What games does he play?
Does he have old system he can reuse parts from?
Does he do anything other than games?

he mainly just wants to game, his system was super old so nothing can be salvaged, TF2 mainly, fallout 4, and csgo.

Case: Fractal Design Core 2300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352042&ignorebbr=1

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G S12G-550 550W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151136&ignorebbr=1

Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157680&ignorebbr=1

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3M 3.7 GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=2MN-0004-00002&ignorebbr=1

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&cm_re=cooler_master_hyper_212_evo-_-35-103-099-_-Product

Memory: G.SKILL Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 2400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232251&ignorebbr=1

Graphics Card: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 960 4GB WINDFORCE 2X OC EDITION
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125802&cm_re=gtx_960-_-14-125-802-_-Product

HDD: HGST Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5AD3G12842

Total: $667.42

\

Don't get the 6100 or the 960, better price to value for the 380+i5 6600
nor does he need that full atx board,
do not need 16 gigs,
nor do you need the hyper 212 if you don't want to overclock.

I5 will give better preformance in tf2, and the 380x is probably good enough for fallout in 1080p high
(haven't been personally been able to benchmark, however from what google says it can play it at 1080p)

probably best to wait till new gpus and cpus come out in the summer

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($33.39 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 380X 4GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($239.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.95 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Enermax REVOLUTION X't 430W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $708.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-25 18:57 EDT-0400

He specifically requested Nvidia for shadowplay. That i5 will not run TF2 better than the i3 i linked. TF2 doesn't scale well on multicore. The board you linked cant OC. That PSU doesn't have much headroom and therefore limited expandability.

The 6100 cant overclock
The i5 will give a small fps boost and has a higher turbo speed.
Is more future proof than a i3 6100
i5 can run more game other than the i3 6100

The psu is enough if you want to upgrade your upgrade your graphics card
I can agree that the psu is not enough if you want to upgrade drastically, however you could just exchange it with a silver higher voltage psu, if he wanted to go the expandable route.

And if he wants to get the best price to performance you can then get the 380x. You need to make some cuts if you want to have the best price to performance. You could just use raptr, which has worked just as well as nvidia shadowplay for me. If you really need to get the 960 then go one step down on the i5 and get the 960

(yes i know the you can blck overclock the 6100 but do you think he has time for that/ you need to downgrade the bios update since intel patched that)

OR JUST WAIT TIL THE NEW CPUS/ GPUS

It was re-patched and you can just disable auto bios updates.

^this for GPUs. The new CPUs wont come out for a while and wont be significantly faster than what is already out. Zen wont be here until q4.

All of my builds are done with the assumption of future upgradability. DDR4 is a new standard and will be the standard for a LONG time. If he gets 16gb now he wont need to buy more later and he could reuse the sticks. A good PSU can be used in multiple builds. I am still using my old TX-750. If you get a decent case you will never need to buy another. I am still using my 8 year old ATCS 840.

First of all I used DDR4
Secondly, think of a time that you need 16 gbs for gaming
Thirdly I agree with that, so I used a gold+ psu and will probably last him if he doesn't do overly crazy builds
Fourth(ly?) the case you listed is barely better then the one I listed and case usually last as long as the motherboard size standard stays the same, they will only break if you go to lans often, and or move your pc a shit ton. I have plastic shitty pc cases that have lasted me years purely because I have not moved them often

There are allreeady several games that make my ram use go over 8gb

I would hardly consider a OC'd i5 and a R9 390 "overly crazy"

The case you linked is a microtower which severely limits upgradability. High end Micro ATX boards are few and more expensive than there standard ATX counterparts.

IMO his best option is my build but with a 380x and save a bit for for a 6600k.

Genuinely curious, what games use over 8gbs?

The never stated the my build was "overly crazy", just stating that you could not use it for a build that requires more wattage or is "overly crazy"

standard atx
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130770&cm_re=atx_motherboard-_-13-130-770-_-Product
$149.99
(hard to define so I clicked on best selling)

then with most recent chipset
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132567&cm_re=atx_motherboard-_-13-132-567-_-Product
$144.99

cheapest atx on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138395&cm_re=atx-_-13-138-395-_-Product
$35.99
most expensive atx on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182672&cm_re=atx-_-13-182-672-_-Product
$700.99
(sever motherboard so I won't count it
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132637&cm_re=atx-_-13-132-637-_-Product
$484.99

standard micro atx
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157512&cm_re=micro_atx_motherboard-_-13-157-512-_-Product
$79.99
(once again best selling)

then with most recent chipset
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128874&cm_re=micro_atx_motherboard-_-13-128-874-_-Product
$79.99
(once again best selling)

cheapest on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135343&cm_re=micro_atx_motherboard-_-13-135-343-_-Product
$31.99

most expensive on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP4057982&cm_re=micro_atx_motherboard-_-9SIA6ZP4057982-_-Product
$249.99

