I am building a gaming PC under a tight budget. Should i get a GTX 1060 or GTX 1070? Am i building it right?

[Foennekold]

Hello! I was just wondering if you guys can help me build my gaming PC by sharing some opinions. For 5 years i've been stuck with my E6600 / GT 430 PC. I'm a huge gamer both PC and consoles but since i can't play any of the new gen games with my PC i decided to go for an upgrade and build a new one.

I'm no expert at pc parts so please educate me with my questions.

These are the parts i can afford. I can do prolly 30-60 dollars higher on the parts but thats all i can do.

My budget is $1200 and i live in the Philippines.

MOBO : ASUS 797-A
( Is this good enough for my build and is there any cheaper than this mobo which can function the same? )

CPU : i7 4790k
( Is this a good processor for gaming? streaming/recording is something i want to do aswell )

GPU : MSI GTX 1060 or 1070
( I cant afford a 1080. Also how much of a difference does 1070 compare with 1060? I also don't know if should add GTX 970 in there. Help me please )

RAM : Kingston Hyperfury 8GB 2x = 16gb
( Is this okay? )

POWER SUPPLY : Aerocool Strike-X 600w
( is 600W enough or should i amp for more? )

I'd love to play games like GTA V / DOTA 2 / Street Fighter V on max settings if possible at 1080p with no frame drops and also for the next 2-3 years. Please give me your insights. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[weberdarren97]

For the power supply, 600W is not enough information. Please list the make and model.

What is your budget and what country do you live in?

 

[Foennekold]

Edited. Sorry for that. Aerocool Strike-X 600w. I live in the philippines and my budget is $1200 USD.

 

[Max1s]

The GTX1060 probably is better price/performance ratio than the GTX1070, although if you want this build to last as long as your last one you might be better off getting the GTX1070.

The i7 is only different from the i5 in that it has hyper-threading. The i5 and i7 both have four physical cores, but the i7 also has four "virtual cores" for a total of 8 threads. This means that it will be better in multitasking situations, but not necessarily in gaming. If you want to do streaming/recording, it might be worth having the four virtual cores, do some research online to see if an i5 is enough. Is there a reason you are looking at the 4th gen CPUs and not the latest ones?

 

[weberdarren97]

Very low quality power supply.

I don't think you need the 4790K if all you're doing is gaming and streaming... I think the 4690K will be plenty for your purposes. We can put some of the left over budget towards the graphics card, RAM and power supply.

Do you need a monitor as well? Or are you going to use one that you already have?

 

[Foennekold]

The GTX1060 probably is better price/performance ratio than the GTX1070, although if you want this build to last as long as your last one you might be better off getting the GTX1070.

The i7 is only different from the i5 in that it has hyper-threading. The i5 and i7 both have four physical cores, but the i7 also has four "virtual cores" for a total of 8 threads. This means that it will be better in multitasking situations, but not necessarily in gaming. If you want to do streaming/recording, it might be worth having the four virtual cores, do some research online to see if an i5 is enough. Is there a reason you are looking at the 4th gen CPUs and not the latest ones?

Oh gosh i really don't have any idea. I didn't know i7-4790k is 4th gen. Would you kindly suggest me a good CPU i can get aside from the i7 4790k. Some people have suggested a i5-6600k/6700k over my choice. Id love to play some games on max settings while streaming if possible. Please do educate me since i'd love to use my money wisely.

 

[weberdarren97]

If you want to do streaming/recording, it might be worth having the four virtual cores, do some research online to see if an i5 is enough. Is there a reason you are looking at the 4th gen CPUs and not the latest ones?

As long as the program being used to record/stream is well optimized, there will be no need for an i7.

Also, the 4th gen motherboards seem to have much higher price to performance ratios than the newer ones do. It seems like most Skylake motherboard under $120 will have skimped on something, either power delivery or cooling most likely.

 

[Foennekold]

Very low quality power supply.

I don't think you need the 4790K if all you're doing is gaming and streaming... I think the 4690K will be plenty for your purposes. We can put some of the left over budget towards the graphics card, RAM and power supply.

Do you need a monitor as well? Or are you going to use one that you already have?

Can you suggest me a good brand of power supply and i'll try to find it here in my country. Please also include a brand of ram if possible.

