Building My First Gaming PC: Suggestions?

[PaIadin]

So I am going to build my first PC in about a decade and was looking for some advice. Here is my current plan:

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/jJ7kwV


Any suggestions or improvements?

[customiiguy]

Looks like top of the line to me

[Nguyen]

Get an i5 and save some money. Also, use microcenter to buy a CPU and Mobo combo. The have teh best deals.

[castgold]

The EVGA 1080 cards are having issues of catching on fire, but they released a patch that is supposed to resolve the cooling problem. I've been running my 980 ti for a little over a year on a 55" 4k monitor and it's been great on max resolution and motion rendering, with a short HDMI 2.0 cable. I wouldn't get too caught up with the SSDs. I was having a talk with Micro Center's returns desk and they see a number of them exhibit their limited write/re-write capabilities.

Everything else looks good. What about audio and mouse?

https://www.extremetech.com/computin...er-vrm-cooling

[afteractionreport]

Scrap the liquid cool heatsink and get a noctua...

[OutlawStar]

Upgrade the power supply to way more than you need, I'd say 1000w or higher, gold or platinum.

The closed loop water cooler you have picked out does as good as a top of the line air cooler such as a noctua NHD14 (or whatever the part number is). However the noctua will be $40-50 cheaper. Water coolers only start being advantageous when you've got a 360mm or 480mm radiator and you want to overclock both the CPU and GPU.

DO NOT "save money" by going with an i5. The i7 is better; it doesn't look like you're operating with a tiny budget, you will be cutting performance by dropping to the i5 and with all the new hardware hungry games coming out, they're designing them around the i7 architecture.

[Darryl Licht]

Originally Posted by PaIadin

So I am going to build my first PC in about a decade and was looking for some advice. Here is my current plan:

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/jJ7kwV


Any suggestions or improvements?

A few comments from someone with over 25 years as a system builder...

You didn't state how many video cards your going with, or how many mechanical hdd's , yet I see two ssd's listed.

So my first Q is: why two SSD's? Just get one large enough to support your OS along with your most commonly used apps and games, use a mechanical HDD for data, other apps, and user files.

Also why not go with a BluRay drive? It will play CDs and DVD's and is only about $10 more.

Until some of these Q's are answered its crazy for ppl to blindly state "get a higher wattage PSU!" Bigger isn't always better, or needed!

Use one of the many PSU calculators out there on the net to compute your system requirements than add 10-20% for expansion and overhead. You don't need 1000 - 1200 watts if your system only requires 550-650! <-- which is about right for your setup with a single graphics card.

Let me know either in this thread or via PM... also newegg is one of the best out for price, service, and support! and if you live in so cal they are fast!

[Nguyen]

Originally Posted by OutlawStar

Upgrade the power supply to way more than you need, I'd say 1000w or higher, gold or platinum.

The closed loop water cooler you have picked out does as good as a top of the line air cooler such as a noctua NHD14 (or whatever the part number is). However the noctua will be $40-50 cheaper. Water coolers only start being advantageous when you've got a 360mm or 480mm radiator and you want to overclock both the CPU and GPU.

DO NOT "save money" by going with an i5. The i7 is better; it doesn't look like you're operating with a tiny budget, you will be cutting performance by dropping to the i5 and with all the new hardware hungry games coming out, they're designing them around the i7 architecture.

A lot of fud in this post. I'll find my way out.

[OutlawStar]

Originally Posted by Nguyen

A lot of fud in this post. I'll find my way out.

Don't be a jackass. i5s are the lesser performers as proven by intels nomenclature and metrics. It doesn't make sense to choose a lesser component to "save money". That closed loop cooler is proven to be only on par with the air cooler for more money. More PSU is never a bad thing, the price difference is so minimal it doesn't make sense to only get a power supply just enough plus 10%. Thats like getting a truck to tow only what you need today, without any consideration for what you may tow in the future.

