November 2015 - Brand New Gaming PC Build Help - $1500 USD

[Xn0neX]

Alright, so it's now a couple years after my last build and it's time to do a new one. The trigger, Fallout 4. Guess that is happening a lot lately. So my problem is I'm completely out of touch with what is going on now and reading the many forums here, as well as others, I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed.

What I am looking for is something around $1500 USD. I'm basically starting from scratch, except for my case, and I want something that will last me another 2 years of Gaming. I'm hoping that this will give me some decent overclock potential (without needing liquid cooling) as well as give me a base setup which I can upgrade in parts overtime if needed. So in looking at the system setups here and in other places, the following is what I came up with. Thoughts?

Feel free to ask for more information if I am missing anything...

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qT69gs

Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Zotac GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB AMP! Extreme Video Card
EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
(2 x) Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory

Thanks!

 

[Red Reddington]

Buying two separate kits of ram is rolling the dice. There is a decent chance it will work with no problems but a significant chance as well they will not play nice together. Oven if it is a few more dollars you are much better off buying your ram as one kit that has been tested by the manufacturer to work together.

Other than that looks like you will have a very nice system. Enjoy.

 

[g-unit1111]

What case do you have already? I agree with what was said about the RAM but most of that build looks pretty solid. I think I would switch the Zotac card for something from MSI or EVGA instead but otherwise looks good!

 

[Xn0neX]

What case do you have already? I agree with what was said about the RAM but most of that build looks pretty solid. I think I would switch the Zotac card for something from MSI or EVGA instead but otherwise looks good!

 

[Xn0neX]

Thanks guys! G-unit, I have an empty Cooler Master HAF Stacker 935 I got for a review at their warehouse a couple years back.

R. Reddington - I will look at getting a 2x8 kit. Any recommendations? I know next to nothing about RAM.

As for video card, a buddy of mine recommended going with a MSI GTX 970. He says it will run fallout 4 fine and then next year when prices drop, I can always pickup a 2nd 970 to support future needs. Thoughts?

Lastly, he also recommended looking at getting something like Samsung's SM951 NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 3 x 4 SSD for my boot/system drive. I did a little research and it seems there can be some issues with booting if you don't have the right mobo. Is it worth getting one? If so, will the board I'm looking at support it as a boot drive?

Thanks again!

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks guys! G-unit, I have an empty Cooler Master HAF Stacker 935 I got for a review at their warehouse a couple years back.

Is that the mini ITX version or the full ATX version?

As for video card, a buddy of mine recommended going with a MSI GTX 970. He says it will run fallout 4 fine and then next year when prices drop, I can always pickup a 2nd 970 to support future needs. Thoughts?

Depends on what monitor resolution you're going with. If you're sticking with 1080P, a 970 is all you need, and the MSI cards are good cards, I have one. If you want to move up and get a 1440P or 4K monitor, or Oculus, it's recommended that you go with something higher, like a GTX 980, 980TI, or R9-390X.

 

[Xn0neX]

It's the full ATX version; the case is huge! Thankfully I'm past the lugging around my desktop for LAN events stage of my life.

I'm sticking with 1080p for the moment so I'll get the 970.

Thanks!

 

[Red Reddington]

Look into the 950 Pro over the unsupported, OEM Sm951.

 

[Xn0neX]

Thanks, will do