Looking To Build A Gaming PC (Advice Needed)

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lets_roll

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I'm trying to get the parts so I can build a PC for my 13 year old boy. I haven't built a PC in over 15 years so my age might show. This is what I have so far:

1. Cooler Master HAF X Flagship Full Tower ATX RC-942-KKN1 PC Computer Case
2. MSI Z170A Gaming M7 LGA1151 Motherboard
3. Intel 6th Generation Core i7-6700 LGA1151 Skylake Processor
4. 500GB Samsung 850Evo SSD 3D NAND FLASH
5. EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 2.0+
6. Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 Memory Kit

I still need a power supply and I'm thinking of getting him 16 GB instead of 8GB. He runs steam games and his current PC barely runs fallout 4. The PC is really old so I need to replace it. His current monitor is 1080p but I will be getting him a better monitor sometime in August of 2016 with a better resolution.

I'm not planning on overclocking it as anything that I give him will be much better than what he has right now. His internet connection is via a wireless card in the current PC and don't plan on him connecting via cable.

Your thoughts, advice and time spent helping me would be greatly appreciated and I thank you for it.


 
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Are you going to upgrade it often? Or is your the budget short for the time being and you'd like something he can use for a few years?

First: 6700K will be better, because when he gets older, and his stuff gets older too, he can learn to overclock it and use it for longer (What you hope, since upgrading the platform will cost tons, and it saves you money if he doesn't)

IF: You have a good amount of funds at your disposal, and you'd like to upgrade when new stuff comes out
Then: You should probably go for it, but I think 960 is kind of useless IMO, since it doesn't offer much these days. 960Ti probably isn't worth the wait either, i'd say get 970 or 980, since after 980Ti, Fury X and R9 Gemini, NVIDIA has been dropping the prices on...
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Samuel_1

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Are you going to upgrade it often? Or is your the budget short for the time being and you'd like something he can use for a few years?

First: 6700K will be better, because when he gets older, and his stuff gets older too, he can learn to overclock it and use it for longer (What you hope, since upgrading the platform will cost tons, and it saves you money if he doesn't)

IF: You have a good amount of funds at your disposal, and you'd like to upgrade when new stuff comes out
Then: You should probably go for it, but I think 960 is kind of useless IMO, since it doesn't offer much these days. 960Ti probably isn't worth the wait either, i'd say get 970 or 980, since after 980Ti, Fury X and R9 Gemini, NVIDIA has been dropping the prices on 970 and 980 significantly. Also, 16 GB is pretty useful. 16GB of 3000mhz is a bit over the top... I'm have a rig with 5930K + MSI X99A Godlike Gaming, and I only use 2800. Usually, non-overclockers would go for something like 2400 at most.

On the other hand:

IF: You don't have too much/don't want to spend too much, aren't gonna upgrade often, and have a strict budget (Physically or in mind).
Then: As Linus once said, you should go for something thats higher end, so that you can use it for longer. Personally, I'd say reach or even stretch the budget limit a bit, because i7-6960X is coming out soon, and with it it'll bring some cheaper but also near-flagship stuff (Like the 5930K/980Ti right now).

But then once again, theres the question: How much does he actually need?

PSU Advice: Get a good one. that simple. there are lots of guides online, and people who expertise in recommending PSU's. The thing is: If the PSU sucks, then the rest of the computer could and probably will suffer. In the end, it might blow itself and destroy other stuff. Some good ones I can think of on the spot include: CoolerMaster V-Series, Corsair AXi series, Rosewill Capstone G series (Not too sure), Antec HCG (High current gamer) series, etc.
 
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Danazor

Danazor

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Fist, you're the best dad ever. And agree, the graphics card is a bit weak, get him a Nvidia GTX970, that will do. Oh, and get an HDD because the SSD will run out if storage somewhat fast. Don't forget to get a better cooler for the processor. The power supply will be somewhat around the 800W. I recommend getting a 80+
 
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lets_roll

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I can upgrade it maybe in 3 years with the exception of the GPU. I don't mind it if I have to upgrade the GPU every year or so. I'm trying to limit it to $1,500 US dollars because I want to build a decent non gaming PC for myself. If I go over a bit I'm ok.

Following up with Danazor's PSU power supply rating and the brands you named I'm thinking of the following PSU:
Cooler Master V850 - Fully Modular 850W 80 PLUS Gold PSU with Silencio Silent 135mm fan

and using the Nvidia GTX970 card instead.

If I get him the 6700K will the selected PSU with the DDR4 support overclocking? I have never overclocked any of my prior builds before. I have always been more concerned of frying the components.
 
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Samuel_1

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2-Way 970 is almost enough for a 980ti, I'd say get 980ti because SLI support in software isn't the best just yet, and just SLI the 980ti in the future. The Z97 chipset and 4790k really do give a better price-to-performance rate, since its value has dropped because it's old tech. the rest I would agree is good to go :)
 
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timeconsumer

timeconsumer

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For $1500 I would go this direction:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($183.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($174.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1510.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-20 20:00 EST-0500

1) a 13-year old boy needs a badass looking computer. The black and red scheme on this fits that bill.
2) Given your prior experience I'm sure you know how to do the old FSB overclocking? Well it's back with Skylake, you can overclock via BCLK, and MSI just released BIOS updates for several of its boards to support this. Therefore the locked i5 is a great choice. (http://hexus.net/tech/news/mainboard/88994-msi-bios-update-enables-overclocking-non-k-skylake-cpus/)
3) 980 Ti is awesome
4) The EVGA G2 750w has a 10 year warranty and is quite possibly the one of the best PSUs on the market.
 
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Samuel_1

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Overclocking the GTX970 is a piece of cake, and basically if you don't fiddle around with stuff thats supposed to be locked (Such as voltage), a simple restart would fix errors. On the other hand, motherboard, cpu, and ram overclocking is a little more complicated as there is a correlation between them. He's probably going to be interested in it in the future, but for now just don't overclock those. And yes, the 6700k is an unlocked processor, which means you can overclock it (Non -k processors can also be overclocked, but only base frequency which brings up another mess itself). Overclocking the processor would also upclock the RAM, which I said you'd usually go nowhere near 3000mhz. Unless you fiddle around with the voltage without reading guides and manuals on overclocking, you'd know that voltage is meant to be adjusted in voltage differences as small as 2 decimal places. Frying doesn't occur much, and ESD static electricity probably kills more hardware than it does.
 
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lets_roll

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I used to game a lot so I guess that's why I'm more inclined to upgrade his PC. We have a PS3 but nowadays we use it mostly for streaming. It's his turn for an upgrade. I have another younger boy who loves minecraft and as he continues gaming he will eventually need one but that's years down the road.

I do appreciate all the help I'm getting from everyone. Thanks again.
 
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