(Part 4) Best products from r/buildapc

Hello! Personal opinions here. I've built a half dozen PCs for myself, with friends, and for friends.

Processor: Great choice, one of the best for single core processes out there (games). I have seen as low as $299 last week so keep an eye out if you're not in a rush.

Cooler: Go with a Noctura IMO. Best on the market, reasonable price. That said, the one you picked is fine. https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16835608041?Item=9SIAADY44C5830

MOBO: Fine choice. I am partial to asrock as I know their BIOS well but seems fine.

Memory: For $30 you could upgrade to something like a Trident Z RGB 3200. I am partial to the aesthetics if you have a window. https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232476?Item=N82E16820232476

SSD: Wayyyy to expensive for that size. Also, go with a M.2. 1TB for around $100 right now and you won't need that HDD for a while. Here's a 500gb for $61. https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-blue-500gb/p/N82E16820250091?Item=N82E16820250091

HDD: Do you need this for now? Could offset with better components. You can always add storage when it foes on sale. Also, I am extremely partial to SSD only. I move a lot of large files around. That is just me. You will also get a more useful life from a SSD, even if just for storage.

GPU: Upgrade to a super. Watch this video for reasoning. Do not go with a 2080 super but the gains vs. spend in a 2060 super vs 2060 are worth it. (You could not get that HDD and easily pull this off).

Case: Personal preference.

Power: I am partial to Seasonic. Best warranty in the business (10 years). I saw full modular 650w for $65 the other day. Swap this part. https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-m12ii-620-bronze-620w/p/N82E16817151095

OS: Windows is Windows!

Monitor: Spend $100 more and get a 2k 144. Especially if you get the Super. Biggest upgrade I have ever made. I have a 28" curved Viotek that is a rock star and cost me $300. Even my entry level 2k 144 is awesome. Trust me on this if nothing else!!! https://www.amazon.com/27-Inch-Monitor-Samsung-FreeSync-GamePlus/dp/B078P57ZWL

The links are for reference only. You can easily get better prices by waiting, shopping microcenter, etc.

Let me know how it goes. Cheers!

Hi. I'm going to suggest you cut back on some things that don't make much of a difference in order to shift some of the $ toward other things that will:

• cooling is sufficient, yes, but that cooler is overpriced for what it is. HR-02 Macho cools about the same or a bit better and is much quieter. Alternatively, NZXT Havik 140 costs $10 more and cools very slightly better, but is a bit louder (still much quieter than that Tuniq). You might prefer the looks though (if that matters to you). If you want to overclock very high (or just want the best cooling available save for a full custom water loop), look at the Thermalright Silver Arrow, Noctua NH-D14, and Phanteks PH-TC14PE. They all perform about the same but I listed them in order of quietest to least (but all are still low and very acceptable noise levels).
  
  
• mobo is really over the top. It has a ton of features that you're paying for but I'm 100% sure you're not going to end up using. The P8Z77-V LK is probably fine for you. EDIT: Or maybe the P8Z77-V if you want a few more features like built-in WiFi
  
  
• 16GB of RAM is not useful at all for gaming; 2x4GB is fine. On this kind of budget, get 1600MHz RAM.
  
  
• put some of the savings made so far into a bigger and faster and more reliable SSD. You have the money so you might as well get a 256GB Intel 520 series, or Plextor M3. These two have 5yr warranties and are very reliable and fast. Other good options are the Samsung 830, Crucial M4, Kingston HyperX (not the 3K version), and Corsair Force GT.
  
  
• your games can easily be maxed by a single 680 (and by maxed I mean actually getting 120FPS for that monitor, I have it by the way and it's very good - I'll talk to you about calibration later). I don't feel the 680 FTW is worth it though. It costs a whole $150 more than the 670 FTW - that's 35.7% more - but performs only ~8% better on average. A terrible value. You're better off saving the $150, getting a 670FTW, and putting the $150 toward another 670 in the future, as more demanding games are harder to maintain 120FPS with a single card.
  
  
• Cosmos II is an expensive monster but a good case. If it's your dream, go for it. You'll end up keeping it virtually forever.
  
  
• PSU is not the best you can get for that money. Get this Corsair HX: it's excellent quality (SeaSonic-made), has a longer 7yr warranty, and 750W is already a ton of power for overclocking the CPU and 2 video cards. http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu750hx

You really can't go wrong with any of these or these cases. They all have good airflow and cable management. I'd probably go for the Source 210 Elite, Tempest 210, or HAF 912 and put the rest of my money into a better heatsink or nicer case fans.

For the heatsink, I'd recommend one of these and this Thermalright if you're looking for cheap and good. The Xigmatek, Gelid, and Zalman are the quietest of the bunch and perform as well as the Hyper 212 while being cheaper. The A70 is the clear performance winner, especially for its price, but is louder. The Thermalright is the best generalist of the bunch, performing well an pretty quiet, but also being the most expensive. If you're willing to spend a little more these or the Thermalright True Spirit 140 and HR-02 Macho are better and quiet. Personally, I'd pick up the Prolimatech panther or Thermalright True Spirit 140 since they're quiet and are great cool overclocking heatsinks.

Lastly, if you want to add more case fans, I highly recommend Cougar fans. I have some and they're great. They have a high CFM and static pressure and aren't too loud. They have rubber pads on the feet, so they really don't make any vibration noise. The only noise you hear from them is the air rushing. Noctua, Thermalright, Prolimatech, and a few others are also highly regarded fans.

Yes, thank you. Op this build is a great starter build. I am going to break it down, and post some alternatives or upgrade options.

CPU: the ryzen 2600 is the best price performance cpu on the market right now. It is powering a ton of midrange and even low high end gaming pcs. GET THIS.

MOBO. a b450 is a good entry level mobo and will work with 2000 series cpus without a bios update.

Ram. Team Vulcan works great with Ryzen. a lot of budget ram does not. If you can spare the extra cash, it is much cheaper in the long run to go with 16GB of the same RAM for $125 if you can spare the extra 45.

An HDD. This is fine. Personally, I would find a way to spend the extra money and go with an 500 GB SSD like this, or this. I would then buy an HDD later. If those SSDs take this build over 700 which appears to be your price limit, then feel free to go HDD.

When it comes to PSUs I don't like this one from above, nor do I like Thermaltake smart. The one thing you should never cheap out on is the PSU, because if a bad PSU fails it can take down your whole system. The above model is described as a safety hazard by review sites, and the Thermaltake 500w smart is not recommended for the same reason. I would get this one. For 10 bucks more you get a classic excellent PSU. While this PSU doesn't have modern PSU features, this is a very solid PSU from a name brand. However, if you want a legit modern PSU then this one would be great, if you can spare the 23 extra bucks.

Finally, the Keyboard and mouse are fine. I got platinum god in the original binding of isaac on a cheapo keyboard combo like this. However, If you want some legit budget products check out the company red dragon. The red dragon kumara k552 is a well reviewed entry level mechanical keyboard, and the red dragon m801 mammoth mouse is excellent. Note that despite the name, the red dragon mammoth is actually great for small handed/medium handed people, as a short 5'6" dude with small hands I love my mammoth, it's the best mouse I ever used.

Here is a build with my suggestions for cost comparison purposes, it will be over your budget of 700 but it is a legit core gaming pc. Here is something to consider:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor | $165.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI - B450M PRO-M2 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $64.99 @ B&H
Memory | Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $124.89 @ OutletPC
Storage | Seagate - Barracuda Compute 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $73.73 @ Amazon
Video Card | PowerColor - Radeon RX 580 8GB Video Card | $219.99 @ Amazon
Case | DIYPC - P48-W ATX Mid Tower Case | $29.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | SeaSonic - S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $51.65 @ Newegg
Monitor | Asus - VP228H 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor | $99.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard | Redragon - K552 Wired Gaming Keyboard | $29.99 @ Amazon
Mouse | Redragon - Mammoth Wired Laser Mouse | $26.99 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $888.19
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-09-30 03:31 EDT-0400 |

The biggest change is that I added an RX 580 which is a 1080 60 FPS beast which should allow 60 FPS at 1080 on high or ultra for the next 2 years at least in modern Triple AAA games.

I also added a 1 MS gaming monitor. This monitor is totally unnecessary for small time indies like don't starve, however, once you get a gaming pc, you might want to play some esports titles like fortnite and a 1 ms monitor will be nice for that.

Alright.. here goes.

Monitor: I recommend this monitor as my first cost effective choice. It is 144HZ, FreeSync (Nvidia compatible with no real issues), VA (meaning amazing contrast ratio, good colors, decent viewing angles), the only downside is that it is 4.8MS, which you don't notice as no true "1MS" panels exist - this can still push things very fast. Also, you will need to add about $30 to the cost as its stands sucks and needs a VESA mounted stand.

https://www.amazon.com/27-Inch-Monitor-Samsung-FreeSync-GamePlus/dp/B078P57ZWL/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=viotek+gn27&qid=1562858425&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A1BVYXEL822RF0

Then there is this monitor. The stand is already pretty great. It's 1440P, 144HZ, (it's TN - bad viewing angles, bad contrast, ok colors, but incredibly fast), it is also FreeSync.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/210-arcj?mkwid=shU4lw4CU&pcrid=331136387189&pdv=m&product=210-ARCJ&pgrid=68035644233&ptaid=pla-634261895451&VEN1=shU4lw4CU~331136387189~901pdb6671~m~~210-ARCJ~68035644233~pla-634261895451&cid=312465127&lid=59673390919&dgc=st&dgseg=dhs&acd=1230923830920560&gclid=CjwKCAjwvJvpBRAtEiwAjLuRPYLmCbpuuf8SOjkeRSI-gDKtasvJYVeXZaGrN0vObUe03qnd4f4fPBoCNfkQAvD_BwE

Mouse: Just get the Model O. It is such an awesome mouse for only $50. It is honestly insane how good it is for the price. It is definitely top 5 on the market.

https://www.pcgamingrace.com/products/glorious-model-o-black

Keyboard: You definitely want a mechanical keyboard. Most mainstream options aren't very good. Cherry is not the holy Grail. Here is my recommendation (it has Gateron Switches and nice keycaps.) You can also get the wristrest and mouse pad from them. There are cheaper options, but I like supporting the great company when I can.

https://www.pcgamingrace.com/products/gmmk-full-customized?variant=20235337826362

Headphones: This is kind of a mixed market. Many, many different options. I'm just gonna recommend a good cheap pair, but there are tons of options.

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Swiveled-Neodymium-Omni-Directional/dp/B07JH3LSHN

Catching fire? I haven't heard of anything like that, but knowing Amazon reviews people could be complaining just to try and score free stuff. It's a real cesspool there, about as helpful as YouTube comments.

Anyway, here's my UPS mini-guide:

For UPSs, you need to worry about two main things; the UPS design type and the wattage rating.

---

For UPS design types, there are 3 main categories.

• A "standby" UPS switches from wall power to battery power when it senses a drop in voltage using a mechanical switch.
  
• A "line-interactive" UPS replaces that mechanical switch with a transformer and some more intelligent circuitry.
  
• An "online" UPS actually runs the load on battery at all times, isolating your equipment from the wall power as much as possible.
  
  A line-interactive UPS is good for most gaming PCs , since standby units can be really hit-or-miss. If you have the cash to shell out, an online UPS is even better but for most people is way overkill.
  
  ---
  
  For wattage rating, you need to at minimum match the actual power draw of your computer when at full load. The best method is to use a power meter like the Kill-A-Watt, but not everyone has access to one.
  
  To conservatively estimate this without a power meter, take the TDP or wattage rating of all your components and multiply it by 1.3 to account for varying (in)efficiencies of PSUs. If you don't know your components' TDP, you can get a tally by putting all your parts into PCPartPicker and checking the power symbol on the top right. If you really don't want to do all that work and just want an easy safe but probably overkill choice, then multiply your PSU's wattage rating by 1.25.
  
  Don't forget to include your monitor, modem, router, and any other peripherals that you want to include on the UPS!
  
  ---
  
  For general UPS vendor recommendation: The CyberPower AVR (CPxxxxAVR) series and the Tripp-Lite Smart LCD Tower (SMARTxxxxLCDT) series are great line-interactive units for most home use. The Tripp-Lite OmniSmart, CyberPower PFC, and APC Back-Ups Pro lines are a bit of a step up, but not exorbitant overkill.
  
  Be SURE that you are looking at the wattage rating and not the volt-amp (VA) rating of your prospective UPS. The UPS's wattage rating is generally 60% of its VA rating. Most UPS units are marketed by their VA ratings, so be careful.
  

OK, here are a few choices. You generally want to be looking at Freesync monitors, not G-sync, in this price range due to the G-sync price premium.

AOC Agon AG241QX

This is a 24" TN panel, so it's going to have a very high pixel density, but obviously it's a relatively small monitor. Since it's a TN panel, that means the response time will be very fast, so it could be a good choice if the sort of games you like to play include competitive shooters, RTS games, Rocket League, that sort of thing where precision timing and fast motion is really important. However, TN panels also usually have relatively poor colors compared to other types of monitors.

The AG241QX is also a G-sync Compatible certified monitor. That means everything should just work out of the box with an RTX 2070S (outside of needing to possibly enable G-sync in the Nvidia control panel).

If you want a bigger monitor, you could look at this:

Viotek GN27D

This is a 27" curved VA panel. VA panels have much better colors than TN, generally, but have lower response times, which can lead to some ghosting in very fast-paced games. This one, however, seems to have pretty good response times. I actually have this monitor and I haven't noticed any ghosting. That said, I generally do not play fast-paced shooters like CS:GO, I'm more of a single-player RPG type of gamer.

Also, this is a non-validated Freesync monitor - that is to say, Nvidia has not tested it and confirm that everything works perfectly with Nvidia cards. Freesync works with Nvidia cards on all Freesync monitors, but with non-validated monitors you may encounter issues.

