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[Silent_Ocarina]

The Gigabyte Gaming 6 model is the higher end model of the two, but I've been recommending the cheaper Z170XP-SLI model for most people as it should meet most users' needs just fine.

Thanks, I'm considering just getting the Gaming 6 model for better aesthetics and build quality. I'm reading a few complaints about sturdiness and the awkward dimensions of the Z170XP-SLI Model. Does the rest of my build look okay? And upgrading my GPU shouldn't be problematic in any way in the future?

 

[RGM79]

Thanks, I'm considering just getting the Gaming 6 model for better aesthetics and build quality. I'm reading a few complaints about sturdiness and the awkward dimensions of the Z170XP-SLI Model. Does the rest of my build look okay? And upgrading my GPU shouldn't be problematic in any way in the future?

It's up to you what motherboard you'll end up buying. I don't see anything to complain about in that build. No, you shouldn't run into any issues changing graphics cards in the future. A 700 watt power supply is good enough to power any flagship graphics card and still have wattage left over for overclocking. The case is certainly large enough to accommodate just about every graphics card in existence. Nothing will be replacing PCI-E soon so no worries abouthat.

 

[Silent_Ocarina]

All right, I'll be placing the order now! Even though the graphics card won't be upgraded for several months, I hope the CPU upgrade will be substantial enough to give me the performance boost that I desire. Thanks for all the help everyone. :]

I'll probably be back here when I finally do upgrade the GPU, but it'll most likely be the GTX 970.

 

[M.D]

Hard to say but have a look at the board manual to see where the temp sensors are located and you'll be able to work it out. Sounds like chipset or maybe VRMs.

Using motherboard software will likely list the temps with real location names rather than generic names that hwmonitor provides.

I'm looking at the manual and can't find anything about where they are located, and the software from Gigabyte doesn't even show specific temperatures for parts of the board, just general temperature.

I'll check BIOS later, maybe it will have the information

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

Hi guys, I was asking in other thread, but I think this one is more appropiate for monitors:

At the moment, I'm using the ASUS VS239HR, and although I really like how it looks, I'd like to make the jump from 60Hz to 144Hz. I have some questions, though...

1. I own a GTX 970. It's perfectly fine for 60 fps, and I will get profit from 144 fps. But reaching 144 fps is not so easy in every game, so I wonder how would 60 fps look like in a 144Hz monitor? Same as in a 60Hz monitor? Or different?
2. I hate tearing, I love VSync. Playing more than 60 fps should be nice, but I'm worried if I get in a game a framerate between 60 and 144, I fear that tearing fucks up the experience
3. According to last point, yes, I know G-Sync exists, but it is over priced as fuck. FreeSync is awesome I guess, but no deal with NVIDIA cards.

So, knowing this facts, I have a couple of choices (IPS is a must. I prefer color precision and 4ms than washed out colors and 1ms.):

• 1080p 144Hz no G-Sync but tearing,
• 1080p 144Hz with G-Sync, no tearing but lololol wallet.
• 1440p 144Hz no G-Sync but tearing and I will have to upsample in some games to achieve 60fps. Wallet trembles as well.

I like the ASUS VG248QE that OP says, but it is a TN panel. ASUS MG279Q looks freaking awesome, but the only flaw is FreeSync, and not G-Sync.

Choices, choices everywhere. Halp.

I know this is a day old but whatever tearing that may be there at 60FPS on my non-Gsync 144Hz monitor is unnoticeable, at least to me. I'll bump the frame rate up to 72FPS using adaptive 1/2 refresh from NVIDIA's control panel and/or RTSS when I can with my 970 on newer games when I have the headroom.

 

[Yudoken]

Posted something but I need to revise that.

 

[LilJoka]

Initial fitting of the Corsair RMx 650 and MSI GAMER GTX 970 into a Node 304. I specifically wanted this PSU since its fully modular, has a hybrid fan, a quiet fan profile, and actually built with quality compared to the RM range. Ive been avoiding Corsair PSUs, but this one seems to be up there with the top models now.

I've sent the 8 pin CPU power and 24 pin ATX down the side of the PSU at the front of the case.

I've zip tied the 24 pin ATX down using the case PSU fan grill as an anchor so that it is tight up against the PSU face and this way won't foul the GPU.