[Albs]

Originally Posted by OutlawStar

Don't be a jackass. i5s are the lesser performers as proven by intels nomenclature and metrics. It doesn't make sense to choose a lesser component to "save money". That closed loop cooler is proven to be only on par with the air cooler for more money. More PSU is never a bad thing, the price difference is so minimal it doesn't make sense to only get a power supply just enough plus 10%. Thats like getting a truck to tow only what you need today, without any consideration for what you may tow in the future.

No one said anything about i5 having better performance than an i7, it's just a waste if you're not planning on using the i7 to its full potential.

OP states this is his first Gaming PC, so with that said...most people, including gamers, should be fine with a Core i5 desktop CPU. Core i7 chips tend to help more with engineering, video editing, audio post-production, and other tasks that require as many processor threads as possible.

[OutlawStar]

While that is true, i7s will last longer against newer AAA titles, and have enough horsepower to do more than what he needs. To save 5-10% on a build and lose notable performance doesn't makes sense. Given the 1080 and i7, the build isn't heavily constrained by a budget. There isn't a point in "saving money" by dropping to a lesser processor.

[yellowsulphur]

If you plan on doing any streaming of your gameplay then definitely get an i7. Nvidia's nvenc is horrid at low bit rates.

[Albs]

Originally Posted by OutlawStar

While that is true, i7s will last longer against newer AAA titles, and have enough horsepower to do more than what he needs.

Wow, stop spreading FUD.

Originally Posted by OutlawStar

To save 5-10% on a build and lose notable performance doesn't makes sense.

Are you talking about performance in general or gaming? Generally it'll depend on your workload, if you're multi-tasking then you're sure. But if we're talking purely gaming here, you're entirely wrong.

Comparing i5-6600K to OP's i7-6700K, they both have 4 cores and the biggest difference is that there's 2x more threads on the i7-6700k. More threads = better multi-tasking which is better if you're streaming,etc, if you're purely gaming, you will HARDLY if any at all see any performance difference when gaming.

In terms of gaming only, go test out a system with i5-6600K & i7-6700K and tell me what notable difference you're referring to because I have no clue what you're talking about.

[Darryl Licht]

Wow... settle down peoples!

Lots of opinions here on what's best hardware. OP definitely is not doing a budget build. I always have said buy the best/fastest you can afford. Seems like the OP has deep pockets, so i7 wins vs i5 in every respect there!

If you don't believe me then here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404674,00.asp

However, that performance difference and extra $ spent wont be apparent for most gamers and it wont be of much benefit to a gaming only pc. Now if you are doing CPU intensive ops like video transcoding or CAD... then the i7 will have tangible "seat of the pants" benefits.

It all comes down to money and your attitude towards it. Some of us like to spend it like wildfire, some like to save it.

OP... will you be overclocking this CPU? If so, do your homework on which i7 or i5 is currently the best for OC.

[Albs]

Originally Posted by Darryl Licht

Wow... settle down peoples!

Lots of opinions here on what's best hardware. OP definitely is not doing a budget build. I always have said buy the best/fastest you can afford. Seems like the OP has deep pockets, so i7 wins vs i5 in every respect there!

However, that performance difference and extra $ spent wont be apparent for most gamers and it wont be of much benefit to a gaming only pc. Now if you are doing CPU intensive ops like video transcoding or CAD... then the i7 will have tangible "seat of the pants" benefits.

It all comes down to money and your attitude towards it. Some of us like to spend it like wildfire, some like to save it.

OP... will you be overclocking this CPU? If so, do your homework on which i7 or i5 is currently the best for OC.

I agree with you 100%.

I'm not debating about what's the best hardware. I don't think anyone here is denying that i7 beats i5 in all aspect.

If we're debating about whether or not i7 beats i5 in purely gaming, then that's a debate on it own.

Now if you have money to spend and don't care about price, then there's really nothing to discuss.

I just see a lot of FUD here, that is all.

[Darryl Licht]

Originally Posted by Albs

...I just see a lot of FUD here, that is all.

As do I!

Especially with respect to the PSU suggestions.

Again, more watts isn't better. It is just overkill!

Compute your systems requirements and add 10-20% for overhead and any future additions. Any more than that is just wasted. Might as well flush $ down the drain!

