Help a noob

[StarsMars]

So I have always been behind in the gaming world both on pc and console.

I've never had a gaming Pc and will likely be able to here soon.

What I've been working with is my laptop from 2011. An HP dv6 with an AMD A8 connected to a 32" 720p lcd tv

It's let me play a fair amount of games, but my friend let me know when he plays on it, he considers it an unplayable gaming experience

Low graphics and low fps.

 

I'd like to put together a gaming PC that I can also create some youtube/podcast content

 

 

So far

Case:

Leaning towards Fractal Design S. Thoughts?

 

Mobo:

This is an area I'm having trouble with. I know the z170 chipset is what's going on right now. Don't know all what that entails. Something with enough ram slots and usb ports for my needs.

Audio Isolation. ATX 1151 I'm assuming.

Don't know what brands to look for. I'm weary of MSI because they tag everything with "GAMING" and "BOOST". How is EVGA?

Am I going to be able to fill these needs with a board under $200 usd?

I don't really fully understand MOBOs yet, is there a good thread to fill me in? Can someone give me a rundown in this thread?

 

Processor:

i7 of some kind due to gaming and content creation

Not really sure which one. This area I need a 101.

 

Gramphix Card:

EVGA GeForce 1070 SC

Hopefully the prices will come down a bit before I'm ready to build in a month or two

 

Cpu cooler:

Cooler Master 212evo? Thoughts?

 

Ram:

My laptop has 8gb so hopefully the new PC will have more, don't know how much will be good for "future proof" and needs?

Technologically illiterate

 

SSD:

Kingston? Samsung? I don't really know if it matter what kind.

 

Mech hard drive:

1 or 2 tb for the time being?

 

Power Supply:

Something gold efficiency rated with sufficient power for the build, not really sure. How much should I expect to spend here? Less than 100usd?

*fully Modular

 

I'd like to be able to do some modded skyrim/higher graphics overwatch/Arma

Basically I wanna be able to run Undertale if ya know what im sayin

 

 

 

All info, opinions and such are appreciated

Edited July 7, 2016 by StarsMars

[LizardsAreOP]

Now this is how a post should look like good freaking job mate! i would go for this i dont know your budget but this is one beasty build http://pcpartpicker.com/list/rvJFd6 also i recommend MSI on the GTX 1070 because of service a nice looking design and good cooling...the mobo may be a little over the price but it has allot of ports for your needs!

[Naeaes]

Aircooling in a big case is a great idea, but the 212evo is a cheap piece of junk. Don't do it to your i7, man! This alone won't be likely break anything but it's a clear design flaw and a sign of negligence from the manufacturer. The stupid thing rotates after installation. Like here: 

Also, the cheap CM fans suck monkeyballs. You're going to be buying a new fan or re-lubricating the bearings within a year. 

[magnumkobra]

1. you dont need a 200+ motherboard. lower ones will do. 

2. I7 is fine if your wanting to be doing content creation and stuff like that but if your not go with the i5. the only diff is the amount of cores.

3. you can keep the stock cooler for a while if you are not over clocking (which by you being new to this i reccomend not to because installing other heatsinks can be a nightmare to the unfamiliar.

4.Since you are going to be using core i7, they use ddr4 ram (which is better than what is in your old laptop) 8gb is fine, and you can upgrade later (ddr4 is hella expensive)

5. Ssd  Good with most brands but if you dont care about load times (which you probably dont) you can just use a hhd.

6, 1tb is a lot of space and will take a while to fill up but since you are making content id go 2tb just so you dont have to worry.

7. There are tons of psu that are great for you under 100 but dont go under 50

[QFA350]

1 minute ago, magnumkobra said:

1. you dont need a 200+ motherboard. lower ones will do. 

2. I7 is fine if your wanting to be doing content creation and stuff like that but if your not go with the i5. the only diff is the amount of cores.

