New Gaming PC build with about 2500 dollar budget

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
H

hasim

Distinguished
Sep 28, 2010
35
0
18,540
After 2 weeks of research, I've put together the following list, and I would like to get your input:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/zW6jyf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/zW6jyf/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($345.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($42.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170I PRO GAMING Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($64.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($161.65 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card ($459.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT Manta (Black/Red) Mini ITX Desktop Case ($119.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 27.0" 165Hz Monitor ($749.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $2363.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-15 00:03 EDT-0400

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I really love the case, and definitely want it. Unless any of you strongly advise against it.

I also picked the monitor after a lot of thinking, and some advice from these forums, so I am 99% sure of that too...

The things that I am having most problem with are the:
1) PSU: Is the above overkill? I want something reliable and efficient, so that heat is also minimized. The PSU and GPU are uncomfortably close in this case, so I am trying to pick a highly efficient psu to keep the heat around the gpu as low as possible.

2) CPU cooler: Same as above. Should I go with water cooling?

In general, I am little worried about the heat levels in the system due to small case. I know it is a big case for small factor, but still smaller than mid-towers, which I find optimal and am used to. Most of the builds I saw online went with water cooling for this case, and I am not sure if I should too. Or, do I need a more aggressive cpu cooler like be silent pro rock 3 or whatever it's name is..

I am not going to overclock, other than pushing the RAM to 2400. Given this, some of you will say the CPU above is unnecessary. I still kinda want it because I do not intend to change it for the next 5-6 years. I will only be upgrading my gpu.

I can also use some advice about the MOBO. This one has Intel LAN and wifi, among other things, so I grabbed it, but I am not insistent on it. I just got the feeling that it was deemed kosher by the community. I know this one is also for OCing people, but whatever :) I want it to look good.

Also note that I will ALWAYS use single gpu. Never going SLI or anything, but I'll probably upgrade this card when 1080ti or some similar heavy hitter hits the market.

Note that I may add a hard disk to this.. Have not decided on that yet.. But fyi...

And one last thing: I am planning to buy grey colored PSU extensions from this website:
http://www.v1tech.com/

How many of what do I need? :) I reckoned I'll need like 1x24s for mobo and 2x8s for gpu but still wanted to ask to those of you knowledgeable about that aspect of things.

Anyway. Thank you for your time in advance. Let me know what you think!

 
Solution
Geekwad


This is a decent guide for quality among the various manufacturers:

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

Many manufacturers make a range of products, and not all of them are the same. This is also a good site for independent...
Sort by date Sort by votes
D

Dan425811923

Distinguished
May 14, 2015
1,135
0
19,460
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($298.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($56.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($125.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card ($669.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Manta Mini ITX Desktop Case ($127.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 27.0" 165Hz Monitor ($749.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $2268.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-15 01:08 EDT-0400
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Geekwad

Geekwad

Admirable
Sep 25, 2015
2,368
1
6,960
This is another way to go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($298.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI B150I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($91.62 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($161.65 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card ($669.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Manta (Black/Red) Mini ITX Desktop Case ($119.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($98.68 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 27.0" 165Hz Monitor ($749.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $2482.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

GTX 1080 is a pretty good match for this monitor to begin with, so could put off an upgrade (especially with Gsync on your side) until the next big jump is more affordable. It will make a MUCH larger difference to you than the marginally higher CPU. RAM, even though not higher frequency, does have very tight timings.

This is also another good site for cable mods:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/

And you can call them with your final configuration and they'll let you know your options. Some of it will depend on how many of the cables you want to custom.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

hasim

Distinguished
Sep 28, 2010
35
0
18,540
Sorry, I could not keep talking last night, cause my wife was sleeping in the room where my computer is.

I have a couple questions:

Are EVGA PSU's good? I remember reading a bad thing about EVGA:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1476935/why-you-should-not-buy-an-evga-supernova-nex650g-750g-aka-g1

I know this is G1, and you guys are recommending G1 and P2, but still wanted to bring this to people's attention. I definitely do not want to cheap out on the PSU. Or, anything, really..

My second question has to do with the CPU and MOBA recommendations:
Both of you went for non Z170 Mobas, which I hear are for people OCing. Similarly, you both went with i7-6700, instead of the K version. Are these revisions simply because I am not going to OC? Is there absolutely no extra benefit to using those "premium" stuff unless you are OCing? Just trying to understand this better.