In particular, I have discovered that Freesync does not always work on this monitor with my graphics card (GTX 1080) if my other display is plugged in. I never use both displays at the same time (they aren't even pointed in the same direction) so this isn't a big deal for me - I can just unplug the other display when I want to play a game - but it might be a big deal for you if you are hoping to game while also having something else available for you to look at on another monitor. However, if you are planning to use it with a single-monitor setup, I can confirm that it works great.

Hardware Unboxed has a lot of good monitor reviews and overviews for you to look at if you want to see more.

Well, since you asked nicely:

For UPSs, there are two main things to look for: the UPS design type and the wattage rating.

---

For UPS design types, there are 3 main categories.

• A "standby" UPS switches from wall power to battery power when it senses a drop in voltage using a mechanical switch.
  
• A "line-interactive" UPS augments that mechanical switch with a transformer for under/over voltage correction, and adds some more intelligent circuitry. These are often tagged with "AVR" for "automatic voltage regulator"
  
• An "online" UPS actually runs the load on battery at all times, isolating your equipment from the wall power as much as possible.
  
  A line-interactive UPS is good for most gaming PCs, since standby units can be really hit-or-miss. The voltage regulation alone can save a lot of wear and tear on your hardware. If you have the cash to shell out, an online UPS is even better but for most people is just a luxury.
  
  ---
  
  For wattage rating, you need to at minimum match the actual power draw of your computer when at full load. The best method is to use a power meter like the Kill-A-Watt, but not everyone has access to one.
  
  To conservatively estimate this without a power meter, take the TDP or wattage rating of all your components and multiply it by 1.3 to account for varying (in)efficiencies of PSUs. If you don't know your components' TDP, you can get a tally by putting all your parts into PCPartPicker and checking the power symbol on the top right. If you really don't want to do all that work and just want an easy, safe choice, then multiply your PSU's wattage rating by 1.25.
  
  Don't forget to also and separately include your monitor, modem, router, printer, and any other peripherals that you want to plug into the UPS! Having your router and modem on a UPS is a nice perk, since you'll likely still be able to have Internet access for your portable devices during a power outage.
  
  ---
  
  For general UPS vendor recommendation: The CyberPower AVR (CPxxxxAVR) series and the Tripp-Lite Smart LCD Tower (SMARTxxxxLCDT) series are great line-interactive units for most home use. The Tripp-Lite OmniSmart, CyberPower PFC, and APC Back-Ups Pro lines are a bit of a step up.
  
  Be SURE that you are looking at the wattage rating and not the volt-amp (VA) rating of your prospective UPS. The UPS's wattage rating is generally 60% of its VA rating. Most UPS units are marketed by their VA ratings, so be careful.
  
  When you install the UPS, a large portion of the benefit is that your computer can automatically shut down when it is low on battery. This saves you from those harmful forced power-offs when the power is cut while you're away. Be sure to plug in that USB connection! Almost all UPSs from the major vendors come with this connection for your computer. I wouldn't bother with a unit that doesn't. Windows 10 seems to recognize most UPS units natively, but you may need to install software/drivers if it doesn't.
  
  ---
  
  Edit: clarified line interactive units, USB plugging, etc.

Ok thanks man you’ve been a really great help, really appreciate it. Just one more question (sorry!); The Acronis information on the SanDisk website says: “you will need at least one WD branded or SanDisk branded HDD or SSD as source drive or destination drive for this program to perform cloning.”

My HDD is a bog-standard Seagate ST1000DM003 which isn’t a WD or SanDisk branded source drive. Is it necessary to have a WD or a SanDISK HDD/source drive, or is it just the SSD which needs to be SanDisk branded?

I get that SanDisk is a WD brand, so you’d expect it to work, however about 3 or 4 reviews on Amazon claim that the Acronis cloning software doesn’t work, and required them to pay $30 for the full Acronis version, rather than the WD Edition. Maybe it will be best to go for the intel SSD or even another brand.

1 TB Western Digital $58

1 TB Seagate $53

2 TB Seagate $83.50

3 TB Seagate $102.80

Any of those would be good choices. Like others mentioned, WD Blues only go up to 1 TB. WD blacks are pretty much over priced, so Seagate is the better choice above 1 TB. The Seagate 1TB drive actually performs a little better than the WD 1 TB. As for WD being more reliable than Seagate, I don't really know if that's true or not.

Things to consider: Cache size, RPM and platter density. Seems like 64MB cache, 7200 RPM and 1 TB platter size is the best bang for the buck right now. All those drives above share those specs.

Hey man!

Check out [this motherboard] (http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Intel-USB3-0-Motherboard-GA-H81M-H/dp/B00I6DLKCA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1412625307&sr=8-4&keywords=lga+1150+motherboard) which goes for around 50 USD.

If you are new, you need to make sure that the socket type of the processor is a LGA 1150, so the motherboard must have the same socket type. Your i3 is a LGA 1150, so the motherboard and the processor should work together. Just made a similar mistake, however nothing terrible bad occured.

I know that you just asked for a motherboard, but I can't help but notice that you are going for a budget gaming build. Half the parts you have are the same as the parts I have. In fact, I ordered the Evga GTX 750 Ti from Newegg just this Saturday for 135 USD.

So what I have to say on your build regarless if you asked for help is to get a [Intel Core i3-4360 @ 3.70GHz] (http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i3-4360-Processor-Cache-BX80646I34360/dp/B00J2LIFDC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412625825&sr=8-1&keywords=Intel+Core+i3-4360+%40+3.70GHz) which is more expensive, at 150 USD, but has way better performance.

Even better yet is to go for an AMD processor, however I know that some people are not a fan of them, but thats fine.

If you don't mind about AMD, pick up a [AMD FX-6350 Six-Core] (http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD6300WMHKBOX-FX-6300-Processor-Edition/dp/B009O7YORK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412626082&sr=8-2&keywords=AMD+FX-6350+Six-Core) which goes for 100 USD, but is far better than the i3 I linked above, and the i3 in your current build.

Please note that changing to AMD will change the motherboard you need, but the cost of the motherboard should still stay around 50 USD.

AMD also has a 8 core processor that runs for 130 USD that you may want to look into. Most games dont utilize more than 2 cores however.

I will gladly help you with anything you need.

One more thing I am looking into is buying a case that comes with a PSU. I know that Coolermaster, a reputable company, provides an option like this for around 60-70 USD. You could look into that if you prefer.

Also note that a operating system will cost you almost 100 USD, a sizable chunk of money in a budget build, unless your run Linux.

Glad to help.

I can't really point you to some big great peer reviewed monitor book but I can make a recommendation. I have this monitor and its been great for the two years I've had it. It's not even half your budget however but unless you want to spend more money for 144hz and stuff this is just a good nicely built monitor with great colors and its strong. No dead pixels in the two years I've had it and the stand is pretty sturdy although there isn't much room for adjusting the screen and rotating it. Looks good in my opinion. If you do get it (or any other monitor really) look up some guides on color calibration to get the best settings.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $190.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Asus H110M-E/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $36.98 @ Newegg
Memory | Avexir Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $69.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $48.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB GTR Video Card | $249.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $62.99 @ SuperBiiz
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $79.99 @ Newegg
Monitor | Acer R240HY bidx 23.8" 60Hz Monitor | $119.99
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $939.70
| Mail-in rebates | -$20.00
| Total | $919.70
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-21 23:25 EST-0500 |

Monitor is 119.99 with Amazon Prime but you should consider this or this.

The XFX GTR is hands down the best aftermarket rx 480 (check reviews online) available. It's usually near $300.00 but there is an ongoing sale that helps you save $50. So it drops to $250.00 (which is a steal imo).

I'm not usually one for rebate as it takes a while to receive and by then you'll usually have forgotten about it as well so you'll feel that the price is without the rebate. However that's just me, do as you see fit.

Decamarks didn't include windows 10 with his build? It's included in mine. With Rebate and maybe switching of the monitors, you have about $30-50 for an extra SSD of 120 GB for your OS to run off of. I suggest this if you can fit it in your build.

As for the Memory, I went for the cheapest while still maintaining decent ratings, (there are cheaper memory sticks out there). For the PSU, I went with Seasonic as you do not the 750w with the build unless you are planning on SLI in the future. I kept your case the same as that is entirely up to your personal preference. I hope this helps.

Edit: Also if you want a more popular mobo (the one I have in the build currently is fine ), consider this. But keep in mind, this will push the price to the budget of $950 . Counting rebate and everything.

This is what it would look like with the SSD and the Case Fan but it goes a little bit over budget with the HP monitor.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $190.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Asus H110M-E/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $36.98 @ Newegg
Memory | Avexir Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $69.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $41.89 @ OutletPC
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $48.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB GTR Video Card | $249.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $62.99 @ SuperBiiz
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $79.99 @ Newegg
Case Fan | Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm Fan | $12.99 @ Newegg
Monitor | HP 22cwa 21.5" 60Hz Monitor | $99.99
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $974.58
| Mail-in rebates | -$20.00
| Total | $954.58
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-21 23:32 EST-0500 |

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B072LTTNVS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504207302&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mechanical+keyboard+mx+red&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019OB663A/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1504207356&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Gaming+mouse&dpPl=1&dpID=41xxUrMt7nL&ref=plSrch

I personally don't own these, but I have friends that do and have heard great things about them. Of course, there is no "best" keyboard or mouse, it's all about what feels best for you. That keyboard had mx red switches, I personally think they are great for typing and gaming. You may want to do research on the different types of mechanical switches and see what sounds best for you. Hope this helps!

I am currently running an AMD Athlon II X3 455, which is a slight step up from the 450 you mention. It isn't a bad processor and it still performs well for me with my 550 ti card, but it's both quite outdated and not too great to begin with.

If it has to be between those processors I would go with the Phenom II X4 925 so you have some sort of longevity, but a newer processor is much better. The AMD FX-6300 is cheaper than the Phenom and should perform substantially better, plus it runs on the AM3+ socket if you have an older motherboard and don't want to upgrade.

If you are willing to purchase a new motherboard and spend a bit more on the processor, the Intel i5-4460 will likely get you even better lasting performance, though this comparison actually marks it as fairly close to the FX-6300, so perhaps it isn't worth the extra money.

I hope I was helpful, good luck with your build!


Edit: Looking at the link provided by /u/Feedel_Casthrow, it seems that the Athlon X3 450 may actually be the better pick, especially considering the cost difference. I would still side with the AMD FX-6300 over either option though.

2 questions for this monday morning:

1. Dual monitor stand recommendations? Seems like both Mount It! and VIVO are good - i want something where each arm is individually adjustable. Clamp style is preferred but the option to have a stand would be nice too. I have two u2414h's to mount. Is one clearly better than another? Looking at this VIVO and this mount it! - is one better than another or do any of you have recommendations?
   
   
2. RAM timings - i've got 2x8gb G.SKILL TridentX 1866 DDR3 sticks, and a 4790k. According to PCPartPicker, these exceed the Haswell recommendation of 1.5v, and will be downclocked. Should i return and get something like the 1866 snipers, which are cheaper, or will i be fine?
   
   TIA!

Awesome build man! One thing you are lacking is cable management! But that isn't a big deal but if you want to take it to the next level of pretty come over to /r/CableManagement . Those guys there know there shit and are very helpful!

I personally would recommend some zip ties, twisty ties, and some velcro! Velcro is the shit.

For bigger wires these worked great for me. A bit pricey but they are wonderful.

http://www.amazon.com/ColorYourLife-Reusable-Fastening-Microfiber-Packaging/dp/B00CI5YW4U/ref=pd_ys_sf_s_rp_a1_2_p?ie=UTF8&refRID=0CKBF12EX0GRNFPZWYYH

Smaller things I usually go with this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GRTHEYI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/Velcro-Reusable-Self-Gripping-Inches-91140/dp/B001E1Y5O6/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1409399401&sr=1-1&keywords=zip+ties

Zip Ties

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005OK7P3G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/TEKTON-6233-Cable-Ties-500-Piece/dp/B000NPZ4D0/ref=pd_rhf_gw_s_cp_31_AGK5?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KER4A54A5HGWD1C6GC6

How much do you want to spend? Do you want to do any gaming on this PC?

You can build a better computer for cheaper, but the Apple Mac mini is pretty small and powerful enough for recording audio. It's $600.


You can build a better machine for a lot less, though:

• CPU: Intel i3-2100 - $125
  
• MoBo: ASRock H61DE/S3 - $76
  
• RAM: PNY Optima 1x4GB - $25
  
• PSU: SS-350ET 350W - $43
  
• Case: NZXT Gamma - $40
  
• Hard drive: 1TB 7.2k RPM SeaGate Barracuda - $100
  
• Disc burner: Sony DVD burner - $24
  
• TOTAL: $433
  
  The Intel i3-2100 CPU is just about the best bang for your buck.
  
  The ASRock H61DE/S3 motherboard has 5.1 surround sound, S/PDIF optical audio output, Gigabit ethernet, USB 2.0 (but not 3.0), DVI, VGA, and HDMI video output. If you don't need surround sound and optical audio output, we can get something about $20 cheaper here.
  
  SeaSonic power supplies are high quality. 350 Watts will be plenty for this build.
  
  The NZXT Gamma case is the best you can get for only $40.
  
  This build doesn't have a video card. Built-in graphics will work fine unless you will be doing 3D modeling or 3D gaming.

What you came up with here is very very good, you don't need to change much.

I would recommend a higher end Z370 board over that TUF Z390. The Z370 Taichi by AsRock is widely regarded as one of the best boards for OCing and power delivery and is compatible with 9th gen.

If you want to still use the Crystal 280x (which will only work with Micro ATX boards) your options for mobo are pretty limited. This EVGA board I'm fairly sure will have better power delivery than the TUF you linked.

I also have a couple of peripheral suggestions which might be a bit more reliable (I and many others have had Razer stuff die in a year or two)

The logitech proteus mouse is half the price of the deathadder and has more features if that's your jam. If you prefer less buttons, G203 is a smaller, more minimalistic mouse with some very bright, consistent lighting. Both have fantastic sensors and dat Logitech support team.

I see you picked out a full-sized board--this Logitech is a bit cheaper and still RGB, mechanical, though no wrist rest unfortunately.

