March 2016 Gaming PC Builds of the Month

March 2016 PC Builds of the Month

Gaming PC Builds – March 2016

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March 2016 Gaming PC Builds of the Month

Introducing the Gaming PC Builds of the Month

Welcome to all of you new and novice builders to the March 2016 edition of the gaming pc builds of the month here at Newb Computer Build.

I’m going to start this introduction of as bluntly as possible and say that there have been very little in terms of actual hardware changes for this months three featured builds that you can read more about below. Alas, this is not a bad thing though, as prices in each of the three builds have actually dropped significantly (ie. the $1500 is currently bundled at $1437). What this means is that the builds from last month are much more cost efficient per dollar spent and performance gained – awesome stuff!

Included in the monthly builds article are three builds including a $1500 build, $1000 build and a $600 build. These builds are included to accommodate for three main groups of builders – basically one for those wanting to game with high settings on standard 1080p resolutions, the next for those wanting to max our any game at 1080p and into 1440p and the third builds for those wanting to max games out at 1440p and play into 4K resolutions. So if you are wondering which budget class you fall into, try to follow those guidelines and you should be good. You can also check the hardware alternatives tables below each builds for some more ideas, otherwise feel free to leave a comment and I can help you out.

Now on to the builds and best of luck to all the new and returning builders!

$1500 Gaming PC Build - Newb Computer Build

March 2016 ($1500 PC Build)

Gaming PC Build Recipe:

Game with Extreme settings and high FPS at resolutions of 1920×1080 & 2560×1440 + playable at 4K

Hardware Link Price Image
Estimated Price : $1437 (March 2016)
Processor Intel Boxed Core I5-6600K 3.50 GHz, 6 M Processor Cache 6 for LGA 1151 (BX80662I56600K) $249.99
Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO – CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2) $29.74
Motherboard Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 ATX Motherboard ATX DDR4 NA Motherboards (GA-Z170X-GAMING 5) $166.99
Graphics Card $629.99
RAM $69.99
Hard Drive *No HDD Included – Optional. See Alternatives Section.  –
SSD Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM) $87.00
Power Supply 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 $99.99
Computer Case Corsair Carbide Clear 400C Compact Mid-Tower Case CC-9011081-WW  $111.14
Optical Drive No optical drive included in base build cost – *This should be considered optional

Overview: Gaming PC Build ( $1500 )

The March 2016 build is capable of maxing games out with super high FPS rates from 1080p to  1440p and even will play available game titles at 4K with playable FPS. So if you are looking for a gaming pc to do pretty much anything, this would be it. Now, not much has changed since last month in this build and for good reason! The March $1500 build has some of the strongest gaming hardware and as a whole, is even cheaper at the start of this month.

The cpu we have is the Intel i5 6600K processor and the Gigabyte Geforce GTX 980Ti graphics card – together these will run your gaming beast to its full extent and should you be interested, check out the geforce.com GTX 980Ti benchmarks from GeForce themselves. The GTX 980 Ti is a very capable card and I do suggest for those considering this build to pair it with a 2K monitor, it will be well worth the investment.

The included CPU cooler is the Cooler Master Hyper 212. Even though this Skylake processor needs the purchase of a cpu cooler, the Hyper 212 EVO will help you overclock the 6600K quite easily by keeping those temperatures down. For those who want to spend a little more, there is even a liquid CPU (the Corsair H100i) included in the hardware alternatives section below, which will give you a much quieter, more customized cooling experience (which may very well be a viable option this month with the cost of this build dropping so much).

For another month now we have included  the Gigabyte GA-Z170X-GAMING 5 motherboard, which is the middle board in Gigabyte’s G1 Z170 motherboard lineup. This board has the following specifications (learn more at Gigabyte.com)

  • Supports 6th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor
  • Dual Channel DDR4, 4 DIMMs
  • Intel® USB 3.1 with USB Type-C™-The World’s Next Universal Connector
  • 3-Way Graphics Support with Exclusive Ultra Durable Metal Shielding over the PCIe Slots
  • Dual PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 Connectors with up to 32Gb/s Data Transfer (PCIe NVMe & SATA SSD support)
  • 3 SATA Express Connectors for up to 16Gb/s Data Transfer
  • 115dB SNR HD Audio with Built-in Rear Audio Amplifier
  • Killer™ E2200 and Intel® Gaming Networks
  • High Quality Audio Capacitors and Audio Noise Guard with LED Trace Path Lighting
  • APP Center Including EasyTune™ and Cloud Station™ Utilities
  • GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS™ Technology

For RAM, we have a whopping 16GB of memory (two 8GB sticks) with the included Kingston HyperX Black RAM kit.

