Help Building a Amazing $900-$1000 gaming pc?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($132.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card ($254.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P14 FLX 65.0 CFM 140mm Fan ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1009.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-25 14:09 EDT-0400

including:
- a nice case
- solid PSU
- Win10 if needed
- an additional case fan for better airflow (optional)
- a GTX 1060 with 6GB VRAM
- a nice board that will let you overclock the CPU

Honestly the only thing I might change in that is the PSU, and only because there's an 6600k and a solid OC board on it. Would want a better PSU if your friend ever wants to overclock. Otherwise, that's solid. If your friend has an extra $100 to up it to $1100 he could grab a boot drive and a better PSU, but otherwise that's about as good as it's gonna get for the money. Would help out a lot if your friend has any pieces of his PC that he can salvage so he can put that money to better use.

Well, in that case you could downgrade to an i5 6500 and a cheaper motherboard that doesn't have the power phases the UD3 has (or get an h170 board that has the same power phases, but less features, notably DDR4 clock support), leave out/get a cheaper CPU cooler (unless you guys live somewhere incredibly hot, the stock cooler should be okay), and you could then put that money into a 240gb boot drive.

Edit: Why not go for something like the Asus H170 Pro Gaming? I believe it's a bit cheaper than that board with the same features. Would also want to change the DDR4 out to a (possibly) cheaper 2133 set... but that isn't really of much consequence. Also, why the 6600 over the 6500? 6600 gets .1GHz base clock over the 6500 for $20. Imo that's not worth it, but would like to hear rational.

Max possible power draw:
i5 ~ 70W
GTX 1060 ~ 140W
MB ~ 40W
2x DDR4 DIMMs ~ 6W
1x SSD+HDD ~10W
3x fans ~5W

Total: 271W max
Although that's a number that could only be reached when every parts of the system are stressed; general power draw either in gaming/web browsing are guaranteed to be less than that. And given that a GTX 1080 add only ~100W, and moving to i7 only result in ~30W increase, a good 550W is enough for any single CPU+GPU build.

That being said, when such good 550-650W 80+Gold PSU is only $5-10 less than the 760W 80+Platinum, it makes more sense to go with the Platinum option since efficiency of a 550-650W Gold at 40-50% capacity is just about the same as a 760W Platinum at 30-35% (a cheaper Bronze wouldn't be as efficient). Having the PSU operating at lower load will have two effect, first is extend its lifespan, second is lower its operating temperature (and therefore a secondary effect of lower noise due to its fan not having to spin up to cool its innards). Plus the extra wattage means that the PSU can support multiple graphic card if such need/want arise either during the life time of this build or the next.

The other options that was considered:
Corsair CXM550W (80+Bronze; Semi-Modular) ~ $69.99 - $20rebate = $49.99
Corsair RMx650W (80+Gold; Full-Modular) ~ $99.99 - $30rebate = $69.99
Seasonic SSR-650RM (80+Gold; Semi-Modular) ~ $64.99 - $15rebate = $49.99 (and just so you don't misunderstand, the SSR-650RM is cheaper than equivalent 80+Gold in this round-up is because it's part of Seasonic older G series; their latest 80+Gold design is the X series [the SS-650KM3 is $99.99 @ Amazon])
Seasonic SS-760XP2 (80+Platinum; Full-Modular) ~ $119.99 - $30rebate - $10promocode = $79.99 (special sales price ends in two days before it goes back to its usual price of around $120-150)
EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W (80+Gold; Full-Modular) ~$84.99 - $10rebate =$74.99 (the G2 has been pretty stable at this price)
which make the SS-760XP2 the best value for long term usage and capabilities, if you don't mind dealing with rebate.

As in the recent Toms article featuring an i7 Skylake with HT disabled (which would be no different than an i5) performs just the same or better than the 6-8cores Broadwell-E at the same clock, so the extra Hyper Threading capabilities (4 extra logical cores) of an i7 over an i5 for gaming isn't needed, especially when and if it would be at the expense of other components.

Corsair low profile LPX guarantees no interference to CPU air coolers should one is picked for upgrade over the stock cooler. This specific version also run at tighter CL13.

The Phanteks P400S gives you lots of nice things: a side window, extra sound dampening material, fan controller, mounting support for up to 3x120mm front intake fans, frontal RGB LED, segregated PSU area; and the only down side really being only two 3.5" bays for HDD in the PSU area and two 2.5" bays for SSD behind the MB tray vs three or four of each in other cases and no 5.25" bay which is a moot point since having the need for more than two SSD + two HDD wouldn't be the norm for a gaming build.

In term of CPU+MB, you don't get much better than a solid H170 board and the fastest non-overclock i5 with a combo buy discount.
A different combo you can consider is the i5 6500+ASROCK Z170 Pro4 for $6.01 more which would include a good basic Z170 board to serve as the base to support upgrading to K unlocked CPU when needed.

^ would agree. A 1060 for nigh $275 is not worth it. The performance difference in benches between the 3GB and 6GB variants are very small, even when more than 3GB is getting used. And if the 3GB is scary, there is always the 4GB 480 as mentioned above.

It needs to be something that will last long and be able to play all the games today fairly well. I'd prefer nvidea graphics only because amd burns out too much for me in the past and my nvidea have always lasted much longer.

Click to expand...

Now that really depends on how you interpret the "last long" in OP original request. 3GB variants may be just 5% slower for the immediate titles, but can you say that it will "last long", in the sense that OP wouldn't need to replace it in the years ahead?

If the RX480 4 GB was an option, it would have been picked; another gigabyte of VRAM and better support of DX12/Vulkan would have it better positioned for the "last long" part, but that would have go against OP wish of no AMD.


Okay. Let's say going forward with the MSI GTX 1060 3GB GAMING ~ $219-$20 rebate @ Newegg; comparing that to the current offer of MSI GTX 1060 6GB GAMING X @ $269.99-$10 rebate @ B&H; you can save $60 going with the cheaper option, then what? What aspect that can and must be improved that you'd be willing to downgrade a component that has major effect on gaming performance and longevity of the build?

Spending the $ has to make sense, but choosing not to spend has to make sense also. Otherwise the exact same argument can also be used to exclude the SuperNOVA G2 for some cheap 400-500W Bronze, then the cheapest of Chinese plastic of a case from DIYPC/CiT/SAMA (same guy different name), then the cheapest H110 board so forth; and unlike the switch to the GTX1060 3GB, those are for components that would not or barely have any effect on performance.

Conclusion: Allow yourself the nice things of high-end hardware if you have the budget for it.

Being overly obsess with saving does not equal smart, it just means that you're cheap and the end result wouldn't be an "Amazing $900-$1000 gaming pc":
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB GAMING Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.97 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($85.70 @ My Choice Software)
Total: $808.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-29 08:32 EDT-0400