Overall micro atx are cheaper
To compare high end is harder
So I did lga 1151
And to ability to overclock (Z170) (no blck overclock)
the best rating

Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182978&cm_re=atx_motherboard-_-13-182-978-_-Product
$132.99

ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130870&cm_re=atx_motherboard-_-13-130-870-_-Product
$299.99

There are more atx board though... got me there.
However Micro ATX is cheaper, according to my method, which probably isn't the best way to do it but the only way i could think to do it.

Conclusion is, is that yes there are more ATX boards, yes a full ATX tower is needed for full expansion.
However are atx more expensive for a decent one, and micro atx would be cheaper overall including case

I spent to much time on this.

Compare prices of boards with the same feature levels and build quality.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132569

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132565

Although the price difference between ATX and MATX has gone down a lot.

#1200
You can record mumble with either, but that's not what you're trying to ask, right?

#1201/1203
When does he want to build it?
Does he know about AMD Raptr/plays.tv?
Does he want to overclock?
Resolution/settings for Fallout 4?

#1204-1212
Y'all need to chill.

1. Fuck Newegg only partlists. Also fuck their return policy.

2. 212 Evo only makes sense if it's on sale, you can't afford a better cooler and can't afford to wait until you can afford a better cooler. The budget would allow for a good cooler but he doesn't need an aftermarket cooler for a locked CPU at all.

3. Z mobos for locked CPUs smh.

4. An i5 won't get you noticeably better performance in TF2 than an i3. Single digit percentages at best, worst case 3 cores turbo at the same time then even the i5-6600 gets dragged down to 3.6GHz and beaten by the i3-6320 at 3.9GHz. Even in Fallout 4 it's more about clockrate than physical cores once you reach 4 logical cores (i3). I don't know about CS:GO though.

5. 16GB RAM. Seriously? Yes, there are games that will use it. There are also programs that will use 64GB RAM. And programs that can use 8 CPU cores. But as long as he isn't running those he won't need either. Going by your logic he should get a 980 Ti now since PCIe GPUs will stay the standard for a long time and he might need it.
RAM is the same as GPUs, it only gets cheaper. Get as much as you need, but not more, and the option to upgrade later. 8GB and a mobo with 4 DIMM slots will suffice because Fallout 4 won't use 8GB.
http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2177-fallout-4-pc-video-card-fps-benchmark-all-resolutions

And TF2 and CS:GO are still 32bit, they absolutely can't use more than 4GB.

6. What the actual fuck are those mobo comparisions? What are you trying to prove by comparing the most expensive and cheapest mATX and ATX boards? You could prove so much bullshit with that logic.
Compare similar boards, like the ASRock x70 Pro4(S) and x70M Pro4(S). You'll notice that they are virtually identical except for superficial differences due to the physical size (e.g. one more PCIe x1 slot, 110mm instead of 80mm maximum M.2 card size). The full ATX versions are 5-10$ more expensive simply due to material cost. For the same reason full ATX cases have to be more expensive than microATX cases (ceteris paribus).

7. Name at least 2 PCIe cards (excluding GPUs) that you need for a gaming PC. Otherwise I don't see mATX limiting upgradability.
Unless you were talking about the "13.92" max GPU length", but I don't see that becoming a problem any time soon.

8. RAM quality over quantity. I've tested it for TF2 and Fallout 4 is the same.
http://www.techspot.com/review/1089-fallout-4-benchmarks/page6.html

Well fuck. Guess setsul destroyed us both

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/byMrJx

would I be able to rekt noobs with that build in tf2 with 100+ frames?

#1215
You would mostly wreck your room when that PSU bursts into flames.

Also you are getting ripped off on that GPU. 90$ for a GT 730 is ridiculous.
For less money (~70$) you could get
-a GT 740 which is not quite as terrible, but only barely (50% faster)
-a 250X which is about 2.5 times as fast.

For slightly more money (~100$) you could get:
-a 370
-a 750 Ti
both of which are 3.5-4 times faster.

