New 2015 PC Build, $1250 budget,

[Mynti]

The pc that I am currently writing to you on is soon to become the media streaming server for the whole house, which gives me some upgrading money. I put together a list of things that I would love to have, but it seems a little over my budget : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/M48BnQ.
Should I wait for sales? Or should I cut some things off? Maybe just a trimming? This is only my second time building a pc, and I don't want to screw up with this much money on the line.

Thanks,
Mynti

 

[raisonjohn]

The pc that I am currently writing to you on is soon to become the media streaming server for the whole house, which gives me some upgrading money. I put together a list of things that I would love to have, but it seems a little over my budget : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/M48BnQ.
Should I wait for sales? Or should I cut some things off? Maybe just a trimming? This is only my second time building a pc, and I don't want to screw up with this much money on the line.

Thanks,
Mynti

Just a suggestion (a little tweaking on your initial list to fit your $1250 budget):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($54.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.94 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card ($419.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec HCG M 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1182.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 12:43 EDT-0400

Changes:

• 
  Upgraded your PSU from the low-quality (Tier-Four) Corsair CX600W to a higher-quality (Tier-Two) Antec HCG 750W. Note that the minimum required power supply for a system using the GTX 980 Ti is 600W, but it should be a good-quality 600W.
  
  Changed your GPU from Asus GTX 980 Ti 6GB (which costs way to high, too long for your case with 3 fans, and would be more advisable for a high-budget rig such as 1440p gaming) to the MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB (which is more affordable, a lot less shorter in length that would easily fit in your mid-tower case (without sacrificing some drive bays), less noise due to 2 fans only, and more appropriate for a mid-budget rig). Note that the minimum required power supply for a system using the R9 390X is 700W (this has been covered by the PSU upgrade above).
  
  Changed your HDD from the more-expensive Western Digital (Black Series) 1TB to the more-affordable Seagate Barracuda 1TB.
  
  Included an SSD, a Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive, that can be used for your system drive (C:\) where your Operating System can be installed for much much faster boot time and load times.

So, all in all, with the changes I suggested from your initial over-budgeted list (@ $1324.29), you got some very good upgrades and saved yourself a total of $141.33.

Hope my suggestion helped!

 

[Mynti]

The pc that I am currently writing to you on is soon to become the media streaming server for the whole house, which gives me some upgrading money. I put together a list of things that I would love to have, but it seems a little over my budget : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/M48BnQ.
Should I wait for sales? Or should I cut some things off? Maybe just a trimming? This is only my second time building a pc, and I don't want to screw up with this much money on the line.

Thanks,
Mynti

Just a suggestion (a little tweaking on your initial list to fit your $1250 budget):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($54.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.94 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card ($419.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec HCG M 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1182.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 12:43 EDT-0400

Changes:

• 
  Upgraded your PSU from the low-quality (Tier-Four) Corsair CX600W to a higher-quality (Tier-Two) Antec HCG 750W. Note that the minimum required power supply for a system using the GTX 980 Ti is 600W, but it should be a good-quality 600W.
  
  Changed your GPU from Asus GTX 980 Ti 6GB (which costs way to high, too long for your case with 3 fans, and would be more advisable for a high-budget rig such as 1440p gaming) to the MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB (which is more affordable, a lot less shorter in length that would easily fit in your mid-tower case (without sacrificing some drive bays), less noise due to 2 fans only, and more appropriate for a mid-budget rig). Note that the minimum required power supply for a system using the R9 390X is 700W (this has been covered by the PSU upgrade above).
  
  Changed your HDD from the more-expensive Western Digital (Black Series) 1TB to the more-affordable Seagate Barracuda 1TB.
  
  Included an SSD, a Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive, that can be used for your system drive (C:\) where your Operating System can be installed for much much faster boot time and load times.

So, all in all, with the changes I suggested from your initial over-budgeted list (@ $1324.29), you got some very good upgrades and saved yourself a total of $141.33.

Hope my suggestion helped!

Hey, thanks for the help, but there were a few things about that that I dont think will work as well.
1) I dont really enjoy using AMD Cards, as they seem to not work as well as NVidia cards do, at least for me.
2) The MSI Radeon that you gave me seems like a 980 rather than a 980 ti. Is there any way that I can keep the performance of the 980ti and shave off the price a little?

I Could probably add on about 50 dollars and make it a 1300 build, but thats about it.

I did change some things based on your list, but i had to take out the SSD.
Question: If I have a 2tb hard drive on this home server computer, could I hook it up to the new computer as a sort of shared harddrive, as in physically located in the server, but usable like it is in the second computer? If thats true, i could get just an ssd, and put all my other files on the main server.

EDIT: Heres the new list http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Mynti/saved/QdGgXL

 

[raisonjohn]

Ah, I was just about to post a new list with a new 650W PSU and that Zotac GTX 980 Ti AMP! Ed. (cheaper but has a higher core clock and longer in size than the Asus Strix). But I chose the XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold PSU (same price as your selected EVGA SuperNova NEX 650W). The XFX TS Series is a Tier-Two (top quality) PSU; the EVGA SuperNova, specifically the NEX Series, are Tier-Four (poor quality) PSU's.

