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[RGM79]

Planning on spending around $500.
Thanks for all your responses. Was thinking about placing my order after my paycheck in a little over a week. Only looking to maximize my build around CPU, mobo, ram, harddrive and case. Keeping my GPU( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008MJHS8I/?tag=neogaf0e-20 ) and PSU(I think its 550w). Planning on upgrading my video card with a tax return or fat bonus check but that won't be till next month. I am leaning towards the xeon like you suggested and probably that case, so that is about 300 of my 500 budget for the rig.

I see. How does this look?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.71 @ Mac Mall)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $473.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-06 21:26 EST-0500

So are those builds in the OP good to follow? I am planning on building a PC this holiday but I know little about parts. Looking for something in the around ~$1000 total. I don't really game too much on PC but I am still looking for something strong enough to max nearly every game at 1080p, emulators too.

They're more guidelines than anything else and you don't have to follow them strictly. I tend to recommend whatever's at a good price at the time.

So I have this ram with my i7 5820K:

DDR4 2133

With some evidence showing significant performance increases with faster ram I'm considering this set:

DDR 4 3200

What does "I need a new PC" gaf think? Most reports center around Skylake, so I'm not sure if the Quad channel Haswell-E negates any of the gains of faster ram or sees similar improvements.

Depends on what you'll be doing with the PC, but here's a test of various RAM speeds with Haswell-E covering both gaming and application tests.

Alright, I'll hold off for now. I know the prevailing thought on faster ram until very recently has been that it makes little difference, though recently with some modern hardware pushing games we've been seeing very significant gains in benchmarks from faster ram. Witcher 3 and CryEngine games for example. I don't have anywhere to go GPU-wise for a while but I'll wait and see as more data becomes available. Thanks.

Do you have any links to RAM testing results? As far as I know, only Fallout 4 has demonstrated much difference when it comes to RAM speed.

 

[drhankmccoyphd]

Will my old cooler master hyper 212+ work on new Intel skylake or haswell CPUs?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Do you have any links to RAM testing results? As far as I know, only Fallout 4 has demonstrated much difference when it comes to RAM speed.

As far as I can recall, only Skylake has really shown that benefit in FO4 because Skylake is on dual-channel DDR4 and low-end DDR4 in dual-channel gets beat pretty badly by high-end DDR3 such as what enthusiasts tend to use. If you're on Skylake, you should pony up for the DDR4-3000+ class memory. If you're on Haswell-E, well uhm you have quad-channel DDR4 and the bandwidth difference between DDR4-2133 and DDR-3000+ means fuck-all to you.

Will my old cooler master hyper 212+ work on new Intel skylake or haswell CPUs?

Yes

 

[Foxyone]

I have a TV / monitor-related question: if I normally game on a monitor with a 1ms response time, is it likely that gaming on a TV with a higher response time than that will just feel kinda janky in comparison?

 

[RGM79]

As far as I can recall, only Skylake has really shown that benefit in FO4 because Skylake is on dual-channel DDR4 and low-end DDR4 in dual-channel gets beat pretty badly by high-end DDR3 such as what enthusiasts tend to use. If you're on Skylake, you should pony up for the DDR4-3000+ class memory. If you're on Haswell-E, well uhm you have quad-channel DDR4 and the bandwidth difference between DDR4-2133 and DDR-3000+ means fuck-all to you.

Again, I'm looking for benchmarks showing that as I don't recall reading anything to that effect anywhere. Hardware Canuck's testing of DDR3 vs DDR4 on Skylake chipsets showed little if any difference between DDR3-2400 and DDR4-2400, although they didn't test as many different games as I'd have liked (FO4 wasn't on there either).

 

[Darryl M R]

Anyone can suggest the most ridiculous build that can go into the A4-SFX case? Like being able to play games at 60fps, 144hz no worries.

https://www.dan-cases.com/index.html

 

[kennah]

Anyone can suggest the most ridiculous build that can go into the A4-SFX case? Like being able to play games at 60fps, 144hz no worries.

https://www.dan-cases.com/index.html

Titan X, AsRock X99E-ITX, 5960K

Whatever you want to put in it.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Again, I'm looking for benchmarks showing that as I don't recall reading anything to that effect anywhere. Hardware Canuck's testing of DDR3 vs DDR4 on Skylake chipsets showed little if any difference between DDR3-2400 and DDR4-2400, although they didn't test as many different games as I'd have liked (FO4 wasn't on there either).

