New PC build critique

[matyldo]

Hi guys. 

I am working with 1500 USD will settle for 1080p but would love to play at 1440p. I imagine atleast 60 FPS for 2-3 years. I am not going to overclock anything and I can't reuse anything from old PC because I will be giving it to my girlfriend, neither do I need OS. I would like a new monitor. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.49 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($87.77 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.74 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($529.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1521.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 09:48 EDT-0400

 

Let me know what you think. Thanks for any suggestions!

Edited April 10, 2016 by matyldo
Changed my mind and updated info.

[stealth80]

Do you already have the motherboard and monitor as no price is listed?

[Moonzy]

the r9 nano is a great card but its not a good price to performance card

and 4k with this budget (including the screen) is pretty much a no-no

 

here's a pretty balanced build

Spoiler

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($204.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($54.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.49 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($87.77 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 
Total: $1100.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 09:02 EDT-0400

the r9 390 will rock at 1080p

[matyldo]

6 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

Do you already have the motherboard and monitor as no price is listed?

No but the site didn't show price. I just now realised this. I would go maybe as far as to increase the budget to 1500 USD. 

2 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Heatsink?

Cheaper R9 Nano (Same thing just made by Asus, its a unique cooler only for the Nano)

I am purchasing from local store and that one comes cheaper and with Razer headphones. Also I don't think I need an aftermarket heatsink for a locked CPU.

[matyldo]

3 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

I see

I was just referring to the Nano's stock cooler, that the design is set by AMD and Asus didn't give it some recycled Nvidia cooler that results in bad temps

So stock Intel cooler it is?

I don't really understand the question, but yes I am not going to tinker with any hardware.

11 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

the r9 nano is a great card but its not a good price to performance card

and 4k with this budget (including the screen) is pretty much a no-no

 

here's a pretty balanced build

  Reveal hidden contents

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($204.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($54.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.49 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($87.77 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 
Total: $1100.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 09:02 EDT-0400

the r9 390 will rock at 1080p

Why 390 though? Should I postpone my 4k dreams? What if I were to not buy the monitor and invest into a Fury X instead?

[Moonzy]

Just now, matyldo said:

Why 390 though?

because thats the best card that can fit into your budget and its a pretty decent card at 1080p?

1 minute ago, matyldo said:

Should I postpone my 4k dreams?

yes, 4k is still not mainstream now and requires monsters like dual 980ti or dual 980 to push decent fps at decent settings

1 minute ago, matyldo said:

What if I were to not buy the monitor and invest into a Fury X instead?

then you would have no monitor to game on?

[matyldo]

4 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

because thats the best card that can fit into your budget and its a pretty decent card at 1080p?

The ultimate question is, will it fit into micro ATX case?

 

5 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

then you would have no monitor to game on?

Well I do have a couple of old monitors with DVI ports.

 

I have been trying to decide for past 14 day and I just don't know anymore. 

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, matyldo said:

The ultimate question is, will it fit into micro ATX case?

the air 240 is a huge micro ATX case in term of gpu length clearance, i dont see why not

4 minutes ago, matyldo said:

Well I do have a couple of old monitors with DVI ports.

 

I have been trying to decide for past 14 day and I just don't know anymore.

if you're fine with them, continue using them till the day they die

i myself have been using a 1440x900 VGA screen till december when it died lol

[matyldo]

12 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

the air 240 is a huge micro ATX case in term of gpu length clearance, i dont see why not

 

 

I think you are right with the card and 4k. *sigh*

 

How about this?

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.49 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($87.77 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.74 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($529.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1521.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 09:48 EDT-0400

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, matyldo said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.49 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($87.77 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.74 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($529.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1521.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 09:48 EDT-0400

depending on what games you play,

the 390 might not be able to push 144fps on most AAA games these days on 1440p with high settings, so it might be pointless to spend so much on that monitor you wont fully utilise

 

games like CS:GO though will benefit from it

 

why do you need 144hz? are you a competitive player? or just casual gamer

[matyldo]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

depending on what games you play,

the 390 might not be able to push 144fps on most AAA games these days on 1440p with high settings, so it might be pointless to spend so much on that monitor you wont fully utilise

 

games like CS:GO though will benefit from it

 

why do you need 144hz? are you a competitive player? or just casual gamer

 

I don't really need 144 and no I am casul, I just want to really notice the difference. I am comfortable with spending that money as I am upgrading from 1080p, 60hz monitor, GTX 770 and I really want to notice the difference. 

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, matyldo said:

I am upgrading from 1080p, 60hz monitor,

in that case, i agree going 1440p, but refrain from 144hz, and get an IPS panel for better colour

most people cant tell the difference anyway, and even if you do, not much benefit from 60hz to 144hz, especially if your gpu cant push such framerate

[tataklee]

1 hour ago, matyldo said:

Hi guys. 

I am working with 1500 USD will settle for 1080p but would love to play at 1440p. I imagine atleast 60 FPS for 2-3 years. I am not going to overclock anything and I can't reuse anything from old PC because I will be giving it to my girlfriend, neither do I need OS. I would like a new monitor. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.49 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($87.77 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.74 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($529.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1521.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 09:48 EDT-0400

 

Let me know what you think. Thanks for any suggestions!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($215.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($66.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($55.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: PNY CS2111 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.99 @ Best Buy) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.77 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($599.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ NCIX US) 
Monitor: Dell P2416D 60Hz 23.8" Monitor  ($296.81 @ B&H) 
Total: $1508.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 10:07 EDT-0400

 

12 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

in that case, i agree going 1440p, but refrain from 144hz, and get an IPS panel for better colour

most people cant tell the difference anyway, and even if you do, not much benefit from 60hz to 144hz, especially if your gpu cant push such framerate

I've heard this before, but I really can't imagine somebody not noticing the difference. I used to play CS:GO on some generic noname 60 Hz display, but when I switched to an Asus VG248QE the difference felt mindboggling. So much so that I cannot even imagine how I could even play semi decently on my old monitor.

 

That being said, the high refresh rate of course doesn't do a whole lot for you if the GPU can't push 144 fps or more constantly.

[matyldo]

10 minutes ago, tataklee said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($215.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($66.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($55.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: PNY CS2111 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.99 @ Best Buy) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.77 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($599.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ NCIX US) 
Monitor: Dell P2416D 60Hz 23.8" Monitor  ($296.81 @ B&H) 
Total: $1508.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 10:07 EDT-0400

 

I thought about GTX 980 Ti obviously, but I am worried about the NVIDIA cards not performing on Dirext 12 as well as AMD cards do. Also any particular reason why you changed the SSD and RAM?  

[Moonzy]

8 minutes ago, tataklee said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($215.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($66.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($55.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: PNY CS2111 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.99 @ Best Buy) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.77 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($599.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ NCIX US) 
Monitor: Dell P2416D 60Hz 23.8" Monitor  ($296.81 @ B&H) 
Total: $1508.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 10:07 EDT-0400

OP, i would go for this build, except i wont get the monitor and continue using your monitor until you can afford a 1440p 144hz monitor if you really want one, if not, that monitor is great as well, 980Ti will push 60fps at 1440p with decent settings on AAA games

though i'd change the ram to vengeance lpx or hyperx, just because im a bit concerned about compatibility issues and skylake is VERY picky with ram

as well as the SSD to samsung 850 Evo, cost more but worth it imo

 

10 minutes ago, tataklee said:

I really can't imagine somebody not noticing the difference

well a large amount of people cant tbh lol

i think 60hz is enough for me, as im just a casual gamer that doesnt play FPS