Best Value Gaming PC Guide 2016

[Guest]

I have put a lot of thought into this and this is the conclusion that I've come to. The RX 480. The best value to performance PC. It costs around $1000AUD, which is the sweetspot for where gaming pcs should generally cost (before the price of windows and specs and stuff). So here is the final build:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($274.00 @ Centre Com) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-D3H ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($159.00 @ Umart) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($59.00 @ Scorptec) 
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  ($98.00 @ IJK) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB XXX OC  Video Card  ($379.00) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($75.00 @ CPL Online) 
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.00 @ CPL Online) 
Total: $1143.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-15 13:01 AEST+1000

 

Rationale:

CPU: After watching Frankie's video on the best value gaming PC (I'm sorry, don't hurt me), I decided on the i5 6500 as the best value to performance CPU. I decided to put it in a friend's rig. Turned out well and he likes the CPU, so there you go. And also the fact that there is no overclocking involved, we don't have to put in an aftermarket cooler

 

Motherboard: My general rationale for all motherboards are that as long as it's an ATX motherboard and has USB 3.0 headers, then you're fine. I also put this motherboard into a friends PC. It works. The motherboard is great! It has interesting lighting and a dank ultra durable case badge that comes with it

 

RAM: I also put this into my friend's PC, it's great memory from corsair. A "tab feind" - Linus Sebastian, 2016, might suffice from 16GB

 

Storage: Here's another thing I put into a friend's PC. An SSHD. While an SSD and HDD combo is generally better, more cases support 3.5" (older cases) and it makes the setup process 20x easier

 

GPU: Yeah.....that's it. The RX 480 from PC Case Gear for $379. That's all I need to say

 

Case: The spec 02 is pretty amazing, so I went with the spec 01 in this case (no pun intended) because of the budget

 

Power Supply: This had plenty of great reviews on pcpartpicker, so I went with it. It should be good enough for that RX 480

 

THAT'S IT! That's the build. Tell me what you think, criticisms, etc in the comments section

[FanBlade]

The GTX 1060 is rumored to outperform the RX480 for around the same price. I like your choice of psu but you could shave a few bucks off by getting a xfx 550w.  I also like your choice of a sshd drive but if we saved 15 usd  on the psu and $30 usd on the HD and get a mechanical 1tb drive, we could squeeze in a sandisk ssd plus 120gb at least in usd price. Not sure about au but it should be about the same. 

[Silent_arrow]

go with 4gb version of rx 480

[antisleep]

That mobo is a bit expensive for what it provide. You can get a cheaper mATX and improve on the other parts.

 

I think this one's an overall better build. Has 240gb SSD and 1TB HDD.

Kept the number of merchants to a minimum for easier shipping.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.00 @ Umart) 
Motherboard: Asus H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($95.00 @ Umart) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($59.00 @ Umart) 
Storage: OCZ TRION 150 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.00 @ CPL Online) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($68.00 @ CPL Online) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB XXX OC  Video Card  ($379.00) 
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case  ($55.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

^blue LEDs instead of red, it's pretty good for the price https://youtu.be/U1Ik3GWY_Ms?t=4m12s
Power Supply: Silverstone 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($105.00 @ CPL Online) 

^the red psu is out. it would look awkward with the blue case. also it's 80+ gold
Total: $1129.00

 

23 hours ago, FanBlade said:

The GTX 1060 is rumored to outperform the RX480 for around the same price.

Most probably not the case in Australia.

[Guest]

On 15/07/2016 at 5:12 PM, FanBlade said:

The GTX 1060 is rumored to outperform the RX480 for around the same price. I like your choice of psu but you could shave a few bucks off by getting a xfx 550w.  I also like your choice of a sshd drive but if we saved 15 usd  on the psu and $30 usd on the HD and get a mechanical 1tb drive, we could squeeze in a sandisk ssd plus 120gb at least in usd price. Not sure about au but it should be about the same. 

Yeah but it's not worth the setup to change stuff to get the most amount of life out of the ssd

[Guest]

On 16/07/2016 at 6:03 AM, Silent_arrow said:

go with 4gb version of rx 480

Not available in Australia, or they're sold out

[Guest]

15 hours ago, antisleep said:

That mobo is a bit expensive for what it provide. You can get a cheaper mATX and improve on the other parts.

 

I think this one's an overall better build. Has 240gb SSD and 1TB HDD.

