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Hello everyone
I have been out of the gaming world for the past few years and my surface pro 2 just gave up the ghost, the missus has given the green light for a new system.
no requirements to be mobile and after the troubles with a laptop/tablet computing, stuff that
So i have casually been reading TR for years, so have some idea, and have previously build own systems in (what seems) eons gone by (ps, im dad)

The games i want to play, fallout 4, GTA 5 and rocket league, oh, and civilization, but i know anything will run that

Budget is $1500 as an upper limit, but have monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers .... but live in Australia, so the pricing of things kinda suck
monitor is an old 24" dell pushing 1920 x 1200, happy with that, beautiful monitor

what i have come up with, prices from http://www.umart.com.au

CPU - Core I5 6600K - $358
MoBo - Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 - $269
GPU - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 OC 4GB MiniITX Video Card - $315
RAM - Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) CMK8GX4M2A2133C13R DDR4
2133MHz Vengeance LPX DIMM Red - $79
HHD/SSD - Kingston 240GB SSD 2.5in SSDNow V300 - $108
- Western Digital WD20EZRZ Blue 2TB SATA
6Gb HDD 64M - $98

Case - Socks - $100
P/S - ????? - $100
Cooling - Profit - $100
O/S - Microsoft Windows 10 Home 32bit/64bit
USB Flash Drive - $135

Total price - $1662 plus postage

Price is a little over, but i can shave that with the 2TB HHD (we have a network drive that would suffice for mass storage for now) and im sure in the case and cooling department

So what do you think of the build?
I think many dolleroos can be saved with the MoBo, but i based that from the December sweet spot build, recommendations and pros/cons please
Why is it better to have 2x4G RAM rather than 1x8? and much performance gains for faster RAM?
I would like to overclock, hence the 6600k and cash for cooling solutions
recommendations for case, power supply and cooling solutions?
where should i spend more, and where can i save?

Cheers and thanks for your help

The money you will save by going with a cheaper motherboard can be used in other areas, like more memory, better video card, and etc. As far as PSUs go I will recommend SeaSonic PSUs as they are among the best you can get.

Based on a quick skim of your parts list...

Yes, I think you're over-spending a bit on the mobo relative to the other components.

Kingston SSDNow are budget SSDs, and mediocre/inconsistent performers. Might want to consider some alternatives there. Micron BX100 are quite affordable if they are available down under.

In the name of getting you within your budget, what's up with the $135 USB drive? What's that for, and do you really need it?

To answer some of your questions...

2x4G vs 1x8G RAM allows the system to run in dual channel mode, doubling your RAM bandwidth. My inclinaction would be to go for 2x8G, but you're already over budget, so...

How important is OCing to you? You could easily get this under budget if you back off a bit on the PS and cooling options, but that may limit the OC potential.

Selous wrote:

what i have come up with, prices from http://www.umart.com.au
MoBo - Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 - $269

Consider the ASRock Z170M Extreme4 or Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 motherboards in micro-ATX. Look for a motherboard that includes USB 3.1 type C.

Selous wrote:

RAM - Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) CMK8GX4M2A2133C13R DDR4
2133MHz Vengeance LPX DIMM Red - $79

This is the minimum amount of memory for a gaming system. If your budget could stand it, I would suggest starting with 2x8 GiB, but it's very easy to upgrade memory later.

Selous wrote:

Case - Socks - $100
P/S - ????? - $100
Cooling - Profit - $100

Consider the AU$89 Corsair Carbide 200R, AU$128 Corsair CS550M and AU$45 CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo.

Commiserations with dolleroos and Australian tax. My suggestion is to get a 500GB SSD and drop the spinning platters. I always imagined at some stage I'd add some hard drives to my desktop but I've been living quite comfortably in 1TB of SSD (about half of which is random access geometry data for my work so SSD very nice) for a couple of years now. Not a huge gamer but over 100GB in my Steam folder. I find I mainly stream music and video over the 'net these days. If you've already got some network storage that might suffice for your multimedia needs.

