Need some Advice on building new PC - 1st Timer

[shaunshen]

Hi guys. As per the title, I'm looking into building a new pc to replace my Alienware 17 R1 Laptop (Not a very good laptop but got it from a trade in sale).

 

As for my requirements, I am simply using it purely for gaming purposes ie I do not plan to do any video editing, streaming, simulations, etc. I am looking purely to to do gaming. I dont really need 4K right now 1080 is fine for me 2K would be sweet but not ideal. I hope to be able to play high quality titles such as Star Citizen, Crysis 3, GTA5, Fallout 4 etc at a min of 60fps at 1080 or 2K. I also hope to maybe futureproof it somewhat when VR gaming comes into the market fully.

 

I have already chosen my main CPU to be a i5-6600K processor which I believe is sufficient however my main question is what is a graphics card that is sufficient for the abovementioned requirements? Also a dilemma I am facing was to wait for Pascal to come out but at 32GB (Reportedly) of VRAM I felt that it might be an overkill for what I want to game at right now.

 

For further information, I would prefer suggestions from the Green team instead (NVIDIA) since I am planning on using a mini-ITX board/case for my rig and I believe that Nvidia cards will run less hot as compared to AMD (Pls do correct me if I am wrong).

 

Hence, what is the best/most suitable card without being an overkill hence wasting money for my requirements?

 

Any help is sincerely appreciated and I sincerely apologize to anyone if I may pass of as being rude.

 

Thank you!

 

EDIT: Sorry I forgot that I hope to run my games at High to Max Settings Preferrably!

[Brace]

960,970,380,390 for 1080p. Lower Settings 2K 390. For higher setting something like a 390x, 980 or Best would be an R9 Nano or 980ti. And yes AMD cards will usually be hotter.

[goaway]

A 970 should be more than enough, follows the recommended spec for the oculus rift too. But usually just go with what fits in your budget.  As for the 32GB of ram in the next pascal GPU's, that will only be in the top top top end graphicscards like the quadro series, even the titan series GP100 will according to the rumours "only" have 16GB of ram. I bet something like a 1080 will not get any more than 6GB max.

 

If you should wait for pascal or not is a really tough question, since noone really knows when it will come out. Really just depends on your situation, do you wanna game now, or can you wait(hopefully) just a few months more before building your pc?

[JeffreyEagan]

Brace, I disagree with your 390x suggestion. The price:performance ratio is just... abhorrent with that card. Compared to the 390, you'd get MAYBE 5%-10% across the board for an extra $100. Op, if you want high-end gaming, I'd go with a 390. It'll allow for a LOT of mods with FO4 that require VRAM space (texture upgrades, high poly mesh items) as well as let you really crank graphics settings with no real impact on performance. Currently I have an XFX R9 390 running VSR 1440p on a 1080p screen. No noticeable performance impacts.

[shaunshen]

Thank you guys for the reply! @larsi239 Well I can possibly wait for the Pascal Series no problem but the main issue to me is cost. I'm from Singapore as perhaps even Linus can attest at 1 of his video abt Singapore parts here are 30-40% more expensive than US counterparts. Also resale values here are considerably lower however noting that Ebay, Amazon etc does exist.

 

Hence the main question would really be to either pay lower NOW for what I can use considerably well for my gaming needs or wait for Pascal and pay more for what I dont actually need.

 

Thank you so much for the info!

[shaunshen]

@JeffreyEagan Thank you for the reply! would the 390 run very hot and thermal throttle in a mini ITX board/case? Im trying my best for a small form factor as best as I can and the last thing I want to get is a thermal throttling issue lol

[goaway]

Just now, shaunshen said:

Thank you guys for the reply! @larsi239 Well I can possibly wait for the Pascal Series no problem but the main issue to me is cost. I'm from Singapore as perhaps even Linus can attest at 1 of his video abt Singapore parts here are 30-40% more expensive than US counterparts. Also resale values here are considerably lower however noting that Ebay, Amazon etc does exist.

 

Hence the main question would really be to either pay lower NOW for what I can use considerably well for my gaming needs or wait for Pascal and pay more for what I dont actually need.

 

Thank you so much for the info!

Well, with a new GPU release one would normally expect the FPS per $ to improve, so if money is a problem, waiting might be nice too. And even if the prices go up, when the new cards are released, all the old ones from the 900 series are bound to go down in price. 

[JeffreyEagan]

Just now, shaunshen said:

@JeffreyEagan Thank you for the reply! would the 390 run very hot and thermal throttle in a mini ITX board/case? Im trying my best for a small form factor as best as I can and the last thing I want to get is a thermal throttling issue lol

My card runs in an Air 540. The hottest I've seen it get is about 70C under a real-world scenario with all settings on ultra. In a Mini ITX? Ehhh... Could be a little higher. Just make sure the GPU has PLENTY of ventilation.

[Streetguru]

26 minutes ago, shaunshen said:

Hi guys. As per the title, I'm looking into building a new pc to replace my Alienware 17 R1 Laptop (Not a very good laptop but

What Budget what country, how ITX are we talking?

 

Why buy an overclocking chip if you want an ITX PC? you aren't really going to get too great of cooling for an overclock, nor too great power delivery for a stable OC, now you could spend more and get a Core 500 with a 240mm radiator, but overclocking your CPU hasn't been very nessisary for a while, the money is probably better spent in other places

Far as nvidia vs AMD, all of AMD's mid range cards are faster than the comparable nvidia cards(aside from the 950) and thermals aren't going to be very different because the power draw under a gaming load is very similair, sans 390 vs 970, 390 is only going to draw about 50W more, and you could potentially get that way down by undervolting the card

 

of course if I'm not mistaken the nano here has about the best performance per watt around right now, though I'd maybe get a bit longer case like an Elite 130, and a 390, and just wait for all the new GPUs to come out in a few months to go full on with the high end one there after buying a 4k display

Motherboard wasn't in the PC part picker, but it's the MSI H170I Pro AC LGA 1151, has 2 full size USB 3.1 ports
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130909

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/n39qD3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/n39qD3/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 Nano 4GB Video Card  ($484.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($43.57 @ Mac Mall)
Total: $849.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-24 15:19 EST-0500
 

 

[shaunshen]

@Streetguru Thank you for attempting to pick out the relevant PC parts! However, I have already chosen my other parts but I felt that my question did not necessitate the need for the other parts since they are quite subjective to the needs. As stated in my post im looking for a mini-ITX board preferably with built in Wifi hence my choices are quite limited.

 

As for why I chose a K chip, I dont actually plan to overclock but at a mere 15USD price diff from my country I thought might as well just in case I want to upgrade to a full size case in the future where space isnt a concern. I see that the R9 is a very famous choice here lol!

 

Still quite worried about thermal issues though? Im looking for cases such as that of Raijintek Metis that Linus has reviewed before or a Silverstone SG13 hence my thermal concerns

[Streetguru]

2 minutes ago, shaunshen said:

@Streetguru Thank you for attempting to pick out the relevant PC parts! However, I have already chosen my other parts but

They make a 390X with an all in one water cooler on it, not sure how that would fit in some ITX cases, and there's always the nano if your budget is high enough
 

Temperature difference here doesn't appear to be much, I'd imagine that would remain the same, plus you still get the extra performance from the 390

 

https://youtu.be/udXCusTnRsY?t=253