New Build $750-$850

[Elaineofshalott2]

This will be my second build and I'd like some advice to make sure I'm getting a good balanced system. I'm trying to price something between the two builds in the threads.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. – Web Browsing, Gaming, Some Video Editing

2. What YOUR budget is. 750-850

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. USA

4. N/A

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. - None on parts I do have a slight preference for purchasing from Newegg and Amazon since I already have accounts there and they both have reliable shipping. I will consider other reputable sellers for significant savings.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are. -1TB Hitachi HD


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds. - Default Speeds

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using? Dual Display Primary 1920x1080, secondary 1024x768

9. WHEN do you plan to build it? By Mid-October at the latest

10. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software? - I will be running Windows 10 but it is separate from my budget.


This is what I priced out at Newegg right now. Prices below include shipping and are rounded up to the nearest dollar for convenience. I'm not counting rebates right now although they would influence purchase location

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 $230
CPU Cooler: - Stock cooler since I'm not overclocking

Bundle for two items: $150
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400

Storage: Reusing 1TB Hard Drive Listed Above
Storage: SAMSUNG 850 EVO 2.5" 250GB SATA III $105

Video Card: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE GV-N1060D5-6GD $255


Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic compact ATX Mid Tower Case $60

Power Supply Rosewill ARC-M550, ARC Series 550W Modular Power Supply, 80 PLUS Bronze Certified
$50 for now has a 15 MIR

Current total is $850. I'd like to get it a little lower if I could. Any suggestions?

 

[jerawat]

This will be my second build and I'd like some advice to make sure I'm getting a good balanced system. I'm trying to price something between the two builds in the threads.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. – Web Browsing, Gaming, Some Video Editing

2. What YOUR budget is. 750-850

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. USA

4. N/A

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. - None on parts I do have a slight preference for purchasing from Newegg and Amazon since I already have accounts there and they both have reliable shipping. I will consider other reputable sellers for significant savings.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are. -1TB Hitachi HD


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds. - Default Speeds

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using? Dual Display Primary 1920x1080, secondary 1024x768

9. WHEN do you plan to build it? By Mid-October at the latest

10. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software? - I will be running Windows 10 but it is separate from my budget.


This is what I priced out at Newegg right now. Prices below include shipping and are rounded up to the nearest dollar for convenience. I'm not counting rebates right now although they would influence purchase location

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 $230
CPU Cooler: - Stock cooler since I'm not overclocking

Bundle for two items: $150
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400

Storage: Reusing 1TB Hard Drive Listed Above
Storage: SAMSUNG 850 EVO 2.5" 250GB SATA III $105

Video Card: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE GV-N1060D5-6GD $255


Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic compact ATX Mid Tower Case $60

Power Supply Rosewill ARC-M550, ARC Series 550W Modular Power Supply, 80 PLUS Bronze Certified
$50 for now has a 15 MIR

Current total is $850. I'd like to get it a little lower if I could. Any suggestions?

Great projeck, I like it

 

[Elaineofshalott2]

I knew I was forgetting something

Optical Drive is LG Electronics Internal Super Multi Drive Optical Drive $18 putting my current total at 868 which is just outside of my preferred budget.

 

[lehtv]

Do you really need an optical drive? I haven't used one in years...

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 $230
CPU Cooler: - Stock cooler since I'm not overclocking

Bundle for two items: $150
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400

Storage: Reusing 1TB Hard Drive Listed Above
Storage: SAMSUNG 850 EVO 2.5" 250GB SATA III $105

Video Card: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE GV-N1060D5-6GD $255


Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic compact ATX Mid Tower Case $60

Power Supply Rosewill ARC-M550, ARC Series 550W Modular Power Supply, 80 PLUS Bronze Certified
$50 for now has a 15 MIR

Current total is $850. I'd like to get it a little lower if I could. Any suggestions?

CPU/mobo/RAM: here's a better bundle
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.3020936
Intel Core i5-6600K
ASUS Z170-P
GeiL 2x8GB DDR4-2400
= $369 AR
+ a cheap cooler that does the job: Zalman CNPS7000VAL $12 (good ol' Zalman radial heatsink! a blast from the past...) , or a better BeQuiet! Pure Rock $25 that allows you to OC more (equal to 212 EVO)

No point not buying the 6600K: There are no good B150 board combo deals for the i5-6600, and the 6600K combos cost pretty much the same as 6600 non-K combos, but you can tweak it, e.g. reduce voltage to keep it quieter, or OC to 4-4.2GHz at stock voltage. And resale value is better.

Storage: $105 isn't such good value for that drive, should be in the $80-90 range, it's been there just a while ago. I'd recommend Crucial MX300 275GB for just $70, it beats almost all other TLC drives apart from the 850 EVO, but it's much cheaper than 850 EVO and has a little bit more capacity.

