Mid-Range, Lasting Build

[tccki]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($121.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-PREMIUM ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($381.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($121.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case  ($159.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM 64.9 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($20.43 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM 64.9 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($20.43 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Deepcool UF 140 71.8 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Other: CableMod C-Series AXi, HXi & RM Cable Kit - White ($99.95)
Other: CableMod SATA 3 (6GB/s) Cable - White ($7.95)
Other: CableMod Corsair C-Series Starter Kit Cable Combs - 8 Piece Set - Clear ($7.99)
Total: $1718.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-31 22:07 EST-0500

I'm going to be building myself a PC in the next 90 days. I'd like to build a really solid foundation and then load it up with some mid-range components to get it off the ground, and upgrade once a year or so. Liquid cooling will definitely be an option in the future. I'm going for a light blue theme, I see a lot of cool looking rigs being built with these vibrant colour combinations (Skunkworks build, project N.V.) and the blue trimmed components seem to fit my budget and scope quite well. I live in New Zealand so I'll have to take shipping into consideration if I can't source these parts in NZ based on price or availability.

Edit: Aim is a silent/efficient gaming setup.

I'm looking for more information on these components, suggestions or opinions. Thanks for reading!

[Streetguru]

3 minutes ago, tccki said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Okay well not that for sure

 

are you just gaming?

 

what's your display set up?

[HKZeroFive]

Such a premium cooler and mobo. I'd highly recommend getting a 6600K, not a locked one.

[corbetto]

9 minutes ago, tccki said:

snip

You need to use nzpartpicker, thats all usd. +Import taxes would kill you.
https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/

[tccki]

6 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Okay well not that for sure

 

are you just gaming?

 

what's your display set up?

Yeah, GTA V and BF4 being likely the only intensive games I care about. I have a Dell U3011 (30" 2560x1600) from when I was working from home, thinking about swapping it out for a more responsive display once this thing is built, but I have other monitors laying around. I've already ordered a Ducky and G303 for inputs.

5 minutes ago, HKZeroFive said:

Such a premium cooler and mobo. I'd highly recommending getting a 6600K, not a locked one.

Only $50 more. Thanks!

Edit

Just now, corbetto said:

You need to use nzpartpicker, thats all usd.
https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/

I have tried that but there's very limited selection unfortunately. I can have this stuff drop shipped and returned if faulty as I have family overseas.

[Xenift]

Drop the AIO watercooler for a 6700k.

Also get a less "Premium" z170 board and use extra cash for a beefier cooler. I recommend the dark rock 3 pro.

 

As for PSU the G2 series has always been a togo for me. Extremely well priced and has a silent feature, worth a look.

[Streetguru]

4 minutes ago, tccki said:

Yeah, GTA V and BF4 being likely the only intensive games I care about. I have a Dell U3011 (30" 2560x1600) from when I was working from home, thinking about swapping it out for a more responsive di

So then you're ordering from the US?

 

In any case this has more CPU/GPU performance overall , and has twice the SSD size, for $500 less
 

In addition if you do end up upgrading your display, you're going to end up saving money with a free-sync display Vs a G-sync display, as you'll probably want an adaptive sync display for gaming.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LgJB23
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LgJB23/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($244.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($78.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($133.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card  ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $987.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-31 22:21 EST-0500

[tccki]

7 minutes ago, Xenift said:

Drop the AIO watercooler for a 6700k.

Also get a less "Premium" z170 board and use extra cash for a beefier cooler. I recommend the dark rock 3 pro.

 

As for PSU the G2 series has always been a togo for me. Extremely well priced and has a silent feature, worth a look.

The 6700K is probably more than I need, I have dropped in a 6600K though!

The Z710-DELUXE is about $70 less so I may look into that. I watched the LTT video on the Dark Rock 3 and Luke had major gripes about installing it. This is my 3rd build from scratch so I'm pretty average, is it as annoying to install as described?

 

@Streetguru I'm looking to start off with Skylake for the sake of longevity. I've had a look at the ASUS ROG series monitors but they seem a bit pricey. I haven't looked at much else in that department so very open to suggestions.

[Streetguru]

20 minutes ago, tccki said:

The 6700K is probably more than I need, I have dropped in a 6600K though!

