Atlas: My first computer build. $1500 budget

[PSUGuru]

I am a student in High school and I am saving up a total of $1500 to build my own computer. I want it to be unique, so there are parts in there that may not be great value *cough*the case*cough* but I want it to be more than just something that can gaming and run autoCAD. I want it to look absolutely amazing. When the PC is built, I have an upgrade line planned that'll cost me a lot of money. About $3300. I would like your thoughts on my build and maybe some suggestions.

 

Here's the build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dRd8Ps

 

Here's the upgrades:https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mhBQwV

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

(ew. that HDD)

I think you swapped them

Why bother upgrading when you can just get some of the parts now and get like the GPU later?

 

PLEASE don't get that case

I am getting the case. I see nothing wrong with it and to me, it's worth 250$. And the P300 is a high performing HDD is it not?

 

I am just planning ahead. The upgrades are just there and isn't set in stone. The initial build is what I am going for. For the upgrades, I am getting them gradually. Whenever I have the money.

[ThatNewbieDM]

4 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

(ew. that HDD)

I think you swapped them

Why bother upgrading when you can just get some of the parts now and get like the GPU later?

Why no i7?

 

PLEASE don't get that case

What he said lol. But seriously I just built a similar PC for about the same price point and have some of the pieces you consider upgrades no reason to waste money on the other ones. Noctua DH 15 is amazing btw I love it

 

[ThatNewbieDM]

With my build you could even sink a little more into a better graphics card out of the gate

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($85.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($145.03 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LED 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($147.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  ($0.00) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe ATX Full Tower Case  ($176.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.89 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1064.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-07 00:14 EST-0500

Edited January 7, 2017 by NewbieDM

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, NewbieDM said:

What he said lol. But seriously I just built a similar PC for about the same price point and have some of the pieces you consider upgrades no reason to waste money on the other ones. Noctua DH 15 is amazing btw I love it

 

DH 15 is ugly as hell. the Dark Rock Pro 3 looks amazing and performs well enough. Since I am mostly going to game, I won't need an I7. With this build, I don't want it to be 100% performance-only.

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, NewbieDM said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($85.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($145.03 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LED 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($147.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  ($0.00) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe ATX Full Tower Case  ($176.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.89 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1064.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-07 00:14 EST-0500

 

I don't need an I7. D15 looks ugly. The LED is meh to me. why only a 750gb HDD? I need a lot of storage. GTX 760? I heavily game. I don't like the case, and why downgrade the PSU?

 

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

They all said that. Then they tried Battlefield One...

I've ran battlefield 1 with an I3-6100 just fine. I won't need an I7.

[ThatNewbieDM]

2 minutes ago, QuantumElement said:

 

You still have $500 to play with in my build but you'd have a better cooler and better CPU ( I am getting my gpu in two weeks just using 760 until then) 

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

wait what resolution? Damn.

1080p, which is what I am playing at.

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, NewbieDM said:

You still have $500 to play with in my build but you have a better cooler and better CPU ( I am getting my gpu in two weeks just using 760 until then) 

I don't want that cooler. It looks ugly, sure it performs great, but this PC isn't all about performance. I don't want to look at my PC and say ew.

[ThatNewbieDM]

Dark rock looks cool so if thats more important than the performance then go for it. Get whatever case you like its personal preference anyway. I'd say get a better graphics card for future gaming so your upgrade path is better

[ThatNewbieDM]

7 minutes ago, QuantumElement said:

 

 

1 minute ago, CoolJ S.A.S. said:

You could try a liquid all in one. It's worth it for the noise, and i looks like you have more than enough money change things around. swiftech makes a very attractive one

Agreed if your about looks go AIO.. Performance and the looks plus you can see your ram

[PSUGuru]

3 minutes ago, CoolJ S.A.S. said:

You could try a liquid all in one. It's worth it for the noise, and i looks like you have more than enough money change things around. swiftech makes a very attractive one

I am sticking air cooling for this one. I never liked the look of AIOs anyhow. With the exception of the NZXT Kraken series

3 minutes ago, NewbieDM said:

Dark rock looks cool so if thats more important than the performance then go for it. Get whatever case you like its personal preference anyway. I'd say get a better graphics card for future gaming so your upgrade path is better

The 1060 will meet my gaming needs for awhile. And I am only playing 1080p

[NTDaws]

what about this.

