Building a budget PC for the first time.

[aplipinski]

I'm building a PC for the very first time. I consider myself a well rounded gamer and finally want to build a computer that can handle my gaming needs. However I am on a tight budget ($800 or lower). I want to be sure that the parts I have chosen will run well together and I am getting the most performance out of my system with no bottlenecks. If people could take a quick look at my specs and tell me what they think I would really appreciate it. Here is the link
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/QjTnQV

If there is anything I can cut back on due to overkill let me know. I thought the motherboard might be a little flashy. Lastly if anyone was concerned over the little amount of storage on the ssd, I figured this computer is for gaming ONLY and I am fine deleting games to make room for new ones. Thanks!

 

[Zerk2012]

Their no need for the artic 5, and that small SSD is a major mistake SSD are not made to keep deleting files OS, a couple programs, steam and BO 3 your full.

 

[aplipinski]

Thank you for your help. I'll try to move some numbers to increase the ssd. Isn't thermal paste extremely helpful for bonding the processor to the cooler? Also am I going to need that crazy of a mobo? I don't know a thing about overclocking so is there a cheaper alternative that won't sacrifice performance?

 

[Zerk2012]

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/MwW9TW/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex
If you can't afford a large SSD get this instead who really cares how fast your PC boots. The thermal past that comes preinstalled on the CPU cooler will work just fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2885167

 

[Geekwad]

In this price range, I'd consider this too:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI RX 480 - 4GB GDDR5 ($199.99)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($35.49 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($23.12 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $789.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

An 8-threaded processor will help keep the system relevant the longest, and the AMD RX 480 is roughly equivalent to the R9 390x (rumored).....which is a substantial step up from a GTX 960. Performance would look something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvHezHmCJ4

 

[aplipinski]

Yeah I have been debating with myself on that. SSDs are just so nice. But I don't know if I can afford that luxury

 

[madmatt30]

same price,better psu ,better case (imo), 240gb ssd,optical drive ( as your buying win 10 dvd)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($32.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($73.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($189.98 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN881ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter ($17.80 @ Amazon)
Total: $772.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-10 11:38 EDT-0400

 

[aplipinski]

What do I miss out on by going Micro ATX or Mini ITX as opposed to ATX

 

[Geekwad]

same price,better psu ,better case (imo), 240gb ssd,optical drive ( as your buying win 10 dvd)

Motherboard: MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)

With the H110 chipsets only having single RAM/channel, DMI 2.0, less USB, less chipset lanes and other I/O limitations:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

If going Skylake, I would recommend at least getting the B150 chipset boards to more fully take advantage of what the Skylake platform has to offer....

 

[madmatt30]

What do I miss out on by going Micro ATX or Mini ITX as opposed to ATX

matx - miss 2 exra ram slots & an extra gpu slot to run a dual gpu crossfire/sli setup

mitx - wouldnt even consider it an option at all unless circumstances dictate that you need a tiny case to fit in a cupboard or under a tv - way too restrictive in every way imaginable & much harder to build for a novice.

 

[madmatt30]

same price,better psu ,better case (imo), 240gb ssd,optical drive ( as your buying win 10 dvd)

Motherboard: MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)

With the H110 chipsets only having single channel RAM, DMI 2.0, less USB, less chipset lanes and other I/O limitations:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

If going Skylake, I would recommend at least getting the B150 chipset boards to more fully take advantage of what the Skylake platform has to offer....

absolutely unimportant in a single gpu setup,h110 has dual channel ram anyway not single.
usb ports/sata ports etc the msi board I recommmended has plenty
msata/m2/extra pci express lanes also compleely unimportant as above.

the guys building a fairly budget system here,the 110 board is better featured than the majority of b150 boards in the same price range.

to save argument though

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/my4NnQ/gigabyte-motherboard-gab150mds3h

4 ram slots,6 sata ports,fairly good board,good option at $10 than the one I suggested.

 

[aplipinski]

Alright last question here. I have got an external drive that is relatively cheap, we are talking bare minimum. As well as a world of old towers that I can pop an optical drive out of. (windows 95, 2000, and a fairly newer xp) Would any of these work on my new system. Even if it is just for installing windows 10. It would be a great money saver if I dont need to buy one.

 

[madmatt30]

Alright last question here. I have got an external drive that is relatively cheap, we are talking bare minimum. As well as a world of old towers that I can pop an optical drive out of. (windows 95, 2000, and a fairly newer xp) Would any of these work on my new system. Even if it is just for installing windows 10. It would be a great money saver if I dont need to buy one.

you need to check the power & data connectors on these old drives - if theyre ide they will not work on any modern board,they need to be sata as the pic on the left

a sata optical drive to install windows will not be an issue (if its actually working)
I would advise against using old hard drives for an os install in a new system.
If you can afford the 240gb ssd then buy it ,its ultimately 100% worth the outlay - if it proves to be too small you can always add a 1 or 2tb platter drive at a later date.

 

[aplipinski]

Alright thanks for the help!

 

[Geekwad]

has dual channel ram anyway not single.

Ah, I see. I always thought it odd for Intel to cut down some of the standards on just that one chipset for such tiny savings:

http://ark.intel.com/compare/90591,90595,90592,90590

 

[madmatt30]

has dual channel ram anyway not single.

Ah, I see. I always thought it odd for Intel to cut down some of the standards on just that one chipset for such tiny savings:

http://ark.intel.com/compare/90591,90595,90592,90590

the spec sheet is confusing mate,donkeyoatie explains it better than I could here

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2887914/dual-channel-guidance-3000mhz-ram-h110-motherboard.html

 

[Geekwad]

Yeah I know....I've seen him identify the same issue.

Still don't get why such cutbacks are worth the savings:

At the low-end of the 100 series spectrum is the other H series chipset, the H110, which is further stripped down from the Z170. It lacks support for RST, Smart Response Technology, Smart Sound Technology, Small Business Advantage 4.0, RAID, overclocking, and multi-GPU configurations. It also loses more than half the USB 3.0 support of the Z170 chipset. The number of HSIO lanes available falls sharply, and their use is limited. Memory support is reduced as well, as only a single DIMM is permitted in each channel. Finally, the H110 is also the only chipset to lack PCI-E 3.0 support; instead it uses eight lanes of the older PCI-E 2.0 standard.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-100-series-chipsets,29993.html

 

[Bearmann]

The excellent combo the Zerk2012 previously linked is even less expensive separately now. This would be a really nice build, but you will have to wait for the RX 480. You can substitute an SSD for the HDD if you like.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($74.99)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($26.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Other: AMD RX 480 ($200.00)
Total: $755.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-10 14:44 EDT-0400

The case comes with two fans, which will be enough.