Top products from r/buildapcforme

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My rationale for the chosen products:

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• CPU: Review
  A very detailed review from GamersNexus. These guys make incredible reviews and will go very in depth into every aspect of whatever they review. They also post on reddit a bit.
  This CPU is just the best bang for the buck right now, no question asked. Intel is too expensive and doesn't let you upgrade the CPU on the same motherboard if you would want to do this in a few years.
  
  This CPU is bought in MicroCenter with a combo kit to save $30!
  
  
• Motherboard: Product page
  A very solid board that doesn't break the bank. It comes with 7 USB type A (standard) & 1 USB type C port on the read. With the 2 from case, we get to the total 10 USB ports that was asked for.
  When you buy this motherboard at MicroCenter, you get a $30 combo deal.
  
  I highly recommend to ask one of the sales people if the BIOS is compatible for the new Ryzen 3000 series. I've heard that they would even upgrade the BIOS for you without extra cost to get it working. But it will probably work out of the box by now.
  
• Memory: RAM is RAM. Brands don't matter too much, speed & latency does have an impact for performance on Ryzen though. This video explains it very well. So I went with a 3000MHz, CL15 set from G.Skill. This will work very well and will give you a decent performance boost.
  
• Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD & 2TB HDD for mass storage. This is a very nice balance in terms of SSD & mass storage I find personally.
  The Sabrent Rocket NVMe SSD is extremely fast and very well balanced in terms of price to performance. The WD 2TB is a very standard drive that got a lower RPM to reduce the noise. It will be a tiny bit slower compared to a 7200 RPM drive, but you'll hardly be able to notice the difference. A slower RPM HDD also on pure merit, will last longer because of the lesser amount of mechanical tear it goes through over time.
  
• Video Card: Review & Review (written)
  This is the best video card for the budget of this build. We could spend less on the peripherals and get a better card, but considering the games that are mentioned. This would be a waste in my opinion. It will perform very well at 1440p (the monitor resolution I suggest) and will just be a lot of fun.
  
• Case: Review
  GamersNexus again! Well, this is an a very silent case. It does not come in army green or has handles, but there are very few cases that have either of that. It does have the 2 ODD which was also requested so I went with a case that got 2 out of the 4 requests. Silence is a main factor for my PC builds.
  
• Case fans: It comes with 2 very high quality fans, which is enough for this system.
  
• Power Supply: Review
  10 year warranty, 80+ gold efficiency, fully-modular black cables, semi-passive fan design, 650W PSU from Corsair made by CWT. The 10 year warranty should tell you enough, but if not then the 9.666.. score for this unit should tell you enough. I remove the "value" score from this review since prices change all the time. Ow right, it is the 750W unit, but the 650W is pretty much the same platform. So very close in performance and quality.
  
• Monitor: Review
  An other amazing review that looks at pretty much everything this monitor has to offer. It's a long read, so in short. It's one of the best TN gaming monitors available right now. It will diliver an awesome gaming experience. It also comes with a USB 3.0 HUB for 1 extra USB connection, since it got 2 on the monitor, but you have to connect it to 1 on the motherboard. So you lose 1 there, but gain 2 on the monitor. Useful for the microphone & something else of choice.
  
• Wireless Network Adapter: This card has been highly rated, although I personally have no experience with it. I also don't recommend to use WiFi if possible. It can and often will be a lot worse compared to a hardwired cable. If you can't reach the PC with the cable, then you can use a power-line adaptor. This will allow you to use the powerlines in your house to get from the router to the PC. You will lose some speed doing this, but it is still much better compared to WiFi.
  Regardless, this card does support both Bluetooth & WiFi. You have to connect the USB cable to get the Bluetooth working!
  
  Place this card in anything but the bottom PCIe x1 slot. Since that one won't work when you put the NVMe SSD into the top M.2/1 slot. They share the bandwidth.
  
  
• Keyboard: Review
  Probably the best wireless mechanical keyboard on the market. It's a 60% keyboard, so no F, arrow or numpad keys. If you want any of these keys, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Also because it's a mechanical keyboard, the switch type is something personal. Ask your brother if he wants to have tactile feedback when pressing down a key and if he would like it to click. The clicking can be very loud, so its something to be well aware of. I personally use MX browns and while I can hear it very slightly, it's by far my favourite switch. I had blues and tried reds as well. I don't like red switches since they don't have any feedback, so I don't know when I pressed the key. It's a minor thing and for "gaming" it can be better since you can press keys "faster" but in my opinion this is not really much of a difference or negative.
  
• Mouse: Review
  The best mouse reviewer there is. He rates it fairly highly and because of the cheap price, it was not a hard decision to suggest this. However, it would help a lot to ask your brother if he could measure his hands and how does he grip the mouse? Knowing those two factors will help to say if this mouse will work or if we should look at something else.
  
• Mousepad: I don't know if he will sit behind a desk or not, but can't forget to get a mousepad. I absolutely love the extremely large ones where you can place the keyboard on it as well. It also helps for your wrists a bit to have a softer place for them.
  
• Speakers: You wanted a wireless keyboard & mouse, so you also get some wireless speakers! I actually personally wasn't a fan of wireless audio for a while. But they've made massive improvements to make me feel a bit more comfortable with recommending it. If you want to use wires, you can simply get the T40 series ii. These speakers have been the bar for sub $100 speakers.
  
• Microphone: Review
  Well, finally a LinusTechTips video joins the list! Well, the Blue Yeti has been pretty much the staple of microphones for high quality voice recording and podcasts. I went with it, even though it may be a bit overkill. But heey, you buy this and can use it for many years while sounding crystal clear. You may even get some compliments on how sexy you sound!
  I also included a stand so that you can actually get it very close to your face that most streamers do. It also reduces the noise of the keyboard by a good amount + no shocks when you place something on the desk because of the shock mount.
  
  

  Hope you like it and If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Somewhat upgrade-able:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $199.99 @ Microcenter
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $154.99 @ NCIX US
Memory | Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $71.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $122.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $59.98 @ Outlet PC
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card | $409.99 @ NCIX US
Case | Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case | $159.99 @ Microcenter
Power Supply | Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | $79.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer | $15.99 @ Microcenter
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) | $89.73 @ Outlet PC
Monitor | Dell S2340M 60Hz 23.0" Monitor | $159.99 @ Adorama
Keyboard | SteelSeries 6Gv2 Wired Standard Keyboard | $98.98 @ Outlet PC
Mouse | SteelSeries Sensei RAW Wired Laser Mouse | $44.99 @ NCIX US
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1669.59
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-03 01:55 EDT-0400 |

More upgrade-able:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor | $229.99 @ Microcenter
Motherboard | Asus P9X79 LE ATX LGA2011 Motherboard | $224.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $71.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $122.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $59.98 @ Outlet PC
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card | $409.99 @ NCIX US
Case | Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case | $159.99 @ Microcenter
Power Supply | Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | $79.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer | $15.99 @ Microcenter
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) | $89.73 @ Outlet PC
Monitor | Dell S2340M 60Hz 23.0" Monitor | $159.99 @ Adorama
Keyboard | SteelSeries 6Gv2 Wired Standard Keyboard | $98.98 @ Outlet PC
Mouse | SteelSeries Sensei RAW Wired Laser Mouse | $44.99 @ NCIX US
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1769.59
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-03 01:58 EDT-0400 |

This is all based on speculation, but I don't think that the LGA 1150 socket (the socket that the i5-4670k uses) is going to be around for a long time in comparison to the socket used in the more upgradeable build (LGA 2011).

The i7 used in the LGA 2011 build is going to help improve performance, but it isn't going to make a big difference in gaming. However, I would say that the LGA 2011 socket is going to have better longevity, if that's what your after.

Other than the CPU and motherboard, the primary components of both builds are pretty much the same. You have your motherboard. In the i5 build, the motherboard is good enough to support overclocking quite well, as long as you aren't too extreme with it. In the more upgradeable build, the motherboard is also good enough to support overclocking, but the CPU will not be overclockable due to it not being an Intel "K" variant.

The SSD I have included is pretty much the best SSD on the market right now, and you have 128GB of it. That's pretty nice for storing your OS and programs that you're going to frequently access. The Hard Drive is for big data and files like Music and Videos.

The GTX 770 is the second best single GPU card out today. It has the best price:performance ratio of any card and will ravage any game.

The Corsair 650D is one of the nicest mid-tower cases out there. It isn't massive, but it isn't small either. It has a nice window so you can see inside. If you want, get some Logisys cathodes to light up your case for a quick mod that makes things look cool.

The monitor is a decent budget IPS display. If you want to focus more on the monitor, I can shift some of the budget to it. It has a pretty nice bezel.

It's finished off with a nice set of steelseries gear. The 6gv2 is the nicest mechanical keyboard I've used, with the exception of possibly the das keyboard. It doesn't light up, have extra buttons, or have any other frills. It's just a really nice mechanical keyboard. The mouse is the sensei [raw], which is a slightly lesser version of the sensei, but it's all you need. It has an ambidextrous design, which some of the right-handed people don't like. Just thought you should know that.

The last part is the gaming headset, and this is the reason why there's a sizable chunk of money at the end of the i5 build. There wasn't enough money to put in a GTX 780, overclocking, AND headphones. I should let you know that I don't believe in gaming headsets. A high-end gaming headset approaching $100 is essentially a $20-30 headphone with a microphone attached to it, sold at a large markup. It's all hype, and most people buy into it. The best solution is a nice pair of cans with a clip-on mic. I'm partial to the V-moda Crossfade M80 with this zalman clip-on mic, but on-ear headphones may not be your thing. The M80 has nice bass that is perfect for video games. Let me know.

www.amazon.com/V-MODA-Crossfade-On-Ear-Noise-Isolating-Headphone/dp/B005HSDLCO/
www.amazon.com/Zalman-Zm-Mic1-Sensitivity-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/

That said, if you're dead set on a pair of gaming headphones you can't go THAT far wrong with a Logitech G35 or Steelseries Siberia V2. You just aren't getting what you pay for with the sound quality.

This is what I would call a "build" that's representative of what I BELIEVE you're looking for as far as a set up goes.

Before that though lets get into:

> A few people have recommended going with the I7 for the types of games i'll be playing, saying its needed to handle the workload but will the I5 get the job done, say for a game like star citizen (which is in alpha i know)?

Needed? Haha that's like saying that a family of 4 would ABSOLUTELY needed to get something like a Honda Odyssey full mini-van instead of a Honda CR-V because "you never know" if you're going to drive more than four people.

Star Citizen is an un-finished game let that be known to everyone. The Dev's are focused on FINISHING the game first which is obvious because the game is still in "beta" so of course there's bound to be some bugs in which the game is hogging hardware. You can make a conclusive requirement on a game that isn't 100% finished.

Here's the thing, most people don't have i7s in their gaming computers. Do you seriously think it's a smart business decision to cater and optimize Star Citizen to the top 1% of the PC gamers who all have overkill rigs over the other 99% who have lower end rigs? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.


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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $219.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $68.49 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $124.99 @ B&H
Memory | Avexir Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $69.99 @ Newegg
Storage | ADATA Premier SP550 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $109.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $35.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card | $598.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case | NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $66.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $79.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $85.70 @ My Choice Software
Monitor | Asus ROG SWIFT PG248Q 24.0" 180Hz Monitor | $349.99 @ Best Buy
Keyboard | Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard | $129.99 @ Corsair
Mouse | Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse | $57.51 @ Jet
Headphones | Kingston HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Channel Headset | $91.89 @ NCIX US
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2090.49
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-18 13:47 EST-0500 |

• In this build I stuck to the "practical" side of computer building over niche parts. i don't know how you feel about that but because you'd need a small loan of a million dollars to actually make something that has the best quality all around.
  
• The i5-6600k is literally enough. If people tell you that "oh why didn't you buy an i7 you totally need it for gaming", ask them for proof in benchmarks of REAL games. 9 times out of 10 they're probably going to give you some cherry picked benchmark from some game and you can just laugh at them for it.
  
• Water cooling doesn't help you in temperatures unless you're running X99 level CPU's with crazy voltages. The NH-D14 might not look like the best thing in the world, but it has it where it counts. You can EASILY get up to 4.5~ Ghz with this air cooler under 65C assuming you got a decent i5-6600k from the famous Silicon Lottery.
  
