I have about $1500 to spend on a new computer. I already have the monitors (2 24" IPS monitors) and peripherals. Looking at logical increments, it looks like I can build a really nice GTX 970 build with I7, etc, or I can build a budget GTX 980 build. I have a 2.5 year old and don't game nearly as much as I used to, but still try to play about 2 nights a week, mostly GTA V or Diablo III or similar. This computer also doubles as my at home office computer. If you were building, which way would you go. At any rate, I may reuse the 256 GB SSD I installed in the last year.

Assuming the monitors are 1080p? 970. Might want to wait until 6/24 to see what the specs on the new AMD cards are however.

They are 1080. Good question.

Been speccing my own out recently, and I went with a 970 and an i5. And since you're only doing 1080, the 970 should be more than enough. From what I was reading, the i5 vs. i7 performance increase was negligible. I'm still deciding whether or not I want to wait for the next nvidia chipset to come out.

Just a heads up, lots of refurb 970s and 980s at great prices on EVGA website this evening

970 is def best value for 1080p gaming.

I'm sitting in limbo until good benchmarks come out on those new AMDs though. Going to pick up either one of them or the 980ti this summer. VR is coming and it's gonna devour resources.

And yeah, i7 is only really worth it in very rare circumstances. If you're just using it for gaming, you're not going to notice the difference. And you can OC the hell out of some of those i5s.

Thanks for the advice!

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Assuming the monitors are 1080p? 970. Might want to wait until 6/24 to see what the specs on the new AMD cards are however.

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I wouldn't bother with an amd card.

PCPartPicker

I took a shot at putting something together. Let me know your thoughts if you don't mind.

Or this one

Though this one is also intriguing if I do want to possibly pick up a 4k monitor. GTA V and HotS are my two current games, thought I will play the new SC2 and maybe Arkham Knight.

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PCPartPicker

I took a shot at putting something together. Let me know your thoughts if you don't mind.

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Why the network adapter? The MB has one onboard

Both of the CPU coolers you've picked are good, although Noctua is supposed to be a bit quieter. However, unless you plan on overclocking the processor, you really don't need an aftermarket CPU cooler. I use a closed loop cooler, Corsair H100i, on mine even though I don't need it, but that's because I'm stupid and insist on upgrading computer parts even when I don't need to.

Almost forgot, if you want to run 8gb of RAM, it is better to run 2 4gb sticks in dual channel rather than a single 8gb stick.

Thanks, Agdoc. This is my first build so that is exactly the type of advice I was looking for.

No problem. Check out Toms Hardware. They do a feature every few months where a bunch of people try to bid the best gaming PC for under $500 or a grand, etc and they post the parts they used. For my 1st build I just copied one of their builds exactly as I wasn't brave enough to deviate. I'm now like 8 builds in.

Most important is to pick your case and motherboard and go from there. They come in various sizes ATX, m-ATX, m-ITX. It's easiest to build an ATX because it's the biggest, has the most case options, and generally cool the best. My last couple of builds I wanted a smaller, less obtrusive tower, so I've been building mini ITX.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/bourbonag/saved/LNCV3C

This is what I went with. I will post updates when I assemble it. Thanks for the advice.