Christmas Gaming Build - $1700

[adawg88]

My 12 y/o boy has gotten really in to PCs and gaming. He’s getting spoiled this Christmas and I’m getting him components to build out a system. My budget is $1700 and that needs to include a monitor - preferably 1440.

He plays Fortnite, LoL and more. Hoping to build something that will last him a while.

Thanks in advance!

 

[TechyInAZ]

That is one really lucky kid.

$1700 is really overkill for even fortnite, but hey, it'll last a while:

How does this look (wen't a little over budget)?

Do you need windows 10 included?


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($249.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.69 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($193.34 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($116.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($127.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB FTW ULTRA SILENT GAMING Video Card ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C Dark TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: AOC - AG271QX 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor ($349.99 @ Walmart)
Total: $1840.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-21 09:34 EST-0500

 

[SgtScream]

No sense in paying extra for overclockable parts if your son won't. You can get a more powerful processor and graphics card for the money.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor ($314.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - H370 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.50 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($498.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer - XB271HU bmiprz 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor ($519.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1756.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-21 10:27 EST-0500

That monitor is an absolute steal on Newegg. It sports a technology called G-Sync that synchronizes frames with the refresh rate of the monitor for an ultra smooth playback.

 

[Zerk2012]

Just a touch over with windows 10. Included RGB fans for looks mount 2 in front the other in the back, move the back fan to the top.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65 CFM CPU Cooler ($52.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($127.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.84 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB DUKE Video Card ($399.00 @ Walmart)
Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Cooler Master - MasterFan Pro 140 Air Flow RGB 3 in 1 with RGB LED Controller 53 CFM 140mm Fans ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus - PB277Q 27.0" 2560x1440 75 Hz Monitor ($299.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $1729.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-21 10:34 EST-0500

 

[jayleonis]

No sense in paying extra for overclockable parts if your son won't. You can get a more powerful processor and graphics card for the money.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor ($314.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - H370 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.50 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($498.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer - XB271HU bmiprz 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor ($519.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1756.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-21 10:27 EST-0500

That monitor is an absolute steal on Newegg. It sports a technology called G-Sync that synchronizes frames with the refresh rate of the monitor for an ultra smooth playback.

doesnt g sync only work with nvidia? and that GPU is gigabyte?

 

[J_E_D_70]

That gigabyte card IS nVidia.

 

[Zerk2012]

I belive in always buying a processor that can be overclocked. Even if your not going to now in 3 or 4 years when it no longer keeps up with the newer demands of games then you can overclock it to get the performance back instead of rebuilding. This can add a couple years more to the life of the PC.

 

[SgtScream]

Purchasing higher end non-overclockable hardware can also "add a couple years to the life of the PC." It all depends on weather or not the end user would like to invest his/her time learning how to overclock.

 

[Zerk2012]

Purchasing higher end non-overclockable hardware can also "add a couple years to the life of the PC." It all depends on weather or not the end user would like to invest his/her time learning how to overclock.

For pure gaming the 8700 is not adding anything, and their a ton of guides on overclocking takes about 3 minutes to do it.

 

[SgtScream]

Purchasing higher end non-overclockable hardware can also "add a couple years to the life of the PC." It all depends on weather or not the end user would like to invest his/her time learning how to overclock.

For pure gaming the 8700 is not adding anything, and their a ton of guides on overclocking takes about 3 minutes to do it.

Overclocking isn't easy for a 12 year old that has no prior knowledge on fine turning the motherboard for possible instability issues that may happen as a result. Sure the end user could follow an overclocking guide and get lucky not to experience a blue screen of death, but overclocking is definitely never that black and white. No overclocking guide can possibly pertain to all the different kinds of hardware, bios settings and scenarios that can arise from instability issues.

 

[Zerk2012]

Purchasing higher end non-overclockable hardware can also "add a couple years to the life of the PC." It all depends on weather or not the end user would like to invest his/her time learning how to overclock.

For pure gaming the 8700 is not adding anything, and their a ton of guides on overclocking takes about 3 minutes to do it.

Overclocking isn't easy for a 12 year old that has no prior knowledge on fine turning the motherboard for possible instability issues that may happen as a result. Sure the end user could follow an overclocking guide and get lucky not to experience a blue screen of death, but overclocking is definitely never that black and white. No overclocking guide can possibly pertain to all the different kinds of hardware, bios settings and scenarios that can arise from instability issues.

4 years from now he will be 16 and yes overclocking is very easy. He can post back here and I can have him a stable overclock very quick.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Overclockable if desired, single large ssd with no cable mess, gsync monitor, under budget. Edit: change to a Z370 mobo - sry I missed that.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65 CFM CPU Cooler ($52.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - H370 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.50 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($127.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB DUKE Video Card ($374.99 @ Newegg Business)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell - S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor ($459.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1657.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-21 16:43 EST-0500

 

[SgtScream]

Purchasing higher end non-overclockable hardware can also "add a couple years to the life of the PC." It all depends on weather or not the end user would like to invest his/her time learning how to overclock.

For pure gaming the 8700 is not adding anything, and their a ton of guides on overclocking takes about 3 minutes to do it.

Overclocking isn't easy for a 12 year old that has no prior knowledge on fine turning the motherboard for possible instability issues that may happen as a result. Sure the end user could follow an overclocking guide and get lucky not to experience a blue screen of death, but overclocking is definitely never that black and white. No overclocking guide can possibly pertain to all the different kinds of hardware, bios settings and scenarios that can arise from instability issues.

4 years from now he will be 16 and yes overclocking is very easy. He can post back here and I can have him a stable overclock very quick.

Four years from now my my system will won't need to be overclocked and the op won't have to "post back here" for overclocking advice.
i7 > i5
RTX 2070 > GTX 1070 ti