• This isn't the absolute cheapest SLI compatible Z170 board but atleast it looks cool. The black/white color scheme will work perfectly with the case! It has all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a Z170 board like M.2 ports for PCIE SSDs, SATA Express, USB 3.0, USB Type C and HDMI/DVI out.
  
• 16GB of ram on two sticks is enough. 2400Mhz ram costs just as much as 2133mhz ram so just go for it. Any brand will do. You might want to look around if you want to color match the build.
  
• I kept with the program and used a 480GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive. Not the most glamorous brands by any stretch of the imagination but they will work just as well. Just like any other component the SSD/Hard drive can fail and that's just how life is. It doesn't matter if it's Samsung or Kingston or A-DATA or etc.. I've had my fair share of failed drives and the one company I will never by "consumer grade" products from is Seagate. Their hard drives have substantially higher failure rates after one year of use compared to any other competing company.
  
• I kept the GTX 1080 because it fits with the budget and shouldn't really change. Brand doesn't matter as long as you aren't buying a founders edition or blower style cooler. You'll never reach the high overclocks like that.
  
• I had to drop the case to a less expensive but still fabulous NZXT S340 case. The case doesn't impact performance really it's just there for aesthetics. If you really want the Phantom 530 then feel free to go for it. I'm not going to tell you its bad because it's your prerogative. I personally always go the extra mile for a case that I really want.(Well all my cases were made by NZXT, S340 White -> H440 Black/Orange -> Noctis 450 Black).
  
• I tossed in a 750W Semi-Modular power supply from EVGA to make sure you have the room for upgrades in the future comfortably. You can run dual GTX 1080's just fine with this power supply. I don't go after fully modular cases unless I'm going for sleeved cables because Semi-Modular power supplies always have the "required" cables attached. I.E 20+ 4 Pin Motherboard/ 4+4 Pin CPU connector/ 2X 6+ 2 pin PCI-E connectors.
  
• I went with a more expensive G-Sync enabled 180HZ Asus PG248Q monitor. Quality/features come at a price and this is as good as it gets for your budget if you want a 144Hz monitor. G-Sync will help your GTX 1080 in those times you can't quite reach those higher FPS in very VERY VERY demanding games. I just tossed this in because I feel that this monitor is probably something you'll be happy with. It definitely has that "gamery" vibe and the "this would cost you an arm and a leg" type of peripheral. If you didn't need the 180hz/G-Sync and you're completely fine with a 144Hz enabled monitor then the AOC G2460PF is the next best thing. It has VERY good reviews and a lot of people prefer this monitor over other ones in the same price range.
  
• I kept the rest of the peripherals to respect your decisions in the peripheral department. The one thing I will say though is that the G502 is a freaking dust magnet. I've owned one myself and it's great but the pads underneath the mouse have a problem of getting clogged with dust in time and just freaking terrible execution from Logitech. I switched to a Razer Deathadder Chroma and it's working dandy for me on my Steelseries QCK mousepad.
  
  
  If you have any concerns or questions feel free to ask. There's obviously things about the build that can be changed if you feel strongly about certain components. That's personal and I wont contest that.

KEYBOARD

I'm not really all that much of a keyboard guy. Having said that, you want a wired keyboard for gaming. I love my Saitek Eclipse II.

MOUSE

The Cobra is exactly that. I know that it's kind of suspicious at $5, but I've been using mine for the past 9 months, and it's exactly what you describe, a cheap mouse with adjustable DPI and no macros. Plus it looks kinda neat, fits the color scheme, and it isn't going to do anything stupid.

CPU

Here's an 8350 streaming on a much worse GPU than the one in your build.

CPU Cooler

You don't "need" it if you don't want to overclock, but it's a good bit quieter than the stock one. I only put it in because you said you wanted it quiet.

RAM

Most games right now only use about 4GB, so 8 is the sweet spot for the rare game (like Crysis) that uses more resources than a normal game. Plus, you can add more memory in this build (you'll want to in about 2-3 years or so), and it'll only take you about 2 minutes. Ram has been going up in price lately; I was able to get 16GB of 1866 memory 9 months ago. I wouldn't buy much more than I had to now.

Storage

I'm running this exact hard drive in my build, and it's not giving me any problems. The SSD, on the other hand, is one I've never used before. It has nice reviews and is SATA III, so it should run fine.

VIDEO CARD

Here's my argument. They are very similar, and the 7970 is $80 cheaper.

Motherboard

This is one of the best AMD motherboards out there. It's only running the 970 chipset, which means that it can only run one NVIDIA graphics card (no SLI), or 2 AMD cards (in Crossfire, but the second one is kind of slow). However, Crossfire is terrible (no driver support), and I'd rather have one really nice card than 2 OK ones. Also, this card has heatsinks on the VRMs and is one of the best boards for overclocking out there. The way I see it is, if it can withstand a huge overclock, it's going to be pretty stable. Read the reviews on it. It's nice.

CASE

It matters a bit. This case has nice cable management options and a spot for the SSD. It's pretty sturdy, has USB 3.0, and a lot of fans included. I have no idea what it's going to cost to get it shipped from MicroCenter. If it's too much, we can look for another case.

Power Supply

You need about 500 watts for this build, but I went with a 600 watt power supply because as the capacitors break down (3+ years from now), you're going to lose some of your wattage. Plus, if you ever decide to do some crazy stuff that consumes a lot of power, you'll be covered.

OPTICAL DRIVE

This is a DVD/CD drive. It burns them and plays them. If you want Blu-Ray, we can throw that in, but it'll be about $30 more.

Wireless Network Adapter

Got it. This one's pretty awesome.

OS

Windows 8 works better with the AMD FX chips out of the box, but if you really want to run Windows 7, you can download and install some fixes from Microsoft that will make it pretty similar. If the interface is your gripe with Windows 8, you can install a start menu for it from a 3rd party developer. I use Windows 8 and like it a lot, but a lot of people don't.

Overclocking

It'll hurt things if you're being stupid. Otherwise, you'll be fine. Still, this thing should last for a long time.

I have a very similar build, and it worked out of the box. After I installed drivers (which you have to do anyway), it ran even better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor | $179.99 @ Microcenter
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $19.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard | $89.99 @ Microcenter
Memory | Kingston Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $58.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $84.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $63.99 @ Geeks.com
Video Card | PowerColor Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card | $309.99 @ NCIX US
Wireless Network Adapter | TP-Link TL-WN822N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter | $19.98 @ Outlet PC
Case | Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case | $44.99 @ Microcenter
Power Supply | Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply | $46.00 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer | $16.00 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) | $89.73 @ Outlet PC
Mouse | Cobra 9897005984104 Wired Optical Mouse | Purchased For $4.97
Other| XStar 1440p Monitor| $279.99
Other| Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard Warehouse Deal| $39.99
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1345.57
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-02 18:11 EDT-0400 |

EDIT: These headphones and this mic will outperform $100+ headsets.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $249.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $24.75 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $132.98 @ Newegg
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory | $69.99 @ Newegg
Storage | A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $59.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card | $599.99 @ Amazon
Case | NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $64.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $79.99 @ NCIX US
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM 3-Pack (64-bit) | $107.99
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1490.45
| Mail-in rebates | -$50.00
| Total | $1440.45
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-03 19:10 EST-0500 |

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Rationale:

CPU: I went with an Skylake i5 processor (i5-6500K) for it's great raw performance and efficient power usage. It's an unlocked processor so you can overclock with it (I highly recommend it, it's a free boost in performance).

CPU Cooler: A Hyper 212 EVO from Cooler Master. It's a nice and quiet cooler.

Motherboard: An ATX Z170 mobo from MSI. It's good quality and supports SLI if you want to add a second GPU down the line.

Memory: 2x8GB of DDR4 RAM. Might be considered overkill, but with games like The Division recommending 8GB, 16GB is a good buffer.

Storage: 1TB WD Blue for mass storage plus a 240GB AData SP550 SSD for boot and a few games/programs.

GPU: A GTX 980Ti graphics card from EVGA. It's is one of the best cards on the market for it's price and should be able to handle most games at 1440p 60FPS+ ultra settings.

Case: The NZXT S340 is a good case with great airflow and cable management. It also has a slick design that's very different from that cheesy "gamer case" look.

PSU: The 750W GS from EVGA is one of the best PSUs on the market. It's very high quality and should last a long time.

OS: Windows 7 as requested. Get it here on Amazon

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Good luck with your build, OP!

pc-kombo shared list

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-7700K | $323.59 @ superbiiz
Motherboard | ASRock Z270 Extreme4 | $139.99 @ newegg
Memory | Team Group T-Force Dark grey, DDR4-3000, CL16 - 16 GB Kit (16 GB) | $128.99 @ newegg
SSD | SanDisk Plus 960GB TLC (960 GB) | $259.99 @ Amazon.com
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Aorus 11G | $708.99 @ superbiiz
Case | PHANTEKS Enthoo Pro Midi-Tower - white Window | $109.99 @ Amazon.com
Power Supply | Seasonic X-Series (650 W) | $99.9 @ Amazon.com
CPU Cooler | be quiet! Dark Rock 3 | $64.99 @ superbiiz
Operating System | Windows 10 Home (32/64-bit, USB Flash Drive) | $102.99 @ superbiiz
| Total | $1939.42
| Generated by pc-kombo 04.08.2017 |

I normally don't do color schemes, but I made an exception here ;) Best gaming cpu with best gpu, you can play VR and everything else on this. 16 GB of fast ram (absolutely enough) and a 1TB SSD, a solid board and case as well as a high quality psu. The build is overclockable.

For the rest, there are many options, but I selected good ones:

• Display: Dell S2716DG, https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260333, 144Hz 1440p and Gsync.
  
• Keyboard: Plugable mechanical, https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Mechanical-Enthusiasts-Backlighting-Double-shot/dp/B01MA6O13L
  
• Mouse: Razer Deathadder, https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4RE4638718 - but there are so many alternatives you could get instead, browse a bit through the selection
  
• Chair: I suggest a visit to Ikea, Markus is a great chair.
  
• Headset: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7NT5JA1563 + https://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Zm-Mic1-Sensitivity-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/ - that's a very cheap solution, but it is also a very good one. Dedicated Headphones are way better than a gaming headset.

For $2,000, you can score a pretty excellent VR dev rig.

If you're already using UE4, and you've got got your DK1, you're probably relatively familiar with the basic demands— The faster your CPU, the faster everything compiles, and more ability you have to get things done simultaneously outside your IDE. RAM is a similar story, as well letting you play with more polys and textures in whatever modeling program you use. For the GPU, various Oculus people have dropped the hint that you pretty much want a GTX 770 as a baseline for advanced apps [source]. That's consistent with what benchmarks have had to say about what it'll take to drive the (probably) 1440p CV1.

With regards to the OS, there are very few reasons to use Windows 7. You can read some reddit discussions about that here or here, but the moral of the story is that everything works better on 8 except maybe the layout, which you can change.

$2,000 is a good spot— it's pretty much where the bang-for-buck curve becomes a cliff. Here's about how that build looks:

Full-Featured VR Kit

| part | link | | price |
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|cpu|Intel Core i7-4770K Quad-Core Desktop Processor (3.5 GHz, 8 MB Cache, Intel HD graphics, BX80646I74770K)|amazon|$299.99|
|video card|EVGA GeForce GTX780 SuperClocked w/EVGA ACX Cooler 3GB GDDR5 384bit, DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI,DP, SLI Ready (03G-P4-2784-KR)|amazon|$509.99|
|ram|G.SKILL Value 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C11D-16GNT|newegg|$127.99|
|motherboard|ASRock Z87 PRO3 LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard|newegg|$94.99|
|power supply|CORSAIR RM Series RM750 750W ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply|newegg|$129.99|
|case|Corsair Carbide Series Black 400R Mid Tower Computer Case (CC-9011011-WW)|amazon|$79.99|
|ssd|Crucial M500 240GB SATA 2.5" 7mm (with 9.5mm adapter) Internal Solid State Drive CT240M500SSD1|newegg|$114.99|
|hard drive|Western Digital WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, Blue - OEM|newegg|$59.99|
|disc drive|Lite-On Super AllWrite 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive - Bulk - IHAS124-04 (Black)|amazon|$20.65|
|operating system|Windows 8.1 System Builder OEM DVD 64-Bit|amazon|$92.00|
|fans|Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)|amazon|$32.00|
|monitor|LG IPS234V-PN Black 23" 14ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor IPS 250 cd/m2 5,000,000:1x2|newegg|$299.98|
|||||
| |See current build price with shipping and tax| total | $1862.55|

Learn more and customize this build at kit.computer.