1) I wouldn't recommend the Gigabyte GTX960 mITX. TR just put together a system using that GPU and found it noisy. Look for something with 2 fans. Also something to consider, the GTX 960 is only 15% faster than the GTX 950 but is 25% more expensive than the GTX 950 @ $255. The next generation of graphics cards based on 16nm fab process node (current is 28nm) are only months from launch. They should be a good step up in performance and reduction in power consumption.
2) DDR4 2400MHz for the same price.
3) PSU - Coming in under $100 on a power supply is going to be tough. I suppose you could go with the Seasonic 550W OEM 80+ Gold for $100. There are better options if you open the budget up to $130. You should look for 500-550W power supplies, that's more than enough for the system you're speccing out, but it gives you room to grow in the future.
4) Have a look at the Asus Z170M-Plus or Gigabyte Z170M-D3H. Both are $190.
5) Case- (if you go with the mATX mobo) Many people here, including myself like the Silverstone TJ08-E for $115. My brother has one. I actually have it's cheaper sibling, the PS07 for $85. That price cut only changes the front panel to plastic and swaps the 180mm fan to 2x120mm. Everything else is the same. I had a very small issue with my plastic front panel door vibrating/resonating from the fans (very nit-picky since my system is dead silent) but some sticky high density foam on the inside of the door took care of it.

[Edit/Add] I find it odd, that while all the other system components are significantly higher AUSD to USD, those cases are strikingly close to US prices....

Increase RAM to 16GB
Change Kingston SSD to a Crucial BX100
Change mini-ITX videocard to a standard-length GTX 960
Increase mechanical HDD to 3 or 4TB for better value
Delete $135 for USB Flash Drive. You can get 64GB thumb drives for 25 USD now.

Yeah, I was wondering why the USB flash drive was taking up budget...Let alone that it costs more than the PSU budget.

If you're not gonna overclock then drop back to the i5-6500. It seems to be the best value i5 right now. I also vote for 16GB RAM or at least having extra DIMM slots on the mobo to upgrade later.

If I were to buy a PSU today on the cheap it'd be this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... gnorebbr=1

You don't need to spend all of your budget, though it's of course possible to.

My recommendations are:

CPU - Quad core. i7 or i5 to suit your budget. Haswell i5/i7-4xxx models will be cheaper than Skylake i5/i7-6xxx models, but there's not enough performance difference to justify the cost, it's more about having the current motherboard and RAM platform for future-proofing. I'd probably say the i7 4790K is the best bang per buck for a gaming rig right now with cheaper boards and DDR3, but it's not going to be as easy to upgrade down the line.

GPU - R9 380X or GTX960. The 380X is going to be better value but if you want Nvidia the 960 is the closest performance match. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a GTX970 if your budget allows, though this is a little bit overkill for your current monitor.

RAM - 16GB of whatever's on sale for your motherboard - either 2x8GB DDR3 1866MHz or 2x8GB DDR4 2133MHz seems to be the gaming sweet-spot.

SSD - 256GB if you plan on a mechanical drive for additional storage, otherwise 500+ for mutliple game installs. The 960GB Sandisk Ultra II always seems to be on sale at the moment for rock-bottom pricing, but that's obviously dependent on region so not necessarily true in Auz.

Everything else is literally a case of picking the size/features/platform you want:

• The best bang for your Aussie dollar is probably going to be an 500-600W 80+ PSU bundled with a standard ATX case from someone like Antec/Coolermaster and this size will also be really easy to work in.
• If you're gaming it's probably worth putting at least $100 aside for a decent mouse and non-junk headphones on the assumption you don't have any already. There are plenty of threads on these forums for each of those items if you have no idea what you're after.
• Wired ethernet is preferred over WiFi, use powerline networking if you can't run ethernet direct to the router.
• Grab a gamepad, even if it's just for Rocket League and nothing else! The venerable XBox360 gamepad is still a great value, highly compatible option - even if it's not the latest model.
• Don't forget a good mousemat. Often overlooked, it is one of the single biggest game-changers. My personal preference is a thin, rubber-backed microfibre cloth pad but everyone will have their own equally valid preference.
• If you have spare budget and you're worried about noise, put the money into a sound-damped case and quality low-RPM fans. Chances are you won't care if you game with headphones, but even then you'll use it for non-gaming I suspect.

Selous wrote:

O/S - Microsoft Windows 10 Home 32bit/64bit
USB Flash Drive - $135

just brew it! wrote:

In the name of getting you within your budget, what's up with the $135 USB drive? What's that for, and do you really need it?

The Egg wrote:

Delete $135 for USB Flash Drive. You can get 64GB thumb drives for 25 USD now.

DPete27 wrote:

Yeah, I was wondering why the USB flash drive was taking up budget...Let alone that it costs more than the PSU budget.

I believe that he definitely does need the Windows operating system for his gaming PC. Since he doesn't have a Blu-ray or DVD optical drive in his build, the USB flash drive seems like a reasonable medium on which to purchase it rather than the traditional DVD.

Ah, I see now. The price was a Windows license ON a flash drive. Not a $135 blank flash drive.

Chrispy_ wrote:

RAM - 16GB of whatever's on sale for your motherboard - either 2x8GB DDR3 1866MHz or 2x8GB DDR4 2133MHz seems to be the gaming sweet-spot.