Video card: I'd rather get the OC version with larger (more pleasant sounding) fans, it's $250 after rebate. However... the user reviews are claiming it's not that cool and quiet, which is unexpected for a 130 watt card using dual fans, but not so unexpected knowing Gigabyte's recent history with GPU coolers. If you want to pay extra for a truly quiet GPU, just buy MSI Gaming. It's the best cooler, everyone knows it, so why not buy it with the $35 you saved on the SSD. Unless you get unlucky with a faulty card (it can happen with any card), you will not be disappointed with the temps and noise level at 100% load.

edit If you're interested in AMD offerings, MSI RX 480 4GB Gaming X $245 and 8GB Gaming X $295 are extremely good cards as well. No FreeSync support with NVIDIA GPUs, so if your current primary monitor is only 60Hz and you're planning to fix that to a proper 144Hz one later, you should be interested in AMD.

Case It works, it's not my favorite though. For $30-40 on a sale, I would probably buy it... But for $56, this would be a much better buy: DIYPC D480-BK. Tons of features at an affordable price tag:

• five fans! (you only need 2-3; at least the second top fan you should probably just take out since it makes no difference to anything)
• integrated fan controller for all fans included
• 2x USB 3.0 ports + 2x USB 2.0 ports (what! 1x 3.0 + 1x 2.0 as is typical in this price range)
• everything's dust filtered
• decent enough cable management, and the PSU has its own compartment
• very good compatibility with CPU coolers and graphics cards

As far as I know, the quality is good, nothing special but 200R isn't special either. Many of these DIYPC cases are branded SilentiumPC here in Europe, it's a Polish brand which I believe is the designer and the DIYPC is just a rebrand. I've read some very good reviews on them. This particular case is based on SilentiumPC Gladius M35. The specs site has links to Polish and other European review sites which you can translate with Google Translate in case you're interested.

PSU Cheapity cheap...

• Limited Warranty period (parts): 3 years
• Limited Warranty period (labor): 1 year
• 100k hours at 25 C degree

-> No. Buy a unit with 5+ year warranty and better quality capacitors (25C deg rating indicates low end capacitors on the Rosewill) and you will be able to comfortably use the unit in your next build as well, knowing it'll last (and if it doesn't you'll get it replaced for free). This one probably also uses a sleeve bearing fan which has much lower MTFB than better quality rifle/fluid/ball bearings.

Here u go: Seasonic M12II-620 EVO $60

• 5 year warranty
• ball bearing fan (although Seasonic's website advertises FDB which is even better)
• only Japanese capacitors, they will last 10+ years easily
• 620W is a little over-the-top for this build, but at least it will stay quiet at your typical 200-300w gaming load and you can comfortably use higher wattage components as well

I calculated a total of $861 with the Zalman cooler, MSI 1060 video card, no DVD drive.

Hope that helps.

 

[Elaineofshalott2]

Thanks for the help. I do have a few questions.

SSD - How has Crucial's quality control been lately. I've had bad experiences with their quality in the past but it was also several years ago.

Video Card - Current monitor is 60Hz and I don't really have any plans to update it unless it unexpectedly dies on me. Would updating to a 144Hz monitor be the only reason to go with the AMD 480 over the 1060?

Optical Drive - I don't use it as much as I used to but I still use it every couple of months. So I do want to have one.

Case - I saw the DIYPC ones but didn't know anything about their quality. If they're OK that seems like a fine switch.

Power Supply - I just picked the Rosewill straight off the mid-range build list so I have no attachment to it. You do say the Power Supply you recommended is "a little over-the-top". Plus it is showing up in my cart as $70 not $60. Since I'm currently a bit over budget is there any good compromise PSU that is cheaper than this one but still reliable and sufficient for my build? There is a Corsair PSU currently on sale at Newegg is that any better than the Rosewill?

Total is showing as $900 at Newegg right now. While It isn't impossible for me to go up to $900 I'd really like to get closer to my budgeted amount. Right now the simplest way to do that would be to switch to the 4GB 480 you suggested. Is that the best place to make the cut? Is the 4GB 480 better than the Gigabite 1060?

 

[lehtv]

SSD - How has Crucial's quality control been lately. I've had bad experiences with their quality in the past but it was also several years ago.

I have no inside info on their QC, I doubt anyone here does. I've always thought of Crucial as being a reliable brand given that they're not just a brand but they actually design their own NAND and controllers. Professional reviewers (like those working for Anandtech) have praised their drives, so I defer to them. In any case, one user's bad experiences are not statistically indicative of quality control issues. Most likely you just had bad luck, and as you said, it was years ago.

Video Card - Current monitor is 60Hz and I don't really have any plans to update it unless it unexpectedly dies on me. Would updating to a 144Hz monitor be the only reason to go with the AMD 480 over the 1060?

No, there are FreeSync monitors with 60Hz-75Hz refresh rate as well. And price is another reason. If GTX 1060 6GB seemed out of reach, I'd prefer the 4GB RX 480 over the 3GB GTX 1060. With an additional gig of VRAM you're less likely to run out of it and experience hitching in games. And yet another reason is the expectation of improved performance with future DX12 and Vulkan titles that properly harness the RX 480's computing power, though in most current games the GTX 1060 is faster.

