My buddy is building his very first PC. Need help with parts

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

So...I have a friend whom I game with fairly frequently. The game we play most often is Overwatch, but he does play a few other games by himself, and also would like to ascend into the masterrace. He has a 17" HP Envy (i7-5500U + 840M I believe) which he's been using for light gaming and general use for a while now, but he's only able to run OW at medium to low settings at 900p with a meh framerate (around 40). It's not pretty. I can tell you that. 

 

He's decided (or I've convinced him, rather) to build a PC. He doesn't really have a specific budget in mind, but he has told me that a $380 (CAD) R9 Fury is a little over his budget, so I'm guessing he probably doesn't want it to go over $1000 or so. 

 

I've shown him all of the good sites, like Newegg and NCIX, and he now knows the core components that make up a gaming rig. Thing is, he's only been at this for a bit, so he doesn't know much, and I've been helping him a lot with the parts. He managed to pick up an H110M mobo for a ridiculous price (like, $30 CAD) on Black Friday, so we are going 1151 for the CPU. After much hesitation, he's ordered the NZXT H440 EnvyUs Edition, which is crazy expensive and not a very good value, but I couldn't convince him otherwise. 

 

So that leaves a handful of parts for us to determine. He's going to be gaming at 1080p, and my biggest gripe is the video card. Overwatch, Rocket League, and a lot of other games he plays are fairly light, but he has told me he wants to play some more demanding games once he gets the rig in. So...I'm thinking a 4GB 470 should do the trick for most games. Is 4GB of vRAM enough to last for a while? I don't really know how often he wants to upgrade, but I expect he wants it to fare well for at least a few years. The i5-6500 is what I've been recommending him. Kaby Lake does apparently work on Z170/H170/H110M, but you need a BIOS update in most cases and I don't know if I want him to go through the hassle. Plus, I doubt the slight boost in performance will be worth it. I have a 6500 myself, and it's plenty fast for everything I do, and his use case is pretty similar, so I'm thinking it should fare well. We've opted for 8 gigs of RAM, since that's what most games need, and I wanted to leave him a slot open for an additional 8GB if he needs it later on. His case has a window, and he doesn't want the ketchup-mustard cables, and I'm a huge fan of efficient and modular PSUs, so I'm recommending him a 650W EVGA unit. He's said that he doesn't really need a ton of storage, so I'm thinking a 240GB SSD should do the trick for now, and he can add a hard drive or something later on. We'll be getting the OS from Kinguin. 

 

It comes down to around a $1000 with everything already purchased included. Anything you guys might change? I know it's not the best in terms of value, but he's already spent so much on the case that I couldn't really do much. We're open to any suggestions - I mean, I've only built a PC once before. But damn, prices have gone up so much since I built my rig back in July - I got my 6500 for $250, a 290X for $250, the same SSD for $70, and a better PSU for $80. 

 

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/sVh8XH 

[Xandaaa]

um yeah. that sounds about right to me. 470 4gb will do fine, but I would make the stretch for an 8g480. 6500 is a great cpu. if possible, I would wait for ryzen and see how that shakes up the scene. otherwise it should be a nice rig.

[SuperShermanTanker]

That partlist seems good I have the RX 480 and a i5 4690k and I'm currently running overwatch at ultra settings 1080p at over 80fps and quite often going over 90fps so a RX 470 will be good

[cpuwaiy]

I know this sounds like a broken record, but unless your buddy needs something right now, I would wait for AMD Ryzen to come out(March).  Once there is more competition in the marketplace, prices should come down.