3. you can keep the stock cooler for a while if you are not over clocking (which by you being new to this i reccomend not to because installing other heatsinks can be a nightmare to the unfamiliar.

4.Since you are going to be using core i7, they use ddr4 ram (which is better than what is in your old laptop) 8gb is fine, and you can upgrade later (ddr4 is hella expensive)

5. Ssd  Good with most brands but if you dont care about load times (which you probably dont) you can just use a hhd.

6, 1tb is a lot of space and will take a while to fill up but since you are making content id go 2tb just so you dont have to worry.

7. There are tons of psu that are great for you under 100 but dont go under 50

By the looks of his ideas and other people's build suggestions, he does want to overclock. In most shops, DDR4 is cheaper than DDR3. Having a budget this high, you must have an SSD. Compared to a hard disk, it is so much better.

[vgfan1995]

Fractal Design S is great. For the motherboard and the CPU, do you like to be able to overclock your CPU? (I think for contents creator, overclock it just a little bit would be the best because you need better system stability than higher overclocked CPU) GTX 1070 is great but if you are a serious contents creator, might consider a Quadro card. (Just saying) For the cooler, again, it depends on do you like to overclock your CPU or not, if you want to overclock it, water coolers are better but a little bit pricey. Since you will be most likely to use Skylake Intel CPU, remember to buy DDR4 type of RAM most Z170 motherboards only support DDR4, two sticks of 8 GB are ideal if you want to upgrade your system in the future. Samsung 850 EVO series currently is the best price for your buck in my opinion. (Somebody should correct me if I'm wrong) I would choose 2TB (I recommend Wester Digital drives, they're great for performance and price) Last but not least, be careful while choosing the power supply, you should go with reputable brands like Corsair, Cooler Master, or EVGA, also if you want to make your system look great, buy a fully or semi-modular one is nice! Those are just my thoughts, if I'm wrong, someone should, again, correct me.

[StarsMars]

17 minutes ago, LizardsAreOP said:

Now this is how a post should look like good freaking job mate! i would go for this i dont know your budget but this is one beasty build http://pcpartpicker.com/list/rvJFd6 also i recommend MSI on the GTX 1070 because of service a nice looking design and good cooling...the mobo may be a little over the price but it has allot of ports for your needs!

Thank you. My first post here too!

I'm not sure exactly what my budget is going to look like, but I'm hoping to keep it somewhere in the realm of 900-1100 usd

Idk if that's reasonable or not. I'm pretty set on the EVGA 1070.

I really need a good run down on MOBOs. I would like it to look good as I plan on having the windowed version of the fractal design S. Hopefully steering away from a red mobo. maybe white or something that will look nice under LED.

 

 

10 minutes ago, Naeaes said:

Aircooling in a big case is a great idea, but the 212evo is a cheap piece of junk. Don't do it to your i7, man! This alone won't be likely break anything but it's a clear design flaw and a sign of negligence from the manufacturer. The stupid thing rotates after installation. Like here: 

Also, the cheap CM fans suck monkeyballs. You're going to be buying a new fan or re-lubricating the bearings within a year. 

Odd, I was told the CM 212evo was the way to go. Is there a cpu fan/heatsink you recommend?

Or is there a reliable and affordable water cooling solution?

 

9 minutes ago, magnumkobra said:

1. you dont need a 200+ motherboard. lower ones will do. 

2. I7 is fine if your wanting to be doing content creation and stuff like that but if your not go with the i5. the only diff is the amount of cores.

3. you can keep the stock cooler for a while if you are not over clocking (which by you being new to this i reccomend not to because installing other heatsinks can be a nightmare to the unfamiliar.

4.Since you are going to be using core i7, they use ddr4 ram (which is better than what is in your old laptop) 8gb is fine, and you can upgrade later (ddr4 is hella expensive)

5. Ssd  Good with most brands but if you dont care about load times (which you probably dont) you can just use a hhd.

6, 1tb is a lot of space and will take a while to fill up but since you are making content id go 2tb just so you dont have to worry.