Kept the number of merchants to a minimum for easier shipping.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.00 @ Umart) 
Motherboard: Asus H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($95.00 @ Umart) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($59.00 @ Umart) 
Storage: OCZ TRION 150 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.00 @ CPL Online) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($68.00 @ CPL Online) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB XXX OC  Video Card  ($379.00) 
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case  ($55.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

^blue LEDs instead of red, it's pretty good for the price https://youtu.be/U1Ik3GWY_Ms?t=4m12s
Power Supply: Silverstone 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($105.00 @ CPL Online) 

^the red psu is out. it would look awkward with the blue case. also it's 80+ gold
Total: $1129.00

 

Most probably not the case in Australia.

I don't agree with the ssd + hdd combo for ONLY gamers. I think it's too much effort to get the most life out of the ssd. The psu change is good BUUT: I have dealt with mATX motherboards in ATX cases, its a pain in the ass and I wouldnt recommend it. Also, thats the cheapest atx motherboard in australia

[Guest]

15 hours ago, antisleep said:

That mobo is a bit expensive for what it provide. You can get a cheaper mATX and improve on the other parts.

 

I think this one's an overall better build. Has 240gb SSD and 1TB HDD.

Kept the number of merchants to a minimum for easier shipping.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.00 @ Umart) 
Motherboard: Asus H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($95.00 @ Umart) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($59.00 @ Umart) 
Storage: OCZ TRION 150 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.00 @ CPL Online) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($68.00 @ CPL Online) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB XXX OC  Video Card  ($379.00) 
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case  ($55.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

^blue LEDs instead of red, it's pretty good for the price https://youtu.be/U1Ik3GWY_Ms?t=4m12s
Power Supply: Silverstone 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($105.00 @ CPL Online) 

^the red psu is out. it would look awkward with the blue case. also it's 80+ gold
Total: $1129.00

 

Most probably not the case in Australia.

And dual channel memory will always be better, dont go single channel for gaming, so I cant agree with the changes on this build (apart from the power supply)

[Guest]

15 hours ago, antisleep said:

That mobo is a bit expensive for what it provide. You can get a cheaper mATX and improve on the other parts.

 

I think this one's an overall better build. Has 240gb SSD and 1TB HDD.

Kept the number of merchants to a minimum for easier shipping.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.00 @ Umart) 
Motherboard: Asus H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($95.00 @ Umart) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($59.00 @ Umart) 
Storage: OCZ TRION 150 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.00 @ CPL Online) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($68.00 @ CPL Online) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB XXX OC  Video Card  ($379.00) 
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case  ($55.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

^blue LEDs instead of red, it's pretty good for the price https://youtu.be/U1Ik3GWY_Ms?t=4m12s
Power Supply: Silverstone 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($105.00 @ CPL Online) 

^the red psu is out. it would look awkward with the blue case. also it's 80+ gold
Total: $1129.00

 

Most probably not the case in Australia.

Scratch that, I cant even agree on the psu change, even if it does trigger people because of the blue and red colours

[Matu20]

7 hours ago, jkeasley said:

Scratch that, I cant even agree on the psu change, even if it does trigger people because of the blue and red colours

Dual channel will always be better, agreed, but difference is minimal. Also, I would always go with a SSD over HDD any day of the week (my system does not include a HDD, too noisy and slow).

 

And if you want the best bang for buck system, it will be based around X4 880K and GTX 950 (based on FPS / Dollar).

[antisleep]

10 hours ago, jkeasley said:

And dual channel memory will always be better, dont go single channel for gaming, so I cant agree with the changes on this build (apart from the power supply)

Picked a single stick for the possibility of upgrading to 16gb down the road.

 

10 hours ago, jkeasley said:

I don't agree with the ssd + hdd combo for ONLY gamers. I think it's too much effort to get the most life out of the ssd. The psu change is good BUUT: I have dealt with mATX motherboards in ATX cases, its a pain in the ass and I wouldnt recommend it. Also, thats the cheapest atx motherboard in australia

I don't get why a smaller mobo on an ATX case would make things harder when it should be the opposite.

 

Are you going for an SSHD just to have 1 less SATA cable attached to your mobo? And the cases picked here all support 2.5" drives too btw.

[Guest]

13 hours ago, antisleep said:

Picked a single stick for the possibility of upgrading to 16gb down the road.

 

I don't get why a smaller mobo on an ATX case would make things harder when it should be the opposite.

 

Are you going for an SSHD just to have 1 less SATA cable attached to your mobo? And the cases picked here all support 2.5" drives too btw.

nonononiononononononono. What I mean by that, is that it's harder for installation, harder to do everything

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Matu20 said:

Dual channel will always be better, agreed, but difference is minimal. Also, I would always go with a SSD over HDD any day of the week (my system does not include a HDD, too noisy and slow).

