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Holiday Buyer's Guide 2016

$500:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($45.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB GAMING X Video Card  ($199.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($24.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: EVGA 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $492.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-23 19:39 EST-0500

 

$1000:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($289.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($45.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Team Elite Plus 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($60.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card  ($379.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Deepcool DUKASE V2 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($51.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $992.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-23 19:42 EST-0500

 

$2000(editing/rendering):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6800K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($379.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($96.99 @ Jet) 
Motherboard: MSI X99A Raider ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($160.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LED 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Intel 600p Series 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($169.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($624.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($66.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1819.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-23 19:47 EST-0500

 

$2000(gaming):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Le Grand Macho Fanless CPU Cooler  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($124.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($67.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.00 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 8GB AMP! Edition Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($579.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 8GB AMP! Edition Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($579.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1998.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-23 19:51 EST-0500

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Heatsink: Gelid Phantom Black GPU: Palit RTX 3060 Ti Dual RAM: Corsair DDR4 2x8GB 3000Mhz mobo: Asus X570-P case: Fractal Design Define C PSU: Superflower Leadex Gold 650W

 

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16 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

Yeah there's always someone (everyone) who doesn't agree with my Holiday Buyer's Guides.

 

It is what it is.

I agree with your guide, Linus.

 

It's 10/10.

i7 4790K || R9 290X + R9 290 || 16GB G.Skill TridentX 1866 || Gigabyte Z97MX Gaming 5 || Crucial MX100 256GB || WD Caviar Blue 1TB

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20 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

Yeah there's always someone (everyone) who doesn't agree with my Holiday Buyer's Guides.

 

It is what it is.

 
 
 

Different priorities for different use cases, differing brand allegiances, day-to-day price changes (especially in the run-up to Black Friday) and all that. It's one of the beautiful things about building a PC, really; You get to choose exactly what goes into it and any given list online is more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule. Disagreeing is totally fine and part of the process. If there were singular "best" configurations for each given price point, then there wouldn't be such a huge field of components to choose from in the first place.

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24 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

Yeah there's always someone (everyone) who doesn't agree with my Holiday Buyer's Guides.

 

It is what it is.

it is okay linus. we the ones who support your suggestions will run, shield and protect you from ze world

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I'm quite surprised they didn't go with a Skylake processor at least with the "Game on" build if just for the upradeability. The drop in performance will be marginal (and perhaps nonexistent with many games that just don't really use more CPU cores) with an i7-6700k, but you at least get to update it if needed when Intel releases their new processors. And you also get like 50$ to spend on something else, less heat, less power usage...

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26 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

Yeah there's always someone (everyone) who doesn't agree with my Holiday Buyer's Guides.

 

It is what it is.

by someone you mean everyone?

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5 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

by someone you mean everyone?

 

32 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

Yeah there's always someone (everyone) who doesn't agree with my Holiday Buyer's Guides.

 

It is what it is.

i just didn't like the psu choices(except the G2, that was really good) :P

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Heatsink: Gelid Phantom Black GPU: Palit RTX 3060 Ti Dual RAM: Corsair DDR4 2x8GB 3000Mhz mobo: Asus X570-P case: Fractal Design Define C PSU: Superflower Leadex Gold 650W

 

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7 minutes ago, Amunak said:

I'm quite surprised they didn't go with a Skylake processor at least with the "Game on" build if just for the upradeability. The drop in performance will be marginal (and perhaps nonexistent with many games that just don't really use more CPU cores) with an i7-6700k, but you at least get to update it if needed when Intel releases their new processors. And you also get like 50$ to spend on something else, less heat, less power usage...

 
 

I'd have to disagree there; CPU upgrades are rarely worth it on a per-generation basis, and while the *lake series of CPUs are supposed to have the same socket for 3 generations this time around, most of the time you're not going to even want to upgrade your CPU within that timeframe. High-end Ivy Bridge is still relevant performance-wise today; Hell, so is Sandy Bridge. Really, the major reason to upgrade your CPU, especially in the case of a high-end CPU like a 6700K, is because you're upgrading the platform as a whole for new features, meaning you're grabbing a new board to go along with it.

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3 hours ago, nicklmg said:

Damn, good catch. That's my bad there - when I'm grabbing like 30 Amazon links they tend to run together a bit 9_9

"We won't be sweating small stuff like 'upgradability' or 'futureproofness' for this one. We've got $500 to spend, so if it doesn't make the FPS number go up, it's out."

Sooo... that's why :P

a lot of the links straight up don't work because they're auto-linking to amazon.ca and not .com

 

It's obv because I'm in canada but I don't much care.

Intel 4670K /w TT water 2.0 performer, GTX 1070FE, Gigabyte Z87X-DH3, Corsair HX750, 16GB Mushkin 1333mhz, Fractal R4 Windowed, Varmilo mint TKL, Logitech m310, HP Pavilion 23bw, Logitech 2.1 Speakers

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4 hours ago, deXxterlab97 said:

$1000 and an EVGA B1. @Energycore and  @STRMfrmXMN @Starelementpoke will be sad

It's not even the "fine" 600B, it's the B1.