This leaves you with wiggle-room, to make a couple decisions based on your uses and preferences. You could bump one of the monitors up to 27" 1440p, you could bump the very capable GTX 780 up to a 780 Ti, you could move up to 32GB of RAM, increase the size of the SSD, or just pocket the change. It really depends on what apps you're trying to produce, and what your workflow looks like— if it were me, I'd lean towards the 1440p screen, just for workflow reasons.

If you have any questions (or anything to teach me), let me know!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 7 1800X 3.6GHz 8-Core Processor | $418.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $147.20 @ NCIX US
Thermal Compound | Arctic Silver - 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste | $5.84 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI - X370 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX AM4 Motherboard | $136.98 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $336.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $334.99 @ Newegg
Video Card | Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB Founders Edition Video Card | $699.00 @ B&H
Case | NZXT - S340 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $94.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair - RMx 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $179.95 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $89.89 @ OutletPC
Monitor | Asus - VG248QE 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor | $214.89 @ Amazon
Monitor | Asus - VG248QE 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor | $214.89 @ Amazon
Keyboard | Corsair - K55 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard | $49.99 @ Best Buy
Mouse | Logitech - G403 Prodigy Wireless Optical Mouse | $74.50 @ Amazon
Speakers | Bose - Companion 2 Series III 0W 2ch Speakers | $99.00 @ Adorama
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $3133.09
| Mail-in rebates | -$35.00
| Total | $3098.09
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-03 15:35 EDT-0400 |

Cpu- one of the best ryzen cpus on the market, the 1800x will surely be able to handle anything you throw at it. It's also overclockable as you said you might want the option later on
CPU cooler- nzxt kraken water cooler for easy cooling when the 1800x is overclocked
Mobo- x370 gaming motherboard can overclock and has room for 4 sticks of ram.
Ram- 32gb of gskill 3200 ram because why not. Gskill has to be one of the best if not the top ram producer out. While their products are expensive, they can easily crush any development you have to do.
Gpu- a gtx 1080ti with a 1.58ghz boost is well worth the money. If you did want to upgrade later on your mobo does support sli so all you'll have to do is add another 1080ti in there
Storage- 1tb ssd from Samsung for super fast storage. If you wanted to you could add on a 2tb HDD for mass storage and cut the ssd down to 500 or 250gb
Case- nzxt s340 elite is a sleek, professional looking case with a side panel
Monitors- as you'll be mostly developing games, music, and editing video, I decided that 2 1080p monitors with a 144hz display should be enough. I did see some nice dell 1440p monitors that are in your price range if you wanted to check that out I leave a link at the bottom of the post
Peripherals- since no gamings gonna happen I just included an rgb keyboard from corsair and a wireless Logitech rgb mouse. For speakers just 2 boss companions because you can never really go wrong with them

Ways to improve performance
-if you can cash out I'd go for a threadripper 1920x, a new mobo that supports it, and 64gb of ram to insure future proofing. Also you could add another 1080ti on as time goes by as the mobo does support sli

1440p Monitor link
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IOO4SGK/?tag=pcpapi-20

If you have any questions just ask and I'd also like some other users input on this build

Wifi is utter crap, I used it for 2 months in my new home and had horrible lags. I switched to something called powerline. You basically take a cable from your router, stick it into a plug connected to your power outlet and then you take another plug and stick it into an outlet near your computer and from there you take an ethnernet cable and connect it into the PC. It took 5 minutes to set up and I had to install LAN drivers for my motherboard.
I have these and they work great. Also these powerlines work great for streaming!
Ok to your build, this is what I came up with:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor | $119.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard | $59.99 @ Newegg
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory | $59.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $59.99 @ NCIX US
Video Card | MSI Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card | $169.99 @ Newegg
Case | Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $44.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | $44.99 @ Amazon
Optical Drive | Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer | $17.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) | $89.00 @ Amazon
Monitor | Acer G236HLBbd 60Hz 23.0" Monitor | $109.99 @ Newegg
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $761.91
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-12 11:18 EDT-0400 |

This rig could play most games on high settings (skyrim will be no problem), but since Bf4 is still in it´s beta stage, it is hard to say how the 7870 will perform. But it should play it with acceptable fram rates on high settings. The processor is an 6 core AMD CPU and will be strong in games optimized for multicores.Also it is very strong in multitasks. I added in an extra 1tb hdd, but you can leave it out if you want to put that money towards the purchase of an SSD.
Both Motherboard and the case support USB 3.0, so this is taken care of as well.
8gbs of RAM is standard and can be easily upgraded, there are3 more slots available for RAM in the Motherboard.
The case has enough slots for case fans and extra HDDs, so cable management and air flow should be no problem.
The monitor has an 23" screen and supports 1920 x 1080 resolution, it is a good choice when on a budget.
If you have any more questions, let me know and I will be glad to help you.


Edit: There was a mistake in the PCpartpicker list that showed the wrong price for the RAM, fixed it but now the build is 760$. I hope it is not to big of a deal, since shipping is already included in the price.

I usually build my own but because of current sale in /r/BuildaPCsales I have to recommend a prebuilt for the money (you will be underbudget even with taxes if you don't get the speakers or speakers plus cheaper keyboard).

• $1100 This desktop: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 8-Core Processor 3.0GHz; GTX 1070 8GB; 16GB DDR4; 1TB HDD + 240GB SSD
  
  
• $400 This monitor: Dell Gaming S2417DG YNY1D 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor with G-SYNC 1440p, 1ms response time, GSync....simply a BEAST for gaming. You NEVER want to cheap out on your monitor if it is your primary monitor, never.
  
  
• $52 mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum RGB Tunable Gaming Mouse, FPS Mouse
  
  
• $40 Headset: HyperX Cloud Core Pro Gaming Headset for PC, Xbox One, PS4 RECERTIFIED
  
  I have bought 2 from these guys and other than plain box the headsets looked new and have zero issues with them. Comfortable, great sound (for gaming NOT for music), average to above average mic (for gaming) which is removable.
  
  
• $100-$200 insert mechanical keyboard of your choice. This is highly subjective because it depends if you want Blue keys (very clicky sounding with tactile feedback) or Brown keys (quieter but has tactile feedback), Red Keys, etc. I have every major brand of gaming keyboard from Corsair, Razer, Ducky, Das (I even have a legendary IBM Model M) but my daily driver is currently a Corsair K95.
  
  
• $250 External speakers (optional) Corsair SP2500 High-power 2.1 PC Speaker System Hands down my favorite PC speakers of all time. Super clean sound (for PC speakers/not audiophile) and chest thumping clean bass.
  
  This setup will be able to play almost any game at 1440p 60FPS at high settings.

CPU - Ryzen 5 1600 ($194.99) 

Motherboard - MSI B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 ($88.99)

RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 8gb ($92.99)

Storage - Seagate Barracuda 3.5" 2tb ($59.99)

GPU - MSI GTX 1050 Ti ($224.99)

Power Supply - Corsair CXM 550w ($59.99)

OS - Windows 10 64bit ($99.99) 

Wifi - Asus PCE-AC55BT B1 ($34.99)

Card Reader - Rosewill RDCR-11004 ($25.99)

Case - Corsair 200R Mid Tower ($59.99)****


TOTAL: $942.90 (Before Taxes) 

****This case is a placeholder. It works in this build, but I left room for you to choose your own.

Make sure the case is a Mid Tower ATX case, and has at least one 5.25 optical drive bay. 

-------------------
SPECS----

CPU: Ryzen 5 - 1600 (3.2ghz 6 core) 

GPU: GTX 1050ti

RAM: 8gb DDR4

Usb2.0: 8

Usb3.0: 2

Usb3.1: 4

Card Readers: Yes

Disk Drive: No

Wifi: Yes

Bluetooth: Yes (4.0)

HDMI: Yes

Ethernet: Yes

------------------
LINKS----

CPU: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNRQHG4/?tag=pcpapi-20


Motherboard: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XPM7FSR/?tag=pcpapi-20


RAM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ARHBBPS/?tag=pcpapi-20


Storage: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IEKG402/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile


GPU: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137055&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=


PowerSupply: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B72W0A2/?tag=pcpapi-20


OS: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZSI7Y3U/?tag=pcpapi-20


Wifi: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713RRZMB/?tag=pcpapi-20


Card Reader: https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-2-Port-Internal-Connector-RDCR-11004/dp/B007YDJJFS


Case: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009GXZ8MM/?tag=pcpapi-20

***Oh, and if you need help with how to do it this guy is pretty good.
https://youtu.be/IhX0fOUYd8Q

Here's the build. It has a white and silver (except for the black power cables but you can either get grey extensions, white extensions, or just white cables) theme.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | $197.43 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ARCTIC ATX AM4 Motherboard | $115.55 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair - Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $159.88 @ OutletPC
Storage | Western Digital - Blue 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $89.88 @ OutletPC
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.88 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Dual Video Card | $299.99 @ B&H
Case | Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case | $85.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $95.98 @ Newegg
Wireless Network Adapter | Linksys - AE6000 USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter | $19.99 @ Amazon
Case Fan | ARCTIC - F12 PWM 74.0 CFM 120mm Fan | $8.49 @ SuperBiiz
Case Fan | ARCTIC - F12 PWM 74.0 CFM 120mm Fan | $8.49 @ SuperBiiz
Monitor | Acer - KG221Q 21.5" 1920x1080 75Hz Monitor | $109.99 @ Newegg
Keyboard | Logitech - G105 Wired Gaming Keyboard | $29.99 @ Amazon
Mouse | Corsair - Harpoon RGB Wired Optical Mouse | $29.88 @ Amazon
Other| Mouse Pad| $9.99
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $1308.39
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-29 14:51 EDT-0400 |

Windows 10 can be purchased from Amazon.

To answer your questions:

• Overclocking is the act of squeezing out more performance from your CPU, video card, and/or RAM by increasing the voltage and changing frequencies/timings of tasks. This rig is overclockable, but you don't have to. It's just a nice way to get more performance out. You will have to overclock your RAM, though (more on this later).
  
  
• A SSD (solid-state drive) is a hard drive that does not use a spinning magnetic disk to store data. As a result, you get increased read/write speeds and other performance boosts. I put both types of drives in so that your SSD will be your boot drive (have Windows, other smaller apps), and the HDD will be a mass storage drive.
  
  This video will walk you through the build process step-by-step. This video will walk you through the post build stuff like overclocking the RAM, installing Windows, etc. You're gonna have to update your BIOS, so this video will teach you how. Lastly, this video will teach you how to set up that HDD as your storage drive after you've installed Windows on your SSD.
  
  Good luck! Feel free to ask anything.
  
  EDIT: Fixed one word and added links to the extension cables/white cables.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | $160.00
Motherboard | ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $59.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Toshiba - P300 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $40.00
Power Supply | SeaSonic - S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $45.98 @ Newegg
Case| Lian Li K5X| $42.00
Memory| Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB Single DDR4 2666 | $65.00
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $412.97
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-29 16:47 EDT-0400 |

For some reason it doesn't look like Micro Center sells the Ryzen 1600 new any more, but your location says they have an open box for $160 which sounds like a good deal to me. You can also get this hard drive and case there at these prices.

You'll notice I haven't included a gpu. Because of the monitor you've bought you're probably going to want an AMD gpu, which puts us in a difficult position on this budget. Due to the Ethereum mining craze AMD gpu prices are pretty crazy, so when buying new your options are basically an RX 460/560 for ~$100 or an RX 470/570/480/580 for $250+. An rx 460 or 560 would probably be sufficient for the games you've listed with the exception of PUBG, so my recommendation is go to with something like this rx 460 and save your cash for a gpu upgrade when you want to play more demanding games and the gpu prices have come back down.

Alternatively, we could go with a Ryzen 3 1200 and you could fit an RX 580 into budget, but considering your desire to stream and the fact that cpu's depreciate less quickly than gpu's I think the Ryzen 5 1600 + RX 460 is a better plan. Especially if you can get the Ryzen 1600 for $160 there.

Or you could look around the net for something like a used r9 290 or r9 390 for around $200.

As for the speakers, If your budget is around $30 then I'd probably just get some headphones. This Superlux set with a cheap mic like the $7 Zalman mic are common budget suggestions.