[Dragunov]

Q: How many gaming system builders does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Ten. One to screw in the bulb, and nine others to say they could've done it better.

You guys sound like a bunch of guitar players, measuring the size of your "Richards".

WTF?!? Really people? I've been building systems since the late '70's. Guy seems to know what he's doing, How 'bout a "Kudos"?

My last gaming build? Last year.

Specs?

Core2Duo Quad4, Q6700 2.66Ghz.
Nvidia 8600GT
8gb/Ram.
2 7200rpm, 500gb HDD.
Blue Ray
24" AOC Monitor, I bought for $99 I bought from Wal Mart two years ago.

What do I play?

Sims 2
Game of thrones
Beyond Good and Evil
Halo
Half life.
Freespace 2

My system is more than adequate for what I play.

Cut the guy some slack.

[Nguyen]

Originally Posted by Dragunov

Q: How many gaming system builders does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Ten. One to screw in the bulb, and nine others to say they could've done it better.

You guys sound like a bunch of guitar players, measuring the size of your "Richards".

WTF?!? Really people? I've been building systems since the late '70's. Guy seems to know what he's doing, How 'bout a "Kudos"?

My last gaming build? Last year.

Specs?

Core2Duo Quad4, Q6700 2.66Ghz.
Nvidia 8600GT
8gb/Ram.
2 7200rpm, 500gb HDD.
Blue Ray
24" AOC Monitor, I bought for $99 I bought from Wal Mart two years ago.

What do I play?

Sims 2
Game of thrones
Beyond Good and Evil
Halo
Half life.
Freespace 2

My system is more than adequate for what I play.

Cut the guy some slack.

Pretty good specs... if you want to hit 20 fps on BF1. Nice if your monitor max out at 20 hz.

[Rorge Retson]

Get as much as you can. My strategy is as soon as something new comes out, get the new #2 (the previous #1). This goes for CPUs, video cards, SSDs, HDDs, etc. as those prices usually drop pretty quickly.

But, if money was truly no object, I would get the best in each category.

Did you guys see that the OP has not built a computer for 10 years? What if this new build needs to last him another 10 - should he scrimp and save? Uh, no way, Jose.

[junior40er]

Get the best now I'd next build won't be for another time years. Today's high end video card will barely be any good on new games in 5 years.

[E92335i]

Nice pick and great build OP.

[Darryl Licht]

Originally Posted by Dragunov

Q: How many gaming system builders does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Ten. One to screw in the bulb, and nine others to say they could've done it better.

You guys sound like a bunch of guitar players, measuring the size of your "Richards".

WTF?!? Really people? I've been building systems since the late '70's. Guy seems to know what he's doing, How 'bout a "Kudos"?

My last gaming build? Last year.

Specs?

Core2Duo Quad4, Q6700 2.66Ghz.
Nvidia 8600GT
8gb/Ram.
2 7200rpm, 500gb HDD.
Blue Ray
24" AOC Monitor, I bought for $99 I bought from Wal Mart two years ago.

What do I play?

Sims 2
Game of thrones
Beyond Good and Evil
Halo
Half life.
Freespace 2

My system is more than adequate for what I play.

Cut the guy some slack.

You cant be serious...

You built this last year???

Sounds like a build from 07-08!

[Dragunov]

Originally Posted by Darryl Licht

You cant be serious...

You built this last year???

Sounds like a build from 07-08!

Yes! Most of the games I like are from that time period, and YES, all from used parts. Cost me $0, and will play anything I like to play at high rez. If I want to play games with far better graphics, I do have a Playstation 4.

Streams video, and everything else I need. I DO have a laptop with much better specs. i5 Ivy Bridge Processor/16gb/Ram,1TB/7200rpmHDD. What can't be done on the "gaming" machine (so far, haven't run into that problem), can be done on that.

I paid $0 for that too.

All running on Win7 Pro.

BF 1? No interest in playing it. It plays all my favorite games, without a hitch, and smooth as glass.

