(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); My friend's building a gaming PC, price range around 1500, he wants the latest games at ultra high settings, he would prefer the video card at gtx 980 and a very powerful cpu

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CPU: You must login or register to view this content. ($179.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: You must login or register to view this content. ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: You must login or register to view this content. ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: You must login or register to view this content. ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: You must login or register to view this content. ($283.98 @ Newegg)
Case: You must login or register to view this content. ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: You must login or register to view this content. ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $762.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 03:49 EST-0500

Swap the 290 for a EVGA 980.

Also check with Toke. This build is the 'top teir' build from reddit, and from the looks of it...is a little outdated/under featured for the budget he's working with.

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Two options.

1 - i7-5820K + GTX 970:
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CPU: You must login or register to view this content. ($373.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: You must login or register to view this content. ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: You must login or register to view this content. ($184.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: You must login or register to view this content. ($182.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: You must login or register to view this content. ($64.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: You must login or register to view this content. ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: You must login or register to view this content. ($338.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: You must login or register to view this content. ($117.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: You must login or register to view this content. ($75.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1453.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 04:55 EST-0500

2 - i5-4690K + GTX 980:
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CPU: You must login or register to view this content. ($224.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: You must login or register to view this content. ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: You must login or register to view this content. ($114.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: You must login or register to view this content. ($50.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: You must login or register to view this content. ($64.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: You must login or register to view this content. ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: You must login or register to view this content. ($532.00 @ Directron)
Case: You must login or register to view this content. ($117.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: You must login or register to view this content. ($75.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1270.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-05 06:33 EST-0500

If your friend is only gaming at 1080p, I would go with the first build. The GTX 970 should be MORE than enough for 1080p gaming. The GTX 980 just isn't worth it to get right now with its current price, especially if your friend is only gaming at 1080p. Not only that, but by going with a single GTX 970, your friend will be able to get an X99 build. I hope you can do some Google'ing to figure out why X99 is a good thing.

If gaming at a resolution higher than 1080p, get the second build and add a second GTX 980 later in the future. The GTX 970 has RAM allocation issues, so gaming at resolutions higher than 1080p with the GTX 970 is not ideal.

NO NEED FOR A 980. a 970 (290x too) will allow him to play ANY game on ultra settings at or above 60 fps. Purchasing more expensive, yet higher end things will allow you to play better for longer. I recently built my PC (last week) and it is a BEAST. I have the same processor and it handles the work load SO WELL. BTW - Almost any AMD 8-Core is equal to an i5 4 core to an i7 8 core. You will need to research the difference and find comparison charts online.

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 ($339 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G45 Gaming LGA 1150 Intel Z97 ($140 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ($70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST1000NM0033 1TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache ($84 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GTX 970 GAMING 4G GeForce GTX 970 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 ($340 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 500R Carbide Series in Black or White ($129 or cheaper @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Full Modular Power Supply ($139 @ Newegg)
Total: $1250 (Rough estimate)

Also if he needs a keyboard and mouse, I recommend the Razer Deathadder and the Razer Black Widow

Half the price the same fps :p 290x