Lotus

Honestly, if your goal is small ITX with full featured performance, I'd skip that case and go for something like a Fractal Designs Core 500. You can fit a full size air cooler like an NH-D15 or even a 240mm AIO, full size GPU, and everything in much less space. It also gives the GPU its own cooling vent with magnetic dust filters.

If it does what you need it to do, you should be fine. The only reason to spend money would be if a need isn't being met. It's not like you can return it and get your money back after two years.

27" 1070p is fine if you don't sit right next to it. It depends on how closely you sit to your monitor.

This is the general all around budget CPU/Mobo/ram platform. 8GB of memory is fine for current games, but you can bump up to 16GB if it'd make you feel better. No flashy looks, just pure substance. PCPartPicker part list: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/J8Hg23 Price breakdown by merchant: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/J8Hg23/by_merchant/ CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€204.93 @ Mindfactory) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€72.98 @ Amazon Deutschland) Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€35.98 @ Amazon Deutschland) Total: €313.89 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-18 20:26 CEST+0200

Those are older architecture than the X5650 Xeons I mentioned, and will not clock nearly as high. The X5650 Xeons in an X58 are only good becacuse you can OC them to 4.0 GHz+ on the newer architecture. There's no way any LGA771 CPU is going to get anywhere near that. It's not a good setup. You'll get worse performance than a stock clocked FX-6300. If you must get something cheap and decent, get this: P55 LGA1156 Motherboard Xeon X3460 / X3470 / X3480 OC the Xeon That's about the cheapest decent gaming setup I can think of, but even that will be a fairly expensive ($60+) used motherboard. What you're talking about won't be good for gaming. Nothing on that socket is. You can get playable in certain titles, but not CPU demanding titles.

No, the clock speed is too low. There are only a few Xeons that are actually decent for gaming. The first are the X58 xeons like the X5650 because they can actually be overclocked, although they're getting a bit old. Second are the more modern xeons that already come with a high clock speed like the Xeon E3 1231 V3, or 1230 V5. Most Xeons are not good for gaming. They're built for power efficiency and multi-threaded performance, not strong single-threaded performance.

Find out the bitrate and go from there.

CPU coolers will list what sockets they are compatible with. The CM 212 Evo is compatible with current intel enthusiast (2011) and consumer (1151) sockets, as well as AMD enthusiast (AM3+) and consumer (fm2+) sockets, as well as most of their predecessors (LGA 1366, 1155, 1150). If in doubt, check what socket your motherboard is and what sockets the cooler supports, then check for clearance inside your case. Motherboards have a dedicated CPU fan connector.

Wait, my understanding was the 1070 also lacked async compute. Is that wrong? I thought they were still doing driver optimizations for load balancing using context switching than real async compute.

If you already have the 980ti to throw in, you can get a monster PC. Get this: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.99 @ SuperBiiz) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Asus Z170-E ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($85.99 @ Newegg) Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($31.98 @ Newegg) Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($56.99 @ NCIX US) Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (Purchased For $0.00) Case: Fractal Design Core 2300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz) Power Supply: Rosewill 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg) Total: $553.82 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-04 11:56 EDT-0400 Do NOT get an FX build. It doesn't have the single-threaded performance necessary for good VR. The above build should really kick ass. The only thing holding it back is lack of a mass storage drive, but that can always be added in later.

If you've already got a monitor, and it's 1080p 60hz (most are), then going higher than a RX 480 will be a waste. Before, going higher than an R9 390 was a waste, but now that price is down to $200. If you want a nice sleek little rig that can do everything well, I'd suggest this: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.88 @ OutletPC) CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($55.89 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Micro Center) Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg) Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US) Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.50 @ Amazon) Case: Fractal Design Core 500 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($59.99 @ Amazon) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($82.70 @ Mac Mall) Other: RX 480 8GB ($239.99) Total: $1020.92 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-29 19:04 EDT-0400 It still has a slot open for future memory expansion, and since it runs in single channel memory mode I made sure to include really fast memory so it's no problem. Everything being red was just an accident. I didn't like the VRMs on the cheaper ITX boards. Going ITX is just an option, but for single GPU systems, I don't really see a downside. Plus, you can fit great cooling and full size GPUs in the Core 500, yet it's still much smaller than any mATX case. I kept storage in case you wanted it. Re-using an old HDD isn't always the most reliable option. I'd definitely recommend getting an SSD, but if you don't need the HDD, then you can just save your money there.