7. There are tons of psu that are great for you under 100 but dont go under 50

Any recommendations on MOBOs?

I probably will have a friend of mine help me overclock at some point. Either way I don't want to leave the stock cooler on the cpu.

I really want to have atleast windows on an SSD, maybe a most played game too.

Any recommendations on psu?

 

6 minutes ago, Warning said:

By the looks of his ideas and other people's build suggestions, he does want to overclock. In most shops, DDR4 is cheaper than DDR3. Having a budget this high, you must have an SSD. Compared to a hard disk, it is so much better.

yessss

 

6 minutes ago, vgfan1995 said:

Fractal Design S is great. For the motherboard and the CPU, do you like to be able to overclock your CPU? (I think for contents creator, overclock it just a little bit would be the best because you need better system stability than higher overclocked CPU) GTX 1070 is great but if you are a serious contents creator, might consider a Quadro card. (Just saying) For the cooler, again, it depends on do you like to overclock your CPU or not, if you want to overclock it, water coolers are better but a little bit pricey. Since you will be most likely to use Skylake Intel CPU, remember to buy DDR4 type of RAM most Z170 motherboards only support DDR4, two sticks of 8 GB are ideal if you want to upgrade your system in the future. Samsung 850 EVO series currently is the best price for your buck in my opinion. (Somebody should correct me if I'm wrong) I would choose 2TB (I recommend Wester Digital drives, they're great for performance and price) Last but not least, be careful while choosing the power supply, you should go with reputable brands like Corsair, Cooler Master, or EVGA, also if you want to make your system look great, buy a fully or semi-modular one is nice! Those are just my thoughts, if I'm wrong, someone should, again, correct me.

I'll have to talk to my friend about overclocking the cpu.

Yes I want to go fully modular on the PSU. I'll add that to the original post.

What do I need to look for specifically with PSUs?

[magnumkobra]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438026&cm_re=evga_psu-_-17-438-026-_-Product

good power supply. a bit over kill but its got 10 year warranty so you can use it away

[magnumkobra]

go with samsung ssd good for the money.

[magnumkobra]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132567&cm_re=z170-_-13-132-567-_-Product

asus is a good brand in mobo.

[HKZeroFive]

I'm assuming $1100 is only for the build? Do you need any peripherals, monitor or OS?

 

5 minutes ago, magnumkobra said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132567&cm_re=z170-_-13-132-567-_-Product

asus is a good brand in mobo.

EVGA's NEX/G1 has crap voltage regulation. Wouldn't get it.

[Naeaes]

1 minute ago, StarsMars said:

Odd, I was told the CM 212evo was the way to go. Is there a cpu fan/heatsink you recommend?

Or is there a reliable and affordable water cooling solution?

Lots of fanboys out there. No, it really is fine for a lower-tier product. I have nothing but love for CoolerMaster which is why I'll point out any an all flaws I see in them. The boutique builder I worked for, used CM by default so I've built maybe half a thousand setups with 212evo in them. If you're willing to cough up $50 for the cooler, you got lots of great options. Noctua NH-U12S, Thermalright Macho Direct,  Scythe Mugen 4...

 

I wouldn't go with an AIO watercooler. You're only adding a point of failure to the system and it's a crucial one. You can't really hear the pump failing when the fans are still spinning and it can cause you serious issues with heat. So unless you setup a system that alerts about the failure, you're risking a lot. They're all the same too. There's this one OEM manufacturer called Asetek that makes them all, be it branded Corsair or Antec or whatever.  Again, they're fine for the price but they're cheap. I'd never talk about any degree of reliability with AIO watercoolers. Not that all custom setups are a highway to heaven either. Just go with air.

[Shiro Hagane]

Not very familiar with Skylake but if anything from when back when I looked into building a Skylake build means anything today is that DDR4 RAM is pretty cheap now and going for 8GB is the best there is. For like 20 USD more you can get 16GB even.

