New Build Help

huntersw2 · Sep 10, 2016

Hey doing a new build for gaming, just need someone to look over the parts. I deiced on to help with graphic card selection. Here is what i got so far.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/bjndHN

My budget is $1400 almost forgot to mention that. And i am not sure about which video card to get. The ones that come to mind are a GTX 970, RX 480 (8GB version) Or the GTX 1060 (6Gb). From what i gathered the 1060 would be the best trust but not sure. And i do not want an SSD. So is this build viable?

m4ntl3 · Sep 10, 2016

Looks fine. I like AMD graphics cards, but that's just my preference.

huntersw2 · Sep 10, 2016

Thanks for your input. I am trying to get the best performance is all while spending the cheapest amount possible. And not sure which graphic card is best at the moment Have not found any benchmarks for the newer cards on the market ect....

m4ntl3 · Sep 10, 2016

huntersw2 :

It will vary from game to game, generally the 1060 wins in DX11 games and the RX 480 wins in Vulkan in DX12, the RX 480 is the best price to performance. Finally the 1060 doesn't have SLI, so you can't add another 1060 for more performance.

azaran · Sep 10, 2016

Only thing that pops out immediately for me is the cooler. While that model is going to be quieter than a stock cooler, the performance of the cooler isn't worth the cost. You'd using a low profile cooler and really the only reason to use one is if you case requires it, which your choice doesn't. You have an 160mm clearance in your case so if you want to go with an aftermarket cooler you have a number of better options. I'd say look at the Cryorig H7. 145mm height, and doesn't overlap any RAM slots and has some of the best cooling and low noise for a cooler it's size. It'll run you about the same or less than the Noctua.

The 1060 is a good choice for the video card, better than going with the 970. But then I like Nvidia over AMD so I'm partial.

huntersw2 · Sep 10, 2016

I have not decided on the case yet. Put that one for a place holder of sorts. I just did not want to go with a high profile cooler. I keep thinking they will fall. And thought a low profile would do the trick.

azaran · Sep 10, 2016

huntersw2 :

Naw, as long as you put the thing on right it wont fall, same holds true for even the stock cooler. Doesn't mean you need to get some massive beast like the NH-D15 or anything. The stock cooler will honestly do most of what you need unless you live in a hot climate, its just nosier than most people like.

Since you're not overclocking you wont really need an aftermarket fan. I personally go 3rd party, even on non overclocking because of the noise issue. The H7 is overkill, but it'll fit in most cases (save low profile cases) and is very quiet. The Cooler Master GeminII S524 Ver.2 is more quiet and lower profile (105mm) but you have to make sure your RAM will fit under the heatsink (47mm max). The H7 doesn't have any clearance issues with RAM, so it tends to get my vote.

The inherent problem with low profile coolers is you have to give up either size or cooling and they're typically louder than tower coolers because of the fan speeds they need to run at. You can get some semi decent combo of both with some coolers but if you don't have to deal with it, its generally better not to.

Ne0Wolf7 · Sep 10, 2016

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/G9w7RG
Considering you need everything, it won't get much better than an overclock able sky lake i5 (with a liquid cooler), a shiny new RX 480 that can be supplemented with another later on, and an M.2 SSD with a TB of HHD. Keep in mind that you'll need to buy three (THREE) (3) {[(GET THREE 3 OF THEM)]} of the fans.
I really dont thnk you'll notice the difference between the mice and keyboards we choose.

azaran · Sep 10, 2016

Except a Z series instead of a H series is needed for the motherboard to OC the CPU or RAM. Also the PSU in that build is not a good model. Either build would be better off dumping an extra $10 in to it for
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/qYTrxr/evga-power-supply-220g20550y1

Ne0Wolf7 · Sep 10, 2016

I've heard good things about CXM series, but but your profile picture is great, so I believe you (

), and the mobo just the wrong one.
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/VGHRKZ

**Wrong PSU, here the good one
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/q6m34C

azaran · Sep 10, 2016

The CXM is made by a good OEM, but its just a cheap part. A CS would be a step up from there but really, its hard to argue against going with a G2 series from EVGA when its only a $10 price difference.

huntersw2 · Sep 11, 2016

azaran :

huntersw2 :

Naw, as long as you put the thing on right it wont fall, same holds true for even the stock cooler. Doesn't mean you need to get some massive beast like the NH-D15 or anything. The stock cooler will honestly do most of what you need unless you live in a hot climate, its just nosier than most people like.