I do have a Aquos LED Monitor Sharp and would like use it temporarily until i get an another budget for a monitor.

 

[weberdarren97]

The GTX1060 probably is better price/performance ratio than the GTX1070, although if you want this build to last as long as your last one you might be better off getting the GTX1070.

The i7 is only different from the i5 in that it has hyper-threading. The i5 and i7 both have four physical cores, but the i7 also has four "virtual cores" for a total of 8 threads. This means that it will be better in multitasking situations, but not necessarily in gaming. If you want to do streaming/recording, it might be worth having the four virtual cores, do some research online to see if an i5 is enough. Is there a reason you are looking at the 4th gen CPUs and not the latest ones?

Oh gosh i really don't have any idea. I didn't know i7-4790k is 4th gen. Would you kindly suggest me a good CPU i can get aside from the i7 4790k. Some people have suggested a i5-6600k/6700k over my choice. Id love to play some games on max settings while streaming if possible. Please do educate me since i'd love to use my money wisely.

There is actually little difference between the i7 4790K and the i7 6700K. With a small overclock, the 4690K even will perform like a stock 6700K in terms of workloads that aren't heavily multi-threaded, like gaming.

When on a budget, I think that the 4690K is the way to go.

 

[weberdarren97]

Very low quality power supply.

I don't think you need the 4790K if all you're doing is gaming and streaming... I think the 4690K will be plenty for your purposes. We can put some of the left over budget towards the graphics card, RAM and power supply.

Do you need a monitor as well? Or are you going to use one that you already have?

Can you suggest me a good brand of power supply and i'll try to find it here in my country. Please also include a brand of ram if possible.

I do have a Aquos LED Monitor Sharp and would like use it temporarily until i get an another budget for a monitor.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X Dual Fan 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Dell Small Business)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: DIYPC Zondda-S ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.88 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit ($106.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1095.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-06 10:43 EDT-0400

For power supplies, I recommend the Corsair AX/AXi/HX/HXi/RMi/RMx series, the EVGA SuperNOVA G2/GS/P2/T2 series, and the more budget friendly Seasonic M12ii Bronze series of power supplies. Although I don't recommend that last one for gaming machines.

For RAM, most anything made by Corsair, G.Skill or Kingston will be just fine, GEIL SuperLUCE is also pretty good. I think that DDR3 1866MHz will be the sweat spot for your machine. Seeing as you'll be streaming while gaming, I suggest 16GB. 2x8GB so that you can take advantage of dual channel memory architecture on the motherboard, and that leaves two more slots open for more RAM in the future.

 

[Foennekold]

The GTX1060 probably is better price/performance ratio than the GTX1070, although if you want this build to last as long as your last one you might be better off getting the GTX1070.

The i7 is only different from the i5 in that it has hyper-threading. The i5 and i7 both have four physical cores, but the i7 also has four "virtual cores" for a total of 8 threads. This means that it will be better in multitasking situations, but not necessarily in gaming. If you want to do streaming/recording, it might be worth having the four virtual cores, do some research online to see if an i5 is enough. Is there a reason you are looking at the 4th gen CPUs and not the latest ones?

Oh gosh i really don't have any idea. I didn't know i7-4790k is 4th gen. Would you kindly suggest me a good CPU i can get aside from the i7 4790k. Some people have suggested a i5-6600k/6700k over my choice. Id love to play some games on max settings while streaming if possible. Please do educate me since i'd love to use my money wisely.

There is actually little difference between the i7 4790K and the i7 6700K. With a small overclock, the 4690K even will perform like a stock 6700K in terms of workloads that aren't heavily multi-threaded, like gaming.

When on a budget, I think that the 4690K is the way to go.

Thank you so much. If the 4690k doesn't affect any gaming performance at all then i'd love to put that on my list and go for that.

 

[superninja12]

forget the word upgrading you need a whole new pc including harddrive

 

[weberdarren97]

forget the word upgrading you need a whole new pc including harddrive

Did you read the comments at all? We've already established that and I've suggested a system.

If you have a different setup in mind, go ahead and post it. We're open to suggestions.

 

[Max1s]

forget the word upgrading you need a whole new pc including harddrive

It's worth mentioning that an SSD will make your desktop (non-gaming) experience VERY much faster than if you installed windows on a conventional hard drive. Many people will get a small SSD to install windows and programs on, and then have a large hard drive for games, movies, etc.

