Hello there,
I started to build two gaming rigs for me and my wife, got some Black Friday offers and here's what I have so far (same for both rigs unless specified so, prices are from my country, Romania, best I could find):
MB: ASRock H97 PRO4 ($90)
CPU: Intel Core i5 4590 3.3GHz box ($220)
RAM: HyperX Savage 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 ($50)
Video card: ASUS GeForce GTX 960 STRIX OC 4GB 128-bit ($220, got a good offer on this) (considering chaging the one for my rig with a Palit GeForce GTX 970 JetStream 4GB 256-bit which costs around $340, also a good offer, most 970 start from $400 here)
SSD: SSD Samsung 850 EVO 250GB ($110)
HDD: doesn't matter much, a Seagate 2TB for me, a 3 years old 1TB which is already in her old rig ($75)
PSU: Sirtec - High Power Element BRONZE II 600W ($50)
Case: Antec GX300 ($55)
PCPartPicker link
Total: $960
For me I'm 90% sure I'll get a 970 (the difference seems to be way bigger than between the CPUs from what I read so it's kinda a clear cut), either the above mentioned Palit or the ASUS GeForce GTX 970 TURBO OC, 4GB GDDR5 (256 Bit) - the white one - which is the exactly same price. By the way, which would you chose? For the second one could not find reliable reviews although it has great ratings on Amazon and Newegg, Palit has good reviews. Gaming resolution will be 1920x1080 for the foreseeable future.
I'm a pretty serious gamer even although I prefer strategy/RPG (Pillars of eternity, Fallout 4, Act of Agression, Civilization 5, Galactic Civilization 3). I also play the occasional shooter (and I'll definitely play Star Citizen), my wife plays somewhat more rarely and usually League of Legends and no shooters. I generally don't like to upgrade much in between systems and I was hoping to game comfortably on this one at least 4-5 years. Also I looked up Skylake CPUs and hence the following dilemma.
The costs to upgrade would be:
Intel Core i5-6600K, 3.5GHz/3.9GHz, socket 1151 + a decent cooler (~$365, so +$145)
Intel Core i5-6500, 3.2GHz/3.6Ghz, socket 1151 ($220, stock cooler, the 3.3 version would be $240-$250 so +$20 to $50)
MB: ASUS Z170-K, socket 1151, ATX ($145, so +$55. Most 1551 MBs are quite expensive so I might as well go with a cheaper Z series)
RAM: HyperX Fury Black 8GB DDR4 2400MHz CL15 ($65, so +$5).
Difference for 6600k and rest: $205
Difference for 6500: $80 for 3.2 Ghz and $110 for 3.3Ghz
All in all, the difference in price seems pretty steep and not sure if 6600k (the unlocked one) or even the others are worth it and I'm not much of an overclocker (although I could pull it off if I decide it's safe and worth the improvement).
As a cheaper alternative I could just get an Intel Core i5-4690k, 3.5GHz ($260 so +$45) and maybe a Z series 1150 MB for about $125 so +$35. Total difference: +$45 or +$80.
Also I consider upgrading to 16Gb RAM, but the difference would not be THAT big between DDR3 and DDR4 ($15-20).
Money wise, I'm OK to afford the Skylake and all but only if it's a definite performance improvement, don't wanna spend just for the 'cool' factor.
SO:
1. Which way should I go with the build?
2. Is the 970 worth it instead of 960? If yes, the Palit Jetstream or the Asus Turbo?
3. What about CPUs/RAM?
4. How important is the PSU? The above Sirtec I have in my actual computer (Intel E8400, GTX 460) and was just fine. Edit: found this Seasonic S12II-520 Bronze 520W for only $15 more, but its only 520w instead of 600. What do you think?
Sorry the very long post, but I looked up reviews and articles for the last weekend and can't seem to decide what is worth it and what not so I would really appreciate a more direct help!.
Thanks in advance!
I started to build two gaming rigs for me and my wife, got some Black Friday offers and here's what I have so far (same for both rigs unless specified so, prices are from my country, Romania, best I could find):
MB: ASRock H97 PRO4 ($90)
CPU: Intel Core i5 4590 3.3GHz box ($220)
RAM: HyperX Savage 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 ($50)
Video card: ASUS GeForce GTX 960 STRIX OC 4GB 128-bit ($220, got a good offer on this) (considering chaging the one for my rig with a Palit GeForce GTX 970 JetStream 4GB 256-bit which costs around $340, also a good offer, most 970 start from $400 here)
SSD: SSD Samsung 850 EVO 250GB ($110)
HDD: doesn't matter much, a Seagate 2TB for me, a 3 years old 1TB which is already in her old rig ($75)
PSU: Sirtec - High Power Element BRONZE II 600W ($50)
Case: Antec GX300 ($55)
PCPartPicker link
Total: $960
For me I'm 90% sure I'll get a 970 (the difference seems to be way bigger than between the CPUs from what I read so it's kinda a clear cut), either the above mentioned Palit or the ASUS GeForce GTX 970 TURBO OC, 4GB GDDR5 (256 Bit) - the white one - which is the exactly same price. By the way, which would you chose? For the second one could not find reliable reviews although it has great ratings on Amazon and Newegg, Palit has good reviews. Gaming resolution will be 1920x1080 for the foreseeable future.
I'm a pretty serious gamer even although I prefer strategy/RPG (Pillars of eternity, Fallout 4, Act of Agression, Civilization 5, Galactic Civilization 3). I also play the occasional shooter (and I'll definitely play Star Citizen), my wife plays somewhat more rarely and usually League of Legends and no shooters. I generally don't like to upgrade much in between systems and I was hoping to game comfortably on this one at least 4-5 years. Also I looked up Skylake CPUs and hence the following dilemma.
The costs to upgrade would be:
Intel Core i5-6600K, 3.5GHz/3.9GHz, socket 1151 + a decent cooler (~$365, so +$145)
Intel Core i5-6500, 3.2GHz/3.6Ghz, socket 1151 ($220, stock cooler, the 3.3 version would be $240-$250 so +$20 to $50)
MB: ASUS Z170-K, socket 1151, ATX ($145, so +$55. Most 1551 MBs are quite expensive so I might as well go with a cheaper Z series)
RAM: HyperX Fury Black 8GB DDR4 2400MHz CL15 ($65, so +$5).
Difference for 6600k and rest: $205
Difference for 6500: $80 for 3.2 Ghz and $110 for 3.3Ghz
All in all, the difference in price seems pretty steep and not sure if 6600k (the unlocked one) or even the others are worth it and I'm not much of an overclocker (although I could pull it off if I decide it's safe and worth the improvement).
As a cheaper alternative I could just get an Intel Core i5-4690k, 3.5GHz ($260 so +$45) and maybe a Z series 1150 MB for about $125 so +$35. Total difference: +$45 or +$80.
Also I consider upgrading to 16Gb RAM, but the difference would not be THAT big between DDR3 and DDR4 ($15-20).
Money wise, I'm OK to afford the Skylake and all but only if it's a definite performance improvement, don't wanna spend just for the 'cool' factor.
SO:
1. Which way should I go with the build?
2. Is the 970 worth it instead of 960? If yes, the Palit Jetstream or the Asus Turbo?
3. What about CPUs/RAM?
4. How important is the PSU? The above Sirtec I have in my actual computer (Intel E8400, GTX 460) and was just fine. Edit: found this Seasonic S12II-520 Bronze 520W for only $15 more, but its only 520w instead of 600. What do you think?
Sorry the very long post, but I looked up reviews and articles for the last weekend and can't seem to decide what is worth it and what not so I would really appreciate a more direct help!.
Thanks in advance!
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