My first custom gaming build with i5 and GTX970 and would like advice on RAM and PSU.

Jinchu84 · Apr 7, 2016

Hi all,

This will be my first build I have done from scratch myself. I think I got it sorted for what I want but I am mainly concerned about the power supply. I will follow the format referred to in the sticky post "How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice"

Approximate Purchase Date: A.S.A.P

Budget Range: Right now its up to $1825AUS (approx $1379US) Cheaper is best but, I can go higher if I need more power or whatever.

System Usage: Gaming 90% of the time.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Everything, its a new build. Minus DVD player and monitor ill use from old PC.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I've used PC Part Picker it automatically saves my build, and recommends best websites to purchase from.

Location: Australia ... Mate.

Parts Preferences: Best performance for money.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No.

My Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, I will most likely get a better monitor in the future, but dont know when.

I am making a new build as my old PC is out of date and only runes games like Witcher 3 at like 15fps. I am taking advantage of the newer Skylake chip sets and hoping with a full ATX board and case I will have more options for upgrades in future years.

My primary concern is about my Power Supply and RAM. My GPU recommends a 500W power supply, so thats what I have chosen. If I need more than this that is fine, I am only trying to save money.
Likewise with my choice of RAM, I am not sure if I need 16GBs of it. If it absolutely makes no difference in gaming performance I will just go for 8GBs (2x4). I was only thinking that my gf MIGHT wish to borrow my PC for some 3d animation rendering, but she probably wont. I would probably even need an i7 for that anyway and that is just getting too pricey. Maybe she could foot the extra money on the bill if she really wants it haha. We'll see. Let me know what you think. Cheers.

My build

CPU - Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80662i56600k

CPU Cooling - Cooler Master Seidon 240M 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rls24m24pkr1

Motherboard - MSI Z170A GAMING PRO ATX LGA1151
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z170agamingpro

RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmk16gx4m2a2133c13r

Storage - Seagate Surveillance HDD 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000vx001

GPU - MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g

Case - Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White) ATX Full Tower Case
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-sgc5000wkwn1

PSU - EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-100b10500kr

Operating System - Windows 10

PizzaTheHutt · Apr 7, 2016

That seems fine, just swap out the HDD for a non-surveillance counterpart, as the surveillance drives aren't designed for what you'll be doing with them - they are for CCTV servers that record video to them 24/7. As for the RAM, you can skimp as much as possible on that and buy the cheapest 8gb set you can find, as all RAM is pretty much the same, regardless of manufacturer. Your PSU looks fine, but if you are worried and want a more reliable model, how does this look: https://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=34620&cPath=1791&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=export_feed#googlebase

RCFProd · Apr 7, 2016

Parts Preferences: Best performance for money.

Since the importance of this is decribed, this is quite a bit better. The following build can overclock the CPU and runs high speed memory. You save a lot of money, but decrease 0% on performance. You'll increase performance with DDR4-3000 memory actually.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($262.00 @ IJK)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($55.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: ASRock B150 GAMING K4/HYPER ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($175.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($114.99 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($479.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400S ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Total: $1392.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-07 20:45 AEST+1000

Of your build, components selection is good but the 5400 RPM HDD and EVGA 500w are big minus points. Could use the remaining money of the build above to add an SSD.

You save ~300 dollars.

smorizio · Apr 7, 2016

also be carefull the newer pascall gpu just had there paper launch. at some point between now and june there dropping. for 3d anamation your newer cpu will be fine. the i7 and i5 are the same cpu the i7 has 4 hyper threading cores (virtual cores). they only come into play if the program or game can use them.

PizzaTheHutt · Apr 7, 2016

RCFProd :

Erm... The CPU you've suggested is locked and not overclockable.