PSU bracket has been removed, the front panel still sits fine without modding the plastic pin at the bottom right.

 

[bomblord1]

Initial fitting of the Corsair RMx 650 and MSI GAMER GTX 970 into a Node 304. I specifically wanted this PSU since its fully modular, has a hybrid fan, a quiet fan profile, and actually built with quality compared to the RM range. Ive been avoiding Corsair PSUs, but this one seems to be up there with the top models now.

I've sent the 8 pin CPU power and 24 pin ATX down the side of the PSU at the front of the case.

I've zip tied the 24 pin ATX down using the case PSU fan grill as an anchor so that it is tight up against the PSU face and this way won't foul the GPU.

PSU bracket has been removed, the front panel still sits fine without modding the plastic pin at the bottom right.

That is hands down the biggest PSU I've ever seen lol.

 

[QuantumSquid]

For those games, the GTX 960 isn't bad at all. High-ish settings with maybe a few select options scaled back should net you a decently solid 60FPS.

Cool. Can the same be said for the R9 380 (4GB VRAM version)?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CbRDGX

Also, if I go for the R9 380 instead of a 960, will I have to get a more powerful power supply, or is the 520W fine? I've read online that my power supply should have 550W minimum for the 380, but then I go on some forums and read that people with only 500W power supplies are having no troubles with the 380.

 

[RayStorm]

That is hands down the biggest PSU I've ever seen lol.

You either haven't seen many PSUs or not realized that this is a miniITX build with a rather ordinarily sized ATX-PSU.

 

[bomblord1]

Cool. Can the same be said for the R9 380 (4GB VRAM version)?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CbRDGX

Also, if I go for the R9 380 instead of a 960, will I have to get a more powerful power supply, or is the 520W fine? I've read online that my power supply should have 550W minimum for the 380, but then I go on some forums and read that people with only 500W power supplies are having no troubles with the 380.

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-380-vs-GeForce-GTX-960

The power you need is determined by the total power draw of your system not any individual component. If you're running a ULV CPU (just as an extreme example) you could get away with a more power hungry graphics card in the same system. There is no hard and fast "This GPU needs this Power Supply" that works in every situation.

 

[bomblord1]

You either haven't seen many PSUs or not realized that this is a miniITX build with a rather ordinarily sized ATX-PSU.

Maybe my scale is off? Either way that PSU is dwarfing that mini-ITX board my 800 watt PSU is about the quarter of that size.

 

[VE3TRO]

So after 3 years of being in storage I got the PC out and it's running near perfect but I have one issue. After just upgrading to Windows 10 today this started to occur.

I have two 1TB HDDs formatted into a striped raid and now it says F drive is not available. So I deleted the volumes and reverted them back into single drives and both work fine and formatted without no problems. If I try to stripe I get this pop up. "The format did not complete successfully" and then in explorer I can't access the disk.

I've read some other people have problems in regards to permissions or something but I'm not really useful with Windows so if anyone can offer assistance that would be great.

 

[RayStorm]

Maybe my scale is off? Either way that PSU is dwarfing that mini-ITX board my 800 watt PSU is about the quarter of that size.

Have you actually seen a mini-ITX board in person? They are indeed surprisingly small.

 

[MekaDragon]

I know this is a day old but whatever tearing that may be there at 60FPS on my non-Gsync 144Hz monitor is unnoticeable, at least to me. I'll bump the frame rate up to 72FPS using adaptive 1/2 refresh from NVIDIA's control panel and/or RTSS when I can with my 970 on newer games when I have the headroom.

Yeah, but there isn't even a 1080p IPS 144Hz with no G-Sync. It doesn't even exists!

 

[LilJoka]

Maybe my scale is off? Either way that PSU is dwarfing that mini-ITX board my 800 watt PSU is about the quarter of that size.

The PSU looks big, but its 160mm length, 150mm width, so pretty much the average ATX PSU. I had to think about the added length from the modular connectors here so it was tricky. The ITX board 170mm x 170mm. Most people are installing 140mm or 150mm modular PSUs in this case.

I have set it up temporarily with a Skylake G4400 dual core Pentium that i got for £40, until i get the 6700k Then i can swap in the GTX 970 from my other ITX rig and use the old rig as a NAS.