Here you go. I got a GTX 1060 6GB card in here. You didn't have enough money in your budget to get a GTX 1070 but you also had a bit of extra money (70 pounds) if I went with the GTX 1060 3GB. If you want to save 70 pounds I'd suggest going for the GTX 1060 3GB over the 6GB since the FPS of both cards are very simillar (3-5 FPS loss with the 3GB).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | £175.19 @ Aria PC
Motherboard | Asus - STRIX B350-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard | £107.95 @ BT Shop
Memory | G.Skill - NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | £56.86 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | £84.97 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £38.34 @ Aria PC
Video Card | EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card | £251.97 @ Amazon UK
Case | Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | £90.31 @ Box Limited
Power Supply | Corsair - CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | £74.99 @ Amazon UK
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | £880.58
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-16 23:25 GMT+0000 |

 

Here is a build with the GTX 1060 3GB. You save $80 if you decide to go with this one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | £175.19 @ Aria PC
Motherboard | Asus - STRIX B350-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard | £107.95 @ BT Shop
Memory | G.Skill - NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | £56.86 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | £84.97 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £38.34 @ Aria PC
Video Card | Zotac - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Mini Video Card | £174.98 @ Novatech
Case | Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | £90.31 @ Box Limited
Power Supply | Corsair - CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | £74.99 @ Amazon UK
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | £803.59
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-16 23:29 GMT+0000 |

 

• [Here is a video] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvNxTJjUZtw) that compares GTX 1060 6GB to GTX 1060 3GB (no, the 3GB is not a half as good version of a 6GB).
  
• Considering the games you are playing, I would also highly recommend you get this [1080p 144hz 1ms monitor] (https://www.amazon.com/VG248QE-1920x1080-144Hz-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B00B2HH7G0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1510875098&sr=8-2&keywords=asus+144hz+monitor). It is great for RPG and MOBA (also you just need to get a better monitor than that imo xD).

This looks awesome, thank you so much.

I think I will go with this build, although I do have one question. How does Seagate compare in general with Western Digital? I've had some other brands die on me (Lacie), but WD has always been solid. Is your opinion of Seagate the same?

If WD is superior, what do you think of this model as a replacement? I understand it exceeds my budget slightly.

Thank you again!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor | $280.00
CPU Cooler | CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $34.88 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $115.00
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory | $94.89 @ OutletPC
Storage | Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $68.88 @ Jet
Storage | Toshiba P300 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $63.00
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card | $389.38 @ Amazon
Case | NZXT H440 (Matte Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case | $95.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $79.99 @ B&H
Monitor | Asus VG248QE 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor | $269.99 @ SuperBiiz
Other| iKBC F108| $129.99
Other| CableMod® WideBeam™ Foam Adhesive LED Strip 30cm - RED| $18.99
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $1640.98
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-17 04:37 EST-0500 |

So uh.. Yeah. I'm a noob. Kind of did some changes.. Changed the monitor to a 144Hz for that juicy CS:GO gameplay, got a far more aesthetically pleasing case, which also comes with 4 fans, as opposed to 2. They don't have the fancy lighting though, so I added a good red LED strip. As for the peripherals, I only need a keyboard, and my good friends over at /r/MechanicalKeyboards hooked me up with one of the best currently available on the market! Again, sorry for all the fuss, I don't mean to say you did a bad job recommending just idk I really care about looks and it drives me crazy if things don't look right to me.

Only compatibility issue that was given was this:

"The NZXT H440 (Matte Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case supports video cards up to 406mm long, but video cards over 294mm may block drive bays. Since the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card is 298mm long, some drive bays may not be usable."

From this I gather that I just barely won't be able to use one of the drive bays, which shouldn't be a problem at all.

Sorry again! And thanks again! Uggh

Edit: These are all of the right parts, correct? Just want to make sure because it's 6 am and I haven't gone to sleep yet.
CPU
CPU Cooler
Motherboard
Memory
HD
SSD
GPU
Case
Power Supply
Monitor
Keyboard
Lighting

I narrowed it down to three sites to make it easier to order, plus I have Amazon Prime and NewEgg Premium, which makes it easier with those sites!

First off, thank you a ton. I asked a friend of mine to look at the build (sorry, but I like to check things :P, I'm paranoid), and he said it looks great. I was curious though if you had the time to verify a few things for me. I couldn't find a few of the things you had suggested so I checked on some other things... Could you verify that they are just as usable for me please?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GQMHBI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A34FFV8YYDM571

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064GOQ86/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DHW4HXY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055QYKQO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1XBPHGHAXLHDG

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_10?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QBUL1C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A30YNTVQ04HG16

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003HE260I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

And sorry for the late reply. I've been trying to ensure that I have the money together so that I can actually pay for it without running into issues haha.

Upgraded the CPU cooler, because I changed the case to something that I think will work out better for you (especially cable management wise, and overall airflow). You can get the 970 EVO for much less, and with that I also upgraded the motherboard to a much better one. I just dropped 1TB from the HDD, but it's still the same Toshiba X300.

For the CD drive, I do recommend external, as you probably won't be using it as much as people did before. More and more, I'm finding people go with external cd drives, and they're better off overall, because they can get better components for the tower.

A few recommendations... LG GP65NB60 | ASUS ZenDrive (USB-C)

(The case I recommended has a USB-C front panel port)

PCPartPicker Part List

|Type|Item|Price|
|:-|:-|:-|
|CPU|AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor|$327.99 @ Amazon|
|CPU Cooler|Corsair H150i PRO 47.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler|$179.99 @ Amazon|
|Thermal Compound|Corsair TM30 3 g Thermal Paste|$7.99 @ Amazon|
|Motherboard|MSI MPG X570 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard|$199.99 @ Amazon|
|Memory|G.Skill Trident Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory|$129.99 @ Newegg|
|Storage|Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive|$89.99 @ Amazon|
|Storage|Toshiba X300 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive|$109.99 @ Amazon|
|Video Card|MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card|$749.99 @ Newegg|
|Case|Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case|$145.99 @ Amazon|
|Power Supply|Corsair HX Platinum 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply|$119.99 @ Newegg|
|Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts|||
|Total (before mail-in rebates)|$2081.90||
|Mail-in rebates|-$20.00||
|Total|$2061.90||
|Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-18 02:17 EST-0500|||

Yeah, two things, but they could potentially put you over budget, depending on how you go about this.

One: If you're doing video editing, then you're going to want a monitor with an IPS panel. This basically means that the monitor has very high color accuracy (and that's really useful for video making, so that the video won't look funny to any viewers with IPS panels, of which many people have). This is a really nice one that's very popular. Obviously, if you went with both monitors, it'd put you over budget, so that's up to you. All IPS monitors are 60Hz or less, unfortunately, though some do overclock a little.

Two: I would strongly suggest getting a pair of headphones and a separate mic. Headphones have pretty shit quality for what you pay. I'd suggest this pair and this microphone. Unfortunately, that's really expensive for you because Canada, so you may want to go to /r/headphones to learn about something more affordable if that's an issue. Just don't get the ATH-M50's; they have a terrible soundstage (other than that, they're awesome headphones, but good soundstage is important for gaming).

Other than that, you should be just fine. Might want to switch to this RAM though, just because it's cheaper and there's no sense in overpaying for RAM (unless it's for looks!).

Oh, if you can, I would STRONGLY suggest using ethernet. It's about twice as fast and much more reliable than wifi.

For £350 I have to recommend:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
Motherboard | MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | £30.97 @ Scan.co.uk
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £35.94 @ Aria PC
Case | Zalman ZM-T3 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | £19.94 @ CCL Computers
Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | £35.40 @ Amazon UK
Other| Sapphire AMD R9 280 Graphics Card (3GB, DDR5) | £129.90 @ Amazon
Other| Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 MT/s CL11 SODIMM 204 Pin 1.35V/1.5V Memory Module | £51.09 @ Amazon
Other| Intel Pentium Dual Core G3258 | £47.98 @ Dabs
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £351.22
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-13 17:46 BST+0100 |

The G3258 + H81 is such good value. Out of the box it'll do well but what makes this amazing is when you overclock it. https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=182658.0 . Also the 280 will run every game at 1080p on Ultra settings. Fantastic card for the price.

For £450,
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor | £133.14 @ Aria PC
Motherboard | Asus H81M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | £40.57 @ Scan.co.uk
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £35.94 @ Aria PC
Case | Xigmatek Recon ATX Mid Tower Case | £27.94 @ Amazon UK
Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | £35.93 @ CCL Computers
Other| Sapphire AMD R9 280 Graphics Card (3GB, DDR5) | £129.90 @ Amazon
Other| Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 MT/s CL11 SODIMM 204 Pin 1.35V/1.5V Memory Module | £51.09 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £454.51
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 12:02 BST+0100 |

The extra £100 has gone into getting an i5. This will perform better in intensive CPU tasks but in gaming there will only be a few fps difference. I can't really recommend it over the £350 build because you already have your laptop for work.

All in all I have to recommend the £350 build and saving some money for an SSD

Alrighty buckle your seatbelts cause here we go!

Base Computer from Ebay:Dell Optiplex 3010 MT i5-3470 3.2GHz 8GB RAM 500GB HD Win 7 Pro ($159.99) -https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-3010-MT-i5-3470-3-2GHz-8GB-RAM-500GB-HD-Win-7-Pro-Good-Condition/232611818778?hash=item3628bead1a:g:a5MAAOSwdjdaRR4L#viTabs_0

Graphics Card: MSI GAMING GeForce GTX 1050($144.88) -https://www.outletpc.com/qc6530-msi-gaming-geforce-gtx-1050-gb-gddr5-directx-12-g.html?utm_source=qc6530-msi-gaming-geforce-gtx-1050-gb-gddr5-directx-12-g&utm_medium=shopping%2Bengine&utm_campaign=pcpartpicker&utm_content=MSI%2B-%2BzOOS

HDD Upgrade: WD Blue 1TB ($49) - https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Cache-Desktop-Drive-WD10EZEX/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518130607&sr=1-1&keywords=Harddrive

Power Supply Upgrade(Power supply that comes with the prebuilt is usually 265-285W which is not to par with the rated 300W for the gtx 1050, that being said i ran one for 2 years on a 265W with no problem as the system will usually not draw more than 180W): Rosewill RD400S, 80 PLUS Certified 400 W Power Supply($32) -https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182074&cm_re=powersupply-_-17-182-074-_-Product

Total = $385.87

SO, in short, this PC is a mix of used and new parts. In this pc market its one of the best ways to tackle getting into PC gaming. In terms of specs this computer will most likely outperform any build from scratch pc at the same price range as you're saving money on components such as RAM and an operating system. This computer will play max setting at 60 FPS for all the games you mentioned above, it can also play games such as GTA 5, Fallout 4, and PUBG at decent settings.

I hope this helped if you have any questions feel free to reach out.

Something like a silent, windowed, white case at this budget with everything you need included is going to take too much of a bite to be worth it. I've included a white NZXT Source 210 Elite though. Hopefully it's close enough to what you're looking for.

This is very much video editing optimized. The 8-core FX-8320 just loves chewing through media tasks, and the Radeon HD7750 is extremely light on power, but gives you the advantage of the GCN architecture's powerful OpenCL acceleration. Will obliterate Minecraft as well.

The only thing missing there is speakers. Realistically if you're doing monitoring work for your videos, you'll be better off getting a set of decent headphones. The Superlux HD661 would be perfect for that, and will only run you $40.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor | $149.99 @ Microcenter
Motherboard | Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard | Purchased For $39.99
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $47.99 @ Newegg
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $47.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $85.99 @ NCIX US
Video Card | PowerColor Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card | $62.48 @ NCIX US
Case | NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case | $42.79 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply | $19.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer | $15.98 @ Outlet PC
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) | $88.98 @ Outlet PC
Monitor | Asus VS229H-P 21.5" Monitor | $126.00 @ Newegg
Keyboard | Lite-On SK-1788/BS Wired Standard Keyboard | $12.98 @ Newegg
Mouse | V7 M30P10-7N Wired Optical Mouse | $4.11 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $795.26
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-26 21:15 EDT-0400 |

The Microcenter combo deal on the CPU/Motherboard is included. Also, since Amazon is offering the 8320 for $145 it can't hurt to ask if they'll price match, even if it's only $5.

