- Joined
- Nov 16, 2004
TL;DR: I'm going to build a gaming PC by November 1st, but I have been out of the gaming scene for roughly 10 years. I could really use some honest and detailed advice. I'm very particular and want a proper configuration of hardware.
Disclaimer: This post is long and I have no idea if I am even hitting on topics that matter that much for gaming. I know I could just throw some parts together and they would run just fine, but that is not what I am looking for. That's what I've got right now and it bothers me deeply.
Backstory: I used to be an active member of the community when I was a teenager. Real life obligations as I got older lead to inactivity which apparently resulted in the deletion of my account, so my apologizes for the appearance of a new member. I came here when I was 13 for advice on my first build and was not disappointed.
I am reaching out to the community once more because I am coming back after a long 10 year hiatus from building gaming PCs. That's not to say I haven't been building PCs over the last decade, I just have zero personal experience in any of the fore mentioned topics with their effect on gaming.
In essence, I am out of the loop on gaming hardware. Most of the computers I have been putting together have been primarily focused for small budgets and for business use. I am a Computer Technician by trade and a Desktop Support Specialist by profession, there are gaps in my knowledge I am hoping someone can fill. I have already researched many of these questions, but am still lacking a comprehensive enough of an understanding to decide if they are worth the additional cost or lack of performance to save money.
The Goal: To put together a high performance gaming computer that allows for an additional 32GB of memory expansion in the future and possible GPU upgrade(s). It must be able to handle games in 4k at max settings.
*I know 64GB memory is total overkill, but for another $100 in the future I can't see why I wouldn't do it.*
I believe I can achieve this goal while remaining under $1500, but am willing to spend up to $2000 or even $2500 if someone can convince me it is worth it. However, I do not want to regret spending a lot when I know it is very possible I could end up building another $1500 rig in 3-4 years and vastly out perform the one I will be building in a few months.
I also do not want to buy parts that will not work at their optimal levels immediately while being as conservative as possible in price. I am willing to spend as much as I need to build something with a nice equilibrium between price and performance. I do not plan to buy anything immediately. I will be watching the prices on the list I have provided below and any other suggestions that are posted.
I will be using an Antec 1200 that I already own to house the hardware, heat should not be an issue.
The OLD Watch List: Total Price $912 without GFX Card(s)
Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 + Hydro Series H50
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000)
CORSAIR RMx Series RM1000X 1000W
ASUS Z170-E LGA 1151 Intel Z170
SAMSUNG 850 EVO 2.5" 250GB
The NEW Watch List (7/11/16):
Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz - $350
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - $20
ASUS Z170-E LGA 1151 - $86
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4 3000 - $165
EVGA SuperNOVA 650 - $85
--- $706 Total for Essentials
SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 512GB - $320
--- $1026 with M.2 Drive
Graphics Cards: I used to specifically go for EVGA Nvidia cards, but am willing to compromise.
Please keep in mind I'm probably not buying anything for a few months, I know many of these are Out of Stock or have limited availability right now.
GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ~ $650 (Could buy a second when they drop in price)
GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ~ $440 (Not SLi capable?)
GeForce GTX 970 4GB ~ $275 x2 (Not worth it? I hear they don't even come close to out performing one 1080 and are half the GRAM of a 390 which is cheaper)
Radeon R9 390 8GB ~ $260 x2 (Affordable long term solution, but might not pay off once other cards drop in price)
Radeon R7 370 4GB ~ $150 x2 (Cheaper solution until newer cards drop in price)
All these options put me somewhere between $1200-1600 total cost.
Concerns:
1.) CPU: To my understanding the i7-6700k can only handle DDR4 memory at a maximum of 2133MHz. This obviously means I am wasting money on purchasing 3000MHz RAM. I don't even see an Intel processor that supports 3000MHz RAM, let alone options on newegg for DDR4 RAM at 2133MHz.
If this is true, am I better off upgrading to a better processor that can handle memory at faster speeds, or do I sacrifice memory speed to accommodate the capacity of the processor? The price difference for memory in these ranges seems minimal whereas processors tend to span hundreds of dollars in difference and I may even have to buy a more expensive motherboard to support the socket upgrade.
I am quite negligent in my knowledge of processors at and beyond the 4.0GHz i7 level. I feel like I am missing something fundamental here in relation to the supported memory speeds.
