1. I don't think you need an aftermarket cooler for the i5-6500.
2. You don't need a new CPU at all. Your only bottleneck is the 5770.
3. "play at least medium/high settings comfortably on my 120hz monitor at 1080p" does that mean you want 120fps? Because that's not happening, we're talking about a 980 Ti for 120fps on medium.

To get 60+ fps at all times you are indeed looking at a 285/380 or 960.
For High/Ultra 60fps a 380X would be enough, but since you don't need to replace CPU or mobo a 390 or 970 would still be within budget.

Also keep GodRays on low. No visible difference (some have even said they look better on low & medium than on ultra) and they cost a lot of fps.

ah cheers mate. 60+ fps is more realistic, anythings better than the sub 20 i get now. would you have any preference out of 390 or 970? similar prices for 8gb 390 and 4gb 970

I'd say 390. Power consumption won't be a problem, if anything a 750W PSU is overkill. Also it should be faster on 1080p once there's new drivers. In all other games and on 1440p and 4K it's already faster.

/

As always, only upgrade if you actually need/want more performance, no point if you're satisfied with what you got.

No, no new CPUs until next year.
Do you want to overclock? Yes, it will get you better fps in TF2, but it will cost you a bit (Z170 mobo + cooler). Don't buy these things if you're not going to overclock.

GPU and PSU should be fine. Check the PSU model though. You'd have to disable some idle states if it's not "Haswell ready".

DDR4 isn't really worth it from a performance standpoint, but it will be easier to upgrade or keep it when replacing the mobo later. It's well within budget and your old CPU + mobo + RAM might be easier to sell as a bundle.

/

PSU RS-650-ACAA-D3 or RS-650-ACAA-B3? D3 is older and not Haswell ready.

50€ for DDR4 is a drop in the bucket when you're payingt 450€ for the rest, makes it easier to upgrade and you can use your old stuff for a different pc. Unless you just want to leave it lying around.

Are youg going to build this week or wait until christmas? I'll do a partlist with the most recent prices right before you buy everything.

/

One more thing, I forgot to ask: Is your case ATX or µATX?
That only changes anything if you think you'll need an M.2 SSD >60mm, otherwise the Z170M Pro4S will do just fine. The full ATX version allows for 110mm, although I haven't seen many of those yet. Most are 80mm.

i5-6600K
ASRock Z170 Pro4S
8GB DDR4 RAM 2400MHz CL15 because why not.
Noctua NH-D14

Should be a bit below 500€

Don't forget to disable C6/7 or your PSU might shut off when the pc idles. Maybe get a new PSU once christmas comes around.

/

Wait.

Regarding audio there's 3 options, sorted by cost.
1. Use onboard audio (especially if your old sound card is worse)
2. Get a mobo with a PCI slot instead (e.g. Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P).
3. Get a new sound card (e.g. Xonar DGX).

Yes, read that guide before overclocking.

Wait for midnight shopping if you are going to order anything from mindfactory.

The PSU is ok-ish. Not "might catch fire" territory but definitely below what I would recommend if you bought a new PSU. You're also losing a lot of efficiency since the PSU is intended for a way larger load than what you'll put on it (in addition to disabling idle states).
Voltage regulation is mediocre but not a problem.
The ripple does some nasty stuff though.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/cases/psu-550w-850w/gr12.png

The values on the right side are the maximum allowed by ATX spec. It fails.

For comparision a low end PSU, at least as old if not older, but far better behaved.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/cases/seasonic-psu-roundup/gr4.png

.

Followup for the thread:
Since the D2 is better than the DG I added him and explained how to abuse the German Consumer Protection Laws to cancel the order for free even though it was already shipped.
We might not get the lowest prices here, but we've got that going for us, which is nice.

I've been planning on building a new computer for a while and figured I would during Cyber Monday.

Specs wanted:

• VGA/DVI-I x1
  
• DVI x1,
  
• PS/2 x1
  
• Back-panel USB x4
  
• Front-panel USB x3
  
• Front panel audio x2
  
• I have a CRT at 135hz, so enough to make that smooth in TF2 6v6 with a maxframes-type config/windowed borderless with a second monitor.
  
• In terms of other games, being able to play nearly-contemporary games (BFBC2/BF3/KF2) without any noticeable issues at mid settings is fine.