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NjtxTH
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NjtxTH/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($242.89 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($80.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($249.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($93.99 @ Jet) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($93.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.99 @ B&H) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card  ($399.99 @ B&H) 
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (White) ATX Full Tower Case  ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC56 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($60.88 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1502.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-07 00:30 EST-0500

[ThatNewbieDM]

1060 is just a low end card at that price point but you don't seem to care about best performance or longevity so just do you lol

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, Dawson Wehage said:

what about this.

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NjtxTH
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NjtxTH/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($242.89 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($80.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($249.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($93.99 @ Jet) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($93.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.99 @ B&H) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card  ($399.99 @ B&H) 
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (White) ATX Full Tower Case  ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC56 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($60.88 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1502.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-07 00:30 EST-0500

The case is not something I am going to change. And why change to the RMx? The G2 is slighty better.

 

2 minutes ago, CoolJ S.A.S. said:

I wouldn't count on that if you plan on playing future AAA titles. Optimization aside, with consoles getting an upgrade, that means we'll probably get one too across the board. You can typically look at consoles as a worst case scenario.  For example, consoles will be getting larger textures, more effects expected to be viewed at higher resolutions, so even in the lazies ports, we'll probably get that at least. Then it will continue to get better, but not by as much as the initial boom. Then look at titles that look to utilize the potential for PC, and  that can add even more potential that you miss out on.

 

But it just depends what you want, but a 1060 isn't going to be very future resistant compared to something you could more easily get in your budget. 

Well, then it wouldn't be difficult for me to save up and upgrade to a 1070. But I'll upgrade as needed. I don't play GTA V or anything.

[PSUGuru]

2 minutes ago, NewbieDM said:

1060 is just a low end card at that price point but you don't seem to care about best performance or longevity so just do you lol

Well, the 1060 should last long enough. I mean, the 750 TI is a low end card and it still is capable of running most of the games I've thrown at it decently.

[Littlelaner]

1 minute ago, QuantumElement said:

The case is not something I am going to change. And why change to the RMx? The G2 is slighty better.

 

Well, then it wouldn't be difficult for me to save up and upgrade to a 1070. But I'll upgrade as needed. I don't play GTA V or anything.

Why do you want such an expensive case?

I would get a 1070 straight aways if you could, also I have an i7 6700k and sometimes battlefield 1 still doesn't run buttery smooth.. 

What games do you play if not GTA V? Sorry if I missed it being mentioned above.

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, Littlelaner said:

Why do you want such an expensive case?

I would get a 1070 straight aways if you could, also I have an i7 6700k and sometimes battlefield 1 still doesn't run buttery smooth.. 

What games do you play if not GTA V? Sorry if I missed it being mentioned above.

Well, for the primary reason that it looks amazing. When I looked at it I knew I wanted it. I didn't care about the price I just wanted that case. It's not rational, I know. But every other case I've looked that is rather meh to me. This case just looks perfect in my eyes.

 

I play Space Engineers, XCOM 2, Minecraft with 200 mods and a x64 texture pack, Stellaris, Total War, and I will be getting Fallout 4, Battlefield 1 and 4, and Civ VI. There's plenty more I plan to get and play, but I can't name them from the top of my head.

[govindjoshi]

Don't buy your build just yet. Wait a few months for the release of the GTX 1080ti and i7 Kaby Lake line of cpus. For that big of a budget, it's better to wait and make a better PC instead a bad one with little research done. I was just like you, I had a similar budget, and with little research, I went with completely unnecessary budget wasters until my dad scolded me and reduced the budget. I then went on a research spree for months! And honestly, I feel like the PC I built is the greatest price-to-performance build ever (probably not, but I'm saying my wait payed off).