 

Dammit LTT at least give people stuff that will last more than 2 years (a 500B won't last more if you pull the 400W or so that an i5 + OC 1070 will, 8 hours a day)

 

This one earns a dislike.


Edit also a DVD player on an S340 xD Someone proofread these

We have a NEW and GLORIOUSER-ER-ER PSU Tier List Now. (dammit @LukeSavenije stop coming up with new ones)

You can check out the old one that gave joy to so many across the land here

 

Computer having a hard time powering on? Troubleshoot it with this guide. (Currently looking for suggestions to update it into the context of <current year> and make it its own thread)

Computer Specs:

Spoiler

Mathresolvermajig: Intel Xeon E3 1240 (Sandy Bridge i7 equivalent)

Chillinmachine: Noctua NH-C14S
Framepainting-inator: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid

Attachcorethingy: Gigabyte H61M-S2V-B3

Infoholdstick: Corsair 2x4GB DDR3 1333

Computerarmor: Silverstone RL06 "Lookalike"

Rememberdoogle: 1TB HDD + 120GB TR150 + 240 SSD Plus + 1TB MX500

AdditionalPylons: Phanteks AMP! 550W (based on Seasonic GX-550)

Letterpad: Rosewill Apollo 9100 (Cherry MX Red)

Buttonrodent: Razer Viper Mini + Huion H430P drawing Tablet

Auralnterface: Sennheiser HD 6xx

Liquidrectangles: LG 27UK850-W 4K HDR

 

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Just over $500 but the PSU isn't no name and you don't get the Athlon x4 8BottlenecK

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB GAMING X Video Card  ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $506.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-23 21:30 EST-0500

 

And for the $1000, a BLCK OC list so you can show off your "i5-6400 4.5GHz".

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler  ($22.82 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($114.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($47.87 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial MX300 750GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($169.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card  ($379.67 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: *Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $997.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-23 21:33 EST-0500

We have a NEW and GLORIOUSER-ER-ER PSU Tier List Now. (dammit @LukeSavenije stop coming up with new ones)

You can check out the old one that gave joy to so many across the land here

 

Computer having a hard time powering on? Troubleshoot it with this guide. (Currently looking for suggestions to update it into the context of <current year> and make it its own thread)

Computer Specs:

Spoiler

Mathresolvermajig: Intel Xeon E3 1240 (Sandy Bridge i7 equivalent)

Chillinmachine: Noctua NH-C14S
Framepainting-inator: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid

Attachcorethingy: Gigabyte H61M-S2V-B3

Infoholdstick: Corsair 2x4GB DDR3 1333

Computerarmor: Silverstone RL06 "Lookalike"

Rememberdoogle: 1TB HDD + 120GB TR150 + 240 SSD Plus + 1TB MX500

AdditionalPylons: Phanteks AMP! 550W (based on Seasonic GX-550)

Letterpad: Rosewill Apollo 9100 (Cherry MX Red)

Buttonrodent: Razer Viper Mini + Huion H430P drawing Tablet

Auralnterface: Sennheiser HD 6xx

Liquidrectangles: LG 27UK850-W 4K HDR

 

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1 hour ago, LinusTech said:

Yeah there's always someone (everyone) who doesn't agree with my Holiday Buyer's Guides.

 

It is what it is.

Normally I'd say it's fine, your opinion is yours and mine is mine, but you put together a list with a 5.25" optical drive and a case that doesn't have any 5.25" bays on it. Whoops.

We have a NEW and GLORIOUSER-ER-ER PSU Tier List Now. (dammit @LukeSavenije stop coming up with new ones)

You can check out the old one that gave joy to so many across the land here

 

Computer having a hard time powering on? Troubleshoot it with this guide. (Currently looking for suggestions to update it into the context of <current year> and make it its own thread)

Computer Specs:

Spoiler

Mathresolvermajig: Intel Xeon E3 1240 (Sandy Bridge i7 equivalent)

Chillinmachine: Noctua NH-C14S
Framepainting-inator: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid

Attachcorethingy: Gigabyte H61M-S2V-B3

Infoholdstick: Corsair 2x4GB DDR3 1333

Computerarmor: Silverstone RL06 "Lookalike"

Rememberdoogle: 1TB HDD + 120GB TR150 + 240 SSD Plus + 1TB MX500

AdditionalPylons: Phanteks AMP! 550W (based on Seasonic GX-550)

Letterpad: Rosewill Apollo 9100 (Cherry MX Red)

Buttonrodent: Razer Viper Mini + Huion H430P drawing Tablet

Auralnterface: Sennheiser HD 6xx

Liquidrectangles: LG 27UK850-W 4K HDR

 

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I don't think there's that much objection to it, is there? Just nobody understands the AMD CPU, and people think you can get a little more performance per dollar on the other builds (but are ignoring that you are only doing Amazon vs Newegg so that's not that big of deal.)   

