- Dec 14, 2015
- 2
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- 4,510
Ok, so I'm about to order a gaming pc. I want to put a couple of disclaimers out there first because I already know what I'm going to hear from the masses. First off, I actually don't plan to do much gaming on it, but when I do, I want it to be able to handle it with no problem. I game on Xbox One and that's where my friends and gaming social network is. Having said that, if I did want to play something on the PC, I would like to have that option. Secondly, I plan to use it for some light graphics work (GIMP and maybe PS later) and just typical home pc usage (internet, office, etc). To some extent, I'm trying to "future proof' for at least the next 4-5 years and that's why I'm looking at the Skylake chips. More on that in a minute.
I appreciate your feedback, but please do not spam this thread with "build your own!" suggestions. I get it. It's cheaper, more rewarding, etc. etc. Look, I've never built one and I know there are a gazillion tutorials and people waiting to help first time builders, but it's not something I want to hassle with or fret over when something goes wrong during the build or set up and I'm scouring for solutions and in panic mode. I am absolutely not building my own pc. Maybe some day, but not this time around. I'm buying a pre-built pc with a warranty and it'll cost me more, but so be it. Now, let's talk about what I'm looking at.
After looking over and customizing options at just about every online pc boutique, the best bang for the buck has been at ibuypower. Yes, I've read some horror stories, and a lot of positives as well. But, I can't afford to drop double the price (or close to it) for the same build going to some of the higher end places, even if they are supposedly put together better. So, I've made up my mind on that front as well. It comes down to selection for my budget and here's the options I'm considering (Does not include monitor):
Holiday Limited Time Offer1 x [FREE] - iBUYPOWER High Performance Gaming Mouse Pad - Free with any System ($19 Value)
Holiday Limited Time Offer1 x [FREE] - iBUYPOWER MEK Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Red Switch) - Free with all desktops ($79 Value)
Case1 x AZZA EOS 209 Gaming Case - Black
Case Lighting1 x iBUYPOWER RGB Smart Lighting (Software Controlled LED Lighting Kit) - [FREE] 1 Smart Lighting Strip - Top of the case
Processor - 1 x Intel® Core™ i5-6600 Processor (4x 3.30GHz/6MB L3 Cache)
Processor Cooling - 1 x Corsair Hydro Series H60 120mm Liquid CPU Cooler [Intel] - Standard 120mm Fan
Memory - 1 x 8 GB [4 GB x2] DDR4-2400 Memory Module - Corsair Vengeance LPX
Video Card - 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 - 2GB [FREE Upgrade to GTX 960 4GB] - Single Card
Free Stuff1 x [FREE] - 802.11AC Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter - FREE with iBUYPOWER Desktops
Free Stuff1 x [FREE] - McAfee Antivirus PLUS - FREE with any System ($49 Value)
Free Stuff1 x [FREE In-Game Content] - Heroes of the Storm Bundle: the Diablo hero, Kajo skin, and 7-day Stim Pack - Free with Nvidia GTX 950 and 960 Video Cards
Motherboard - 1 x ASUS Z170-K -- - *Free Upgrade to ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming -- 3x PCIe x16, 2x USB 3.1, 4x USB 3.0, 1x M.2, DDR4 Memory
Power Supply - 1 x 650 Watt - EVGA SuperNOVA NEX650G - 80 PLUS Gold - Free Upgrade to 750W EVGA 750GQ - 80 PLUS Gold
Advance Cabling Options1 x Professional Wiring - for all standard default cables inside the system
Primary Hard Drive - 1 x 128 GB SanDisk Z400S SSD -- Read: 546MB/s, Write: 342MB/s - Single Drive *Free Upgrade to 256GB SanDisk Z400S SSD* (Single Drive Only)
Data Hard Drive - 1 x 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Blue Hard Drive -- 64MB Cache, 7200RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive
Optical Drive1 x LG 14x Blu-ray Re-Writer, DVD±R/±RW Burner Combo Drive - Black
Sound Card1 x 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Network Card1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System - 1 x Windows 10 Home + Office 365 Trial [Free 30-Day !!!] - (64-bit) *Newest Microsoft Windows*
Additional Software1 x NZXT CAM - Hardware Monitor Software - Preinstalled on your PC
Keyboard1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Keyboard
Mouse1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Mouse
Speaker System1 x Logitech S120 2.0 Speaker System
Advanced Build Options1 x iBUYPOWER Specialized Advanced Packaging System - Protect your investment during transportation!
