Advice needed on first computer build

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mintyfresh11

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Nov 20, 2015
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Hello,

Just joined the community after hearing that I could get a lot of helpful information. I'm building my first computer and any help would be much appreciated.

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Approximate Purchase Date: The closer the better, but no rush

Budget Range: 500-700 after rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Gaming (most likely only StarCraft II), Surfing the internet (usually have 20-30 tabs open), Basic word processing

Monitor: No; Want to build system to connect to my LG 34UM95 monitor via 4K (I think I would need display port on the graphics card since the monitor only supports HDMI 1.4)

OS: No; will be using Windows 10

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com and Amazon.com (but anywhere as long as it brings the price down)

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Parts Preferences: Don't know much about anything, but do want to stick to Intel i5 series; I was thinking the i5 6600 65W

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: LG34UM95; 3440 x 1440

Parts to Upgrade:
- CPU: Intel i5 6600
- MOBO: anything that has a wifi card.. want an mATX for a slimmer case, but if the PSU I need won't work with this setup, I can go with the regular ATX
- Graphics Card: As mentioned below, want the most affordable one that will still give me what I want (don't we all)
- Memory: 16GB DDR4 or 3L; since prices don't seem to differ by much, prefer the DDR4
- HD: 250GB SSD
- Case: anything simple looking that works
- PSU: anything that works
- Optical drive: anything that works

Why Are You Upgrading: Have been connecting my laptop to my monitor but want a stand-alone system so I don't have to carry my laptop back and forth between work and home; also want to get back to playing a bit of starcraft and want a system at home to do work (entails illustrator, lots of tabs in explorer, and word processing)

Additional Comments: I'm mostly concerned about being able to use my current monitor with my new setup. Assuming I stick with the i5 6600, I want to get as affordable a graphics card that would allow me to use Illustrator and play StarCraft at 4K or one lower resolution setting. Also, I want a mini-ATX style case, but am not sure if a >500W PSU (to support my CPU and graphics card) would fit.

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Solution
Barty1884
Didn't realize I'd selected the 6600k, I only meant to pick the 6600 (non-k)
You're looking at 'H' chipset board, and an unlocked processor. Either go a 'k' CPU and a Z170 board for overclocking, or a non-k CPU and H170 board if you have no desire to. Otherwise that build looks good.
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mintyfresh11

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Nov 20, 2015
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If OEM is what I think it is, I don't think it's an OEM copy. It's provided for free for students through my school. Would that work on my new system?
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Apr 16, 2015
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Honestly, I don't know.
Is it only the OS that's provided? If so, I'd hope you can transfer it, but don't know for sure.

As far as your needs go, a GTX 750 Ti would be sufficient for 4K via DisplayPort. Likely not so much for gaming overly demanding, but your regular use, it should be - and fits in your budget.

I've had to scale back the i5 to a 6400 (around 10-15% less performance than the 6600) to keep within your budget. You might want to add maybe $50 to your budget to get the 6600 and a few tweaks here & there.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T2 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($95.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $698.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-20 14:53 EST-0500

 
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mintyfresh11

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Nov 20, 2015
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Thank you. The school also offers other ones (i.e. Windows 7, 8.1, 10, Office, etc.), and I've heard from others here that they can make a bootable USB. I guess I should confirm one more time.

A couple questions...

1. The mobo says it supports DDR4 2133 but the memory is DDR4 2400; does that matter at all?
2. If I want to spend ~50 more, what kind of improvements are we talking about?

Thanks again.

 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
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Yeah, better safe than sorry. You can make a bootable USB to install Windows 10, no problem there.
You just need to make sure you'll be able to activate it on a new setup. Although even if you can't reactive, if your school provide it free.......maybe you can talk them into another copy?

1. The RAM I selected should run at the max supported 2133. I selected it as one of the cheapest with decent spec. You could always get 2133 RAM if you wanted to be absolutely sure.

2. As far as another $50 or so goes, drop the RAm to 2133 and pick up the 6600k you initially suggeted.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T2 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($95.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $753.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-20 15:28 EST-0500

Your GPU would be the first thing you'd need to upgrade in the future (depending on your specific needs), but the increased performance from the CPU you'd feel - but it's your call whether a 10-15% improvement in CPU performance is worth the 35% increase in price.
 
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mintyfresh11

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Nov 20, 2015
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4,510


Based on your build, I've modified it a bit to include a stronger processor (i5 6600K), stronger graphics card (gtx 960 2gb), and it seems like we forgot about the wireless network card..

Also, I realized that I haven't ordered from jet yet, so I was planning on getting 20% off on the graphics card (comes out to 137 instead of 170). Using my AMEX card for Newegg and Amazon, I can get an additional $25 and $15 off, respectively. The grand total comes out to about $727.

You've already been very helpful; if you could look though the modified build to check to see if anything is off one more time, I'd much appreciate it.

Thanks as always.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T2 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($11.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($95.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: *EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $800.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-20 23:40 EST-0500
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
22,250
1,350
108,740
Didn't realize I'd selected the 6600k, I only meant to pick the 6600 (non-k)
You're looking at 'H' chipset board, and an unlocked processor. Either go a 'k' CPU and a Z170 board for overclocking, or a non-k CPU and H170 board if you have no desire to. Otherwise that build looks good.
 
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