Not trying to shill for Logitech, it's just that peripherals is where you can save the most cash without sacrificing at all on quality and Logitech is a pretty safe bet for durability and customer support.

Alternate monitor possibility: some prefer the Acer XB27, some prefer the Asus you've selected. I'd check /r/monitors for comparisons and breakdowns of the most recent panel for each.

SanDisk as a brand isn't bad, but COULD BE better. See if you can spring for a Samsung drive. It's not like it's C or D tier, but Sandisk isn't A tier that's for sure. The MSI board you've chosen is probably fine; but we've seen some issues with reliability over time - especially with the more budget-focused sub 100 dollar boards.

GPU is a bargain. Great cooling on it. Phanteks is kicking butt in the case market these days. Corsair always amazing -- BUT their TXM line is NOT high quality. It's built by a third party manufacturer last I checked.

See if you can spring for an EVGA G3. Worlds better quality.

EVGA Bronze 500W PSU. $56 as I type this. If you want cheaper, here's the same Bronze supply but with a 'fluid dynamic' fan bearing which probably is noisier. $46. Both of these supplies come with a 3 year warranty.


I hear only great things about EVGA's customer support. If you want to step up to their bulletproof line, the 550W G2 Supernova is a fantastic PSU but doesn't come in under your price range. I have the 850W G2 supply and I love it.

I am not familiar with the Team Vulcan RAM listed, but I would suggest a CAS latency of 8 for DDR3-1600. I also would suggest scrapping the Hybrid drive for a SSD, such as the Samsung 840 EVO 250GB with a storage drive like Seagate Barracuda 1TB.

What kind of display are you using, what resolution do you plan on playing at? Are you determined to get the Windforce model? There are options just as good for $100 less, or in most cases a 970 is the better buy which could save you even more...

You definitely will not need a 750W PSU, a 500W will certainly suffice.

• The H7 won't be enough to sustain heavy overclocking on a 7700k. Consider a $46 Scythe Fuma when it goes back in stock (or from eBay)? That thing outperforms almost every other boxed cooler on the market right now for a very good price.
  
  
• You'll need a bios update to use that motherboard with a Kaby Lake CPU. That's not an overclocking motherboard either, though it'll be perfectly adequate for casual overclocking. I'd probably be looking at an ASRock Z270 Extreme 4 or Gigabyte Aorus k5 or k7 for budget overclocking and aesthetics.
  
  
• The MSI Armor cards don't have backplates, so the back of the card (the part that you actually see most of the time) will just be a blank PCB. You might want to consider an EVGA FTW or ASUS Strix for a good-looking back. GPU's are a part you could probably save $50 or so on by using Jet.com instead of Amazon.
  
  
• Cases are very much down to aesthetics, but you can get very nice tempered glass cases for less than that Corsair thing. At your price point and with your aesthetics, I'd probably be looking at an Enthoo Evolv.
  
  
• That PSU isn't going to help you with overclocking. Get a G2/G3, RMx, Seasonic, etc. If you're serious about overclocking or longevity. This is a part you can potentially save ~$20 on with Newegg.
  
  
• You don't need a wifi card that nice. Most people don't even have home internet fast enough to fully use a card like that. If you really need wifi, it might be cheaper to just get a motherboard that has it out of the box.
  
  
• Those are static pressure fans, not designed for case airflow. If you want more case fans, consider a value pack of Arctic F12's. They're probably the most acoustically efficient unrestricted airflow fan at low speeds, which is what you want for case fans.
  

Cheaper and better RAM.

Very slightly Cheaper, bigger and possible better SSD

Cheaper GPU(Although not sure about delivery costs)

I'm sure there are other case that are cheaper but looks are subjective so I wont bother linking any.

Any money saved for the love of god get a better quality PSU. Even if it is something lower end like a Corsair VS or Cooler Master MWE, neither are great supplies but better than any Game Max one I'd bet. Remember the PSU is the corner stone of your build, never ever try and save money on it.

I've never gotten this question, and I've never really outright asked. What is a "gaming keyboard" for you guys? Is it snazzy lights? A cool logo?

You can get pretty much anything beyond a specific logo on any non-gaming keyboards. You can get media controls on pretty much any keyboard, more or less. You can get non-gaming keyboards full-sized, or TKL with a separate numpad, or a 60% and learn to use Function layers more (which is what I do, and have done, for a while, for both gaming and other functionality on a computer). You can get RGB lights on keyboards that aren't designated as "gaming" keyboards (though, admittedly, these are mostly custom keyboards, as mass-produced, mainstream, ready-made keyboards are usually designated "gaming" keyboards when they have RGB lights).

The only thing I'd recommend you look out for is to make sure it has mechanical switches, because their lifespan is much longer (than typical rubber domes on most keyboards). Mechanical keyboards last years upon years upon years, and the switches can be replaced individually (should they fail) if you're up to open the keyboard's case; on the flipside, if you want a snazzy "gaming(TM)" keyboard, then those very often see early failures in the individual LED lights that make up the RGB lighting, which are far more failure-prone.

tl;dr: Pretty much any good keyboard is also a good gaming keyboard, because good keyboards are defined by their switches and their durability; media controls aren't really used in gaming anyway, and are usually substituted with Function layer keys anyway.

Also, looking around Canadian Amazon, I realized 150 CAD is a bit less than I thought (seeing as I'm used to dealing with pounds and euros), but you could just get something like this, which is at a very reasonable price (though I haven't used this keyboard myself). On the flipside, I would warn you against keyboards like this one, which say they use "Cherry MX Blue Equivalent" switches, because the "equivalent" - especially when they don't name the switch and just say it's "Custom mechanical switches" - usually means they're some really low-quality switches, and you might find them not being nearly as durable, and feeling really weird and mushy right out of the box.

For other alternate options, you could consider this one, or something like this, if you don't care about RGB lights (because it has a few less noticeable (but more useful, in my opinion) features, like double-shot PBT keycaps, which take much, much longer to wear out and develop a "shine" on the keys; and a USB type-C connector, which is really just more convenient and more durable than the old(er) microUSB or whatever other connector a given keyboard has). It has a Space Grey colour option as well.

At the end of the day, all you need to really consider is the size of the keyboard (which you can make a bit easier for yourself by getting a separate numpad, should you really need one), the switches (which will change how the keys feel when you press them down), and programmability (i.e. whether the keys can all be re-binded or not). Everything else is tertiary, and mostly just vanity.

Not $15 but very useful:
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Anti-Static-Wrist-Adjustable-Grounding/dp/B00004Z5D1
A little over $15 but is also useful:
http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1405649645&sr=1-1&keywords=killawatt
This is a great radiator fan:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-SP120-Performance-Single-CO-9050007-WW/dp/B007RESFVI/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1405649677&sr=1-3&keywords=sp120
A nice airflow fan:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-AF120-Performance-Single-CO-9050003-WW/dp/B007RESGBC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1405649705&sr=1-1&keywords=af120
And another cool thing:
http://www.cmstore-usa.com/mechanical-key-switch-demo-board/

Thermalright's TY-127s fill every checkmark on your list. Great fan by a great manufacturer. I think they are only available in Europe though.

Phantek also has some good black/white ones as well. Also could be worth checking out gentle typhoons though I think those are gray rather than white.

If you're want something a bit cheaper you can actually get a five pack black/white arctic f12s which are pwm. Amazing value here.. They are legit good fans.

I suggest the Logitech G502, but I don't know how it stacks up against the m45 but it works great for me. :)

In fact the RGB Logitech 502 is now on sale for for only $59.99 at Newegg, Best Buy and Amazon

Nweegg link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826197148

Best Buy link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitech-g502-proteus-spectrum-optical-gaming-mouse-black/4803300.p?skuId=4803300

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Proteus-Spectrum-Tunable-Gaming/dp/B019OB663A


I suggest one of logitech's brand gaming mouse pad.

Here: http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/gaming-mice

I have this setup.

The Dell S2716DG, and a 1080p144hz monitor next to it.

Using this stand.

I'd say the 'base' monitor you'd want to get has to have 144hz. Simply b/c once you go 144hz, having a 60hz monitor next to it would feel terrible.

So just look for the best 'budget' 1080p144hz that you can, imo. There's several options that fit this, I wouldn't be too picky here. In fact, go onto Ebay/CL and see if you can get a used one. The 1080p144hz is 'on-its-way-out', where as 1440p/144hz may become the standard. So you don't need to go hog-wild getting a really good 1080p/144.

I use the 1080p, as my secondary (Reddit, Youtube, etc.) and the 1440p for games. It's a good middle ground between 2 identical 1440p monitors ($$$).

My future purchase might be a 240hz 1080p, additionally. So I can play cinematic/G-Sync games @1440p, play super competative FPS shooters on the 240hz, and have a nice 144hz monitor for productivity. So far, that's all I'm really planning for.

The 1440p/144hz of course being possibly upgraded to 4k/144hz or Ultrawide resolution at high refreshes. However I feel like 1440p/144hz is the sweet spot right now for pairings with affordable GPUs (1070/1080)

My DREAM setup would be a 240hz 1080p. And and ultra ultra wide for cinema/games, and a 4k/144hz for games that don't work well with ultra wide.

I'm not an expert by any means, but maybe get 1600MHz memory instead?

Also, your current case does not look like it has good airflow. May I suggest a Rosewill CHALLENGER mid-tower? It will be a bit more money, but it should be worth it.

Your PSU will be able to handle everything. Hell, you can probably downgrade the PSU to a smaller wattage (650 watt?), if you're not worried about doing a lot of upgrading.

I'm not sure about the motherboard, since it got very mixed reviews on Newegg (lots of reports of it dying). It should be fine with a warranty, I suppose!

And your card will be fine. Personally I like EVGA. I have an EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti and I love the thing.

For ~$750 that's not a bad deal at all, imo.

Good luck on the build and maybe wait for a second opinion on all of this.

Edit: One last thing. Your monitor is iffy. It looks like it has a low resolution and contrast ratio. Also, no DVI or HDMI input. Something like 1920x1080 and 50,000,000:1 is preferable. I use one of these.

Hey guys, my friend brought a used Dell XPS 8700 computer for her side hustle as photographer/videographer. She has budget of about $500 for upgrade. She wants to run Adobe suites, Color grading apps and some simple animation (text and such) with After effects, MS office apps,web browser,chat app (Skype/Discord). Ultimately she wants to have 3 monitors so she can run multiple apps at the same time.

I have software background, don't know much about hardware but I am the only "computer guy" she knows.

Its windows 10 machine and has Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz and other stock dell component.

I was thinking of suggesting upgrading these three

ASUS AC1200 Wireless Bluetooth 4.2 PCIe/Mpcie Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713RRZMB/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_ykaIDb4ZDEE3W $34.99 (for faster Wi-Fi and Bluetooth because dell one is really bad)

Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D6E5JMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_JYaIDbJZCAVQP $139.99 (more ram for multiple apps, it only supports DDR3 ram)

Samsung 860 EVO 500GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0781Z7Y3S/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_nlaIDbJWFPEJK $79.99 (for boot and installing program only, format and use the existing HD for storage)

But I am struggling with which graphic card to suggest, it has dell power supply (I think 460 watts, might be wrong, don’t have PC with me so can’t tell), NVIDIA GeForce GT 635 card which supports 3 monitor but really struggles with everything else.

Here are 3 graphic card that it say it works with 450w and has good reviews, but I don't know which one to suggest.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6G Graphics Card, 2X Windforce Fans https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P76G428/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_gnaIDbMGBH0AR $229.99

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 Gaming OC 6G Graphics Card, 3X Windforce Fans https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P689CXR/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_WnaIDbQQBPCR8 $239.99

MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 192-bit HDMI/DP 6GB GDRR6 HDCP Support DirectX https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N824KNV/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_toaIDbNAYN7PV $279.99

Which graphic card do you think will work best? Do you guys have any other suggestion? Do you see a bottle neck or compatibility issues? Do you think that the best use of her money? It’s my first time messing with hardware and it is someone else money so I am really nervous. Thank you in advance for your help.

GET THIS MOTHERBOARD INSTEAD AS IT HAS A WAY BETTER VRM THAT CAN HANDLE A 3950X OC https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Prime-X570-P-Ryzen-Motherboard/dp/B07SW925DR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UOR2QTMTWTID&keywords=asus+x570p&qid=1572971920&sprefix=asus+x570+%2Caps%2C358&sr=8-1

OR THIS IF YOU NEED WIFI

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-TUF-X570-Plus-Motherboard-Lighting/dp/B07SXF8GY3/ref=sr_1_2?crid=UOR2QTMTWTID&keywords=asus+x570p&qid=1572971920&sprefix=asus+x570+%2Caps%2C358&sr=8-2

RYZEN IS NOTORIOUS FOR HAVING ISSUES WITH CORSAIR RAM SO GET ONE OF THESE INSTEAD

https://www.amazon.com/G-Skill-Ripjaws-PC4-28800-CL16-19-19-39-F4-3600C16D-16GVKC/dp/B07X8DVDZZ/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2XCCYAGMPGNW6&keywords=ddr4+3600&qid=1572972012&sprefix=DDR4+3600%2Caps%2C381&sr=8-5

OR

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WVT8SGF/ref=dp_cerb_2

SSD

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Rocket-Internal-Performance-SB-ROCKET-1TB/dp/B07KGMBCKD/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=NVME%2BSSD&qid=1572972195&s=electronics&sr=1-6&th=1

THAT BEQUIET PSU IS WAY OVERPRICED GET THIS INSTEAD

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-Modular-Warranty-220-G3-0650-Y1/dp/B01LYGFRL6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FGOJGR74XJKV&keywords=evga+650w&qid=1572972243&sprefix=EVGA+6%2Caps%2C369&sr=8-1

GPU WISE WHY ARE YOU GETTING A 2060S, IF ITS FOR RTX THEN PLS DONT, MY 2080 SUCKS AT RTX.

