First Gaming PC - Can't Decide..

Nick619 · May 14, 2016

Hello Everyone,

I have been looking at getting my first gaming PC.

Thought about building one, but I have no experience in this and when I add up the parts cost, it seems to be comparable to buying a built one.

I have narrowed it down to two options, just cant decide which would be better.

I would use it for everyday basic computing and a good chunk of games. Mainly Dota, Warhammer, Diablo etc but I also wanted to make sure it was future proof for at least a few years

1.) http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-gaming-pc-intel-core-i7-6700-2tb-hdd128gb-ssd-16gb-ram-nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-graphics-windows-10-860-019/10391778.aspx?path=1bfe429ab5a7bc2333c04707171d1874en02

2.) http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102152

Still open to ideas on different machines, but I am Canadian so that limits me lol

Thanks for all the input, much appreciated

Bearmann · May 14, 2016

The ABS-MSI AEGIS-02 will be better for gaming because of the GTX 970. You will miss not having an SSD, however. Both will probably come with crappy power supplies.

This build with an excellent motherboard and killer GPU would blow the socks off off those others, but you would have to assemble it. You would have assistants from around the world on this board. Every build has to start with your very first one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($250.25 @ shopRBC)
Motherboard: Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($148.80 @ Amazon Canada)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($33.30 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.62 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($60.25 @ Vuugo)
Case: Corsair SPEC-03 Red ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($76.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($114.98 @ DirectCanada)
Other: GTX 1070 ($520.00)
Total: $1388.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-14 23:57 EDT-0400

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zAdwedmj1M

VR PC-BUILD · May 15, 2016

All the best for your first gaming build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($343.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($137.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($69.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($85.79 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($109.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-16D1HT Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($40.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1395.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-15 06:36 EDT-0400

BadActor · May 15, 2016

This would be a lot more powerful for gaming than the two prebuilts you listed. It's also over-clockable if you wanted, and uses a solid Tier 2 PSU. The GTX 1070 has performance close to that of a GTX 980 Ti but priced much lower.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($250.25 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.25 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock B150 GAMING K4/HYPER ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($153.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($60.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: PNY CS1311 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($60.25 @ Vuugo)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.13 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($114.98 @ DirectCanada)
Other: GTX 1070 ($490.00)
Total: $1384.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-15 07:27 EDT-0400