So far, I have this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($273.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($144.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($108.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($219.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($318.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1242.06

Rationale:

6600k: Video games, Code Composer Studio (bloated IDE for embedded processors), VMWare. No i7 because I don't stream and rendering isn't be a major concern. I'm not sure if I need the -k, but it seems that the OC is worth the $40.
212 EVO: It's cheap and I've used it before. Completely open to suggestions on this; I don't know very much about coolers.
Z170A: Abundant USB ports, PS/2, surprisingly cheap. Looks too good to be true, but so far I haven't found any issues with it. I'm never going to use SLI/Crossfire so I can live with the lack of support.
DDR4 16GB: VMs and (probably unnecessary) multitasking. DDR4 because I'd like to avoid any headaches down the line and might as well have the unnoticeable performance boost. $25 more than the DDR3 equivilant.
850 Pro: I'll be honest; I don't know enough about SSDs to make an informed choice. I chose the best-rated >500GB SSD under $250.
970: I've read a lot about how the r9 390 outperforms it, but also about how much the 390 either underperforms in benchmarks or games. Also, I like Nvidia Inspector and haven't seen much to disprove the age-old "better drivers" argument.
Case: When my old 212 died, it was because I had a case window that I even noticed it. Additionally, extra front-panel USB ports is always nice. Heavy build quality is great, since I'll be carting it off to college next year.
PSU: Again, I'm not very knowledgeable about this component. Good (and abundant)reviews and a reasonable wattage rating are all I'm going on.
CD reader because I might need one and it's $17.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

recently got my new PC which I am mostly content with, however I am somewhat interested in upgrading my GPU so I can hopefully run new AAA titles at ultra / 1440p / 60FPS - currently 'only' very high is possible at steady 60FPS.

I'm just wondering IF I could run a second GTX970 in SLI without any issues with my PSU. If so I might pick up a second one on black friday, if I find a decent sale.

You are welcome to tell me if it's a good/bad idea as well, my main concern though is IF I could get a second GTX970 without further adjustments to the rig.

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/HYnxzy

edit: no overclocking done so far btw

#825
DVI-I/VGA for the CRT?
Front panel audio two outputs or input + output?

OC costs you way more than 40$.
212 is loud and not that good. You plan on dropping 1250$ on that build, don't tell me you can't afford a cooler >25$.
Mobo is more expensive than what you need and full ATX.
RAM is 25$ more expensive than DDR3 because you picked overpriced RAM.
Do you need an 850 Pro? Why? Name one reason. If you can't, get an 850 Evo.
Look at benchmarks. See the 390 outperform the 970. Then look at newer benchmarks with newer drivers. See how outperforms it by a larger margin now. That's all before the big driver overhaul AMD has planned.
Also you don't need either.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/11/10/battlefield-3-technical-analysis/4
4 years old games on medium settings would run fine on a toaster. Not quite on integrated graphics but an 80$ GPU would do. Spending >300$ is pointless.
You want a window because your cooler died? And a sound dampened full ATX case to haul around? Wouldn't it make more sense to, you know, just buy a quieter cooler that doesn't die? And a lighter µATX case?
There's one for the CX500M. One. In Swedish.
The CX500M is entry level and not worth buying above 30$. For 50$ you can get the CS550M which is a lot better, the GS 550 which is far better and fully modular or for 55$ the VSM 550 which is better than either of those.

#826
Yes, it will work.

Although I do hate the RM series with a passion. Horribly overpriced and no QC to speak of. It took 3 revisions for some models before they even worked. Corsair is getting back on track, but man were they greedy. Those 2 years, the "tramp stamp era", were horrible. I'm glad it's finally over now.

thanks m8 <3

I didn't chose the PSU tbh, it was a friends choice and I guess his opinion strongly differs from yours. Either way, glad to get confirmation that it'll work.

Yes

One input + output

In terms of graphics I completely forgot some things; I also intend to play Dark Souls 3/Fallout 4, probably others down the line as well.

I took the rest of it into account,

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($253.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H-GSM Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($309.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1070.45

So front panel audio just standard.

The NH-U12S is a bit overpriced in the US, you can get an NH-D14 for just 10$ more.

You need a Z170 mobo for overclocking. Z170M-Pro4S or Z170M-D3H if you think you need Sata Express / M.2 SSDs >60mm.

AMD has dropped DVI-I from the high end cards. Also for Fallout 4 on medium and eventually Dark Souls 3 a 285/380 is more than enough. On 1080p that is.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($253.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $969.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-19 04:04 EST-0500

The only issue I can see is that the DH14 is massive and might interfere with other components, considering that it's μATX. Are there grounds for this fear?