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Graphics-256-Bit-Gv-R57XTGAMING-OC-8GD/dp/B07W95D5V3/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1FK3863HZDJT1&keywords=5700+xt&qid=1572972451&s=electronics&sprefix=57%2Celectronics%2C364&sr=1-5

GET THE 5700XT AS IT PERFORMS CLOSER TO THE 2070S FOR THE SAME PRICE (THIS ONE IS 10$ CHEAPER)

COOLER WISE,

IF YOU WANT AN AIO THIS ONE IS BETTER

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Liquid-Cooler-Cooling-400-HY-CL28-V1/dp/B01N16CAKN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1OCFL4DYDBT86&keywords=evga+clc+280&qid=1572972539&sprefix=EVGA+CL%2Caps%2C345&sr=8-1

I'D PERSONALLY STICK WITH THE WRAITH PRIZM AS THERE IS NO NEED TO UPGGRADE UNLESS YOU WANT THAT SWEET 4.4GHZ OC. IF YOU WANT TO OC GET THE COOLER ABOVE

IF YOU WANT AN AIR COOLER, GET THIS

https://www.amazon.com/NOCTUA-NH-D15-chromax-Black-Dual-Tower-Cooler/dp/B07Y3CTQNT/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1QU9QXYJISXDX&keywords=noctua+nh-d15+ltt&qid=1572972675&sprefix=noctua+nh-d15+L%2Caps%2C338&sr=8-3

IF YOU LIVE NEAR A MICROCENTER YOU CAN GET WAY BETTER DEALS THERE.

Get This instead of that current CPU. This is cheaper and will actually give good performance during games. Look at the reviews.

The rest looks good, but use the money saved from the CPU to buy a better GPU. Maybe this (again, look at the reviews, the second one down especially.)

EDIT: Just realised you're below his budget currently :P Put all the left over money into a better and better GPU until it reaches the desired price.


Hope I helped.

Well, under $400, you have some of these options (TN Panels):

• Asus 24" 1080p 144Hz
  
• Acer 27" 1440p 144Hz FreeSync
  
• Viewsonic 27" 1080p 144Hz FreeSync
  
• AOC 24" 1080p 144Hz G-Sync
  
• BenQ 24" 1080p 144Hz
  
  Obviously there are more options, but all of those have the 144Hz, some are 1440p, while others are not.
  
  If you wanted an IPS one:
  
  
• Asus 27" 1440p 60Hz IPS
  
  The TN Panels still have fantastic pictures so, it's not a bad choice and would be good for gaming. If you can save up another $400, you can go with the Asus ROG 27" 1440p 144Hz IPS. Just got this about a week or so ago and it is just fantastic. 100% worth the extra money.

So i made an alternate pcpartpicker list for you that is more focused on intel. the 9600k is much better for gaming than 2700x, just keep that in mind (Despite it having less cores)

Here are my thoughts. Just know im a little biased towards intel over ryzen at this budget

would you consider a slightly faster processor. My build was the same except I got a 9700k with a noctua nh-d15

the 9700k will make your computer much more upgradeable in the future and you wont have to rebuild as often


Other notes: Powersupply is def too expensive

if you are student try and see if you can get student version of office. all you need is a .edu address

Big One: CHECK AMAZONWAREHOUSE for used monitors. A lot of times they run the used price -20% of base price of total monitor after you put it in shopping cart. i got ASUS ROG PG279Q for like 280 on there. the ASUS ROG PG279Q does not have that special deal right now but another 1440p 144hz+ monitor might.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00N2L5CXO/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

for monitor you picked on amazon used deals (there is no special 20% off on that monitor right now)

Ram: Your RAM is massively overkill but it is a good choice for 2700x.. Only get that RAM if you get an AMD. I still would recommend 9700k or 9600k imo over that, but i am biased towards intel so keep that in mind. just remmeber you can save some money on ram if you get intel. Also, I only have 8 gb of ram and it works fine with my build and things i do (Gaming)

-That motherboard seems a bit pricey for ryzen, but I dont really know about ryzen boards. I just know that htey are generally cheaper than intel boards and that MB is running hte same price as my intel board

-don't get that cooler. just use stock cooler. I think someone else already said it but the stock cooler is fine with ryzen. only get a cooler for ryzen if you get a good one

Note: power supplies are really cheap on amazon warehouse right now

check out used version of this power supply
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IKDETOW/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&psc=1#

it is much higher quality and is same price as your power supply but is

Overall pick this build if you are primarily gaming imo

I'm not all that knowledgeable about graphics cards, but this is one of the best mice there is and it's on sale right now. The sensor is amazing and the software is easy to use. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019OB663A/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480166414&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=g502&dpPl=1&dpID=41xxUrMt7nL&ref=plSrch
Edit: if you don't get this one, then I've heard the Corsair M65 Pro is good too. I have friends with it who swear by it.

I see, so lots of cores is a good thing for this type of work, huh? Alright, so I looked up the AMD processors on this local website and found this one with 6 cores - AMD FX 6300 3.5Ghz BE SkAM3+ (also on Amazon), at 108€.
This should do the trick?

For RAM, 4 of these sounds alright? I don't usually go too high in layers though. Maybe 50~ max. But perhaps it's best to plan ahead and get it for if I do need it in the future.

Also, I must reiterate I don't intend to be able to play new games on max settings. I just want them to be playable on a basic level. I can do just fine without AA and some of the fancier settings. I'd prefer to get something just good enough and instead save the leftover money for other things I plan to get next, like the Cintiq. If somehow I could get all this by much lower than 700€, that'd be great. :p

This is the perfect keyboard for him and for your budget:

Redragon K552 KUMARA LED Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016MAK38U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_uku9ybS4AQGPB

It is a small, compact mechanical keyboard with red LED's.

I have the RGB version that includes the numpad, but if all he needs are red LED's I see no reason to pay more for multicolored lights and a number pad. This keyboard is small and compact, perfect for a crammed desk.

Now I saw you ask earlier to describe the difference between mechanical and non mechanical. Mechanical keyboards give you a very clicky feel and they are a little loud, so if he games in the living room it may be a bit distracting. I personally love mechanical keyboards for gaming, as they make you much more aware when you actually hit a key. With standard keyboards, they feel very mushy and often you may hit another key or two by accident and not even realize it.

TL;DR: Great mechanical keyboard with Red LED's for $35 before shipping and taxes. Perfect for gaming and typing in case he needs to use his computer for schoolwork. Tell him happy birthday from the Reddit community!

Yeah, it's definitely a nice build. I've built me a new pc half a year ago with almost the same specs.
I would consider a bigger SSD especially new AAA games are huge in terms of storage space and need, imo, a SSD to run smoothly.
And as already mentioned you could really get a smaller case... But if you want to upgrade to normal ATX in time the chosen case is definitely the better choice. (Imo it's also better for cable management, air flow and upgradability).
Remember that you get windows for 10-20 bucks on your friendly key-selling site :)

Edit:(fixed link) pretty cheap 500GB SSD

Well there's a whole bunch of stuff on mechanical keyboards at r/mechanicalkeyboards but if you're looking to buy something cheap and usable this aukey is only 40 bucks and has rgb lights and mechanical switches that should last a long time. I've had this keyboard before and it wasn't bad and didn't feel cheap but there is a difference between the switches in the aukey and the more premium cherry switches. For the mouse all I can recommend is something from the name brands razer deathadder is what i have and has work perfectly the last 3 years i've had it. otherwise Logitech g502 is a huge fan favorite and at 35 bucks is a steal, or Corsair M65 is a nice option but out of the 3 I've said with the logitech on sale I'd get that one.

It does not include monitor, keyboard, mouse

Here's link with best budget
Including mouse, etc and good budget 120hz monitor
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/scHRHh


Here is best PC 2.0 Speakers

https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-CR3-Creative-Reference-Multimedia/dp/B00KVEIY4E/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1539562528&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=mackie+cr3

Best 2.1 (with subwoofer)

https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1539562576&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=klipsch+promedia+2.1&dpPl=1&dpID=41kgImde1TL&ref=plSrch

Here's best overall Gaming monitor if you have the cash: $400

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1334650-REG/dell_s2417dg_gaming_flat_panel_gaming_monitor.html

If you want to play at 120fps+ there isn't any place you can't really cut corners on the build unfortunately.

Your build is pretty similar to mine and i'm using the Asus Rog Swift PG279Q. It's a bit expensive even for a few year old monitor but its amazing and still top of the line. 1440p at 144hz and can switch to 165hz. Gsync & ips with 2 Display Ports (recommend) and HDMI ports. I personally removed my 2nd monitor when upgrading to this 1 because of the sheer size and resolution, it actually feels better to scale multiple windows right in front of me when multitasking rather than turning to other monitors. Playing games and watching movies is by far the best viewing experience I've ever had.

https://www.amazon.com/PG279Q-2560x1440-G-SYNC-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B017EVR2VM

my build https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qRxxwV

mechanical keyboards are luxury to me if you want a decent gaming keyboard without spending too much money i would go for the G105 keyboard by Logitech. I use it and its been responsive without any problems, for just around 40$

[keyboard] (https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G105-920-003371-Gaming-Keyboard/dp/B00BBUCCKO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479159040&sr=8-1&keywords=G105)

As for the mouse it is very important if you play FPS games that require presicion like Counter Strike, Overwatch, etc.

Im using the G502 and it is very durable and ergonomic. Doesnt feel cheap and has many buttons that you can utilize, although that may be a deal breaker for most people. I like having the option to use buttons when i need to, which i quite often do. This is a mouse i would bitch at my friend to buy because its really good.

its a bit pricey but well worth it! its on special right now for 57$ BUY TODAY! (jk im starting to sound like that)


[Logitech Mouse G502] (https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Proteus-Spectrum-Tunable-Gaming/dp/B019OB663A/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1479159334&sr=1-1&keywords=G502)

Btw you should spare yourself from the "hyped" brands like Razer, etc.

Rule of thumb:

Any mother that has a Z like a Z97 is meant for overclocking whereas H series are just standard.

Like I said I built a pic last weekend with an i5 4690 and an ASRock H97 Pro4 and it went flawless so you wouldn't be disappointed there.

Edit: plus it would match your RAM.

Second edit: you might be pushing it with 450watt and a r9 380. If you can afford it, I can recommend the EVGA G2 series enough. Top tier in terms of quality and fully modular so cable management is a breeze. I would look for other builds and see if anyone has gone 450watt with that video cards.


Power supply recommendation:
EVGA 220-G2-0550-Y1 80 PLUS GOLD 550W ECO Mode Fully Modular NVIDIA SLI Ready and Crossfire Support Continuous Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-438-053

Another edit:
Even better, the 750watt version of the G2 is the same price as the 550watt version on Amazon.

EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 80+ GOLD, 750W ECO Mode Fully Modular NVIDIA SLI and Crossfire Ready 10 Year Warranty Power Supply 220-G2-0750-XR https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IKDETOW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_qsyHwb8X08VYH

This pc looks pretty good, it has a deepcool cpu cooler, while not the best in the universe is far better than the intel stock cooler they usually put in prebuilts.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073RKHY2H/ref=psdcmw_13896597011_t1_B00IMOND82


This is my mouse, it's pretty awesome
It'll probably fit you well

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019OB663A/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1510113202&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Logitech%2Bg502&dpPl=1&dpID=41xxUrMt7nL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1



Here's a really good keyboard if you don't have one already


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019O8YZ4A/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1510113382&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Red+dragon+vara&dpPl=1&dpID=41CU8eiwCwL&ref=plSrch

To add onto this, if a case doesn't have enough tie down points, you can get these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNBS6TG/

They just use 3m adhesive and give you more loops to attach zip-ties/velcro straps. They're also typically available at pretty much any local hardware store.

My personal favorite velcro straps are these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E1Y5O6/ They're pretty cheap, the have a decent strength hold, have a slot at one end for retention on a cable/mount if you want it, and are pretty thin, both in width and thickness. A lot of cheaper ones seem to be like 1" wide or more and super thick and bulky, making them hard to deal with.

• /r/hardwareswap is a buyer's market, but a little risky unless you do your homework on the seller
  
  
• Ebay is fairly safe considering the buyer protection from both ebay and paypal.
  
      You can easily get a GTX 770 2GB for $200-220 on either site, assuming it will fit in your case (since your mobo is micro-ATX) and your PSU can handle it. The recommended PSU size on the Nvidia website is 550W for the GTX 570, and 600W for the GTX 770, but those are overestimates.
  
      Your RAM is the recommended amount so that's fine as is
  
      With your current mobo you can't really upgrade the CPU which is just okay.
  In the short term, getting a 770 will probably see the most improvement in games, but you should also consider getting a FX-6300 for $100, and a suitable motherboard. A very solid option is this board, although it's $125 plus tax and ($2) shipping, with a $10 mail-in rebate.
  
  If you went the CPU/mobo route, you could look into getting a second 570 and running SLI assuming you have the power to run it. You could also possibly afford a used 760 once you sell your current card. This guy for example is selling one for $160 OBO, although I haven't looked into his credibility.

As pretty as the case is, it has shit airflow. Consider adding more fans, especially intakes.

The rest of the build looks pretty good though.

As for monitor, kb, and also assuming mouse:

Monitor: 144hz 1080p for sure. This one is pretty good: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/7fhgls/monitor_acer_ed242qr_abidpx_144hz_va_1080p_16999/

For a keyboard, consider grabbing a cheap mechanical. If you don't need a numpad, this will do the trick for the time being: https://www.amazon.com/Redragon-KUMARA-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B016MAK38U/

Best budget mouse. Great sensor and clicks. It is a bit on the small side so keep that in mind: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitech-g203-prodigy-usb-optical-gaming-mouse-white/5799702.p?skuId=5799702

I agree that at least another fan would be worth it, but I might suggest these fans <ARCTIC F12 PWM PST - 120 mm PWM PST Case Fan - Five Pack | Cooler with Standard Case | PST-Port (PWM Sharing Technology) | Regulates RPM in sync https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NTUJTAK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ud18BbKFFXBFA>. I haven't used them myself, but they are a great price and have good reviews both on Amazon and independent reviewers.