One more question about the CPU:
In 2-3 years, changing the GPU is easy. It's just cash. Changing the CPU is a pain in the ass. My experience is that, you usually end up also changing the MOBA and RAM.. And then even the cooler maybe... So, this was also why i was going with an overkill CPU for only 40 bucks more... I thought, yeah today it is unnecessary, but in 2-3 years it may be and I do not want to deal with changing that all over again.. So, I picked i7-6700k ovver 6700. If the price difference was 200 dollars, I surely would have not. Thoughts?

Finally, my question about gtx 1080:
Now, just becasuse I said 2500, does not mean I MUST spend it :) I went with gtx 1070 because
a) Price/performance looked good. I do not want to throw away money. Price difference between the two is like 250 dollars.
b) I thought, I can use it for a year and then get a 1080ti when it comes out and its price is stabilzed, and sell my 1070 for 300 bucks.. I just kinda feel like 1080ti will beat 1080 by a wider margin than 1080 beats 1070. Just like 970/980/980ti. Hence, my decision. So, what do you think?

Thank you guys for your time.


 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Geekwad

Geekwad

Admirable
Sep 25, 2015
2,368
1
6,960


This is a decent guide for quality among the various manufacturers:

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

Many manufacturers make a range of products, and not all of them are the same. This is also a good site for independent third party review on specific models:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Review_Cat&recatnum=13



This may help with some of the differences:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

Without overclocking and multi-GPU configurations, the Z-boards really don't offer much to you (except added expense).



This 1151 socket (Skylake) will also support the upcoming Kaby Lake processors, so upgrading in the future will just be a CPU upgrade. With an i7 though, even with the next-gen Kaby i7, you will probably find it unnecessary to upgrade as Intel has very much slowed down their advancement pace. GPUs, especially for games, is really where it's all at.....and this processor will be quite capable of driving several upcoming generations of GPU advancements, even at the very tip-top end. The small boost in clock speed would have an impact though, but the return on investment, in my opinion, is questionable.

I do see your argument though, and it is valid, but the few FPS average that you leave on the table isn't a game-changer (no pun intended). Also don't forget the cooler expense of going with the 'K' version.....which is not included on those models, but is for all the others (and is quite capable). My main angle there (just general experience) is that the money spent there would have a much larger impact in game performance if used towards the GPU.



This is also entirely fair and valid. The GTX 1080 is a much better match for the monitor you have chosen, but you're right, the difference between the 1070 vs 1080 is not expected to be as large as the difference between the 1080 and 1080ti. A fair price for 1080ti could be still quite a way off though (perhaps a year), and presumably the secondary market for a 1080 would be better than a 1070.....so it just depends on you and your comfort level for waiting (and if the lower frame rates and fidelity while waiting are acceptable to you).

Parse the benchmarks carefully to be sure, but Gsync will make the lower and less stable frame rates much easier to deal with in the meantime.....preserving smooth game-play. Still, I would fully expect the GTX 1070, especially in upcoming games with the details cranked to be below 60fps many times (on average), whereas the GTX 1080 with ~20% more performance not to have such issues. Detail settings can always be massaged to change this, of course, but just again depends on your comfort and expectations for doing so.

[/$0.02]
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
H

hasim

Distinguished
Sep 28, 2010
35
0
18,540
Geekwad, you rock! Thank you for taking the time to answer all my questions in such detail. It was very informative.

I will have to keep thinking about the things you wrote for a while. I had no idea that the upcoming Intel processors would again be the same socket type. I should research, but now you got me thinking, maybe I should just get an i5-6500, and use the proceeds to get a 1080. Also, I will go get the cheaper moba you recommended. Then, 2-3 years later, I can get the top end 1151 processor... Since CPU is of secondary importance, this my be the way to go for now. I'll have to think.

About the 1070, I looked at these benchmarks for the 1440p resolution..
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-geforce-gtx-1070-review/
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1070-8gb-pascal-performance,4585-3.html

I mean, even with highest settings, numbers still look very good for most games. And if it struggles, I can always use second highest or tweak non-important things like hair-works etc... Plus, I think I'll be ok for a year.. But, 1080 is still on the table, especially if I go with i5-6500...

Thank you for the long response.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom