My gaming PC 1500$ build - What do you think?

[alhasan]

hi guys

What do you think about this gaming PC ?

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/alhasan/saved/#view=g2s7YJ

 

[TofuLion]

looks pretty good, maybe a little cpu heavy. did you already purchase the parts? if not, for 1500 you should be able to get a much better gpu such as the 980ti

 

[maddogfargo]

I agree. For gaming with a single GPU, an i5 is plenty. Take the money you save on the i5 and go for a 980 or new 390x.

 

[ben001]

Unless you're going to pair 970's, the power supply looks overkill for now. A good 550-600W psu is enough to run a 970/980. Make sure you install the AIO very well & check it once after every 6 months. Rest, you're good to go.

 

[James Mason]

This is better, a 980ti pushes it over $1500 though.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($104.20 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($95.45 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card ($499.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($72.80 @ Amazon)
Total: $1413.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 14:48 EDT-0400

 

[TofuLion]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($95.45 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB FTW ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($669.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec HCG M 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1495.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 14:56 EDT-0400

8 GB is plenty for just gaming. and the fancy water cooler isn't really much better than a simple Noctua cooler, definitely not worth almost twice the cost.

this doesn't include a case, because original part list did not. is this something that is already purchased or was it overlooked?

 

[g-unit1111]

No case? Also keep in mind that the i5 is the *MINIMUM* requirement for Oculus - if you are interested in playing VR games. You can easily get a GTX 980 and i7-6700K in a $1500 rig:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.86 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($497.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Directron)
Total: $1552.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 15:04 EDT-0400

 

[ben001]

Or you might try another option.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 240M 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($159.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1449.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 15:04 EDT-0400

 

[Compuser10165]

Here's my recommended build for 1500$. I'll explain why I have chosen those components:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme6+ ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($107.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($95.45 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card ($405.96 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1496.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 15:11 EDT-0400

GPU: I chose the r9 390X because: The best price/performance gpu now (after R9 390, you can even pick that one). On the level with gtx 980 and cheaper, 8gb of vram suitable for higher resolutionsEven if you have a 1080p monitor you can use virtual super resolution to play at 1440p or even 4K on some title so the extra vram will be beneficial (some games can use more than 4gb at 1080p).
ALSO GCN architecture is more optimised for Directx 12 because Mantle was used for the development of DX 12 (can use asynchronous compute as opposed to Nvidia, which is not yet optimised for that).

PSU: A top quality PSU for a very good price!

Mobo: In my opinion Asrock Z170 Extreme 6+ is the best high end Z170 mobo in terms of features/price (very good quality and also front panel usb 3.1)

SSD: Samsung 850 250gb is the sweet spot for SSD capacity, performance and price (also new 3D flash TLC memory, in my opinion the 850 pro version is not worth the extra cost).

HDD: Most Seagate consumer drives are known for high failure rates (even though you can get a 2tb hdd for a bit more than a 1tb WD caviar blue). So I chose WD10EZEX which is high quality and reliability for a good price.

RAM: Skylake benefits from faster RAM so I picked 2666mhz because it was at a very good price (ideally you could go 2800-3000mhz because that seems to be the sweet spot in terms of cost/extra performance).

CPU: With this build you won't be sacrificing any cpu performance and will be good to go for a a couple of years (even with VR).

Case: That is a very good case with lots of features but you can pick another case(it's about preference here) if you want.

P.S. I also am building with Skylake for the same budget and went with an I7+ R9 390(non X) (also slightly different mobo, ram, case, cpu cooler) but you get the picture...

 

[zallim]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2xQcpg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2xQcpg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($117.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($95.45 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card ($333.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-03 Red ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($96.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $1222.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 19:18 EDT-0400

 

[Compuser10165]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2xQcpg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2xQcpg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($117.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($95.45 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card ($333.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-03 Red ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($96.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $1222.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 19:18 EDT-0400

Why get a 650w psu when you can get an 850w model for ~10$ more so you can Xfire later if you want. Also I wouldn't pick DDR4 2133 mhz especially an 8gb dual channel kit. With a budget like that why not get a nicer case better cpu cooler to ensure maximum OC potential, and more feature packed motherboard.
P.S. Just sth. to ponder upon...Otherwise great pick.

 

[g-unit1111]

Why get a 650w psu when you can get an 850w model for ~10$ more so you can Xfire later if you want. Also I wouldn't pick DDR4 2133 mhz especially an 8gb dual channel kit. With a budget like that why not get a nicer case better cpu cooler to ensure maximum OC potential, and more feature packed motherboard.
P.S. Just sth. to ponder upon...Otherwise great pick.

Because the power needs are different from user to user, some may not want to SLI or Crossfire, which is why you wouldn't want the higher wattage power supply. DDR4-2133 is the minimum requirement for Skylake, but going higher on RAM speed does not hurt.

 

[Compuser10165]

Why get a 650w psu when you can get an 850w model for ~10$ more so you can Xfire later if you want. Also I wouldn't pick DDR4 2133 mhz especially an 8gb dual channel kit. With a budget like that why not get a nicer case better cpu cooler to ensure maximum OC potential, and more feature packed motherboard.
P.S. Just sth. to ponder upon...Otherwise great pick.

Because the power needs are different from user to user, some may not want to SLI or Crossfire, which is why you wouldn't want the higher wattage power supply. DDR4-2133 is the minimum requirement for Skylake, but going higher on RAM speed does not hurt.

I agree with you. I just was pointing out that the 850w was worth the difference (it's not like 50$ more). Also, numerous benchmarks show that Skylake architecture has a greater benefit from faster RAM than other platforms (both DDR3 and DDR4 platforms), so that is why faster ram is more recommended in this case.

 

[IInuyasha74]

I agree with you. I just was pointing out that the 850w was worth the difference (it's not like 50$ more). Also, numerous benchmarks show that Skylake architecture has a greater benefit from faster RAM than other platforms (both DDR3 and DDR4 platforms), so that is why faster ram is more recommended in this case.

First, never recommend high speed DDR3 on a Skylake build. I know you didn't here, but you mentioned it so I wanted to make sure you know not to. Using anything with a voltage above 1.35 V can cause damage to the IMC, which is why Intel only officially supports DDR3L. DDR3L mostly tops out around 1600-1866 MHz. Similarly, it is better to use DDR4 using 1.2 V, as that is the official recommended spec. Which, again, you suggested a good RAM kit, just sharing a little info on the IMC.

As for the PSU, if the user plans to use more power later, then that is a better option to get the 850 W unit. If not, the 650 W unit is better from an efficiency standpoint. PSUs are most efficient around 80% load. They are typically list efficient under full load, and kinda in between below 80% load. It is best to consider about how much power a user needs, and pick something that offers 20% more power. That way the amount of heat and power consumption of the system is minimized as much as possible. To get the most efficiency out of a 650 W PSU for example, you would want a system that pulls about 520 W of power, which is fairly close to the power estimates for this system.

An 850 W PSU is best reserved for if he is going to for sure use a multi-GPU setup or run numerous storage drives, as those add up about 10 W per drive. For example, one of these setups, plus a half dozen HDDs and a 750 W PSU would be the optimal solution, but if a well priced one isn't available then the 850 W PSU would be better, as it is best to remain under 80% load than exceeding it.

 

[g-unit1111]

I agree with you. I just was pointing out that the 850w was worth the difference (it's not like 50$ more). Also, numerous benchmarks show that Skylake architecture has a greater benefit from faster RAM than other platforms (both DDR3 and DDR4 platforms), so that is why faster ram is more recommended in this case.

Yeah I agree that the EVGA G2s aren't necessarily the best value when it comes to the lower wattage versions, but there's no denying how good Leadex power supplies are. And they will last a long time before needing a replacement. So in that way you do get what you pay for there in that regard. I own two of them and can attest to their quality.

 

[Compuser10165]

I agree with you. I just was pointing out that the 850w was worth the difference (it's not like 50$ more). Also, numerous benchmarks show that Skylake architecture has a greater benefit from faster RAM than other platforms (both DDR3 and DDR4 platforms), so that is why faster ram is more recommended in this case.

First, never recommend high speed DDR3 on a Skylake build. I know you didn't here, but you mentioned it so I wanted to make sure you know not to. Using anything with a voltage above 1.35 V can cause damage to the IMC, which is why Intel only officially supports DDR3L. DDR3L mostly tops out around 1600-1866 MHz. Similarly, it is better to use DDR4 using 1.2 V, as that is the official recommended spec. Which, again, you suggested a good RAM kit, just sharing a little info on the IMC.

As for the PSU, if the user plans to use more power later, then that is a better option to get the 850 W unit. If not, the 650 W unit is better from an efficiency standpoint. PSUs are most efficient around 80% load. They are typically list efficient under full load, and kinda in between below 80% load. It is best to consider about how much power a user needs, and pick something that offers 20% more power. That way the amount of heat and power consumption of the system is minimized as much as possible. To get the most efficiency out of a 650 W PSU for example, you would want a system that pulls about 520 W of power, which is fairly close to the power estimates for this system.

An 850 W PSU is best reserved for if he is going to for sure use a multi-GPU setup or run numerous storage drives, as those add up about 10 W per drive. For example, one of these setups, plus a half dozen HDDs and a 750 W PSU would be the optimal solution, but if a well priced one isn't available then the 850 W PSU would be better, as it is best to remain under 80% load than exceeding it.

I never said to use DDR3 on a Skylake platform, I just said that RAM speed on the Skylake platform is more important than other platforms (like Haswell-E or Haswell), platforms that use both DDR3 or DDR4. I also don't recommend DDR3 (actually lpddr3) ram on Skylake.