Or for no money at all you could use the i3's iGPU which is actually faster than the GT 730.
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GeForce-GT-730-vs-Intel-HD-530-Desktop-Skylake/m12582vsm33102

Budget would be nice to know.
I don't like the case either, but I won't stop you.

Here's what I'd do:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($30.69 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($28.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $414.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-26 13:44 EDT-0400

Drop the HDD if you don't need more than 250GB.
Get the 120GB version of the SSD if you do need more than 250GB but absolutely need to stay below 400$.
You could also get the i3-6300 or even 6320 instead if your budget allows it, but it wouldn't make much of a difference.
If you want to you can get a GPU for other games later.
PSU alternative in case the deal for the CX430M ends: EVGA 500B
CX430M, CX500M, CX600M, CX430, CX500, CX600, 500B, 600B are all possible option, get whichever is cheapest.

Thanks for the reply

I managed to find a gt 940 for ~$85 that seems to come pre-OC'd:
http://www.galax.net/GLOBAL/740ocslim2gb.html

i don't know if I should factor it in or just use the integrated i3 gpu?

My budget is $400 btw

As for the SSD, I was planning to purchase one at a later date. Or maybe SSD now then HDD later.

Intel IGPs seem to have a significant input lag issue. I was forced to use the 4690ks IGP for a few weeks and even though my FPS was good the game felt like shit.

Hyped for Computex 2016.

Also Lian Li finally released their height adjustable desk just in time!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rPefXyBGGwk/maxresdefault.jpg

Looking forward to building in this this summer.

#1217
No, don't get a GT 740.
Like I said it's barely faster than the iGPU,
So try the iGPU first, on low settings you should definitely get more than 100 fps in TF2.

Get a proper GPU later, if you need one.
E.g. the 250X which is cheaper and faster than the GT 740.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r7250xcgf4

Or if you can afford it something like a 370 or 750 Ti, since they are significantly faster than the again, but only slightly more expensive.

Get the SSD first. You want the OS on your SSD, so unless you like reinstalling windows getting the HDD first would just mean unnecessary hassle.

tl;dr
GT cards are shit.
Try the iGPU first, only get a discrete GPU if you really need it.
If so get a proper GPU (not GT).

SSD first.

#1218
Can't verify that.
Skylake also uses a different iGPU than Haswell so I'm not really concerned.

Asking this for a friend who has a 2000 usd budget, he needs a keyboard, mouse, mousepad, 144hz screen, and an extra 60hz screen for a side one for webpages and stuff. Hes fine with waiting for pascale to release.Try to keep the budget at 1000-1500 USD if possible, goal is to play games like Arma 3 at over 144 fps on med to high settings. He also plays tf2 but on comanglias config and his current pc runs that fine.

I need a computer for tf2 only. Just the tower nothing else. I only have $600
please help

I need to upgrade my rig. It's been 3 years and I'm noticing its starting to handicap me in the video editing department.

Current build is:
Intel Core i7-3770K
Asus P8Z77-V
Kingston HyperX Red 16GB DDR3-1600
Samsung 840 Series 250GB SSD
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB
EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB
Cooler Master Storm Trooper
Corsair Enthusiast 750W

Any suggestions?

I assume I would benefit more from upgrading either my ram or my gfx.But I think I would have to upgrade my mobo as well as iirc it doesn't support most recent components.
Would 32gb ddr4 or (eventually) gtx1070 be the most logical upgrade?

#1222
In terms of GPU it's doable, you'd need something around a Fury X / 980 Ti, maybe a bit better, so that should line up perfectly with the new GPUs (Pascal/Polaris) in the 300-400$ bracket.
I'm really concerned with the CPU requirements for 144fps though. I don't think it's doable, even with overclocking. On that note:
Overclocking yes or no?

Either way I can't make a partlist until all parts are actually available (one more month for Pascal/Polaris) since the prices would change too much.

Does he really need a completely new build though?

#1223
600$ is more than enough.
Just for TF2 you could get away with the iGPU.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6320 3.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($154.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($57.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($32.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.17 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $450.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-09 11:18 EDT-0400

For other games I'd throw in a discrete GPU as well.
Maxing out the budget the best possible would be a 380 (can do 60 fps in Fallout 4 @1080p Ultra). If you absolutely have to keep it under 600$ drop down to the i3-6300 instead of the 6320.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6300 3.8GHz Dual-Core Processor ($135.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($57.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($32.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.17 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 2GB PCS+ Video Card ($158.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $590.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-09 11:22 EDT-0400

You could wait another month for the new GPUs, if nothing else there'll be some price drops, but it won't change that much.