Since you're not overclocking you wont really need an aftermarket fan. I personally go 3rd party, even on non overclocking because of the noise issue. The H7 is overkill, but it'll fit in most cases (save low profile cases) and is very quiet. The Cooler Master GeminII S524 Ver.2 is more quiet and lower profile (105mm) but you have to make sure your RAM will fit under the heatsink (47mm max). The H7 doesn't have any clearance issues with RAM, so it tends to get my vote.

The inherent problem with low profile coolers is you have to give up either size or cooling and they're typically louder than tower coolers because of the fan speeds they need to run at. You can get some semi decent combo of both with some coolers but if you don't have to deal with it, its generally better not to.

Thanks for the tip will look into a different cooler.

huntersw2 · Sep 11, 2016

Ne0Wolf7 :

I have no interest in overclocking at all thus i did not grabbing the K version. Don't want an SSD either due to them have less space to save stuff for the cost they are going for. When i could just pick up a HDD. As for a liquid CPU cooler heard horror stories of closed looped leaking so avoiding those. Don't want to have to deal that potential problem And WIFI is not something i really need stilling using ethernet since my desktop is right by my router. As for Crossfire and SLI those sometimes cause troubles in games. So rather get a solid card that can hold its on. But thanks for the suggestion

Now what is the reasoning with going with the RX 480 over the GTX 1060? They are around the same price but not sure which is better exactly. Leaning towards the GTX due to Nvidia usually making better cards.

Now not the best person when it comes to a PSU. But what is wrong with the Seasonic G vs the G2 Series from EVGA

azaran · Sep 11, 2016

huntersw2 :

I get the arguments for why you don't want to go in those directions, but I will say an SSD provides a huge measure of perceived performance. The boot time, and load times of programs becomes night and day when you compare SSD's to HDD. If you're doing high I/O they make a real improvement to performance. The general setup of a smaller drive, like a 250GB drive, setup with a larger HDD make life just so much smother than dealing solely with a HDD. That being said, you don't actually NEED one, but if you can spare the $70-90, it makes everything a bit smoother and faster.

Overclocking.. its fun, and long term it can extend the life of your system a bit. But yeah its not really a needed affair. I argue the clock difference for the $20-30 difference between the non k and k versions are worth it in the long run since people generally try and get that amount in overclocking anyway. But its more effort than a lot of people want to put in to things if they're not enthusiasts about it and there's nothing wrong with that.

As for AIO's, the horror stories are far outside the norm. That being said, even the good stories still generally end up with the pump failing after around 6 or so years. Tho to be fair, every generation gets better numbers. Air cooling if your not OCing is by far the simplest way to go about it. And if you're not OCing, there's no need to get crazy with your cooling. Tho if noise is an issue, looking in to good 3rd party choices is a really good idea. Stock will do the trick on non K series chips, but really just barely. Noise wise, its not something people really need to put up with. Less than $40, hell $30 in some cases, will get you a whisper quiet cooler that you'll never have to deal with after you slap it on.

huntersw2 · Sep 11, 2016

azaran :

huntersw2 :

I get the arguments for why you don't want to go in those directions, but I will say an SSD provides a huge measure of perceived performance. The boot time, and load times of programs becomes night and day when you compare SSD's to HDD. If you're doing high I/O they make a real improvement to performance. The general setup of a smaller drive, like a 250GB drive, setup with a larger HDD make life just so much smother than dealing solely with a HDD. That being said, you don't actually NEED one, but if you can spare the $70-90, it makes everything a bit smoother and faster.

Overclocking.. its fun, and long term it can extend the life of your system a bit. But yeah its not really a needed affair. I argue the clock difference for the $20-30 difference between the non k and k versions are worth it in the long run since people generally try and get that amount in overclocking anyway. But its more effort than a lot of people want to put in to things if they're not enthusiasts about it and there's nothing wrong with that.