Advanced Build Options1 x XIGMATEK Thermal Paste - The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks
Warranty1 x 3 Year Standard Warranty Service
Rush Service1 x No Rush Service (Usually Ships in 10-15 Business Days)
Having outlined all that, a couple of things that aren't important to me and the reason I made the choices I did...
I don't care about overclocking. I'm not a pc gaming enthusiast and I don't need to run games on ultra settings. That's why I didn't choose the i5-6600k chipset or the EVGA overclocked gpu. I did choose a skylake processor, though, and a 4 gb gpu because I believe they will both be more adaptable to future changes than older cards and 2 gb graphics cards will. Same reason I chose the z170 series for a motherboard. I don't need advanced audio internally or externally, so I'm fine with the onboard sound a cheap pair of speakers.
Granted, I'm no PC guru. All I truly know is what I've learned from my research over the last month. Before I actually spend the money, though, I wanted to hear from some others with input that is anything except "build your own". Does this look like a decent build for what I've described I'm going to use it for?
The other modifications to the above build I considered were to drop down to a GTX 950 2GB card and it would probably suit all I'll ever do with it, and I know the 4 GB doesn't really offer much more on the 960, but reasons. Thoughts?
Also considered abandoning liquid cooling in favor of just going with air cooling, but a closed loop system like the H60 seems more efficient and quieter. Thoughts on that?
Finally, the SSD hard drive upgrade seemed like a sweet deal and couple with a secondary 1 GB HDD, I think I'll be good to go, but I don't know much about the difference between doing it this way versus the other options SSD+HDD (dual drive?), rather than them being two separate drives. I'm still confused on that, but it's a choice they offer. They don't offer a WD Black Series on the HDD either, so the Blue will have to do. But they do both say "single drive" and listed separately, but I want to make sure I can actually order it this way, given that notation. I assume it refers to meaning neither can be used with one of these dual drive options.
So, what's the verdict good people?
I appreciate your feedback, but please do not spam this thread with "build your own!" suggestions. I get it. It's cheaper, more rewarding, etc. etc. Look, I've never built one and I know there are a gazillion tutorials and people waiting to help first time builders, but it's not something I want to hassle with or fret over when something goes wrong during the build or set up and I'm scouring for solutions and in panic mode. I am absolutely not building my own pc. Maybe some day, but not this time around. I'm buying a pre-built pc with a warranty and it'll cost me more, but so be it. Now, let's talk about what I'm looking at.
After looking over and customizing options at just about every online pc boutique, the best bang for the buck has been at ibuypower. Yes, I've read some horror stories, and a lot of positives as well. But, I can't afford to drop double the price (or close to it) for the same build going to some of the higher end places, even if they are supposedly put together better. So, I've made up my mind on that front as well. It comes down to selection for my budget and here's the options I'm considering (Does not include monitor):
Holiday Limited Time Offer1 x [FREE] - iBUYPOWER High Performance Gaming Mouse Pad - Free with any System ($19 Value)
Holiday Limited Time Offer1 x [FREE] - iBUYPOWER MEK Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Red Switch) - Free with all desktops ($79 Value)
Case1 x AZZA EOS 209 Gaming Case - Black
Case Lighting1 x iBUYPOWER RGB Smart Lighting (Software Controlled LED Lighting Kit) - [FREE] 1 Smart Lighting Strip - Top of the case
Processor - 1 x Intel® Core™ i5-6600 Processor (4x 3.30GHz/6MB L3 Cache)
Processor Cooling - 1 x Corsair Hydro Series H60 120mm Liquid CPU Cooler [Intel] - Standard 120mm Fan
Memory - 1 x 8 GB [4 GB x2] DDR4-2400 Memory Module - Corsair Vengeance LPX
Video Card - 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 - 2GB [FREE Upgrade to GTX 960 4GB] - Single Card
