Somebody stop me... (Gaming PC Build Thread)

[Mr Wonder]

So mine old faithful PC which has served me well since 2009 has died. Out with the old;

Lian Li PC A70
i7 920
X58-Extreme board
Noctua D14
6GB ram
4870x2
+ various hard drives

In with the new!

Corsair 750D
i7 6700k
Z170 whatever board
Noctua D15 - this thing is stupidly large
32GB ram
GTX980

I also consolidated hard drives. Most were hitting 4-5 years old and one was really noisy.
128GB SSD - OS - Kept from old rig
750GB SSD - Steam / Photoshop scratch disk
3TB WD Black
3TB WD Red - Kept from old rig
6TB WD Green
2TB WD Green - Kept from old rig

And a 2TB portable HDD.
Plus a 6TB My Cloud. Too much backup is never enough!


I also ditched my busted Logitech G15 keyboard. I now waste time on a fancy Das Keyboard 4 Professional. I kept my Logitech G5 mouse - when did mice become angular, ugly, and pimply with buttons?


It's sooooooo fast! 8+ 20 megapixel panoramas in Photoshop are now a breeze.
Pretty cool as well. Idles at 20C, hits around 67C in prime 95. Very happy camper. I just need someone to produce a 34" 21:9 wide gamut monitor and I'm set.

[thesameguy]

Sounds like a nice build! GTX980 is a BEAST!!

[LHutton]

My old PC Spec:

Dell Studio 8100(?)
i5-750
6GB DDR3
HD 5770
2TB HDD

Final new PC Spec as of December:

IN WIN 805 Case
Corsair CX750M PSU
i7-6700k overclocked to 4.7GHz
Corsair Hydro H110i GTX cooler
ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Ranger
16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz
ZOTAC GTX980Ti AMP Extreme currently running 1465MHz boost, 7800MHz memory
Soundblaster X7
6 year old Skull Candy ROCNATION Headphones
Razer Deathadder Chroma
Razer Control Mat
Trusty 6 year old Dell Keyboard
Trusty 6 year old XBox360 controller
Just managed to get it working with Windows 10 Lexmark Prospect SE Pro208 Printer
Intel 750 400GB
Samsung 850 Evo 1TB
Copious amounts of cloud storage that I'll never use (Intel 750 currently just over half full)
Acer XB281HK 28in 4K G-Sync Monitor
Nvidia SHIELD
New Samsung 60in UHD Nano-crystal Flatscreen TV

[Yw-slayer]

Sweet, mate! Almost the same as mine, except that I only have a GTX970, a different case, and a slightly different SSD/HDD configuration.

[LHutton]

I would wait to see how this issue unfolds before committing at this stage. I personally may have made a big mistake buying an Nvidia card if this holds true.

http://gtxforums.net/showthread.php?...ly-they-do-not

[21Kid]

Would it be worth it to get an entry level gaming PC, such as this, as a placeholder for a couple of years?
AMD FX-4300 Quad Core 3.8GHz, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 1TB HDD, 24X DVD, NVIDIA GT 720 1GB

I mostly play games Like Civ V, Total War: Shogun 2, and I want to get Cities: Skylines, which is currently too much for my 2012 laptop w/integrated graphics. I'd like to get a better PC down the road, but that's probably 2-3 years away anyway.

Do you think this would be a decent placeholder until then? Or can I do better building my own/waiting? Trying to keep it around/under $500.

[thesameguy]

I think no. The GT720 is about useless when it comes to games. You would actually be better off getting a "lower end" PC with a Skylake CPU... the integrated graphics on the mid-range CPUs are going to be faster than a low-end GT.

Personally, I would keep your eyes out for a deal on a Dell XPS 8900. They run a little more with an i7-6700 CPU. If you buy a refurb from Dell Outlet, you can get them under $500. Like:

Processor: Intel Core 6th Generation i7-6700 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.0 GHz)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz
16X DVD + RW Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 2GB DDR3
Black
Dell Outlet XPS 8900
$486.90 + tax.

or

Processor: Intel Core 6th Generation i7-6700 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.0 GHz)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
16GB (2x8GB) 2133MHz DDR4 Non-ECC
16X DVD + RW Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 4GB GDDR3
Black
Dell Outlet XPS 8900
$590 + tax

Much better systems - and you can probably make some money back by removing the GT730 and using the onboard graphics on the first one. You should be able to grab a compatible R9 270 or something off fleabay for under $100. It's totally serviceable. Like:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-AMD-Rad...gAAOSw7KJXDYLF

(Nobody is going to pay $145 for that. I'd best offer it at $90 and see what happens, maybe meet around $110.)

I hope this link works:

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...02794472067521

Coupon code for 35% off is QDD35%do

Inventory shifts around, so check back until you find the right one. If you miss this sale, there will be another in two weeks or so.

[21Kid]

Sweet. Yeah, obviously i know nothing about what is a good deal. This is the first time I've even looked in over 3 years. Thanks!

The link works... It looks like a list of all outlet PCs. (135 of them)

[thesameguy]

Glad that link works - you can filter on the left, I'd focus on the XPS 8900 as it's the best value vs, say, the Alienware machines. Prices presented are pre-discount, so take 35% off whatever they are. Dell messes with the bases prices and the discounts so you really need to pay attention - sometimes they increase the discount and the price, so you end up paying more ultimate. Right now - the prices and the discount - are at a sweet spot. $500 for an XPS 8900 is the target.

Good deal is a big variable because everyone values different things. The attraction (for me) of the Dell Outlet is you are buying a $300 CPU with an entire computer around it plus Windows for $500. The Cyberpower PC is based around a $90 CPU, so even if has more ultimate growth capability, less of the stuff you're buying up front will have a good lifespan. Buying CPUs at 35% off is a big deal. The CPU is not going to fail, so even if the rest of the machine does or you outgrow it, you still have a lot of value stored in that CPU.

The limitations with the XPS are physical space and power supply - you can't fit the biggest of the big video cards in there, and the PSU is only 460w. There's no beating the space, but there is room for most mid-range cards without worry. You can put larger PSUs in - Corsair and Silverstone both make 700w units that fit. The XPS has *some* growth capability, and starting with an i7-6700 means you should be able to get some really good years out of it - that CPU will be relevant for a really long time. Alternatively, buy $500 PC now, sell it in two years for $250, rinse and repeat. Used 4th gen i7 CPUs by themselves still get $200 on ebay!

[21Kid]

Is the i5 a big step down? I didn't see any for $500. But, this one was only $434

Processor: Intel Core 6th Generation i5-6400 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.3 GHz)
Windows 10 Pro
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz
16X DVD + RW Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 2GB DDR3
Dell Outlet XPS 8900