$1400 Build Advice Needed

[Bookhugger]

Hello Folks,

One of my friends has asked me if I could help him pick out parts and build a gaming PC for him, however I have a dilemma. His budget is $1400 currently however he has a stable job and therefor will have money to upgrade with if needed. This will be his first desktop so he needs new peripherals too except for headphones. His goal is to play modern titles (Witcher 3, Division) at close to 60 with the best frames possible. I'm conflicted because he could destroy 1080p with this budget but barely squeeze out 1440p. I've recommended that he buy parts that can handle 1440p (1070, i56600k) now but only buy a 1080p monitor and upgrade to 1440p in the future. What do you think of this plan, is there a better way to approach this?

Any and all advice is welcome. 

Thanks.

[Vasllo]

The problem is getting a lower end GPU and higher end monitor or vice-versa?

Look at some panels like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4JH1NB1871

 

This panels isn't the best quality you can get, but probably the best for the money. It's 1440p and it's overclockable, so if the GPU handles 1440p@96hz, he'll have the best of both worlds.

[Herman Mcpootis]

you can get 1440p and good components that can handle 1440p with $1400, even with peripherals included.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($251.99 @ SuperBiiz) same performance as an i7 6700.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X150M-PRO ECC Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($83.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($55.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz) store your OS here.
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($419.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: Acer G257HU smidpx 25.0" 60Hz Monitor  ($250.98 @ Newegg) good budget 1440p monitor with an ips panel.
Keyboard: Thermaltake POSEIDON ZX Wired Standard Keyboard  ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Mouse: Thermaltake TALON Wired Optical Mouse  ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $1399.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-28 00:16 EDT-0400

[HKZeroFive]

Sounds like a decent plan. Although there would be wasted potential with having a GTX 1070 for 1080p 60Hz, if your buddy can upgrade to a 1440p monitor down the track, this build should suffice nicely:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($150.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($71.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($88.48 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.49 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card  ($424.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: LG 24MC57HQ-P 23.8" 60Hz Monitor  ($110.98 @ Newegg) 
Keyboard: Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse  ($59.99 @ Best Buy) 
Total: $1427.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-28 00:17 EDT-0400

[PRTI]

I have to go with @herman mcpootis

 

You get basically a i7,GTX 1070,Decent 1440p monitor,16gb ram and enough storage for a first time PC user

[Antony Leung]

33 minutes ago, keNNySOC said:

I have to go with @herman mcpootis

 

You get basically a i7,GTX 1070,Decent 1440p monitor,16gb ram and enough storage for a first time PC user

But a I5 6600k is enogh for gaming right? even 4k?

[Bookhugger]

Just now, Antony Leung said:

But a I5 6600k is enogh for gaming right? even 4k?

He also plays KSP a fair boot so I figure a little bit overkill on the cpu wouldn't hurt. 

 

[Herman Mcpootis]

2 minutes ago, Antony Leung said:

But a I5 6600k is enogh for gaming right? even 4k?

its enough, but it will bottleneck in 1080p 144hz with a gtx 1070.

[Bookhugger]

Just now, herman mcpootis said:

its enough, but it will bottleneck in 1080p 144hz with a gtx 1070.

Wait shit... Even with an OC? That's what I was planning with my own build...

 

[Antony Leung]

1 minute ago, herman mcpootis said:

its enough, but it will bottleneck in 1080p 144hz with a gtx 1070.

Are you sure? even overclocking it at 4.6GHz?

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 minute ago, Bookhugger said:

Wait shit... Even with an OC? That's what I was planning with my own build...

 

it'll help in some games, but not as much with others. you can try using a 1230 v5 if you can't fit the 6700k into your budget.

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 minute ago, Antony Leung said:

Are you sure? even overclocking it at 4.6GHz?

the 6700k would gain more performance over an i5.

[PRTI]

1 hour ago, Bookhugger said:

Wait shit... Even with an OC? That's what I was planning with my own build...

 

 

1 hour ago, Antony Leung said:

Are you sure? even overclocking it at 4.6GHz?

Here's one benchmark with a i5 6600k 4.5 in 1080p,GTA 5,you can see it is bottlenecking pretty hard

 

 

[Antony Leung]

3 minutes ago, keNNySOC said:

 

Here's one benchmark with a i5 6600k 4.5 in 1080p,GTA 5,you can see it is bottlenecking pretty hard

 

 

ok, time to wait kaby lake then...

[Bookhugger]

20 hours ago, herman mcpootis said:

you can get 1440p and good components that can handle 1440p with $1400, even with peripherals included.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($251.99 @ SuperBiiz) same performance as an i7 6700.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X150M-PRO ECC Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($83.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($55.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz) store your OS here.
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($419.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: Acer G257HU smidpx 25.0" 60Hz Monitor  ($250.98 @ Newegg) good budget 1440p monitor with an ips panel.
Keyboard: Thermaltake POSEIDON ZX Wired Standard Keyboard  ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Mouse: Thermaltake TALON Wired Optical Mouse  ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $1399.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-28 00:16 EDT-0400

This build looks like my best option right now however I'm skeptical about what the XEON experience is like as a couple of my friends have advised me to stay away from them. 

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 hour ago, Bookhugger said:

This build looks like my best option right now however I'm skeptical about what the XEON experience is like as a couple of my friends have advised me to stay away from them. 

they don't know much about processors if they think xeons are crap in gaming. that xeon is only an i7 6700 without integrated graphics and ECC memory support. perfectly equal performance as an i7 6700.

 

skip to 5:26. linus himself says that xeons are identical in performance to their i5/i7 counterparts.