For storage we have a Samsung 850 EVO 250GB Solid State Drive “SSD”, which will perform much better helping with those load / boot times and reading speeds. Should you need more space now, I would either suggest bumping up to the 500GB version of the EVO or alternatively also getting a cheap 1TB Hard Disk Drive, such as the one included in the last build in this article (in that case you would use the Samsung 850 EVO SSD as your start drive and the other HDD as your storage drive).

The power supply units used is the EVGA SuperNOVA 750W G2 Gold Certified power supply, which is a high quality & efficient PSU and I highly recommend it and it should be more then enough for the $1500 build. Keep in mind that for those that do plan on going with SLI (two graphics cards / GTX 980Ti’s) in the future that you will want to plan for at least an 850W high quality PSU (such as the 850W EVGA SuperNOVA G2)

It’s not usual that I include a case two months in a row, but I thought it would be well worth re-showcasing the newer Corsair Carbide Clear 400C – coined by Corsair to be “cool, clear and compact.” There is an awesome looking full side window that opens by touch and great airflow due to the “Direct Airflow technology (see corsair.com – Carbide 400C to learn more or view the below video)

Corsair Carbide 400C Case Preview:

*Note: There is no optical (DVD) drive included in these builds and not all of the cases even support them anymore (such as the Corsair case included here). Keep in mind you can install your Operating System, such as Windows via USB stick or drive. There are plenty of how-to’s on the subject so utilize Google or YouTube.

$1500 Gaming PC Build Upgrade Suggestions

Should you have extra spending cash now or later, the following are suggestions to either add to or upgrade this $1500 pc build, further adding to its potential.

Included in the build is an i5 Intel 6600K Skylake which is fantastic for gaming, but for those that do more then gaming perhaps an Intel i7 6700K cpu might be needed (if you do things like video work, graphics work etc.) – plus this cpu is much cheaper this time around.

The $1500 gaming pc build only includes a 256GB SSD for storage, which is fine unless you need lots of storage room. Included below is a larger SanDisk Extreme PRO 1TB SSD for those that may want the extra space, but also want to use one drive for ultimate speeds on an SSD.

You could also really increase your graphics power by SLI’ing the Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti by adding in a second Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti, but it will cost you another $629.99 or so. This could also be a future upgrade idea to boost your gaming pc’s performance when you need it later on or if you plan on doing extreme gaming at 4K resolutions. If you do plan on going SLI’ing in the future or now, you should consider getting at least an 850W PSU such as the EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G2.

Also included below is the Corsair Hydro Series H100i GTX liquid cpu cooler. This cooler would be a substitute for the above included Hyper 212 EVO air cpu cooler and would provide a quieter, more efficient / more customized cooling experience. This option would be best purchased now rather then later so as to save on buying only one cooler for your PC.

Intel Boxed Core I7-6700K 4.00 GHz 8M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700K ($369.99) – Do more then gaming? Like show off? – Then an i7 might be the right choice

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti Overclocked 6GB GDDR5 PCiE Video Card Graphics Cards (GV-N98TWF3OC-6GD) ($629.99) – SLI with two GTX 980 Ti’s for some super graphics performance and ultimate 4K gameplay

*Note: If you want to SLI you should consider at least an 850W psu such as the EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G2 PSU ($119.99).

Purchase a liquid CPU cooler (instead of the included air cooler):Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler CW-9060025-WW ($102.99) A very fast 1TB SSD: SanDisk Extreme PRO 960GB SATA 6.0GB/s 2.5-Inch 7mm Height Solid State Drive (SSD) With 10-Year Warranty- SDSSDXPS-960G-G25 ($349.99)


$1000 Gaming PC Build - Newb Computer Build

March 2016 ($1000 PC Build)

Gaming PC Build Recipe:

Capability: Game with Extreme settings at 1920X1080 resolutions and even Higher Settings at 2560×1440

Hardware Link Price Image
Estimated Price: $983.68 (March 2016)
Processor Intel Boxed Core I5-6600K 3.50 GHz, 6 M Processor Cache 6 for LGA 1151 (BX80662I56600K) $249.99
Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO – CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2) $29.74  
Motherboard $138.99
Graphics Card