[stealth80]

Why the hell did he spend almost 20% of his budget on god damned case - anyway I had a Play and managed a 6600 i5, 480 4gb and 16gb ram

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($286.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (Purchased For $30.00) 
Memory: Patriot Extreme Performance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($121.64 @ DirectCanada) 
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon RX 480 4GB Red Dragon Video Card  ($229.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Case: NZXT H440 EnVyUs ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $175.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($58.98 @ NCIX) 
Total: $992.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-07 20:01 EST-0500

[stconquest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($261.50 @ shopRBC)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (Purchased For $30.00)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 8GB ARMOR Video Card  ($314.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: NZXT H440 EnVyUs ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $175.00)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.98 @ NCIX)
Total: $996.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-07 20:02 EST-0500

[stconquest]

9 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

Why the hell did he spend almost 20% of his budget on god damned case - anyway I had a Play and managed a 6600 i5, 480 4gb and 16gb ram

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($286.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (Purchased For $30.00) 
Memory: Patriot Extreme Performance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($121.64 @ DirectCanada) 
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon RX 480 4GB Red Dragon Video Card  ($229.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Case: NZXT H440 EnVyUs ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $175.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($58.98 @ NCIX) 
Total: $992.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-07 20:01 EST-0500

That card is a good deal.  It is not the best card (VRM) or cooler, but the price, wow.

[stealth80]

11 minutes ago, stconquest said:

That card is a good deal.  It is not the best card (VRM) or cooler, but the price, wow.

Yup $10 more than a 470, also o/c pretty well, just needs some good cooling

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($261.75 @ shopRBC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (Purchased For $30.00) try to find out if the mobo had the kabylake bios.
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: AMD Radeon R3 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($86.43 @ DirectCanada) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 480 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($319.00 @ Vuugo) 
Case: NZXT H440 EnVyUs ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $175.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.98 @ NCIX) 
Total: $977.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-07 20:21 EST-0500

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

1 hour ago, Xandaaa said:

if possible, I would wait for ryzen and see how that shakes up the scene. otherwise it should be a nice rig.

1 hour ago, cpuwaiy said:

I would wait for AMD Ryzen to come out(March).  Once there is more competition in the marketplace, prices should come down.

He's got the LGA1151 mobo, so I don't know. If you're talking about prices, yeah. I think it'd be wise to wait. 

1 hour ago, stealth80 said:

Why the hell did he spend almost 20% of his budget on god damned case - anyway I had a Play and managed a 6600 i5, 480 4gb and 16gb ram

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($286.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Memory: Patriot Extreme Performance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($121.64 @ DirectCanada) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon RX 480 4GB Red Dragon Video Card  ($229.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($58.98 @ NCIX) 
Total: $992.58

Haha...I guess he couldn't resist...it looks amazing. I spent a lot of money on my Define R5, and I thought it was totally worth it. (Not nearly as much as the H440, though.) How the fuck did you find a 480 for the price of a 470??? But the cooler...Oh my God...is a 16GB kit of DDR4 really $120 now? It was like $90 when I built my PC. Thanks for the 6600 deal, and the cheap but modular PSU, too. I wish I could give you a million thumbs-ups. 

1 hour ago, stconquest said:

Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 8GB ARMOR Video Card  ($314.99 @ Newegg Canada)

I was looking at a G1 Gaming 480 8GB on sale for a ridiculous price, but the sale ended, and it's at a horrible price now. I know the 480 is a lot better, it's just that I didn't know if the extra price was worth it. 

50 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

CPU: Intel Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($261.75 @ shopRBC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (Purchased For $30.00) try to find out if the mobo had the kabylake bios.
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 480 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($319.00 @ Vuugo) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.98 @ NCIX) 
Total: $977.15

Is 450W enough for the 480? Also, how does the performance compare between the 7500 and the 6600 (we might be able to fit it in, thanks to @stealth80)?

 

Thank you all for your input. A few more questions:

 

Do you guys think 4GB is enough for 1080p for the next few years? Is the 8GB 480 worth it? Is the 3GB 1060 any good (haven't really been keeping up lately)? 

[stealth80]

3 minutes ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

He's got the LGA1151 mobo, so I don't know. If you're talking about prices, yeah. I think it'd be wise to wait. 

Haha...I guess he couldn't resist...it looks amazing. I spent a lot of money on my Define R5, and I thought it was totally worth it. (Not nearly as much as the H440, though.) How the fuck did you find a 480 for the price of a 470??? But the cooler...Oh my God...is a 16GB kit of DDR4 really $120 now? It was like $90 when I built my PC. Thanks for the 6600 deal, and the cheap but modular PSU, too. I wish I could give you a million thumbs-ups. 