I know. In case it wasn't clear, I was suggesting you get a case without a window. That way you can get whatever motherboard you want without worrying about looks. Worrying about your motherboard's looks isn't a good starting point unless you're willing to throw $$$ down the drain for aesthetics. You can satisfactorily resolve this by simply getting a window-less case which will hide your motherboard, enabling you to get any motherboard.

Honestly, if you're interested in good looks for cheap, just get a Fractal Designs Define S case without a window, then call it a day. You could even step down to the 2500 or 3500 non-window case for even cheaper. Budget builds and flashy window builds usually don't work well together. Then, without a window, you can focus purely on price to performance and get a real kick-ass rig without worrying about interior looks, yet still have a nice case.

If it's cheaper than the GTX 1070, then yes. Otherwise, no. I usually go AMD, but right now with AMD and NVidia having cards at different price brackets, there is literally no competition so you just get whoever makes the new card in your price range. Also, if you're just doing 1080p 60hz gaming, then the RX 480 is perfectly fine and any more would be a waste.

You do realize just how close the 970 and 980 are in performance right? Ignoring the VRAM issue, the 980 is only about 20-25% faster than the 970. Given the average benchmark has the 480 already ahead of the 970, driver optimizations and factory OC's from AIBs can easily make up for the rest in a little while. 980ti is unrealistic in DX11, but the GTX 980 is within reach.

Honestly for 1080p, I'd swap CPUs before getting a new GPU. Your GTX 960 is already getting bottlenecked by that CPU. With regards to RX 480 performance, I can easily see it beating the GTX 980 in a few months. AMD's launch drivers aren't great, and their reference cards usually suck too. Plus, the benchmarked games were all DX11, not DX12 which the RX 480 excels at (except Hitman where the RX 480 stomped NVidia cards, but that's not a fair benchmark).

I wouldn't ever buy from a grey market. Kinguin doesn't sell anything. They only facilitate grey market deals between two other parties, frequently with very shady individuals.

OC'd? 650W would be more than enough. You can get away with less, especially if reference non-OC'd 1080.

I went ITX because when I had a full size ATX case with multi GPU support, the only card I ever added in was a Wi-Fi card. Now my ITX board has built-in WiFi and it's all I need. I did go with a Core 500 though in order to fit large GPUs, large air coolers, and my EVGA GS-650, but it's still an ITX case.

Honestly I would think it's no good. IIRC, capictors are basically plates of metal held a constant but very small distance apart with a high resistant material in between them. They're cylinders because it's easier to just have the two plates wrap around each other in a spiral. A dent would likely alter the distance between the two plates, therefore drastically change it's function. My guess would be that it's gone bad.

Don't do this if you care about gaming. The 6400 is clocked much slower than the 6500. The extra $20 is well worth it. Find somewhere else to skimp, but this isn't a choice I'd make unless I were forced to.

Yes I can. It's a bad idea that performs worse in games than many also cheap alternatives. Plus the budget here is $600. I don't know why you're even bringing up this bad idea when the budget isn't $200.

This is not good for a gaming build. Games won't make use of the extra threads, but can make use of the stronger single-threaded performance of more modern CPUs. an i5-6500 will beat that dual xeon build in games. Hell, in many games you'll lose to the $50 G3258.

If you can wait until the end of the month and up your budget a tad, you can get a decidedly kick ass gaming rig: PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/2bVf7h Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/2bVf7h/by_merchant/ CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz) Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($46.98 @ Newegg) Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($26.99 @ SuperBiiz) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC) Case: Fractal Design Core 2300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US) Video Card: RX 480 ($200.00) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC) Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg) Total: $690.31 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-12 23:11 EDT-0400\ However, if you need to buy now, don't have a copy of windows already, and can't spend more than $600, then this is what I'd do: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz) Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($46.98 @ Newegg) Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($26.99 @ SuperBiiz) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC) Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Micro Center) Case: Fractal Design Core 2300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC) Keyboard: Logitech K120 Wired Standard Keyboard ($9.95 @ Amazon) Total: $600.26 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-12 23:14 EDT-0400 Note; the first build will perform much, MUCH better.

If you have no experience with mechanical switches, reds are the safest buy. Between black and blue, black are safer as they aren't clicky, but they require more force than red. Blue's clicky-ness might get on your nerves.