 

And if you want the best bang for buck system, it will be based around X4 880K and GTX 950 (based on FPS / Dollar).

Yes, but think about it. People say that mechanical hard drives are "noisy", but what are they in comparison to fans in the case. YOU ARENT GOING TO HEAR THE HARD DRIVE. Your point is irrelevant. You have not used an sshd. I have put them in multiple computers so far and they provide the midway performance between an ssd and hdd. I have used them, hence why I put it in the build. It's not up for discussion.

 

See this is what I don't like about these forums. There's a set standard to all PC components (not explaining what I mean by this). And in this case, there's a standard to ssd + hdd and it seems like it's not up for discussion because nobody's willing to accept change. This is, in my opinion, the best value gaming PC, nothing is changing in this build, because it is, what I believe, the best performance per dollar in that price range

[mrchow19910319]

46 minutes ago, jkeasley said:

nonononiononononononono. What I mean by that, is that it's harder for installation, harder to do everything

Not to be rude, I think that is the opposite of the story.

It is easier to install the OS on one SSD, and all your games on one HDD. 

I don't get it why you dislike that idea so much. 

SSHD is not as durable as a SSD and HDD. 

And the speed diff is just huge. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, mrchow19910319 said:

Not to be rude, I think that is the opposite of the story.

It is easier to install the OS on one SSD, and all your games on one HDD. 

I don't get it why you dislike that idea so much. 

SSHD is not as durable as a SSD and HDD. 

And the speed diff is just huge. 

Nope. You install the OS, keep all the installation locations the exact same, it's generally easier

[Matu20]

3 hours ago, jkeasley said:

Yes, but think about it. People say that mechanical hard drives are "noisy", but what are they in comparison to fans in the case. YOU ARENT GOING TO HEAR THE HARD DRIVE. Your point is irrelevant. You have not used an sshd. I have put them in multiple computers so far and they provide the midway performance between an ssd and hdd. I have used them, hence why I put it in the build. It's not up for discussion.

 

See this is what I don't like about these forums. There's a set standard to all PC components (not explaining what I mean by this). And in this case, there's a standard to ssd + hdd and it seems like it's not up for discussion because nobody's willing to accept change. This is, in my opinion, the best value gaming PC, nothing is changing in this build, because it is, what I believe, the best performance per dollar in that price range

Then you can keep your opinion, I don't care. At the end of the day it's your money, your decision, I could care less.

 

But you mention that my point is irrelevant due your inability to hear the HDD, I could very clearly hear the HDD when it was written to and it bothered me so much, that I ditched the thing all together.

 

And if you don't like using forums, then don't use them. People these days, wow.

[antisleep]

A microATX board on an ATX case makes the build more difficult? And going for and SSHD because it's overall easier? I just don't see the sense in this.

 

But let's pretend that's case then, wouldn't it better to struggle a bit on the build process and at the end of the day have a better system?

[Guest]

12 hours ago, antisleep said:

A microATX board on an ATX case makes the build more difficult? And going for and SSHD because it's overall easier? I just don't see the sense in this.

 

But let's pretend that's case then, wouldn't it better to struggle a bit on the build process and at the end of the day have a better system?

No, this build is designed around giving noob pc builders, a place to start. This build is designed to make it extremely easy. This is not what I'm building, but instead a GUIDE

[Guest]

20 hours ago, Matu20 said:

Then you can keep your opinion, I don't care. At the end of the day it's your money, your decision, I could care less.

 

But you mention that my point is irrelevant due your inability to hear the HDD, I could very clearly hear the HDD when it was written to and it bothered me so much, that I ditched the thing all together.

 

And if you don't like using forums, then don't use them. People these days, wow.

Please, tell me more. I like using these forums, BUT as this states. It's the "Best Value Gaming PC 2016". It is a guide for noob pc builders. The build is NOT for me and didn't require input from anyone.

[Matu20]

2 hours ago, jkeasley said:

Please, tell me more. I like using these forums, BUT as this states. It's the "Best Value Gaming PC 2016". It is a guide for noob pc builders. The build is NOT for me and didn't require input from anyone.

Objectively this build is FAR from being the best value and subjectively I disagree with many of your choices.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Matu20 said:

Objectively this build is FAR from being the best value and subjectively I disagree with many of your choices.

Aaaaaaand I don't care for your opinion. This is the best value build in that price range.

[antisleep]

7 hours ago, jkeasley said:

No, this build is designed around giving noob pc builders, a place to start. This build is designed to make it extremely easy. This is not what I'm building, but instead a GUIDE

Rename the thread to "less value for money but easier build 2016" and we're done here.