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970 GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16


Alternative card (The better choice if you have a 1440p monitor)

XFX DOUBLE DISSIPATION R9 390 1015MHZ XXX OC 8GB DDR5 DISPLAYPORT HDMI DUAL DVI

$289.99


 

$314.99

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970 GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16


RAM $44.99
Hard Drive Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST1000DM003) (Alternative or Extra Storage *Not included in cost – could used as a larger budget storage drive beside your SSD) $49.99  
SSD  Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM)  $87.00  
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G1 80+ GOLD, 650W Continuous Power, Fully Modular 10 Year Warranty Power Supply 120-G1-0650-XR $72.99
Computer Case $69.99
Optical Drive No optical drive included in base build cost – *This should be considered optional

Overview: Gaming PC Build ( $1000 )

If you are going to be playing games at 1920×1080 resolutions and want to make out any game, or if you even want play reasonably well at 2560×1440 resolutions, then the March 2016 $1000 pc build is for you. This build uses a combination of the Skylake Intel i5 6600K cpu and a GTX 970 graphics card or alternatively an R9 390 if you want to consider upping to 1440p anytime in the future (the extra memory on the R9 390 will help with the higher resolution gaming).

Again for the cpu cooler we have the Cooler Master Hype 212, this helps when overclocking your unlocked Intel i5 6600K processor and since the Intel i5 6600K doesn’t come with a stock cooler, you need one. If you check out the hardware alternative table below, you will also see an option for a liquid cpu cooler which could be for those that want a quieter more customized cooling option should you have the extra cash for it.

The included motherboard is the Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3. This motherboard does support both Crossfire and SLI, so that you do have the option to include two of either the graphics card options as an upgrade suggestion for the future. The Gaming 3 motherboard has the following specifications (and you can learn more on the product page at gigabyte.com):

  • Supports 6th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor
  • Dual Channel DDR4, 4 DIMMs
  • Intel® USB 3.1 with USB Type-C™ – The World’s Next Universal Connector
  • 3-Way Graphics Support with Exclusive Ultra Durable Metal Shielding over the PCIe Slots
  • Dual PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 Connectors with up to 32Gb/s Data Transfer (PCIe NVMe & SATA SSD support)
  • 3 SATA Express Connectors for up to 16Gb/s Data Transfer
  • 115dB SNR HD Audio with Built-in Rear Audio Amplifier
  • Killer™ E2200 Gaming Networks
  • High Quality Audio Capacitors and Audio Noise Guard with LED Trace Path Lighting
  • APP Center Including EasyTune™ and Cloud Station™ Utilities
  • GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS™ Technology

There are two graphics card included in the build table above as they are close competitors in terms of price and performance. The first graphics card included, is the Zotac GeForce GTX 970  and alternatively for a similar price there is also an AMD Gigabyte R9 390. Both of these cards will perform much alike in most games, so I’ll leave the choice as to which you would like to go with, but you can probably choose based on what resolution you’ll primarily be playing at – such as if you have a 1080- monitor you’ll probably be best maxing out games with the GTX 970 with high FPS and if you plan on either upgrading in the future to a 1440p monitor or have one, then the R9 390 may help with playing on the highest possible settings due to it having more memory. Either way my suggestion would be to still look up some benchmarks on the games yo plan on playing (such as on youtube) and see which card may be the best fit for you.

The RAM included is the affordable kit of Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR4 RAM, which is generally enough memory for a standard gaming pc build, and you always have the option to upgrade more.

The included storage is the same Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD as included in the $1500 build – this didn’t fit into the $1000 budget comfortably last month, but it sure does this month so I have now switched the HDD to the alternative drive instead.

For a power supply unit (PSU) used is the EVGA SuperNOVA G1 650W power supply, which is a great PSU with all modular cables and it provides the perfect amount of power for this build along with room for some upgrades. For it’s price, quality and the fact that it’s modular, you really can’t go wrong with this PSU.

I did switch up the case for the $1000 build this month to give you an alternative choice of a quality case. This case is the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M. This is a very well designed case that caters to the flexibility of many different pc builder enthusiasts. To learn more, please visit phanteks.com.

$1000 Gaming PC Build Upgrade Suggestions

Some alternative hardware upgrades for those wanting to spend a tad more or for those that want some upgrade ideas for the March 2016 $1000 gaming pc build are included below.

