Moved to a new country, need a new semi-budget machine!

[lok3sh]

Hey guys,

Moved to Canada recently and had to sell my old PC that I built with the help of everyone here a few years ago. Was really sad to have to let it to, but it's time to build a new one again! I would like to build something that is similarly as powerful as my build was when I made it about 4-5 years ago.

Here were the previous specs:

Intel Core i7-2600K Processor
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 32GB DDR3 RAM (4 x 8GB)
MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB OC
CORSAIR|650W CMPSU-650TXV2 PSU
512 GB SSD

All enclosed in a nice Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Case. It served me well, and was still quite a decently speced machine when I sold it.

I'm currently looking for something along those lines, but with updated components. I'm mainly going to be gaming on it. I play stuff like Crysis, so I'd be interested in something that can run games like that as they come out at reasonably high settings.

I still have my SSD which I shall continue to use as my primary drive. I also have a good secondary drive, so I don't need any of that.

I do not plan on doing any overclocking. Stock cooling is fine.

My budget for a case, motherboard, PSU, Processor, RAM (16GB will do for the moment, I'll upgrade later if I feel the need), and video card are around $700 - $800 USD. Is this a reasonable budget? Can I get a big bump in performance with a slight budget increase of $100 or so?

Is Newegg still a good place to buy components at a good price here in Canada? I'm visiting the US in a month. Would I be better off picking up some stuff there instead?

If someone could recommend some components, that would be awesome.

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous09]

This fits perfectly in your budget, and is comparable(better) in power to when you built your other pc:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($64.49 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card ($308.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $821.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-08 02:11 EDT-0400

If you want to dabble in some oc'ing, sub the 6500 with a 6600k: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80662i56600k
and get a good cooler for around 100, otherwise this build is good. If you prefer nvidia, here's an alternative for the gc: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970g1gaming4gd

 

[lok3sh]

This fits perfectly in your budget, and is comparable(better) in power to when you built your other pc:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($64.49 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card ($308.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $821.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-08 02:11 EDT-0400

If you want to dabble in some oc'ing, sub the 6500 with a 6600k: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80662i56600k
and get a good cooler for around 100, otherwise this build is good. If you prefer nvidia, here's an alternative for the gc: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970g1gaming4gd

Thanks so much, this is really useful!

I would indeed prefer an Nvidia card, and so might need a different motherboatrd that would support SLI if I ever decide to go with that. Is there a motherbord you would recommend for this scenario?

If I wanted to go with an i7, what would a step up from the i5-6500 be?

 

[Anonymous09]

The next step up like I said was the 6600k, but as for buying an i7, yeah of course that is a step up. But it will also put you over your price point by quite a bit. The only processor worth getting as a step up is the 6700k, which is going for over $350 dollars atm. It's not worth getting the locked variant price wise.

As for a sli capable mb, you're going to have to pay a bit more for around the same functionality, this one is the closest to the first one by about 30 bucks: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz170xpsli

But there really isn't any compelling reason to sli atm, you're better off getting a really good gc and leaving it at that(like the 970), in which case the first one is the best bang for your buck.

There are also these two for a bit more, the asus one in particular is verrrry nice:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z170a
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz170xgaming3

 

[lok3sh]

The next step up like I said was the 6600k, but as for buying an i7, yeah of course that is a step up. But it will also put you over your price point by quite a bit. The only processor worth getting as a step up is the 6700k, which is going for over $350 dollars atm. It's not worth getting the locked variant price wise.

As for a sli capable mb, you're going to have to pay a bit more for around the same functionality, this one is the closest to the first one by about 30 bucks: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz170xpsli

But there really isn't any compelling reason to sli atm, you're better off getting a really good gc and leaving it at that(like the 970), in which case the first one is the best bang for your buck.

There are also these two for a bit more, the asus one in particular is verrrry nice:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z170a
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz170xgaming3

Thanks for your replies. If I were to up my budget slightly, would I be able to better than this ASUS for the price?

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z170a

I want something with USB-C. I guess I don't mind if the board does not support SLI or Crossfire. After thinking about it, I doubt I would ever use either.

 

[Anonymous09]

I'm afraid I don't understand your question, you want a better board? Or one that is cheaper?

 

[lok3sh]

I'm afraid I don't understand your question, you want a better board? Or one that is cheaper?

I was thinking of getting a slightly better board. I was wondering if there was a better one for the price than the one that I've linked from ASUS above. I would like something with a few USB-C ports as well.

Also, I was wondering if I would be able to safely cut corners with the PSU? Would this be suitable?

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-210gq0650

It's almost $50 CAD cheaper.

 

[lok3sh]

I'm afraid I don't understand your question, you want a better board? Or one that is cheaper?

Here is what I'm thinking so far (I already own the SSD)

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Lok3sh/saved/27Pj4D

What if anything would you change here personally?

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous09]

I'm afraid I don't understand your question, you want a better board? Or one that is cheaper?

I was thinking of getting a slightly better board. I was wondering if there was a better one for the price than the one that I've linked from ASUS above. I would like something with a few USB-C ports as well.

Also, I was wondering if I would be able to safely cut corners with the PSU? Would this be suitable?

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-210gq0650

It's almost $50 CAD cheaper.

Yeah, the gq is great as well, you can't go wrong with it. As for the rest of the build, everything looks top notch. You'll be hard pressed to find a better mb at that price, because mostly they'll just be more bells and whistles. As for type c ports, I really haven't seen many mb's with more than 1 port atm. If you must, they sell usb a to usb c adapters fairly cheap.

 

[lok3sh]

I'm afraid I don't understand your question, you want a better board? Or one that is cheaper?

I was thinking of getting a slightly better board. I was wondering if there was a better one for the price than the one that I've linked from ASUS above. I would like something with a few USB-C ports as well.

Also, I was wondering if I would be able to safely cut corners with the PSU? Would this be suitable?

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-210gq0650

It's almost $50 CAD cheaper.

Yeah, the gq is great as well, you can't go wrong with it. As for the rest of the build, everything looks top notch. You'll be hard pressed to find a better mb at that price, because mostly they'll just be more bells and whistles. As for type c ports, I really haven't seen many mb's with more than 1 port atm. If you must, they sell usb a to usb c adapters fairly cheap.

Thanks! I've updated the list to switch to G.Skill memory and a Zalman Z11 case. Hopefully those changes are for the better. I'm going to head to NCIX in Vancouver tomorrow to see how much of this I can pick up locally, and then order the rest online! Hopefully they price match.

Cheers!

 

[Anonymous09]

Alright, good luck on the search for parts, hope everything goes well!

 

[lok3sh]

Here's what I ended up buying and building!

Intel Core I7-6700
ASUS Z170-A
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series DDR4 2400MHZ 16GB
ASUS GeForce GTX 970 Strix OC 1253MHZ 4GB 7.0GHZ GDDR5
EVGA 650 GQ 80 Plus Gold 650W Eco Mode Semi Modular PSU
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Gaming Case

All the parts came in about two days ago, built it and had it running in just over an hour! Works perfectly! Thanks again for the help.

Cheers

 

[Anonymous09]

Great, glad I can help! Enjoy your new build