"fully defragmeneted HDD with no partitions on it"
I don't think defragmented means what you think it means.

Try creating a partition with a bootable partition manager.

The mobo is DDR4. There is a DDR3 version of it called GA-B150M-D3H DDR3, get the "normal" GA-B150M-D3H, which is DDR4.
The case isn't great for building and cable management and lacks dust filters.
My usual recommendations would be the Cooler Master N200. Imho it's worth the 10€ more.

Well just change the things I mentioned and it should be fine. If you use 2 or 3 shops it should end up at the same price or cheaper.

#763
There's better mobos. The H110M-C is cut down pretty hard. I'm not sure why but Alientech seems to have far lower mobo prices. There's a GA-B150M-D3H for 71€. B150 instead of H100, second x16 PCIe slot, second x16 PCI slot, 6 instead of 4 SATA 3 ports, SATA Express, M.2, 4 instead of 2 DIMM slots, solves the RAM upgrade "problem".
The case is meh.
Seagate Barracuda is faster and cheaper.
I can't see any reason to get the BX100 over the 850 Evo, same price and faster.

It seems like some of these parts are cheaper in other shops.

#764
Or you know, just get a mobo with 4 DIMM slots.

#758
Games/settings/fps you're going for?
Some streaming? As in streaming on low quality?

#759
Sorry, had to send my crystal ball in for repairs, so I can't tell you right now which mobos will be cheap or on sale around christmas. You'll just have to ask when the times comes.

#760
60fps on which settings?
No GPU? In that case I need to know which mobo exactly, if it even supports a GPU. Also mobos are never unlocked, CPUs are. Mobos got different chipsets with different features.
Could you be a bit more specific than "bad" on the PSU? If it has worked so far it can't be that bad. On the other hand even the best 150W PSU won't work anymore if you slap a 250W GPU in that pc. So "bad" isn't enough information.

None.
Australian prices.
i5-6600K - 325$
Cheapest Z170 DDR3 mobo - 179$
Total: 504$, already over budget.
Cheapest Z170 DDR4 mobo - 185$
Total: 510$, with RAM ~600$

Either way you still need a cooler.
I just don't see it happening.
Maybe if you stretch the budget and keep the 16GB DDR3 that you bought for god knows what reason.

It might get cheaper until Christmas but why are you asking know, two months before that?

#754
D. The PSU is dead. On the bright side that means it won't short out everything or start a fire. No I'm not kidding, raidmax can and has done that.

Do the paper clip test or just get a proper PSU.

#751
Yes, shop(s) link?

#752
You are aware that I'm not limited to pcpartpicker? Any shop or price comparison site works.

And what features does the H97M-G43 offer that you're willing to pay 30$ for?

390 > 970, it's cheaper and faster, but it's your money.

At this point you can get Skylake for the same price. I won't redo the builds until I know when you're actually going to buy the parts.

remove all cfgs, remove all launch options and put in -autoconfig instead.
It'll generate the default cfg. If the freezes don't happen again your cfgs are the problem, if they still happen your cfgs are fine.

I have been summoned.

If you want my help I'll see what I can do.
I'm not sure if shipping would be feasible, but I've got a bit of hardware lying around as well.

Depends on the program.
If you can't find it the minimum % cpu_frequency_monitoring 2 shows after a freeze should be enough to rule it out.

One thing I forgot to ask, you said you tested many different configs, but have you tried -autoconfig already?

Could you upload the log?

While ingame?
And you're sure you've got multicore rendering enabled?

#745
DDR4, i might explain the differences when I'm bored but not now, it's nothing major anyway,

#746
SSD and mobo are unrelated optional upgrades. Just stick with the GA-B150M-D3H.