Budget gaming build

[DT4K]

So it's been 5 years since I last built a PC.
Last build was:
GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3-B3 LGA 1155
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155
Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5

I haven't really done any pc gaming in the last 2 or 3 years, but Battlefield 1 has me wanting to get back into it.

Use: Primarily FPS gaming
Budget: Around $500 but flexible. For psu, mobo, cpu, gpu, memory, hdd
EDIT: Based on feedback on the limitations, I'm bumping that budget up to $1000.

Where: US (I have $150 in Newegg gift certs, so need to get at least some stuff there)
Brand preference: nope
Overclocking: Probably not
Resolution: 1920x1080 should be fine

I already ordered this case: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0196KJLXQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was looking at the builds in the system builders sticky thread, leaning towards the "regular" build, but I want to go with regular ATX, not micro.

So I'm thinking i3-6100 and GTX 1050 and 8GB RAM if you guys think that combination will be sufficient to play Battlefield 1 and other current games at 1920x1080 at decent framerates.
But I'm lost on picking a mobo. There are way too many options to pick from and everytime I read something good about one, I read other bad things about them.

EDIT: I should have mentioned that I'm not interested in upgrading the last build. That machine sits in the bonus room and has become the kids' computer. I plan to keep it there and build a new one for myself.

 

[Valantar]

I'm not 100% sure, but at least reasonably certain that the i3 6100 will be a downgrade from your current CPU. At best, you'd be paying quite a lot of money for a "side-grade". Don't.

If I were you, with that budget, I'd get a Sandy bridge i7 (eBay?), some more RAM (unless you have 16GB already), and a new GPU. With your budget you could either get a decent cpu upgrade + mobo and RAM, but no GPU, or a great GPU and a good CPU upgrade, but no mobo or RAM.

 

[UsandThem]

http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=threads/battlefield-1-benchmarks-gamegpu-the-rest.2488968/

I'd personally just overclock your CPU a bit, get 8 GB of RAM, and a new video card. A RX 480, GTX 1060, GTX 1070 and above should all play the game smoothly.

Maybe in a year or two you could then upgrade your CPU/motherboard/RAM, but it's tough to do it all for $500.

 

[DT4K]

I edited the original post. I'm not looking to upgrade the previous build.
But after looking at some benchmarks, I am surprised that things haven't changed as much as I would have expected in 5 years.
I had just assumed that a $100 CPU today would be faster than a $200 CPU from 2011, but I guess not.
It does seem like a $100 GPU today is quite a bit faster than the $200 GPU from 2011.

So I guess the key point is that I'm not building a new machine specifically to be faster than the previous one. I'm just looking to not spend a whole lot and build something capable of playing current games at 1080p with decent framerates.

 

[Termie]

You should use the motherboard, CPU, and memory from your current computer and buy a cheap combo for the kids. Frankly, if BF1 is your game, a dual-core CPU is totally the wrong way to go. Your 2500K will be significantly faster. And given your budget, you don't have enough room to get a CPU, motherboard, RAM, and GPU better than the ones you already have. Focus on getting a new GPU for yourself (ideally a $220 RX 480 4GB) and a cheap dual-core for the kids ($60 Pentium G4400 plus a $60 motherboard plus $30 in RAM should do). You still don't have enough for a power supply, hard drive, operating system, plus the case you bought, but you'll be closer to your goal than you would given your original plan.

 

[cbn]

You should use the motherboard, CPU, and memory from your current computer and buy a cheap combo for the kids. Frankly, if BF1 is your game, a dual-core CPU is totally the wrong way to go. Your 2500K will be significantly faster.

I agree.

Look at these results......

http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=threads/60-minutes-–-cpu-performance-and-energy-consumption-in-gaming-atenra.2459963/

(Even a stock speed i5 2500K beats a Core i3 6300 in BF4.....I'd imagine BF1 wouldn't be any different)

 

[DT4K]

Ok. Point taken on the CPU choice. But I still want to leave the current machine alone.
So bump the budget to $1000 for the new build.
I had been aiming for $500 because I thought I could get something with good performance in current games for that price, as long as I'm staying at 1080p and not going to 4k or other stuff like that. But it sounds like that's not the best idea, so I'm willing to spend more. I've always preferred looking for best bang for the buck. So anytime I've built a PC, i've tried to go for something a few steps below the latest and greatest.

 

[Valantar]

Edit: never mind. Posted this 50 minutes after writing it, got answered in the meantime.

 

[DT4K]

With the new budget in mind, any suggestions on better alternatives to what's below?
I'm happy to spend less if there is anything where I'm paying more than I need to.
I'm also ok spending a little more if there's good bang for the buck.

ASRock Z170A-X1 - $90
Intel Core i5-6600k - $240
EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB - $290
HyperX Fury 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2133 - $100
EVGA SuperNova 550W 80+Gold - $80
WD Blue 1TB - $50

Total = $850

 

[Termie]

The bigger budget gives you a lot more options, but I have four thoughts on that build:

(1) You should get DDR4-3000 RAM, as it's the same price as DDR4-2133, and will boost performance by 3-5%. Also consider dropping down to 8GB total.
(2) With this kind of budget, you should really consider adding at least a 250GB solid-state drive as the OS drive. That only costs $75, and will make this PC infinitely more pleasant to use. The WD Blue is fine for data, but not for the OS. I would absolutely add an SSD long before spending an extra $50 for 16GB in a system like this (8GB is plenty).
(3) The power supply you chose is excellent, but more than you need for this build. Go with something like the EVGA 450 B1, which is half the price.
(4) The GTX 1060 6GB is perfect for BF1, but EVGA models tend to be a bit more expensive. Look around and you may save $10-$20 going with an equally-good Gigabyte or MSI model.