 

And as for the case, yes it looks good, but look around a little more and you'll find similar cases at a much lower price point. Try the mastercase pro 5.

Edited January 7, 2017 by govindjoshi
Adding Information

[ThatNewbieDM]

2 minutes ago, QuantumElement said:

Well, for the primary reason that it looks amazing. When I looked at it I knew I wanted it. I didn't care about the price I just wanted that case. It's not rational, I know. But every other case I've looked that is rather meh to me. This case just looks perfect in my eyes.

 

I play Space Engineers, XCOM 2, Minecraft with 200 mods and a x64 texture pack, Stellaris, Total War, and I will be getting Fallout 4, Battlefield 1 and 4, and Civ VI. There's plenty more I plan to get and play, but I can't name them from the top of my head.

I totally understand the case thing thats exactly how I felt about my phanteks enthoo luxe nothing could measure up to it for me. 

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, govindjoshi said:

Don't buy your build just yet. Wait a few months for the release of the GTX 1080ti and i7 Kaby Lake line of cpus. For that big of a budget, it's better to wait and make a better PC instead a bad one with little research done. I was just like you, I had a similar budget, and with little research, I went with completely unnecessary budget wasters until my dad scolded me and reduced the budget. I then went on a research spree for months! And honestly, I feel like the PC I built is the greatest price-to-performance build ever (probably not, but I'm saying my wait payed off).

I have to save up, anyway! It'll be monthes before I save up enough money to buy all of this. I don't intend to get a 1080TI any  time soon, and Kaby lake has been released and they're a massive disappointment. Ryzen, however, is more interesting.

[Littlelaner]

1 minute ago, QuantumElement said:

I play Space Engineers, XCOM 2, Minecraft with 200 mods and a x64 texture pack, Stellaris, Total War, and I will be getting Fallout 4, Battlefield 1 and 4, and Civ VI. There's plenty more I plan to get and play, but I can't name them from the top of my head.

Hmm, fairly unfamiliar with most of those games. Civ might benefit from faster cores, and minecraft with mods might too?

For the price point of the PC your getting I find it hard to understand why you don't want an i7, but I can get over it. You may want to however look into CPU usages in autocad, not sure what kind of drawings you do, but I'm guessing if your into the 3-d stuff it could be more CPU intensive and hyperthreading may benefit you. 

 

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, CoolJ S.A.S. said:

The point is, we're looking at big jump in the floor of performance, which we haven't really seen because even our highest end performance is limited by consoles. It's only going to look so much better than consoles, even great looking games like Starwars Battlefront was held back. Which is fair. For devs/publishers, we don't really make them as much money as consoles (we more than  make up for it in other sectors of the market). But the devs/pubs are stock with the costs, and don't directly benefit from catering to PC more than console, which is why consoles make a good baseline for what to expect. I can go on if you have questions, but the basic point is, things coudl get much worse. Or proper optimization could become the norm again and then it won't be as big of a problem (you still might have poorer quality than the new consoles in some cases). So if you go with a 1060 now that there is a large performance floor boom on the way, it might not workout, and you may need to upgrade. IT could of course end up being better than a 1070 when the time comes, but it's something to think about.  

I know, maybe I can find a 1070 on some deal. I just hope the 1060 can at least handle Mass Effect: Andromeda. One day, I will have enough money to drop a GTX 1080TI in there, because by the time I've built this PC, The 1080TI would've likely released.

[govindjoshi]

1 minute ago, QuantumElement said:

I have to save up, anyway! It'll be monthes before I save up enough money to buy all of this. I don't intend to get a 1080TI any  time soon, and Kaby lake has been released and they're a massive disappointment. Ryzen, however, is more interesting.

We know little to nothing about ryzen, and while Kaby Lake is a disappointment in terms of a new generation of intel chips, it carries over all benefits of skylake. But as I type this, I agree that kaby lake would be an unnecessary buy. i7 6700k more than enough. How about this, I make a PC part picker build for right now, and I'll try to fit your special case in.