- Joined
- Sep 21, 2015
- Messages
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- Location
- Bucharest
System Name | Alien Xenomorph |
---|---|
Processor | Intel i7 3930K @ 4 Ghz |
Motherboard | Asus P9X79 |
Cooling | Noctua NH-C14 |
Memory | Patriot DDR3 16 GB (4x4 GB) XMP 1833 Mhz |
Video Card(s) | Nvidia GTX 690 |
Storage | Kingston HyperX 240 GB SSD (OS); WD Caviars 2TB + 2TB + 3TB + 3TB; Seagate 2TB + Archive 8TB |
Display(s) | LG 47 inch LED smart TV 1080p@60Hz |
Case | CoolerMaster Cosmos II |
Audio Device(s) | Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum 7.1 |
Power Supply | Seasonic X-Series 1250 W Gold |
Mouse | Logitech Marathon M705 Wireless |
Keyboard | Logitech MK710 Wireless Keyboard |
Software | Windows 7 Ultimate |
Hi guys,
I am posting this so others can get inspiration from it when buying a new build, especially if they want to find the price/performance sweetspot.
I don't need an upgrade of any kind, but just in case someone wants to start new, this configuration below should be the starting point, depending on their personal needs.
I am also gonna give an explanation for each part, so you guys can understand it better.
Title:
i5 6600K - sept 2015 - Starter Build
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Glacer 240L Ver. 2 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-DELUXE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung XP941 Series 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($316.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Archive 8TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($249.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($138.59 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G-750 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2297.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-22 04:22 EDT-0400
So, now, on to each component.
The CPU: - Intel Core i5-6600K - with this one, whatever your needs would be, gaming, browsing, editing, encoding, it would be more than enough. K version for overclocking ofc pushes this choice even further.
CPU cooler: - Cooler Master Glacer 240L Ver. 2 - I always went air, up till my last build, when I realized that from now on the water cooling would be the better choice, due to lower temps and also lower noise overall. Also allows you to use any type of ram heatsinks, due to clear space around the cpu area. This model from CoolerMaster allows you to keep it at very low noise, or to crank it up if you wanna break some OC record. For my next upgrade I will most certainly go water cooling for the cpu.
Motherboard: - Asus Z170-DELUXE - When you choose a motherboard, it's not like with ram, when you can add some more, or with the cpu, where you can replace it, or some add-in card. You're gonna stick with that MoBo until you get a new complete upgraded build. Now, what people don't account for is future expansion possibilities. You could go with the cheapest Z170 mobo, but you have to think ahead of how many disks are you gonna stick on it, how many GPUs are you gonna add and how many pci add-in cards you gonna mount, depending on your needs now and in the future. This one has it all, you can compare it with the rest of the pack. Plus, it is an ASUS, stable all the way, from my personal experience with this brand especially.
RAM: - G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 - In my past builds I had 2 GB, then 4 GB, then 8 GB, reaching in my last and current the 16GB mark. I always had that one day and that one moment when you needed just a bit more ram so you could do some more and a bit faster. I am talking about having some p2p connections in the background, some 20+ Chrome tabs, some streaming on the side of the screen and also playing some game while all of this is loaded up in the ram. You want to be able to alt tab fast and avoid some pagefile caching on the hdd/ssd. 32 GB should be the next step, most definitely.
Storage:
- Samsung XP941 Series 512GB M.2-2280 - you wanna store the OS on this SSD. When you upgrade to a new build, you always gotta choose the latest tech available. If you cannot afford something right now, you just wait a couple more months, save a bit more, and get it. This is the real deal as per upgrade from a sata 6 ssd and the OS is the most demanding part of all your software running on the machine.
- Crucial BX100 1TB 2.5" SSD - as I said previously, you are gonna be running some p2p connections in the background, most definitely, especially when you wanna keep that torrents ratio up , so downloading and seeding on this 1 TB ssd will avoid any disk overloaded situations. I am currently using a 2TB HDD drive and it occurs quite often with a 1Gbit connection. That random access time on a SSD is a breeze compared to a HDD.
- Seagate Archive 8TB 3.5" HDD - with this one, after you download some stuff, some of it you're just gonna watch it and then delete it, but what about that special folder or file that you wanna save for a possible collection to rewatch in the future? This is your saving spot. You're gonna save here whatever you download and store it for a rainy day when you just wanna rewatch some trilogy or something. And trust me, 8 TB are still not enough, when you add those blurays one by one, you are gonna fill it up pretty quickly.
GPU: - Asus GTX 970 4GB STRIX - First of all, Nvidia. It's not all about frame rates per dollar. You gotta have things like fast driver update, before new games go on sale, like the game ready drivers. PhysX, playing without is just a minus and why do it without if you can? and the 970 chip is able to play anything out there at decent 1080p high settings. If you wanna go 4K, just add another one for 2 way SLI
The STRIX version of ASUS assures low temps and low noise, just read the reviews.
Case: - Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower - with this one you get the latest windowed model and quick mounting options from CoolerMaster. If you're gonna build something, you can't hide it, sometimes it is very gratifying to be able to watch inside and admire the assembly. I don't have a window on my case right now, although I could order a modded panel, but for my next case it is definitely gonna have a side window to be able to see the components. In the end the case is just a personal look and feel taste.
PSU: - SeaSonic G-750 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX - if you're gonna build a small beast of a PC, you gotta trust and rely the components on a decent PSU. Seasonic is one of the best, if not the best brand out there as per reliability and components quality. You just cannot go wrong with one like this.
That's about it, regarding my advice on the current sweetspot for a new build at this particular moment in time.
