1st Budget Gaming PC By an Extreme Noob

[Synder]

This is going to be my second custom PC, but the first that I will be building and selecting the parts for by myself. My goal is low budget, high performance. I am going to mainly be using the PC for gaming but also for some medium multitasking + programming and Photoshop. As I do not live in the US I cant really expect you to give me great prices for my country but I will specify the price for what I have picked already in US$ as a comparison point. I live in Israel if any of you know somewhere to buy parts for cheap, but for now Im using TMS as my main site.

Hopefully someone here can help me choose because the PC market is HUGE and I got lost trying to find these parts and making sure they don't cost too much.
If there's anything else you need to know in order to help me pick better parts I'll be happy to answer!

The parts that I have already selected (nothing is set in stone) are these:
CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 [S1151, Tray] $135
GPU: Palit GeForce GTX 1060 Dual 3GB GDDR5 VR Ready $286
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3 [S1151] $175
RAM: DDR4 8G 2133Mhz CL14 1.2V Kingston HyperX Fury Black $50
SSD: SanDisk SSD Z400 256GB 2.5 $80
PSU: SeaSonic ET 500W 34A @ 12V Bulk $70

Parts I know I need / want:
Cooler for the CPU (i can only get the Tray version of the i3-6100)
Case
Mouse
Keyboard
1080p Monitor (at least 20", would prefer bigger)

I also think i might need more fans but that depends on the case.

Thanks a lot for reading and I would really appreciate it if you helped me pick!
EDIT: switched "ASUS GTX960 TURBO-OC-4GD5" ($270) with "Palit GeForce GTX 1060 Dual 3GB GDDR5 VR Ready" ($286)
EDIT2: added PSU "SeaSonic ET 500W 34A @ 12V Bulk" ($70)

[Kantor]

3 minutes ago, Synder said:

This is going to be my second custom PC, but the first that I will be building and selecting the parts for by myself. My goal is low budget, high performance. I am going to mainly be using the PC for gaming but also for some medium multitasking + programming and Photoshop. As I do not live in the US I cant really expect you to give me great prices for my country but I will specify the price for what I have picked already in US$ as a comparison point. I live in Israel if any of you know somewhere to buy parts for cheap, but for now Im using TMS as my main site.

Hopefully someone here can help me choose because the PC market is HUGE and I got lost trying to find these parts and making sure they don't cost too much.
If there's anything else you need to know in order to help me pick better parts I'll be happy to answer!

The parts that I have already selected (nothing is set in stone) are these:
CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 [S1151, Tray] $135
GPU: ASUS GTX960 TURBO-OC-4GD5 $270
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3 [S1151] $175
RAM: DDR4 8G 2133Mhz CL14 1.2V Kingston HyperX Fury Black $50
SSD: SanDisk SSD Z400 256GB 2.5 $80

Parts I know I need / want:
Cooler for the CPU (i can only get the Tray version of the i3-6100)
Case
PSU
Mouse
Keyboard
1080p Monitor (at least 20", would prefer bigger)

I also think i might need more fans but that depends on the case.

Thanks a lot for reading and I would really appreciate it if you helped me pick!
 

what case were you thinking of and were you going to get one with a psu or buy it separate?

[Kantor]

and what was your budget?

[typographie]

9 minutes ago, Synder said:

GPU: ASUS GTX960 TURBO-OC-4GD5 $270

How are the Radeon RX 470, RX 480, and GTX 1060 priced in Israel? If they're anywhere near the price of that GTX 960, they are much better choices. They compare well to the GTX 970/980 in most games.

 

If you're buying online, can you link us the site? Don't worry if it's in Hebrew, we'll figure it out. It just makes it easier to recommend parts if we can see what you have available.

[Adalhelm]

If you plan on doing upgrades over time I would get a 500-550W power supply something that has good rating and I prefer modular but that is something that is up to you. If you want an air cooler and dont want to overclock a Cooler master 212 evo should work or some other brand of that cooler. If you want to overclock then get an AIO cooler from corsair or Cooler Master. Case is up to you and how much you want to spend I personally like Corsair Cases but there are other companies that have great cases I like. Mouse and Keyboard I would go to a best buy and test the stuff they have on display and then find something online that fits what you like. I cant recommend monitors because I am not really an expert in that area. I would also recommend getting a 1060 over a 960 they are similar in price and way better performance but price is dependent on area. 

[Gonio]

Jup, a 500-650W good type PSU is all you need these days. Agreed that for the price you mention the 960 is not best choice. If you can take a newer gen card gives more worth to your money over time then the 960 even if it is more expensive.

 

Taking a Z170 board now is a good one for future upgrades once money is available.

[Synder]

1 hour ago, Kantor said:

and what was your budget?

around 800$ is my cap but i can push it a bit more

 

1 hour ago, typographie said:

How are the Radeon RX 470, RX 480, and GTX 1060 priced in Israel? If they're anywhere near the price of that GTX 960, they are much better choices. They compare well to the GTX 970/980 in most games.

