Cost Cutting on Gaming PC

[grrsona]

I have this build

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/dXRcTH

I have kept ugrading it with help of people on the forums, but it is not outside of my price range. The issue is is that the gpu goes really well with the system and everything is very solid all around, but if people could help bring it down maybe $100 or so thatd be great. I plan to knock off $50 by not buying the hard drive yet and sticking with SSD until I get extra money. Other then that if it is possible to downgrade a bit while still mainting a high quality gaming pc thatd be amazing. Would it be possible for it to still play games on high / ultra now and high / medium in a year and still last a bit? Factoring in overclocking all all?

Could I get a weaker GPU now and in a few months buy another and SLI them for the same effect?

 

[basroil]

Do you HAVE that computer or are considering it? If just considering, you're cutting costs in all the wrong places. Consider this instead:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($110.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP600NS34 128GB M.2-2242 Solid State Drive ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card ($419.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Rosewill Galaxy-03 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1126.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-22 03:09 EDT-0400

Base price is only $30 more yet you'll get much better gaming performance now, next year, and the year after that.

 

[sizzling]

You could drop to an i5 with virtually no loss in gaming performance. Something to be aware of is the 1060 does not support sli. Also sli/crossfire low end cards is a bad idea, it introduces all the downsides of a multi card setup when a single could do the same job. Not all games support multi gpu's and some the support is not very good, in these your effectively running 1 weak card. Id say just get the best possible card your budget allows.

 

[Amashi]

As others have said, you should not get an i7 if all you care about is gaming. The overclocked 6600k is dollar for dollar an amazing chip- maybe the best value ever, depending on how you measure it.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Change i7-6700k to i5-6600k. It'll give you those extra 100$.

 

[grrsona]

Okay then, I have these 2 options:
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/XC368K
and
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/74KYgL

There are two differences: The GPU and PSU

The GPU: The difference bewtween the 6gig 1060 and the 8gig 1070 is over $100, which is alot.
What is the performance difference bewtween the two cards? Is there a lower gig 1070 I could do? I am just looking for performance in games, is the difference bewtween the 60 and the 70 that much?

The PSU: The 2 PSU's have the same costs, but one is 620 w and one is 520w, is there a difference in quality? Which is the better choice for this build.

Lastly: the build has 16 gigs of ram, is this neccesary for gaming? Could I drop it to 8 and have the same performance?

Also would I have any luck with an older generation but higher tier card?

 

[basroil]

Okay then, I have these 2 options:
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/XC368K
and
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/74KYgL

There are two differences: The GPU and PSU

The GPU: The difference bewtween the 6gig 1060 and the 8gig 1070 is over $100, which is alot.
What is the performance difference bewtween the two cards? Is there a lower gig 1070 I could do? I am just looking for performance in games, is the difference bewtween the 60 and the 70 that much?

The PSU: The 2 PSU's have the same costs, but one is 620 w and one is 520w, is there a difference in quality? Which is the better choice for this build.

Lastly: the build has 16 gigs of ram, is this neccesary for gaming? Could I drop it to 8 and have the same performance?

1) 16GB is insurance for new games, keep it
2) I already gave you a better option, the EVGA G2 (only $5 more than the S12II 620). Well worth the additional cost
3) The 1070 is worth that extra cost now, and likely in the long run too
4) You are still missing the OS, which is right now $90 for Win 10 Home
5) The 1070 is currently faster than any last-gen card

 

[grrsona]

Okay then, I have these 2 options:
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/XC368K
and
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/74KYgL

There are two differences: The GPU and PSU

The GPU: The difference bewtween the 6gig 1060 and the 8gig 1070 is over $100, which is alot.
What is the performance difference bewtween the two cards? Is there a lower gig 1070 I could do? I am just looking for performance in games, is the difference bewtween the 60 and the 70 that much?

The PSU: The 2 PSU's have the same costs, but one is 620 w and one is 520w, is there a difference in quality? Which is the better choice for this build.

Lastly: the build has 16 gigs of ram, is this neccesary for gaming? Could I drop it to 8 and have the same performance?