Personally, I think the OP is just building a system for his own, personal needs.

I've been through the "latest/greatest" phase, got the tee shirt.

Now, I just build what is useful to me. I can normally do this for under $100. I can.t see spending $200+ for a video card, $300+ for a processor, when I don't need it.

Now that I think about it, I built it in April, 2015.

[Darryl Licht]

Originally Posted by Dragunov

Yes! Most of the games I like are from that time period, and YES, all from used parts. Cost me $0, and will play anything I like to play at high rez. If I want to play games with far better graphics, I do have a Playstation 4.

Streams video, and everything else I need. I DO have a laptop with much better specs. i5 Ivy Bridge Processor/16gb/Ram,1TB/7200rpmHDD. What can't be done on the "gaming" machine (so far, haven't run into that problem), can be done on that.

I paid $0 for that too.

All running on Win7 Pro.

BF 1? No interest in playing it. It plays all my favorite games, without a hitch, and smooth as glass.

Personally, I think the OP is just building a system for his own, personal needs.

I've been through the "latest/greatest" phase, got the tee shirt.

Now, I just build what is useful to me. I can normally do this for under $100. I can.t see spending $200+ for a video card, $300+ for a processor, when I don't need it.

Now that I think about it, I built it in April, 2015.

OK... from used 7-8 year old parts. Now it makes sense.

My home "server" is 7+ years old and similarly configured.

[Dragunov]

Originally Posted by Darryl Licht

OK... from used 7-8 year old parts. Now it makes sense.

My home "server" is 7+ years old and similarly configured.

It does what I want it to do. Most of the parts are old, but most have very little use. HDD's are two years old, Ram is a year old Blue Ray is two years. Computer is 6 years old. Hard telling how old the video card is, but it works well.

Maybe it's the same for the OP, It suits all his computer needs. Mine does, and does it well. Also, my software is set up properly. Makes things work well, and makes life easier.

My point was that a few here are picking his choice of components apart. They probably fit his needs, and picking it apart isn't necessary. I say.... GOOD JOB! Enjoy!

I posted mine so Y'all can pick THAT apart. I don't care.

[Grakken]

Add:

Good Thermal Paste
Unless you are going to overclock, stick with air cooled.
Win 10 PRO.
dump the mechanical drives and get (2) 500GB SSD'.s
Why full tower? thing is a beast. Look at a phantek mid-tower. you dont have that much stuff for a full.
DDR4? Get 4x8GB instead of 2x16 then.
Get a 27" 1440P IPS screen with GSync. Good luck coosing a brand..lol With what you are getting, you are wasting your money by not stepping up to 1440P IPS.

[Nguyen]

Originally Posted by Grakken

Get a 27" 1440P IPS screen with GSync. Good luck coosing a brand..lol With what you are getting, you are wasting your money by not stepping up to 1440P IPS.

IPS with Gsync?. Stupid Combo.

Stick with TN panel 144hz /w Gsync. You get lower refresh rates.

I have a 1440p monitor and i still run 1080p to achieve higher rates. Also you dont run your card as hard at lower resolution.





Its up to you if you can tell the difference. 99% cannot... and if you can tell, is it worth the frame rates drop?

[Darryl Licht]

Originally Posted by Grakken

Add:

Good Thermal Paste
Unless you are going to overclock, stick with air cooled.
Win 10 PRO.
dump the mechanical drives and get (2) 500GB SSD'.s
Why full tower? thing is a beast. Look at a phantek mid-tower. you dont have that much stuff for a full.
DDR4? Get 4x8GB instead of 2x16 then.
Get a 27" 1440P IPS screen with GSync. Good luck coosing a brand..lol With what you are getting, you are wasting your money by not stepping up to 1440P IPS.

I agree on the good thermal paste (I use Arctic Silver) and using air cooled if not over clocked. But with his listed equipment choices, I'd bet that OC'ing may be in the mix! Certainly a capable system for overclocking!

I also agree to go Win10 Pro!

BUT... going to 4x8 vs 2x16 leaves no option to upgrade RAM (other than replace them all), since that mobo can go to 64GB!

