My $1800 birthday build

[Zameus]

43 yrs old (Feb 5th) and gaming strong! :thumbsup: This will be my first time that I will be able to fully upgrade to something I personally consider "high end". I would like your honest opinions, recommendations, etc. $1800 is about my max budget without the wife giving me that evil eye look. heh

All prices are via Amazon. Just opened a credit card with them so I'll be doing the 12 month zero interest finance option!

Intel Core BX80646I74790K i7-4790K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz) $338

EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB FTW GAMING ACX 2.0, 26% Cooler and 36% Quieter Cooling Graphics Card 04G-P4-2986-KR
by EVGA $520

MSI ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97 GAMING 5
by MSI $149

Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB 2x8GB DDR3 2400MHz PC3 19200 Desktop, Red CMY16GX3M2A2400C11R $84

EVGA 750 GQ 80+ GOLD, 750W ECO Mode Semi Modular NVIDIA SLI and Crossfire Ready 5 Year Warranty 210-GQ-0750-V1 $79

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E500B/AM&#8203 $157

Toshiba 3.5-Inch 2TB 7200 RPM SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 64MB Hard Drive DT01ACA200 $71

LG Internal UH12NS30 BD-ROM Blu-ray Optical Drive by LG $44

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2) by Cooler Master $29

Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-02 Mid Tower Gaming Case (CC-9011051-WW) by Corsair $59

Total:
$1,530.96

 

[C2bcool]

What games do you play? resolution? what monitor?


Why not get a 512gb 950 pro? Its $330. The Evo and the 950 you have listed = $346. Then just grab a 1TB HD like a Western Digital Black for $74 or blue for $54. IMHO its the better route for only $40-$60 more. Unless you have to have 2 SSDs. (or maybe you have a HD already you can repurpose)

Other options could be going down to an i5 and a Samsung 850 pro (over the M2 950) and going with a better graphics card like a 980 or 980ti.

 

[Ken g6]

Why not get a 512gb 950 pro?

This, except, I'm not sure any M.2 SSD is worth the price in this build.

I suggest you see if you can fit a 980 Ti in the build.

You might consider an i7-6700 non-K, and BCLK overclocking. It saves ~$75. Edit: Or if you're sure you want to overclock, look at a 5820K.

You don't need quite that much PSU either. A 980 Ti can supposedly get by with a 600W PSU. I wouldn't go over 750W.

 

[The Sauce]

Why pick the Hero over the Ranger?

 

[Zameus]

Ok, I made some edits, and brought it down to $300 less. Not entirely sold on the 6700K yet. Thank you all for the input thus far.

I have a 30" Samsung 1080p monitor and usually run my games at 1920x1080 @ 60hz. I play TR @ 45FPS avg. on ultra settings. The Witcher 3 @ 35 FPS avg on med/high settings. Diablo 3 on max settings avg. 60fps. Running GTX 750ti with an i5 processor. :/

 

[UsandThem]

Ok, I made some edits, and brought it down to $300 less. Not entirely sold on the 6700K yet. Thank you all for the input thus far.

At this point, the GTX 980 isn't worth its current price. If you game at 1080p, get a GTX 970 and save $200. If you want to go all out, spend the extra money and get the 980ti.

Plus, if you spend $20-$30 more on a case, there are much better choices out there that are easier to work in, quieter, and come with 140mm fans.

 

[Zameus]

At this point, the GTX 980 isn't worth its current price. If you game at 1080p, get a GTX 970 and save $200. If you want to go all out, spend the extra money and get the 980ti.

Plus, if you spend $20-$30 more on a case, there are much better choices out there that are easier to work in, quieter, and come with 140mm fans.

UsandThem, thank you for the recommendation! I'm all about saving money and if the 970 can save me a few hundred and still give me above average performance than what I'm getting now, I'm all for it! Any nice cases you can recommend? Thank again all!

 

[UsandThem]

UsandThem, thank you for the recommendation! I'm all about saving money and if the 970 can save me a few hundred and still give me above average performance than what I'm getting now, I'm all for it! Any nice cases you can recommend? Thank again all!

I highly recommend the Fractal Design R5. There are several different versions of it (with window, without, color), but usually one of the versions go on sale pretty often for $70-$90.

I have the window version myself. Comes with built-in fan controller and two quiet 140mm fans (I added another 140mm fan in the front for great cooling).

 

[fourdegrees11]

It's hard to justify spending that much on a 980 when it is basically on par with a 390X, never mind that in 6+ months next gen GPUs will be out

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($420.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Frio Silent 14 71.2 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($125.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($157.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: VisionTek Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card ($354.92 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($46.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $1530.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-28 11:47 EST-0500

 

[Zameus]

I highly recommend the Fractal Design R5. There are several different versions of it (with window, without, color), but usually one of the versions go on sale pretty often for $70-$90.

I have the window version myself. Comes with built-in fan controller and two quiet 140mm fans (I added another 140mm fan in the front for great cooling).

