"The Underdog" - A Guy's First Build - $1600 USD (Revised Edition)

[WellDamnDude]

1. Budget & Location
My budget, as you can see is $1600 USD. I would much rather keep this build at $1600+- USD MAX. 

2. Aim
The aim of this build is to be an enthusiast-grade build. Able to handle most AAA titles (Fallout 4, Far Cry 4, ect.). Streaming games of like listed previously.

3. Monitors
I running 2 - 2K monitors. (Hoping to upgrade to 4K in the near future.)

4. Peripherals
No peripherals needed! Already have a Corsair K70 Keyboard, Corsair M65 Mouse, And Logitech Speakers (can't remember the model for the life of me right now) coming in!

5. Why are you upgrading?
I wanted a workhorse that would last me a long while and still be great years down the road. I wanted a desktop, because it is beyond modular than a Mac. I already have a build idea below. Your thoughts and recommendations would be highly appreciated!

 

"The Underdog" Build

 

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.95 @ B&H) 

 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($97.99 @ NCIX US) 

 

Motherboard: MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($149.99 @ 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  ($89.75 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.98 @ Best Buy) 

 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($622.20 @ Amazon) 

 

Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ NCIX US) 

 

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($65.99 @ NCIX US) 

 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit)  ($86.75 @ OutletPC) 

 

Case Fans: 5 - Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM 158.5 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($27.34 @ OutletPC) 

 

 

Total: $1672.28

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Links:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PvPK99

 

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PvPK99/by_merchant/

 

[ciprian97pop]

i think that you could get an 5820k in that budget

gonna make a part list

[WellDamnDude]

i think that you could get an 5820k in that budget

gonna make a part list

Thanks much!

[ciprian97pop]

Thanks much!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($195.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.75 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.98 @ Best Buy) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($480.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $1494.66

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-29 21:44 EDT-0400

you can save some money by getting windows from reddit for about $15

and yeah with the remaning $100 you can get thermal paste and a few fans for the case

 

some other builds might have an 980ti but i don't think it's worth paying $200 more for a 5-10 fps gain at 4k. i'm not saying that you shouldn't get the 980ti, in fact, if you can afford to spend $100 over your budget, take it but i think that this build would suit you better knowing that you;re also gonna stream those games(in streaming more cores=better)

[GDRRiley]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($195.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.75 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.98 @ Best Buy) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($480.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $1494.66

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-29 21:44 EDT-0400

you can save some money by getting windows from reddit for about $15

and yeah with the remaning $100 you can get thermal paste and a few fans for the case

 

some other builds might have an 980ti but i don't think it's worth paying $200 more for a 5-10 fps gain at 4k. i'm not saying that you shouldn't get the 980ti, in fact, if you can afford to spend $100 over your budget, take it but i think that this build would suit you better knowing that you;re also gonna stream those games(in streaming more cores=better)

 

Take his cooler and upgrade it to a H100i or H100i GTX

[_ASSASSIN_]

Can I just say that you might as well just use 8.1 with classic shell than win 7. It's a lot faster imo and is better to natively install an SSD to.

[Thunder Down Under]

I would say do this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zCbCXL

 

For starters as much as I like Noctua (every fan in my case is Noctua) those fans are really loud and unnecessary because the fans that come with the Define S are great and match your black and white theme so I just added three more. I changed the cooler because once again it really isn't needed but if it's for looks and not performance then I can understand that. I put in 16gb of ram because for me personally I prefer a minimum of 16gb especially in a system on this tier. I also changed the PSU to a better one and the GPU to one of the best air cooled 980ti's on the market.

[WellDamnDude]

I would say do this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zCbCXL

 

For starters as much as I like Noctua (every fan in my case is Noctua) those fans are really loud and unnecessary because the fans that come with the Define S are great and match your black and white theme so I just added three more. I changed the cooler because once again it really isn't needed but if it's for looks and not performance then I can understand that. I put in 16gb of ram because for me personally I prefer a minimum of 16gb especially in a system on this tier. I also changed the PSU to a better one and the GPU to one of the best air cooled 980ti's on the market.

You have an interesting build. The build I had created prior to one I have posted looked similar to this. Only it had Cougar fans and HyperX 8GB. I'll refer to your build and compare/compromise. Thank you so much!

[Thunder Down Under]

You have an interesting build. The build I had created prior to one I have posted looked similar to this. Only it had Cougar fans and HyperX 8GB. I'll refer to your build and compare/compromise. Thank you so much!

No problem. Post your system when it's done I'd love to see the finished product that black and white theme looks sexy.

[Nena Trinity]

That looks quite nice but I am kinda harsh on bronze marked PSUs... So get a gold one?

 

And ya got a 60Hz or 144Hz screen? If you got 60 then I think you should grab a Fury or Fury X instead...