Best gaming pc for 2,600$

pcpartpicker.com

Use pcpartpicker.com
As starting point, I would use i7 6700/6800k or i7 7700k along with GTX1070 or GTX1080 for USD2600 price level

Any titles in mind ? Anything other except GAMING ?
Do you currently have any parts ?

Seriously, this is pretty weak. Saying "PCPartpicker.com" is about as lazy as saying "Google it". I would expect better from this forum.

OP - Here you go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($349.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG A80 128.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($123.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($174.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($129.97 @ Jet)
Storage: Samsung 960 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($619.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($116.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($87.71 @ Amazon)
Total: $1948.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-09 10:35 EST-0500

Then you can add whatever keyboard, monitor, and mouse you want.

Sorry Apolen didn't mean to downvote you, I was downvoting the others, you just came here for help and I cannot believe people just typed go to pcpartpicker without giving you a build to start with.. Looks like g-unit has given you a good start.

Seems like OP might have money to burn for a Titan X Pascal.

Bad idea. Get another 1080 then. Dual 1080s are quicker than a Titan XP.

G-unit, I told him to go to pcpartpicker because if they are aware of this site, they should have at least the most basic idea of what they are looking for. The fact that so many people need their hands held for the most basic of decisions, such as what case should I buy is crazy. Some things people need to make decisions on themselves and then ask for opinions to see if they've made a good decision or a bad one. I'm not trying to be an asshole, but with Google and PCpartpicker being the way they are, people have to be willing to do a little research and try to learn otherwise they will never actually become better with technology.

If the game optimally supports SLI yes. But if it doesn't, oh well i suppose.

I would caution that we have just welcomed the latest generation MoBo / CPU platform. Unless you like living on the bleeding edge, I would caution against investing here at this time. In 25 years of PC building I just have seen too many users frustrated / annoyed and with a big case of Buyer's Remorse.

1. The new CPUs are out there with a yield rate that Intel finds acceptable. However as they get more experience with the production line and users get feedback in, the yields will improve and so will CPU efficiency, we may even see a change in the silicon to address any issues discovered after the 1st production runs. What that means to us is, as efficiencies improve, so does the % if CPOus that hit a certain OC target and they will run at lower voltages.

2. Dunno if ya remember P68 and the industry wide recall where design defects were not fixed until the B3 stepping. Everybody who bought early was left having to exchange and replace their boards. While this was certainly the biggest debacle in recent years, no new chipset release has been w/o it's problems. I waited almost 4 months for a later stepping of my Z87 board that did not have the issue of external devices being unable to wake up from sleep.

3. Within the first few months of a new board dropping, expect to go thru about 5 or 6 BIOS upgrades ... and usually MoBo driver updates following closely behind. That means redoing your OCs and a fair amount of re-tweaking time.

4. New tactic of MoBo manufacturers to get users off the phone is to require you to have latest BIOS and drivers installed before they talk to you abut any problem.

5. We have not seen who has the best performing, best featured, best MoBos out there.... in other words... which MoBo models bombed and which stood out. Many Asus buyers were surprised to find out that Asus switched to a substandard audio subsystem ... MSI introduced a few model lines that have had a high number of failures. Does that make either of the products dissatisfactory as a while ?... of course not ... bvut it does give you an opportunity to pick out which ones are the better options.

Note that I am not saying "don't take this route", just saying you will have a better PC if you wait a while.

In addition, the 1080 Ti will be around by then as well as AMDs offerings in which, you will opt for the 1080 To (or AMD alternative) or pay a heck of a lot less for the same card you'd buy today. If you do buy today, make sure to avoid EVGA SC and FTW cards as the deficiently designed cards (missing thermal pads) are reportedly still in the channel.

I can agree somewhat, however the build request is the bread and butter common ask of this forum, I mean the guy said:

However, I don't know where to start.

Click to expand...

Pointing him at a site that lets you pick parts, when he doesn't know where to start picking? Come on.

Throwing money at something doesn't always improve performance. Especially with the 1080 Ti about to drop, the Titan makes no sense for a gaming box, tho if also doing workstation apps, it's ideal as a "I play in both worlds" card ... Similarly no discussion of SLI can take place w/o knowing resolution of monitor. Adding a 2nd 9xx card was the proverbial no brainer with 70% average scaling across TPus entire game test suite and including games that don't scale, scale poorly or even have negative scaling.

With the 10xx series, average scaling is down to 18% at 1080p ...and 33% at 1440p. Only at 4k does it start to make sense (52%) but still a lot less than the 9xx series.... and at this point in time, with no Display Port 1.4 monitors available capable of high refresh rates, 4k is still not ready for prime time.

Here's a build to consider if buying today ....




PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)


CPU Cooler: Swiftech H240-X 90.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($149.95)
The model name for the cooler is just a placeholder for the Swiftech H240 - X2 (newer model) which PCPP can't seem to find

Motherboard: MSI Z170A XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM EDITION ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($261.02 @ Amazon)

Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($134.97 @ Jet)

Storage: Samsung 960 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ B&H)

Storage: Seagate FireCuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
This is 50% faster than any 7200 rpom HD and cheaper than most and it has a 5 year warranty.