As for AIO's, the horror stories are far outside the norm. That being said, even the good stories still generally end up with the pump failing after around 6 or so years. Tho to be fair, every generation gets better numbers. Air cooling if your not OCing is by far the simplest way to go about it. And if you're not OCing, there's no need to get crazy with your cooling. Tho if noise is an issue, looking in to good 3rd party choices is a really good idea. Stock will do the trick on non K series chips, but really just barely. Noise wise, its not something people really need to put up with. Less than $40, hell $30 in some cases, will get you a whisper quiet cooler that you'll never have to deal with after you slap it on.

Uh oh XD accdiently picked yours as the solution sorry no idea how to undo that one ::/ will get an SSD when they can hold a TB or more for around a hundred bucks till then. I can't see myself investing in one. I know the boot times and load times are insanely faster than a HDD. But i just want the extra space since games are getting bigger in size and would prefer to have the extra space to keep as many on drive as possible. Water cooling is something i would look into if i ever get off into OC. I know the basics of how to do it just not something i want to do. Till then an aftermarket air cooler will do the job for me since it gets really hot in my area in the summer. Thanks for the input now any reason you prefer the RX 480 over the GTX 1060?

Ne0Wolf7 · Sep 11, 2016

Extra space? Games take never more than 60 GB, and windows takes just that. I have an SATA 6GB/s SSD, and its amazing, windows boots in less than 5 seconds, but in windows, things slow down a bit. That's why you want a M.2 SSD. They're really the sweet spot right now, offering somewhat lagging performance over PCIe SSD, and an enormous boost over SATA. I don't see the price coming down to $100 for 1 TB if half of that is $100 right now, maybe $150 by half through next year, but not too soon, and 6 months is long wait.
Overclocking on a nice motherboard is INSANELY simple, just a little time consuming. You literally just go to BIOS, change BLCK multiplier, run a test, and if it's good, repeat until its not good, then put it a highest good settings. I got an Xeon for the lower that i7 K prices, and I'm kicking myself because of it. Like arazon said, water coolers are usually reliable when you buy from a good brand name, falling apart and ruining something is not normal at all, hence the units good reviews.
The 480 is better than the 1060 because they're the same price, but the AMD card has multi GPU support, something to look forward to in the future if you don't want to redo this rig too soon.

azaran · Sep 11, 2016

Ne0Wolf7 :

Sorry Neo, I don't mean to be that guy but.. yeah your way off on the game and SSD side of things. GTA V alone at launch was 65GB, an it's had a year of updates since then. The concern over size of SSD's is pretty valid, which is why most builders have gone from 120Gb to 250GB as the recommended min size for a boot drive. I've known a number of gamers who have either dropped the money on a 500GB (which is so damn cheap compared to even a year ago) or just deleted games off their steam account because they would rather not have the game than deal with loading off a HDD and dealing with the management of libraries on different drives. Also m.2 SATA is just a format change from normal SATA 3 connection. There really isn't much change in speed between the two because they're both running 6GB/s speeds through the same channels. The only real benefit is the format allowing the drive to be placed on the motherboard, this is a space saver for laptops and small form factor builds. M.2 PCIe drives are a completely different matter and the speeds are vastly better. But the avg person who isn't doing high I/O intensive tasks will never see the difference, and the speed vs cost for non professionals is rarely worth it. There's a lot of confusion for new builders because while a motherboard may support M.2 formats, not all support both SATA and PCIe M.2 formats. All that said, as a tech I just about kissed my boss when I found out we were upgrading all 140 computers I help oversee over to SSD's. Everything, and I mean everything, I had to deal with in terms of creating images, deploying, updating, and general maintenance speed up by a degree of hours a day being saved. In the few cases where I had to go back to HDD for triple boot specialty loads, it was immediately apparent and reminded me of just how slow they really are in comparison. Not saying you NEED one, just saying once you go to one, you will never want to be without one in a system. Prices are dropping at a staggering rate with SSD's. So while maybe a year may be wistful thinking for a 1TB drive under $100, I think we'll see them under $200 in a year or so.