By the way, you haven't listed a Windows 10 license, so don't forget to add $90-$100 to the budget if you'll need that too.

 

[poofyhairguy]

With the new budget in mind, any suggestions on better alternatives to what's below?
I'm happy to spend less if there is anything where I'm paying more than I need to.
I'm also ok spending a little more if there's good bang for the buck.

ASRock Z170A-X1 - $90
Intel Core i5-6600k - $240
EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB - $290
HyperX Fury 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2133 - $100
EVGA SuperNova 550W 80+Gold - $80
WD Blue 1TB - $50

Total = $850

I would get a 6700k if you can stretch to that. It will last much longer. One recent trend since last time you shopped is i7s kill i5s for gaming.

 

[Valantar]

The bigger budget gives you a lot more options, but I have four thoughts on that build:

(1) You should get DDR4-3000 RAM, as it's the same price as DDR4-2133, and will boost performance by 3-5%. Also consider dropping down to 8GB total.
(2) With this kind of budget, you should really consider adding at least a 250GB solid-state drive as the OS drive. That only costs $75, and will make this PC infinitely more pleasant to use. The WD Blue is fine for data, but not for the OS. I would absolutely add an SSD long before spending an extra $50 for 16GB in a system like this (8GB is plenty).
(3) The power supply you chose is excellent, but more than you need for this build. Go with something like the EVGA 450 B1, which is half the price.
(4) The GTX 1060 6GB is perfect for BF1, but EVGA models tend to be a bit more expensive. Look around and you may save $10-$20 going with an equally-good Gigabyte or MSI model.

By the way, you haven't listed a Windows 10 license, so don't forget to add $90-$100 to the budget if you'll need that too.

1) at the same price, yes. If it costs more, no. Price/performance of high speed ram is usually horrible.
2) A thousand times yes. A PC in 2016, let alone 2017, without an SSD is tragic.
3) I disagree. While 550W is more than the OP needs, it's a far higher quality PSU, which alone is worth the price difference. Low end EVGA units are not as good as their higher end units.
4) The RX 480 should also be an option, of course. But overpaying is rarely a good idea.

OP:
Other than the above, I think your build looks good. The only nit I have to pick is that unless you plan to overclock, or specifically want high end features like m.2 for pcie ssds or SLI/Crossfire, you're wasting money on Z170. Lower end chipsets perform just as well for far lower prices.

 

[DT4K]

Thanks all.
I'll definitely take a look at the higher speed RAM and consider adding an SSD and dropping to 8GB.
Everything I see for RAM is 2x4GB or 2x8GB something. Does that mean that this platform needs 2 sticks to work best? I remember something about dual channel from years ago, but wasn't sure about now.
As far as overclocking, I probably won't. But as a long time nerd who used silver conductive paint and a toothpick to connect two circuits on a CPU and unlock the multiplier many years ago (maybe on an Athlon something?), I like the idea of having the possibility if I decide to play with it.
If I decided to skip it, is there a particular mobo a lot cheaper than $90 that you would recommend? I figured at that price, it was worth having the option.

For the GPU, it seems that the $200 to $300 price point is the best bang for buck. I'm certainly open to suggestions on whether that should be GTX 1060 or RX 480 or something else.

 

[Termie]

One tip regarding the 6600K: unlike previous unlocked processors, it does not come with a cooler, which was Intel's way to increase prices without actually charging more. Add a minimum of $25 to your budget to buy one if you want the ability to overclock. The otherwise identical Core i5-6600 costs $20 less and includes a cooler.

And yes, dual channel RAM is best.

In terms of GPUs, the RX 480 8GB and GTX 1060 6GB are closely matched... with the notable exception of BF1, where Nvidia has a significant advantage.

 

[DT4K]

Order placed.
I know you guys said 16GB wasn't needed and going to DDR4 3000 over 2133 is of debatable value, but Newegg had the 2x8GB on sale for 90 bucks, so it seemed worthwhile.

Final build:

Zalman ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ZM-Z9 NEO BLACK
ASRock Z170A-X1
EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 FTW
EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G2 80+ GOLD 550W
Intel Core i5-6600K 6M Skylake Quad-Core 3.5 GHz
PNY CS1311 2.5" 240GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000)
WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Total cost: just about $1000

 

[Termie]

Great build there - you'll be very happy with it!

You sort of "overbought" on RAM and PSU with regards to the overall budget, but you made very good choices with each, so consider those high-end upgrades to an otherwise mid-range PC.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Great rig, have fun destroying games.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, that's a pretty nice build. Nicer than mine, for sure. But I'm a penny-pincher.

 

[DT4K]

Yeah, that's a pretty nice build. Nicer than mine, for sure. But I'm a penny-pincher.

Thanks. I do a lot of pinching pennys. As you saw from my edits, I ended up spending double what I had originally planned. But I just got a promotion and a better than expected raise, which takes effect in January, so I figured what the hell.
Now I just need to see if I can compete with all the youngsters.

 

[lukart]

You really cannot go wrong with this one:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Rbtz7h
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Rbtz7h/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4+ ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($99.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon RX 480 8GB Red Devil Video Card ($279.00)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1051.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 03:54 EST-0500