2.) Motherboard: Should I be concerned with not having triple or quad channel memory capabilities? I don't see many builds on the forums even mentioning it and this would require a complete reconsideration of parts, not to mention an entirely different price range. I have a feeling I am being too optimistic with the performance from a $100 motherboard, but it has always worked out well for me in the past. I was considering the Sabertooth version, but I'd rather spend the $150 difference on a graphics card(s).
3.) Solid Sate Performance: Raid 0 for SSDs? Should I even bother? I have read mix reviews here and else where on the net. I am not worried about data loss, but would highly consider it given the promise of faster speeds. I know SSDs are already fast, but if there is a noticeable difference I would be more than happy to invest in a second drive. I will likely only have a few games installed at any given time so space should not be an issue if I have at least 250GB. I already get by with 120GB and a secondary 160GB that isn't even full.
I was also considering purchasing a PCIe SSD, but I am skeptical of weather or not the motherboard I have listed would even utilize a PCIe SSD fully, not to mention Windows. It would be extremely disappointing to spend excess money and find out in the end there is a software related bottleneck.
4.) Power: If I find a 1200W for roughly the same price I plan to buy it just to be safe. However, if 1000W is plenty and somebody knows this for sure then I don't see the point. Again, I feel like my optimism might be getting the best of me, but I have always cut it close with power in my systems without issue and I know there are graphics cards out there that are not power hogs and even perform better than their counter parts.
5.) SLI/XFire vs Single Card: Ideally I would like to go with a dual card configuration, but I have never utilized SLI or XFire. I have no idea if they are worth the hype. I've seen the performance comparisons on paper and it just seems like this can be hit or miss. All I see right now is the 1080 blows everything else out of the water, even dual 970s. I figure by October they'll be down to a fairly affordable price with plenty of options to choose from.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!
This build is going to be a HUGE upgrade from my refurbished HP Business Class Frankenstein built out of parts I collected from side jobs.
(3.2GHz i5-650, 12GB Mixed Sticks of RAM, 2GB 660 GTX).
Thoughts, comments, or additions are welcomed. I feel like I've absorbed so much information on my own in the last week that I'm not sure if I am headed in the right direction, or if there is an entirely different set of options I'm overlooking.
Thanks again!
Disclaimer: This post is long and I have no idea if I am even hitting on topics that matter that much for gaming. I know I could just throw some parts together and they would run just fine, but that is not what I am looking for. That's what I've got right now and it bothers me deeply.
Backstory: I used to be an active member of the community when I was a teenager. Real life obligations as I got older lead to inactivity which apparently resulted in the deletion of my account, so my apologizes for the appearance of a new member. I came here when I was 13 for advice on my first build and was not disappointed.
I am reaching out to the community once more because I am coming back after a long 10 year hiatus from building gaming PCs. That's not to say I haven't been building PCs over the last decade, I just have zero personal experience in any of the fore mentioned topics with their effect on gaming.
In essence, I am out of the loop on gaming hardware. Most of the computers I have been putting together have been primarily focused for small budgets and for business use. I am a Computer Technician by trade and a Desktop Support Specialist by profession, there are gaps in my knowledge I am hoping someone can fill. I have already researched many of these questions, but am still lacking a comprehensive enough of an understanding to decide if they are worth the additional cost or lack of performance to save money.
The Goal: To put together a high performance gaming computer that allows for an additional 32GB of memory expansion in the future and possible GPU upgrade(s). It must be able to handle games in 4k at max settings.
*I know 64GB memory is total overkill, but for another $100 in the future I can't see why I wouldn't do it.*
I believe I can achieve this goal while remaining under $1500, but am willing to spend up to $2000 or even $2500 if someone can convince me it is worth it. However, I do not want to regret spending a lot when I know it is very possible I could end up building another $1500 rig in 3-4 years and vastly out perform the one I will be building in a few months.
I also do not want to buy parts that will not work at their optimal levels immediately while being as conservative as possible in price. I am willing to spend as much as I need to build something with a nice equilibrium between price and performance. I do not plan to buy anything immediately. I will be watching the prices on the list I have provided below and any other suggestions that are posted.
I will be using an Antec 1200 that I already own to house the hardware, heat should not be an issue.