Also i just found out Asus lets you turn off DC powered fans below a certain temperature (iirc 40c). So now all my fans are off and only the CPU fan is on when idling, awesome stuff.

 

[bomblord1]

The PSU looks big, but its 160mm length, 150mm width, so pretty much the average ATX PSU. I had to think about the added length from the modular connectors here so it was tricky. The ITX board 170mm x 170mm. Most people are installing 140mm or 150mm modular PSUs in this case.

I have set it up temporarily with a Skylake G4400 dual core Pentium that i got for £40, until i get the 6700k Then i can swap in the GTX 970 from my other ITX rig and use the old rig as a NAS.

Also i just found out Asus lets you turn off DC powered fans below a certain temperature (iirc 40c). So now all my fans are off and only the CPU fan is on when idling, awesome stuff.

Alright maybe I've lost it.

 

[Muffin Awesome]

I tried reading the recommended mice in the OP, but wanted some first hand experience input from anyone here.

I have a slightly older system i74770k/gtx760 that I mostly play CS Go and MGS right now. Problem is I am using a wireless Logitech 40$ Kb/m combo and it feels like it is constantly sticking or almost jumping slightly in smaller movements.

Are there any decent under 80$ m/kb combos with a decent dpi for online shooters.

My monitor is also only a 60ghz refresh rate now so that is next Black Friday upgrade I am thinking.

Any thoughts/input appreciated, I also may just upgrade the mouse first too and Kb later.

 

[QuantumSquid]

I tried reading the recommended mice in the OP, but wanted some first hand experience input from anyone here.

I have a slightly older system i74770k/gtx760 that I mostly play CS Go and MGS right now. Problem is I am using a wireless Logitech 40$ Kb/m combo and it feels like it is constantly sticking or almost jumping slightly in smaller movements.

Are there any decent under 80$ m/kb combos with a decent dpi for online shooters.

My monitor is also only a 60ghz refresh rate now so that is next Black Friday upgrade I am thinking.

Any thoughts/input appreciated, I also may just upgrade the mouse first too and Kb later.

Do you like heavy mice or lightweight mice? Are you looking for a mouse with lots of buttons on it, or something more basic? Do you claw grip your mouse or palm grip it?

Answer those questions and I will be happy to recommend you some good mice for your preferences.

 

[Fletcher]

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/gnzMnQ

Would a build like this be good for me for blizzard games and xcom2? Possibly dabbling in new releases. I'm not looking to max settings really. Just play the games I like and possibly get a few in the future.

 

[Anastasis]

Some newer games I would like to play are leaving my i3 3220 behind. Would an upgrade to an i5 2500 for $55 be a no brainer? (I don't plan on doing any other upgrades for 2 years at least).

I would likely need to buy Windows again, right?

 

[Pachimari]

I'm thinking, what would be best for me to upgrade, if I can only upgrade one part, if I have these:

GPU: Evga GeForce GTX 780
CPU: Intel i5 4670K 4C/4T

It'll be primarily for gaming and the latest games.

 

[Sir Abacus]

I'm thinking, what would be best for me to upgrade, if I can only upgrade one part, if I have these:

GPU: Evga GeForce GTX 780
CPU: Intel i5 4670K 4C/4T

It'll be primarily for gaming and the latest games.

780 to 980 Ti otherwise don't even bother.

 

[LilJoka]

I'm thinking, what would be best for me to upgrade, if I can only upgrade one part, if I have these:

GPU: Evga GeForce GTX 780
CPU: Intel i5 4670K 4C/4T

It'll be primarily for gaming and the latest games.

Overclock both and wait for Pascal GPUs.

 

[Mr.Sword]

Do we have an expected date on pascal gpus? Hopefully in time for my oculus rift ^^"

 

[Sir Abacus]

Big Pascal is probably towards the end of the year. Nobody knows exactly.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

Do we have an expected date on pascal gpus? Hopefully in time for my oculus rift ^^"

Are you getting your Rift in like a year? Because maybe you'll have a Pascal GPU by then.

 

[kuYuri]

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/gnzMnQ

Would a build like this be good for me for blizzard games and xcom2? Possibly dabbling in new releases. I'm not looking to max settings really. Just play the games I like and possibly get a few in the future.

Assuming 1080p resolution, I imagine you'll be able to play those games just fine on that machine. I'm guessing medium settings on XCOM 2 and up to high settings in Blizzard games.