I was looking at a G1 Gaming 480 8GB on sale for a ridiculous price, but the sale ended, and it's at a horrible price now. I know the 480 is a lot better, it's just that I didn't know if the extra price was worth it. 

Is 450W enough for the 480? Also, how does the performance compare between the 7500 and the 6600 (we might be able to fit it in, thanks to @stealth80)?

 

Thank you all for your input. A few more questions:

 

Do you guys think 4GB is enough for 1080p for the next few years? Is the 8GB 480 worth it? Is the 3GB 1060 any good (haven't really been keeping up lately)? 

Stay away from the 3gb 1060, its performance value vs the 480 is terrible for not much less money. A 450w would probably do it, but it would be pushing the GPU hard, especially if you decide to o/c the card. As for the CPU's its really close, the 7500 is obviously newer with a very slight IPC improvement, im talking 0.5 - 1% but boost to 100mhz less than the 6600. You could pretty much go for either it would make very little difference. 4gb should be fine for a while, however you are right, moving forward games are starting to want more, how much no one knows. If you can juggle the build a little again then ye grab the 480 8gb, its the mid range I'd recommend, maybe send that damn case back and get a 340 elite and put the $60 - $70 saved towards the 480 8gb! 

[stconquest]

12 minutes ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

He's got the LGA1151 mobo, so I don't know. If you're talking about prices, yeah. I think it'd be wise to wait. 

Haha...I guess he couldn't resist...it looks amazing. I spent a lot of money on my Define R5, and I thought it was totally worth it. (Not nearly as much as the H440, though.) How the fuck did you find a 480 for the price of a 470??? But the cooler...Oh my God...is a 16GB kit of DDR4 really $120 now? It was like $90 when I built my PC. Thanks for the 6600 deal, and the cheap but modular PSU, too. I wish I could give you a million thumbs-ups. 

I was looking at a G1 Gaming 480 8GB on sale for a ridiculous price, but the sale ended, and it's at a horrible price now. I know the 480 is a lot better, it's just that I didn't know if the extra price was worth it. 

Is 450W enough for the 480? Also, how does the performance compare between the 7500 and the 6600 (we might be able to fit it in, thanks to @stealth80)?

 

Thank you all for your input. A few more questions:

 

Do you guys think 4GB is enough for 1080p for the next few years? Is the 8GB 480 worth it? Is the 3GB 1060 any good (haven't really been keeping up lately)? 

The CXM 450W is a decent unit and will be enough.  If you go for a 8GB 480, I believe the Strixx is actually really good one, better than the MSI Armor I had picked.  The G1 is the worst of the bunch (all non-reference 480s), it has really bad cooling.

 

That 4GB RX 480 is the best deal if it is enough for the job.  For Overwatch, definitely save the $100 and go with that. 

 

The 6600 is only 100MHz faster than the 6500 and 300MHz faster when it boosts.  It is up to your friend if that little bit of speed is worth the $20 or so.

 

You have to check to see if that H110 motherboard has a BIOS revision to be able to run a Kabylake CPU on it.  If you have a Skylake CPU, you could update the BIOS for him.  The raw performance difference between the 6600 and the 7500 will be roughly... 0%.    I am serious, there is no indication of any IPC improvement moving from Skylake to Kabylake;  just some features like improved 4K encoding and better thermals.

[stealth80]

4 minutes ago, stconquest said:

The CXM 450W is a decent unit and will be enough.  If you go for a 8GB 480, I believe the Strixx is actually really good one, better than the MSI Armor I had picked.  The G1 is the worst of the bunch (all non-reference 480s), it has really bad cooling.

 

That 4GB RX 480 is the best deal if it is enough for the job.  For Overwatch, definitely save the $100 and go with that. 

 

The 6600 is only 100MHz faster than the 6500 and 300MHz faster when it boosts.  It is up to your friend if that little bit of speed is worth the $20 or so.