Free Stuff1 x [FREE] - 802.11AC Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter - FREE with iBUYPOWER Desktops
Free Stuff1 x [FREE] - McAfee Antivirus PLUS - FREE with any System ($49 Value)
Free Stuff1 x [FREE In-Game Content] - Heroes of the Storm Bundle: the Diablo hero, Kajo skin, and 7-day Stim Pack - Free with Nvidia GTX 950 and 960 Video Cards
Motherboard - 1 x ASUS Z170-K -- - *Free Upgrade to ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming -- 3x PCIe x16, 2x USB 3.1, 4x USB 3.0, 1x M.2, DDR4 Memory
Power Supply - 1 x 650 Watt - EVGA SuperNOVA NEX650G - 80 PLUS Gold - Free Upgrade to 750W EVGA 750GQ - 80 PLUS Gold
Advance Cabling Options1 x Professional Wiring - for all standard default cables inside the system
Primary Hard Drive - 1 x 128 GB SanDisk Z400S SSD -- Read: 546MB/s, Write: 342MB/s - Single Drive *Free Upgrade to 256GB SanDisk Z400S SSD* (Single Drive Only)
Data Hard Drive - 1 x 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Blue Hard Drive -- 64MB Cache, 7200RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive
Optical Drive1 x LG 14x Blu-ray Re-Writer, DVD±R/±RW Burner Combo Drive - Black
Sound Card1 x 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Network Card1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System - 1 x Windows 10 Home + Office 365 Trial [Free 30-Day !!!] - (64-bit) *Newest Microsoft Windows*
Additional Software1 x NZXT CAM - Hardware Monitor Software - Preinstalled on your PC
Keyboard1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Keyboard
Mouse1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Mouse
Speaker System1 x Logitech S120 2.0 Speaker System
Advanced Build Options1 x iBUYPOWER Specialized Advanced Packaging System - Protect your investment during transportation!
Advanced Build Options1 x XIGMATEK Thermal Paste - The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks
Warranty1 x 3 Year Standard Warranty Service
Rush Service1 x No Rush Service (Usually Ships in 10-15 Business Days)
Having outlined all that, a couple of things that aren't important to me and the reason I made the choices I did...
I don't care about overclocking. I'm not a pc gaming enthusiast and I don't need to run games on ultra settings. That's why I didn't choose the i5-6600k chipset or the EVGA overclocked gpu. I did choose a skylake processor, though, and a 4 gb gpu because I believe they will both be more adaptable to future changes than older cards and 2 gb graphics cards will. Same reason I chose the z170 series for a motherboard. I don't need advanced audio internally or externally, so I'm fine with the onboard sound a cheap pair of speakers.
Granted, I'm no PC guru. All I truly know is what I've learned from my research over the last month. Before I actually spend the money, though, I wanted to hear from some others with input that is anything except "build your own". Does this look like a decent build for what I've described I'm going to use it for?
The other modifications to the above build I considered were to drop down to a GTX 950 2GB card and it would probably suit all I'll ever do with it, and I know the 4 GB doesn't really offer much more on the 960, but reasons. Thoughts?
Also considered abandoning liquid cooling in favor of just going with air cooling, but a closed loop system like the H60 seems more efficient and quieter. Thoughts on that?
Finally, the SSD hard drive upgrade seemed like a sweet deal and couple with a secondary 1 GB HDD, I think I'll be good to go, but I don't know much about the difference between doing it this way versus the other options SSD+HDD (dual drive?), rather than them being two separate drives. I'm still confused on that, but it's a choice they offer. They don't offer a WD Black Series on the HDD either, so the Blue will have to do. But they do both say "single drive" and listed separately, but I want to make sure I can actually order it this way, given that notation. I assume it refers to meaning neither can be used with one of these dual drive options.
So, what's the verdict good people?
Having the SSD for the OS and the HDD for data storage is great, way better than the dual drives since you get the choice over what is quick and what can wait a moment.
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