Need some guidance on parts for Gaming PC

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PineappleKnight

PineappleKnight

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Feb 2, 2016
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Hello, I've been looking into building my first gaming PC, but I've hit a bit of a wall. I have read through the tutorial on this site, and I've picked out a CPU and graphics card with relative ease. I've decided to go with an Intel Core i5-6600K CPU, and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 graphics card (I would go with a 980 Ti, but it's simply too expensive and complete overkill for my needs at the moment.)
I started to become confused and overwhelmed, however, reading about motherboards, memory, storage, and power supplies. There's just so many things to consider it seems, and trying to iron out which motherboard is not only compatible, but optimal for the i5 and 970 is fairly difficult for me. Then I need to determine the memory, storage, and power supply that would jive with everything else as well. My budget isn't exactly large, and I'm very concerned I'll buy the wrong parts.
Basically, I would just like some guidance on what motherboard, memory, storage, and power supply would go well with an i5 6600K CPU, and GTX 970 GPU. I feel bad asking this question, since I feel the tutorial was made to prevent posts like this, but I really have no confidence in my own abilities to pick out the right parts.
In terms of my demand, I really don't need anything high-end. I very rarely even buy new games these days, I just go for old ones, and I'm sure I'll continue that trend on the PC as well. The most demanding new game I'll be playing in the coming months is most likely Dark Souls 3, which I can't imagine will be that demanding on the PC even at FHD, if the prior PC ports of the series are anything to go by.
 
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BadActor
The CPU will come with a cooler and your case should have a couple of fans, so I don't think you'll need any other cooling. The on board graphics you're using now are really weak, which would explain the poor performance. You can't use a resolution higher than your monitor supports, and really, you don't need all this hardware, you could get good results for a lot less money. The thing is, if you decide to make the switch to a 1080p or 1440p monitor, you will be all set.
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James Mason

James Mason

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Jan 2, 2014
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Unless you want to overclock, you don't need a K CPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($49.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: *Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($43.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: *Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: *Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: *Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive ($12.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $891.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-03 19:42 EST-0500

Building your own computer is easy. Building it takes 2-3 hours, and installing windows takes about 30mins to 45mins, and after that downloading and installing drivers takes another 30-45 mins. After all that, have it download windows updates at night, it may take a 2-4 passes to get them all.

Building a PC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4
Installing Windows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zAdwedmj1M

Protip for installing drivers safely, install them one at a time and restart the computer after each install to avoid breaking the OS, which can happen if you try to install them all at once.

 
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BadActor

BadActor

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Oct 31, 2015
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Your budget and what you want to do with your computer should dictate what parts you choose. Since you want a gaming PC, you have to decide what games your going to run and what resolution and settings you will use. if you intend to play all the newest games at maximum settings and 60 FPS at 1080p, you will need a video card that is capable of that. The 970 will do very well here although there will be a few games where you won't get 60 FPS. After the video card is chosen, you look for a CPU that can run it without bottlenecking it. The 6600k is more than enough and if you don't want to overclock, you can use an i5 6500 or even 6400 to save some money. After you decide on the CPU, look for a motherboard that has the correct socket and the features you want or need. Check reviews and ratings to see what others think about it. Then pick your RAM that is compatible with your motherboard. Once you know the components your going to use, you can use a power supply calculator to see what size PSU you need and then look for one from Tom's PSU tiers chart, preferably tier 1 or 2. Then pick a case you like the looks of and is compatible with the form factor of your motherboard. Use PCPartPicker.com to help make your choices. Below is a sample build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($297.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($87.95 @ OutletPC)
Total: $979.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-03 19:59 EST-0500

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

 
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PineappleKnight

PineappleKnight

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Feb 2, 2016
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Thank you both for the help. I don't really think I need to overclock, so I'll probably just go with a 6500 instead. How about a cooling system? Neither of you listed one, so I assume it's unnecessary but I just want to make sure. Also, the way I understand it, a 1600x900 monitor cannot handle 1080p, only 720p. Is this correct? My PC struggles to play even 720p video for some reason, but you can forget 1080p, and I'm assuming this would be one of the reasons why. I don't think my current graphics card is very good either (Intel(R) G45/G43 Express Chipset), so this may be a/the reason why as well?
 
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BadActor

BadActor

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Oct 31, 2015
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The CPU will come with a cooler and your case should have a couple of fans, so I don't think you'll need any other cooling. The on board graphics you're using now are really weak, which would explain the poor performance. You can't use a resolution higher than your monitor supports, and really, you don't need all this hardware, you could get good results for a lot less money. The thing is, if you decide to make the switch to a 1080p or 1440p monitor, you will be all set.
 
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