Looking for something similar to the $1250 "Best Builds"

dragmosh

Commendable
Dec 11, 2016
6
0
1,510
Hey all, first time builder looking for some advice.

I'm looking for a suggested build similar to the $1250 build here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-pc-builds,4390.html#p1

I'm not using that for a couple reasons,

1) If you scroll down to the bottom, where the parts and prices are listed, the GPU is missing for the $1250 build. Looking up the GPU (GeForce 1080 8gb) puts its price at around $700, which looks like it's about double the GeForce 1070. Is the performance really worth it?
2) The case is out of stock on the site listed.

I have a couple other questions too:

1) From the wording of the article, the author doesn't seem very enthusiastic about the $1500 build, saying that a lot of money is being used there to go to X99 over the actual specs of the machine. Is that true, and if so do you guys recommend going for maxed LGA1151 over low to mid range X99 builds?

2) Do you guys know how frequent the Best Builds is published? If it's something monthly I'd probably wait for the next one, but if it's annually or something similar, I'd rather get something sooner.

With that said, do you guys have any suggested builds that meets the above and:

1) Has a larger SSD (240gb min but if you guys think it's worth investing in a bigger one please let me know)
2) Costs between $1250 and $1500, only including the parts listed in that article.
3) Supports 2 monitors. (monitor price not included in the budget)

Primary use is gaming, but I do use it for web surfing, watching videos, working/coding, etc.

As an aside, I'll need to buy windows 10 with it, is the best place to buy that just Microsoft?

Thanks in advance!
 
This would be a solid gaming rig, you can run 2 monitors if you like or go to 1440p
if you jump to the gtx 1080 for 200 more you get about 20 to 30 % more gpu power @ 1080p not really worth it. if you go to 1440p it will be worth it ( not that the gtx 1070 cant handle 1440p you will just be able to get higher fps and turn a few setting up higher)

This system allows you to OC the cpu if you like, if you want to run sli up the PSU to a 850w if you don't like the case you have some money left to get one that floats your boat

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.49 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($155.34 @ Jet)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($98.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.75 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING Video Card ($399.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.30 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1217.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-11 18:15 EST-0500
 
I'll give you some advice, but I'm not going to be hunting for parts. PCPartPicker.com is very convenient - you'll learn a lot.

THe case not being available should not be an impediment at all - there are many alternative cases. In pact, PCPartPicker found that case at another vendor - I'd guess one that is not promoted by Tom's and therefor doesn't feature. Similarly the cooler is about $5 cheaper somewhere else.

As for GPU performance being "worth it". Things are "worth" what people pay for them. Far more 1070s are being sold than 1080s. Does that make one more worthy than the other? For sure not. And performance does not scale linearly. At the high end, things get expensive real fast.

Your questions:

1. Horses for courses. X99 is now getting long in the tooth. It's due for replacement, so I'd not really recommend it. On the other hand, if someone needs to play in that space with more cores, more PCIe lanes and/or more RAM, then that's really the only solution, excepting the even more complex server-level builds, with their own set of issues.

Both LGA 1151 and LGA 2011-2 has their own reasons for being. Again, as performance needs increase, costs increase non-linearly, especially since fewer people play in the rarefied stratosphere.

2. Best Build are published monthly or so, with some bare spots where there isn't sufficient new stuff to justify them. You're well served to use the November list as a baseline - Personally I'd make a few choices, since those are like show homes - they look nice but they're not that great for living in. I'd, for one thing, change the SSD to a 500 GB. Money well spent.

Almost any build from a bare Intel iGPU on up will support two monitors - that said, the resolution of the monitors may be an issue. Since you didn't specify the resolution, no-one will be able to give you good advice. Adn if you do specify them, then the games and frame rates you're hoping for will greatly influence your choice of GPU.

Also note that the motherboard in that build, for instance, supports crossfire, but not SLI - at the same time you have an nVidia GPU which, if you ever would want to use multiples, would require SLI. Now you may never want to and it may thus be a non-issue, I'm just saying...
 
this is the parts in the 1250.00 build and as you can see is not 1250

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.88 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($92.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card ($597.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1378.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-11 18:30 EST-0500

parts go up and down
 
THe case not being available should not be an impediment at all - there are many alternative cases. In pact, PCPartPicker found that case at another vendor - I'd guess one that is not promoted by Tom's and therefor doesn't feature. Similarly the cooler is about $5 cheaper somewhere else.
I think I'm just uncertain about whether there's any meaningful difference between the various options. There are so many little details I'm worried I'll stumble over so I'm coming here mainly for peace of mind.

As for GPU performance being "worth it". Things are "worth" what people pay for them. Far more 1070s are being sold than 1080s. Does that make one more worthy than the other? For sure not. And performance does not scale linearly. At the high end, things get expensive real fast.
Yes I understand that, it's just that there is usually a "sweet spot" where the price to performance is optimized. By what I've read I'm assuming that spot is around the new 1060s, but I'm just wondering if the 1080 is too far out of the sweet spot to make sense.

1. Horses for courses. X99 is now getting long in the tooth. It's due for replacement, so I'd not really recommend it. On the other hand, if someone needs to play in that space with more cores, more PCIe lanes and/or more RAM, then that's really the only solution, excepting the even more complex server-level builds, with their own set of issues.

Both LGA 1151 and LGA 2011-2 has their own reasons for being. Again, as performance needs increase, costs increase non-linearly, especially since fewer people play in the rarefied stratosphere.
Thanks I'll stay with the LG 1151 then.

Almost any build from a bare Intel iGPU on up will support two monitors - that said, the resolution of the monitors may be an issue. Since you didn't specify the resolution, no-one will be able to give you good advice. Adn if you do specify them, then the games and frame rates you're hoping for will greatly influence your choice of GPU.
I was more concerned with compatibility with the case/motherboard here (enough ports etc). I should have been more clear.

Also note that the motherboard in that build, for instance, supports crossfire, but not SLI - at the same time you have an nVidia GPU which, if you ever would want to use multiples, would require SLI. Now you may never want to and it may thus be a non-issue, I'm just saying...
I don't think I need SLI then. Thanks for explaining the benefits.
 


I took this and editted it a bit and ended up with :

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Dfmgr7

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.88 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($92.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card ($597.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($115.19 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Total: $1541.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-12 00:20 EST-0500

I swapped out OutletPC on the cooler because I didn't want to deal with a mail in rebate (and the next higher price was $0.11 more) and on the hard drive because that was the only remaining part I was getting from them, so I figured paying an extra $0.20 to have one less vendor would be worth it.

Please let me know what you think!
 

What do you suggest I replace it with? The case in your other build (NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case)? That one has USB 3.0 ports which is nice but it's still mid size. I really don't know much about cases.