I'll try to comment on your home server question but note that I have limited experience on that one (networking noob here). I don't know if this helps, okay, but what I do here (I have a laptop-desktop setup), I use the desktop's HDD as my backup drive for all the files I'm currently working on my laptop (since my laptop has a limited >500GB storage cap). I simply enable access/permissions in Windows to share some of my folders in that desktop HDD so I can access those files when I am mobile around my place using my laptop (files are accessed/backed up wirelessly via wifi adapter/router). So, logically speaking, this might probably be the same thing you are asking (my laptop drive as your SSD; my desktop drive as your Server) but connected via cable? If so, then the answer is yes, you can share the drive within such devices.

 

[Mynti]

Ah, I was just about to post a new list with a new 650W PSU and that Zotac GTX 980 Ti AMP! Ed. (cheaper but has a higher core clock and longer in size than the Asus Strix). But I chose the XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold PSU (same price as your selected EVGA SuperNova NEX 650W). The XFX TS Series is a Tier-Two (top quality) PSU; the EVGA SuperNova, specifically the NEX Series, are Tier-Four (poor quality) PSU's.

I'll try to comment on your home server question but note that I have limited experience on that one (networking noob here). I don't know if this helps, okay, but what I do here (I have a laptop-desktop setup), I use the desktop's HDD as my backup drive for all the files I'm currently working on my laptop (since my laptop has a limited >500GB storage cap). I simply enable access/permissions in Windows to share some of my folders in that desktop HDD so I can access those files when I am mobile around my place using my laptop (files are accessed/backed up wirelessly via wifi adapter/router). So, logically speaking, this might probably be the same thing you are asking (my laptop drive as your SSD; my desktop drive as your Server) but connected via cable? If so, then the answer is yes, you can share the drive within such devices.

Yeah, if you could do that with the laptop and the desktop, it would work the same way with a few plugins with a server and a desktop. I could easily plug them into eachother if needed, as they will be right next to eachother. As for the new build, I think that i have rounded out the kinks for the most part with the zotac and the ssd, but i would still need to cut out some cash. Is there a cheaper motherboard that would be able to use the extent of the card? I know this asus one can handle it, but is there a cheaper board that can do relatively the same thing?

EDIT: God, i keep forgetting these things. Heres the new list with the zotac and the ssd, along with the power supply that is better. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RR9zTW

 

[raisonjohn]

Yeah, if you could do that with the laptop and the desktop, it would work the same way with a few plugins with a server and a desktop. I could easily plug them into eachother if needed, as they will be right next to eachother. As for the new build, I think that i have rounded out the kinks for the most part with the zotac and the ssd, but i would still need to cut out some cash. Is there a cheaper motherboard that would be able to use the extent of the card? I know this asus one can handle it, but is there a cheaper board that can do relatively the same thing?

EDIT: God, i keep forgetting these things. Heres the new list with the zotac and the ssd, along with the power supply that is better. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RR9zTW

Looking at cheaper alternatives to the Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ($169.99), I see several Gigabytes that might fit the bill. The closest ones are these (almost same - memory support - usb3.1 - SLI/CF support - with just some minor differences in # of SATA slots and PCI slots and what-have-you):

Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $154.99
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $135.99

There's also these two (cheaper but no SLI support, only CrossFire; lower Audio Codec ALC887 only):

Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $114.99
Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $99.99

Here's a comparison chart of the 4 Gigabyte Motherboards for easy viewing.

There's also the ASRock Z170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $107.99 but I think it's in line with the 2 last Gigabyte I saw (lesser performer).

Haven't checked on the MSI details, but I think the MSI Gaming Pro has the same price as the Asus we're looking to substitute. So, the Gigabytes might be worth a shot.

 

[Mynti]

Yeah, if you could do that with the laptop and the desktop, it would work the same way with a few plugins with a server and a desktop. I could easily plug them into eachother if needed, as they will be right next to eachother. As for the new build, I think that i have rounded out the kinks for the most part with the zotac and the ssd, but i would still need to cut out some cash. Is there a cheaper motherboard that would be able to use the extent of the card? I know this asus one can handle it, but is there a cheaper board that can do relatively the same thing?

EDIT: God, i keep forgetting these things. Heres the new list with the zotac and the ssd, along with the power supply that is better. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RR9zTW

Looking at cheaper alternatives to the Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ($169.99), I see several Gigabytes that might fit the bill. The closest ones are these (almost same - memory support - usb3.1 - SLI/CF support - with just some minor differences in # of SATA slots and PCI slots and what-have-you):

Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $154.99
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $135.99

There's also these two (cheaper but no SLI support, only CrossFire; lower Audio Codec ALC887 only):

Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $114.99
Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $99.99

Here's a comparison chart of the 4 Gigabyte Motherboards for easy viewing.

There's also the ASRock Z170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard @ $107.99 but I think it's in line with the 2 last Gigabyte I saw (lesser performer).

Haven't checked on the MSI details, but I think the MSI Gaming Pro has the same price as the Asus we're looking to substitute. So, the Gigabytes might be worth a shot.

Yeah, i think i may go with the lower end gigabytes because that would make it almost exactly 1300. I dont really foresee me getting sli 980tis, just because of the raw power of this beast, so that doesnt really bother me much. The only ports I use in abundance is usbs, and i have hubs for those, so i dont really think anything could really affect the change between the asus board and the gigabyte board.

Thanks,
Mynti

 

[raisonjohn]

Great! So, here's your planned build (at just about $1300 - budget as adjusted):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($54.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.94 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB AMP! Extreme Video Card ($671.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($72.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1313.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 16:45 EDT-0400

Good luck and glad to be of help!