I have that monitor (VG248QE) and I can honestly say that it is a fantastic monitor. 144Hz is damn smooth and I honestly couldn't go back to 60Hz. If you play lots of fast paced games it'll make a significant difference. It's a TN panel though, and the viewing angles aren't as good as my previous IPS panel.

Now, you can instead get a 1440p 60Hz Korean panel for around the same price. It's not 144Hz, but a GTX 970 should be able to handle most of those games turned up at 1440p and still get good framerates. Benchmark link.

If it were up to me, I'd pick a 1440p monitor over a 144Hz one any day, but do consider if the games you'll play will run well on a single 970 at 1440p. On the other hand, consider if the games you'll play run at high enough framerates that a 1080p 144Hz monitor will make a difference.

If you want a more basic, cheaper 1080p 60Hz panel, I can recommend you the ASUS VS228H-P which was my previous monitor. It's nothing special, but it's IPS and 60Hz.

If you're thinking, "por que no los dos?", there's the ASUS ROG Swift, a 1440p 144Hz monitor, but it's hella expensive and hard to get.

NZ represent!




Besides what Serptintine said about the mobo and 4690K, I'd stick an SSD in there as a boot drive.




I've actually been in the process of building a PC for the last few months, here are some things I've found:

• If you decide to get an SSD, consider buying one through Amazon when one's on sale. Even including global shipping, it usually works out to be around half the price!
  
  
• If a particular item from Amazon does not have global shipping, you can get it forwarded to you through NZ Post's service called YouShop
  Base price is $12.50, +$5 for every 500g. So essentially, minimum is $17.50. Make sure to group Amazon parcels into as few deliverables as possible. Amazon global shippping is almost always cheaper so check before you send to your YouShop US address.
  
  
• Be aware that anything over about $300 USD will incur duty and GST. Usually works out to be low to mid $100. Keep this in mind before buying something through Amazon.
  
  
• Time to buy SATA cables on Monoprice with any YouShop shipping. They are literally 50 cents. Cheapest you'll find here is like $5!
  
  
• They also have cheap cable ties, but Amazon has some going for really cheap atm.
  
  
• Keep an eye out for Computer Lounge sales. They have almost weekly codes on particular hardware through their newsletter, ranging from 10-20% off. You can either subscribe to their newsletter through email or follow them on Facebook. Free shipping is also a plus.
  
  
• Avoid Playtech "sales", which are in the form of a code. Despite not being the cheapest to begin with, I've noticed they up their prices before a sale and they are usually out of stock. Either that, or they will have certain components as their 'play of the day' or some sort of 'special' coincidentally just before, and so their discount codes don't apply. Delivery will set you back at least $4.
  
  
• Avoid PB Technologies. They are scum. They will skirt warranties if possible and have little understanding about the Consumer Guarantees Act.
  
  
• Have a look on NewEgg NZ (change region and price to NZ) for fans. They have a wider selection compared to other places. Delivery is around $9 I believe as they ship from Australia.
  
  
• NewEgg US restricts overseas credit cards (even if you do it through PayPal) so don't bother buying through them with the hope of forwarding through YouShop. You will be declined. You could try TigerDirect instead.
  
  
• Do not buy extended warranties on anything. On top of the manufacturer's warranty, you are covered by the CGA if any parts fail after the manufacturer's warranty has lapsed under certain conditions, particularly if the retailer offers an extended warranty on a particular part. They are also now legally obligated to tell you your rights under the CGA before trying to sell you an extended warranty.
  
  
  
  
  
  Feel free to ask me any questions.
  

Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3

ATX, Z170 (which supports Intel K-series overclocking), and supports AMD Crossfire (which is AMD equivalent of SLI). It's $90 on Amazon.

B150M Mortar

Sub-$100, but MicroATX. It has Crossfire support, but it'll be a tight fit on MicroATX.

Also, as /u/Panayotes mentioned, ASRock motherboards are usually sub-$100 with features that over-$100 motherboards would have.
Just search for ASRock motherboards with LGA1151 socket and Crossfire compatibility in PCPartPicker.


To answer your question, no. The RX 480 is supposed to consume 150W of power, so two would take around 300. A 750W power supply would be needed for peace of mind with 2x RX 480s.

A 650W power supply could work, but I wouldn't recommend it. And, if you're even considering using 2x 480s, you may as well buy a GTX 1070. That would work much more comfortably at 650W.

If you like the common formatting of this subreddit, check out pcpartpicker.

EDIT: That's an excellent gaming build. The PSU is a little overkill. There's a great deal on a fully modular Seasonic 750W at Newegg for $119.00 after promo code (ends 4/24). I love Corsair (in my rig now) but that Seasonic is a great deal.

Also, if you wanted to save on your HDD, there is a Seagate with the exact same specs for $89.99 on Amazon.

I'm looking to replace my PSU but have it ready for a i7/high end mobo within the year. I definitely don't need anything more than 750/850 as I intend on going with one GPU probably about a 970.

I haven't much experience with Seasonic, and my last PSU is a Antec which has held up remarkably well.

Money isn't really a big deal as I want to make sure I have a solid PSU. What would you recommend EVGA or Seasonic. I'm looking at the G2 which is around 99$ on Amazon. Any recommendations?

Is this the model you have? http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-Crossfire-Warranty-220-G2-0750-XR/dp/B00IKDETOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457031186&sr=8-1&keywords=G2+750W

I know that I'd be fine with 16 GB RAM, but I wanted to spring for 32 GB in case I ever wanted to venture outside of gaming into more demanding tasks, as well as 32 GB would future-proof me until the end of time for gaming.

 

I wanted to spring for an NVME SSD to reduce cables inside the case, as it attaches directly to the motherboard. No need for the pesky SATA cables.

 

I might just go with a single 1080 Ti due to the advice I'm getting on this post, but I think I'll just stick with an 850 W to leave me open to expand my build without having to upgrade the PSU.

 

I don't really need Windows 10 Pro, but I know of a place where I can get Windows 10 Home and Pro for extremely cheap, and the difference in price between Home and Pro on this particular site is negligible, so I might as well go with Pro.

 

I definitely won't be planning on playing games on both monitors, but I think ideally I'd like to use a dual monitor stand (like this one). Furthermore, the reason I went with the same exact monitor for the secondary monitor is for consistency (they both look the exact same and are the exact same size, and will line up perfectly with each other).

Dont blame you at all! Building a pc is a unique experience that really let's you see what's going on.

On the SSD note. I've always been a big fan of the Samsung Evo series. I currently have this Samsung Evo 850 500gb but honestly 500gb Is a bit overkill unless you plan on putting a ton of games or documents on it. I have a couple 1tb drives hooked up and I've never used more than half of this SSD. But it has served me well. I'd suggest the 250gb version since you already have a sizable data drive. Just remember if you go with it, when you go to install windows, make sure only the SSD is plugged in. It'll save you some head aches.

Happy building!

Nice build!

I really like your cable mangement job. I would recomend you upgrade your gpu+Monitor first. Then you should get an ssd. That way the things you see more often will be good. While i mean going for an ssd first is fine it wont make as much an upgrade as getting a better gpu. Either way you still got a good build!

For the monitor upgrade i recomend this http://www.amazon.com/VS228H-P-22-Inch-Full-HD-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B005BZNDOO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1382318456&sr=1-1&keywords=Asus+vs228h-p I have 3 of them and they are amazing!

I'm thinking about getting a monitor to hook up my Dell XPS 13 to. Which one should I get? I was looking for monitors sub $150, and these four are what I've found so far:

Acer R240HY

ASUS VX228H

HP Pavillion 22CWA

ASUS VS228H-P

My thoughts about the monitors: I like the VX228H for dual HDMI (it'd be nice to be able to switch between laptop and switch without unplugging and switching cables from the monitor every time, but not having it isn't a dealbreaker), the Acer and HP both look nice too (I like me some small bezels), and the VS228H-P I'm not too sure about.

I plan on using this monitor for general use, slight gaming, and with the switch, so nothing too crazy.

ALSO, to connect the laptop to the monitor, do I have to buy this USB C to HDMI cable to connect the two? Or is there another, better way? Thanks!

Ah ok. There are some very good mechanical keyboards at budget prices on Amazon, like this one. As for mice, I'd recommend anything from Logitech, as they are built well and go on sale quite often. It depends on your grip style though, so maybe just stick to the one you have ordered. Cheap mouse pads can also be found on Amazon.

If you ever have questions you can always browse videos on YouTube for help, as there are a lot of great content creators who make vids for all sorts of PC related stuff. I'd check out LinusTechTips or Jayztwocents

The Wd Blue 3d has a cache:
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-1TB-SSD-WDS100T2B0A/dp/B073SBQMCX/

"DDR4 SDRAM" is the cache. You can compare drive speeds here:
https://ssd.userbenchmark.com/

An ssd is like 500% better than an hdd. Samsung is often like 25% better, but it's cost is much higher and imo not worth it any more.

I think the wd drive is the best price/performance ratio.

You don't have to get new RAM, but you'll get some improvement by going to 3200MHz RAM. Ryzen likes higher memory frequencies. Crucial Ballistix is good memory that's been known to overclock to 3600MHz. Ryzen 5 3600 is a good value for the money in terms of performance.

Oh I know the feeling. My girlfriend thought it was the funniest thing that I was so excited to build my own computer haha.

So I know you said you're pretty set on the keyboard, but I thought I'd show you this cheaper mech keyboard. There's even one that has RGB. I have the red backlit version and I love it so far. You could spend the difference on a 1070 I think.

Either way its going to be an awesome build!

I got the Asus VS248H-P 24-Inch Full-HD LED-lit LCD Monitor last year and have been pretty happy with it. The only complaint I have for it is that it does not move up and down, only tilts. It has DVI, VGA, and HDMI ports but only comes with 3-foot DVI and VGA cables. I have been using it with HDMI and it looks great after some minor fiddling with the settings. I bought it used for ~$100 and was very happy to see it come with the protective tape still on. Would recommend.

I, honestly, run my whole set up through a full onkyo receiver, allowing me the great sound of a full 9.2 HT. The connections can and are easy now with most decent receivers having network slots, with the caveat that you get the ability to plug in multiple sources. This of course is much beyond your budget, but might be a decent long term goal.

Computer speakers in general are kind of crap in the audiophile world at large it is much more effective to use a full system if you can integrate it.

the M-Audio studio monitors give decent sound, but the best speakers I have ever had that were simply dedicated to my P.C., bar none, were the klipsch audio pro-media 2.1:

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO

like I said, were you to ask a full on audiophile, they would tell you it was potentially a waste, but from the standpoint of what is reasonable on a computer, these were far and away my favorites.

https://www.amazon.com/GN27D-Computer-Monitor-Freesync-Optimized/dp/B078P57ZWL

I'm sure g sync is a big deciding factor but 30 bucks saved is 30 bucks saved lol. I just bought this monitor and have been loving it.

I’m not huge on curved monitors but there’s appeal in them. Generally they’re considered better but I like flat.

ASUS ROG SWIFT PG279Q 27" 2560x1440 IPS 165Hz 4ms G-SYNC Eye Care Gaming Monitor with DP and HDMI ports https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017EVR2VM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_39s3Ab6EYHYDY

This is the monitor I wish I could afford, with a gtx 1080.

Not sure about the budget but I would recommend this one


$319


It is 1440p, 144hz, has freesync and works w/ g-sync, speakers, curved, is a Samsung va panel, 4ms refresh rate, and 75x75 VESA mountable. Basically a good solid 1440p 144hz monitor with good picture. It's not the best at any one thing but its not lacking anywhere, genuinely best to describe it as Solid and only $319

I would recommend a AMD A8-6600K. It is currently on sale, so it is even $20 LESS then what you have, and it is miles better(well, unless you just really want 6 cores). Also, for clarification, it is actually a 3.9ghz, the 4.2 is like.. turbo speed or something.

This means you need to get a FM2 compatible motherboard. As for advice for looking at specifics of motherboards, the main points are:

• Memory slots. As far as I know, all memory cards need to be the same. So if you are going to add memory, it needs to be the same kind. With 2 slots and your 8gb stick, you would only be able to get one more 8gb stick, unless you sold it and got better memory. With 4 slots, you could get 2x4gb sticks, and have room for buying one 4gb stick at a time for upgrades.
  
• Stuff like special audio ports or USB 3.0 capabilities.
  
• Room/arrangement of components. You want to make sure your graphics card isn't going to be sitting in the way of anything else. For a lot of smaller motherboards, a graphics card is going to be sitting right ontop of where you would plug a wireless network card, for instance. My friend also had to get "right angle" sata cables just because the graphics card was sitting ON TOP of the sata connections.
  
  EDIT: Didn't even notice. Why do you have a 500gb HD for $50? You could get a 1TB for $60.

you're spending too much on a CPU considering you only have a 1060

I would say downgrade the CPU to an i5-6600 ($220), i5-6500 ($200), or an i5-6400 ($180). (Dont get anything with a K, K means it's ready to be overclocked. You will need to have a Z170 motherboard to overclock intel cpus) and either upgrade something else or pocket the extra money

• I would personally get an i5-6400 for this build but I can see you value a good cpu so feel free to get the i5-6500
  
  
• you'll save about $100-150 and see basically no change. You will also need a lot more than $122 for a keyboard, mouse AND monitor so I would use that extra 100 for those things.
  
  Also you really don't need a 650W power supply. I would get something like the EVGA 500 B1, 80+ BRONZE 500W to save another $40 for your monitor and peripherals.

Sounds good! I’m going to save as much as I can, I like the colors on the IPS and 27’ is perfect for me. I was looking at this Asus and it has a lot of good stuff.

ASUS ROG PG279Q 27" Gaming Monitor WQHD 1440p IPS 165Hz DisplayPort Adjustable Ergonomic EyeCare G-SYNC https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017EVR2VM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BpaTCb7N74YNB

Want to thank you again for your help, I’d be very lost without it man !