No problem. If you upgrade to a 1050 or 1060, you’ll probably be good for about 2 more years.


If you didn’t buy a fan, then yes, you have the stock fan. You could spend $30 ($20 after $10 rebate) on a Cooler Master like this from Amazon. Or (and I highly recommend) an AIO (All In One) cooler along the lines of NZXT’s Kraken. They’re cheaper ones out there. But, be wary of what you buy. What I do know for fact is NZXT stands by their product and if their product fails to keep your cpu cool, they will replace your cpu. A friend of mine works at Micro Center and he’s told me about some of his customers having good customer service with NZXT. Corsair is another good company for AIO’s.

Also, the fan and/or the AIO will be usable on your next pc. You just might need to buy a $5 bracket.

Imo, don’t worry about the CPU. It’s still a good cpu. Invest in a proper fan.. save the money for now and get the cooler master and a 1060. You’ll be able to recycle that fan (or AIO if you go that route) into your next build.


Edit: only get the AIO if you plan on trying to get the max over clock you can and still plan on building a new pc in a couple years. Otherwise, it would be a waste.

At the moment, Prebuilt computers are actually the most economic way to go at the moment because of the whole cryptocurrency mining thing going on atm. But that may change in a year.

Gaming laptops are going to be a lot more than 500 dollars, but a decent computer with the capabilities to play games shouldn't be much more than 500.

I don't know how much you need to run Sims 4 but this computer should play most games fairly well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077S27YLP/?coliid=I351BA7O2V2EM1&colid=H4JY95NTZX2D&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

A similarly specced computer. You could skimp on some things but I think a case should be pleasing to look at. As you can see a lot of the savings is in windows being included.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Core i5-7400 3GHz Quad-Core Processor | $177.90 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $24.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | MSI - B250M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $49.90 @ OutletPC
Memory | Crucial - Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory | $82.85 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.49 @ OutletPC
Video Card | MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB GT OC Video Card | $274.88 @ OutletPC
Case | NZXT - S340 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | EVGA - BT 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $39.95 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $89.89 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $896.84
| Mail-in rebates | -$50.00
| Total | $846.84
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-04 22:51 EST-0500 |

You're not going to get extremely great FPS or future proofing out of it for $750. You could probably multisite to save a few bucks here and there and find some bundles, but I went with Amazon. Really depends if you'd prefer convenience or wouldn't mind shopping from multiple places to compile everything. This should be an acceptable rig for everything you're looking for.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor | $108.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master - Hyper T2 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $16.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI - B350M PRO-VDH Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $71.99 @ Amazon
Memory | PNY - Anarchy 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory | $124.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Seagate - FireCuda 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive | $55.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | Zotac - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Mini Video Card | $144.99 @ Amazon
Case | Rosewill - Galaxy-02 ATX Mid Tower Case | $42.49 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Rosewill - 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $69.99 @ Amazon
Optical Drive | Lite-On - iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer | $17.69 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit |$109.98
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $761.09

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $182.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Asus H97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard | $99.00 @ Amazon
Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory | $38.50 @ Amazon
Storage | Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $42.66 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | Gigabyte Radeon R9 380 4GB SOC Video Card | $229.99 @ Amazon
Case | Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case | $69.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $49.99 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $85.95 @ Amazon
Monitor | Acer S220HQLAbd 21.5" 60Hz Monitor | $89.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard | Logitech K120 Wired Standard Keyboard | $9.99 @ Amazon
Mouse | Logitech G402 Wired Optical Mouse | $43.00 @ Amazon
Speakers | Logitech S120 2.3W 2ch Speakers | $15.00 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | ~$1006.50
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 16:43 EDT-0400 |
Comes in a little over 1k, but I included keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, etc. Things you may already have, or have extras of. Mini-ITX check, SSD, check, Windows 10, check (they come in USBs now so no need optical drive). Modular PSU so you can actually fit all your parts in easily. GPU should be able to handle most games satisfactorily. CPU should handle most tasks well. GLHF

Ok, so this PC build is a little over the $700, coming in about $800-ish after taxes. I did go with a Ryzen 7 due to the benefits of extra cores for graphic design and other workstation tasks that you may be doing in the future. This PC should run the vast majority of 1080p games at Maximum settings and can even handle moderate 1440p gaming. Every component is found on Amazon.

I also went with a more compact, grey design that really makes your build blend in with the desktop environment while still looking beautiful from the outside. The mATX form factor also means that your PC could fit into tight spaces.

Hope you enjoy this build.

CPU: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B41717Z/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1GRTT9GHGRY0B&psc=1

GPU: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RQ325DW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

RAM: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F6JPLJ2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

SSD: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073SBZ8YH/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

HDD: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

MOBO: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FKV5HWJ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

PSU: https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Bronze-Modular-Warranty-110-BQ-0600-K1/dp/B01MTJTO2O/ref=sr_1_5?crid=34A5HCFYBJ315&keywords=600%2Bwatt%2Bpower%2Bsupply&qid=1565020347&s=electronics&sprefix=600%2Bw%2Celectronics%2C141&sr=1-5&th=1

CASE: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N99WHP1/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Here is a suggestion of a good build. You could get a 280x if you want, but the 280 will be good enough for now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor | £109.99 @ Ebuyer
Motherboard | MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard | £45.95 @ Amazon UK
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | £62.97 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £35.94 @ Aria PC
Video Card | MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card | £149.99 @ Amazon UK
Case | Fractal Design Core 2300 ATX Mid Tower Case | £36.95 @ Amazon UK
Power Supply | EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | £46.09 @ Aria PC
Optical Drive | Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer | £10.46 @ Aria PC
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) | £72.35 @ Aria PC
Monitor | BenQ RL2455HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor | £131.09 @ Scan.co.uk
Wireless Network Adapter | TP-Link TL-WN727N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter | £7.38 @ Misco UK
Keyboard | Corsair Raptor K30 Wired Gaming Keyboard | £37.79 @ Aria PC
Mouse | Logitech G402 Wired Optical Mouse | £35.65 @ Amazon UK
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £782.60
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-29 20:02 GMT+0000 |

Edit: By the way I found a Gigabyte 280 for £139.99 on Amazon if you want to save a tenner.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $199.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $49.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $29.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Corsair Force LS 60GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $30.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB FTW ACX 2.0+ Video Card | $219.99 @ Amazon
Case | Corsair Carbide SPEC-M2 MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $45.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $37.98 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer | $13.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) | $87.95 @ OutletPC
Case Fan | Corsair CO-9050015-BLED 52.2 CFM 120mm Fan | $11.24 @ OutletPC
Case Fan | Corsair CO-9050015-BLED 52.2 CFM 120mm Fan | $11.24 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $816.13
| Mail-in rebates | -$30.00
| Total | $786.13
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-06 22:00 EST-0500 |

This first build looks a bit nicer, it has windowed case and blue LED fans to show off your work, as well as a more clutter free semi-modular power supply, you'll only be using the cables you need, so you won't see a bunch of extra cables through the window.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $199.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $49.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $29.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Corsair Force LS 60GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $30.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card | $299.99 @ NCIX US
Case | DIYPC MA08-BK MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $25.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Thermaltake TR2 600W ATX Power Supply | $19.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer | $13.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) | $87.95 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $870.66
| Mail-in rebates | -$65.00
| Total | $805.66
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-06 22:04 EST-0500 |

The second build is $6 over budget after rebates, but you get a 40% faster graphics card. No window, but I don't know how much you really care about that.

In both PCs you'll be lucky enough to install Windows and your top most used programs (Internet browser, etc.) on the 60GB SSD (super fast but low capacity), and most of your programs/games on the 1 TB HDD (slower but very high capacity). If you want to save yourself ~$30 you can just knock it off either build, but an SSD is gonna make your computer feel crazy fast, so I don't recommend it.

If you want, you can put the second build in the firsts' windowed case, it'll just be $20 more, and you can always get the fans later if you want them. The case comes with one already.

Oh, and for some reason it is cheaper to buy windows + a DVD drive, than windows on a USB stick. Go figure. It is $32 more to buy windows 10 on USB on amazon than to buy it on a disc wherever it's cheapest, and the DVD drive is $13. If you don't want to deal with the hassle of a DVD drive in either build (since when else are you going to use it?) you can spend around $20 more and get it on USB. http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Home-Flash-Drive/dp/B01019T6O0/

This is your build, you have unlimited options.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor | $347.79 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler | NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $147.32 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Asus - ROG MAXIMUS X HERO (WI-FI AC) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $258.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $164.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $209.89 @ OutletPC
Storage | Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $59.79 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Zotac - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB AMP Extreme Core Video Card | $914.98 @ Newegg
Case | NZXT - S340 Elite (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case | $79.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $226.27 @ Newegg Marketplace
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $92.99 @ Adorama
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2503.00
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-31 17:07 EDT-0400 |
Okay, so this is the most high end you can go right now. I even went for some more components you didn't need but eould be neat, just to hit the soft limit. A platinum power supply, and ROG Maximus can easily be downgraded to an 850w Gold supply and something like the Asus ROG Strix, or MSI Tomahawk to really save some cash.
As for monitors you have two options, 1440p 144hz or 4K 60hz. 1440p 144hz gives you smooth as butter gaming. While 4K 60hz focuses on visual fidelity.
4k 60hz: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N34Q6CI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_YT.VAbVAK7F73
1440p 144hz: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IOO4SGK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_dX.VAbMC2DV2V

This is amazing. I was going to update it to include that the 700 was without the monitor so this works out. I just have a few questions about the build:

1. Is it worth it to upgrade to the i5-6600 for $40 more? Would this make a big difference in terms of editing maybe or gaming?
   
2. I was leaning towards the GTX 1060. I know it's high in demand right now, but would there be more availability in a month? But if I was able to get it, what's the price difference and is it worth it over the RX 480? Also which brand because there are a lot.
   
3. For the monitor I was thinking the HP Pavilion 21.5-Inch IPS LED HDMI VGA Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015WCV70W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_JHsMxb3JVZAPX
   I'm not sure what the big differences are or if there are any. I think that the HP aesthetically looks nicer
   
4. Is this a solid keyboard? For some reason the way it's designed, it's look really cheap and kind of over the top. My friend has a Cooler Master Devastator - LED Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo Bundle (Blue Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DKXXAAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_AstMxbMHYQ6GA that he said he would sell to me for $10. Idk too much a out keyboards so as long as it looks simlle and works well, I'm happy.
   
5. Do you think a wireless card is necessary? I'm not sure if I'll have access to Ethernet(probably will).
   
6. My old gaming laptop has two 512GB hard drives. Would it be smart to snag one of them? Is it possible to attach it to this computer?
   
   EDIT: Aesthetically

Yes, the graphics card is only for visually-intensive tasks, like gaming and video-editing. Even then, the integrated graphics (Intel HD 530) is one of the most powerful around. One thing I forgot to include, you'll need to install Windows 10 via USB or external USB optical drive, as the case doesn't support an in-built optical drive. However, you kind find high-quality inexpensive USB optical-drive like this one. Let me know if you need any more help, and I hope you and your aunt enjoy the build!

I like a lot of the changes and you did a great job of keeping the builds integrity, while still decreasing the price, thanks a ton!

If I were wanting to have Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities with this build, what would i need to do?

Edit: found this and I think it is pretty good: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Bluetooth-Expansion-Components-GC-WB867D-I/dp/B00HF8K0O6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421396763&sr=8-1&keywords=GIGABYTE+Model+GC-WB867D-I+Bluetooth+4.0%2FWiFi+Expansion+Card

No but I just found out that Linus tech tips did a pretty similar build to me with ryzen 5 and astoundingly the same case and he used https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0134EW7G8/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1 and explained that it works with ryzen so he is a lifesaver

But thank you too

I second the Dell Optiplex.

Here's one for $150. It includes an i5 3550, 8GB of ram, a 500GB HDD, an optical drive, and Windows 10 Pro. A very good deal that will overcome the overpriced ram problem.

Here's a $90 1080p, 60Hz, IPS monitor.

Here's a $225 GTX 1050 Ti (MSRP: $140). All graphics cards above a GT 1030 are overpriced right now.

Here's a $95 Samsung 860 EVO 250GB SSD. You can clone the operating system on the HDD to it.

Here's a $27 blue switch mechanical keyboard. (or if you want a more silent keyboard get this $40 brown switch keyboard).


You may want to replace the power supply. Here's a good one for $50.