 

Any MOBO fom ASUS and ASRock are pretty solid companies to trust. MSI I use but their BIOS is sketchy, just don't touch the BIOS and MSI is a good brand as well.

 

HDD or SSD is personal preference and money you can spend. if you can get a 500GB SSD that'll be enough. But since you say you'll be making content, Id'e say a 240 SSD and a 2TB HDD, been having this combo for a year now and never run out of space.

 

As someone that is using a cheap PSU right now, don't go less than 50 USD as said above, my 35 dollar PSU powers my 390 but can't OC it for crap. Definately go for a 750-800w modular so you never have to worry about not powering anything.

 

Fractel has good cases, you're alright with the S

 

Processor is preference as well along with money, want hyper threading or nah? Really is the question lol. And cooling it with a EVO is great. The wobbling around really isn't a problem, but sticking to stock or getting another brand i can best recommend Noctua or Be Quiet Dark Rock.

 

And GPU, well if you plan on sticking to 720 really any card from Nvidia 950 and up and AMD 380 and up are great. IF you will upgrade to 1080p I have the best experience with a 380x in my mini computer and 280x at my GF's house. But if you can wait for after market 1070 or RX 480 then once more that is on you but good recommendations I give out. 

 

[StarsMars]

29 minutes ago, HKZeroFive said:

I'm assuming $1100 is only for the build? Do you need any peripherals, monitor or OS?

 

EVGA's NEX/G1 has crap voltage regulation. Wouldn't get it.

Yes, I will need to get my hands on a keyboard tough.

Do you have a psu in mind?

 

23 minutes ago, Naeaes said:

Lots of fanboys out there. No, it really is fine for a lower-tier product. I have nothing but love for CoolerMaster which is why I'll point out any an all flaws I see in them. The boutique builder I worked for, used CM by default so I've built maybe half a thousand setups with 212evo in them. If you're willing to cough up $50 for the cooler, you got lots of great options. Noctua NH-U12S, Thermalright Macho Direct,  Scythe Mugen 4...

 

I wouldn't go with an AIO watercooler. You're only adding a point of failure to the system and it's a crucial one. You can't really hear the pump failing when the fans are still spinning and it can cause you serious issues with heat. So unless you setup a system that alerts about the failure, you're risking a lot. They're all the same too. There's this one OEM manufacturer called Asetek that makes them all, be it branded Corsair or Antec or whatever.  Again, they're fine for the price but they're cheap. I'd never talk about any degree of reliability with AIO watercoolers. Not that all custom setups are a highway to heaven either. Just go with air.

FANboys. That noctua is hideous lol.

I'm looking through Be Quiet! offerings right now

Water coolers sound like I will eventually have a wet computer. Too cautious right now.

 

19 minutes ago, Shiro Hagane said:

Not very familiar with Skylake but if anything from when back when I looked into building a Skylake build means anything today is that DDR4 RAM is pretty cheap now and going for 8GB is the best there is. For like 20 USD more you can get 16GB even.

 

Any MOBO fom ASUS and ASRock are pretty solid companies to trust. MSI I use but their BIOS is sketchy, just don't touch the BIOS and MSI is a good brand as well.

 

HDD or SSD is personal preference and money you can spend. if you can get a 500GB SSD that'll be enough. But since you say you'll be making content, Id'e say a 240 SSD and a 2TB HDD, been having this combo for a year now and never run out of space.

 

As someone that is using a cheap PSU right now, don't go less than 50 USD as said above, my 35 dollar PSU powers my 390 but can't OC it for crap. Definately go for a 750-800w modular so you never have to worry about not powering anything.

 

Fractel has good cases, you're alright with the S

 

Processor is preference as well along with money, want hyper threading or nah? Really is the question lol. And cooling it with a EVO is great. The wobbling around really isn't a problem, but sticking to stock or getting another brand i can best recommend Noctua or Be Quiet Dark Rock.