The NH-D14 is actually fairly small for a 140mm dual tower because technically it's a 120mm dual tower. It just got a 140mm fan in the middle.
The NH-D15 is massive, blocks the top PCIe slot. The D14 doesn't. It doesn't even need a cutout like the D15 because the heatsink ends before the DIMM slots start, RAM with low profile or no heatspreaders easily fit beneath the front fan, for large heatspreaders you just move the fan up a bit.
While the N200 is fairly wide it "only" supports 160mm coolers, "real" 140mm coolers, typically 165-170mm tall, still won't fit. So for example the Phanteks PH-TC14PE (same price as the NH-U12S) won't fit. The D14 does. You could change the case and get a TC14PE if you want.

tl;dr
Yes, the D14 is pretty much an exact fit, down to the mm in terms of height. Don't get anything larger unless you change the case.
RAM and PCIe slots are not affected.

So I was silly and broke the power button on my case. I didn't really like it anyway.... but lol

Looking for a micro atx case right now. Here are my specs:

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 70.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card
Power Supply: Raidmax 630W Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

I'm currently looking at these cases:

Corsair Air 240 / It looks REALLY nice, but won't fit my heatsink and expensive. Also has awesome cable management
Fractal design Arc Mini R2 / Looks great, great cable management but expensive
Cooler Master N200 / Cheap and looks ok, but no window and pretty bad cable management.Will fit my heatsink too.

Any suggestions? Should I look at another case? I'm leaning towards the Corsair case and taking the hit on my overclock ability (and I don't really need it right now) and just saving up for a corsair water cooling kit. I would really like to hear your opinions. Trying to maintain black/blue LED or white/blue LED color scheme (I have blue fans).

Get the Arc Mini R2.

Don't get AiO watercooling. It's shit. http://www.teamfortress.tv/post/469342/pc-build-thread
The money you save by going with a high end air cooler easily justifies a more expensive case that can fit proper coolers.

Also that PSU. Those PSUs are the reason why everyone reccommends twice the wattage you actually need. Because once you pull more than 400W from that thing all bets are off. It might just catch fire or it might spike and kill every single component in your pc. I'm not kidding.

Alright, can't really afford a new Psu right now, just looking for a case that can actually turn on my PC. I shouldn't be near the 400w anyway. If my wattage is at 270 or so that will be OK for now right? I'll upgrade when I upgrade Gpu.

Well it worked so far but it's still a ticking bomb. Don't say I didn't warn you if it dies before you upgrade your GPU and takes everything with it.

There's also various quick and dirty fixes for the power button until you get a new case.

Currently I'm just using the screwdriver trick, don't know to solder cables or anything fancy. Is there a better way where I don't have to open my case every time I want to play?

/

Hi all,
Could someone make me a build recommendation? My budget is about $1100. I'm looking to play TF2 and CSGO at 120fps and stream at low quality.(Not sure if that's possible with this budget.) I don't want to overclock.
Thanks!

Hey team, my brother is looking to give up his laptop and move on to getting a full desktop setup. He's mostly looking to play the main 3 source games, csgo, dota, and tf2. With the chance for higher end games. (GTA V? Maybe??) He's not as competitive so ethernet isn't needed. I've already tried to make a build based off of some guides on pcpartpicker, but I'm looking for some input.

The build itself has to cost around $500 as I'm leaving an extra $100 to buy accessories/necessities for him. I don't know much about pcs and building, since this is going to be my second build, and my only concern so far is that I could probably change the ram to this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.49 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: *XFX Radeon R9 380 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT WH ATX Mid Tower Case ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Green 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($85.98 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($16.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $583.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-22 05:35 EST-0500

#839
You've got the opposite of a problem, there's no way you're have to spend 1100$ on this without wasting a third of it.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Panram Ninja-V 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 285 2GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($162.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $696.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-22 17:21 EST-0500

I mean if you want to stream higher quality you can get an i7. You could also get better PSU but that's pretty much it. Apart from storage there's nothing you could spend money on that would actually get you anything in return.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Panram Ninja-V 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 285 2GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($162.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($56.90 @ Newegg)
Total: $843.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-22 17:22 EST-0500

#840

There are no motherboards without ethernet. There is no reason to spend money on wifi when you've already got ethernet, which is faster, onboard for free.

A few other improvements:
Better mobo, better and cheaper RAM, same GPU only cheaper, cheaper PSU.
If he doesn't need 1TB drop the HDD for an SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 285 2GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($162.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($85.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $564.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-22 17:26 EST-0500