I'm specifically talking about comparisons between slow DDR4 vs fast DDR4. Now again, I have not seen an analysis with Haswell-E quad channel, which I would love to see. Everything has been dual channel Skylake.

Here is a recent analysis from Digital Foundry when they started to notice significant gains from faster ram on the same CPU:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G-7bfPG2dE&feature=youtu.be

And then you have the Fallout 4 situation that you mentioned:

http://www.techspot.com/review/1089-fallout-4-benchmarks/page6.html

Those are the 2 most recent that I saw but there were some other benches around Skylake launch time, non-gaming, showing similar impact from slow DDR4 vs fast DDR4.

 

[pislit]

Anyone can suggest the most ridiculous build that can go into the A4-SFX case? Like being able to play games at 60fps, 144hz no worries.

https://www.dan-cases.com/index.html

I'm building one too with that case. You will be limited to low profile heatsink, hence making overclocking CPU a problem because of temps. I looked at the review of the C7 Cryorig heatsink (the creator of that case' preferred heatsink) and it does not look pretty in temps department. But I don't know really.

 

[manfestival]

I see. How does this look?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.71 @ Mac Mall)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $473.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-06 21:26 EST-0500

Yeah all of that looks pretty legit to me. Should I eventually get a SSD? That seems to be the big thing. 3TB is nice. Run into issues now with games being huge like titanfall so that space will be nice

 

[RGM79]

I'm specifically talking about comparisons between slow DDR4 vs fast DDR4. Now again, I have not seen an analysis with Haswell-E quad channel, which I would love to see. Everything has been dual channel Skylake.

Here is a recent analysis from Digital Foundry when they started to notice significant gains from faster ram on the same CPU:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G-7bfPG2dE&feature=youtu.be

And then you have the Fallout 4 situation that you mentioned:

http://www.techspot.com/review/1089-fallout-4-benchmarks/page6.html

Those are the 2 most recent that I saw but there were some other benches around Skylake launch time, non-gaming, showing similar impact from slow DDR4 vs fast DDR4.

Ah, sorry. I was thinking more about when you said low end DDR4 was beaten badly by high end DDR3 for games, I guess that was a typo. The Techspot results don't even reference DDR4.

 

[Lys Skygge]

I finally managed to OC my i7 6700K to 4.40ghz and my RAM to 3000mhz. My stress tests show my highest temperature at 60°C (25°-30°C idle). Is that a good temperature or is that considered high?

 

[RGM79]

I finally managed to OC my i7 6700K to 4.40ghz and my RAM to 3000mhz. My stress tests show my highest temperature at 60°C (25°-30°C idle). Is that a good temperature or is that considered high?

Well within good tolerances. What voltages do you have it at?

 

[Lys Skygge]

Well within good tolerances. What voltages do you have it at?

I'm still new to this so I'm still learning about voltages. I wasn't sure which one to post so I took a screenshot.

If there are any adjustments you recommend I should make just let me know. Otherwise everything seems to be running fine.

Edit - I kept voltages on auto btw

 

[hateradio]

Anyone have any experience with the Acer XB240H?

I was thinking about getting one, but I'm not sure about it. I would like to have G-Sync, but I don't know about spending so much for a monitor right now. Especially in that size.

 

[theRizzle]

How is the Realtek 1150?

I have almost always had some type of dedicated soundcard but since I went ITX this time around I can't. I'll be doing 95% of the listening through my Sennheiser HD 518s, so nothing mindblowing but they're decent. I have good ears and am quite sensitive to distortion or crackling, which in my experience are/were the two biggest issues with onboard audio.

Everything I'm reading about the 1150 makes it sound like it's actually decent, so I'm hoping I wont have to shell out the $200 for a Dragonfly. I'll know for sure one way or another once I finally build this thing but I just wanted to see if anyone here has anything to say about it.

 

[knitoe]

I'm still new to this so I'm still learning about voltages. I wasn't sure which one to post so I took a screenshot.

If there are any adjustments you recommend I should make just let me know. Otherwise everything seems to be running fine.