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card ($598.45 @ Amazon)
Again, a place holder for the 1080 Ti

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Glass ATX Mid Tower Case ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Not only was the version w/o the Tempered Glass "case of the year", with the aesthetics of the TG version, some reviewers have called it worthy of inclusion in an art gallery

Power Supply: SeaSonic 1050W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($176.81 @ Jet)
Will handle 2nd 1080 Ti (assuming you go to 4k eventually) and water cooling while allowing it to run at near optimum PSU efficiencies. Drop to the smaller units if never doing SLI

Total: $2060.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-09 11:19 EST-0500

recommended monitors

Asus Predator IPS, 165 Hz, 1440p w/ G-Sync and ULMB
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ttnG3C/acer-monitor-xb271hubmiprz

Asus Swift IPS, 165 Hz, 1440p w/ G-Sync and ULMB
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/XvfmP6/asus-monitor-pg279q

If going Z270 ... assuming no surprises and same notes regarding placeholders

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($349.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H240-X 90.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($149.95)
Motherboard: MSI Z270 XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($329.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($134.97 @ Jet)
Storage: Samsung 960 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate FireCuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card ($598.45 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Glass ATX Mid Tower Case ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 1050W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($176.81 @ Jet)
Total: $2150.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-09 11:28 EST-0500

With SLI, I can't believe I am saying this, but for once a reference cooler might provide better temps since the blower style coolers won't blow heat back into the system allowing the cards suck heat in to em like dual fan cards will

Also, don't waste money on that overpriced Seagate drive when you can get a 2tb black performance drive from Western Digital. And money saved on the hard drive could possibly be put towards a M.2 SSD?

Again, what monitor resolution ?

At 1080p, that 2nd card gets you 18% average improvement in gaming
At 1440p, that 2nd card gets you 33% average improvement in gaming

To my eyes, not a good way to spend $600 ... nor is a Titan...

The reference 980 Ti was 26% faster than the reference 980 ... the AIB 980 Tis overclocked were 69% faster .... In other words... the 980 Ti was just as fast as twin 980s

I gotta ask .... how is spending 25% less to get a 50% faster drive wasting money ?

Cost:
a) The WD Black 2TB is $118 - $140 depending on model
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/cpw323/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd2002faex

b) The Seagate Hybrid Drive 2TB is $94 (that's 25% more money spent for significantly less performance


Warranty:
a) The WD has a 5 year warranty

b) The Seagate has a 5 year warranty


Performance:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2013/-17-PCMark-7-Gaming,2915.html

WD Black gets 6.34 MB/s in THGs Gaming test
Seagate SSHD gets 9.76 MB/s in THGs Gaming test ... that's 54% faster

Reliability:
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/954-6/disques-durs.html

WD Black has return rate of 0.45%
Seagate Desktop SSHD has a rturn rate of 0.43%

That's a statistically insignificant diffeercs 43 versus 45 in 10,000

Overall, company wide, there are the return rates for the last two 6-month reporting periods:

Seagate 0,72% (contre 0,69%)
Western 1,04% (contre 1,03%)

Results of in-house testing:
WD Black boots in 21.7 seconds
Seagate SSD boots in 16.5 seconds
Samasung pro boots in 15.6 seconds

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_1080_Amp_Extreme/27.html
The 1080 can hit close to 250 in gaming, 300 watts worse case... tho the MSI card above is about 220 / 250. Now use MSI Afterburner to boost up the power limit by say 20% and we can see up to 1.2 ^2 as increase in power. Even at just 20%... that takes it to 265 - 430 watts per card for instantaneous peaks depending on which card and how you do the math

300 x 2 for GPUs OC'd "bawlz to the wall"
125 for CPU OC'd "bawlz to the wall"
10 watts for pump
40 watts MoBo
40 watts everything else
815 watts total

You can certainly run with an 850 but as Guru3D says

If you are going to overclock your GPU or processor, then we do recommend you purchase something with some more stamina. Also, at half the PSU load (50% usage) your PSU is the most energy efficient.

Click to expand...

Now they are not saying 50% peak load mind you ... that would be the average gaming load (200 - 225 watts from each GPU).

After investing in a $2600 build and $150 water cooler, overclocking is on the table. So the reason for my bump to the 1050 was not that 850 won't suffice, it will adequately power the system, but that the next model size up delivers some tangible benefits:

1) To get that snow silent fan.... my son's G2 1000 is the loudest thing in his PC and it's already been exchanged once. He oversized it a) because it was cheaper than the 720 watter at the time and b) he figured it would be quieter, run cooler and be more efficient producing les shat than the 750).

If this was (2) 1070s, would have gone with the 750 Snow Silent model.

2) You will notice that in any PSU review, voltage stability starts to dip the closer you get to rated load...by keeping voltage variations to a minimum, you have better chance at a slightly higher stable OC. And even tho those short power spikes will be fine with any decent PSU, they do affect the PSUs ability to manage steady voltages.

3) The cooling system in a larger PSU is obviously more robust. So by running at much smaller % of rated load, your fan needs to spin less often and at lower rpm when it does.

4) It will create less heat because it's running closerto its best efficiency point

5) It's frakin pretty to look at, and in a case with full side window,

I revoke my prior statement.

Also, I would wait to see what Ryzen and Vega have to offer before building a system right now. Based off the display model of Vega at CES that LinusTechTips tested, it looks like Vega could be a real challenge from Team Red. Not to mention Ryzen has 24 PCIE lanes. (16 to Video, 4 to M.2, 4 dedicated to chipset.)