 

If you're buying online, can you link us the site? Don't worry if it's in Hebrew, we'll figure it out. It just makes it easier to recommend parts if we can see what you have available.

this is the site http://www.tms.co.il/pcbuilder/1543 it doesnt have a huge selection on some stuff like cases but its the cheapest place I found.
the RX 470 cost around $35 more and GTX 1060 cost about $50 more and the RX480 is way off at about 130$ more. so thats probably out.

 

1 hour ago, Adalhelm said:

If you plan on doing upgrades over time I would get a 500-550W power supply something that has good rating and I prefer modular but that is something that is up to you. If you want an air cooler and dont want to overclock a Cooler master 212 evo should work or some other brand of that cooler. If you want to overclock then get an AIO cooler from corsair or Cooler Master. Case is up to you and how much you want to spend I personally like Corsair Cases but there are other companies that have great cases I like. Mouse and Keyboard I would go to a best buy and test the stuff they have on display and then find something online that fits what you like. I cant recommend monitors because I am not really an expert in that area. I would also recommend getting a 1060 over a 960 they are similar in price and way better performance but price is dependent on area. 

unfortunately I cant buy the cooler master 212 evo or anything that type from when I'm buying, its not available. I don't plan on overclocking any time soon, I'm too much a beginner to feel comfortable with that stuff. About the 1060, see answer above. 

 

53 minutes ago, Gonio said:

Jup, a 500-650W good type PSU is all you need these days. Agreed that for the price you mention the 960 is not best choice. If you can take a newer gen card gives more worth to your money over time then the 960 even if it is more expensive.

 

Taking a Z170 board now is a good one for future upgrades once money is available.

can you recommend any card that can be considered better but cheaper? the 1060 is much to pricey here.



EDIT: about the case I've seen some rather good ones but I really have no idea what to choose. I also think that spending over 70$ on the case is kinda overkill at this point... my original budget was much lower before i started looking up prices for this kind of tech. I honestly dont know if buying a case with a prebuilt PSU is better or worse. Im looking for the cheapest option there.

[Kantor]

if i was you id save up for the 1060 go with a psu with a good rating if your not familiar with building a pc buy a non modular psu with a good rating 500w go with the case you like preferably one with good cable management space as for peripherals and monitors that is ultimately up to your own preferences

.

[typographie]

23 minutes ago, Synder said:

the RX 470 cost around $35 more and GTX 1060 cost about $50 more and the RX480 is way off at about 130$ more. so thats probably out.

I think the RX 470 looks like the smart choice out of those options. Of course it's up to you if you want to spend more or if you need/want something better than the 960, but I will say $35 seems justified for the performance difference. The 470 will perform within a frame or two of a GTX 970 in most games, and it's only marginally slower than an RX 480. It may even slightly outperform the 1060 in certain Vulkan and DX12 games. It's a lot faster than a 960.

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2016/08/04/sapphire-radeon-rx-470-nitro-oc-4gb-review/1

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3104044/components-graphics/amd-radeon-rx-470-review-a-great-graphics-card-with-a-terrible-price.html

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/73155-amd-radeon-rx-470-4gb-review.html

Here are some benchmarks that include most of these cards, if you'd like to see how the framerates actually differ.

[Synder]

54 minutes ago, Kantor said:

if i was you id save up for the 1060 go with a psu with a good rating if your not familiar with building a pc buy a non modular psu with a good rating 500w go with the case you like preferably one with good cable management space as for peripherals and monitors that is ultimately up to your own preferences

.

i dont know if its worth so much money... the 1060 is much more expensive than the 960. I might aswell go for the RX 470 if im gonna spend that much more, then save the $15.

i can take a Palit GTX 1060 Dual 3GB GDDR5 for a very minor price increase but i have no idea how palit makes cards and if this one is actually good.

41 minutes ago, typographie said:

I think the RX 470 looks like the smart choice out of those options. Of course it's up to you if you want to spend more or if you need/want something better than the 960, but I will say $35 seems justified for the performance difference. The 470 will perform within a frame or two of a GTX 970 in most games, and it's only marginally slower than an RX 480. It may even slightly outperform the 1060 in certain Vulkan and DX12 games. It's a lot faster than a 960.

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2016/08/04/sapphire-radeon-rx-470-nitro-oc-4gb-review/1

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3104044/components-graphics/amd-radeon-rx-470-review-a-great-graphics-card-with-a-terrible-price.html

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/73155-amd-radeon-rx-470-4gb-review.html

Here are some benchmarks that include most of these cards, if you'd like to see how the framerates actually differ.

i have found the RX 460 in a MUCH lower price. almost 2/3 of the 960. is that any good? theres also the R9 380/290 at cheaper price points than the 960.