• • -
    Total: $637
    
    I'm sorry, but you will have to forgo having a blue case with LEDs and a side-window if you wish to have a decent PC at or below your $700 budget. Good luck building!

This is the best I could come up with if you are going to only use amazon like you stated. There are better builds you could do for this price range, but you would have to buy from multiple merchants.

Windows 7 is manually set because PCPartPicker wouldn't set for Amazons price, also here is a link to it on amazon at the price I gave you.

If you have any more questions let me know and I'll see what I can do!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor | $119.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $86.46 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory | $74.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $58.00 @ Amazon
Video Card | MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card | $159.99 @ Amazon
Case | Enermax OSTROG ATX Mid Tower Case | $44.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $49.99 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) | $98.40
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $692.81

You caught me at the store, so just to come back and cover it.

This is very viable as a wifi dongle and easily removed when not traveling. It has speeds that are faster than most isp's will provide, however like all non-wired connections (including the one already on this mobo), it does increase latency slightly. Also, This + This is also viable. I've never screwed around with an M.2 adapter though so no data on that, I think it's just plug and play, but youtube is your friend. What I was trying to avoid is putting this below the 1070 card on the mobo, and not have a dongle hanging out of it. If you're primarily wired though, plenty of options on other micro atx mobo's.

And I usually give an upgrade/downgrade option so...Personally if you wanted to upgrade and stay in budget, i'd go for a larger ssd and drop the hdd. Mind you, the monitor is cheaper than listed ($420 on dell.com and 399 on sale), so you would have ~$130 to add worth of ssd drive and still be at or below $2k. And to downgrade without losing much performance i'd go for an i5-6600k processor + micro atx mobo to match, which could save you ~$70-100 depending on setup.

Hope this helps, bud.

Odd that you want to build this yesterday but okay.

Jokes aside, I’ve got a brand new build for you because your rig is pretty dated and if you’ve got $800 you can definitely afford a new system.

|Component|Title|Price|
|:-|:-|:-|
|CPU|Ryzen 5 3400G + Vega 11 GPU|$149 (Amazon US)|
|GPU|Empty GPU|$0 (Amazon US)|
|RAM|(2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000|$74 (Amazon US)|
|Motherboard|Gigabyte B450M DS3H|$70 (Amazon US)|
|Storage|Crucial P1 500GB|$66 (Amazon US)|
|Storage 2|Empty Storage|$0 (Amazon US)|
|Power Supply|Seasonic FOCUS Plus 650 Gold|$88 (Amazon US)|
|Case|Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L|$35 (Amazon US)|
|Monitor|Empty Monitor|$0 (Amazon US)|

Generated by BuildCores on August 21, 2019 12:28 AM

It doesn’t quite take up all of your budget but if you want something a bit better you can toss in a 2060 to that build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | Purchased For $0.00
CPU Cooler | CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $34.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Gigabyte - GA-Z270XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $91.98 @ Newegg
Memory | GeIL - EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $104.99 @ Newegg
Storage | SanDisk - SSD PLUS 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $145.49 @ Amazon
Storage | Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $66.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card | Purchased For $0.00
Case | NZXT - S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case | $49.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $74.88 @ OutletPC
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $89.89 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $734.00
| Mail-in rebates | -$75.00
| Total | $659.00
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-09 19:23 EDT-0400 |

Something like this should do you well. Plenty of RAM, storage space, and good mid-tier case and PSU.

As for a monitor, I recommend this. 165hz, 1440p, G-sync, good colors for a TN, and an excellent price for all those specs.

Thank you so much! The first setup looks great. I'm not huge fan of the white case though. Do you know of any alternatives perhaps in black that would also fit all of the internals?

Oh I also forgot to mention that I'll be needing a wireless adapter as well. I found this online. It seems like it would fit the job well.

• This one from tp-link is pretty much the best you can get, it connects to pci-e x1, which is the smallest pci lane on that motherboard, so it can easily be slotted in with the graphics card taking up 2 other lanes
  
• Not particularly, plenty of room for storage expansion, 4 pci expansion bays (so enough for the 2 slot graphics card, 1 slot pci-e wireless adapter and still one left for something in a left over pci lane). They're only a downside for serious enthusiast builds with triple/quad sli, or sound cards and raid cards and huge cpu coolers etc.
  
• that is the same harddrive essentially, just with a bigger cache, which means it would be slightly faster. personally I go for whatever's cheapest. I assume that the harddrive quality from aria is fine, I've only ever heard about problems with files still being on a new harddrive bought from overclockersuk.
  
• I chose that one since it's a mechanical keyboard, which are generally people's choice in a high budget build. It could certainly be changed for this, or even cheaper this. Membrane keyboards are still fine to use, I'm currently using one and have personally never used a mechanical
  
• You'll need a screwdriver, but that's about it. Just be sure to build on a non conductive surface, and don't be standing on carpet. If you're happy with this build then you should head over to /r/buildapc for the others of there to give it a look over, and to ask any questions.

PCPartPicker Part List

|Type|Item|Price|
|:-|:-|:-|
|CPU|AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor|$159.99 @ Amazon|
|Motherboard|MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard|$99.99 @ Amazon|
|Memory|Team - T-Force Delta RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory|$69.99 @ Newegg|
|Storage|Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive|$64.99 @ Amazon|
|Storage|Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive|$49.50 @ Amazon|
|Video Card|EVGA - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card|$309.99 @ Amazon|
|Case|NZXT - H500i ATX Mid Tower Case|$96.99 @ Amazon|
|Power Supply|EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply|$79.99 @ Amazon|
|Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts|||
|Total|$931.43||
|Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-05 21:35 EDT-0400|||

CPU: If you aren't overclocking, the x variants will have a little more of a boost overall. Get the 2600 instead if you want to OC. It's worth noting that Zen 2 CPUs come out soon, it might be worth waiting for reviews/benchmarks.

Mobo: Highly rated mobo for the CPU.

RAM: Fast, RGB memory for performance and aesthetic puropses.

Storage: Highly rated SSD for OS and some key games/programs, 2TB storage for other games/mass storage.

GPU: Solid GPU for 1080p 144hz gaming. Chose EVGA for their great customer service.

Case: Black and red case with RGB strips included. Get the H500 instead if you don't want the RGB strips/have your own.

PSU: 80+ gold, fully modular PSU with a long warranty.

​

EDIT: I didn't realize you were also looking for a monitor! I'd recommend this one, as it should pair well with the rest of the build.

If you have any questions, let me know!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $189.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $49.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $79.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $53.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB TurboDuo Video Card | $99.99 @ Newegg
Case | Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case | $39.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $25.00 @ Newegg
Other| Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit | $99.99
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $638.93
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-08 17:25 EST-0500 |

• Cheap i5, still better for all your gaming needs.
  
  
• ATX motherboard.
  
  
• 8GB of RAM is enough for playing LoL and other not-very-demanding stuff.
  
  
• Budget R9 270 which is currently on a nice sale. If you want to game cheap this is currently a perfect choice.

CPU

• Ryzen 1400: link
  
  Mobo
  
  
• Asrock AB350 Pro4: link
  
  Ram
  
  
• Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB DDR4-3000: link
  
  SSD
  
  
• Kingston A400 120Gb SSD: link
  
  HDD
  
  
• WD Blue 1TB HDD: link
  
  GPU
  
  
• Zotac GTX 1070 Mini (There are no Gtx 1070s or 1060s on Amazon in stock. I can personally attest to Newegg's quality as I bought all my PC parts from them. Fast shipping and arrived without any damage.): link
  
  PSU
  
  
• Corsair 550w Semi-Modular PSU: link
  
  Total Cost: 945.90
  
  
  Build will run all modern games at 1080p or 1440p. I went with amazon for all parts except for the GPU because there are none in stock on Amazon. 8gb of ram is fine for gaming. 120gb SSD for OS/programs and 1TB HDD for mass storage. Semi modular power supply for easy cable management. Feel free to ask me any questions.
  
  
  Edit: Formatting.
  
  
  
  
  

Here is my recommendation:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $169.99 @ Microcenter
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $29.98 @ Outlet PC
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard | $104.99 @ Microcenter
Memory | Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $59.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $164.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $69.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card | $219.99 @ NCIX US
Wireless Network Adapter | Rosewill RNX-N600UBE 802.11a/b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter | $25.22 @ Amazon
Case | Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case | $49.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | $54.99 @ NCIX US
Optical Drive | Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer | $14.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) | $89.98 @ Outlet PC
Keyboard | Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard | $39.99 @ Newegg
Other| Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Headphones | $99.95 @ Amazon
Other| Zalman Zm-Mic1 Microphone| $8.48 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1203.51
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-21 23:53 EDT-0400 |

I think this build falls right in the sweet spot for performance vs. price. The CPU/Mobo is a combo at Microcenter, you'll have to add around $20 for tax. A note on the headphones, these are the best headphones for gaming for the price. I strongly recommend against buying any name-brand headset, you will overpay and get a product that doesn't sound as good. Let me know if you have any questions.

If you're okay with warehouse deals:

The R9 280 for $127 - you save around $24

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | £137.99 @ Amazon UK
Motherboard | MSI H97M-E35 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | £61.14 @ Amazon UK
Memory | Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | £51.44 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £43.92 @ Amazon UK
Case | Fractal Design Core 1500 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | £39.50 @ Amazon UK
Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | £38.52 @ Amazon UK
Other| Amazon Warehouse R9 280 | £127.00
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £499.51
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-22 14:45 GMT+0000 |


Changed the case and the motherboard, check the case out see if you like it!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor | $99.99 @ Micro Center
Motherboard | MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $45.98 @ OutletPC
Memory | G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory | $29.99 @ Newegg
Video Card | PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB TurboDuo Video Card | $89.99 @ Newegg
Case | NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $36.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $24.99 @ NCIX US
Wireless Network Adapter | Belkin F9L1001 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter | $5.99 @ Micro Center
Monitor | Acer S220HQLAbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor | $79.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard | Rosewill STRIKER RK-6000 Wired Standard Keyboard | $49.89 @ OutletPC
Mouse | Logitech G303 Daedalus Apex Wired Optical Mouse | $49.99 @ Amazon
Headphones | Audio-Technica ATH-T200 Headphones | $19.99 @ Micro Center
Mousepad| Steelseries Qck | $10.00 @ Steelseries
Other| Zalman ZM-Mic1| $7.27 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $601.05
| Mail-in rebates | -$50.00
| Total | $551.05
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-27 13:11 EST-0500 |

That wasn't easy at all.

I added a keyboard with some shitty ALPS mechanical switches.

Mouse is great though, and I love my Steelseries Qck. I use both the G303 and the QCK, and it's a pretty good combination.

The PSU should be okay. Thermaltake is a reputable brand.

As for storage, I would go with both, a 120gb SSD for Windows + Vital programs, and a HDD for storage & games. Thats what I use at the moment.

I would stay away from Seagate HDD's though, both of my Seagate drives have died in not too long time sadly, whereas my ancient WD drives are still going strong.

If the one I suggested is too much on amazon, go with this one.

This HDD is nice, can't go wrong with a caviar blue If you only want 1TB of general storage.

Cheers

I really appreciate the video guides. I know you haven't given your rationale for the monitor yet, but I was wondering what you think about a 144hz monitor? deathaddict was giving me some suggestions and I liked this one http://pcpartpicker.com/part/acer-monitor-xb241hbmipr. I don't have too much space to work with so I didn't really wanna go over 25". Do you have any 144hz you like?

Edit: Or maybe this one? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2HH7G0/?tag=pcpapi-20

Honestly, even though this goes against your preferences a bit, I would personally choose this over what you are asking for. Explanation below.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $257.98 @ Newegg Canada
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $112.84 @ Amazon Canada
Motherboard | MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $168.98 @ Newegg Canada
Memory | A-Data XPG V1.0 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $157.98 @ Newegg Canada
Storage | PNY Optima 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $123.32 @ TigerDirect Canada
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $104.99 @ NCIX
Video Card | MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) | $434.99 @ NCIX
Video Card | MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) | $434.99 @ NCIX
Case | Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case | $149.98 @ Newegg Canada
Power Supply | SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $189.98 @ Newegg Canada
Optical Drive | Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer | $15.79 @ DirectCanada
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) | $99.79 @ DirectCanada
Monitor | AOC e2752Vh 60Hz 27.0" Monitor | $199.00 @ Canada Computers
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $2430.61
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-12 00:54 EDT-0400 |

Then get your peripherals.

