First Time Build

[Getch08]

This will be my first ever PC Build. I have wanted to do one since I was 15 but money time and being a closet gamer/computer enthusiast has put this another 17 years in the future and I am now 32 lol and the money is not so much an issue now luckily. So my budget is about $2k and I have put in a good 12-15 hrs in the last few weeks of learning the hardware and getting caught up on the latest and greatest. I have seen one build done partly in the past. I have replaced minor parts in the past but nothing major.

So I would like to get some opinions and tips on a first build. I will be doing gaming and some photo & video editing. Would like a build that will take just about every game I can throw at it on decent settings. Plan on playing Fallout 4 and wife plays Diablo.

Some of my questions are where do I start with a mother board? What are some good setups? Intel i7 6700k is it worth it compared to the Haswell architecture processors? One thing I never really see are where should you cut costs compared to where you should invest in your system, most articles and builds seem to go to the max at everything possible. Still learning here so let the schooling begin lol

Thanks ahead of time peeps.

 

[fport]

What monitor are you outputting to?
Do you want to be able to upgrade over the course of the coming years?
Are you going to try overclocking?

You've been doing the research so the next thing to do is to go to www.partpicker.com
and get yourself an account. From there you can lay down your research in a nice
package based on what you know right now.

When you have a package use the cut and paste option from [bb] to give us something
to tune up into the best setup options for your money. Don't be lazy because this is
where you get to upgrade to some half decent skills as an enthusiast.

And the term for getting the max from your dollars - bang for the buck!

Also in prep for the blessed build event review some of these:

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Q8ksRI1Eo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea_bs5G1yYU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bUghCx9iso

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Unless the you plan to do heavy video editing, the CPU doesn't matter that much for most games (although I heavily recommend an unlocked CPU). I'd recommend an i5 6600k or an i5 4690k. The performance difference is slightly in favor of the 6600k, so if it's only slightly more expensive and the price difference between DDR3 and DDR4 isn't huge, go ahead and get the 6600k.

For the motherboard, it depends on your case and your needs. For size, check how many expansion slot covers your desired case has. Ideally you'll want a motherboard with roughly that amount as well. For chipset, personally I'd recommend a Z-series motherboard. After that basically just check for specific features that you want, and find one that fits your color scheme. Don't bother with the super expensive stuff, it really offers nothing to builders with budgets lower than $5k.

Memory isn't very hard to choose since it makes very little difference in performance. Narrow your options to your color scheme and compatible memory type (DDR3 or DDR4 based on your CPU and motherboard, and note that DDR3L is NOT the same as DDR3), pick a speed (1866MHz for DDR3 or 2400MHz for DDR4 recommended) and get the ones with the lower CAS Latency. I recommend 2x8GB, it'll give you more than enough for the foreseeable future and a slight performance boost from running in dual-channel.

For power supply, basically only look at reputable manufacturers (Coolermaster, Corsair, Bitfenix, Seasonic, Silverstone, NZXT and a few I'm sure I'm forgetting), get one rated Gold or better, and for output you'll ideally want 850W for some expand-ability). After narrowing down your options, check online reviews.

For storage, you'll ideally want at least enough SSD capacity for your operating system. For your budget, I'd say a ~250GB SSD to install games with long loading times on and a 2TB Seagate Barracuda/ WD Blue/Black hard drive (make sure it's at 7200RPM or higher).

After you're done with all that, and have picked your case and peripherals, spend everything you have left on the GPU.

That's it in a nutshell. If you have further questions go ahead and ask.

 

[Getch08]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JDLcXL

Here is what I put together. The monitor I added is the one I presently have I also output to a 50" Sony 4K Android TV. Some of this seems a bit overkill for me but why not. I was not sure to go with a full size setup or the mid. I know full size are much easier to build but seems like I will be pushed on space where I want to set it up with one. Any tweaks or recommendations is greatly appreciated.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($369.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-DELUXE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($101.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial MX200 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($116.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Armor 2X Video Card ($509.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($112.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($57.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)
Monitor: Asus VG278HE 144Hz 27.0" Monitor ($353.12 @ Amazon)
Total: $2188.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-25 23:05 EDT-0400

 

[sadams04]

Non-overclocking, single GPU setup...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($634.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1827.92


...or overclock as you please and add a second GTX 980 TI in SLI when / if you need more GPU power.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($369.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($151.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($634.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($124.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2101.83

...or X99.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($154.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($634.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($124.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2155.82