Computer build for gaming/rendering; opinions needed to finalise purchase.

hunan1

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YES-S-S-S-S! I've been on this forum for years, I've learnt a vast amount of information about computers, so thank you guys for helping me out. I'm days away from purchasing the parts of my soon to be computer, I just need some 'expert' opinions on the build (I don't want to be left in doubt over whether I made the right purchases). The build be used for intensive games: GTA 5, Tom Clancy's: The Division, Skyrim etc. And I would also like to do some heavy modding, on some of these titles. Rendering software's will be put to use, as I'm wanting to video/photo edit (quite a lot; may I add). Constructive feedback will be highly appreciated, as is quick answers. I'm approaching the £600 mark, lowering it would be slightly would be more ideal for me, but I'm not wanting to comparise a lot. I'm wondering whether it would be worth buying an i5-6500, for £15 more. I'll let you guys help me make that decision So here it is:
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/KW3xgL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/KW3xgL/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£17.99 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI H110M ECO Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£55.95 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£37.94 @ BT Shop)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB GAMING Video Card (£191.51 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£49.56 @ BT Shop)
Total: £591.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-03 00:25 BST+0100
 
It would definitely be worth purchasing the 6500 for a little more, but there are some very poor choices in that build. ;.;
I'll post an improved version in a sec.
You won't be able to do heavy modding with those specs, but you should be able to get some decent performance in.
Afraid with only a 600 quid budget that's a little unrealistic for heavy video work, as you'd need an i7 for that! :) 16GB of RAM will also help heavily on this front.
I'll do what I can and get back to you though.
 

CTurbo

Pizza Monster
Moderator
The cooler was unnecessary. I removed it and it allowed me to upgrade to a better i5 and motherboard. I made a few other minor changes like getting 2x4GB RAM instead of 1x8GB, and a psu that I KNOW is good instead of a psu that I THINK is good.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock B150M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£50.95 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£34.62 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB GAMING Video Card (£191.51 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£50.84 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £579.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-03 00:27 BST+0100
 
I forgot to add, you'll also definitely need more than 1TB of storage given the amount of games you're installing and the video editing you're doing.
Here's what i've put together for you, should perform much better, but costs a little more.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£65.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£62.99 @ Novatech)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£60.98 @ Novatech)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Windforce OC Video Card (£201.72 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 ATX Mid Tower Case (£43.06 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.88 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £646.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-03 00:33 BST+0100
 

hunan1

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The I5-6500 it is. I'm going to be installing a lot so the space is necessary. I was looking for an SSD but for the storage : price, I didn't think it would be worth it. Realistically, I think I'll stick with HDD, and add a 8GB SSD later on with just the OS. Everything else looks good?
 

hunan1

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I think I only have 2 RAM slots, and I'll need to upgrade to 18GB RAM in while, so I think this will be more appropriate. Or if you know of a a motherboard with more slots for a similar price then I'll do that. The I5 upgrade seems to be a popular answer so I'll choose that. I'm going to be using the build heavily so to be on the safe side I'd want to get a cooler. I'm going to look at reviews for both PSU's, and then choose.
 

hunan1

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I'll look at it in a second. Right, so Windows 10 OS needs around 20gb of space. I was thinking of getting an SSD later on or Hybrid, but you're right, it might not be worth it for me.
 

hunan1

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Is any drawbacks to that motherboard? That seems to be a better option for me. Could I buy 2x8gb RAM sticks, and then add 1x8gb of the same type RAM? I want to save space to install more RAM, as in the future my needs might grow. I think I'll only buy 1 stick for now as I'm limited to how much I can spend. The same applies to storage; can I buy 1TB HDD, and then fit another one later on? I noticed for £10 more, you replaced the GPU for an occ version. Is that worth the price : performance? Can I not overclock myself using a tutorial? Lastly, the PSU is a lot cheaper than what I chose. I'm not getting warranty on the products so I don't want any problems with that. So is it worth getting these? (excluding the CPU, motherboard)
 
With HDDs, absolutely, but if you're planning to upgrade RAM, just get 1x8GB for now, and get more in the future if you feel although I heavily advise you instead get 2x8GB now, and save for another 2x8GB kit of the same model later down the line for upgradability.
I find that when upgrading from 1x8GB to 16GB is fine, but when adding 4 8GB modules in separately you might encounter some issues, as I have in the past, so i'd purchase them in twos. ;)
 

hunan1

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I really appreciate the help, thanks. I'll get back to you tomorrow with a decision.
 
*Micro-ATX. :p
ATX motherboards are simply more expensive, and they don't realistically offer any benefit unless you want to go SLI, which you'd only really do on a Z170 board anyway, or if you had the cash.
You're most likely to go with the best single card solution anyway, trust me.
I use an mATX board in an ATX case currently as a placeholder before getting my water cooling rig together and it runs perfectly fine.
There is very little size difference, you're only getting PCIE slots which would only be useful if you're using PCIE storage alongside a wireless card for example, which is very uncommon.
 

ronandexsga

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Sep 28, 2016
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you also get more dimm slots wich is great for upgrading ram since 4X8 is better than 2X16
 

AqwBroders

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I highly recommend having both and SSD and HDD, as you're going to do Video stuff that takes up alot of space and as more you fill into the HDD the slower it gets, See if you can get the HDD now but maybe in 1-2 months get and SSD as well before you fill up too much space on the HDD.
Also I5 6500 anyday over I5 6400.
 

ronandexsga

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Sep 28, 2016
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higher memory stick have slower timing than smaller ones wich compensates for the extra stress put on the memory controller
 
Timings are barely even relevant as long as they're reasonably tight, they won't make that much difference, even then we're talking, what, 1ns difference?
.....
There's virtually nothing to differentiate the two capacities, and two 8GB sticks allows for 32GB upgradability which is crucial for a rendering rig.
The motherboard runs in dual channel, it will be fine, don't worry.
 

ronandexsga

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Sep 28, 2016
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what should me my first upgrade
i5 6500 3.2 ghz
z170-a asus mobo
hyper evo 212 cooler
asus strix 960 4gb
2x4 gb of gskill ripjaws ddr 2400
240 gb a data ssd
1 tb wd black hdd