#1224
1. You can't just assume. You'd drop a few hundred Euro on upgrades and just hope you guessed right? Rip wallet.
2. There are no reviews yet and the GTX 1070 isn't available yet. There is no way to know if it would make sense at all. We don't know if the 480X might not be the better option either, since we know nothing about that one too.
3. If this is just about RAM capacity you could just get another 16GB kit of DDR3. Worst case if you need higher speed as well or if all slots are already full you get a 32GB kit. Way cheaper than a new CPU, a new mobo and 32GB RAM.

So basically you should absolutely not do any of what you just said.
First figure out what's actually holding you back. Like I said if you just need more RAM that's a cheap and easy fix.
I also doubt that it's your GPU. It would be nice to know which editing software you use, but even those that do use GPU acceleration are almost never bottlenecked by the GPU. The reason why you'd want GPU acceleration in the first place is because your CPU is a bottleneck (which is perfectly normal for rendering, really).
If it does turn out to be the CPU I need to know your budget. Because going from a Quadcore to another Quadcore (e.g. i7-6700K, maybe i7-7700K if you'd be willing to wait) that's 20% faster at best and maybe 10% higher clocked (I don't know how much you overclocked the 3770K) won't do a whole lot. At least personally I think dropping 500€ for 30% more performance isn't worth it.
Another 100€ would get you a lower clocked 6 core so that's about 30% on top of that. The question is do you think 600€ for 50-70% better performance is worth it?
The higher clocked Intel 6 cores wouldn't really be worth it, since you're paying 100-200€ for just marginally higher clockrates.
Then there's the 8 and soon 10 cores from Intel for 1000€ and 1500€ respectively which would put you somewhere around 1300/1800€ total. Sure, twice your current performance or even better is nice, but if I had to guess I'd say it's not within your budget.

There's one option if you're willing to wait though. With AMD's Zen we should be seeing some much more reasonably priced 6 and 8 cores.

currently have a 4690k that idles at 60ish and jumps to high 70s on stock cooler and stock clock speed, looking to spend maybe 20-40 on an actual cooler so i can overclock, what do you guys recommend? had a 212 evo on my old phenom build and apparently people say its still tried and true but are there any better alternatives nowadays?

e: for further clarification i am using a nzxt phantom 410 case so any size cooler really should be fine

I just didn't read too much into it but Im pretty sure it doesnt support the newer cpu architectures neither it supports ddr4 I wasn't sure about newer gfx cards.

I also was under the impression vegas/after effects rendering was more gpu dependent but it seems it is more cpu dependent indeed. I am bottlenecked by ram definitely, 16gb is too low and Im not sure if it would be worth it at this time to invest on more ddr3 instead of future proofing with 32gb ddr4. Which would require a new mobo but would make sense for future cpu upgrades.

#1226
Cryorig H7
It's cooler and quieter than the 212 Evo.

EDIT:
#1227
Yeah, no DDR4 and the newer CPUs use a different socket.

Did you actually check RAM usage?

There is no future proofing. 32GB DDR3 or 32GB DDR4 makes absolutely no difference. It's mostly a difference in manufacturing and maximum possible speeds. For now since you can get 3000+ MHz DDR3 and with the standard for DDR4 still being 2400MHz (although you could get 4000MHz) I don't see the point. You shouldn't make a decision based on DDR3 vs DDR4.

What do you mean future CPU upgrades? You either get a new CPU and a new mobo or neither. We're talking about different sockets, physically different. If you get a mobo that supports DDR4 your current CPU won't fit, and if you get one that is compatible with your current CPU it'll only support DDR3.

Yeah, ram usage is constantly at <90% while editing. Vegas ram preview, etc, takes a LOT of ram. 32Gb is a must for me.

I was under the wrong impression mobos were backwards compatible apparently. Its been a while since Ive really delved into hardware stuff, pretty much since I got this build.

Hello, kinda new to this, but Im in need of a new computer (had my friends old gaming laptop :/)
I have around $850-$900 to work with, and will be using it to play tf2 and h1z1 mostly. Will be building around the start of August

#1229
I still don't know your budget. It would also be interesting to know if you're already using all DIMM slots. Either way more RAM seems like a fairly cheap and worthwhile upgrade.

#1230
In that case you should probably ask again around the start of August.
Prices will change and there will be new GPUs. At this point I could only guess and end up missing the budget target by 100-200$ in either direction.