Fresh Value Build

[BDubTulsa]

Hey all. I'm starting to search for components to build a machine from scratch. I've been watching a ton of YouTube content trying to get a feel for what I should buy. I haven't really been successful finding current "Value" builds anywhere. I get a kick out of Linus, so I was hoping to get some quality info to start here. Here's what I want to do:

I want the best possible gaming experience for my money. Period. I want something that is somewhat future-proofed/upgrade-able. I don't do any video editing, or rendering, etc, and don't plan to either. I just want a good an experience, for as little $$$ as possible, with the option to swap out GPU, etc for more b*d-a$$ equipment in the future.

Some basic things I'm debating right now: DDR3 or DDR4? What motherboard will support future upgrades, but be the best value for now? AMD or Intel processor? How many cores? Etc.

 

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT IT HAS BEEN ALMOST A DECADE SINCE I WAS INVOLVED IN THE PC "SCENE" AT ALL!!! I'm basically a noob again at this point, and I'm working on diving back into the pool. I'd like to get help choosing components, and keep from getting into any fanboy debates over brands. I understand that "the best" of any given component can change from year-to-year, so the best value of what is currently available, or any help on how to evaluate current market-available components is what I need help right now. Please let me know if you need anymore information from me to help me out.

 

So much appreciation and thanks in advance; because, like I said, I've been out of this market for an eternity!

 

B.

[TheRandomness]

Welcome to the forums. What's your absolute max budget and does it include the monitor, peripherals and OS?

[SLAYR]

Welcome the forum.

 

What is your budget for the build along with currency, or any other necessities?

 

A skylake i5, and rx480 is probabbly the best price to performance as of now.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/bsKFd6

 

This is a good spot for a gamming build. AMD's RX 480 GPUs are excellent value.

[MoonlightSylv]

Good build, get the RX 480 or 470 though.

 

Edit: LTT mobile apparently takes you to the latest reply... I thought the above comment was the OP.

Edited July 12, 2016 by ShadowTechXTS

[BDubTulsa]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

 

TheRandomness, I'd don't have a hard budget, but I would prefer to spend $800 US tops. If I can get decent performance, expandability, and peripherals/monitor for that, great. I can go inexpensive on the monitor, and get entry-level keyboard & mouse, and upgrade later. The machine is really what I'm focused on, at this point. As to the OS, I'm predominantly an iOS user (at least for the last decade or so), so I mainly only have experience with MS Window 7. I haven't seen or heard much about Windows 10, but I have 1 point of reference there...it bricked an acquaintance's laptop...but again, this is just 1 data point.

 

Slayr: See my response to TheRandomness. I feel like $800 US would be the peak for the build, if that's doable. I'm in the US, and an Amazon Prime member, so I hope that means easy access to most component options here. Forgive me if this is a complete amateurish question...is the skylake i5 similar in anyway to an Intel Core i5?

 

TheNuzziNuzz: Thanks for the link to the resource. I'll be sure to check that out tonight after work! Anything that can help me make some sense of the current market is wonderful to have!

 

ShadowTechXTS: RX 480. Got it. I'll look it up.

 

Doesn anyone have a recommended feature list for the motherboard, i.e.-how many PCIe slots, how many RAM slots/channels, etc? Keeping in mind, or course, value and future expansion.

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($57.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.49 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card  ($269.99 @ B&H) 
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Rosewill 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $798.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-12 18:42 EDT-0400

[antisleep]

Managed to squeeze in a i5-6600 on this build plus you get a nice compact case with plenty of airflow and 3TB HDD. All parts are from Amazon except for the CPU which you can get from SuperBiiz for $10-15 discount using SUPERPRIMO code ($15 off, ends 7/12) or JULIA54910 ($10 off, ends 07/18).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($215.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

^H170 mobo for support of above 2133Mhz RAM
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($33.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: OCZ TRION 150 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($62.98 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($68.80 @ Amazon) 

^If budget is tight and you want another 8gb stick of ram, swap this for a 1TB Western Digital Blue
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 4GB Video Card  ($200.00) 
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 

^You can choose the black version if you want all black. Here's a 230T midtower if you don't like compact cases.
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $806.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-12 19:27 EDT-0400

 

I did not include an OS but you can get $25 Windows 7/8.1/10 on Kinguin.net: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXTqz3Fd28M

So far, nothing beats this build. If you have spare $20 just to replace the stock cooler, get this.