Great! Thank you very much! I will research those. :thumbsup:

 

[Zameus]

It's hard to justify spending that much on a 980 when it is basically on par with a 390X, never mind that in 6+ months next gen GPUs will be out

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($420.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Frio Silent 14 71.2 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($125.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($157.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: VisionTek Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card ($354.92 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($46.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $1530.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-28 11:47 EST-0500

Nice build!! And at $1500, very nice indeed. You have my attention fourdegrees11

 

[Zameus]

Any more recommendations on a case for the MSI Z97 GAMING 5 ? Mid tower preferably, not to crazy looking as if it were gonna shoot off from my desk. lol

I like the metal grain looking finishes;

Corsair Carbide Series 330R Blackout Edition looks nice.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139056

 

[MongGrel]

Nice build!! And at $1500, very nice indeed. You have my attention fourdegrees11

That one looks pretty much where you should be heading to me.

Carbides as far as cases are good for mids from everything I've seen, but have never used one personally. I prefer a full tower myself on my main.

I like room to cram things in

 

[Zameus]

That one looks pretty much where you should be heading to me.

Carbides as far as cases are good for mids from everything I've seen, but have never used one personally. I prefer a full tower myself on my main.

I like room to cram things in

yeah, that's a nice build. Looking over it.....

 

[Zameus]

yeah, that's a nice build. Looking over it.....

Ok, I believe I may have my final build with a few modifications from fourdegrees11 build. I wanted a mid tower case so I had to get a different GPU as well. Anyways, I put this together and would appreciate any final thoughts. Thanks again all!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yV8Zt6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yV8Zt6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($419.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Frio Silent 14 71.2 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($154.78 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Toshiba 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($329.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($45.11 @ Amazon)
Total: $1465.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-28 20:33 EST-0500

 

[UsandThem]

I know it is very rare for a CPU to be bad, but what kind of warranty is on that OEM cpu? 30 days?

Retail is 3 years. I would make sure to get that version.

 

[fourdegrees11]

I'm assuming you "prefer" NV, but 390X is on average about 10% faster then 970. The one I have in my build is only $25 more then your 970 choice

Ok, I believe I may have my final build with a few modifications from fourdegrees11 build. I wanted a mid tower case so I had to get a different GPU as well. Anyways, I put this together and would appreciate any final thoughts. Thanks again all!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yV8Zt6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yV8Zt6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($419.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Frio Silent 14 71.2 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($154.78 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Toshiba 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($329.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($45.11 @ Amazon)
Total: $1465.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-28 20:33 EST-0500

 

[fourdegrees11]

I know it is very rare for a CPU to be bad, but what kind of warranty is on that OEM cpu? 30 days?

Retail is 3 years. I would make sure to get that version.

Does that retail warranty cover OC?

 

[UsandThem]

Does that retail warranty cover OC?

I'm sure if Intel could prove it was because of overclocking, I'd assume they wouldn't cover it. Pretty standard among computer parts.....they give you the tools to do it, but wash their hands of it if something bad happens. I think a person really has to do something pretty bad to kill a CPU nowadays.

I only killed one CPU from overclocking, an Athlon XP, so it's been a while.

Actually just found it. Apparently Intel sells a plan that replaces your CPU from overclocking.........learn something new everyday

http://click.intel.com/tuningplan/

 

[DSF]

Any reason you're getting the R4 over the R5?

 

[Zameus]

I know it is very rare for a CPU to be bad, but what kind of warranty is on that OEM cpu? 30 days?

Retail is 3 years. I would make sure to get that version.

I will definitely go with retail.

I'm assuming you "prefer" NV, but 390X is on average about 10% faster then 970. The one I have in my build is only $25 more then your 970 choice

Will the 390X fit comfortably in a mid tower case? It appeared to look long. That's why I went with the GTX970

Any reason you're getting the R4 over the R5?

I didn't realize there was an R5. Going with R5

 

[fourdegrees11]

I will definitely go with retail.



Will the 390X fit comfortably in a mid tower case? It appeared to look long. That's why I went with the GTX970




I didn't realize there was an R5. Going with R5

The cases you are looking at have modular drive cages. You would likely just need to remove the middle set of cages and pretty much any card will fit. It doesnt look like you're planing on installing 6+ hard drives, so removing those cages is good for case airflow anyway.

 

[tcsenter]

You are building a system that basically will never have a better CPU for it. Why not go with Skylake even if you have to go with little slower CPU in order to save a few bones?

 

[Zameus]

The cases you are looking at have modular drive cages. You would likely just need to remove the middle set of cages and pretty much any card will fit. It doesnt look like you're planing on installing 6+ hard drives, so removing those cages is good for case airflow anyway.

fourdegrees11, thanks for clearing that up. Makes sense now! So if there isn't any other concerns on this build, I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on this baby by next week or so! I think I'm gonna be satisfied with this build without having any remorse. Thanks again everyone! :thumbsup: