like, so looking at the display models is important before you buy. Personally I don't like cheap cases so I picked one that is decent. You could shave $50 by getting a cheap case. Also, the CPU selected comes with a starter CPU cooler, which works OK enough, but a better cooler would be good. I left the list without a cooler upgrade, again not sure what you might prefer. If you get the next better CPU, it will NOT come with a starter cooler, so keep that in mind. At least another $60+ for a cooler on the next best CPU.

Kelaski

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/46799#Comment_46799

I live near the MicroCenter in CA. Thank you for providing this build, I will take your advice and ask the people at the Build-Your-Own desk as well.