Recommend: $1500 Gaming PC, Excluding GPU (GTX 1080)

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ariliteth

Commendable
May 18, 2016
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1,510
Hello all,

First time PC builder here, been trying to sift through as many lists/recommendations as I can to build myself a gaming PC. The one thing I can nail down is I am sold on the GTX 1080. VR gaming is high on the list for me. Other than gaming, I don't need the capacity for many demanding tasks, and I am fine with a single monitor setup.

I've read gaming build guides and such, but being new to this I am having trouble connecting together what will/won't work as I try to customize. What I do know is I want to spend around $1,500 on everything aside from the 1080, and I would like the setup to have room to upgrade in the future, or to already be that step ahead of what it should be. I realize that budget should put me in a good place, but I'm having trouble picking that place, or what parts are best to be "ahead of the game with" and which have staying power.

To sum up as best as I can what I believe I want (certainly prove me wrong):
CPU: Something i7
Motherboard: Not a clue, not even a little
Case: Not a clue, not even a little
Memory: 16 gb, though will settle for less
Storage: Preferably SSD (roomy enough for those large steam games, but I have an external 2 tb for storage/backup)
Power supply: Quality preferred
Extras: Anything recommended

Thanks for taking the time to read!
 
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Supahos

Supahos

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Nov 11, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($150.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($148.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($117.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1165.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-18 23:47 EDT-0400

Can go wrong with something like this
 
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Geekwad

Geekwad

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Sep 25, 2015
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^^Certainly a great build, and there's no reason as a gamer to spend more.......but this is an option too:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($101.69 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme6/ac ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($233.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($75.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($148.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Phanteks PH-F140HP_BK 2 88.6 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Phanteks PH-F140HP_BK 2 88.6 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Logitech G610 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse ($74.95 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1489.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 
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G

Guest

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If you were just gaming you could go with the i5-6600K and overclock it plus the RAM. The M.2 drive in this build will give you very fast load times.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MasterAir Maker 8 66.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($118.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 OC Formula ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($91.99 @ Mac Mall)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($317.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($150.99 @ B&H)
Case: Thermaltake Core X31 ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Thermaltake CL-F039-PL14YL-A 51.1 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.75 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Thermaltake CL-F039-PL14YL-A 51.1 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.75 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Thermaltake CL-F039-PL14YL-A 51.1 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.75 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Thermaltake CL-F039-PL14YL-A 51.1 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.75 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Thermaltake CL-F039-PL14YL-A 51.1 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.75 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Thermaltake CL-F039-PL14YL-A 51.1 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.75 @ Amazon)
Total: $1513.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-19 01:39 EDT-0400
 
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V

VR PC-BUILD

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Here Is the build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($64.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Sandisk X400 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($229.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk X400 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($229.49 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan ($17.48 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan ($17.48 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1507.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-19 05:19 EDT-0400

I went for i7-5820K instead of i7-6700K because even if you decided to do some other stuff like rendering editing etc. extra cores will come in handy and it can be overclocked to large extent.

If you want monitor too let us know.
 
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VR PC-BUILD

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Yes it is true even I was going to give him second opinion build of 6700K but as you provided I left it out. If he wants in the above build provided by me he can replace CPU and Mobo with i7-6700K and ASUS Z179-E respectively to save some money. It depends on him

 
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A

ariliteth

Commendable
May 18, 2016
24
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1,510
Thank you all for the suggestions. After looking through them, a few questions pop up:

1. The first two builds recommended hit below budget (considering the mouse and keyboard in #2). Is this just being cost conscious, or does that represent an actual steep decline in the cost/benefit to upgrading, say, the motherboard in the first build?

2. There is a split between z150 and x99 boards. They seem to be on kind of equal ground, is there something specific that sets them apart?

3. The 2nd and 4th build bring up the question of extra cores. Now, if I do decide to do some rendering down the road, I'm sure those extra cores will cut rendering times quite a bit. But, without any overclocking, would I be giving up gaming ability at high settings for a lower clock with those extra cores?

Thank you again for your time as I figure this out!
 
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VR PC-BUILD

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May 14, 2016
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1. To be straight less cost means either less power or less quality somewhere we have to limit ourselves.

2. Z170 and X99 depend the CPU we choose and there is a huge difference in both. Z170 supports Skylake and X99 supports Haswell-e Z170 limited to 32GB RAM mostly X99 64GB+ RAM.

3. If you want to do rendering in future simply go for i7-5820K build and don't worry about overclocking as you can overclock as much you want by throwing in a good cooling system. Spend like a $110-120 for cooling and you can attain nearly 5GHz which is more than enough for present and upcoming games.

Here is the build for your requirements can render in no-time and handle games smoothly.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($215.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($64.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Sandisk X400 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk X400 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan ($17.48 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan ($17.48 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1494.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-19 09:40 EDT-0400

All the best for your build.
 
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ariliteth

Commendable
May 18, 2016
24
0
1,510
Thanks for the answers. My first question was prompted by the first build being $500 under, so I was just looking for clarification.

The only other real concern I have is liquid cooling. It isn't something I've had, so I'm not terribly confident in using it. Can I achieve similar clocking results in this with just fans? Or would that be setting it back noticeably?
 
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Supahos

Supahos

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The reason I stayed under $1500 was to allow you to pick any keyboard/monitor/mouse combo you wanted. Additionally in flat gaming setup the 6700k will outperform the 5820. Honestly money spent above my build won't help performance much $2000 (ur price when adding a 1080 to it) is kinda the max performance barrier... ur just buying "flashy" stuff at that point. Have to spend lots of $ for very small gains
 
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VR PC-BUILD

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Yes what you said is completely true if it was a straight gaming build even I would have advised him of i7-6700K. But down the road he wants to do rendering and editing in that stuff trust me 2 extra cores gives a huge amount of boost as well as if he is able to OC it to even 4.6-4.8GHz which is possible with cooler I provided he can get great results in the game.
 
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ariliteth

Commendable
May 18, 2016
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1,510
Right, I had been trying to clarify with the question whether spending more was just going to get me diminishing returns there. And I get the point. I am not looking to overspend just to be flashy, I just want to be sure I am getting a solid setup that will last a while with an upgrade here and there to boost it.

I'm also sorry to have confused the issue with adding rendering. I see now it definitely seems to have a significant impact on core elements of the build. So I will certainly need to weigh whether rendering is important enough to prepare for with this. I am torn, but I may be leaning more towards the i7-6700k. Gaming is, at the heart of it, what I'm shooting for. I'm also, as you can guess, not an experienced overclocker.
 
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VR PC-BUILD

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Decide what you want to and go for it as you said you wanna do mainstream gaming Supahos build is good go for it I only advised i7-5820K because of rendering and editing stuff otherwise there is no real use of those 2 extra cores.

All the best for your build.
 
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A

ariliteth

Commendable
May 18, 2016
24
0
1,510
I understand, and I really do appreciate the alternates presented here. That was the entire reason I posted, I wasn't really able to see the core differences in the gaming build I wanted versus the possibility of other hobbies in the future. So seeing what else was presented truly helped solidify the parts I think best fit my desires.

Supahos first build is what I believe I will go with. Which leaves me with a final question: My current monitor is not even supported by the GTX 1080, so any recommendations on a monitor at or below $300? If by some luck there is a 4k monitor, great, but I would love a great 1080, leaving a solid 4k as a future upgrade.
 
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