 

And GPU, well if you plan on sticking to 720 really any card from Nvidia 950 and up and AMD 380 and up are great. IF you will upgrade to 1080p I have the best experience with a 380x in my mini computer and 280x at my GF's house. But if you can wait for after market 1070 or RX 480 then once more that is on you but good recommendations I give out. 

 

16gb of ram sounds nice

 

Asus and asrock. I'll look through those. Any thoughts on EVGA?

 

240 ssd and 2tb mhd sounds like a good combo. Samsung ssd and what do you think for mechanical? Are there speed and reliability differences from brand to brand?

 

A video from another youtube tech guy, not sure if I can mention him here? Jayz you know who

Showed his power usage on his triple gpu monster only hitting like 300 some watts

Based off that maybe I would be safe in the 500watt range?

 

I'm liking what I'm seeing on the Be quiet dark rock.

 

I don't plan on staying at 720p. Just until I find the funds for a monitor after building a pc. I think the 1070 is the guilty pleasure of the build. It will keep me covered for a bit of the future.

 

Appreciate the advice.

[Shiro Hagane]

5 minutes ago, StarsMars said:

snip

Don't know much on EVGA boards, never used them and some problems with them are always pretty bad so I hear.

 

For a mechanical WD or Seagate are great. The speed difference is non-existent between brands but going for say a WD black is faster than a WD blue for like 10 dollars more within the same brand.

 

I know him but wouldn't know that since I haven't been keeping up as of late but since new cards and newer cards are requiring less power by the generation 550 is solid for the same price. I have a 390 as stated so I needed something for it lol

 

Definately, I love my 390 but if I knew of the 1070 I would have kept my 280x longer before giving it to my second family lols. But for sure, glad to help in any way. 

[StarsMars]

Here's what I've got so far. A bit over budget, but I expect prices will change in the next two months.

 

Let me know what you think

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/WbrJVY

Still looking around the motherboards, open to change.

 

If I'm being picky, I'm not a fan of the red ripjaws ram.

 

I selected an i5 6600k. I want to produce youtube content, but I don't know if I necessarily need an i7 for an extra $100. Let me know what you think about that please.

[Shiro Hagane]

7 hours ago, StarsMars said:

snip

Here's a pretty well recieved Gigabyte board http://pcpartpicker.com/product/xdmxFT/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz170xud3

And a less priced but equal spec ASUS board. http://pcpartpicker.com/product/R8M323/asus-motherboard-z170k

Crucial is a good brand for ram and these a pretty cool if you're okay with the grey/white http://pcpartpicker.com/product/RJVBD3/crucial-memory-bls2k8g4d240fsb

 

Everything is pretty solid and an i5 can take you pretty far but since the hyper threding does help with rendering and editing, the money saved going for the other MOBO's i recommend along with the RAM can get you the extra headroom needed for an i7 instead. And the 1070 probably won't get any cheaper so that's good.

[StarsMars]

Most of my decisions are solidified now.

I'm still up in the air about i5 or i7. Really depends how much $ is available when I go to purchase.

 

Here's the current parts list.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/7Jv4qk

 

I'm just deciding between cases.

 

Fractal Design Define S

 

 

Phanteks Eclipse P400S White

 

[Shiro Hagane]

Well glad I helped. And as far as the cases go, that'll be your preference honestly and wish you the best of luck.

[StarsMars]

1 hour ago, Shiro Hagane said:

Well glad I helped. And as far as the cases go, that'll be your preference honestly and wish you the best of luck.

Don't leave me.....It's so cold..

 

[Shiro Hagane]

2 hours ago, StarsMars said:

Don't leave me.....It's so cold..

 

I'll be around watching and waiting bud, don't worries

[StarsMars]

Ordered the

I5 6600k for $191

Be Quiet pure rock for $30

EVGA 650watt Platinum P2 for $85

 

will be ordered the rest next week