Help creating a gaming desktop

[alecd423]

Hello, I was hoping I could get some help making my first desktop. As of right now, I have looked at some pre-built models on ibuypower and other sites. So far, the best I have found seems to be on ibuypower. I am looking for a desktop that can handle any game at max graphics. Visuals are the most important part to me when gaming. Also, for school, I do a lot of programming. I am not sure how much that affects what the system specs need to be, but i figured I would throw that in there. I want to keep it around 2,000 with a good monitor and keyboard. Also, I am not opposed to building it myself, but this is something I have never done. Any and all help is appreciated.
Thanks all.
Also, I would like to have a three monitor set up; however, I am not counting the additional two monitors in the original budget.

 

[Alan Caldwell]

2000 dollars?

 

[alecd423]

2000 dollars?

Yes, USD sorry I should have mentioned that.

 

[Alan Caldwell]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($156.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($638.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Red) ATX Full Tower Case ($116.99 @ NZXT)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($248.00 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1845.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-08 14:40 EDT-0400

 

[Alan Caldwell]

Do you need a SSD?

 

[alecd423]

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($87.77 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.77 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($653.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($85.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($370.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1908.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-08 20:18 EDT-0400x


This is where I've come so far, but to be honest I have just kind of picked items that seem good. I am very unfamiliar with what makes a good tower, motherboard, and gpu. I was thinking ssd for the quick boot up with a 1tb HDD to store games.
Just because I find it fascinating, can you give a brief description for the reason you picked what you did? If not I fully understand your have been a great help already.

 

[alecd423]

Also, I am likely getting this at the end of summer. Should I wait for nvidias next line of gpus?

 

[Alan Caldwell]

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($87.77 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.77 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($653.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($85.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($370.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1908.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-08 20:18 EDT-0400x


This is where I've come so far, but to be honest I have just kind of picked items that seem good. I am very unfamiliar with what makes a good tower, motherboard, and gpu. I was thinking ssd for the quick boot up with a 1tb HDD to store games.
Just because I find it fascinating, can you give a brief description for the reason you picked what you did? If not I fully understand your have been a great help already.

In my build all the parts are taken in the value for money view point. You don't need 3000MHz ram, western digital cavier blue hdds have high failure rates, i7 6700k gives about 5-8 more fps in demanding games. Gigabyte GTX 980Ti G1 is the best GTX 980Ti in my opinion(best cooling system and best for OCing), a 120GB SSD will suffice, Seasonic makes the best PSUs(850w PSU to be useful for SLI/Xfire in future), my monitor was made for gaming, case is my own taste(NZXT).

 

[Alan Caldwell]

Also, I am likely getting this at the end of summer. Should I wait for nvidias next line of gpus?

Yep, Pascal should be worth the wait, either way prices will drop too

 

[Alan Caldwell]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($348.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($41.59 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($638.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Red) ATX Full Tower Case ($116.99 @ NZXT)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($85.49 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($248.00 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1993.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-09 11:03 EDT-0400

 

[alecd423]

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($87.77 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.77 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($653.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($85.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($370.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1908.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-08 20:18 EDT-0400x


This is where I've come so far, but to be honest I have just kind of picked items that seem good. I am very unfamiliar with what makes a good tower, motherboard, and gpu. I was thinking ssd for the quick boot up with a 1tb HDD to store games.
Just because I find it fascinating, can you give a brief description for the reason you picked what you did? If not I fully understand your have been a great help already.

In my build all the parts are taken in the value for money view point. You don't need 3000MHz ram, western digital cavier blue hdds have high failure rates, i7 6700k gives about 5-8 more fps in demanding games. Gigabyte GTX 980Ti G1 is the best GTX 980Ti in my opinion(best cooling system and best for OCing), a 120GB SSD will suffice, Seasonic makes the best PSUs(850w PSU to be useful for SLI/Xfire in future), my monitor was made for gaming, case is my own taste(NZXT).

Thank you, that was insightful. If I get pascal shouldn't I go for 1440p though with my monitor? Or am I starting to go over budget?

 

[Alan Caldwell]

It shouldn't go over budget. We should wait and see

 

[alecd423]

After all of the pascal news I am thinking I want to use a 4k tv for my monitor. I was looking at the vizio d series for this. Will a gtx 1070 be enough for this? Everything I have seen points toward yes.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

Here is the build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($338.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($137.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card ($600.00)
Case: Corsair 330R Titanium Edition ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus MG28UQ 28.0" 60Hz Monitor ($430.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2015.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-02 08:51 EDT-0400

 

[alecd423]

Would a 40" tv work as a monitor?

 

[alecd423]

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($338.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($137.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card ($600.00)
Case: Corsair 330R Titanium Edition ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus MG28UQ 28.0" 60Hz Monitor ($430.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2015.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-02 08:51 EDT-0400

Why does this need an 850w psu?
Even with 1080 sli it's a sub 600w system

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

Would a 40" tv work as a monitor?

Any TV would work as monitor but not as good as monitor. It will have very slow response time and in some cases flickering is clearly visible. There are TVs which work good as monitors and some which work bad as monitors.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($338.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($137.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card ($600.00)
Case: Corsair 330R Titanium Edition ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus MG28UQ 28.0" 60Hz Monitor ($430.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2015.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-02 08:51 EDT-0400

Why does this need an 850w psu?
Even with 1080 sli it's a sub 600w system

For OC and adding additional hardware in future like GTX1080 SLI if needed and still not pushing PSU under load.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

If you excluded Monitor from the build then I would have provided you with SLI build

 

[alecd423]

For OC and adding additional hardware in future like GTX1080 SLI if needed and still not pushing PSU under load.

Okay, that makes sense. Also I found a 4k tv with input lag 12ms which seems pretty good
I know a monitor is 1-5ms but 12 doesn't seem that bad.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

Yes 12 will be fine but if you setup it with monitor which I provided you will notice difference.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

Instead of using one monitor and two TVs go for 3 TVs and increase budget for base build to make it perform better with 3 4K TVs

 

[alecd423]

Instead of using one monitor and two TVs go for 3 TVs and increase budget for base build to make it perform better with 3 4K TVs

I forgot to mention that I changed my mind from a 3 monitor display to one large 4k display. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

Then exclude monitor from the build budget and go for SLI as it will last longer at 4K without requirement of upgrade

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

Here is the SLI build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($338.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($137.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($600.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($600.00)
Case: Corsair 330R Titanium Edition ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2184.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-02 12:17 EDT-0400
It is a bit over priced as you are going for 4K TV it is worth it as you can crush any game at 4K by using SLI easily and it will last very long time without need of upgrade.