Power Supply - I just picked the Rosewill straight off the mid-range build list so I have no attachment to it. You do say the Power Supply you recommended is "a little over-the-top". Plus it is showing up in my cart as $70 not $60. Since I'm currently a bit over budget is there any good compromise PSU that is cheaper than this one but still reliable and sufficient for my build? There is a Corsair PSU currently on sale at Newegg is that any better than the Rosewill?

By over-the-top I was referring to capacity, not quality. Its quality is spot on for this build IMO, it just happened to cost less than equal quality 500W PSU's when I looked.

The CX500 is okay, but only if you take advantage of the $20 rebate. $50 is too much for such a basic unit, it uses a sleeve bearing fan and mediocre capacitors, basic non modular round cables, backed by just 3 years of warranty.

Here's an alternative to the M12II-620: EVGA 650 BQ $60

• decent TNB fan bearing (probably typical improved sleeve bearing that doesn't wear out in vertical orientation)
• rated at 40C, uses Japanese capacitors on the main PCB, the caps on the modular daugther board are cheaper but that's OK
• semi-modular cables
• Newegg is showing 3 year warranty but you will get 5 years directly through EVGA with registration

Total is showing as $900 at Newegg right now. While It isn't impossible for me to go up to $900 I'd really like to get closer to my budgeted amount. Right now the simplest way to do that would be to switch to the 4GB 480 you suggested. Is that the best place to make the cut? Is the 4GB 480 better than the Gigabite 1060?

I do think that's a good place to save some money. It's hard to call which is better overall, so it would make sense to go with the less expensive card. Gigabyte 1060 is better in pure performance but MSI RX 480 is better quality.

• Performance-wise, GTX 1060 is about 10% faster on average in most current titles
• GTX 1060 uses less power. However I'd expect the excellent MSI cooler to keep the RX 480 cooler and quieter despite that. Other than that, power consumption doesn't really matter with a well cooled case and 500-650 watt PSU.
• at low temperatures, MSI's fans stop spinning for zero noise
• MSI uses dual ball bearing fans, which are more long-life than whatever Gigabyte uses
• GTX 1060's 6GB VRAM gives peace of mind. However, 4GB should not be a limit for smooth 60 fps gaming in almost any game. It's only if you run full max settings in games that use ultra high resolution textures (like Deus Ex HR Mankind Divided or COD BO3) that you will encounter VRAM limits, but then you will typically also reduce fps way below the optimal 60 number
• and as mentioned RX 480 supports FreeSync and has the expectation of improved performance with future DX12 and Vulkan games

 

[Elaineofshalott2]

I'm thinking what I may do is pull the trigger on the items that are on sale like the CPU/MOBO/RAM Combo and give myself about a week to either decide if I want to come in a little above budget or go with the cheaper card.

 

[renz20003]

Video Card - Current monitor is 60Hz and I don't really have any plans to update it unless it unexpectedly dies on me. Would updating to a 144Hz monitor be the only reason to go with the AMD 480 over the 1060?

?

Save your pennies for a g-sync monitor. If you can keep 30-40 fps its some smooth ass gaming

 

[lehtv]

Save your pennies for a g-sync monitor. If you can keep 30-40 fps its some smooth ass gaming

As if FreeSync wasn't a more cost effective way to achieve the same goal.

 

[Elaineofshalott2]

Well. All the parts are ordered. The things I ordered from Newegg on Wednesday arrived yesterday even with the cheap "slow" shipping. Amazon dropped the price on the 8GB 480 to 280 and I had some Amazon credit to use. That brought everything to close enough to my budgeted amount. Thanks for the help.

 

[lehtv]

Nice! You're welcome.

 

[Elaineofshalott2]

Both power supply 4 pin cable and fan controller power appear to be female. Do I need an adapter? I'm having trouble finding one everything seems to be male to female extensions

 

[Elaineofshalott2]

Power supply connection https://flic.kr/p/MD4Dso

Fan controller power connection
https://flic.kr/p/Mf7DqA

 

[Elaineofshalott2]

I currently have the system up and running with two of the case fans plugged into the MOBO for the interim. One of the front USB 3.0 ports on the case is dead. I guess I have to decide if it is worth it to exchange the case since I'll basically have to rebuild the entire system if I do that. Now that I am not posting from my phone I think I may have found the connector I need. Would this work?

 

[lehtv]

Often fan controller connectors and such have both male and female ends on the same connector, so you can chain them together with other molex devices using only a single PSU connector.

You can see the fan controller's molex from the other side in this picture, for instance:

 

[Elaineofshalott2]

OK. Now I feel stupid for only looking at it from one side. Thanks for the help.

 

[F1N3ST]

I swung a i5 6500 16gb RAM and 1070 STRIX for around $900.

Did some bclk OC and its sitting at 4ghz all day, I feel like its a sweet build for the price.