Having Twice the CPU threads compared to the skylake i5 is going to last your longer, in addition all skylake gives you is 5% more IPC, and USB 3.1, if intel's track record is anything to go by, they'll release maybe 1-2 more generations on 1151 and move onto 1152 probably around when PCI-e 4.0 rolls around, like "future proofing" doesn't really exist aside from your case

and what do you mean ROG? Like 1440p IPS 144hz diplays? Ya, but you could get a 1080p 21:9 IPS free-sync display for around $300 that will do fairly well for gaming

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-monitor-29um67

[tccki]

1 hour ago, Streetguru said:

Having Twice the CPU threads compared to the skylake i5 is going to last your longer, in addition all skylake gives you is 5% more IPC, and USB 3.1, if intel's track record is anything to go by, they'll release maybe 1-2 more generations on 1151 and move onto 1152 probably around when PCI-e 4.0 rolls around, like "future proofing" doesn't really exist aside from your case

and what do you mean ROG? Like 1440p IPS 144hz diplays? Ya, but you could get a 1080p 21:9 IPS free-sync display for around $300 that will do fairly well for gaming

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-monitor-29um67

Will having 8 threads help much with games in the same GTA V? I had figured 4 cores was the upper sweet spot in terms of that, and I likely won't be running much in the background when gaming as I have a laptop for other stuff. Also, I'm leaning towards DDR4 for power efficiency and selection in the future.

Thanks for the link, I will need to look more into displays before building.

[Streetguru]

5 minutes ago, tccki said:

Will having 8 threads help much with games in the same GTA V? I had figured 4 cores was the upper sweet spot

Is electricity especially expensive where you are? because power efficiency only matters for mobile devices, and the added data density really only matters for servers, most of the benefits from DDR4 don't exactly matter for most users.

CPUs should be better utilized with DX12/Vulkan, and games will naturally move to more threads

Fallout 4 for example utilizes more threads, the i5 and i7 at 3.5ghz have fairly differing FPS numbers, especially in the minimums, GTAV maxes out at 4threads

 

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2182-fallout-4-cpu-benchmark-huge-performance-difference

[tccki]

2 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Is electricity especially expensive where you are? because power efficiency only matters for mobile devices, and the added data density really only matters for servers, most of the benefits from DDR4 don't exactly matter for most users.

CPUs should be better utilized with DX12/Vulkan, and games will naturally move to more threads

Fallout 4 for example utilizes more threads, the i5 and i7 at 3.5ghz have fairly differing FPS numbers, especially in the minimums, GTAV maxes out at 4threads

 

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2182-fallout-4-cpu-benchmark-huge-performance-difference

I could say it is, but that's not why. This configuration will top out at about 45% load on the PSU, which is also 80+ Platinum.

I might miss the HT and looks like it's worth the wait to save up for a 6700K especially when I'm looking at >60 FPS.

[Streetguru]

24 minutes ago, tccki said:

I could say it is, but that's not why. This configuration will top out at about 45% load on the PSU, which is also 80+ Platinum.

I might miss the HT and looks like it's worth the wait to save up for a 6700K especially when I'm looking at >60 FPS.

The 6700K is generally a terrible buy, the 5820K costs as much as gives you 2 more cores/4 more threads

Your PSU is going to be fine, there's not much reason to worry about stressing it unless you're trying to build a fanless PC

[Xenift]

3 hours ago, tccki said:

The 6700K is probably more than I need, I have dropped in a 6600K though!

The Z710-DELUXE is about $70 less so I may look into that. I watched the LTT video on the Dark Rock 3 and Luke had major gripes about installing it. This is my 3rd build from scratch so I'm pretty average, is it as annoying to install as described?

 

@Streetguru I'm looking to start off with Skylake for the sake of longevity. I've had a look at the ASUS ROG series monitors but they seem a bit pricey. I haven't looked at much else in that department so very open to suggestions.

Well the Dark Rock 3  is hard to install, but definitely the nicest cooler on the market period. It has a clean black top which looks pretty cool under a window.

[tccki]

Thanks for all of the suggestions team! I'll be posting an update once I finish the parts list and start making the orders.