Brightness set to 100. said:
Brightness set to 35 (slightly darker room). said:
The CPU looks fine to me.
If you're like me and think the Intel stock cooler won't cut it, a cheap Cooler Master TX3, 212 EVO, or a Cryorig H7 will do wonders to temps. Optional, though, unless you live in Florida or something.
I think I strongly prefer motherboards with at least 4 memory slots if it's going to be your primary motherboard. Also not a fan of Gigabyte, but that's just me (or maybe my dad's company - something surely happened for them to stop going Gigabyte!)
Buy a kit of 2x8 GB RAM if possible. 8GB works, but 16GB leaves you tons of breathing room for the life of the PC. Most games don't need more than 8 GB of RAM, but it should help with keeping more things in memory if you do have more than that.
The HDD works. SSD makes things faster for anything stored in there, but non-critical for desktops IMO.
Note that my part choices do not take into consideration appearances for the most part. Feel free to spend a bit extra if needed - oh, and don't bother with the Kingston HyperX stuff in the USA. Their DDR4 stuff are oddly overpriced over there.
The 390 is an incredible deal, but do note that it's also 100W more than the 970. Plan accordingly. If thinking of a 970, the MSI Gaming 4G version looks great, performs great, and, best of all, overclocks really well. Remember to play around with GPU overclocking.
I wouldn't want to deal with a Raidmax case. Me, I use a Corsair Carbide 100R... it's a bit small for an ATX mid-tower, but most of the important stuff are there. Keep in mind that it has only one exhaust fan, and stepping up to the 200R will give you an intake fan and a bit more legroom for everything, though you do lose the big window for the most part.
The EVGA PSU should be adequate for your needs, though if you're like me and like to keep the amount of manufacturers to a minimum, the Corsair CX500 also happens to be just ever so slightly cheaper than the EVGA.
So... if I were doing your rig I'd probably have done it like this.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H170A PC Mate ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($55.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.77 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($304.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $753.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 09:49 EDT-0400
The CPU looks fine to me.
If you're like me and think the Intel stock cooler won't cut it, a cheap Cooler Master TX3, 212 EVO, or a Cryorig H7 will do wonders to temps. Optional, though, unless you live in Florida or something.
I think I strongly prefer motherboards with at least 4 memory slots if it's going to be your primary motherboard. Also not a fan of Gigabyte, but that's just me (or maybe my dad's company - something surely happened for them to stop going Gigabyte!)
Buy a kit of 2x8 GB RAM if possible. 8GB works, but 16GB leaves you tons of breathing room for the life of the PC. Most games don't need more than 8 GB of RAM, but it should help with keeping more things in memory if you do have more than that.
The HDD works. SSD makes things faster for anything stored in there, but non-critical for desktops IMO.
Note that my part choices do not take into consideration appearances for the most part. Feel free to spend a bit extra if needed - oh, and don't bother with the Kingston HyperX stuff in the USA. Their DDR4 stuff are oddly overpriced over there.
The 390 is an incredible deal, but do note that it's also 100W more than the 970. Plan accordingly. If thinking of a 970, the MSI Gaming 4G version looks great, performs great, and, best of all, overclocks really well. Remember to play around with GPU overclocking.
I wouldn't want to deal with a Raidmax case. Me, I use a Corsair Carbide 100R... it's a bit small for an ATX mid-tower, but most of the important stuff are there. Keep in mind that it has only one exhaust fan, and stepping up to the 200R will give you an intake fan and a bit more legroom for everything, though you do lose the big window for the most part.
The EVGA PSU should be adequate for your needs, though if you're like me and like to keep the amount of manufacturers to a minimum, the Corsair CX500 also happens to be just ever so slightly cheaper than the EVGA.
So... if I were doing your rig I'd probably have done it like this.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H170A PC Mate ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($55.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.77 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($304.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $753.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 09:49 EDT-0400
Just upgraded from a 2700k to 3770k, the max I can upgrade on z68 motherboard
3DMark 11 new scores
Does it remain constant regardless of angle (i.e. not IPS glow)? If so I would probably consider a replacement myself, with the bleed being so heavily non-uniform and excessive in the lower right.
Just upgraded from a 2700k to 3770k, the max I can upgrade on z68 motherboard
3DMark 11 new scores