Ocing is relativity easy, but its not for everyone. Gonna take an old man moment here to reflect on when OCing meant having to physically alter the CPU to bridge connections. I remember ordering bridging terminals and physically tracing lines with graphite to OC locked CPU's. I also remember letting out the magic smoke and the unmistakable smell of a burnt out CPU. To get hardcore in to OCing, it can get in depth. But for example, I can get my current CPU stable at 4.7Ghz (stock 4.0) with like 20 min of mucking about without any real research or effort. If you have the budget and think you might be interested in it, it might be worth going with a K series CPU just to screw around with. But if none of that sounds like fun, then screw it, throw that money at something you'll enjoy like a good set of headphones or a keyboard that wont give you carpel tunnel in 5 years.

As for the RX 480 vs 1060, it really comes down to which games you want to play. By and large, the 1060 has a 10% increase in performance over the RX 480. The 1060 draws less power, and creates less heat then the 480 as well. If prices are equal, there would be absolutely no reason to go with a 480 in a single card configuration. Where the 480 does excel is in some games and in the ability to do crossfire. Nvidia, for some damn reason, restricted the 1060 to single card and only the 1070 and 1080s get to have SLI options. The 480 also has 8GB vs 6GB of memory and a higher memory bandwidth. But unless the game you're looking to play takes advantage of it, then its just more bling you can brag about but get no use out of. Both cards are good, but if you want to see something that will hands out beat the 1060, wait till the RX 490 comes out. As it stands now, with the power/heat differences, and that a 1060 can beat out a GTX970 or in same cases a GTX 980 (which beats the 480 hands down in tests I've seen) I really cant see a reason not to go with it unless the RX 480 is drastically cheaper.

Ne0Wolf7 · Sep 11, 2016

I thought I read somewhere that M.2 was 20 GB/s... oops.
As for the 480 vs 1060, every bodies interests change, that's why when you have $300 to put on a GPU, that will inevitably drop in price as time goes on, I'd get one that has the capability to have more than one as a cheaper upgrade later on (I failed at that on my current PC).
And thanks you VERY much for being that guy, I'm 15 years old and just starting to figure this stuff out.

azaran · Sep 11, 2016

Ne0Wolf7 :

No worries man, we all learn over time. And I've found this forum to be absolutely invaluable for learning new and refining existing knowledge. Don't be afraid to post but also, and you have this part down solid so serious kudos to you, be willing to admit when someone is correcting your knowledge. It shows serious maturity and growth, and that's not something everyone on here has.

I think the speeds you were thinking of was the M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 drives, those get up to 32Gb/s of speed.

Unfortunately one thing I've learned in building systems, and this is hard to say given the price tag, consider GPU's to be damn near expendable purchase. Every year they come out with drastically better models. I got a 980 last year at a black Friday sale and was ecstatic. This year a damn $250 GTX 1060 competes with or beats me in same tests. I can not explain how much that pissed me off on just general principle.

As for being able to drop a second one in later on... sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some games will get a huge up-swell in performance, some have been shown to drop in performance because the game just wasn't coded to deal with it right. One you pick up a GPU you have to really look at the titles that will work with what you want to have and where you want to go. You obviously can't predict the future but a little research towards it will give you a lot of info for which part will meet you needs.

Ne0Wolf7 · Sep 11, 2016

azaran :

Ne0Wolf7 :

No worries man, we all learn over time. And I've found this forum to be absolutely invaluable for learning new and refining existing knowledge. Don't be afraid to post but also, and you have this part down solid so serious kudos to you, be willing to admit when someone is correcting your knowledge. It shows serious maturity and growth, and that's not something everyone on here has.

I think the speeds you were thinking of was the M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 drives, those get up to 32Gb/s of speed.

Unfortunately one thing I've learned in building systems, and this is hard to say given the price tag, consider GPU's to be damn near expendable purchase. Every year they come out with drastically better models. I got a 980 last year at a black Friday sale and was ecstatic. This year a damn $250 GTX 1060 competes with or beats me in same tests. I can not explain how much that pissed me off on just general principle.