 

[inner-G]

That is hands down the biggest PSU I've ever seen lol.

Pretty sure all ATX power supplies are about the same size, so they can fit in standard size ATX cases

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Pretty sure all ATX power supplies are about the same size, so they can fit in standard size ATX cases

Some brands from 1050W and up tend to become longer. 1600W EVGAs are almost two inches longer. But yeah, they have to remain wide and a tall as the standard.

 

[Kezen]

Alright.

I upgraded to Windows 10 from a retail copy of Windows 8.1, can I reuse that retail 8 key on another PC and activate it just fine or has this 8 key been nullified with the 10 upgrade ?

I'd like to reuse some of my old parts lying around, only stuff I don't have is a valid windows key and I was wondering if I could reuse my old 8 key I upgraded to 10 from.
I wish to emphasize it was not an OEM licence, but a full retail one.

Thanks.

 

[bomblord1]

Alright.

I upgraded to Windows 10 from a retail copy of Windows 8.1, can I reuse that retail 8 key on another PC and activate it just fine or has this 8 key been nullified with the 10 upgrade ?

I'd like to reuse some of my old parts lying around, only stuff I don't have is a valid windows key and I was wondering if I could reuse my old 8 key I upgraded to 10 from.
I wish to emphasize it was not an OEM licence, but a full retail one.

Thanks.

I'm fairly certain legally you can't.

If your just looking to tinker by throwing old parts together you should be fine with a Linux distro though.

 

[Kezen]

I'm fairly certain legally you can't.

If your just looking to tinker by throwing old parts together you should be fine with a Linux distro though.

I knew this was too good to be true, although I believe I read that it might be possible.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

I'm fairly certain legally you can't.

If your just looking to tinker by throwing old parts together you should be fine with a Linux distro though.

Wait, if I build a new PC, I can't use my Windows 8.1 key on that ?

I upgraded from 8.1 to 10 on my PC that I use now.

 

[Kezen]

Wait, if I build a new PC, I can't use my Windows 8.1 key on that ?

I upgraded from 8.1 to 10 on my PC that I use now.

Apparently you can't. Your Windows 8 retail key has been transformed into a Windows 10 OEM key.

To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade. Upon upgrade, this agreement takes the place of the agreement for the software you upgraded from. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_install/windows-key-after-upgrade-to-10/3692233e-553d-409e-96ac-2a2992207344?auth=1

 

[UpDownLeftRight]

Sorry to be slightly off topic but I didn't think it's worth making a new thread to ask. So I'm having a go at keeping my laptop on life support, last time I swapped out the PSU one of the connectors on the mobo for the ribbons was very stubborn and broke. I taped it down and had no problems for a while but recently the clip is really being a pain and briefly dropping the connection. Problem is, it isn't the keyboard ribbon, whatever it is, it causes the screen to go black and the laptop to go into sleep mode but turns straight back on.

So my question is have any of you ever tried doing a makeshift repair on one of these? I still have the clip piece but it is missing a prong on the right side to hold it in. I've been debating trying a few ideas. One was to cut up an old credit card and try wedge it into the slot, or cut an angular bit of plastic packaging to place in to keep the tension. But I've also wondered if it would be safe to seal the clip in with an extremely small amount of some very carefully placed superglue, or perhaps just trying a stronger tape like duct tape. Thoughts?

I've got to give something a go tonight but I'd rather try with the options that are less likely to fry the mobo first.

 

[QuantumSquid]

What are the limitations of Windows 7 nowadays? It's by far my favorite of the many versions of the Microsoft OS but will I be getting worse performance in games by using it instead of Windows 10?

 

[Dave_6]

My new 500GB 850 EVO Samsung SSD just came in the mail and I'm ready to get started with the install. It will be replacing my current 120GB Kingston SSD that has the OS, Steam etc installed on it. I've posted something before asking about it but I want to clarify now that it is here. It comes with a disc with the software on it but my PC no longer has an optical drive and I don't want to reinstall it. Do I have to use their software (and I have yet to look) or can I use something like Macrium Reflect instead? I'm guessing Samsung has the software on their site to download if I need it...?

Also since I don't have a USB adapter to connect the SSD externally, can I unhook my HD and use that SATA port temporarily until the transfer is done?