Also full tower vs mid tower is a personal choice. Full tower also leaves more room for more fans and improved airflow in most cases!


FYI --- Overclocking doesn't really require liquid cooling if you fill your full tower with as many good fans as possible.

My 7 year old media server has run 24/7/365 since the day it was built and is overclocked significantly here are it's cpu-z specs:



That Q9550 is spec'd at 2.8GHz... it will run reliably at 3.6, nut I backed it down to 3.4 for longevity! It has more than proved itself for 7+ years! Good mobo, cpu, and airflow are key (IMHO)!
Just remember, with that airflow comes dust... I must clean mine every 3-4 months!

[Grakken]

Originally Posted by Nguyen

IPS with Gsync?. Stupid Combo.

Stick with TN panel 144hz /w Gsync. You get lower refresh rates.

I have a 1440p monitor and i still run 1080p to achieve higher rates. Also you dont run your card as hard at lower resolution.


Its up to you if you can tell the difference. 99% cannot... and if you can tell, is it worth the frame rates drop?

What part of nvidia 1080 GPU dont you get? He can run 2 monitors in Ultra Wide HD and that card will handle it @1440P (ie more than 60 FPS)

1440p is more demanding than 1080p? Gee, ya think?
Nvidia 1080 will laugh at any AAA title today at 1440P on Ultra. So will a 1070.
IPS Screens Vs TN panel, these days go with what you like better. IPS colors will be superior over TN. There is no argument. Gsync works and you want that if you have a Nvidia 1080 GPU. TN panel has an advantage on response time. The difference between 4 MS and 2 MS is negligible. If you are a pro 1st person shooter gamer, get a TN panel with 1MS response time. if not, and you have the bank, get an IPS+Gsync. .

IPS + Gsync is pricey. TN + Gsync if you are budget conscious. Thats just me.

[Nguyen]

Originally Posted by Grakken

What part of nvidia 1080 GPU dont you get? He can run 2 monitors in Ultra Wide HD and that card will handle it @1440P (ie more than 60 FPS)

1440p is more demanding than 1080p? Gee, ya think?
Nvidia 1080 will laugh at any AAA title today at 1440P on Ultra. So will a 1070.
IPS Screens Vs TN panel, these days go with what you like better. IPS colors will be superior over TN. There is no argument. Gsync works and you want that if you have a Nvidia 1080 GPU. TN panel has an advantage on response time. The difference between 4 MS and 2 MS is negligible. If you are a pro 1st person shooter gamer, get a TN panel with 1MS response time. if not, and you have the bank, get an IPS+Gsync. .

IPS + Gsync is pricey. TN + Gsync if you are budget conscious. Thats just me.

First of all what i posted was an opinion, not a dick, so dont take it up the ***.

Second, I'm saying that he doesn't have to run 1440 when 1080 is just fine and it doesn't run his card as hard.

Plus you said dump mechanical drive and go SSD? Why? So he can load his porn faster? All you need is 1 SSD and a hard drive for storage.






I'm done here... Thanks for having me on the air.

BYEE!!!!!!!! ^___^

[Darryl Licht]

Originally Posted by Grakken

What part of nvidia 1080 GPU dont you get? He can run 2 monitors in Ultra Wide HD and that card will handle it @1440P (ie more than 60 FPS)

1440p is more demanding than 1080p? Gee, ya think?
Nvidia 1080 will laugh at any AAA title today at 1440P on Ultra. So will a 1070.
IPS Screens Vs TN panel, these days go with what you like better. IPS colors will be superior over TN. There is no argument. Gsync works and you want that if you have a Nvidia 1080 GPU. TN panel has an advantage on response time. The difference between 4 MS and 2 MS is negligible. If you are a pro 1st person shooter gamer, get a TN panel with 1MS response time. if not, and you have the bank, get an IPS+Gsync. .

IPS + Gsync is pricey. TN + Gsync if you are budget conscious. Thats just me.