If you don't have a PC yet and also don't have much money to spend, just play it safe and go for a G3258 build. Cheapest you can go and you cannot go wrong.
If you do not have the money for this one right now, but still it is almost there within your possibilities, just wait a couple of months and save up. It is just not worth it to buy components below the performance of the ones listed. You are gonna buy it once and keep it for a few years, the choice must be done so you get the most out of your money.
Now let the comments and opinions roll.
I always do this for my friends, but thought I would share some knowledge with this community, since it seems like the best out there right now for quality tech talk.
Cheers
I am posting this so others can get inspiration from it when buying a new build, especially if they want to find the price/performance sweetspot.
I don't need an upgrade of any kind, but just in case someone wants to start new, this configuration below should be the starting point, depending on their personal needs.
I am also gonna give an explanation for each part, so you guys can understand it better.
Title:
i5 6600K - sept 2015 - Starter Build
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Glacer 240L Ver. 2 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-DELUXE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung XP941 Series 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($316.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Archive 8TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($249.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($138.59 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G-750 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2297.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-22 04:22 EDT-0400
So, now, on to each component.
The CPU: - Intel Core i5-6600K - with this one, whatever your needs would be, gaming, browsing, editing, encoding, it would be more than enough. K version for overclocking ofc pushes this choice even further.
CPU cooler: - Cooler Master Glacer 240L Ver. 2 - I always went air, up till my last build, when I realized that from now on the water cooling would be the better choice, due to lower temps and also lower noise overall. Also allows you to use any type of ram heatsinks, due to clear space around the cpu area. This model from CoolerMaster allows you to keep it at very low noise, or to crank it up if you wanna break some OC record. For my next upgrade I will most certainly go water cooling for the cpu.
Motherboard: - Asus Z170-DELUXE - When you choose a motherboard, it's not like with ram, when you can add some more, or with the cpu, where you can replace it, or some add-in card. You're gonna stick with that MoBo until you get a new complete upgraded build. Now, what people don't account for is future expansion possibilities. You could go with the cheapest Z170 mobo, but you have to think ahead of how many disks are you gonna stick on it, how many GPUs are you gonna add and how many pci add-in cards you gonna mount, depending on your needs now and in the future. This one has it all, you can compare it with the rest of the pack. Plus, it is an ASUS, stable all the way, from my personal experience with this brand especially.
RAM: - G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 - In my past builds I had 2 GB, then 4 GB, then 8 GB, reaching in my last and current the 16GB mark. I always had that one day and that one moment when you needed just a bit more ram so you could do some more and a bit faster. I am talking about having some p2p connections in the background, some 20+ Chrome tabs, some streaming on the side of the screen and also playing some game while all of this is loaded up in the ram. You want to be able to alt tab fast and avoid some pagefile caching on the hdd/ssd. 32 GB should be the next step, most definitely.
Storage:
- Samsung XP941 Series 512GB M.2-2280 - you wanna store the OS on this SSD. When you upgrade to a new build, you always gotta choose the latest tech available. If you cannot afford something right now, you just wait a couple more months, save a bit more, and get it. This is the real deal as per upgrade from a sata 6 ssd and the OS is the most demanding part of all your software running on the machine.
- Crucial BX100 1TB 2.5" SSD - as I said previously, you are gonna be running some p2p connections in the background, most definitely, especially when you wanna keep that torrents ratio up , so downloading and seeding on this 1 TB ssd will avoid any disk overloaded situations. I am currently using a 2TB HDD drive and it occurs quite often with a 1Gbit connection. That random access time on a SSD is a breeze compared to a HDD.
- Seagate Archive 8TB 3.5" HDD - with this one, after you download some stuff, some of it you're just gonna watch it and then delete it, but what about that special folder or file that you wanna save for a possible collection to rewatch in the future? This is your saving spot. You're gonna save here whatever you download and store it for a rainy day when you just wanna rewatch some trilogy or something. And trust me, 8 TB are still not enough, when you add those blurays one by one, you are gonna fill it up pretty quickly.
GPU: - Asus GTX 970 4GB STRIX - First of all, Nvidia. It's not all about frame rates per dollar. You gotta have things like fast driver update, before new games go on sale, like the game ready drivers. PhysX, playing without is just a minus and why do it without if you can? and the 970 chip is able to play anything out there at decent 1080p high settings. If you wanna go 4K, just add another one for 2 way SLI
The STRIX version of ASUS assures low temps and low noise, just read the reviews.
Case: - Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower - with this one you get the latest windowed model and quick mounting options from CoolerMaster. If you're gonna build something, you can't hide it, sometimes it is very gratifying to be able to watch inside and admire the assembly. I don't have a window on my case right now, although I could order a modded panel, but for my next case it is definitely gonna have a side window to be able to see the components. In the end the case is just a personal look and feel taste.
PSU: - SeaSonic G-750 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX - if you're gonna build a small beast of a PC, you gotta trust and rely the components on a decent PSU. Seasonic is one of the best, if not the best brand out there as per reliability and components quality. You just cannot go wrong with one like this.
That's about it, regarding my advice on the current sweetspot for a new build at this particular moment in time.
If you don't have a PC yet and also don't have much money to spend, just play it safe and go for a G3258 build. Cheapest you can go and you cannot go wrong.
If you do not have the money for this one right now, but still it is almost there within your possibilities, just wait a couple of months and save up. It is just not worth it to buy components below the performance of the ones listed. You are gonna buy it once and keep it for a few years, the choice must be done so you get the most out of your money.
Now let the comments and opinions roll.
I always do this for my friends, but thought I would share some knowledge with this community, since it seems like the best out there right now for quality tech talk.
Cheers