I have this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000062VUO/ and it's amazing. Sound clarity is terrific and the bass is heavy. I usually keep the bass turned down to a quarter and it thumps nicely. Anything higher and roommates complain, haha. I would definitely recommend these!

for someone as nontechnical as it sounds like you are, i'd buy the ssd and cut costs by using a cheap kb and mouse. instead of $110 on name brand kb and mouse spend 10-20bucks on a gaming mouse and 30ish on a generic mechanical like [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Redragon-KUMARA-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B016MAK38U/ref=sr_1_3/138-0023549-1813778?ie=UTF8&qid=1520217238&sr=8-3&keywords=mechanical+keyboard). they'll do the job while you save for nicer but give you most of what the more expensive option does and spend the savings on a ryzen 1600. i'd also spend a few bucks and get the case you really want, the p400 is a solid case but the s340 elite is a better total package for not much more.

mice price and mice quality are not closely linked, as long as you spend more than 10 bucks on one and avoid the stuff that seems a little too good for the price you'll find something that will serve you just as well as a fancy logitech but at 15-20bucks instead of 60+. real example, my logitech g900 is a really nice mouse but at the $90 i paid its not even 2x better than my previous cooler master recon i paid 30ish for. the extra cost is almost all down to it being a fancier brand name and that its wireless.

The one you can buy is all TLC SSD´s. From the qualtiy, I could recommend you Kingston, Samsung or WD here are some examples:

Samsung:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-500GB-Internal-MZ-76E500B-AM/dp/B0781Z7Y3S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549304266&sr=8-3&keywords=samsung+ssd

Kingston:

https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-120GB-Solid-SA400S37-120G/dp/B01N6JQS8C/ref=ice_ac_b_dpb?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1549304281&sr=1-2&keywords=kingston+ssd

WD:

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-1TB-SSD-WDS100T2B0A/dp/B073SBQMCX/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1549304281&sr=1-8&keywords=kingston+ssd

​

Kingston is cheap for ssds with low capacity if you want more space use the WD. Samsung is an allrounder

Building a PC (obviously) and getting some mixed results in regards to two different CPU's. I'd like opinions on which ones to choose from.

The Intel Boxed Core I5-6600K was my original choice, but I've had some people try to convince me to get AMD FD6300WMHKBOX FX-6300 instead. Obviously there's a big price difference between these two CPU's, but I'm hearing a lot of "intel marks up their prices way too much" and "the amd can do everything intel will do and has two more cores anyway" and other stuff like that which, to me, just sounds like AMD fanboyism trying to discredit the other CPU, but I also admit I don't actually know that much and that they could be right. Also, the fact that there's multiple of them.

So I'd like some input from you guys!

tl;dr: Intel Boxed Core I5-6600K or AMD FD6300WMHKBOX FX-6300

I have a 1440 atm :). Your gpu should do great at that resolution. My first monitor recommendation would be this monitor, because it has a refresh rate of 165hz :D. I have the amd freesync version that only goes up to 144hz, but I love it nonetheless. The funny part is I ended up switching from an amd gpu to an nvidia.

If you want another 1440 monitor I would recommend checking out what dell offers. They do not disappoint :)

I like everything but the speakers, and cooling system.

With an X99 build, I would upgrade to the H105 or H110 cooler.

The speakers aren't awful, but if you're willing shell out a bit more for a better 2.1 system, the entry level Klipsch 2.1 system is a great value:

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1410902088&sr=1-4&keywords=klipsch

There is a vendor selling it at $150 right now.

Pro tip: look for non cherry mechanical blue keyboards

And renewed mice like this one... That's the best bang for your buck at $50

Renewed stuff is Amazon's best kept secret, I get tons of stuff renewed and it always works perfectly.

I bought the slightly cheaper red backlit version of the Kumara. The font is heavily stylized, but nothing that bothers me. Been using it for a few months now without any issues.

I will say the keys are a little more klicky-klacky than I would've liked. I was hoping for a little more solid, thuddy feel, but for $30 I am more than happy with it overall.

I've a evga ftw 1080 and 4670K @4.4GHz and I could get by with a good 450W (I've a 750W fwiw), I have a UPS which tells me the load, even though it might run the PSU on the warm side, that 450W will be fine with your system and a 1070, the only exception, is if you like have a bunch (8+) of mechanical harddrives, and even then you may be fine.

If you want to know for sure, buy yourself a Kilawatt they're like 20 bucks.

Cool, that's the best one to have.

You can put a standard ATX size power supply in there if you needed. Something like an EVGA 500B would be good and won't cost too much.

CDN$ 190.70 -GTX 1050 Ti

CDN$ 64.99 - EVGA 500B

The GTX 1050 Ti only needs a 300W PSU. It may already have that. I've seen people run it even off of something like a 240-260W PSU and be ok. May not need to upgrade the PSU.

> Molex? SATA? Are these whare you plug them in?

These are the 2 main types of internal peripheral power connectors (SATA pic, Molex pic).

> Is the 7970 still good, though or would a GTX 670 or two be better?

Price-wise it'll be easier on your wallet with a 670, and they trade blows at stock speeds. Upside of a 7970 is you'll overclock it with much more ease, and you get better results at high resolutions. Whether or not that factors in your choice is up to you. Single screen gaming (whether or not you have multiple screens used for displaying other stuff) : 670. Triple screen gaming or lots of high resolution texture stuff : 7970.

> Any suggestions?

The standard "budget" suggestion is a Cooler Master Hyper 212 (Plus or Evo). If you can order on Amazon, I'd look at a Thermalright HR-02 Macho, which is known for its quiet operation.

Hey all i'm looking to get a 500GB SSD but I'm not sure if there's a huge difference in performance between the ones I like.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-500GB-NAND-Internal/dp/B0784SLQM6

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0781Z7Y3S/ref=psdc_1292116011_t1_B0784SLQM6

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-NAND-500GB-Internal/dp/B072R78B6Q?tag=pcworld02-20&psc=1&ascsubtag=US-001-3234838-000-1439522-web-20

​

I hope it's ok to post links like this. Thank you

For the money, I for the fourth time tonight, am going to pimp this excellent memory kit.

I have a nice assortment of ram from high end samsung b-die module to shitty Hynix CJR and for the money, the best price-performance-potential kit is what I linked. On both of my Zen 2 systems I could get it running @4000MT 18-18-18-18-36-54 (people have done better but its what I could do) and before I sold off my "golden sample IMC" 2700x I could get it to do 3600 16-16-16-16-32-48 on my Asus Crosshair VII.

The XMP speed is faster than what you listed and if you ever decided you want to try your hand at overclocking memory and.or tuning your memory timings and sub timings... you have to spend notably more than Micron Rev E money (the actual memory chips on board) to do better and gains had won't be proportional to the loot spent.

You can get a GTX 660 for $180. It's slower, but still pretty fast. A GTX 750 Ti won't work in this build because there are no nVidia Maxwell drivers for OS X yet.

Why two 500GB hard drives? Just to keep the two OSs separate? 1TB disks are $5 cheaper or put two partitions on a single 2TB disk.

Do you really need 16GB of RAM? Are you running lots of virtual machines? Recent versions of Mac OS X are much more memory-efficient than older versions and don't really need more than 8GB of RAM to be quick.

You also don't need more than a quality 500w power supply for an i5 + 760 system.

Hope that helps you out.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $199.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z87M-D3H 1.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $90.16 @ Newegg
Memory | PNY XLR8 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $63.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $82.37 @ Amazon
Video Card | MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card | $179.99 @ Amazon
Case | Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $89.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply | $39.99 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $746.48
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-22 15:52 EDT-0400 |

Amazon ssems to have a sale on the logitech g502 its down to $59.99

Pretty well recommend mouse and the extra mouse buttons are great for r6 and cs since you can assign push to talk and other stuff into the mouse rather than moving your fingers on the keyboard.


Keyboards wise you can get a cherry mx red Corsair Vengeance K65 Compact for around $65 : link or the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate for around $65 : link

Alright, so I compared 24" 1080p with 27" 1440p both at work (with browser and other static-image programs open) and in an electronics shop (with a video from random games playing in a loop).

I must say that for work 27" looks just fine, it's not too big and has an advantage that I could effectively split windows vertically (each 1280px wide) which for 24" would result in often too narrow windows (each 960px). In my case it's great for productivity, as I very often have some tutorial/pdf open on the left-hand side and IDE on the right-hand side.

When it comes to video/gaming of course the 27" makes a better impression but it's hard to say after looking for just a few minutes if it's that significant.

Anyway, I think I'll go with 27" 1440p in this case. Thought about buying this Asus because of G-sync, IPS and 165Hz. People at /r/Monitors are also very positive about it (although backlight bleeding is often a problem, but then I could just give it back and demand a good model). What do you think about it? And what PC specs would you propose in this case?

You're not going to beat this for $35. I've used it a fair bit - it holds up very well and is an incredible value. The switches feel great and I'm pretty sure it comes pre installed with O-Rings.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016MAK38U/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1494800786&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=red+backlit+mechanical+keyboard&dpPl=1&dpID=41j-vKWKFfL&ref=plSrch

Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Speaker

Like you said, not top of the line stuff. If you'd like to spend more than I would recommend spending more on the keyboard. Everything else is surprisingly decent. Good luck.

I have a 2060 super with a ryzen 3600. I get like 130 at 1080p with a few settings from ultra high. Maybe it's just me but I like it as close to 144 as I can. Maybe I can't tell the different from those couple dozen frames. Is it worth it dropping to 100-110? Was thing of getting a 1440p version. I have the 1080p version already and was thinking of doing a dual monitor setup. I do love the 1080p version if OP is wondering. It has a Samsung panel too.

VIOTEK GN27DB 27-Inch Curved Gaming Monitor, 1440p 144Hz Samsung VA Panel, FreeSync GamePlus FPS/RTS - VESA (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078P57ZWL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FWC1DbWQQXAFJ

If you want to do my build with a smaller price point, two very easy places to shed ~$100 is with a cheaper case and PSU. I wanted a good PSU because I have trust issues with them and I wanted the air 240 because the case is the only part I really have to look at. There are plenty of awesome cases and PSUs each at the $50 price range. Let me know if you need recommendations.

The monitor is this one. But I bought it ~3 years ago; so, I don't know if it is still a bargain monitor. (No speakers BTW)

I really like Logitech products, it may be a little more on the expensive side but I would recommend these two products as they fit your needs perfectly.

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Proteus-Spectrum-Tunable-Gaming/dp/B019OB663A/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1478006444&sr=8-5&keywords=logitech+mouse

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Mechanical-High-Speed-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B01D8TKZDG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478006526&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=logitech+keyboard+g710&psc=1

Well if you had gsync you would turn it on in your NVIDIA control panel so you always are at 142-143 FPS on a 144hz monitor.

This will ensure you have gsync on all the time. It makes things silky smooth so you do not get any stuttering.

Here’s a few options for g-sync monitors -


https://www.amazon.com/PG279Q-2560x1440-G-SYNC-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B017EVR2VM

Or

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-XB271HU-2560x1440-Display/dp/B0173PEX20

These monitors are $50 above your budget but has G-Sync and are IPS monitors so the color reproduction is a lot better than a TN.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Gaming-S2716DGR-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B0149QBOF0

This would be another option 1440p 144hz G-sync. But it’s a TN so the color isn’t quite as good but saves a good bit of money.

Hello there! I have the same case, and while I loved the case, the stock fans were kinda meh. so I upgraded to these. They still work fine, and now I have an actual fan curve set up so it doesn't sound like a jet engine! The 5 pack was also a nice perk.

1. The case fans will still run at a constant speed if you plug them into your mobo fan ports. That is because they are 3 pin instead of 4. What you want to look for if you want adjustable fan speeds is anything labeled "PWM."
   
   2a) I don't think it really matters.
   
   2b) the connectors should have a little indented area on the side that the raised plastic piece on the MoBo (above the pins) fits into.
   
   
   Edit: Formatting
   

There are plenty of cheaper alternatives to the triple A brand mechanical keyboards. https://www.amazon.com/Redragon-K552-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B016MAK38U for example has pretty good reviews.

OC with your CPU wont really do much to your FPS.

Your mobo doesn't support the clockspeed of your selected RAM. Your mobo is also mATX, taking full ATX and having more RAM slots is easier to upgrade. And there's the option of SLI aswell.

Nice case. I love how it looks man.

I'd go Samsung.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0781Z7Y3S/

Especially considering Crucial's support site has the following welcome message on their SSD page:

"You may have read about a recent report describing a potential security vulnerability in our MX100, MX200 and MX300 products as well as another manufacturer’s products. While this vulnerability can only be exploited by an individual with physical access to the drive, deep technical SSD knowledge and advanced engineering equipment, we do recommend you update your drive's firmware for additional protection. You may also consider implementing a software encryption option as an alternative method to protect the security of your data. Please select your drive from the drop-down menu below to initiate the firmware update."

1. Hard no. Just OC it to those levels, $50 saved.
   
   
2. Yep, 3200 runs really well and is probably the most popular speed people pair it with.
   
   
3. For gaming, not really, but most do. Nobody really uses boot drives these days because you can get a 1tb m2 for $100.
   
   
4. Not with that 1060. But the setup would be good enough to add a newer card to and 1440 would be fine.
   
   
5. Don't get that 970 Evo plus, for less than that you can get a 512gb sabrent rocket which is a better bet.
   
   
   Edit: Drop the 3600x for the 3600 and the 970, use the money saved to get a 1tb sabrent rocket.

• An SSD would be nice, but I'd look at it as your first upgrade. Alternatively grab a 240/256GB SSD and then grab an HDD when you need to extra space. I'm currently only running a 256GB SSD and while it's pretty full (~80%), I still have 5 games installed on it.
  
  
• A quality 550w PSU is enough for most single cards builds. Next gen cards are more likely to consume less power, not more. There are good 650w options for about the same price though. A 650w GQ would be a good option...
  
  http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Modular-Crossfire-Warranty-210-GQ-0650-V1/dp/B017HA3SQ8

Logitech G502 will always have my recommendation. I don't have huge hands but Theyre decent sized and it fits great. it's a decent price with one of the best sensors on the market.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Proteus-Spectrum-Tunable-Gaming/dp/B019OB663A

Honestly that build is spot on for what you want to do with it!

