First custom build ever! (Late 2016)

[goldpro1286]

Hello all, this is my first post here, found the forums from the youtube videos that gave a ton of great information. I am posting here because I am working on gathering information to build my first custom PC next winter when I finish school. I would love build it now, but just do not have time to game enough to justify spending the money. I will first post what I am currently gaming with hopes that you guys share some tips for optimizing it to get me through the next year. I am a total NOOB so please take it easy on the super tech lingo, not entirely up to speed yet!

 

Current Rig (A little over 2 years old, purchased as a budget gaming machine):

ASUS Laptop 17" Screen 1920x1080

8.0 GB RAM

Intel Core i74500U CPU @1.80GHz

Windows 10 Home Edition 64bit

Nvidia Geforce GT 745M (Driver is kept current)

 

Here are some thoughts I have had about my future machine:

 

1. Budget & Location

I am wanting to stay somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,500 including peripherals.

 

2. Aim

If you have not figured it out yet, this is mostly for gaming, no serious video editing or anything like that. I would like to be able to run games at 1440p with at least 120Hz refresh rate.

 

3. Monitors

To start I only plan on running one monitor, but am open to the idea of having two sometime in the future. I have my eye on something like the BenQ XL2730Z as a good monitor to fit my budget and gaming needs. 

 

4. Peripherals

I will need a new keyboard, and was leaning towards a ROCCAT Isku FX, I already have the KONE mouse and LOVE IT!

 

5. Why are you upgrading?

I am upgrading because I want to have a much better gaming experience than what I currently get out of my rig. 

 

6. List of components for new rig (subject to change, let me know your opinions):

Case: From so far I think I am leaning towards a Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition, though I am interested in looking for a good case that does not have pre-installed lighting so I can customize it in my own way.

MOBO: MSI Z170A Gaming M7

CPU: Intel Core i76700k Skylark (Will probabaly cool with AIO)

GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX980Ti

RAM: 16GB G. Skill Trident Z DDR4 (2x8GB)

Storage: 2TB HDD Hitatchi GST Deskstar 

Boot Drive: Intel 730 240 GB SSD

 

So that is sort of the list of core components that I am sure will change during the coming year, but we have a great headstart. Looking forward to hearing your responses to ways of optimizing my current laptop and your opinions on my future build. Thanks for those of you who take the time to read and comment. 

[ForsakenLive]

The best advice I can give you, is, make the build on a date close to purchasing. Once you are done with school next winter, come over to the forums and ask the community!

 

The reason I'm saying this is because by then we will have new CPUs, new GPUs, and pretty much new everything.

There will be PSUs that will be doing just fantastic and some others that aren't a first choice anymore due to problems/quality reduction (like Corsair CX series), there will be SSDs that may fail/have performance issues (what happened to Samsung triple-cell ssds) , and some companies bringing fast drives with a great $/GB (like Mushkin Reactor SSDs.

New cases will come and set new standards (like modern cases which account for water cooling out of the box, better cable management, and are easier to build in).

 

So don't  rush, that we have no idea what are we going to get in 12 months+. Most likely a i7 7700k on a Z270 chipset with a GTX1080ti, which makes today's part list obsolete.