Dilemma: To upgrade, build, or cyberpowerpc?

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jdowneyy

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Mar 26, 2013
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I need two gaming PCs; one in Las Vegas and one in New York.
I currently have one computer in Las Vegas which I built almost three years ago and here are the specs:

CPU: i5 3570k Ivy Bridge
Motherboard: Asus Maximus V Formula Z77
GPU: Asus GTX 660 Ti 2GB
Cooler: Corsair H100i
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (4GB x 2) DDR3 1600 Mhz
PSU: Corsair AX750
Case: Corsair 650D
HD: 128GB Samsung EVO 840 and WD Black 1TB
CD drive: Asus DVD Burner

This PC is still good for what I do which is mainly League of Legends, StarCraft and Diablo.
But I need another computer in New York to play since I'm there often.
So my options are
1. Upgrade some parts of this computer and send the remaining to New York and make a computer with it.
2. Build a whole new computer and send this one to New York.
3. Order one from CyberpowerPC and send this one to New York.

What do you guys think? Are there better options?
The only reason why I put cyberpowerpc is because I am too lazy to build it and I heard that nowadays, the price between building and cyberpowerpc is around the same. But, if you guys believe that building is better, then please let me know.

Monitor: 1080p

Budget: $1100~$1200 including shipping
Just the Tower. Don't need monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

I am thinking skylake and gtx 970. I did some research and it seems like they fit my budget?

Please help and give me any build advice! Thank you!!!

 
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For the budget you should be able to easily score something premade (cyber) or build your own. If your focus is LoL, SC, Diablo I would say just get a newer GPU and the current build is fine past that. That said, for those games I dont think you need to spend 1200$ on a PC to play the games. If you want skylake, then yes thats probably what you'll need, otherwise you can pick up i5 4690 and throw a 970 in it and probably be sitting around 8-900. I could build you an example but I don't have time to sit down and thumb through everything at the moment. I would say keep that info in mind and see what you could get from cyberpower around 900 and then around 1200... then compare those to the build it yourself suggestions.
 
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I guess I made the question sound harder than it should be.

Ultimately, I need another computer but I already have a computer in Las Vegas, which is where I live.
I just need the "better/newer" computer in Las Vegas.

What should I do to make this process cost efficient and smoothly as possible?

Please help.
 
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Go to pcpartpicker.com. Ignore prices and vendors, just build basically what you are looking for. Print out the list. Take it with you to NY. Once there head over to the microcenter in NJ with the list, buy everything personally, spend the rest of the day putting it together.

Even though cyberpower will build it for you, ship it etc, you are limited in options. You are stuck with 1 or 2 mobo's, 1 or 2 cpus, 1 series of psu, 1 case, some (not your choice usually) brand name ram etc. It may look decent on paper, the bottom line is too, considering the effort to build etc but overall you'll pay more for less
 
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I am not familiar with microcenter. Is it much better than newegg?
Do you know if I can ship the parts to las vegas from there?

 
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Ah! The problem is that I rather have the newer computer in vegas and send the old one to NY.

Sounds like you're suggesting to build a new one rather than taking apart this one or cyberpower?
In this case, newegg?
 
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Ok, if you'd rather have the new one in Vegas, pcpartpicker.com. All the vendors there are equitable to newegg, and include newegg, but may have parts/prices/options you'd prefer that newegg doesn't stock. If you prefer to limit the build to just newegg, that's fine too, pcpartpicker can easily do that too, but it will also give you a list of exactly what you need without having to hunt it down.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($162.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung SM951 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($399.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($116.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($639.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.45 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($139.75 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor ($625.61 @ Amazon)
Total: $2901.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-06 11:23 EDT-0400PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($162.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung SM951 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($116.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($639.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($20.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)
Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor ($669.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2705.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-06 11:24 EDT-0400

An example, 2nd build, Newegg doesn't carry some stuff.
 
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HOLY!
That is so expensive and well over my budget. I don't need a monitor, keyboard, mouse and SSD.
My budget is around 1100 including shipping.
Like I said, my main game is LoL and streaming. But, I want a computer that will last long and worth buying.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Tz74bv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Tz74bv/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($162.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($299.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.45 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1197.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-06 12:24 EDT-0400

How is this? Any way I can decrease the cost a little bit? Because in newegg, the total comes out a little over $1,200

 
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That's a pretty good built. Some comments though:

1. Are you planning to overclock? For your uses, it's probably not required (at least not initially). That'll impact the CPU & motherboard you require.
2. Given your uses, jumping to Skylake might not be worth the extra outlay. Haswell refresh or Broadwell would be sufficient (maybe an i5-4690k for OC, which would save you around $50) - but you can go Skylake if you want.
2. DDR4 - as per Skylake. DDR3 will be around for a long time yet. You could go to 16GB (2x8GB) of RipjawsX at 2400 for around $80
3. You might want an SSD in there for your OS/common programs for the speed boost. (A Samsung EVO 850 250GB is around $90).
4. The PSU - Good choice, solid Tier 1 PSU. 750W is likely overkill, at least initially. Depending on whether you've any desire to SLI (or Crossfire) in future, you could run with the 750W, or drop to 650W and save $20.