Edit: How is their Magician software? Worth using?

 

[Deku Tree]

http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/8XYcCJ/i5-6600k-gtx-980-ti-gaming-pc

Will this PC be able to play modern games like Witcher 3 in 4K 30fps? Will it let me output 4K video to my TV and audio to my reciever separately?

 

[QuantumSquid]

http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/8XYcCJ/i5-6600k-gtx-980-ti-gaming-pc

Will this PC be able to play modern games like Witcher 3 in 4K 30fps? Will it let me output 4K video to my TV and audio to my reciever separately?

Yes, that card runs Witcher 3 at 4K at around 30fps. Not sure about that second one.

 

[Muffin Awesome]

Do you like heavy mice or lightweight mice? Are you looking for a mouse with lots of buttons on it, or something more basic? Do you claw grip your mouse or palm grip it?

Answer those questions and I will be happy to recommend you some good mice for your preferences.

I honestly didn't even know to think about these questions.

I would say heavier side, and not too many buttons, maybe enough to code the talk key, team talk, walk, sprint? At least 2 additional buttons beyond left/right click and scroll wheel if possible. I palm it, standard mouse grip, not opposed to other methods I guess. Thanks!

 

[LilJoka]

Sorry to be slightly off topic but I didn't think it's worth making a new thread to ask. So I'm having a go at keeping my laptop on life support, last time I swapped out the PSU one of the connectors on the mobo for the ribbons was very stubborn and broke. I taped it down and had no problems for a while but recently the clip is really being a pain and briefly dropping the connection. Problem is, it isn't the keyboard ribbon, whatever it is, it causes the screen to go black and the laptop to go into sleep mode but turns straight back on.

So my question is have any of you ever tried doing a makeshift repair on one of these? I still have the clip piece but it is missing a prong on the right side to hold it in. I've been debating trying a few ideas. One was to cut up an old credit card and try wedge it into the slot, or cut an angular bit of plastic packaging to place in to keep the tension. But I've also wondered if it would be safe to seal the clip in with an extremely small amount of some very carefully placed superglue, or perhaps just trying a stronger tape like duct tape. Thoughts?

I've got to give something a go tonight but I'd rather try with the options that are less likely to fry the mobo first.

Glue gun works well at holding ribbon cables. And you can rip the glue off later if you need to.

 

[Tobe]

Alright.

I upgraded to Windows 10 from a retail copy of Windows 8.1, can I reuse that retail 8 key on another PC and activate it just fine or has this 8 key been nullified with the 10 upgrade ?

I'd like to reuse some of my old parts lying around, only stuff I don't have is a valid windows key and I was wondering if I could reuse my old 8 key I upgraded to 10 from.
I wish to emphasize it was not an OEM licence, but a full retail one.

Thanks.

try with ms support they are really helpful

 

[opticalmace]

Sorry to be slightly off topic but I didn't think it's worth making a new thread to ask. So I'm having a go at keeping my laptop on life support, last time I swapped out the PSU one of the connectors on the mobo for the ribbons was very stubborn and broke. I taped it down and had no problems for a while but recently the clip is really being a pain and briefly dropping the connection. Problem is, it isn't the keyboard ribbon, whatever it is, it causes the screen to go black and the laptop to go into sleep mode but turns straight back on.

So my question is have any of you ever tried doing a makeshift repair on one of these? I still have the clip piece but it is missing a prong on the right side to hold it in. I've been debating trying a few ideas. One was to cut up an old credit card and try wedge it into the slot, or cut an angular bit of plastic packaging to place in to keep the tension. But I've also wondered if it would be safe to seal the clip in with an extremely small amount of some very carefully placed superglue, or perhaps just trying a stronger tape like duct tape. Thoughts?

I've got to give something a go tonight but I'd rather try with the options that are less likely to fry the mobo first.

I'm not sure I understand. You replaced the PSU of your laptop? Aren't they usually external bricks? I don't see how the motherboard comes into this.

If you happen to have pictures that might help.

 

[bomblord1]

I'm not sure I understand. You replaced the PSU of your laptop? Aren't they usually external bricks? I don't see how the motherboard comes into this.

If you happen to have pictures that might help.

If I had to guess he probably replaced the the part that connects the power input to the motherboard.