This will perform perfectly to what you want to do.

An Intel I5 will not perform any differently from an I7 with what you are doing with it. No need to spend money for no reason.

You don't nee to buy thermal paste, it comes pre applied with the H100i.

Better Motherboard, if you want to you can upgrade to the Gaming 7 but it has almost no difference.

Cheaper SSD for the same performance.

Dual R9 290s are more powerful than a single 290x, obviously, you can still get away with a single r9 290 and it will still destroy the games you want to play, but for a budget so large no need not to, just don't go 3-4 way crossfire, it is a waste of money, power, and is crazy on heat.

1000 watts is unnecessary, 850 is still overkill really.

Cheaper optical drive, this really doesn't matter.

Windows 8.1 is so much better than 7, you can download a couple programs to change the layout back to 7, and it has better performance, and it supports more games, and more future games.

You can get the same monitor really, but this one is cheaper, if you want 1 less milisecond response time (unnoticable) and 144hz instead of 60 go right ahead.

Sound cards are snake oil, don't buy any at all.

Ethernet is much much better than wireless. You can either connect via an ethernet cord, or if you are setting up in another room from your modem, use [powerline] (http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Adapter-Starter/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407819561&sr=8-1&keywords=powerline), you plug one end into an outlet near your modem, and connect an ethernet cord, then the other end in an outlet near your computer, then an ethernet from that to your computer, it provides ethernet like speed without a cord running around your house. Also if you do get wireless, you only need one, not two adapters.

You don't need speakers, both the monitor you chose and the one I chose have them built in.

I can make this even cheaper and keep enough performance to dominate current games if you want, just PM me if you have any questions.

That's a great build longhornarch and I appreciate your reply but I wondering isn't the monitor way too expensive in this build? I mean I could get a cheaper one and use the rest of the funds to say have a faster ram. Maybe even upgrade the processor to i7.

This monitor was mentioned in the top 10 monitors of 2016:

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-VG248QE-24-inch-Ergonomic-Back-lit/dp/B00B2HH7G0?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00B2HH7G0&linkCode=as2&linkId=X6MUDYSQ2MXU6LMW&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_tl&tag=amazon0251-20

It's here on number 3:

https://www.monitornerds.com/best-gaming-monitor-for-you-144hz-1440p-gsync-freesync-4k/

I forgot to mention I'll also connect my desktop to my Samsung 50 inch smart TV so the monitor doesn't have to be huge.

Forgot to mention but I also have a CD drive. Do I need watercooling? Would it be possible to save on the cooler with http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI and spend the saved money for a better motherboard for better future-proofing? I'm terrible at knowing what things would fit/be compatible.

Ah, drawback of this case is that it simply doesn't have the slot for a disk reader / burner. You can switch the case for a more cube-shaped one with a 5.25" slot:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor | $69.89 @ B&H
Motherboard | MSI - B250I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard | $89.89 @ OutletPC
Memory | Patriot - Viper 4 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $54.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Crucial - M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | Purchased For $0.00
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $48.44 @ OutletPC
Case | Cooler Master - Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case | $39.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $26.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG - GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer | $14.98 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | Purchased For $0.00
Monitor | AOC - I2279VWHE 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor | Purchased For $0.00
Monitor | AOC - I2279VWHE 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor | $109.99 @ Best Buy
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $475.16
| Mail-in rebates | -$20.00
| Total | $455.16
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-24 18:08 EDT-0400 |

Or go for a bigger tower like this (no integrated wifi here, not sure if you'd prefer to include it now, but it's possible if you do):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor | $69.89 @ B&H
Motherboard | MSI - B250M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $61.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | Patriot - Viper 4 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $54.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Crucial - M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | Purchased For $0.00
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $48.44 @ OutletPC
Case | Cooler Master - N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $44.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $26.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG - GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer | $14.98 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | Purchased For $0.00
Monitor | AOC - I2279VWHE 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor | Purchased For $0.00
Monitor | AOC - I2279VWHE 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor | $109.99 @ Best Buy
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $452.26
| Mail-in rebates | -$20.00
| Total | $432.26
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-24 18:07 EDT-0400 |

Or you can even keep the 1st build and add an external CD/DVD burner

I think amazon ships to Ireland for free?
But if not you should be able to get something similar from dabs for slightly more money.
Anyway just take this as a general guide and ask again just before you buy as prices change all the time.

ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Motherboard £41.08

Corsair Builder Series CXM 430W Modular Power Supply
£36.73

Gigabyte AMD R9 270 OC 2GB Graphics Card £131.98

WD 1TB 3.5 inch Internal Hard Drive - Caviar Blue £42.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OEM £59.99

Zalman T3 Mini M-ATX/M-ITX Tower Case £19.36

AMD FX6300 CPU £80.99

Total: £413.12 = €493.93

This build should play most new games at 60FPS high settings and gives great value for money.

When you have €100 spare get this SSD. Well worth the money in my opinion. Or if you can't get that much money together get this 120gb, €60 one. But its worse value for money as the euro per gigabyte is worse.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $219.95 @ SuperBiiz
CPU Cooler | NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $128.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard | MSI Z97S SLI Plus ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $119.89 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $65.98 @ OutletPC
Storage | Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $99.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $53.99 @ SuperBiiz
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card | $338.99 @ NCIX US
Case | NZXT H440 (Blue/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $119.99 @ NZXT
Power Supply | EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $104.99 @ SuperBiiz
Monitor | Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor | $149.99 @ Best Buy
Monitor | Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor | $149.99 @ Best Buy
Keyboard | Corsair K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard | $129.99 @ NCIX US
Other| LG Electronics External Slim Optical Drive| $25.91
Other| TP-LINK TL-PA4010KIT AV500 Nano Powerline Adapter Starter Kit| $32.08
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $1740.72
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 08:33 EST-0500 |

You did say that you won't be overclocking, but not having the option to overclock is a bit absurd at this budget so I included it anyway.

It fits all of your specifications - your desired case, colour scheme, keyboard, SSD, (external) optical drive, powerline adapter and monitors.

You can expect very smooth FPS at ultra settings for pretty much any game out there on 1080p resolution. You also have the option to SLI in the future, though I wouldn't upgrade your monitors' resolutions to any higher than 1440p since you will experience microstutters once you start using more than 3.5GB of VRAM.

I would recommend getting this ssd and adding on a hard drive. If he is playing games like GTA V he needs more than that.

SSD: SanDisk SSD PLUS 240GB Solid State Drive (SDSSDA-240G-G26) [Newest Version] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F9G43WU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_gcIozbC7MWS6G

Hard Drive: WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive (WD10EZEX) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_7cIozbGZ91Z38

Only $10 for a far better space situation.

All good!

Echoing what /u/DubbleYewGee mentioned - adding an SSD would be the biggest improvement. 1700 + RX 580 won't be an issue for 1080p gaming, but DDR4-2400 is a little slow. Ryzen really likes faster RAM (CAD$122).

I don't know if the stock motherboard will support an M.2 drive (like the Intel 660p), but Adata's SU800 is often on sale for ~US$100 / 1TB.

Hah, every time I think I'm getting close to finalising my build someone piques my interest with something cool sounding.

Here's the motherboard I was originally looking at. This guy

And here's one that'd let me eventually add another graphics card in crossfire. That guy

But it's twice as much and I probably wouldn't be able to afford the other card for the foreseeable future...

D'you reckon it's worth it if i start with one R9 280 and the better motherboard and upgrade it later down the line?

Will this future proof it to an extent or would I just be wasting my money?

Cheers!

You didn't state your uses for this build, so here is an all around, good for many uses machine. For some reason pcpartpicker won't display the Amazon price for Windows 7 as I post this. It's $100 & here's the link

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor | $174.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $74.99 @ Amazon
Memory | A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $80.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $59.24 @ Amazon
Video Card | XFX Radeon R9 270 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card | $164.99 @ Amazon
Case | Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply | $39.99 @ Amazon
Optical Drive | Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer | $19.99 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) |-
Keyboard | Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse | $14.99 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $690.16

Hey again!

Not sure if you'll see this but thought I'd ask you another question if you don't mind.

I've just seen this AMD processor go on sale on amazon ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX8320-Edition-4-0GHz-Socket/dp/B009O7YU56/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t ) and as it happens I forgot that I do actually have my old PC with the tower and everything and was wondering if you had an idea of how well this processor compares in terms of gaming to the others you linked me and also maybe if you know of a graphics card that would go along nicely with it (I don't know whether you need different graphics cards for different processors)

Again the with the graphics card I would be looking for top performance (something which could run battlefield 3 at ultra 60fps)

Thanks again!

I hate for this to go over budget, but memory is really expensive nowadays, 32GB costs $150. Max settings at 1080p on WoW with this build will easily be at an average 75-80 FPS. For monitor, I would recommend this Asus 144hz 1ms monitor to go with it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor | $308.74 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler | CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $34.88 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI B250M PRO-VDH Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $79.98 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory | $154.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $74.99 @ B&H
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.33 @ OutletPC
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card | $254.98 @ Newegg
Case | Thermaltake Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $37.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $43.88 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1069.76
| Mail-in rebates | -$30.00
| Total | $1039.76
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-18 19:41 EST-0500 |

Do you have access to a wall outlet? If so, just get a powerline adapter. I recommend them for all my friends and they only report that they work perfectly.

I would personally recommend this one.

That's the one I bought in 2015 and it's been amazing so far. Sadly, most of my games I play won't reach 144 fps, but its still nice to have when playing CSGO or something.

Total is $441.42 Before rebates.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor | $88.99 @ NCIX US
Motherboard | MSI A78M-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard | $37.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $38.98 @ Newegg
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.49 @ OutletPC
Video Card | PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB TurboDuo Video Card | $99.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $27.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $54.98 @ OutletPC
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $398.40
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-30 20:59 EST-0500 |

Windows 7 (95.88) (On a side note if you are a student you can get windows 7 and or 8 for free if you are currently attending a college Link)

in the event you can get the os for free i would then recommend this build

Before rebates cost is $570.92

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor | $89.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard | $45.74 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $76.49 @ NCIX US
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.49 @ OutletPC
Video Card | PowerColor Radeon R9 285 2GB TurboDuo Video Card | $179.99 @ Newegg
Case | Rosewill Line-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $39.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $54.98 @ OutletPC
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $536.67
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-30 21:06 EST-0500 |

I'm pretty flexible with my budget and I definitely would like to keep the SSD if possible. Would I be able to switch the memory to this and keep everything else the same?

A wild 1440p build appeared! Peasants scramble into thier huts at the sight of it!



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $229.96 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $29.98 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Asus H87-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $109.49 @ Newegg
Memory | A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $68.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $48.00 @ Amazon
Video Card | Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card | $491.98 @ SuperBiiz
Case | BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case | $39.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | Thermaltake SMART 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $54.99 @ Microcenter
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1073.38
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-04 14:54 EST-0500 |

[$300 on ebay 1440p monitor]
(http://www.amazon.com/QNIX-QX2710-Evolution-LED-Monitor/dp/B00BUI44US)

$30 gaming KB/M combo from cooler master


Same build can be cut down to a 1080p/gtx 770 build and youll save $500. I recommend 1440p for ultimate badassery though

Hap hap hello there! I am a bot and you linked to Amazon.

This comment contains 1 pricing graph(s)

____

Product 1: LG Electronics 8X USB 2.0 Super Multi Ultra Slim Portable DVD+/-RW External Drive with M-DISC Support (Black) GP65NB60 (B00ODDE33U)

Imgur pricing graph

||Amazon|3P New|Used|
|--:|:--|:--|:--|
|Cur|$24.99|$21.00|$18.50|
|Hi|$29.99|$28.99|$40.00|
|Lo|$20.99|$1.41|$7.61|
|Avg|$25.35|$16.52|$19.33|

_____

^^I'm ^^a ^^bot. ^^Please ^^PM ^^any ^^bugs

This is a bit more than my current budget, but is it worth it?
Here it is:
CPU: Intel BX80677I57600: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYTYSMK (219.99$)

Motherboard: MSI B250 PC MATE: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N4LCX2D (89.99$)

Video Card: GTX 1070 (brand depends on availability maybe ~420$).