On your previous post and my subsequent comments, I forgot to ask why you suggested the OP get two SSDs instead of 1 SSD and 1 mechanical? Not something I'd ever suggest, just wondering what your reasoning is?

[PaIadin]

I will be overclocking hence the water cooled, as to the I7-6700K there is a logical reason. With the release of Kaby Lake the price of the I7-6700K should drop.

My philosophy has always been to cry once. Looking at high end PC builds from 10 years ago they are still able to decently play AAA games.

As to the games I will be playing, it will be GTA 5 and FPS.

The monitor I have is an ACER TN 27 inch at 144hz with a 1ms refresh rate. I have seen IPS vs TN side by side and it does seem that IPS has better color depth even when I am directly in front of it. However, the monitor was on sale so that is that.

[OutlawStar]

As said before if you plan on overclocking, that Corsair cooler you selected is just fine, however it performs similarly as a high end air cooler such as a Noctua. Multiple independent testers have proven this. You will be able to do a modest overclocking without much effort (10-15% easily), but if you want to start cranking things up, that 120mm radiator just won't cut it; as with any similar air cooler.

Another reason to get more PSU than you need is if in 5 years you want to upgrade the video card, you can do so without changing any other part. If you get a PSU today with just enough wattage, you'll likely need to swap out the PSU in 5 years as well. Also, you can upgrade with another 2 DIMMS of RAM. Its easy future proofing.

If you can wait, hold off until cyber monday (monday after thanksgiving) to buy parts online, sometimes you can get nice combo deals on amazon or newegg.

[yellowsulphur]

Originally Posted by PaIadin

I will be overclocking hence the water cooled, as to the I7-6700K there is a logical reason. With the release of Kaby Lake the price of the I7-6700K should drop.

My philosophy has always been to cry once. Looking at high end PC builds from 10 years ago they are still able to decently play AAA games.

As to the games I will be playing, it will be GTA 5 and FPS.

The monitor I have is an ACER TN 27 inch at 144hz with a 1ms refresh rate. I have seen IPS vs TN side by side and it does seem that IPS has better color depth even when I am directly in front of it. However, the monitor was on sale so that is that.

Intel doesn't discount their processors, they only discontinue them. A Skylake and Kabylake should be of similar price.

[NYT]

op, if youre going with that case, i would get the kraken x61 instead of the corsair water cooler. it will mount up flush with the case.

other than that, i think everything looks good. you could prob go with noctura case fans as they are better than corsair but either way youll prob replace them in 2 years or so.

if i were you, i would get the asus gtx instead of the evga and swap out that corsair psu with the axi1200i. you will want the beefer setup if you decide to add another 1080 in the near future like i did.

[TylerTran]

Originally Posted by castgold

The EVGA 1080 cards are having issues of catching on fire, but they released a patch that is supposed to resolve the cooling problem. I've been running my 980 ti for a little over a year on a 55" 4k monitor and it's been great on max resolution and motion rendering, with a short HDMI 2.0 cable. I wouldn't get too caught up with the SSDs. I was having a talk with Micro Center's returns desk and they see a number of them exhibit their limited write/re-write capabilities.

Everything else looks good. What about audio and mouse?

https://www.extremetech.com/computin...er-vrm-cooling

It's only the evga custom pcb board 1080 gpus. It'seems the 1080 ftw and higher models are only having the problems.

[Darryl Licht]

Originally Posted by yellowsulphur

Intel doesn't discount their processors, they only discontinue them. A Skylake and Kabylake should be of similar price.

HUH???

Retailers do! Whenever new gen CPUs are released the existing ones tend to drop in price... retailers want to clear out the older stock. It's been like that for over 25 years in the industry!

[JamesY]

Originally Posted by PaIadin

So I am going to build my first PC in about a decade and was looking for some advice. Here is my current plan:

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/jJ7kwV


Any suggestions or improvements?

Just bring this post back up from the dead in about 115 months and ask again.

[the86d]

DON'T DO IT...
You will never stop adding...

[Darryl Licht]

Originally Posted by the86d

DON'T DO IT...
You will never stop adding...

To the thread or the PC???