Edit - I kept voltages on auto btw

Your PC is idling. Take a pic with it under stress test load. And, I would use HWinfo in sensor only mode. It shows much more data.

 

[RGM79]

I'm still new to this so I'm still learning about voltages. I wasn't sure which one to post so I took a screenshot.

If there are any adjustments you recommend I should make just let me know. Otherwise everything seems to be running fine.

Edit - I kept voltages on auto btw

How long did you run stress testing for, and with what program? Can you show us voltages from a program like HWMonitor while stress testing your CPU in a game or with a program? The screenshot shows your computer running at lower speed while idle, and is not representative of how much voltage the motherboard is feeding the processor when you're doing something intensive like playing a game.

While automatic voltage settings can work, there is always the fear that when your PC is under load it may be feeding too much voltage to the CPU, but if it only gets up to 60 degrees C then it doesn't sound like you have much to worry about.

How is the Realtek 1150?

I have almost always had some type of dedicated soundcard but since I went ITX this time around I can't. I'll be doing 95% of the listening through my Sennheiser HD 518s, so nothing mindblowing but they're decent. I have good ears and am quite sensitive to distortion or crackling, which in my experience are/were the two biggest issues with onboard audio.

Everything I'm reading about the 1150 makes it sound like it's actually decent, so I'm hoping I wont have to shell out the $200 for a Dragonfly. I'll know for sure one way or another once I finally build this thing but I just wanted to see if anyone here has anything to say about it.

Sound quality could depend on other factors than just the sound chipset. A poor quality power supply might not provide the cleanest power signal and could in theory affect sound quality as well. The design of the motherboard might also play into it, some motherboard manufacturers are advertising isolated sound circuitry, additional EMI shielding, or modified Realtek ALC1150 chipsets with additional or even replaceable op-amps. I personally don't have a head for audio quality, so I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but those features/gimmicks may or may not make a difference.

 

[Lys Skygge]

How long did you run stress testing for, and with what program? Can you show us voltages from a program like HWMonitor while stress testing your CPU in a game or with a program? The screenshot shows your computer running at lower speed while idle, and is not representative of how much voltage the motherboard is feeding the processor when you're doing something intensive like playing a game.

While automatic voltage settings can work, there is always the fear that when your PC is under load it may be feeding too much voltage to the CPU, but if it only gets up to 60 degrees C then it doesn't sound like you have much to worry about.

I ran the test for 15 minutes and the temperature never went above 60°C. I'll do it again and take a screenshot just for some reassurance haha.

Update - This was taken about midway through a 15 minute stress test.

The CPU Voltage never went over 1.35V during the full test. Temperature stayed under 60 as well.

 

[LilJoka]

I ran the test for 15 minutes and the temperature never went above 60°C. I'll do it again and take a screenshot just for some reassurance haha.

Update - This was taken about midway through a 15 minute stress test.


The CPU Voltage never went over 1.35V during the full test. Temperature stayed under 60 as well.

Can you use something like HWmonitor for temps?
Its weird that the package temp is higher than core temp. Your temps are almost too good to be true.

 

[StarlordDial]

Hmmm just a question!

Sooo since i'm pretty much have the best setup right now!
(980ti,gsync,5820k 16gb ddr4 ram)

I know upgrading is not necessarry for me in the next 2 years with the setup i have but if ever the cpu and gpu are the next best thing, (i hope so)would it be worth upgrading both for the next iteration ? hopefully something more powerful than a 980ti and a better cpu (if ever there will be needed anyway)

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Hmmm just a question!

I believe you'll be good to update the GPU twice before going for a new CPU.

 

[Finaika]

Hmmm just a question!

Sooo since i'm pretty much have the best setup right now!
(980ti,gsync,5820k 16gb ddr4 ram)

I know upgrading is not necessarry for me in the next 2 years with the setup i have but if ever the cpu and gpu are the next best thing, (i hope so)would it be worth upgrading both for the next iteration ? hopefully something more powerful than a 980ti and a better cpu (if ever there will be needed anyway)

The 5960X would be a nice upgrade.

 

[manfestival]

Hmmm just a question!

