People know it's bad windows, good windows. Vista = bad, fixed Vista = 7 = good.
They also know 8 = bad.
Now where it all goes wrong is that they think fixed 8 = 10 = good.
The truth:
fixed 8 = actually 8.1 = this is as good as microsoft gets these days
10 = the new bad one, wish us luck fixing that.

#3085
Yes. RAM mostly changes minimum fps, but not average. It's really 99% GPU once you've got a decent CPU.

Yes, for TF2 any upgrade without overclocking won't change much.

Outside of TF2 a CPU upgrade won't increase your fps. So no, it's not worth it.

#3086
Clockrate is more important than cores/threads for you so the 2600 isn't necessary. You could get by with a 2400G just fine and since it should oc higher it might actually be better for TF2. Or go with the 2600X, since you can afford it.

If you don't want to do anything crazy the stock cooler could be enough, but keep in mind that the 2600 only gets the smallest version. The 2600X does come with a bigger/better cooler. You can always just try the stock cooler and buy an aftermarket cooler later though, so don't worry too much about that. Case is fine, PSU as well.

If you do go with an AMD GPU (although you could get a 570 and the cheapest costs only 35£ more right now so you might as well) I'd get a FreeSync monitor anyway because there's enough options with that and more features for free are a never a bad thing. In fact G-Sync costs extra so the most of the cheapest options either have FreeSync or they are outdated anyway.

The cheapest option would be the XG2401 (23.6"). https://skinflint.co.uk/viewsonic-xg2401-a1411080.html
There's the XG2402 (24") but it's not cheaper than the next option with should have better colours, the LG 24GM79G-B (24"). https://skinflint.co.uk/lg-electronics-24gm79g-b-a1574897.html
Last but not least, the most expensive option which offers the best colours, the Samsung C24FG73 (23.5"). https://skinflint.co.uk/samsung-c24fg73-lc24fg73fquxen-a1621926.html
It's slightly curved, not enough to physically matter, but the pixels are slightly narrower due to that so some text might look different/weird at first.

I don't think it was intentional. I don't think anyone expected it to happen either, so no one tested for that. No one knows how windows works.
Approximate representation of what happened with that update.
Step 1 is what microsoft tested and deemed good enough, step 2 is what happened to some users and step 3 is what could have happened if they hadn't pulled the update.

https://i.imgur.com/YXhT6fA.gif

For anything except TF2 a CPU upgrade would do nothing.
If you don't need more fps in TF2 or aren't willing to overclock a CPU upgrade doesn't make sense.

So I guess new GPU, monitor and maybe a faster/larger SSD if you want and that's it. In that case you can easily afford a 240 Hz monitor.

Well the last windows 10 update added randomly deleting files as a feature.
I wish I was joking.

Of course if you've already updated to the fixed version or aren't on windows 10 it's a different problem.

Keep in mind that the first build costs about the same and got a way better SSD and PSU (although there are cheaper PSUs of similar quality).

So the markup on the pre-built is more than reasonable, but the build could be better. The 212X is actually a bit better than the 212 Evo but I'm not a fan of either. The 200R also lacks dust filters with is both a pain in the ass and just not acceptable at that price.

You should probably figure out what clockrate you even need to get the fps you want in TF2. If you don't have to overclock you could save quite a bit of money.

Either way I'd wait until the 9xxx launch is over. Maybe the 8350K will drop in price, maybe the 9350K is simply higher clocked at the same price or maybe the 9100/9300/9320 is clocked high enough that you don't need to oc it.

About the monitor: Lightboost/ULMB? G-Sync/FreeSync?

In other words, you killed Faint Gaming.

That's still the nerfed version.
Unleash the 6 pipes roller direct pre release truly unnerfed demo man.

#3078
Yeah, that would be best.

#3079
The paste that's included with the C7 is better than MX4.
Have fun building and using it!

#3075
Higher clockrates are never a bad thing. Since you don't need the stock cooler there is no downside to the tray version.
However in that case I'd either get the ASRock Z370M-ITX/ac for 2£ more, even if you never end up getting more than +0.1 GHz out of it because of cooling you can at least allow all cores to reach that clockrate at the same time, or a cheap B360 mobo like the Gigabyte B360N WIFI. Right now the Gigabyte B360N WIFI is neither here nor there, not cheap but not Z370 either.

No, 500W is enough. Pcpartpicker says 339W and that's reasonably accurate. Even if you assumed 150W instead of 95W for the CPU (you won't be able to cool more than that) you'd still have to get the GPU from 180W to 300W and then get both to their peak power consumption at the same time to even draw over 500W.
Overcurrent protection won't trigger until 10 or even 20% beyond that because good PSUs have no issues which such peaks.
So really, even if you tried to turn it into a problem it probably still wouldn't end up being one.

#3076
In that case maybe post again around 1 week before he wants to build so I can work with the most up to date prices and parts?

#3072
8600K tray for the higher baseclock?
But yes, I think you're done now.

#3073
If there is no deadline you might want to wait another 2-3 weeks for new CPUs.

#3069
I get that you might not want a low end case but what's wrong with the rest?
Minor correction, the PC-Q21 (149x257x224mm) supports dual slot GPUs, not the PC-Q20.
And then there's also the Node 202 and Kolink Rocket?
Or did I miss something on those as well?

Sure, they are not µATX but that's expected at that size since the board itself would be 244x244mm.

#3070
Does that mean you could other from somewhere else?

#3066
Rough idea, depending on how much storage he needs.
https://ie.pcpartpicker.com/list/V764J8

Is this pcp being terrible or are irish prices actually that insane?

#3067
Ah, maybe that was the mixup.
If I'm not mistaken that still only supports single slot GPUs so maybe doublecheck that.

The CSM series isn't that great I'd recommend something like this since you're not limited by budget:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Qb8j4D/seasonic-focus-gold-450w-80-gold-certified-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-ssr-450fm
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/3zNypg/corsair-power-supply-cp9020090na
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/qYTrxr/evga-power-supply-220g20550y1
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Y3X2FT/evga-supernova-g3-eu-550w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-220-g3-0550-y3

Define "good fps". What settings/resolution/fps is he aiming for?

You'd want an ATX PSU, not SFX, but it doesn't even matter because I fucked up. The list was wrong, the ML04 is 35cm wide, the ML05 is 34cm and that's mini-ITX.
The main problem however is that it only supports single slot GPUs and that's unacceptable.
Maybe silvestone got some other options (I'm not going to check today though) but there are enough that can fit large GPUs (Node 202 definitely can) so you can just pick another case.
Also maybe double check the measurements of the suitcase just in case. Wouldn't want to pick a 338mm case only to find out that the suitcase is only 336mm after all.

The rest looks good.
As for the PSU since you won't be overclocking 400W (or 450) will be enough.