The OLD Watch List: Total Price $912 without GFX Card(s)
Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 + Hydro Series H50
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000)
CORSAIR RMx Series RM1000X 1000W
ASUS Z170-E LGA 1151 Intel Z170
SAMSUNG 850 EVO 2.5" 250GB
The NEW Watch List (7/11/16):
Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz - $350
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - $20
ASUS Z170-E LGA 1151 - $86
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4 3000 - $165
EVGA SuperNOVA 650 - $85
--- $706 Total for Essentials
SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 512GB - $320
--- $1026 with M.2 Drive
Graphics Cards: I used to specifically go for EVGA Nvidia cards, but am willing to compromise.
Please keep in mind I'm probably not buying anything for a few months, I know many of these are Out of Stock or have limited availability right now.
GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ~ $650 (Could buy a second when they drop in price)
GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ~ $440 (Not SLi capable?)
GeForce GTX 970 4GB ~ $275 x2 (Not worth it? I hear they don't even come close to out performing one 1080 and are half the GRAM of a 390 which is cheaper)
Radeon R9 390 8GB ~ $260 x2 (Affordable long term solution, but might not pay off once other cards drop in price)
Radeon R7 370 4GB ~ $150 x2 (Cheaper solution until newer cards drop in price)
All these options put me somewhere between $1200-1600 total cost.
Concerns:
1.) CPU: To my understanding the i7-6700k can only handle DDR4 memory at a maximum of 2133MHz. This obviously means I am wasting money on purchasing 3000MHz RAM. I don't even see an Intel processor that supports 3000MHz RAM, let alone options on newegg for DDR4 RAM at 2133MHz.
If this is true, am I better off upgrading to a better processor that can handle memory at faster speeds, or do I sacrifice memory speed to accommodate the capacity of the processor? The price difference for memory in these ranges seems minimal whereas processors tend to span hundreds of dollars in difference and I may even have to buy a more expensive motherboard to support the socket upgrade.
I am quite negligent in my knowledge of processors at and beyond the 4.0GHz i7 level. I feel like I am missing something fundamental here in relation to the supported memory speeds.
2.) Motherboard: Should I be concerned with not having triple or quad channel memory capabilities? I don't see many builds on the forums even mentioning it and this would require a complete reconsideration of parts, not to mention an entirely different price range. I have a feeling I am being too optimistic with the performance from a $100 motherboard, but it has always worked out well for me in the past. I was considering the Sabertooth version, but I'd rather spend the $150 difference on a graphics card(s).
3.) Solid Sate Performance: Raid 0 for SSDs? Should I even bother? I have read mix reviews here and else where on the net. I am not worried about data loss, but would highly consider it given the promise of faster speeds. I know SSDs are already fast, but if there is a noticeable difference I would be more than happy to invest in a second drive. I will likely only have a few games installed at any given time so space should not be an issue if I have at least 250GB. I already get by with 120GB and a secondary 160GB that isn't even full.
I was also considering purchasing a PCIe SSD, but I am skeptical of weather or not the motherboard I have listed would even utilize a PCIe SSD fully, not to mention Windows. It would be extremely disappointing to spend excess money and find out in the end there is a software related bottleneck.
4.) Power: If I find a 1200W for roughly the same price I plan to buy it just to be safe. However, if 1000W is plenty and somebody knows this for sure then I don't see the point. Again, I feel like my optimism might be getting the best of me, but I have always cut it close with power in my systems without issue and I know there are graphics cards out there that are not power hogs and even perform better than their counter parts.
5.) SLI/XFire vs Single Card: Ideally I would like to go with a dual card configuration, but I have never utilized SLI or XFire. I have no idea if they are worth the hype. I've seen the performance comparisons on paper and it just seems like this can be hit or miss. All I see right now is the 1080 blows everything else out of the water, even dual 970s. I figure by October they'll be down to a fairly affordable price with plenty of options to choose from.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!
This build is going to be a HUGE upgrade from my refurbished HP Business Class Frankenstein built out of parts I collected from side jobs.
(3.2GHz i5-650, 12GB Mixed Sticks of RAM, 2GB 660 GTX).
Thoughts, comments, or additions are welcomed. I feel like I've absorbed so much information on my own in the last week that I'm not sure if I am headed in the right direction, or if there is an entirely different set of options I'm overlooking.
Thanks again!
Last edited:
This is basically what I do! Haha!
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