Sooo since i'm pretty much have the best setup right now!
(980ti,gsync,5820k 16gb ddr4 ram)

I know upgrading is not necessarry for me in the next 2 years with the setup i have but if ever the cpu and gpu are the next best thing, (i hope so)would it be worth upgrading both for the next iteration ? hopefully something more powerful than a 980ti and a better cpu (if ever there will be needed anyway)

what kinda frames are you getting on that rig?

 

[solid mike]

Finally assembled my first PC and I could not have done it without you guys and this amazing thread

CPU - i5 4460
Mobo - H97M
RAM - Kingston Hyperx 8GB 2400
SSD - Crucial BX100 250GB
GPU - R9 380
PSU - Seasonic M1211 520W Bronze
Case - NZXT S340
Monitor - Asus VC239H
Keyboard - Corsair Vengeance K65
Mouse - Steelseries Rival
OS - Windows 7 but will be upgrading to 10 soon

Just want to say thanks for all the help!

 

[spyshagg]

Bought the AOC G2460PF today.

144hz full HD 24" Freesync.



Freesync from 35hz-146hz (!!!!)

Killer performance.

Truly garbage image quality. I have no words.



Will consider return it and buy the MG279Q IPS 144hz freesync.

 

[Celegus]

Finally assembled my first PC and I could not have done it without you guys and this amazing thread

CPU - i5 4460
Mobo - H97M
RAM - Kingston Hyperx 8GB 2400
SSD - Crucial BX100 250GB
GPU - R9 380
PSU - Seasonic M1211 520W Bronze
Case - NZXT S340
Monitor - Asus VC239H
Keyboard - Corsair Vengeance K65
Mouse - Steelseries Rival
OS - Windows 7 but will be upgrading to 10 soon

Just want to say thanks for all the help!

Looks very similar to my new build. Hope you enjoy it and didn't have too many issues getting itup and running.

 

[theRizzle]

Sound quality could depend on other factors than just the sound chipset. A poor quality power supply might not provide the cleanest power signal and could in theory affect sound quality as well. The design of the motherboard might also play into it, some motherboard manufacturers are advertising isolated sound circuitry, additional EMI shielding, or modified Realtek ALC1150 chipsets with additional or even replaceable op-amps. I personally don't have a head for audio quality, so I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but those features/gimmicks may or may not make a difference.

That's what I figured. I got the Gigabyte GAZ170N-Gaming 5 board and they are touting some of the audio features as a selling point, so I'm hoping it's not terrible. Like any audio equipment, I guess I'll have to hear it first and see if it satisfies me. It was pretty much the only ITX board I could find with 6 SATA ports, so I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I'll be using 4 right off the bat and I can't stand building something knowing that there isn't room for expansion down the road.

The only real concern I have is about the Killer NIC. I have been reading some terrible things about it. Because my internet is godawful I can't do much online gaming anyways, but when I do I need the best connection I can get and it sounds like I won't be getting that here (compared to an Intel NIC anyways).

 

[Lys Skygge]

Can you use something like HWmonitor for temps?
Its weird that the package temp is higher than core temp. Your temps are almost too good to be true.

Here's a screen from HWmonitor like you requested. This was taken about midway through a 5 minute stress test.

My CPU VCore looks a little high or is that normal under stress?

 

[RGM79]

That's what I figured. I got the Gigabyte GAZ170N-Gaming 5 board and they are touting some of the audio features as a selling point, so I'm hoping it's not terrible. Like any audio equipment, I guess I'll have to hear it first and see if it satisfies me. It was pretty much the only ITX board I could find with 6 SATA ports, so I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I'll be using 4 right off the bat and I can't stand building something knowing that there isn't room for expansion down the road.

The only real concern I have is about the Killer NIC. I have been reading some terrible things about it. Because my internet is godawful I can't do much online gaming anyways, but when I do I need the best connection I can get and it sounds like I won't be getting that here (compared to an Intel NIC anyways).

You can sidestep most of the Killer NIC issues by only installing the driver and not the optional software utility. It's listed here as "standard driver (no killer features)".

 

[Azulsky]

Anyone have any thoughts on prebuilt NASes?

Want one for a media server(Plex)/file server/random projects that require an always on device that isnt my ATX tower. Moving storage to another device will facilitate me building a mITX box for my next gaming pc. I also just need more space and some of my current drives are 5 yrs old.

