Building a Gaming Rig for my 6 year old... help me with some tough calls?

[CircularReason]

Greetings fellow tech friends,

So in 2013, I finally broke down and built my own gaming PC. Been loving it ever since. Haven’t updated much on it besides the graphics card (and the mouse and keyboard), where I was originally running a GTX 680, but now I run a GTX 980. So I have this extra 680 just laying around, doing nothing.

Anyway, my 6 year old son loves gaming with me, and we try to play local co-op games, but that only goes so far. I have been thinking that I want to build a second, budget PC, so that we can play games together (like online multiplayer – Warframe and such) but I have some tough questions to answer. First, let me show you what my current PC specs are:

Cooler Master HAF 922 mid Tower
Intel Core i7-3770K Quad Core
ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE LGA 1155 Intel Z77
Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600 Mhz
Nvidia GTX 980
SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch SSD (System)
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache (Storage)
SanDisk Extreme II 480 GB SATA 6.0 Gbs 2.5-Inch SSD (Gaming)
XFX Core Edition 850 Watt
Thermalright True Spirit 120
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
SteelSeries Sensei Laser Gaming Mouse
Razor Blackwidow Mechanical Keyboard

Now besides these, I have that extra GTX 680, which I figured I could use in this next build. So a couple of questions: First, the approach. Do you think I should be looking to just build my son a fresh, budget PC, using the GTX 680 only (of existing parts that I have), or should I take my P8Z77 motherboard and the i73770k out of my rig, use it for this new rig, and upgrade the processor / motherboard in mine? How much has changed since these?

If I were to just leave my rig the way it is now, and just use the GTX 680 in this new one, what would be a good budget build you would recommend, knowing that I already have the graphics card? I prefer Intel processors, and I would like it to stay around $500-$600 range, though I am flexible. (though I guess that money wouldn’t include the OS and the monitor… or mouse, keyboard… etc….)

Thanks in advance… I feel like I am out of touch with all the current options, especially budget options, as I was in the ‘I want to build a really good PC’ mode when I made my first build, and now, I haven’t really researched much since.

 

[ajpaolello]

Honestly in the cpu world, there has not been a huge change. I think that really comes down to if you want the new architecture.

That being said I threw together this cheap skylake build. See if you like it. This is assuming you are getting the new rig for your son

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI B150 PC Mate ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($81.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer S220HQLAbd 21.5" 60Hz Monitor ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $495.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 12:56 EDT-0400

 

[CTurbo]

This would be great

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($83.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.95 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $530.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 12:58 EDT-0400