Is my planned PC optimal/good for gaming?

Tyler_

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Sep 19, 2015
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This is my very first gaming PC I've been planning on buying since last year. I've been looking into buying a pre-built PC on CyberPower PC mainly because I don't really trust myself with building my own. I've tried my best to keep the price at a reasonable range and still manage to have, what I think, a good PC. But, I'm still unsure about if it's actually good for gaming or not. Here are the specs:

Base Price: $795

Total Price: $1177

CABLE: 6-FT HDMI Flat Cable, V1.4, Supports 3D & 4K Resolution, Gold Plated Connector Cable (1 piece)

CAS: ZALMAN Z11 NEO Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ USB 3.0 & Toolless Drive Bays & Side-Panel Window

COOLANT: Standard Coolant

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-6600K 3.50GHz 6MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1151 (Skylake)

FAN: Asetek 550LC 120mm Liquid Cooling CPU Cooler - Extreme Cooling Performance (Single Standard 120MM Fan)

HDD: 256GB SanDisk Z400S SATA III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 546 MB/S Read & 342MB/s Write (Single Drive)

IUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

MEMORY: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR4/2400MHz Dual Channel Memory (ADATA XPG Z1)

MOTHERBOARD: MSI Z170A Gaming Pro ATX w/ Programmable Lighting, USB 3.1, 3 PCIe x16, 4 PCIe x1, 1 SATA Express, 4 SATA3, 1 Ultra M.2

OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)

POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts - EVGA 600B 80 PLUS BRONZE Power Supply

VIDEO: ASUS GeForce Turbo GTX 970 Gaming 4GB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 (Maxwell) (Single Card)
 

RazerZ

Judicious
Ambassador
It looks like you have a prebuilt ready from cyber power pc. The problem is that they tend to use low to mediocre quality parts which could prove to be a problem in the long run such as the EVGA 600B PSU and that no name liquid cooler.

I would highly recommend to build your own pc. It requires no knowledge of how a computer works. There are guides on youtube that take you through how to build it step by step, there is little room for error. No soldering of any sort required, all you need is a screw driver. It will be cheaper than buying a prebuilt and you are sure to get good quality parts if configured correctly.

I would at least watch some videos before deciding to go with a prebuilt pc. Here is a good one that is easy to follow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zOYdNEHDQo
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Asides from the aforementioned parts, that PC would be great for gaming. For 1080p ultra settings all you need is a 4th-5th generation Intel i5 and a GTX 970 or R9 390.
 

Tyler_

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Sep 19, 2015
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Thank you for the info. I was going for the prebuilt route mainly because I assumed that buying all of the parts seperately would cost a lot more. I might just build my own computer, then. Do you recommend any place I could buy my parts from?
 

RazerZ

Judicious
Ambassador
Are you in the US? Is there a Micro Center near you? They usually have the best deals for motherboard/CPU combos but they are in store only. Otherwise I would go by whatever is cheapest from a reputable online retailer.

pcpartpicker.com is a great site that lets you configure your own computer and always has the best price for each component. It also has a compatibility filter that is accurate for the most part.

If you give me a budget for the build and let me know exactly what you need (i.e computer ,peripherals, OS, monitor) I can post a build.
 

Tyler_

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Sep 19, 2015
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I do live in the U.S, but I'm not certain that there's a Micro Center near me. But, I'm trying to keep the budget generally reasonable. Specifically $1000-$1500 with recommended keyboard, mouse, headset, and Windows 10, and proper specs/components to run basically any game on high or ultra.
 

RazerZ

Judicious
Ambassador
This should be able to do it:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($175.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK AIDOS BLACK 48.6 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($273.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman Z5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VN248H-P 23.8" Monitor ($128.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $939.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-19 17:24 EDT-0400

If you could stretch the budget you could go for an unlocked i5, GTX 970, a nicer case, a sli capable Z97 motherboard, and a SSD. The build I posted should be able to play games at high to ultra at 1080p without a problem though.

I would look into a backlit mechanical keyboard and a pair of good headphones+a mic instead of a gaming headset for the peripherals.
 

Tyler_

Reputable
Sep 19, 2015
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4,510


Wow, man. I really can't thank you enough. I really appreciate you taking the time and effort out for some guy asking if his PC is good for gaming. You're a huge help. Cheers! :D