 

 

i5-6500 vs 6600k is much less of a QOL increase than i3+DDR4 vs AMD+DDR3.  

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5 hours ago, deXxterlab97 said:

$1000 and an EVGA B1. @Energycore and  @STRMfrmXMN @Starelementpoke will be sad

I cry a lot

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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17 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

I cry a lot

we cri everytiem

7686178464_fdc8ea66c7.jpg

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Heatsink: Gelid Phantom Black GPU: Palit RTX 3060 Ti Dual RAM: Corsair DDR4 2x8GB 3000Mhz mobo: Asus X570-P case: Fractal Design Define C PSU: Superflower Leadex Gold 650W

 

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5 hours ago, idmb said:

But then why go for 1x8GB RAM? He says it's for upgradeability! 

 

Yeah, i caught that one too - which one is it, then? :P 

 

5 hours ago, idmb said:

But... The 6100 performs better in quad core, because hyperthreading!  Which means they chose a decrease in performance and upgradeability just for the ~15% GPU raw power increase, which most certainly won't cause a 15% FPS increase.  It just seems very much like an "it costs a lot to be poor" build, when at a whole $500 USD it doesn't have to be. And, if you really did want a 480 for some reason, you could just get a cheaper SSD. After all, not getting a Hyundai SSD doesn't affect your FPS ;) 

No, please, no more HT hype, OK? It performs better in quad core because "Much faster single-core speed". It has nothing to do with HT transforming 2 cores into 4, which it doesn't this isn't "ThioJoe Tech Tips", and there is no multiplication of cores miracle. The same link you posted is telling so: +57% single core, +21% quad core. If it outperforms the 860K in MC performance, it's because of IPC, and IPC alone.

Regarding the GPU, I don't know if the increase would be 15% (that would be game-dependent anyway), but the question is whether it will be >0%, that's all. I'm all for Hyundai or whatever drive costed $0.01 less, I'll give you that :P 

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This is fine and all but it doesn't solve the problem that I am still broke and can't afford anything.

System

Case- Thermaltake Core V21 / CPU - i7 4790 / GPU - Asus Strix GTX 1070 / Mobo - Gigabyte Z97 mx / Ram - 4x4 gb GSkill Sniper DDR3 1866 / Storage - 2x WD Black 1tb drives, 1x 120gb OCZ SSD / Cooler - Cooler Master TX3 / PSU - EVGA G2 650w / Audio - Sennheiser PC 350 SE / Monitor - Asus 1920X1080 @60hz / Keyboard & Mouse - Cooler Master Devastator II / OS - Windows 10 Enterprise

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23 minutes ago, arbellason55 said:

This is fine and all but it doesn't solve the problem that I am still broke and can't afford anything.

How broke? If your broke, you cant blame us, save some money. PCs aren't free (Especially good ones). 

Please quote our replys so we get a notification and can reply easily. Never cheap out on a PSU, or I will come to watch the fireworks. 

PSU Tier List

 

My specs

Spoiler

PC:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K @4.8GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 
Motherboard:  ASUS Maximus VIII Hero 
GPU: Zotac AMP Extreme 1070 @ 2114Mhz
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W G2

 

Peripherals 

Keyboard: Corsair K70 LUX Browns
Mouse: Logitech G502 
Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud Revolver 

Monitor: U2713M @ 75Hz

 

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5 hours ago, LinusTech said:

Yeah there's always someone (everyone) who doesn't agree with my Holiday Buyer's Guides.

 

It is what it is.

They're pretty solid. On the $2000 build you got the obvious best part there is (disk drive, woohoo).


But hey, everyone has different opinions.  Like I probably would have skipped the SSD for more storage on the budget build.  But at that price range, I'm thinking more storage over more speed. 

Currently focusing on my video game collection.

It doesn't matter what you play games on, just play good games you enjoy.

 

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Linus, could you please revisit your RAM speed & gaming tests, before telling people speed doesn't matter and referencing a video from 2013.

If you do, I think you'll find the story has changed (as I did, when I tested this for myself).

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Why use X99 platform for the $2000 build? That's a huge waste of money, you get comparably better performance with a i7-6700K on a decently good Z170 motherboard, both in game and productivity applications thanks to hyper threading.

Ryzen 7 3700X | Gigabyte RTX 2080 Gaming OC | Corsair LPX 16gb 3200 | MSI B450M Mortar MAX | Corsair H100i v2 | Samsung 850 PRO 512GB | Samsung 860 EVO 1TB | WD Caviar Blue 1TB | Corsair Air 240 Black | Corsair CS650M | Corsair ML120 (3x) | Link

 

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Great buyers guide! ;)

 

Could you do one for business computers? Small business owners and also on a budget, something like that. What could be the cheapest computer that you don't need to replace in 2 years :) ...just a thought.

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checks to see how the Canadian peso is doing vs USD

 

Yup, not upgrading PC this year....

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