SSD - 256GB if you plan on a mechanical drive for additional storage, otherwise 500+ for mutliple game installs. The 960GB Sandisk Ultra II always seems to be on sale at the moment for rock-bottom pricing, but that's obviously dependent on region so not necessarily true in Auz.

A few things - if you might upgrade the RAM in the future, don't get DDR3 - even if the board can take that OR DDR4. Back in 2010, I remember seeing some 1156 boards that could take DDR2 or DDR3 (most were DDR3 only though). But you had to install one type of RAM at a time (it can't run both types simultaneously) so the only real advantage was reusing RAM you had lying around.

As for the SSD, yeah, the Ultra II's are good. I have one, no issues. Extreme Pro II's are as well - I have 2, no issues either. They're the most solid SSDs I own (compared to an 840 evo and some Crucials).

thank you for all the excellent reply, i have been busily rechecking things and have put together a new list, let me know what you think of this

MoBo Gigabyte H170-D3HP - $182 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... sid=264613
This mobo has USB 3.1 and as far as i can tell all the bells and whistles that i would require?

RAM 2x8Gig Kingstone - $135 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... sid=255533
2400Mhz and at a cheep price, but is kingstone crap?

CPU I5 6600K - $358
keen to add some longevity by being able to clock the CPU, my old core2duo Q6600 had a very long tooth

GPU - Gigabyte gtx 950 - $235 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... sid=256695
Gigabyte gtx 960 - $315 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... sid=256695
now really dont know which way to go here, im leaning toward the 950 with plans to upgrade in the future, how will it handle fallout4?

SSD - Crucial BX 100 256GB - $128 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... sid=238915
this looks like a nice HHD, i think i can survive nicely on a single 256GB drive, at least in the short term

PSU - SeaSonic S1211 620W - $115 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... &sid=56950
There is a modular cable model for another $30 or so ... hard to believe that not all P/S are modular these days

Cooling - Noctu NH-U12S multisocket - $89 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... sid=131696
ok, i have no idea what is good here, this one had some fancy words and stuff

Case - Antec super lanboy - $0
This is the case that i have my ancient system residing in, it has a nice custom paintjob and is a very pretty case, think i will keep with that

O/S Microsoft Windows 10 Home 32bit/64bit USB Flash Drive - $139 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... sid=253351

totals
950 - $1381
960 - $1461
both under budget, any thoughts on this build

^ Looks pretty good to me. I'd go with the 960 and maybe a slightly less expensive CPU cooler.

Selous wrote:

MoBo Gigabyte H170-D3HP
This mobo has USB 3.1 and as far as i can tell all the bells and whistles that i would require?
CPU I5 6600K - $358
keen to add some longevity by being able to clock the CPU, my old core2duo Q6600 had a very long tooth

If you want to overclock, you want a motherboard with the Z170 chipset rather than H170.

Selous wrote:

Cooling - Noctua NH-U12S multisocket - $89 https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Pro ... sid=131696
ok, i have no idea what is good here, this one had some fancy words and stuff

That's a fine CPU cooler, but a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo does nearly as well for half the price.

The Egg wrote:

Increase RAM to 16GB
Change Kingston SSD to a Crucial BX100
Change mini-ITX videocard to a standard-length GTX 960
Increase mechanical HDD to 3 or 4TB for better value
Delete $135 for USB Flash Drive. You can get 64GB thumb drives for 25 USD now.

I super 2nd or 3rd the 2x8gb ram option.....8gb is not future proof at all where I think 16 gb is the new 8 gb standard plus after the machine has been on a while you have a lot of stuff in your ram cached...I play nothing too fancy since I am hooked on War Thunder ground forces...and air now at the moment but from switching between game and Teamspeak and running chrome with 10-20 windows open at the same time I game I can bust 10gb at times. ANd not one stutter of delay with anything.

Overclocking might be overkill for your needs; you can save a decent chunk of dough if you use a non-K processor and stock cooler.

1) As others have said, if you want to overclock, you'll need a "K" series processor (a la i5-6600K) AND a Z170 motherboard. Take another look at the Z170 motherboards I linked earlier. They're the same price as the H170 board you listed.
2) Kingston is good ram.
3) I personally think the GTX 950 is a better choice, but I already said that....
4) If you can squeeze the $238 500GB BX100 into your budget, definitely do it. Games are amazingly large these days (30-60GB typcial), and they're only getting bigger.
5) The Corsair CS550M for $130 is 80+ Gold efficiency and modular. Definitely worth considering. The FSP Aurum 550W for $108 would be good too. I'm [pretty sure] it's modular also.