1) 16GB is insurance for new games, keep it
2) I already gave you a better option, the EVGA G2 (only $5 more than the S12II 620). Well worth the additional cost
3) The 1070 is worth that extra cost now, and likely in the long run too
4) You are still missing the OS, which is right now $90 for Win 10 Home
5) The 1070 is currently faster than any last-gen card

I will be running linux for the time being.

So the 550w provided by the EVGA G2 is a better choice then the 620? Will it support any upgrades in the future?


These make me want to lean towards 160, according to these it seems like it is more bang for buck from a 1080p perspective?

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3121531/upgrade-gtx-1060-gtx-1070-1080p.html

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/pc-components/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-vs-gtx-1070-vs-gtx-1060-3640925/

 

[basroil]

I will be running linux for the time being.

So the 550w provided by the EVGA G2 is a better choice then the 620? Will it support any upgrades in the future?


These make me want to lean towards 160, according to these it seems like it is more bang for buck from a 1080p perspective?

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3121531/upgrade-gtx-1060-gtx-1070-1080p.html

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/pc-components/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-vs-gtx-1070-vs-gtx-1060-3640925/

Linux= not many good games that actually make use of your GPU, but that's your choice.

As for 1060 vs 1070, don't think about today's games, think about ones from 3 years from now. Do you want to spend $400 today or $250 today and another $250 in two years for the same performance? Not a joke or sarcasm, you should seriously consider which is better for you. The 1060 should play any games this year at 1080p with 60fps solid at max settings, but that won't necessarily hold for the next gen of games.

 

[Amashi]

The G2 550w is what I am going to put in my system. I am not going to run more than one GPU. I am also not going to run a last-generation card. If you want to run a 980 Ti you might want to get a 650w PSU. But I'd just get a this-generation card and not worry about it.

 

[grrsona]

I will be running linux for the time being.

So the 550w provided by the EVGA G2 is a better choice then the 620? Will it support any upgrades in the future?


These make me want to lean towards 160, according to these it seems like it is more bang for buck from a 1080p perspective?

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3121531/upgrade-gtx-1060-gtx-1070-1080p.html

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/pc-components/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-vs-gtx-1070-vs-gtx-1060-3640925/

Linux= not many good games that actually make use of your GPU, but that's your choice.

As for 1060 vs 1070, don't think about today's games, think about ones from 3 years from now. Do you want to spend $400 today or $250 today and another $250 in two years for the same performance? Not a joke or sarcasm, you should seriously consider which is better for you. The 1060 should play any games this year at 1080p with 60fps solid at max settings, but that won't necessarily hold for the next gen of games.

That is another part of my struggle, I will run wine on linux so I can play some games but eventually I will need Windows, as well as peripherals, which I could afford if I went to 1060. I guess at this point its about if I can scrounge up the money. Could the 1060 last for 2 years at high quality gaming, then in 2 years would it still work to play games at decent settings? Is this an okay choice if I am not picky about my gaming in 2 years? Also would the 1060 mean that in like 3.5 years when the card is totally done could I upgrade to a new one?

 

[basroil]

That is another part of my struggle, I will run wine on linux so I can play some games but eventually I will need Windows, as well as peripherals, which I could afford if I went to 1060. I guess at this point its about if I can scrounge up the money. Could the 1060 last for 2 years at high quality gaming, then in 2 years would it still work to play games at decent settings? Is this an okay choice if I am not picky about my gaming in 2 years? Also would the 1060 mean that in like 3.5 years when the card is totally done could I upgrade to a new one?

It should definitely last you 5 years with each year's releases slowly dropping in max settings before your FPS dips too low. By the time you are ready to upgrade the next card that's $250 will be even better than the 1080, as long as you can live with lower settings in the meantime. If you have to pick between the wine +1070 or Win 10 and a 1060, it doesn't seem like much of a problem in picking the 1060 😉 (after all, wine doesn7t support DX11 well enough to even consider it an option for DX11 only games that have been released lately)

 

[grimakis]

It sounds like you ought to just hold off until you can save up another $100. I wouldn't downgrade my build over $100, I would just wait.