Only thing I would change is look for a better monitor for just under $100. Something like this?. This monitor has been the highest rated for years. Been voted the best monitor for < $100 a good few times now. Its 24" counterpart is also only $25 more but is just as amazing.

Oh you'll definitely be able to achieve good FPS, the 1060 is still a powerful card, though for some AAA titles you may have to turn the graphics settings down in order to do so in the next couple years. A lot of people who go all out and build PC's are looking for maximum graphics settings and such, which with your budget you simply won't be able to achieve on super demanding games.

Just saw your other comment with budget raising. You're still not going to get a GREAT monitor, you'll want to dump $300-$400 on that, though that's easy to upgrade in the future. So you can go one of two paths here and now:

1. Upgrade the general speed of your PC and reduce load times with a big SSD. Hard drives are super cheap, but for super demanding games the loading screens are frustrating. Replace the SSD and HDD in the list with big ol' SSD. They are 2.5-3x as fast. If nobody has explained it, all these builds include a small one because your computer will run way smoother if you install windows on the SSD and then use the HDD for storage:
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-1TB-SSD-WDS100T2B0A/dp/B073SBQMCX/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1540838130&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=1.5+tb+ssd&psc=1
   
   
2. Go another step and a half up on the graphics card so you can play at max settings for a longer time. Keep everything else on the list the same and upgrade to the 1070 ti, should still slay at 1080p resolution for the next several years.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-SILENT-Graphics-08G-P4-6678-KR/dp/B077Z6LFQ1/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1540837762&sr=1-3&keywords=1070+ti

I have the gigabyte z170 gaming 7 and it is a fantastic board!! It is very good looking and has every feature I would need in my mobo. The only bad thing about these motherboards are the UEFI BIOS it is just okay nothing fancy or amazing and easy to move around with so since u have a windowed case Id go for what you find more pleasing to look at and matches with your build! Other than that I would get a different power supply an evga gs/g2 psu will do you just fine and there is one on sale right now at amazon! http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-Crossfire-Warranty-220-G2-0750-XR/dp/B00IKDETOW

Another thing you may consider is getting an r9 390 unless you are set on nvidia the 390 will be a smarter buy (whichever one is cheaper is better but if they are both the same price the 390 is a better buy).

The samsung evo 850 is also cheaper than that SSD

If you're not concerned about noise, or RGB, but you care about price to value ratio, take advantage of the fact the 303 is a large enough size case.

Buy 4 fans for less than the price of the expensive fan someone reccomended.

These are fairly quiet, 38CFM fans.


If you want higher CFM fans, here's a value pack of 5 here.

You can get a few fan splitters here.


Note, not all fans have to be PWM controlled. For some fans, can just run fans on their default setting, or H/M/L and not plug them into the motherboard (just use sata/molex power).

I don't know what kind of cooling you really require, a case with 7 fans will have serious cooling regardless. In smaller form factors, this is where the more serious high performance fans are critical. There's a lot of breathing room in the 303.

• Mouse - Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum. Good weight and decent button placement.
  
• Keyboard - IBM Model M 1391401. Buckling spring keyboards are great!
  
• Headphones - Sennheiser HD598. Open back gives a huge soundstage for gaming. Amazing headphones.
  
• Microphone - Samson Meteor. Very accurate microphone that is very sensitive, so be careful what you say on the other side of the house. If the mic is open everyone will hear. In Discord you can adjust the sensitivity so that it is only open when you speak and that works quite well.

My recommendations on your new build:

1. Get a 3600 instead of a 3600x, the 3600x is not worth the extra $50. (See this video for info)
   
   
2. I recommend 2x8GB
   single rank Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 3200c16 or 3000c15, this is know for being famously good at overclocking, just make sure the model number contains "AES" near the end.
   
   
3. Even if you don't plan on overclocking, you can use Ryzen DRAM Calculator to generate ram overclock settings that are as easy as enter into BIOS, stress test with stress testing tool built into DRAM Calculator for a few hours, and done. (I recommend trying 3600-Fast profile for Micron Rev.E in DRAM Calculator, then if it fails the stress test then 3600-Safe)
   
   
4. Look at Intel 660p SSD's, they are very slightly (~10%) behind the best ones, but at a much lower cost, and with how fast NVME drives are you probably won't be able to tell the difference.
   
   Edit: I just noticed that you want RGB ram, in that case I would recommend G.Skill TridentZ Neo, but be warned that you will need a $170 kit of this to get as good performance as $78 Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 3200c16.
   
   Edit 2: Mathmatically Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 3000c15 is better, however in practice 3200c16 is better.

Have a 3600x that I am pairing with a B450 Tomahawk MAX. Just looking for RAM to pair with this and have seen a lot recommendations to get Crucial Ballistix Sport LT and OC as required. My question is, am I better off getting this 3000MHz CL15 or the 3200MHz CL16? Both have the AES in their name for the E-Die which is the indicator from what I have read. Hoping to get it to 3600Mhz CL16 with OC and wondering which one would provide me with the best luck? The price difference is not an issue.

What sort of fans can I find that are black and don't suck? I love Noctua fans, but with a tempered glass case on the way I don't want to reuse my poo fans. Hopefully the price is less than Noctua as well. Thanks!

Edit: Found these Arctic fans on my own. I'm going to get them and try em out. If I don't like them, I'll grab some Noctua Chromax fans. Thanks lads!

The laptop won't be used, because I already got an laptop for school, but I might use the gaming laptop for travel etc. I could take either the SSD or HDD from the laptop, so the laptop still has one of them? Example take the SSD, and leave the HDD's behind, Or take the HDD's and leave the SSD behind, or maybe even take one of the HDD's and the SSD and leave one HDD behind? Which sounds best?

And with the money I saved there, I can buy a 650w gold PSU from EVGA for only like 30$ more ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B017HA3SQ8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495055549&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=evga+gq+650w&dpPl=1&dpID=51EyCz-JKoL&ref=plSrch )

Relatively straightforward:
I'm looking for a case that will house my Mini-ITX MoBo, GTX 1060 6GB, EVGA 500W PSU, 500GB HDD. Everything needs to fit comfortably with plenty of room for upgrades in the future and proper airflow. Any recommended cases would be great. Thanks!

Cpu is good.

Cpu cooler: https://www.alternate.co.uk/Cryorig/H7/html/product/1174912
That one will have better cooling at the same price.

Motherboard: You should get a Z170 board so you can overclock. If you don't want to overclock, then don't get the 6600k and a custom cooler, and instead get the 6500, and use the stock cooler on that.

Storage: perfectly fine

Video Card: As others have said, replace it will the RX 480.

PSU: Swapped it out for a slightly better psu,
https://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-100-B1-0500-KR-Bronze-Power-Supply/dp/B00DZ6R9GE/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1465052059&sr=1-2&keywords=evga%5D+500

If you can afford it, go for this psu

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-SuperNova-Fully-Modular-Supply/dp/B0141B21JG/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1465052095&sr=1-4&keywords=evga+b2

Your CPU and GPU combo are great for 1440p gaming. I have a 2600 and Vega 64, and I consistently hit over 100 fps on 1440p games like Destiny 2 and Apex Legends with proper overclocks/undervolts.

From what I understand, the 2060 Super is a bit stronger than the 64 so you should be good.

I also have the same monitor and love it, so good choice there.

In regards to storage, it depends on your budget. I have this one as my boot drive, and works great: WD 500GB m.2

Obviously you can choose larger storage if your budget allows.

Power supply: EVGA 650W Power Supply

I have this one and it works reliably. According to your parts, a 650W should be safe enough, but again, your budget really determines how you go with this.

Running parts like that in a case that small is gonna get hot. Looks like the case includes a front and back fan, with additional support for:

• 1 120mm fan at the bottom
  
• 2 120mm/140mm fan at the top
  
• 1 120mm/140mm fan at the front (1 140mm fan included in the other front slot)
  
  If it were me and silence was the absolute goal, I'd add some relatively quiet case fans in every slot and follow manufacturer's recommended airflow directions. You don't have to ball out and get Noctua or anything, just something that moves some air around.
  
  I found these on Amazon UK, just under 20 pound for a 5 pack. They are very quiet, have a good bearing, and should move enough air.
  
  I use those same fans in one of my builds, but I'm not affiliated with the company, distributor, etc.
  
  I think you're right on the money for the specs. I work in 3D modeling, engineering, and fluid dynamics simulation, and I have similar specs on my work PC.

Thank you /u/PowerRaptor. With his help I have decided to transfer everything to the Fractal Design Core 1000 Case. The price is small and it has 3 fan slots + 1 fan included. The PSU I will be upgrading to is EVGA 500B 500W 80+ BRONZE PC Power Supply. Thank you again and have a nice day.

I'd like to keep my options open for overclocking, I'm glad to spend a little more for a 750W model. The EVGA G2 looks pretty good, I will probably get that one! Thank you for your comment.

Yeah is very easy to find good NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 at better prices than SATA (60$), like THIS one or THIS, or even the CRUCIAL P1 (wish i think is worse than the other two, but is a better known brand).

Thanks for the replies.

What's the best value 1TB SATA SSD?

$125 Silicon Power 1TB SSD 3D NAND A55

• TLC 3D NAND flash and SLC Cache technology
  
• 1,500,000 hours/3 year warranty
  
  
  $128 Samsung 860 EVO 1TB
  
  
• NAND Flash Samsung V-NAND 3bit MLC
  
• 1 GB Low Power DDR4 SDRAM Cache Memory
  
• 1,500,000 hours/2,400 TB written???(also seeing 600TB)/5 year warranty
  
  (edits are adding additional SSDs to the list)
  
  $134 WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB PC SSD
  
  
• 1,750,000 hours/500 terabytes written/5 year warranty
  
  
  I need a new SSD for games my current 500gb EVO 850 that runs my OS is full from mostly games. I know it's bad to run SSDs filled to the brim since they have less cache/space to move data around to more evenly spread out wear on the drive. So I want to move all my games over to the 1TB SSD so I can actually edit photos/videos off the 500gb C: drive. Currently photos/videos on an SSD and I'll move a working folder to the SSD when actually working on a project.
  
  My understanding is that MLC memory is more durable than TLC memory. Is there a significant difference between the two drives? Looks like they have pretty similar read/writes in real world performance. A little confused how the Samsung has 3bit MLC that sounds like what TLC is. I know it really probably doesn't matter at all. I'm leaning towards the Samsung since it has a longer warranty and my 850 hasn't given me any problems.
  
  

Antec HCP750 Platinum for $80 after rebate.

There are a variety of reviews for the 850W model, and it's one of the best possible PSUs you can buy for that wattage. It was largely slammed for its $200+ retail price, but at under $100, I think you ignore that.

There's the EVGA G2 750W for $90 with no rebates required. Almost as good as the HCP, just giving another option.

If you actually need the extra 100W, then the GS is going to offer you the best value.

Asus Rog swift is really good if you have the dime. Can get up to 165hz, great color. Buy used from Amazon to save a bunch on it.
https://www.amazon.com/PG279Q-DisplayPort-Adjustable-Ergonomic-EyeCare/dp/B017EVR2VM/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=asus+rog+swift&qid=1562458214&s=gateway&sr=8-3

So what I have right now is :

i5-3470, 16gb ddr3, h67 board, and I am looking to upgrade, up to lets say 450-500$, CPU+MB+RAM.

PSU is Seasonic M12II 620W Bronze +80.

has to be Amazon/Newegg or something that ships outside of US.

Thought about Ryzen 3600 (3600X if the 200$ Amazon deal comes back)

3000/3200Mhz RAM - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0134EW7G8/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

or: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MNJP6RW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

and MB:

B450 Tomahawk MAX - 115$ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WF6ZQST/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Now 2 questions:

1. Which RAM is worth it more?
   
2. Is the motherboard a good choice, or is 'too much', and if so, would a mATX be also good and what will be the difference?
   
3. Also, is the difference between the 3600 and 3600X noticable, and is the difference in the cooler (Stealth vs Spire) significant?
   
   Thank you guys!

I have a friend who got one after his razer blackwidow broke, he likes it, but says he definitely prefers mechanical switches. I use this https://www.amazon.com/Redragon-KUMARA-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B016MAK38U and personally love it, but if you're really into RGB the K55 doesn't seem like a bad option.

A few recommendations

1. Bump up to a R9 270X http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-2GB-2xDVI-Graphics-GV-R927XOC-2GD/dp/B00FONITCE/?tag=logicaincrem-20
   
   
2. Bump up to a FX6350 http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD6350FRHKBOX-FX-6350-6-Core-Black/dp/B00CLBZAHY/?tag=logicaincrem-20
   
   
3. Get a nicer motherboard http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-970A-UD3P-970-AM3-DDR3/dp/B00FRJL1RA/?tag=logicaincrem-20
   
   
4. Do not get a 3 TB HDD, they have a higher chance to fail than single-platter drives, also you probably just need two 1 TBs http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW?tag=logicaincrem-20
   
   
5. Grab a solid state drive, you will love it http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-2-5-Inch-Solid-SDSSDHP-128G-G25/dp/B0093HMKVI/?tag=logicaincrem-20
   
   
6. Let's bump up the wattage http://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-M12II-620-BRONZE-SS-620GM%C2%A0/dp/B003HE260I/?tag=logicaincrem-20
   
   
7. This is a nice case http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Gaming-Tower-Black-R5/dp/B007VER010/?tag=logicaincrem-20
   
   
8. You don't need those case fans

My dad is pretty sold on Amazon. He's been a pretty loyal customer since the years ago and he hasn't tried any other retailer.

