Graduation build

[tlmills82]

EDIT:  He also already has an SSD to put in it.

 

A friend of mine has asked me to put together a build for his son for Graduation.  The budget is $900 US, but I'd like to keep it a bit lower if possible.  Also, he'd like as much on Amazon as possible as he has prime and that would save a ton on shipping, plus he can get his Amazon points for his rewards Visa.

 

He already has a keyboard and mouse, and he will be using a TV as his monitor.

 

Right now he plays mostly League of Legends, Overwatch and a few others, but he would like the capability to play other AAA titles when they release.  I'm guessing since he's using a TV the refresh rate is somewhere around 60Hz, so pushing anything above 60fps isn't really needed.

 

I came up with :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.32 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($109.12 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($43.43 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.95 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($288.88 @ Amazon) 
Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case  ($128.38 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($80.23 @ Amazon) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  ($20.06 @ Amazon) 
Total: $942.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-21 07:44 EDT-0400

[don_svetlio]

Don't waste your money on the 970 - horrible value. RX 480 in 8 days.

[BbsMentos]

No need to pick a Z170 chipset if you don't buy an unlocked cpu, and you should wait for polaris to come out before deciding on the GPU

[tlmills82]

1 minute ago, don_svetlio said:

Don't waste your money on the 970 - horrible value. RX 480 in 8 days.

What price point will it be released at?

[Sir Asvald]

Can he wait for the RX 480? It's going to cost around $200. Also, does he really need the DVD drive? Motherboard should be different. You've chosen a motherboard with a locked CPU

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, tlmills82 said:

What price point will it be released at?

230$ for 8GB model

[Sir Asvald]

3 minutes ago, tlmills82 said:

What price point will it be released at?

$200

[Herman Mcpootis]

5 minutes ago, tlmills82 said:

What price point will it be released at?

$200 for the 4gb model, $230 for the 8gb model. at least for the reference cooler.

[tlmills82]

3 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

Can he wait for the RX 480? It's going to cost around $200. Also, does he really need the DVD drive? Motherboard should be different. You've chosen a motherboard with a locked CPU

I was unaware how soon the new line was getting released, I'll ask him about waiting, seems that it's the best option.

 

As for the DVD drive, yeah he requested one for some reason.

 

I chose that Motherboard because it was the least expensive that allowed for SLI that I could find.  Just in case he wanted to upgrade in the future.

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, tlmills82 said:

I was unaware how soon the new line was getting released, I'll ask him about waiting, seems that it's the best option.

 

As for the DVD drive, yeah he requested one for some reason.

 

I chose that Motherboard because it was the least expensive that allowed for SLI that I could find.  Just in case he wanted to upgrade in the future.

SLI with 3.5GB of VRAM is such a terrible idea that I trust you know that. 4GB is the minimum nowadays and you want 6-8GB if going dual-GPU. Not to mention the PSU. 550W is NOT enough for SLI.

[tlmills82]

1 minute ago, don_svetlio said:

SLI with 3.5GB of VRAM is such a terrible idea that I trust you know that. 4GB is the minimum nowadays and you want 6-8GB if going dual-GPU. Not to mention the PSU. 550W is NOT enough for SLI.

All great points, sleep would be a great idea.  One should not build pcs while half asleep.

[ChrisCross]

14 minutes ago, tlmills82 said:

 

7 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

$200

well the 1070 was way higher than excpected too so i wouldnt count on that. its still going to be way better price/performance than even the 390.

this build has better gaming performance and is snappier because of the ssd:

 

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($57.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($29.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1500 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Other: RX 480 ($250.00)
Total: $771.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-21 08:06 EDT-0400

[Herman Mcpootis]

i recommend getting this instead. 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($76.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($47.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.49 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Inwin 703 BLACK ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  ($14.89 @ OutletPC) 
Other: Rx 480 ($199.99)
Total: $780.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-21 08:09 EDT-0400

[ChrisCross]

2 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

i wouldnt go for a thermaltake psu. on the low-end get seasonic s12ll, xfx ts or antec green

[don_svetlio]

2 minutes ago, ChrisCross said:

i wouldnt go for a thermaltake psu. on the low-end get seasonic s12ll, xfx ts or antec green

ToughPower are fine for the most part. Around the same as FSP Aurum

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 minute ago, ChrisCross said:

i wouldnt go for a thermaltake psu. on the low-end get seasonic s12ll, xfx ts or antec green

well, its a thermaltake toughpower, it's in the psu whitelist(all thermaltake toughpowers). i think it should be fine.

[tlmills82]

I will revisit this build when the 480s drop.  I'll let him know for sure he needs to wait until at least then.

[Herman Mcpootis]

3 minutes ago, tlmills82 said:

I will revisit this build when the 480s drop.  I'll let him know for sure he needs to wait until at least then.

its released in 9 days, prices probably shouldn't change too much.

[Herman Mcpootis]

19 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

550W is NOT enough for SLI.

unless you count the gtx 950. but hey, who the hell does SLI on a 950 ?

[burnttoastnice]

16 minutes ago, ChrisCross said:

i wouldnt go for a thermaltake psu. on the low-end get seasonic s12ll, xfx ts or antec green

 

18 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

Power Supply: Thermaltake 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ Newegg)

 

I personally have an XFX TS 430 (I believe that specific model is european only) and I'm really pleased with it. Didn't come with a power cable but I've got plenty of those laying about. All the cables were black no 'ketchup and mustard' as awesomesauce calls it

[Clanscorpia]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/CLB8d6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/CLB8d6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-D3HP ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($90.66 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.49 @ OutletPC) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($70.98 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  ($14.89 @ OutletPC) 
Other: RX 480 8GB ($230.00)
Other: S340 ($70.00)
Total: $752.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-21 08:29 EDT-0400

[ChrisCross]

1 minute ago, burnttoastnice said:

 

to be honest at that price point its more about reliability but im annoyed by that too.

[Herman Mcpootis]

3 minutes ago, burnttoastnice said:

 

 

I personally have an XFX TS 430 (I believe that specific model is european only) and I'm really pleased with it. Didn't come with a power cable but I've got plenty of those laying about. All the cables were black no 'ketchup and mustard' as awesomesauce calls it

well, all the cables on the toughpower are black if that's what you're asking.

[The Realist]

50 minutes ago, tlmills82 said:

EDIT:  He also already has an SSD to put in it.

 

A friend of mine has asked me to put together a build for his son for Graduation.  The budget is $900 US, but I'd like to keep it a bit lower if possible.  Also, he'd like as much on Amazon as possible as he has prime and that would save a ton on shipping, plus he can get his Amazon points for his rewards Visa.

 

He already has a keyboard and mouse, and he will be using a TV as his monitor.

 

Right now he plays mostly League of Legends, Overwatch and a few others, but he would like the capability to play other AAA titles when they release.  I'm guessing since he's using a TV the refresh rate is somewhere around 60Hz, so pushing anything above 60fps isn't really needed.

 

I came up with :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.32 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($109.12 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($43.43 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.95 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($288.88 @ Amazon) 
Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case  ($128.38 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($80.23 @ Amazon) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  ($20.06 @ Amazon) 
Total: $942.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-21 07:44 EDT-0400

This is the best i can think of just put a rx 480 once it comes out and its a beast

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/G3XTWX