How Can I Cut Down My PC Build Costs

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burnout1

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Mar 18, 2016
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So I had 3 Questions -
1. How can I cut down my PC build costs?
Here's my build : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t2qBsY

2. Is it necessary to overclock my CPU? I will be using it mostly for coding and gaming. If so, how do I do it?

3. For most steam games, is Ubuntu 14.04 ok? I plan on playing games like Dota 2 and CS:GO. Also some other Games like LoL and BF4.

Any help is really appreciated. Thanks!
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($262.88 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($37.95 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($104.48 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($87.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.80 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.72 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($360.39 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Carbide 400C ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.48 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: FSP Group Hydro G 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($98.98 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($40.56 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM 109.9 CFM 120mm Fan ($26.05 @ Amazon)
Monitor: LG 25UM56-P 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($198.97 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($30.77 @ Mac Mall)
Total With 10% Tax: $1505.01
Total Without Tax: $1404.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-18 20:29 EDT-0400

You don't need an I7. Cases come with fans. You don't need a sound card either, motherboard audio is perfectly fine.
 
Solution
I like the build from turkey3-scratch much better.

For added savings:
1. Defer on the hard drive until you actually need room for storage.

2. GTX970 is a very good card for 1080P gaming.
But, you are paying extra for the windforce brand and a fancy cooler.
This EVGA SSC has a slightly higher boost clock(1342 vs. 1329) and costs less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487088
3. Neither the i5-6600K nor the GTX970 is an exceptionally hot part.
If a case has two 120mm intake fans or better, you will have adequate cooling.
Add a second 140mm intake fan to match the one supplied in front.
I would not go past 1200 rpm or things will get very noisy.
4. A GTX970 will run on 500w; a GTX980ti will run on 620w. Future pascal cards will run on less.
I might suggest a Seasonic 620w psu for $57
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096
It is a tier 2 unit on this list:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

5. Onboard HD sound is very good. No need for a discrete addition.
 
Here is what I put together as some chagnes. It will give you somewhat better performance in games, but it costs about $100 less. I threw in windows because there are a lot of games out there that can't be run on Ubuntu, so your best option is to get Windows. If you decide against it, that saves you another $80 right there.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($71.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card ($299.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Corsair Carbide 400C ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($87.95 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($36.88 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: LG 25UM56-P 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($180.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1413.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-18 20:46 EDT-0400

- The i5 will give you similar performance in games, but for a much cheaper price, and the i5-6600k is more recent, supporting DDR4 Ram.
- I changed the motherboard and RAM to match the change in processor.
- As for the SSD. I changed it to a faster, and larger SSD that will be able to hold more games for quicker load times.
- I changed the graphics card to an R9 390. It performs better than the GTX 970, especially at the resolution you will be using.
- Lastly, I took out the extra fans and the sound card as you really don't need them. The case has fans already and the motherboard has onboard sound whihc is fine for anything below high end audio recording.


Also, to answer your questions:

1 - See above

2 - No it is not necessary to overclock your CPU. You will see only minimal performance games, and it will decrease the life of your hardware. Unless you absolutely need that extra speed, I would suggest not overclocking. You will be just fine in games without it.

3 - Ubuntu works for a lot of steam games, but there are also a lot more that it won't. These games often have more issues on Linux realeases, and it is overall just safer and easier to buy windows. With the money you can save from changing things as I gave above, you should have the ability to buy a copy of WIndows 10.

Hope my suggestions help. if you have any questions please let me know, and best of luck!
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($321.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($97.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($42.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($36.88 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: LG 25UM56-P 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($180.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1325.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-18 20:56 EDT-0400
 
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