 

[weberdarren97]

forget the word upgrading you need a whole new pc including harddrive

It's worth mentioning that an SSD will make your desktop (non-gaming) experience VERY much faster than if you installed windows on a conventional hard drive. Many people will get a small SSD to install windows and programs on, and then have a large hard drive for games, movies, etc.

He's right. An SSD is much faster than an HDD. This means that programs and games will load much faster, but it doesn't mean you'll get better FPS. Windows will also start up faster, but things that require an internet connection will still be limited by your connection speed.

 

[Foennekold]

Very low quality power supply.

I don't think you need the 4790K if all you're doing is gaming and streaming... I think the 4690K will be plenty for your purposes. We can put some of the left over budget towards the graphics card, RAM and power supply.

Do you need a monitor as well? Or are you going to use one that you already have?

Can you suggest me a good brand of power supply and i'll try to find it here in my country. Please also include a brand of ram if possible.

I do have a Aquos LED Monitor Sharp and would like use it temporarily until i get an another budget for a monitor.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X Dual Fan 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Dell Small Business)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: DIYPC Zondda-S ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.88 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit ($106.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1095.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-06 10:43 EDT-0400

For power supplies, I recommend the Corsair AX/AXi/HX/HXi/RMi/RMx series, the EVGA SuperNOVA G2/GS/P2/T2 series, and the more budget friendly Seasonic M12ii Bronze series of power supplies. Although I don't recommend that last one for gaming machines.

For RAM, most anything made by Corsair, G.Skill or Kingston will be just fine, GEIL SuperLUCE is also pretty good. I think that DDR3 1866MHz will be the sweat spot for your machine. Seeing as you'll be streaming while gaming, I suggest 16GB. 2x8GB so that you can take advantage of dual channel memory architecture on the motherboard, and that leaves two more slots open for more RAM in the future.

Once i check if all the parts you listed is available here then i'd love buy each of it. I'd like to know also if the brand for the GPU is important. Is there difference with performance towards ZOTAC , ASUS , MSI , ETC. towards GPU?

 

[Foennekold]

forget the word upgrading you need a whole new pc including harddrive

It's worth mentioning that an SSD will make your desktop (non-gaming) experience VERY much faster than if you installed windows on a conventional hard drive. Many people will get a small SSD to install windows and programs on, and then have a large hard drive for games, movies, etc.

He's right. An SSD is much faster than an HDD. This means that programs and games will load much faster, but it doesn't mean you'll get better FPS. Windows will also start up faster, but things that require an internet connection will still be limited by your connection speed.

So having my windows installed on my SSD and getting a large HD for my games and stuff is the best way to go?

 

[weberdarren97]

forget the word upgrading you need a whole new pc including harddrive

It's worth mentioning that an SSD will make your desktop (non-gaming) experience VERY much faster than if you installed windows on a conventional hard drive. Many people will get a small SSD to install windows and programs on, and then have a large hard drive for games, movies, etc.

He's right. An SSD is much faster than an HDD. This means that programs and games will load much faster, but it doesn't mean you'll get better FPS. Windows will also start up faster, but things that require an internet connection will still be limited by your connection speed.

So having my windows installed on my SSD and getting a large HD for my games and stuff is the best way to go?

On a budget under $2K, yes.

I'd like to know also if the brand for the GPU is important. Is there difference with performance towards ZOTAC , ASUS , MSI , ETC. towards GPU?

Thanks to the magic that is GPU Boost 3.0, the cards will all likely achieve speeds above their advertised boost clocks, as long as there is adequate cooling. Brand doesn't really matter, as long as there's a good cooler on the card.

Now if you had a bigger budget and were looking for the world's fastest GTX 1080, then I'd say that it did matter, because some brands put custom power delivery systems and whatnot on the PCB. Said PCB may also be custom for that model. But when all is said and done, there's little difference. A 50MHz faster clock probably won't be more than one or two more FPS than the slower card, although compute performance would be much higher. Sadly, raw compute performance doesn't really do much good in gaming. The optimization of data flow through the GPU and its surrounding elements like memory and whatnot is more important to gaming than compute performance. For content creation though, compute performance is very important. But I don't imaging you'll be making blueprints for a skyscaper, so I don't think you need the extra compute performance.