Building a moderate-high gaming rig

[Crazedzulu]

Hey everyone, so I'm looking to build my first computer some time in mid to late May (have wanted to for years, finally have time/money/confidence) and wanted to get feedback on my current parts list


Budget: I would say around $600 to $750, I'm flexible with that range and would like to say that is purely my thoughts on computer cost without peripherals.
Resolution: I believe this is asking what resolution I would like to run, in that case 1920x1080 is preferred, but 1280x1024 is also pretty good.
Games / Settings Desired: This is where a lot of people might say I am going for overkill. Consistently, WoW is one of the few games I play. That's not to say I don't enjoy playing Mass Effect 1/2/3 and Dead Space, but I wouldn't say I do them as often as WoW. Really I just want the option to play new games as they come out.
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc): Nope.
Country: US
Parts that can be reused/Do you need an OS? I combined these two because the only part I am reusing is the OS, I have a factory reset disk that will reinstall windows 7.
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? I may be looking into getting a new monitor, but for now it'll be easier to say no, I am not.

Here is my current build


pcpartpicker(dot com)/p/DTDFWZ

To view it, add http, and a dot com. I can't insert links yet apparently.
All in all comes out to be around $707. How does it look/what are your thoughts?

[Bigvizz]

Well for starters i5 Skylake chip is a better chip.
You don't need aftermarket cooling for a non-k chip.
Added a ssd to the build such things are really a quality of life thing. Faster load times are really nice.
380x a bit of an improvement over a 960.
Corsair CX power supply, yea avoid that like the plague they're poor quality. Changed to a nice Evga power supply.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($31.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Z400s 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card ($208.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS11B-W ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $747.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-27 14:13 EDT-0400

[Crazedzulu]

Thank you for the advice, any word on the motherboard and why you switched it?
Also on the CPU cooler, I always thought an aftermarket heatsink was all but required. I can say with certainty I have no intention of overclocking, hence the no "k"

[Deleted]

Corsair CX power supply, yea avoid that like the plague they're poor quality. Changed to a nice Evga power supply.

Apparently the new 2016 (CXm) line seems to be decent. It is based upon the old RM series. Still not the best of course, but it should be better than the older ones.

I do think the one the OP listed was an older one.

[Crazedzulu]

Apparently the new 2016 (CXm) line seems to be decent. It is based upon the old RM series. Still not the best of course, but it should be better than the older ones.

I do think the one the OP listed was an older one.

Why not something like EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

From my research it doesn't seem like gold certified is a gigantic deal, mainly the brand. If EVGA is a good brand, would this PSU work just around as well while costing almost half as much?

[Lathais]

Thank you for the advice, any word on the motherboard and why you switched it?
Also on the CPU cooler, I always thought an aftermarket heatsink was all but required. I can say with certainty I have no intention of overclocking, hence the no "k"

Different CPU, different Socket type. The 6500 will not fit in the motherboard you selected.

Aftermarket heatsinks are nice, but if you are not OCing they really don't do much. Unless the stock one is too loud for you or something.

[Remilia]

New CXs are by 450/550/650W. Older versions are 430/500/600W. 750/850W are unchanged. The newer CX models are a Corsair custom and they haven't really been reviewed (as far as I know) yet so we really have no idea how well they are built / perform.

EVGA is a toss up on good and complete garbage. A huge toss up. I honestly wouldn't bother with EVGA at this point and actually would rather go with Corsair's offering, despite bitching at them before.
EVGA literally has been tossing more and more garbage into their line up.
EVGA just expanded their N1 shit line, to add even more shit to it from HEC.
Assume anything not mentioned below as HEC. HEC is... well, they're not bottom barrel, but they're pretty damn close. At least CWT is get what you pay, HEC is, sort of get what you pay... and all of the pay is very low end.

B2/G2/P2/T2 are Super Flower Leadex, but I've gone wary of that platform. The lower watt platform has been found to be cheating on hold up time, where the PWR_OK signal does not drop before the 12V drops out of spec and thus potentially harming your equipment. Along with annoying caps in cable, I just don't bother. Which leaves the last two line up that aren't HEC.