Storage: WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088PUEPK (49.99$)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OAJ412U (104.43$)

Memory: Ballistix Sport LT 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR4 2400 MT/s: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AG9F0G8 (65.99$)

PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G3: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWTS2UL (79.99$)


Total: 1,019$

You also might want to look into prebuilts, something like this is good: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077S27YLP/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=. You can get it used "like new" for 30 bucks less and used "very good" for 180 dollars less too although it does goes on sale usually for about 400-500 bucks and shows up from time to time on r/buildapcsales so maybe wait a bit if you are planning on getting it. And I know, you don't get the pleasure of building a pc but with the price of graphics cards and ram these days, prebuilts aren't a bad option to look at not mention this prebuilt does perform better than the build above. It does of course have some disadvantages such as no CPU overclocking, no SSD and a 1 TB less HDD but one thing you can do is well, just add a SSD in and it'll be a pretty solid build.

Had these in a PCPartPicker list, but the page just vanished. Here are the parts I had.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SXMZLPK?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y3CTQNT?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZG6YG1K?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GTG2T7L?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF237B1?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZSI7Y3U?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
https://www.newegg.com/intel-660p-series-2tb/p/N82E16820167461?Item=N82E16820167461&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https%3a%2f%2fpcpartpicker.com%2fproduct%2f7MQG3C%2fintel-660p-series-2tb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-ssdpeknw020t8x1&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-ErxICKvfvZyOvPV60mxOtw
https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-rtx-2080-ti-11g-p4-2383-kr/p/N82E16814487401?Item=N82E16814487401&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https%3a%2f%2fpcpartpicker.com%2fproduct%2fxvCD4D%2fevga-geforce-rtx-2080-ti-11gb-xc-ultra-gaming-video-card-11g-p4-2383-kr&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-m4zbKUDsHpK4Fltu7Ftlcw

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074PGBGHW/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1&th=1

I feel like I’m missing on part that I needed to get on Newegg.

But yeah, if you wanna compare/complete this list while I’m flying today, I’d appreciate it

Here you go! Key feature list:

• Mid-range i5 CPU that should be entirely sufficient to pair with the GPU.
  
  
• 480 gigabytes of SSD storage - you should be able to put all your games on this, and if not, you can always add an HDD.
  
  
• Good-quality power supply to ensure system stability and prevent component decay.
  
  
• R9 390 video card that works with the cheapest FreeSync 144Hz monitor on the market - should serve you very well.
  
  PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
  
  Type|Item|Price
  :----|:----|:----
  CPU | Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $199.99 @ Amazon
  Motherboard | ASRock Z170 Pro4S ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $82.98 @ Newegg
  Memory | G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory | $29.98 @ Newegg
  Storage | Sandisk Ultra II 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $120.99 @ Amazon
  Video Card | Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card | $317.37 @ Amazon
  Case | Fractal Design Core 3000 USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $62.31 @ Amazon
  Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $74.99 @ Amazon
  | Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
  | Total | $888.61
  | Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-02 19:44 EDT-0400 |

Ryzen 5 at the moment outclasses the i5 lineup by a large margin, so until Intel can either outclock or outcore the Ryzen 5s, there's no reason to buy them, even for gaming. An SSD wil help your boot times way more than you think, and with this kind of budget, you're really wasting potential if you don't get one. The motherboard is changed because the board you had was an LGA1151 board, which doesn't support AMD's AM4 socket CPUs, like the 1600. Motherboards all have built-in wifi that is pretty good now, and some cat5 cable to hardwire yourself into the router if you can would be cheaper and way better than a wifi card if speed is a major concern. An optical drive isn't really needed in builds anymore, but if you really need one, this is only slightly more.

If you really want an i5 build for $1000 with no ssd, you can get this which will have way better performance than a locked CPU and 1060.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor | $229.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler | CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $34.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI - Z270 TOMAHAWK ARCTIC ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $133.98 @ Newegg
Memory | Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $126.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Asus - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Dual Series Video Card | $379.00 @ Jet
Case | NZXT - S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case | $69.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $37.99 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1042.63
| Mail-in rebates | -$30.00
| Total | $1012.63
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-23 23:04 EDT-0400 |

• CPU: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00K5J2252/
  
  
• Mainboard: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00LF9Y0ZG/
  
  
• RAM: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00GJ3XNW4/
  
  
• Storage: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B009CPDI62/
  
  
• Case: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B009GXZ8MM/
  
  
• PSU: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00ALK1TPE/
  
  Comes out to 600€ currently. The motherboard is high-end, if you take one that costs less you might be able to fit the SSD. The speed improvement from an SSD is incredible.
  
  EDIT: Forgot the WIFI. Here is some options:
  
  
• http://www.amazon.fr/Tp-Link-TL-WN881ND-Adaptateur-Express-sans/dp/B006BSPTAQ/
  
• http://www.amazon.fr/TP-LINK-TL-WN951N-Adaptateur-sans-antenne/dp/B0034CL2ZI/
  
• http://www.amazon.fr/TP-Link-TL-WDN4800-Adaptateur-Express-double/dp/B007GMPZ0A/
  
  Might be better to go for three antennas since you said you're upstairs.

Thank you so much for your help :). Do you recommend going up to 16gb on ram? And i see i-5 for processor. Can i up the budget and get a i-7 or the new razen?


Also, what are your thoughts on these monitors and monitor?
NZXT S340 Elite Matte Black Steel/Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071JJ8V4S/ref=psdc_1292115011_rv_t2_B00B2HH7G0

https://www.amazon.com/VG248QE-1920x1080-144Hz-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B00B2HH7G0

Here's my build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor | $151.98 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard | $46.18 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $67.50 @ Newegg
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $56.98 @ OutletPC
Video Card | MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card | $239.99 @ Newegg
Case | BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case | $49.00 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $29.99 @ Newegg
Wireless Network Adapter | Rosewill RNX-N150PCe 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter | $10.98 @ Amazon
Operating System| Windows 7| $75.99
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $686.60
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-29 21:37 EDT-0400 |

CPU: I chose AMD over Intel because, since the Potato 4 & XBONE have 8 cores, it's probable that future games will be optimized for more cores. Take Watch_Dogs for example.

Mobo: Standard, un-fancy mobo

Memory: Standard 8GB of Ram

Storage: 1TB of storage you can add more if you wish

GPU: A 760 should have no problem running things on High if not Ultra (depending on the game)

Case: Nice case to work with. Plenty of room and makes for better cable management.

PSU: Standard 500w PSU from Corsair

WIFI: I have no experience with these so you might want someone else's opinion on this

OS: Windows 7 (it's not listed on pcpartpicker so I had to link it to Amazon)

I also left headroom for M&KB since that's more of a personal choice IMO.

I would definitely use powerline adapters over Wi-Fi. Just get the cheapest dual kit you can find like this one (it has better bandwidth capabilities than the one you linked): https://www.amazon.ca/TP-Link-TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Adapter-Starter/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484526976&sr=8-1&keywords=powerline+adapter

Yes, you can fit 4 more fans. If you want wireless connectivity you would need a WiFi card. I'd suggest something like this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor | $59.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | ASRock AM1H-ITX Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard | $58.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $83.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $57.98 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Sapphire Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card | $75.98 @ Newegg
Case | Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case | $34.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $24.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer | $16.97 @ OutletPC
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $402.88
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-01 17:44 EDT-0400 |

This should be able to max out League of Legends, I do not know about Dota because I don't play it. It should also be fine with any game you throw at it really. You can take the price down by getting a lower Watt PSU if you want, or you can go with 4GB's of ram instead of 8. I also went with a CM Elite 130 because it has USB 3 support and you said you would like your case to be smaller, also, you won't be able to really do much photo editing(assuming you will be using programs such as photoshop) I think the lowest end CPU you would want for that is the Athlon X4 760k. Also, you should try and confirm with someone if the Video Card will fit into this case. I hope this helps you into building a PC!

(This is if you can reuse your HDD and Ram)
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor | $89.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard | $98.99 @ Newegg
Video Card | Sapphire Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card | $75.98 @ Newegg
Case | Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case | $34.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $24.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer | $16.97 @ OutletPC
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $323.91
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-01 17:51 EDT-0400 |


Edit: Forgot the keyboard, here is a link to the one I would recommend for this price http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-Devastator-Gaming-Keyboard/dp/B00DKXXAAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1406930105&sr=1-1&keywords=cm+storm+devastator It is only $30 and it comes with a mouse.

The only thing i'd add to this is that when you don't activate windows 10 it leaves a huge watermark on all applications that aren't in fullscreen mode and doesn't allow you to personalize much without doing some cheap-tricks or registry-editing. There's room in your plan to go with a fully-activated copy and still not go over the $750. This is otherwise a great system!

I have this: ASUS VG248QE 24" Full HD 1920x1080 144Hz 1ms HDMI Gaming Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2HH7G0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6.63AbN61GFYJ

When playing overwatch frames are around 150 which is great, but during Farcry it’s around 30-50 depending on what I’m doing. I’m not sure about maxing out my cpu I’ll have to check. Is there anything I can do to improve performance with the build I have now?

This is what i use, its pretty damn good and its got a small form factor so it will fit even in mini ATX PCs: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007GMPZ0A/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0019EMF2M&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=15GJBBAN6D97RXHPP72V

This Is the build that I will be using in a bit.
It may also work for you.
Edit: Forgot the Keyboard and Mouse
Keyboard: [CM Storm Devastator] (http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-Devastator-Keyboard-Edition/dp/B00DKXXAAQ#customerReviews)

Mouse: [Razer Abyssus] (http://www.amazon.com/Razer-Abyssus-Optical-Gaming-Mouse/dp/B002XLR0JI)
Good Luck!

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WDN4800-Wireless-Express-Low-profile/dp/B007GMPZ0A/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1417359520&sr=8-5&keywords=wifi+adapter this is the best selling one on Amazon so I would go with that.

lol, sorry, it's this guy. I have thought about dual booting and did with my laptop (I have windows 8 and ubuntu) but I have a spare pc that kicked the bucket so I'd like to rebuild it a bit for linux. Thanks!

Do you need the OS & optical drive too?

Anyway I went on the assumption you did. Here's what I did.

I think an i5 in this build would have to be at the expense of the GPU so instead I went for an Ivy Bridge i3.

The mouse, headphones and microphone would bring this upto ~£725. If you want a generic keyboard then his would go down to £700. I've gone for a separate headphones and the clip on mic as these are what I've seen recommended for budget options rather than cheap "gaming" headsets with both.

Here are the benchmarks for the 7770

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor | £96.29 @ Novatech
Motherboard | ASRock B75M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard | £52.82 @ Amazon UK
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | £37.08 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £49.57 @ CCL Computers
Video Card | Asus Radeon HD 7770 2GB Video Card | £131.56 @ Amazon UK
Case | NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case | £33.47 @ Scan.co.uk
Power Supply | OCZ 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | £49.98 @ Ebuyer
Optical Drive | Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer | £12.58 @ CCL Computers
Monitor | AOC E2243FW 21.5" Monitor | £105.88 @ Ebuyer
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) | £72.96 @ CCL Computers
Keyboard | Microsoft Sidewinder X4 (UK Layout) Wired Standard Keyboard | £32.48 @ Amazon UK
| | Total
| Prices include shipping and discounts when available. | £674.67
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-10 19:06 BST+0100 |

Thanks! Would This RAM be ok?

There you go. Prime and 30$
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453278948&sr=8-1&keywords=Hyper+212

It's a very good fan by the way.

With your budget, I can't fit in a monitor or an SSD. This is the best budget build you will find anywhere for this low of a price, I guarentee it. You will just have to scrap a $150 dollars for the SSD and Monitor, or you can forget about the SSD, and find get 90 dollar monitor, like this one. This build on 1024 x 768 everything on low should give an average of around 180 fps.

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-22cwa-21-5-inch-

Backlit/dp/B015WCV70W/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1505172223&sr=1-4&keywords=monitor&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A6570747011%2Cp_36%3A1253505011%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A2224373011

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor | $88.98 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI - B250M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $59.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial - 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory | $64.89 @ OutletPC
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $45.87 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Zotac - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Mini Video Card | $112.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case | Thermaltake - Versa H21 Window ATX Mid Tower Case | $43.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | EVGA - 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $35.98 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $92.99 @ B&H
Wireless Network Adapter | TP-Link - TL-WN881ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter | $17.49 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $563.17
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-11 19:19 EDT-0400 |