Need advice on building gaming pc

bones123

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Feb 26, 2017
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510
Hi, I'm looking to build a gaming pc for around $1000-1500 as mine is around 6 years old and (I believe) starting to die. My knowledge of pc's is average at best so I've been looking around and think I've put together a decent build, but I'd like some second opinions. It will be used mainly for gaming and I'd like to be able to play at the highest settings at 1080p (if possible).

My build currently is https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/wwbnM8 (still lacks a case). I've got a 120gb ssd and 2tb hdd (around 6 years old) and a 240gb ssd (1 year old). Should I be replacing the older ones? I already have peripherals.

If I aim closer to the $1500 mark, how much will performance improve? I probably should note I'm from Australia as that will affect prices.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Solution
Here are my thoughts on your initial parts list.

For the CPU/MB, there's no reason to get a "Z" (Z170 or Z270) motherboard if you do not plan to overclock and/or use an unlocked CPU. Unlocked Intel Core CPUs are usually denominated by the "K" suffix (as in i7-7700K or i5-6700K). The one you chose (i5-7500) is NOT overclockable, so, you are paying too much for a motherboard with features you can't use.

My suggestion is (if you do not plan or want to overclock) is just to get the "H" (H110, H170 or H270) or the "B" (B150 or B250) motherboards as both these series does not support overclocking the CPU.

In short:
Want to overclock? --> Get an Intel Core "K" CPU --> Put it on a "Z" MB
Don't want to overclock? --> Get an Intel Core...
1. you don't need such a high end board. get a h110 or b150/b250 unless you can find a better deal. like this one: https://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=32870&cPath=1780&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=export_feed#googlebase

2. that power supply is a bad choice. pick a tier 1 or tier 2 power supply from this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

3. if you can budget a gtx 1070 you will get a big performance boost.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($270.00 @ Shopping Express)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($155.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card ($599.00 @ Shopping Express)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($115.00 @ IJK)
Total: $1288.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-27 15:49 AEDT+1100
 

bones123

Prominent
Feb 26, 2017
4
0
510


Thanks for the advice and updated list! Do you think my older storage will become a problem? I don't have my copy of windows anymore so if my current storage fails I'll also have to buy a new OS.

Also do you have any recommendations for a case, and depending on that will I require any extra cooling?
 
Here are my thoughts on your initial parts list.

For the CPU/MB, there's no reason to get a "Z" (Z170 or Z270) motherboard if you do not plan to overclock and/or use an unlocked CPU. Unlocked Intel Core CPUs are usually denominated by the "K" suffix (as in i7-7700K or i5-6700K). The one you chose (i5-7500) is NOT overclockable, so, you are paying too much for a motherboard with features you can't use.

My suggestion is (if you do not plan or want to overclock) is just to get the "H" (H110, H170 or H270) or the "B" (B150 or B250) motherboards as both these series does not support overclocking the CPU.

In short:
Want to overclock? --> Get an Intel Core "K" CPU --> Put it on a "Z" MB
Don't want to overclock? --> Get an Intel Core "non-K" CPU --> Put it on an "H" or "B" MB.

Now, there are currently two readily-available series of Intel CPUs -- the older 6th-gen Intel CPUs or "Skylake" and the latest 7th-gen Intel CPUs or "Kaby Lake". These two generations of CPUs can be plugged in the same socket type, which is the LGA1151. These socket type appear on two-generations of motherboards as well. The motherboards that were released during the 6th-gen Skylake CPUs are the Z170, H170, H110 and B150 (notice the "1"s), while the motherboards that were released alongside the 7th-gen Kaby Lake CPUs are the Z270, H270 and B250 (notice the "2"s).

However, as you can see in the Compatibility Check in your pcpartpicker list, some 6th-gen Skylake motherboards (like the Z170 you selected) which were released PRIOR to the 7th-gen Kaby Lake CPUs (like the i5-7500 you selected) *may not* be compatible when used out-of-the-box. Thus, a BIOS update *may* be needed for that motherboard. Since the old motherboard is still being produced AFTER the release of the new CPUs, there *might* be some that already has an updated BIOS out-of-the-box. To eliminate this uncertainty, it's better to just pair the two generations of CPU and MB together.

If you decide on getting an unlocked CPU ("K") and decide to overclock, you also have to add some more budget for the purchase of a good-quality CPU cooler (either Air Cooler or Liquid Cooler).

For the PSU, your initially-selected Corsair CSM is not the best out there. Although the 550W can supply your rig built around a GTX 1060 GPU (or even up to a GTX 1080 if you want).

The GTX 1060 is a good card for 1080p-resolution gaming. The GPU will also largely depend on which monitor you have (or which resolution you want to game with). A better price/performance compared to the GTX 1060 is the AMD Radeon RX 480. If you want more juice and thinking about 1440p-resolution monitors, then a GTX 1070 would be a better GPU for that.

You can used those old/existing SSDs and HDDs as you like it. You can always add or replace that easily later on.

Here's my suggested build for a ~$1500 price range:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($325.00 @ Shopping Express)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: ASRock Z270 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($185.00 @ IJK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($149.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Dual Series Video Card ($575.00 @ Shopping Express)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Fractal Design Edison M 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $1521.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-27 16:13 AEDT+1100

Hope these suggestion helps!
 
Solution
i5 7600k has unlocked multiplier for Z170/Z270 motherboards. The Z170 would need a Skylake 6th Generation CPU to update the BIOS for a 7th Generation CPU.

i5 7500 has locked multiplier and is better suited for a non-overclocking Chipset such as the Intel H270, B250 Chipset modesl and DDR4-2400MHz memory.
 
N3rdR4ge is giving good advise. I'd like to throw in also that if you can budget it, go to an i7 6700k if you can squeeze that in. More games want that i7 (Battlefield 1 is a good example), and it will allow you to overclock and take advantage of the sexy motherboard and add longevity to the sytem. Be aware tho that you need to get a CPU cooler as well if you go that route.. + $40.
Those drives will do you fine. I'd make the 120GB SSD your OS drive, and any other imperative system programs. Make the 240GB SSD your Gaming drive, but beware that it may only hold half a dozen games at most. Put on your most serious games on the 240GB . The 2 TB HDD is your everything else drive.. you can even tell Windows to store your "My Music, My Pictures, etc on it if you have a lot of that stuff.
 

bones123

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Feb 26, 2017
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510


Thanks for the detailed reply! For an extra $6, is it not worth upgrading the memory to the ddr4-3000 version? Would that case require extra cooling, as they only supply one 140mm fan?

 

bones123

Prominent
Feb 26, 2017
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510


That's my current drive setup :)