Thoughts on this gaming build?

[weedismyflower]

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/weedismyflower/saved/#view=ZpM8dC

 

 

I live in Canada so with 13% tax on the base total, my final total comes to $1274.99 before mail in rebates.

I'd love to here any thoughts on what I could do to improve this build or cut some costs, ideally I'd like the final total to not go above $1300 by too much.

 

 

 

 

[HKZeroFive]

Spend $10 more for a newer Skylake system (complete with DDR4), a better quality power supply and a FreeSync monitor. I've left out a cooler since the stock one will suffice.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($234.94 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($109.98 @ NCIX) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($52.97 @ NCIX) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.94 @ Vuugo) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 480 4GB Dual Video Card  ($299.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($86.99 @ NCIX) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.91 @ DirectCanada) 
Monitor: ViewSonic VX2457-MHD 23.6" 60Hz Monitor  ($186.99 @ PC Canada) 
Total: $1136.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-10 03:17 EDT-0400

[johnno124]

if you can i would get a 240GB SSD, I got 120GB and it is most certainly a regret,

[weedismyflower]

1 hour ago, HKZeroFive said:

Spend $10 more for a newer Skylake system (complete with DDR4), a better quality power supply and a FreeSync monitor. I've left out a cooler since the stock one will suffice.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($234.94 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($109.98 @ NCIX) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($52.97 @ NCIX) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.94 @ Vuugo) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 480 4GB Dual Video Card  ($299.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($86.99 @ NCIX) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.91 @ DirectCanada) 
Monitor: ViewSonic VX2457-MHD 23.6" 60Hz Monitor  ($186.99 @ PC Canada) 
Total: $1136.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-10 03:17 EDT-0400

Thanks for the insight, I was just under the impression that skylake processors would be more than just a little bit more expensive to build around. The power supply was a great catch too! About the monitor, how would you weigh IPS vs freesync if I were to focus more on consuming content and less on gaming? Like say casual gaming where I'd only play a few hours on the weekend.

1 hour ago, johnno124 said:

if you can i would get a 240GB SSD, I got 120GB and it is most certainly a regret,

I only plan to install my operating system onto my SSD so I think 120GB will be enough. But I'm curious, what regrets do you have about only getting a 120GB SSD?

[johnno124]

4 minutes ago, weedismyflower said:

I only plan to install my operating system onto my SSD so I think 120GB will be enough. But I'm curious, what regrets do you have about only getting a 120GB SSD?

I origanly planned on only puting my OS on it but over time i realized that many of my programs benifited from the faster read speeds.

[HKZeroFive]

1 minute ago, weedismyflower said:

Thanks for the insight, I was just under the impression that skylake processors would be more than just a little bit more expensive to build around. The power supply was a great catch too! About the monitor, how would you weigh IPS vs freesync if I were to focus more on consuming content and less on gaming? Like say casual gaming where I'd only play a few hours on the weekend.

That's a tough scenario to be honest. FreeSync changes alot, even for casual gaming, to the extent that I would pick it over an IPS monitor anyday. But beyond gaming, it's pretty useless.

 

IPS means much better colour reproduction and viewing angles. It's basically the better choice for everything else aside from gaming.

 

I would say it's a matter of prioritisation or choice. Personally, if you're spending that much more time on consuming content, I would go for an IPS monitor.

[stconquest]

I picked the best RX 480 I know of.  You can go with something like this instead, to save some money ($50):  http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/pbL7YJ/evga-geforce-gtx-1060-6gb-gaming-video-card-06g-p4-6161-kr

 

Mass storage can be added later, as long as you are not storing tons of movies/videos, the 240GB will be plenty... at least to get started.

 

$1125 before rebates:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($260.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 300 55.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($19.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($39.98 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Patriot Torch LE 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($81.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB GTR Video Card  ($379.99 @ Newegg Canada)  <<JayzTwoCents just did a video on this card.  It was awesome.
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT WH ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.98 @ NCIX)
Case Fan: Thermaltake CL-F005-PL12BL-A 41.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($1.25 @ Amazon Canada) <<Front intake
Case Fan: Thermaltake CL-F005-PL12BL-A 41.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($1.25 @ Amazon Canada)  <<Front intake
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 23.0" 60Hz Monitor  ($169.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1080.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-10 05:58 EDT-0400