Current top runner is QNAP TVS-471 with the i3 processor.

Also when looking at drives for this I noticed the WD Red Pro 4TB and the WD RE 4TB are roughly the same price, similar features(TLER) but the RE has 2x MTBF as the Red Pro.....anyone know whats up with that?

Just looking to bounce this off someone else. Seems like it has the power to do what I need and is upgradeable down the road(CPU, RAM). There also looks to be enough to tinker with in these and I dont have the time to build a custom one, despite my desire to.

 

[LilJoka]

Here's a screen from HWmonitor like you requested. This was taken about midway through a 5 minute stress test.

My CPU VCore looks a little high or is that normal under stress?

Whats the ambient room temp? The min temps hitting 17c? Gotta be cold there, that would explain it.

Vcore would have blown the chip it was 1.7v, and be hitting 100c for sure. So its got to be wrong. But this is a BIG reason to use manual/offset vcore. You should never use AUTO Vcore. CPUZ is what i would trust on the VCore, so just set it manuall or with an offset of 0v. See what Vcore you get in CPUz and tweak as required to reach back to your first measurement with AUTO. Then the aim is to run as little VCore as possible whilst maintaining stability, that may need negative offset in your case.

 

[Lys Skygge]

Whats the ambient room temp? The min temps hitting 17c? Gotta be cold there, that would explain it.

Vcore would have blown the chip it was 1.7v, and be hitting 100c for sure. So its got to be wrong. But this is a BIG reason to use manual/offset vcore. You should never use AUTO Vcore. CPUZ is what i would trust on the VCore, so just set it manuall or with an offset of 0v. See what Vcore you get in CPUz and tweak as required to reach back to your first measurement with AUTO. Then the aim is to run as little VCore as possible whilst maintaining stability, that may need negative offset in your case.

Yeah it's pretty cold in my apartment haha. I'll lower my voltage as low as it'll go.

Edit: So I manually lowered the voltages in BIOS. I rebooted my PC and I tried HWmonitor again and it was still showing my VCore at 1.70. I went back into BIOS and it's telling me my VCore is at 1.35. So my BIOS, SIV, and Intel monitor are telling me my voltage is at 1.35V but HWmonitor is telling me different.

Here's a picture of my BIOS

 

[OraleeWey]

Is this as good as it gets? 5tb for $120
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB5000100/dp/B00TKFEEBW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1449512214&sr=8-2&keywords=5tb+external

 

[Tabasco]

The only problem I have with the TN panel monitor I've been using for years is that no matter what calibrations I use on it, everything looks a bit too dark compared to an IPS screen. Is it just the nature of a TN panel?

 

[LilJoka]

Yeah it's pretty cold in my apartment haha. I'll lower my voltage as low as it'll go.

Edit: So I manually lowered the voltages in BIOS. I rebooted my PC and I tried HWmonitor again and it was still showing my VCore at 1.70. I went back into BIOS and it's telling me my VCore is at 1.35. So my BIOS, SIV, and Intel monitor are telling me my voltage is at 1.35V but HWmonitor is telling me different.

Here's a picture of my BIOS

As i said, ignore the reading from HWmonitor, sometimes if you have many programs reading the sensors at the same time it can throw it off. So just use CPUz for VCore measurements.

 

[Lys Skygge]

As i said, ignore the reading from HWmonitor, sometimes if you have many programs reading the sensors at the same time it can throw it off. So just use CPUz for VCore measurements.

CPUz is showing the VCore is hovering around 1.33-1.35V.

Edit: As I said, my place is pretty cold. I'll have to remember to re-test in the summer.

 

[Athreous]

Guys, my friend bought a GTX 970 ASUS edition, and his gpu came with 8 pin slot instead of 6 pin...

His power supply doesnt have 8 pins, just 6, so...

Can he plug a 6 pin connector in the 8 pin gpu? does it work?

 

[Azulsky]

Guys, my friend bought a GTX 970 ASUS edition, and his gpu came with 8 pin slot instead of 6 pin...

His power supply doesnt have 8 pins, just 6, so...

Can he plug a 6 pin connector in the 8 pin gpu? does it work?

On an EVGA model 970 it checked for a completed circuit on those pins so it will complain and tell you to plug in an 8 pin.

