Inspired to build my first PC. Will it work?

[FirstTimerBuilder]

Hey Guys,

Just want to start off by saying I'm completely new here and would have never even thought of building my own computer until a couple of days ago. Sorry for the wall of text

A little back story if anyone is interested - Skip down to the "Main uses..." section for the actual build info.

I've always had second hand computers that I've purchased cheap off a friend who builds his own. He'd get something new and I'd buy his old one. The current one I've had for about 4-5 years and the PSU died on it a few days ago. My first reaction was to contact him and ask him to build me something. Then I figured, how hard can it be to replace the PSU. I knew absolutely nothing about about how to even find a compatible part so I spent several hours googling "how to replace a PSU" and understanding all the different connections etc that were needed. Needless to say, it was no where near as difficult as I thought it would be and managed to replace it and everything is back up running fine.

My current computer is quite old (Specs below) and obviously isn't that great by todays standards for gaming, photoshop/illustrator etc.

UserBencmarks: Game 15%, Desk 23%, Work 14%
CPU: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 -22.2%
GPU: Nvidia GTX 460 - 14.3%
HDD: WD Blue 320GB (2008) - 42%
RAM: Unknown 2x2GB - 12.1%
MBD: Asus P5N-D

Realising how easy it was to replace that PSU and how bad my current computer is, it made me think.. would I be able to build a whole new machine with basically no experience?

2 Days later here I am and super excited to make this actually happen. Around $1500 NZD was my budget so I'm pretty happy where it's sitting - With easter sales the prices were around $1350-1400 and I'm in no massive rush so would wait to get better deals where I can.

Main uses/ Things I want out of it
Gaming - I don't mind if I can't run everything on max settings. Even having them run smoothly on med-high would be amazing!
Photoshop/Illustrator - I do a bit of freelance design so having something that can handle those nicely would be good
Media streaming - Netflix, movies, music etc.
Dual display - Possibly triple later on

Pretty much just want a really good upgrade from what I have but not spending $2-3000 on top of the line components. It doesn't need to be flashy and at this stage I don't really care about all the colours and fancy LEDS although I'm sure that will change as the addiction gets worse

Most of the parts I've chosen and based on benchmark performances, reviews and info I've found through Google so please let me know if I'm completely off with anything!

PCPartPicker part list: [https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/list/YRFjCy](https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/list/YRFjCy)
Price breakdown by merchant: [https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/list/YRFjCy/by_merchant/](https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/list/YRFjCy/by_merchant/)

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($345.00 @ PB Technologies)
i7-7700 is like $100 more and doesn't really seem a lot better.
i5-7600k is only $20 more but I don't plan on overclocking seeing as this would be my first build + would need to buy a CPU Cooler seperately.
i5-6600 only $20 cheaper and the 7600 seems like a decent step up for that price

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H270-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($205.85 @ PB Technologies)
I did quite a bit of research into the varieties. Z170/270, H110/170/270, B, Q etc. etc.
H270 seemed like a good choice.
1xx boards need a bios update for the 7xxx intel chips which I didn't want to touch.
270's seem more upgradable over the 170s and 110s
Zxx seem more of overclocking - Only $30-40 more for a Z270 if it would be worth it for other reasons though

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($113.85 @ PB Technologies)
8GB Ram should do me to start with. Can upgrade to 16 later if needed. Good reviews and benchmarking results

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($82.80 @ PB Technologies)
SSD for OS and other programs That might benefit from it. 120GB Seems to be enough to start with as the price jumps alot to the next capacity. Samsung EVO 850 seems a good choice but a lot more expensive

Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($78.99 @ PB Technologies)
1TB should be plenty for me to start with. The current 320GB is about 70% full so will upgrade or add more later if needed. Both WD and Segate equivalents seem pretty even in terms of reviews and benchmarks

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB GAMING Video Card ($349.00 @ PB Technologies)
This was the hardest choice and the 1060 seems to be a decent balance of cost vs performance.
1050ti is about $100 cheaper
1060 6Gb is about an extra $100
1070 is about an extra $200

Case: Zalman Z3 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($90.85 @ PB Technologies)
Kind of mixed reviews - not fully set on this and may look in to it further

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($99.00 @ PB Technologies)
Ironically the hardest piece of the puzzle to find. From what I could tell it will do the job and has good reviews

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($171.35 @ PB Technol**ogies)
Will probably get the USB version but need to get one or the other either way

Total: $1536.69 inc GST (roughly $1080 USD)

Ill use my current monitors, KB+M, speakers etc for now and will probably replace them later on.

