Hey guys, my little cousin wants to build his first gaming PC. I'm giving him my Titan X and 27" ROG Swift monitor, but he needs everything else.
Has a budget of ~$800 for the remainder of the hardware. So MB, CPU, ram, PSU, SSD/HDD, Case, KB/Mouse. Is that enough to get a solid rig or should he save up some more?
The I7 is worth it over the SSD to start IMO. He can always get one down the line, a 120/256GB SSD for OS and some games shouldn't be too hard to get later as an add on for cheap during a deal. I even found a Deal for the 6700k for $309.99 and with my build they can use the same case you have and get a 120GB SSD near budget.
Many games now are in fact capable of utilizing 8 threads and taking advantage of hyperthreading. As of right now the 6600k and 6700k are very close performance wise, but it's as we continue down the road and the processor gets older that the I7's starts to be advantageous. Given the relatively small price increase I certainly think it's worth it.
https://youtu.be/EhaB1dqYv_I
Updated recommendation from me
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-K ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Thermaltake 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Other: I7 6700k ($309.99)
Total: $806.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-25 08:12 EDT-0400
Can easily drop the SSD which will cover the cost of the OS on Reddit and a mouse/keyboard.
Use this to get OS.
https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap/
At that price point it might be worth it. I combined the three builds more or less. Go liquid cooling for $25 more if you want, not necessary though. 1x 8gb stick is fine bandwidth wise for now, go for another 8gb later on if he needs it. Filling up RAM slots with 4gb sticks isn't worth the tiny 1-2% increase you'll see in performance, save them for more memory capacity down the road.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($100.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.95 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Thermaltake 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: NZXT Air Flow Series 83.6 CFM 140mm Fan ($12.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Other: I7 6700k ($309.99) On EBAY
Total: $722.54 (771.87 Before discounts)
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-25 09:33 EDT-0400
If you can't get the Ebay i7, go i5.
Edit: Changed cooler