6 to 8 pin converters exist to remedy this problem, did his card or PSU not come with one?

 

[Athreous]

On an EVGA model 970 it checked for a completed circuit on those pins so it will complain and tell you to plug in an 8 pin.

6 to 8 pin converters exist to remedy this problem, did his card or PSU not come with one?

It's holyday here, so we can buy one in 2 days =(

 

[IceIpor]

No. Don't do it.

He'll need a new psu if his current one doesn't have a 8-pin or 6+2 pin.. Or have a converter.

 

[JGCD]

I got 1,500 us dollars for a PC
I had a prebuilt as a gift but I wanna make a new one from scratch (prebuilt gonna be used at work)
Planning on using YouTube and google-fu for trouble shooting
I wanna make something strong
But I want the computer small
Is this possible???

 

[kennah]

I got 1,500 us dollars for a PC
I had a prebuilt as a gift but I wanna make a new one from scratch (prebuilt gonna be used at work)
Planning on using YouTube and google-fu for trouble shooting
I wanna make something strong
But I want the computer small
Is this possible???

Yep. Fractal Node. Z170 ITX motherboard of your choice, 6600K and a 970. Bam.

 

[RGM79]

It's holyday here, so we can buy one in 2 days =(

What power supply does he have?

I got 1,500 us dollars for a PC
I had a prebuilt as a gift but I wanna make a new one from scratch (prebuilt gonna be used at work)
Planning on using YouTube and google-fu for trouble shooting
I wanna make something strong
But I want the computer small
Is this possible???

How small are we talking here? As Kennah recommends, the Fractal Node series of cases are quite nice. Here's an example parts list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($273.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.99)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($147.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($629.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1545.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-07 16:22 EST-0500

Newegg has the motherboard for $125 after $10 rebate, not sure why PCPartPicker took Newegg off of that item's price listings.

If you absolutely need to fit the parts list under $1500, then consider going with 1x8GB of RAM for now or a smaller SSD.

It's possible to go even smaller, but it'll be somewhat difficult, at least for a first time build.

 

[ISee]

What power supply does he have?



How small are we talking here? Here's an example parts list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($273.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.99)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($147.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($629.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1545.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-07 16:22 EST-0500

Newegg has the motherboard for $125 after $10 rebate, not sure why PCPartPicker took Newegg off of that item's price listings.

If you absolutely need to fit the parts list under $1500, then consider going with 1x8GB of RAM for now or a smaller SSD.

Sir, this is a very good build. I started to make something similar myself, but well... no need now.

 

[Azulsky]

No. Don't do it.

He'll need a new psu if his current one doesn't have a 8-pin or 6+2 pin.. Or have a converter.

It's holyday here, so we can buy one in 2 days =(

Oh to be specific Im referring to a 2x 6-pin to 1x 8 pin converter like this.

There is no way of knowing without having the PSU model whether or not it can actually power it through one 6pin. Some power all 3 pairs of the connector but cheaper ones only do 2.

 

[ampere]

Dammit, my Windows 7 Pro key won't work to activate Windows 10. Support is no help either

Getting the error 0xc004f210

Guess I might have to buy a license? Seems like a waste of money with the free upgrades

 

[StarlordDial]

I believe you'll be good to update the GPU twice before going for a new CPU.

I'll keep that in miii---

The 5960X would be a nice upgrade.

ohh--- ;_;

what kinda frames are you getting on that rig?

depends on the game





also rofl i just bought a ps4 and i just remembered the xb270hu doesn't have an fucking hdmi..only the predator series that were release this last 2 months for both acer and asus ;________________________________;

 

[knitoe]

CPUz is showing the VCore is hovering around 1.33-1.35V.

Edit: As I said, my place is pretty cold. I'll have to remember to re-test in the summer.

What program are you using to stress test? Can you take a pic under 100% load with HWinfo in sensor only mode? It's so much better. I have no clue why people still use HWmonitor.

 

[hateradio]

Dammit, my Windows 7 Pro key won't work to activate Windows 10. Support is no help either

Getting the error 0xc004f210

Guess I might have to buy a license? Seems like a waste of money with the free upgrades

What do you mean? Don't you first have to install W7 and then get the upgrade to 10? The activation should be tied to the system, and won't require a key.