First PC Build?

[TrevorTechTips]

Within a few months I plan on building a $1300-$1400 Gaming PC to replace my horrible prebuilt one. I wanted some help from the LTT community, because I'm a noob about this PC stuff. I only have two preferences. First; I perfer a NVIDIA GPU, Second; A black and blue themed build. Again I'm a noob, but I know the basics, like what a CPU is. So list some pcpartpicker lists and get started.

[TrevorTechTips]

$1000-$1300* Also I'm unsure whether to go with Skylake or an older generation CPU from Intel. Any help is appreciated.

[FatPenguin]

Here is what I came up with, it is your basic $1000 to mid $1500 pc build. Skylake is good because you have support for ddr4 ram which I think that alone is worth it. I chose a 970 because of how good of a staple they are for mid range - high end pcs. If you want a little more performance you can always get a AMD 390 or 390x but you said you wanted an nvidia GPU

I did not include the OS but with Windows 10 it would total just around $1300 USD

You also did not specify if you wanted peripherals so I did not include them

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.99 @ Best Buy) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($102.88 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: EVGA Z170 FTW ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($67.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($293.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1209.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-31 19:38 EST-0500

[Streetguru]

4 minutes ago, TrevorTechTips said:

Within a few months I plan on building a $1300-$1400 Gaming PC to replace my horrible prebuilt one. I

Well how many months? Because a bunch of new stuff is coming in the summer and there wouldn't be much point in planning out a PC now, are you like in the process of saving up? because you could get a fairly capable PC for around $600

[Philcat101]

5 minutes ago, TrevorTechTips said:

First; I perfer a NVIDIA GPU

First of all, do you just prefer it for the brand, or is there some feature you prefer from Nvidia?
For some GPU's, you might fair off better with AMD

[cortexcortex]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.98 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($94.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($41.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($67.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($623.00 @ Amazon) 
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1247.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-31 19:38 EST-0500

[TrevorTechTips]

Probably around 6-12 months. I know I probably shouldn't even plan this early with Pascal and all thar coming out, but I just want to be prepared and really I can update the list if I see something new that I want to add. Just really early preparation. xD

[TrevorTechTips]

2 minutes ago, Philcat101 said:

First of all, do you just prefer it for the brand, or is there some feature you prefer from Nvidia?
For some GPU's, you might fair off better with AMD

Yeah, I perfer the drivers plus features such as Shadowplay. ;)

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3 minutes ago, cortexcortex said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.98 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($94.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($41.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($67.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($623.00 @ Amazon) 
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1247.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-31 19:38 EST-0500

I would go with this build, but swap out the Gigabyte motherboard for something like a MSI H170 PC Mate, or an ASUS H170.

 

Phanteks Enthoo Pro is also a great case.

[FatPenguin]

4 minutes ago, TrevorTechTips said:

Probably around 6-12 months. I know I probably shouldn't even plan this early with Pascal and all thar coming out, but I just want to be prepared and really I can update the list if I see something new that I want to add. Just really early preparation. xD

About 1 1/2 years ago I wanted to build a PC but I did not have the money, in 1 year stuff will be so advanced that some of the parts in the parts lists you might not be able to buy. :P

[TrevorTechTips]

Just now, FatPenguin said:

About 1 1/2 years ago I wanted to build a PC but I did not have the money, in 1 year stuff will be so advanced that some of the parts in the parts lists you might not be able to buy. :P

True, but if necessary it'll be easy to whoop up a new list. And there is the chance I might earn some extra cash and build it before then.

[FatPenguin]

Just now, TrevorTechTips said:

True, but if necessary it'll be easy to whoop up a new list. And there is the chance I might earn some extra cash and build it before then.

Yeah, honestly I have still not built my PC yet but this whole experience has been so amazing with all the stuff I learned about computers. 

[TrevorTechTips]

Just now, FatPenguin said:

Yeah, honestly I have still not built my PC yet but this whole experience has been so amazing with all the stuff I learned about computers. 

Hmph, yeah, I've already learned alot. Before then, I thought you could buy a CPU and just put it in the motherboard. I almost did that when upgrading my prebuilt PC. xD Then I learned about compatibility. I'm lucky I didn't buy something like a i5 only to realize it was incompatible.

[TrevorTechTips]

1 minute ago, TrevorTechTips said:

Hmph, yeah, I've already learned alot. Before then, I thought you could buy a CPU and just put it in the motherboard. I almost did that when upgrading my prebuilt PC. xD Then I learned about compatibility. I'm lucky I didn't buy something like a i5 only to realize it was incompatible.

I kind of did that already though. I bought a GT 730 for my prebuilt. And some random AMD processor. -_- Atleast they were compatible. Tip: Don't buy a low end GPU.

[FatPenguin]

1 minute ago, TrevorTechTips said:

Hmph, yeah, I've already learned alot. Before then, I thought you could buy a CPU and just put it in the motherboard. I almost did that when upgrading my prebuilt PC. xD Then I learned about compatibility. I'm lucky I didn't buy something like a i5 only to realize it was incompatible.

me too with my laptop, I have this shitty toshiba, (AMD apu) So I thought I could just go onto amazon and just but any old i5 or i7. never bought anything, now I look back like wow I was stupid.

[Philcat101]

1 minute ago, TrevorTechTips said:

I kind of did that already though. I bought a GT 730 for my prebuilt. And some random AMD processor. -_- Atleast they were compatible. Tip: Don't buy a low end GPU.

I have a GT 720 with my REALLY BAD prebuilt.
RIP

[Streetguru]

39 minutes ago, TrevorTechTips said:

Yeah, I perfer the drivers plus features such as Shadowplay. ;)

Pretty sure you meant polaris man, also if I'm not mistaken AMD has the same/similair software options compared to shadowplay

however I wouldn't recommend shadowplay anyways, as you have far more control over your files using OBS, possibly in conjunction with DXtory

In addition you're going to save money on an adaptive sync display with AMD cards, and we gotta wait and see if nvidia fixed it's DX12 issues on pascal.