Here's a build that offers the best bang for buck currently, since overclocking isn't worth it at this price range. It has a better PSU and an SSD, but comes in under since I didn't include a CPU cooler, as the stock will be fine for this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($296.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Memory: G.Skill Value 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.00 @ IJK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($126.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($459.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: Silverstone TJ08B-E MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($109.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Total: $1312.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-07 21:02 AEST+1000

RCFProd · Apr 7, 2016

PizzaTheHutt, did you Google it? It is 100% overclockable, and for the same budget it will kill your build by a margin as far as 30 fps in Far Cry 4.... Just sayin'. I'm not talking about the cost as yours has an SSD.

READ:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asrock-non-z170-bclk-overclocking-motherboards,31362.html

And you can track the performance gap browsing through Digital Foundry's RAM testing. The DDR4-3000 performance gap compared to the DDR3-1600 is immense. Above 15 fps. Also, OC the CPU and you win almost another 15 fps with a Skylake i5 compared to a stock Haswell i5.

smorizio · Apr 7, 2016

rcf build will give the op the chance to install any new intel cpu for the 1151 mb. the older 1150 mb and cpu gone end of life. also the newer skylake going to be 10-15 percent faster in programs over haswell. (next cpu for 1151 is curby lake).

PizzaTheHutt · Apr 7, 2016

RCFProd :

Ahhh, OK. I didn't realise that the motherboard allowed overclocking of locked CPUs.

Jinchu84 · Apr 7, 2016

Thanks guys,

You have given me a lot to think about. I can not believe that I didn't even notice that the HDD was for surveillance haha, so ill change that. I am also opting to downgrade to less RAM as it is not needed.

@PizzaTheHutt - I like the PSU you linked. But I was wondering, when you buy one of those modular power supplies do the separate cables come with it, or do they come with each of the other components separately, or do you need to purchase cables separately? I like the idea of the modular PSU for cable management, but was not sure about how it was done. Might even go for the 750W as it is same price.

@RCFProd - I am a little unsure about overclocking. It is not something I really ever wanted to get into. Just doing the build myself is about as techie as I wanted to get but if it is going to save me a few hundred dollars and allow me to get a SSD maybe I should look into it. Although I would hate to do it wrong. Can you recommend any good guides or something for overclocking? But in saying that, if I learn how to overclock why not overclock a higher end i5-6600 or will it not make much difference?

Although saving money is great and all, it should be mentioned that I HAVE budgeted and saved for nearly 2k. And the white super slick case I chose makes me giddy =P

I am not sure if any of you including the price of the OS?? But thats ok.

PizzaTheHutt · Apr 7, 2016

Jinchu84 :

Thanks guys,

You have given me a lot to think about. I can not believe that I didn't even notice that the HDD was for surveillance haha, so ill change that. I am also opting to downgrade to less RAM as it is not needed.

@PizzaTheHutt - I like the PSU you linked. But I was wondering, when you buy one of those modular power supplies do the separate cables come with it, or do they come with each of the other components separately, or do you need to purchase cables separately? I like the idea of the modular PSU for cable management, but was not sure about how it was done. Might even go for the 750W as it is same price.

@RCFProd - I am a little unsure about overclocking. It is not something I really ever wanted to get into. Just doing the build myself is about as techie as I wanted to get but if it is going to save me a few hundred dollars and allow me to get a SSD maybe I should look into it. Although I would hate to do it wrong. Can you recommend any good guides or something for overclocking? But in saying that, if I learn how to overclock why not overclock a higher end i5-6600 or will it not make much difference?

Although saving money is great and all, it should be mentioned that I HAVE budgeted and saved for nearly 2k. And the white super slick case I chose makes me giddy =P

I am not sure if any of you including the price of the OS?? But thats ok.

Modular PSUs will include cables in the box, but if you are going for a specific colour scheme you can buy different cables.

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My first custom gaming build with i5 and GTX970 and would like advice on RAM and PSU.

Jinchu84

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RCFProd

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smorizio

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PizzaTheHutt

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RCFProd

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smorizio

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Jinchu84

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