To anyone who has read this far, thank you so much and if you have any feedback or changes you'd make please let me know!

Thanks!

 

[Serenity_3]

Why is the gtx 1060 listed as $349? The msrp is $249 for the 6gb variant.

 

[Serenity_3]

But yeah that will work perfectly.

However I strongly suggest you look into an aftermarket cooler. The intel stock cooler does not perform and it is loud as heck.

And the $20 extra for the 7600k is well worth it.
That with a Z270 motherboard will definitely be more future proof as you can raise or lower the Clock speed whenever you want.

Something like this will be all you need.

https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16813132928?nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile-_-pla-_-Motherboards+-+Intel-_-N82E16813132928&gclid=Cj0KEQjw8tbHBRC6rLS024qYjtEBEiQA7wIDeTybuj_L_P-r31B0IKTXn7bNCYDky3nRYTlQA7tOQioaAqWu8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Isokolon]

20$ extra for a 7600k, 30$ extra for a board, 40$ extra for a cooler and you're almost 100$ up.

Anyway the build would work.
Personally I'd get a Rx480 4GB instead of the 1060 3GB, should be around the same price

And I'd go with a Ryzen 5 CPU. Just getting more for your money, 4cores 4threads i5s aren't what I'm seeing to be in use a few years from now.

Instead of the EVGA 500b, I'd look for a XFX TS / core / Pro, a Corsair CXM450 and especially a Fractal Design Edison M. Superior quality for around the same price (at least in AUS, don't know about NZ)

 

[FirstTimerBuilder]

Why is the gtx 1060 listed as $349? The msrp is $249 for the 6gb variant.

The $349 is in NZD which is about $250 USD so sounds about right

But yeah that will work perfectly.

However I strongly suggest you look into an aftermarket cooler. The intel stock cooler does not perform and it is loud as heck.

And the $20 extra for the 7600k is well worth it.
That with a Z270 motherboard will definitely be more future proof as you can raise or lower the Clock speed whenever you want.

Something like this will be all you need.

https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16813132928?nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile-_-pla-_-Motherboards+-+Intel-_-N82E16813132928&gclid=Cj0KEQjw8tbHBRC6rLS024qYjtEBEiQA7wIDeTybuj_L_P-r31B0IKTXn7bNCYDky3nRYTlQA7tOQioaAqWu8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

The reviews I read about the stock cooler were a bit mixed so I wasn't sure if that was something I'd need to look in to. But if I was going to need an aftermarket one then the 7600k+ Zxxx does look a bit more appealing as i'd need to get a cooler anyway for that combo

 

[FirstTimerBuilder]

20$ extra for a 7600k, 30$ extra for a board, 40$ extra for a cooler and you're almost 100$ up.

Anyway the build would work.
Personally I'd get a Rx480 4GB instead of the 1060 3GB, should be around the same price

And I'd go with a Ryzen 5 CPU. Just getting more for your money, 4cores 4threads i5s aren't what I'm seeing to be in use a few years from now.

Instead of the EVGA 500b, I'd look for a XFX TS / core / Pro, a Corsair CXM450 and especially a Fractal Design Edison M. Superior quality for around the same price (at least in AUS, don't know about NZ)

I've had someone else just say the same about Ryzen + 480 over the I5 +1060
I'm not as familiar with AMD over Intel which is the only thing putting me off. Nothing to do with any kind of fan boy loyalty or anything, I just don't have as good of an understanding of them and have heard that Intel are generally better for gaming etc.

Out of the alternatives to the 500b would you recommend any one over the other? That was almost like reading another language but I figured most of it out :lol:

 

[Isokolon]

Intel perform better generally.
But you gotta keep in mind that the last time amd made a decent CPU was almost 10 years ago.

I think Ryzen has a lot of potential.
It's true that Intel makes the better gaming CPU as their clocks & IPC (instructions per cycle) is better.
However as soon as you run out of cores/threads it can't keep up.
Or to translate it into a simpler example: I rather have 8 people helping me move my stuff that hit the gym a few times a week than having 2 bodybuilders.
But it depends a bit on what you're playing and what you're doing while playing (I for example have mostly a browser, music player, teamspeak, steam,.... Open in the background which increases the total load)

As for PSUs:
Fractal Design Edison M would be the best of those I mentioned.
The XFX have better build quality than the Corsair, however the Corsair is semi-modular which means you can disconnect all the cables you don't need which makes airflow easier and installation easier.
In the end it's a matter of budget.
Sometimes there are great offers on the Seasonic M12 or Seasonic G, EVGA Supernova G2 or Antec Edge. Kinda depends on where you're buying from.