 

You have to check to see if that H110 motherboard has a BIOS revision to be able to run a Kabylake CPU on it.  If you have a Skylake CPU, you could update the BIOS for him.  The raw performance difference between the 6600 and the 7500 will be roughly... 0%.    I am serious, there is no indication of any IPC improvement moving from Skylake to Kabylake;  just some features like improved 4K encoding and better thermals.

Id say the 300mhz boost is worth it as you cant o/c the chip, but that's just my 2c 

[stconquest]

1 minute ago, stealth80 said:

Id say the 300mhz boost is worth it as you cant o/c the chip, but that's just my 2c 

If the budget was tight, I would say no.  He has tons of wiggle room.

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

4 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

Stay away from the 3gb 1060, its performance value vs the 480 is terrible for not much less money. A 450w would probably do it, but it would be pushing the GPU hard, especially if you decide to o/c the card. As for the CPU's its really close, the 7500 is obviously newer with a very slight IPC improvement, im talking 0.5 - 1% but boost to 100mhz less than the 6600. You could pretty much go for either it would make very little difference. 4gb should be fine for a while, however you are right, moving forward games are starting to want more, how much no one knows. If you can juggle the build a little again then ye grab the 480 8gb, its the mid range I'd recommend, maybe send that damn case back and get a 340 elite and put the $60 - $70 saved towards the 480 8gb! 

Again, I want to give you a million thumbs-ups. Thanks a ton! 

 

Yeah, I hear the 3GB is cut down a lot from the regular GP106. To be honest, I think 4GB should be fine for the next few years. I think Skylake is probably a better bet. 

 

As for the case...well...I doubt he wants to send it back, LOL. It looks fucking amazing. 

 

1 minute ago, stconquest said:

The CXM 450W is a decent unit and will be enough.  If you go for a 8GB 480, I believe the Strixx is actually really good one, better than the MSI Armor I had picked.  The G1 is the worst of the bunch (all non-reference 480s), it has really bad cooling.

You have to check to see if that H110 motherboard has a BIOS revision to be able to run a Kabylake CPU on it.  If you have a Skylake CPU, you could update the BIOS for him.  The raw performance difference between the 6600 and the 7500 will be roughly... 0%. 

My friend is a newbie, and I believe he wants a black theme to his build, so yeah, I'm really considering the Strix cards, since they're neutral in design, Asus is awesome, and they also have lighting so he can customize it to his liking. I'd still definitely go with a 550W+ PSU, just to be safe. Also, he said he might play more demanding games once he builds his rig, so I'm kind of divided. 

 

So...yeah. I think it's either a Strix 4GB 470 or that Powercolor 480. The Strix definitely has the better cooler, I think, but that is an insane deal. I think we'll go with a higher-wattage PSU, to be safe and whatnot. And yeah, I think the 6500 is the best choice. 

[SuperShermanTanker]

The only thing that is making me go crazy is the fact there is no storage drive in any of the partlists does your friend have a old HDD he can put into the PC to put the games on because if he doesn't how are you going to store a lot of games on a 256gb SSD

[stconquest]

2 minutes ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

Again, I want to give you a million thumbs-ups. Thanks a ton! 

 

Yeah, I hear the 3GB is cut down a lot from the regular GP106. To be honest, I think 4GB should be fine for the next few years. I think Skylake is probably a better bet. 

 

As for the case...well...I doubt he wants to send it back, LOL. It looks fucking amazing. 

 

My friend is a newbie, and I believe he wants a black theme to his build, so yeah, I'm really considering the Strix cards, since they're neutral in design, Asus is awesome, and they also have lighting so he can customize it to his liking. I'd still definitely go with a 550W+ PSU, just to be safe. Also, he said he might play more demanding games once he builds his rig, so I'm kind of divided. 

 

So...yeah. I think it's either a Strix 4GB 470 or that Powercolor 480. The Strix definitely has the better cooler, I think, but that is an insane deal. I think we'll go with a higher-wattage PSU, to be safe and whatnot. And yeah, I think the 6500 is the best choice. 

Honestly, 450W is more than enough provided the PSU is of decent quality.  The 450CXM is a good unit.  The NEX is not considered really good, but you won't be using much more than 350W if you heavily overclock the GPU so it won't matter, hopefully.  It is kind of a waste of money though.