Their FSP are denoted by B1/G1, they're not bad. Sure they're not god like PSUs, but for what they are they're not bad and are decent choices.
SeaSonics are denoted by GS/PS. 550/650 GS are a different platform than the ones with higher wattage which are KM/XP platforms. KM and XP are great platforms and perform nicely. The 'GS' are more 'budget' orientated (by SeaSonic's standard, which is about mid to high range) and aren't as performing but are still built pretty well.

http://orionpsudb.com/

- - - Updated - - -

Honestly I would just go with an XFX XTR/TS(TS isn't modular) or Corsair RMx (granted there are caps in the cable) if you're going for gold rating still. I honestly do not know how the new CX line performs so while it may actually be a very good budget line but since I really have no idea I won't be making a blind recommendation.

SeaSonic M12II is a decent platform for bronze, but they are (relatively) more expensive.
Antec EA is a decent more budgety bronze.

[Crazedzulu]

So would you say SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply is a good buy then? PCpartpicker estimates I will need 360W. I really don't know how accurate that is or how much to go over though.

[Remilia]

Yeah, it's a pretty good PSU.

Power usage estimate is over provisioning by about 50%~ from what I see. 380x only takes about 180W~ in gaming and i5 6500 should only take about 50W~. Add along the other bits and bobs, 5W~ (probably less) for HDD, something negligible from the SSD and 6W~ from two RAM sticks.

[Crazedzulu]

Yeah, it's a pretty good PSU.

Power usage estimate is over provisioning by about 50%~ from what I see. 380x only takes about 180W~ in gaming and i5 6500 should only take about 50W~. Add along the other bits and bobs, 5W~ (probably less) for HDD, something negligible from the SSD and 6W~ from two RAM sticks.

Great, then as it stands my build looks like this. Big thanks to everyone that helped contribute parts!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Z400s 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card ($198.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS11B-W ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $730.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-28 13:10 EDT-0400

[Deleted]

If you're willing to take a risk on an AMD build, you can fit an R9-390 in the thing:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($73.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.33 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock A88M-G/3.1 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($60.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($60.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS11B-W ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $730.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-28 17:23 EDT-0400

A large word of warning - this will be considerably inferior at computation, when compared to the Skylake build; as such, it will be weaker for WoW.

However, this build will be graphically superior then the Skylake build in raw framepower. Added to this, the 860k is a decent enough overclocker, which is something you cannot really get on Skylake at the same price-point without sacrificing elsewhere.

[Crazedzulu]

If you're willing to take a risk on an AMD build, you can fit an R9-390 in the thing:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($73.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.33 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock A88M-G/3.1 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($60.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($60.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS11B-W ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $730.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-28 17:23 EDT-0400

A large word of warning - this will be considerably inferior at computation, when compared to the Skylake build; as such, it will be weaker for WoW.

However, this build will be graphically superior then the Skylake build in raw framepower. Added to this, the 860k is a decent enough overclocker, which is something you cannot really get on Skylake at the same price-point without sacrificing elsewhere.

Thank you for the advice, but I think I'll stick to the sky lake build. I don't believe I will need a more powerful GPU, and I like Intel a lot more than AMD. Also, I have no plans on overclocking, which is why I can get by without an aftermarket heat sink.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, after doing some more research I've seen that the 380 is very comparable to the 380X, would it be better to get the 380 and put that money towards a stronger motherboard?

- - - Updated - - -

Also, could someone weigh in on a decision I'm thinking about.

For the motherboard, I'm currently running the ASRock H170A-X1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard, and I was thinking of switching it to MSI H170A PC Mate ATX LGA1151 Motherboard after checking benchmark performances. The MSI wins overall, but the Asrock wins in gaming, thoughts?

[Denpepe]

A strong GPU will have better results for gaming then a motherboard will, they use the same base chipset and features with some tweaks and different layouts and components, just get a motherboard from a reputable brand that has all the features you need, since you will not be overclocking the difference in performance will be in the single digit %'s if that.

[Deleted]

You can get a stronger cpu and gpu in that budget without an ssd though:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($57.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($289.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 88R MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.49 @ Newegg)
Total: $743.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-06 06:50 EDT-0400