As an FYI - on PartPicker, you can select NewEgg as the only merchant for each part (likely for the whole build too, but I can't remember how) - that way you are only seeing NewEgg's pricing. Remember, a lot of places offer Free Shipping. So don't necessarily rule out other vendors unless you have a burning desire to use NewEgg only.
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($299.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.45 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1134.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-06 19:13 EDT-0400

A little cheaper, but much smaller physically, and an overclockable i7 vrs the skylake i5, covers future possible new favorite games, better for streaming. if you use [bb] (center of upper part of the build sheet) youll have the option for All merchants-Preferred Merchant List-Single Merchant.
 
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Oooh! I really like this build. Thanks a lot! 😀

A few questions though:

1. So, is skylake not really worth it? I didn't even think about getting i7 even though I wanted one!
2. Not really familiar with micro ATX boards, how are they any different from full ATX boards? is it okay to get a micro ATX?
3. I can't seem to find a Kraken X31 Cooler in stock. Is it okay to go with Corsair H60? or is the Kraken X31 that much better?
4. God, that case is horrifying....but I know nothing about cases and airflow. I just prefer something that looks cool and has a side window.

 
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Skylake has slightly better benchmarks, about 10-15% better, same as Haswell vrs Ivy Bridge, but that's a benchmark. Real world, on identical pc's, skylake vrs Haswell, a 1hr render vrs 1hr 6minutes, game showing 60fps vrs 54fps. Skylake mobo's are technologically ahead, but for the average gamer, pretty useless, as in most ppl are quite happy with a normal SSD and don't need the slight edge some of the new M2's have. DDR3 and DDR4 are pretty equitable for the most part. And then there is pricing. A budget skylake build, taking advantage of what the new tech has to offer, is much higher than a Haswell build, yet the performance is similar. To really go beyond and get the most out of a skylake build, you'll have to really invest in a deep pocket. The really cutting edge stuff isn't cheap. Yet. Is skylake worth it for the average gamer? Imho, no, not yet, but that's now, not tomorrow.

Micro ATX is ATX, but shorter. Full ATX gaming mobo's tend to have 3-4 pcie slots vrs mATX 1-2, ATX has more fan headers and a few other connectors, but it's just a number. Most systems will only use 3-4 Sata ports, ATX boards can have 6-8, mATX 4-6, most cases easily support 5 fans, usually 2x intake, 2x top exhaust, 1x rear, mATX usually has 3-4 fan headers, ATX can have 5-6 (most ppl use fans on a splitter, same control for both intakes etc). So ATX in general just has more.

As far as 120mm single radiators go, the x31 is pretty much top of the line, maybe not the exact best in every situation, but overall it's up there. It'll outperform a Noctua NH-D15 in every category but 1. Volume. Really can't touch aircoolers for being quiet at good OC. The h60 is a good cooler, but it's pretty much the equivalent of a $25 hyper212 EVO air cooler.

Lol, cases are extremely personal, I much prefer my fractal design r5 window to almost anything else, but some think the sleek tailored design just reaks of boring. Give them a $30 apevia-X gamer garish nightmare any day. Use pcpartpicker list view not details and find 3-5 cases that really peak your interest, the see what fits inside. You all ready know roughly the performance levels you are looking for, and this works for all the components, don't judge on exact specs, judge on what works for you personally. A msi 970 4G twin frozr might be the best all around performing 970 (it's still a 970 the rest are too) but if you are building blue/black then that card really doesn't work as well as a Gigabyte G1. Going black/red? Spend the extra $29 over the Evga SC, or get Asus.

You can tailor pcpartpicker for window - no windows, full towers (they are huge) ATX mini tower etc.

Get creative, you gotta live with it after all is said and done, I can't see it from my house 😛
 
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PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MpPfbv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MpPfbv/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($48.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($319.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($132.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.89 @ Amazon)
Total: $1072.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-07 03:18 EDT-0400

I figured I can order both from Amazon and Newegg separately.
I also took out Windows 10 and the optical drive. I don't think I will use the optical drive and I found a friend who has an extra copy of Windows.
Cooler is not in the build because I wasn't able to find Kraken X31 but nzxt.com website has it on their online store for free shipping at 79.99.

So the actual total comes out to $1,181.64
Is this the best I can do with my budget?

Oh, thanks for the suggestion on the case. I saw the review on youtube and it looks so nice!!

 
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The NEX is not such a good psu, not for $75, watch for sales, some of these units are double their sales price, especially at newegg.
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220gs0650v1
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-hcg620m
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ssr650rm
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-edg650
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20650y1
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1650bbefx

Of course, these are semi/full modular, you can get equitable performance psus cheaper if you opt for non-modular.
 
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So I thought about getting the ssd, hd and cooler from the old pc and replacing them with other parts.

For the NEW PC:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7b6qFT
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker....FT/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($341.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($132.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($313.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($75.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1008.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 11:16 EDT-0400

For the OLD PC:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NRXzNG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker....NG/by_merchant/

CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $120.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 11:17 EDT-0400

Along with:

CPU: i5 3570k Ivy Bridge
Motherboard: Asus Maximus V Formula Z77
GPU: Asus GTX 660 Ti 2GB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (4GB x 2) DDR3 1600 Mhz
PSU: Corsair AX750
Case: Corsair 650D
CD drive: Asus DVD Burner​

Total comes out to: $1129.90

Is there anything that I am missing?

Should I go for 650W instead of 550W?

Is the best money spent and most cost efficient for my budget?

Thanks a lot guys so far!
 
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