I've looked around and I've found some options. The lower the price the better it is for me. Tell me what you think of these:

• $70/650W
  
• $74/700W
  
• $85/650W
  
• $90/620W
  
  
  
  Also, if my estimated wattage is 310W will I need double of that? Could I settle on 500W instead?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gfMDQV

Here you go! Went with a red color scram and this is Wayyy over killd to whar you playing and that's awesome! For mouse I would suggest g502
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019OB663A/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481986431&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=g502&dpPl=1&dpID=41xxUrMt7nL&ref=plSrch

Or if you want wireless the g900. And for keyboard get something like https://www.amazon.com/Redragon-KUMARA-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B016MAK38U/ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=mt005-20&ie=UTF8&qid=1460850965&sr=8-1&keywords=red%2Bdragon%2Bmechanical%2Bkeyboard&linkCode=sl1&linkId=b0b37d833b7d09014530d21be98e11eb&th=1&psc=1 and you be good to go!

best bang for the buck would be viotek 27 inch 1440p 144hz for $250. you can probably get closer to your 200$ mark by getting a 24 inch, but its hard to find curved that small. the monitor i linked is a VA type panel made from samsung. if u find any other vendor with a curved 27inch VA panel with 144hz rate, 9/10 times it will be the same panel so look for the model between manufacturers and find the one with the best reviews, On screen display options, overdrive reviews. Avoid a TN panel if you can, based on your comment it seems like you prefer image quality or quantity (of hz). there are 27inch IPS 75ish hz monitors for that price too, just keep in mind then IPS will have a bit of a price premium over VA and TN.

lurk around r/buildapcsales and you will find your monitor; you might meet some jerks or make friends in the comments tho. they have sales all the time, just note reviews that include keywords like (ghosting, response time, colors and contrast)

Short Answer: Yes, safe bet, can't go wrong (but $$$)

Long Answer: ...

Not exactly as your PC (hopefully) isn't pulling more than 2/3rds of that under max. load. Also something to keep in mind is what else you are plugging into the UPS. Many people put the Monitor as well an accessory or two (like a desk lamp & wireless router/modem) on the battery backup. You can safely put stuff like printers & speakers on the surge protection plugs as they don't pull from the battery.

There is an awesome product called Kill A Watt that you can plug in the wall & see exactly how much juice stuff is using.

But I'm gonna make some assumptions here ... Let's say you want to keep stuff up for at least 15mins (in total blackout) with a monitor, light & modem, likely pushing around ~ 500+ watts , worst case in a "critical gaming session" with everything you want on.

Something like the CyberPower CP1000 or the APC BR1000G would be your best bets.

You can go with a lessor UPS (e.g. less battery power & cheaper), but this will lessen the amount of time you can keep your equipment on & put extra stain on the UPS (or too low, the UPS just won't work & kill the power). Look at a PSU & UPS like a car engine, if you redline it all the time, things will wear out & blow up fast.

Personally my brother doesn't care about the mouse or keyboard but what do you think of this monitor. It has good reviews and my friend who owns one says its great too. I don't want to go overboard with the monitor because I'm running low on funds.

Any recommended dual monitor stands with independent heigh adjustment?

I have a dual monitor stand who he'd worked great when I was using two identical 22in monitors. Upgraded one of them to 27" and unfortunately they do not line up well. Guess that shouldn't be much of a surprise.

Was wondering if anyone could recommend a dual monitor stand with independent height adjustments... or if anyone has attempted to fabricate a height adjustment adapter for vesa mounts. Basically would just be a plate with slots or appropriate hole offsets to reach desired height. Might be a fun project.

Thoughts?

Look into something like monitor arms, they give you freedom to move monitors around more than normal stands.

There's also more basic arms like this one if you don't need quite as much freedom as the other monitor arm.

I would love to say that I have had no issue with the motherboard. I have had one. This motherboard in particular does not allow you to install Windows 7 from a USB drive or a USB optical drive. Here is the manual for the motherboard if you are curious.:

"Note: Due to chipset limitation, during the Windows 7 installation process, USB optical drives or USB flash drives are not supported."

Because I didn't have a Windows 10 license, I had to install Windows 7 first before I could upgrade. Which btw, if you are installing straight to Windows 8 or 10, you can use a flash drive/USB optical drive.

Other than that one issue, I am quite happy with it :)

Edit: I like your build. I was going to originally get the RAM you have chosen but when I was watching HardwareCanuck's YouTube channel and saw what RAM he had, I went ahead and went with the Avexir Core Series Blue because it matched the color scheme of my case. I am curious though, you don't want to go with the PSU that I chose? It's the same price as what you chose. I'm guessing you don't need that much power then, yeah?

>Would getting a higher RPM HDD really be worth it for gaming?

If this matters to you, upgrade to the 256 GB model of that SSD. You'll see much more significant differences that way.

>Need help in choosing a cheap'ish case

There's a good deal on the Corsair 200R right now that brings it down to $39.99 over here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018

>any area where I can possibly save money or get a better alternative?

Instead of one giant 2TB drive at $180, buy two 1TB drives for $60 each here:

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW

Also, are you really planning on overclocking? Because you're paying a hefty premium for that in both the CPU and the motherboard, which is money that you can save.

Your choice of RAM is overpriced. Look around on Amazon and Newegg for better deals.

Consider a microATX motherboard, they're usually half the price and no less powerful. The main difference is they have fewer PCI slots, but if you're only getting one video card, it won't matter to you.

This is somewhat PC related, more having to do with monitors.

I have 2 QNIX 27" monitors. Each weighs roughly 18 pounds. After a coffee-ant accident, I've decided I wanted to eventually lift the monitors off the desk to help make space, make them at a more comfortable viewing angle and avoid coffee-ants.

I am Canadian (hence Amazon.ca)

Looking to spend up to $100 on a dual-monitor stand.

Would one like below be considered a good enough stand, I know the brackets are the right type:

Dual LCD Monitor Desk Mount Stand

Also, if you have some input you'd like to give, it'd be greatly appreciated. Fucking coffee-ants, man.

Redragon K552 KUMARA LED Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016MAK38U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wqv9yb716FVYY

I bought this for myself and it's a great keyboard that I use everyday for gaming and doing my college work, great price and has everything you mentioned other than wireless.

Hope this helps, goodluck!

A decent pair of headphones for $25 if he doesn't already have some.

A better than most headset configuration (these headphones $16 + this mic $30) if he's got a "gaming" headset

A slightly heavy adjustable-weight mouse for $45

The mouse my GF bought me for $58

A nice clicky keyboard between $27 (no backlight) and $43 (rgb backlight)

Or as my GF did, you can demand that he build you a computer so you can play together! (added benefit of him getting to build something new which is my second favorite part)

Hello friend, I have a black and red build and I indeed was looking for good peripherals to match just like you. I ended up buying the Red Dragon Kumara which was surprisingly cheap for being mechanical and backlit. I got a Razer Deathadder Chroma to match with the keyboard, as it is RGB and can be customized to any color you'd like.

Ok, so all from Amazon, shipping to Australia. There are a few things that are more expensive, I will get those locally. I upgraded to an i5 6600k.

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5 6600K 3.50 GHz | $298.00
CPU Cooler|Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO |$38.88
Motherboard | ASRock Motherboard Micro ATX DDR4 LGA 1151 H110M-HDS | $64.00
Memory | Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory | $64.00
Storage | Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $98.00
Storage | WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM | $68.00
Video Card | MSI GAMING Radeon RX 480 GDDR5 4GB | $272.00 (-$27 rebate)
Case | DeepCool TX Mid Tower TESSERACT SW | $61.00
Power Supply | EVGA 500 B1, 80+ BRONZE 500W | $66.72
|
| Total | $1029


Now, I have a few questions.

How will I know if the cooler is going to fit and not be in the way of anything?

I can't seem to find any small cases that have the features of the larger ones (vents, top and side fans). Should I just stay with a larger case?

I need an s/pdif optical for my speakers. Should I get a pcie card or external usb?

How will I know if the video card hangs over the spare pcie slot?

* WiFi - USB vs Pcie?

This one is probably gonna be your best bet! Great value for the money too!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IKDETOW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nT36BbTN6VQ99

For that price range for 2.1 speakers I can't recommend Klipsch Promedia's enough.

I've had mine for a few years now and the sound is excellent with great highs and mids (it's got tweeters), the bass can boom when you want it to, and I've had no issues with it thus far. Probably the best 2.1's I've heard at that price point...and I've seen them go under $100 on occasion.

That being said, Logitech is a solid brand and those z623s are very highly rated.

Looks good. IF you had not already ordered the video card, I would have recommended getting an 8gb version instead but if you got a good price its ok. Your motherboard has an M.2 slot, so I would get an M.2 drive like this Sabrent Rocket for the same price instead.

Did something similar yesterday, just without the OS.

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor | £84.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | £24.80 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Asus M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ | £67.99 @ Dabs
Memory | Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | £41.77 @ Amazon UK
Storage | WD 1TB Blue SATA 6GB/s 7200RPM 64MB| £49.99 @ Dabs
Video Card | MSI GeForce GTX 760 1006MHz 2GB PCI-Express 3.0 HDMI OC | £194.35 @ Dabs
Power Supply | XIGMATEK 500W Tauro 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply | £32.31 @ Dabs
Case | XIGMATEK Asgard 381 Mid-Tower | £32.98 @ Dabs
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) | £64.98 @ Amazon
Total | | £594.16

The case and the PSU are great, the PSU is actually £50 on amazon, so it's a great deal. Xigmatek are a Germany-based company, so I have strong belief they have good quality control, even if they don't make their PSUs themselves (neither do Corsair, for that matter).

PSU reviews: Review 1, review 2, review 3.

While Corsair is a reliable brand, there seems to be a general consensus that their CX Builder range is a bit crap. Xigmatek PSU uses cheap components too (as do all budget PSUs), but I'd say they're not the worst. Xigmatek use Teapo capacitors. In contrast, Corsair use Capxon capacitors.

(Approximate) quality hierarchy (descending order):
+17 Nichicon,
+16 Rubycon,
+15 Sanyo,
+14 Nippon Chemi-Con,
+13 Matsushita (Panasonic),
+12 Fujitsu,
+11 Teapo,
+10 EPCOS/SIEMENS,
+9 OST,
+8 Jamicon,
+7 CapXon,
+6 Hitano,
+5 Hitachi,
+4 ELNA,
+3 Samsung,
+2 Vishay,
+1 Samwha,
0 Daewoo,
-10 Tayeh,
-11 Rulycon,
-12 Lelon,
-13 JPCON,
-14 Evercon,
-15 CHOYO,
-16 Chhsi,
-17 Licon,
-18 JPCON,
-20 G-LUXON,
-21 GSC

Case is good, space for cable management, front USB 3.0. Of course you can still go with your Zalman, about the same price. There are a few options for cases in that range (30-40).

Case reviews: 1, 2

What type of resolution are you trying to output? Are you going for 4k, 1440 or simply 1080p?

I mean competitive gaming is done at 1080p at 144fps. But if are you going for pure smooth eye candy the best choice might be something in 1440p with gsync above 75fps.

here is a 1080p monitor http://www.samsung.com/us/computing/monitors/curved/lc27fg70fqnxza-lc27fg70fqnxza/?cid=pla-ecom-mul-27,000,002

here is a 1440p monitor

https://www.amazon.com/PG279Q-2560x1440-G-SYNC-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B017EVR2VM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1495937097&sr=8-6&keywords=1440p+144hz+gsync

But i'm not a monitor guru. I mean its up to you to decide what you requirement for resolution and FPS output is.

I recently just got a 29in ultrawide IPS with freesync for my RX480 build and it's amazing. But putting a $250 monitor with your build is going to gimp it severely, to the point where a more midrange build would make more sense and save you money.

Should i wait for tomorrow to buy parts? I see that this ssd is on discount and to me it looks like a great price for being a samsung ssd. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0781Z7Y3S/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

im also looking for ram and a 1660ti, should i expect good prices tomorrow or might as well order now?

For graphics cards comparison, take a look at this article. You can gauge for yourself how much you want out of your graphics card, and how much you want to put in now.

At least as far as gaming goes though, you will notice the most significant increase in performance with an extra few dollars going to your GFX card as opposed to RAM or the Mobo.

Again, consider whether you need the optical drive. If you have another device with an optical drive (your laptop), you can use that to burn an iso to a usb if you are installing software.

If you are a student and have access to an ethernet connection, consider skipping the wireless network card.

Additional savings (possibly), a used 1TB HDD from amazon: link

Good Luck!

MSI B450M MORTAR MAX

or

MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX

available soon for $100 less.

Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 3200 are e-die, which OCs very well. Watch this for a guide. Or use DRAM Calculator for Ryzen. Make sure to force 1:1 FCLK infinity fabric clock past 3800 if you make it that far. Go watch the Hardware Unboxed video from today showing the results of RAM OC.

I'd either use the stock cooler, or get a cheaper Gammaxx 400 cooler for like $25.

If you're students you can probably get a Windows 10 license for free.

Get 5700 non-XT. Partner cards with dual fan available in a week, some for MSRP.

You'd probably be better served with the higher multi-threaded performance of the FX-6300 if you're gonna be using it for programming, so that's the first thing I would change. You could also take advantage of the low prices Amazon is having on it right now for only $99 when it's usually $110-120.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009O7YORK/?tag=pcpapi-20

With that obviously comes a change of motherboard, so you could pick up an ASRock 960GM/U3S3 which is pretty cheap at $54 and comes with USB 3.0 and SATA 3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157323&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

As for the SSD, you can get it cheaper elsewhere. SSDs are so ridiculously fast that telling the difference in games or applications between one and the other is nearly impossible so I would just go with how cheap you can get it per GB. You could get either the PNY Optima 240GB for $90/$70AR or the MX100 256GB for $103.

http://slickdeals.net/f/7238448-240gb-pny-optima-sata-iii-internal-solid-state-drive-ssd-69-99-ar-free-shipping-w-visa-checkout

http://slickdeals.net/f/7245964-crucial-mx100-ct256mx100ssd1-2-5-256gb-sata-iii-mlc-internal-solid-state-drive-ssd-101ac-newegg?v=1

The graphics card is something you should definitely change too as you can get much better for the money, like the Radeon R7 265. It costs $15 more but beats it hands down when it comes to performance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150719&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

That's what I recommend you change.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E1Y5O6/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Order these, never again will you need zip ties. Worked wonderfully in my build, honestly the best purchase I made as far as "extras" goes.