 

[UpDownLeftRight]

I'm not sure I understand. You replaced the PSU of your laptop? Aren't they usually external bricks? I don't see how the motherboard comes into this.

If you happen to have pictures that might help.

My laptop's a bit of an odd one. The inside of where the mains goes in completely fried, like a clean hole in the board, but oddly enough it's on a separate board with the wifi switch and not the Mobo so I grabbed a replacement and swapped it out. Had to take it almost all to bits to get down to the board and broke one of the clips in the process so have been trying to find a way to stick it down properly since. This happened about a year ago but recently it doesn't want to hold connection very well.

Sorry can't take any screens at the moment since I've left it down my parents where I've got more room to take it apart if needed.

Glue gun works well at holding ribbon cables. And you can rip the glue off later if you need to.

Thanks man, I'll bear it in mind, think I have one sitting around somewhere actually.

If I had to guess he probably replaced the the part that connects the power input to the motherboard.

Bingo! Was lucky enough for it to be one that relies on a psu board (PCB?) rather than being fully intergrated into the mobo.

 

[QuantumSquid]

I honestly didn't even know to think about these questions.

I would say heavier side, and not too many buttons, maybe enough to code the talk key, team talk, walk, sprint? At least 2 additional buttons beyond left/right click and scroll wheel if possible. I palm it, standard mouse grip, not opposed to other methods I guess. Thanks!

I'm gonna assume you have medium to large hands.

Here are the mice I would recommend:

SteelSeries Rival 300, Logitech G502, Logitech G402, and the Mionix Castor.

 

[RGM79]

Initial fitting of the Corsair RMx 650 and MSI GAMER GTX 970 into a Node 304. I specifically wanted this PSU since its fully modular, has a hybrid fan, a quiet fan profile, and actually built with quality compared to the RM range. Ive been avoiding Corsair PSUs, but this one seems to be up there with the top models now.

I've sent the 8 pin CPU power and 24 pin ATX down the side of the PSU at the front of the case.

I've zip tied the 24 pin ATX down using the case PSU fan grill as an anchor so that it is tight up against the PSU face and this way won't foul the GPU.

PSU bracket has been removed, the front panel still sits fine without modding the plastic pin at the bottom right.

Wow, seems like a tight fit but overall it looks well managed. Nice job.

Cool. Can the same be said for the R9 380 (4GB VRAM version)?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CbRDGX

Also, if I go for the R9 380 instead of a 960, will I have to get a more powerful power supply, or is the 520W fine? I've read online that my power supply should have 550W minimum for the 380, but then I go on some forums and read that people with only 500W power supplies are having no troubles with the 380.

The R9 380 is generally seen to be on par with the GTX 960. They're quite close in performance, perhaps one will be better in some games and vice versa. The R9 380 does draw more power than the GTX 960, but I see no problem with powering that PC on a Seasonic 520 watt PSU.

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/gnzMnQ

Would a build like this be good for me for blizzard games and xcom2? Possibly dabbling in new releases. I'm not looking to max settings really. Just play the games I like and possibly get a few in the future.

It'll be alright. If you're worried about cost, you could find a cheaper motherboard and PSU and maybe end up with a stronger graphics card for around the same cost. Something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($112.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba Product SeriesT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($193.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $493.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-23 15:16 EST-0500

Some newer games I would like to play are leaving my i3 3220 behind. Would an upgrade to an i5 2500 for $55 be a no brainer? (I don't plan on doing any other upgrades for 2 years at least).

I would likely need to buy Windows again, right?

No, you don't need to buy another Windows license just for changing the CPU. As far as I know, Windows doesn't care so much about the processor and RAM and hard drives as it does about the motherboard.

 

[QuantumSquid]

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/gnzMnQ

Would a build like this be good for me for blizzard games and xcom2? Possibly dabbling in new releases. I'm not looking to max settings really. Just play the games I like and possibly get a few in the future.

I would invest in a quad-core processor. Dual-core can limit your performance in many recent titles.

 

[Muffin Awesome]

I'm gonna assume you have medium to large hands.

Here are the mice I would recommend:

SteelSeries Rival 300, Logitech G502, Logitech G402, and the Mionix Castor.

Sorry about that yes larger size, thank you. Does these series of mice have any complementary keyboards? Or do you have any additional recommendations as well?