As for being able to drop a second one in later on... sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some games will get a huge up-swell in performance, some have been shown to drop in performance because the game just wasn't coded to deal with it right. One you pick up a GPU you have to really look at the titles that will work with what you want to have and where you want to go. You obviously can't predict the future but a little research towards it will give you a lot of info for which part will meet you needs.

I'm not sure if you've helped me or the threads creator more now

azaran · Sep 11, 2016

Hunter, for the hell of it I put together a system with your basic build as the template but tweaked a couple of things and saved you 39cents.
CPU cooler: Changed out the CPU cooler for reasons that were in this thread

RAM: changed you out to faster speced RAM for less.

Storage: Added a 250GB SSD, and replaced out the HDD you picked out. You had a WD enterprise drive, which I applaud as I use the same kind of drives myself. But I changed it out to a Hitachi Enterprise grade drive. Excellent drive, with lower failure rates of the WD and still has the 5yr warranty. Got both drives in for the cost of the WD drive you had before.

PSU: swapped you out to a slightly better quality PSU. You didn't pick a bad one, I'm just throwing my own overstated opinion in to your purchase

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($213.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($83.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($68.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card ($265.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($16.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($129.95 @ B&H)
Monitor: Asus VX238H-W 23.0" Monitor ($130.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Thermaltake CHALLENGER PRIME Wired Gaming Keyboard ($26.19 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Logitech G300S Wired Optical Mouse ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Logitech Z200 0W 2ch Speakers ($22.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1292.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-11 10:54 EDT-0400

One question I have, is there a reason your going with Pro version of Windows? I use it and have reasons for that, but if the bells and whistles over Home aren't things you'll use, you can save a few bucks going to the Home edition since it wont affect performance.

azaran · Sep 11, 2016

Ne0Wolf7 :

azaran :

Ne0Wolf7 :

No worries man, we all learn over time. And I've found this forum to be absolutely invaluable for learning new and refining existing knowledge. Don't be afraid to post but also, and you have this part down solid so serious kudos to you, be willing to admit when someone is correcting your knowledge. It shows serious maturity and growth, and that's not something everyone on here has.

I think the speeds you were thinking of was the M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 drives, those get up to 32Gb/s of speed.

Unfortunately one thing I've learned in building systems, and this is hard to say given the price tag, consider GPU's to be damn near expendable purchase. Every year they come out with drastically better models. I got a 980 last year at a black Friday sale and was ecstatic. This year a damn $250 GTX 1060 competes with or beats me in same tests. I can not explain how much that pissed me off on just general principle.

As for being able to drop a second one in later on... sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some games will get a huge up-swell in performance, some have been shown to drop in performance because the game just wasn't coded to deal with it right. One you pick up a GPU you have to really look at the titles that will work with what you want to have and where you want to go. You obviously can't predict the future but a little research towards it will give you a lot of info for which part will meet you needs.

I'm not sure if you've helped me or the threads creator more now

Glad I could help out in any way

huntersw2 · Sep 11, 2016

Ne0Wolf7 :

azaran :

I'm not sure if you've helped me or the threads creator more now

Both, i am always willing to learn new things concerning computers. But from a few benchmarks that i have seen GTX 1060 and RX 480 are neck and neck literally. 480 seems to do better in DX 12 and about the same performance with the 1060 with everything else and since i am guessing more and more games will start using DX 12 in a year or two will go wtih that. Thanks everyone for your input will pick a case a better heatsink and order everything.

azaran · Sep 11, 2016

Here's a couple of suggestions for cases in your price range of the orig build.
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/WyjG3C/nzxt-case-cah230ib1
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/jrVBD3/phanteks-case-phes515pbk
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/vVwqqs/phanteks-case-phes515pabk

And if you decided to ditch the optical drive and just install everything off USB drives, I think these two cases are damn sexy.
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/xjZ2FT/phanteks-case-phec416pbk
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/gwzZxr/nzxt-case-cah442wm1 (admittedly, much more expensive but so nice to build in and looks good)

Ne0Wolf7 · Sep 11, 2016

And heres something I am sure of- the best valued heatsink by afr is the Hyper 212 Evo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
Its the most popular cooler on PCPartPicker, is rated 5/5 on most sites, and even out performs some (bad) AOI Liquid coolers.

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