Build for 2016

[Nesagsar]

I'm thinking of building a new system after February 2016 but I have only ever built one low cost system before (which booted on the first try, so I never experienced troubleshooting either). Below is my current PC and I am looking to improve upon it as much as possible while staying under $2000 USD. I intend to reuse the video card in the new computer as I really like it and I want to save money, maybe I can SLI it on a later upgrade. The plan is to give the current computer to my parents (with a far less powerful GPU I have lying around) when I have the new one done so I can't really reuse the parts. My CPU is running hot (80-90C at idle) and the GPU is taking up so much space that I can't install any more PCIe cards or HDDs in this case (probably not good for air flow either).

 

Current PC

Case: Thermaltake V3 BlacX Edition

Mobo: BIOSTAR H77MU3 Mini-ATX 1155 Socket

CPU: Intel I3 3225 3.3Ghz Dual Core Hyperthreaded with stock cooling

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 OEM

GPU: EVGA GTX 960 2Gb Cache with stock cooling

RAM: 16Gb Mix and Match Crucial and Micron 800Mhz Dual Channel DDR3

PSU: 800 Watt non-modular 

OS: Win 7 Pro SP1 64bit

Case Fans: 1x 120mm rear exhaust fan with blue lighting

System Drive: Toshiba 1TB HDD (73GB free)

Storage Drive: WD 3TB HDD (493GB Free)

Optical Drive: ATAPI DVD/rw x16 Internal

I/O extra: 4 port USB 3.0 controller

Mods: Blue internal lighting bars but I had to take them out for space reasons when I upgraded to this GPU.

 

I use creative cloud and play games that are commonly a few years old (Payday 2, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Dragon Age Inquisition) as I can't afford newer ones. I think an EATX board in a cube case would be good for me. I am not looking to save space on this, I have plenty of room for a larger case. My favored computer retailer is Microcenter, I can get to one of their stores in about 15 min and they are usually really good about returns. Any suggestions? 

[Curufinwe_wins]

2k is a huge amount of money. I'll be right back, but you definitely will want a new gpu in this price bracket.

[Nesagsar]

2k is a huge amount of money. I'll be right back, but you definitely will want a new gpu in this price bracket.

 

The problem I am seeing is that a 2011V3 motherboard with an I7 CPU is going to cost me at least $1000 on their own. $2000 is my upper limit but getting it lower would be good too. Since my current GPU is working for all of my games on high settings I figured I can wait on that bit for later and save the money for better CPU or storage.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Like I can't even recommend spending 2k. 

 

This is as much as I would do. You could consider replacing the PSU with a 850 G2 for about 100 dollars.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU Cooler: LEPA AquaChanger 240 103.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($75.99 @ Directron) 

Motherboard: MSI X99A SLI PLUS ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($229.89 @ OutletPC) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($102.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial BX100 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($159.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 

Storage: Toshiba  1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($659.99 @ Amazon) 

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

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $0.00) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($97.89 @ OutletPC) 

Other: 5820k from Microcenter ($299.99)

Other: 800W psu you already have (Purchased For $0.00)

Total: $1726.72

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-19 21:26 EDT-0400

 

Note the 5820k is 299.99 at microcenter. If you buy that mobo from microcenter you also get like 40 dollars off as well if I remember right.

[Curufinwe_wins]

The problem I am seeing is that a 2011V3 motherboard with an I7 CPU is going to cost me at least $1000 on their own. $2000 is my upper limit but getting it lower would be good too. Since my current GPU is working for all of my games on high settings I figured I can wait on that bit for later and save the money for better CPU or storage.

See above. 5820k plus a nice mobo is only 500-550 dollars. BTW click the link at the top of my above post. PCPartpicker is your friend. Unfortunately it doesn't have microcenter prices anymore (it used to, no idea why they stopped. Kinda pisses me off).

[Nesagsar]

How about this for $1300.

 

Case: Thermaltake Core X9 ATX Stackable 

Mobo: MSI Z170A Krait Gaming LGA 1151 ATX

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz LGA 1151 Quad Core Hyperthreaded with Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme S Liquid Cooling

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 OEM

GPU: EVGA GTX 960 1Gb Cache with stock cooling

RAM: 16Gb Micron 800Mhz Dual Channel DDR3

PSU: Corsair AX Series AV860i 860 Watt ATX Modular

OS: Windows 10 Professional 64-bit

System Drive: Crucial MX200 500GB SATA III 6Gb/s 2.5" SSD

Storage Drive: WD 3TB HDD (493GB Free)

I/O extra: 4 port USB 3.0 controller

[Nesagsar]

Any thoughts on the new setup?

[A10-FTW]

Any thoughts on the new setup?

 

 

I'm thinking of building a new system after February 2016 but I have only ever built one low cost system before (which booted on the first try, so I never experienced troubleshooting either). Below is my current PC and I am looking to improve upon it as much as possible while staying under $2000 USD. I intend to reuse the video card in the new computer as I really like it and I want to save money, maybe I can SLI it on a later upgrade. The plan is to give the current computer to my parents (with a far less powerful GPU I have lying around) when I have the new one done so I can't really reuse the parts. My CPU is running hot (80-90C at idle) and the GPU is taking up so much space that I can't install any more PCIe cards or HDDs in this case (probably not good for air flow either).

 

Current PC

Case: Thermaltake V3 BlacX Edition

Mobo: BIOSTAR H77MU3 Mini-ATX 1155 Socket

CPU: Intel I3 3225 3.3Ghz Dual Core Hyperthreaded with stock cooling

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 OEM

GPU: EVGA GTX 960 2Gb Cache with stock cooling

RAM: 16Gb Mix and Match Crucial and Micron 800Mhz Dual Channel DDR3

PSU: 800 Watt non-modular 

OS: Win 7 Pro SP1 64bit

Case Fans: 1x 120mm rear exhaust fan with blue lighting

System Drive: Toshiba 1TB HDD (73GB free)

Storage Drive: WD 3TB HDD (493GB Free)

Optical Drive: ATAPI DVD/rw x16 Internal

I/O extra: 4 port USB 3.0 controller

Mods: Blue internal lighting bars but I had to take them out for space reasons when I upgraded to this GPU.

 

I use creative cloud and play games that are commonly a few years old (Payday 2, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Dragon Age Inquisition) as I can't afford newer ones. I think an EATX board in a cube case would be good for me. I am not looking to save space on this, I have plenty of room for a larger case. My favored computer retailer is Microcenter, I can get to one of their stores in about 15 min and they are usually really good about returns. Any suggestions? 

 

my thoughts...

 

keep the HDDs and PSU, sell the 960 (we win money here)

 

divide the ram in 8GB for the old pc and 8GB for the new one (we save money here)

 

sell the i3 (keep the motherboard) and add an i5 (we loss money here)

 

buy a "ready to use" full pc A10 for your dad's machine (add your ram)

 

and buy the best gpu you can buy for you

 

 

 

is not the best way, but is what i do in your place

 

you can also buy a motherboard

and cpu

and gpu

and psu

and ram

and case

and hdd

for separate, but this will cost more money

and i think the cheap way is just buy a full A10 machine (they are cheap)

and make two machines

 

something really cool 

 

you will "no need reinstall" the operating system or the games  B)

 

(this is why you need keep the motherboard) 

 

 

 

but this is just my thoughts, is not a guide, just my steps, cya friend.