 

If you got the RX 480 8GB Strixx and overclocked the snot out of it, you would only be pulling about 350W-375W for the entire system.  The 450W is fine.

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

1 minute ago, SuperShermanTanker said:

The only thing that is making me go crazy is the fact there is no storage drive in any of the partlists does your friend have a old HDD he can put into the PC to put the games on because if he doesn't how are you going to store a lot of games on a 256gb SSD

I feel like he's going to play a few core games for a while, and then maybe when he needs more storage he can add some more.

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

3 minutes ago, stconquest said:

Honestly, 450W is more than enough provided the PSU is of decent quality.  The 450CXM is a good unit.  The NEX is not considered really good, but you won't be using much more than 350W if you heavily overclock the GPU so it won't matter, hopefully.  It is kind of a waste of money though.

 

If you got the RX 480 8GB Strixx and overclocked the snot out of it, you would only be pulling about 350W-375W for the entire system.  The 450W is fine.

All right. At least he can save a few bucks there. Thanks a ton for your input! You've earned a follow (what else can I do?)!

[SuperShermanTanker]

1 minute ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

I feel like he's going to play a few core games for a while, and then maybe when he needs more storage he can add some more.

Well in my opinion at least find a old 250gb HDD off eBay for $20 so he'll be able to go for a while until he needs a bigger HDD because with the core games I play a 270gb ssd fills up fast for me since I'm not able to put the 3 core games I play on my SSD without filling it up. Also I have had good luck with some eBay hdds I remember getting 2 of them to put into builds I was building for family members and they still work great after they had the PCs for a while now.

[stconquest]

10 minutes ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

All right. At least he can save a few bucks there. Thanks a ton for your input! You've earned a follow (what else can I do?)!

If you really want more power, this is much better quality than the NEX... but the cables are not fancy:  http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/TgW9TW/seasonic-power-supply-m12ii520bronze

 

This one is "fancier" and also is much better quality than the NEX:  http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/qYTrxr/evga-power-supply-220g20550y1

 

EVGA uses three different manufacturers for their PSUs:

 

FSP:  (B1/G1/GQ) some units are good, some okay, some bad.

Superflower:  (B2/G2/P2) all high quality

Seasonic:  (GS/PS) all high quality

 

I left some models out because, memory =P

 

I see the cables on the M12ii 520W are all black, they are "fancy" too @Chaos_Sorcerer  I thought they had some mustard/ketchup in there, I was wrong.

[stconquest]

8 minutes ago, SuperShermanTanker said:

Well in my opinion at least find a old 250gb HDD off eBay for $20 so he'll be able to go for a while until he needs a bigger HDD because with the core games I play a 270gb ssd fills up fast for me since I'm not able to put the 3 core games I play on my SSD without filling it up. Also I have had good luck with some eBay hdds I remember getting 2 of them to put into builds I was building for family members and they still work great after they had the PCs for a while now.

I have been running my PC off of a 240GB SSD for three years now.  It is easily doable. 

[SuperShermanTanker]

1 minute ago, stconquest said:

I have been running my PC off of a 240GB SSD for three years now.  It is easily doable. 

Not if your going to be playing games like World of Warcraft and also are going to keep personal files on the machine too

[SuperShermanTanker]

2 minutes ago, stconquest said:

I have been running my PC off of a 240GB SSD for three years now.  It is easily doable. 

and the OP said that his friend wanted to get into other more graphicly intensive games too so that would mean more HDD needed to store the games I'm just suggesting in thinking a bit ahead and a cheap $20 HDD is not that hard to get

[stconquest]

4 minutes ago, SuperShermanTanker said:

Not if your going to be playing games like World of Warcraft and also are going to keep personal files on the machine too

As long as you don't hoard installations, it works.  He can always pop in a 1TB drive should the need ever arise.

 

To be fair, I do have a drawer with HDDs stacked in it.  I use an adapter to connect via USB to backup stuff as needed.  Then the drive goes back in the drawer.