[typographie]

8 minutes ago, Synder said:

i have found the RX 460 in a MUCH lower price. almost 2/3 of the 960. is that any good? theres also the R9 380/290 at cheaper price points than the 960.

The RX 460 is about as fast as a GTX 950 in many games, so it's at least a slight step down from the GTX 960 and, despite what the naming might suggest, a big step down from the RX 470. Here's a review with benchmarks for the RX 460 if you're interested.

 

The R9 380 is comparable to or a little faster than a 960 in most games. The R9 290 is probably quite close to the RX 470/480 in performance, but it's far less efficient. If it's got a good third-party cooler from Sapphire or similar it might be a good alternative.

[Synder]

3 minutes ago, typographie said:

The RX 460 is about as fast as a GTX 950 in many games, so it's at least a slight step down from the GTX 960 and, despite what the naming might suggest, a big step down from the RX 470.

 

The R9 380 is comparable to or a little faster than a 960 in most games. The R9 290 is probably quite close to the RX 470/480 in performance, but it's far less efficient. If it's got a good third-party cooler from Sapphire or similar it might be a good alternative.

if im gonna keep this system for a long time i guess id like to get the most punch for my money. in that case wont taking the R9 380 be the best option? i could also take the palit 1060 but again, i have no idea how good they are. for now im mostly considering gigabyte and asus as far as GPUs go.

[Gonio]

The few Palit reviews I have seen here are overall commendable, so if it fits budget suggest you take it. Between Asus and Gigabyte I lean more towards Asus in current gen cards. EVGA and MSI are no bad brands overall either.

[Synder]

7 minutes ago, Gonio said:

The few Palit reviews I have seen here are overall commendable, so if it fits budget suggest you take it. Between Asus and Gigabyte I lean more towards Asus in current gen cards. EVGA and MSI are no bad brands overall either.

Well then i guess ill take the 1060... seems people around here really like it and ive heard good things about the 10X0 lineup

[Gonio]

Aye, excellent 1080p reso card.

[typographie]

7 hours ago, Synder said:

if im gonna keep this system for a long time i guess id like to get the most punch for my money. in that case wont taking the R9 380 be the best option? i could also take the palit 1060 but again, i have no idea how good they are. for now im mostly considering gigabyte and asus as far as GPUs go.

Well, I still think the RX 470 is the most cost-effective option you've found so far. But certainly the GTX 1060 isn't a bad choice. It will be a bit faster than the RX 470 in most games, but for more money as well.

[rm -rf]

10 hours ago, Synder said:

This is going to be my second custom PC, but the first that I will be building and selecting the parts for by myself. My goal is low budget, high performance. I am going to mainly be using the PC for gaming but also for some medium multitasking + programming and Photoshop. As I do not live in the US I cant really expect you to give me great prices for my country but I will specify the price for what I have picked already in US$ as a comparison point. I live in Israel if any of you know somewhere to buy parts for cheap, but for now Im using TMS as my main site.

Hopefully someone here can help me choose because the PC market is HUGE and I got lost trying to find these parts and making sure they don't cost too much.
If there's anything else you need to know in order to help me pick better parts I'll be happy to answer!

The parts that I have already selected (nothing is set in stone) are these:
CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 [S1151, Tray] $135
GPU: Palit GeForce GTX 1060 Dual 3GB GDDR5 VR Ready $286
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3 [S1151] $175
RAM: DDR4 8G 2133Mhz CL14 1.2V Kingston HyperX Fury Black $50
SSD: SanDisk SSD Z400 256GB 2.5 $80
PSU: SeaSonic ET 500W 34A @ 12V Bulk $70

Parts I know I need / want:
Cooler for the CPU (i can only get the Tray version of the i3-6100)
Case
Mouse
Keyboard
1080p Monitor (at least 20", would prefer bigger)

I also think i might need more fans but that depends on the case.

Thanks a lot for reading and I would really appreciate it if you helped me pick!
EDIT: switched "ASUS GTX960 TURBO-OC-4GD5" ($270) with "Palit GeForce GTX 1060 Dual 3GB GDDR5 VR Ready" ($286)
EDIT2: added PSU "SeaSonic ET 500W 34A @ 12V Bulk" ($70)

Welcome to the forum, also, what country are you buying in?

[Synder]

9 hours ago, rm -rf said:

Welcome to the forum, also, what country are you buying in?

I'm from Israel, I'm gonna buy local. Amazon doesn't like shipping to here.

 

9 hours ago, typographie said:

Well, I still think the RX 470 is the most cost-effective option you've found so far. But certainly the GTX 1060 isn't a bad choice. It will be a bit faster than the RX 470 in most games, but for more money as well.

well the RX 470 isnt cheaper from where im buying. The 1060 is only like $15 more than the 960 as opposed to the $35 of the RX 470.