If you want more graphic power in the future you could potentially Crossfire two R9 390’s. If you go this route, then you will also need a stronger power supply, as much as 850w, which I have included along side that recommendation below (I would only consider the larger PSU if you really plan on doing this). Likewise, if you go the GTX 970 route, you can add in another Zotac GTX 970 in SLI to boost your graphics as well.

If you are serious about achieving maxed out settings and high FPS at 2560×1440 (144p) resolutions, then you may want to consider an R9 390X – such as the XFX R9 390X below. This card will be all you need to blast through games at the higher 2K resolutions.

Included is a 250GB version of the Samsung 850 EVO, but what if you want more storage and to also have it on a single fast SSD? Well then you could consider bumping it up to the 500GB Samsung 850 EVO.

You could also  go with a liquid cpu cooler such as the Corsair Hydro Series H80i GT. This could help keep things quiet and a tad cooler when overclocking and it offers a more customize cooling experience (learn more about the Corsair h80i GT at Corsair.com).

*Note: If you plan on doing Crossfire or SLI you will probably want at least an 850W power supply such as –EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2 80+ GOLD, 850W ECO Mode Fully Modular NVIDIA SLI and Crossfire Ready 10 Year Warranty Power Supply 220-G2-0850-XR PSU ($119.99).

Add a 500GB SSD:Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E500B/AM) = ($149.99) – Crossfire your graphics card:
(*Potential future proofing upgrade? – *only if you went with the AMD R9 390) XFX DOUBLE DISSIPATION R9 390 1015MHZ XXX OC 8GB DDR5 DISPLAYPORT HDMI DUAL DVI +(additional $314.99)


ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970 GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16SLI your graphics card: (*Potential future proofing upgrade? – *only if you went with the GTX 970) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970 GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 (additional $289.99)

Get more graphics power with an R9 390X (Serious about doing 1440p resolutions?)-XFX Double Dissipation R9 390X 1050MHZ 8GB DDR5 Display Port HDMI Dual DVI Graphics Cards R9-390X-F28M Price: $369.99 Corsair Hydro Series H80i GT Performance Liquid CPU Cooler CW-9060017-WW – Add a liquid CPU Cooler for quieter, more customized and efficient cooling ($89.99)


$600 Gaming PC Build of the Month

March 2016 ( $600 PC Build):

Gaming PC Build Recipe:

(Game at Smoothly with High settings and FPS at 1920X1080 resolutions in most games)

Hardware Link Price Image
Estimated Price: $587.93 (March 2016)
Processor $129.99
Motherboard
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
$94.99
Graphics Card XFX DOUBLE DISSIPATION R9 380 990MHZ XXX OC 2GB DDR5 DISPLAYPORT HDMI DUAL DVI Graphics Cards R9-380P-F22M $179.99
RAM Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 1600 (PC3-12800) 240-Pin UDIMM Memory BLS2KIT4G3D1609DS1S00/BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00 $32.99
Hard Drive Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST1000DM003) $49.99
Power Supply EVGA 600 B1 80+ BRONZE, 600W Continuous Power, 3 Year Warranty Power Supply 100-B1-0600-KR $44.99
Computer Case Corsair Carbide Series 200R Compact ATX Case CC-9011023-WW $54.99
Optical Drive No optical drive included in base build cost – *This should be considered optional (LG Electronics Internal Super Multi Drive Optical Drives GH24NSC0B)

Overview: $600 Gaming PC Build

The March 2016 $600 budget gaming pc build is a very capable 1080p gaming machine that you can expect to play a variety of games maxed out with decent fps. This could be considered the staple build for most enthusiasts either just starting out or wanting to simply get up and gaming on standard HD 1080p gaming.

The included cpu is the AMD FX-8320 8 Core Black Edition, which provides significant potential for a $600 budget gaming PC and this processor is also unlocked and easily overclockable (to get the full potential of overclocking I do suggest upgrading the cpu cooler, such as the one included in the hardware alternatives table below).

The motherboard included is the ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970.  This has been a popular budget AM3+ motherboard for quite some time and has been included in the $600 build here for quite some time as well – the Asus M5a97 has the following specification according to Asus (read more at asus.com):

  • Dual Intelligent Processors – TPU + EPU.
  • Remote GO! – One-stop PC Remote Control and Home Entertainment
  • USB 3.0 Boost – Faster USB 3.0 Transmission with UASP
  • Network iControl – Real-time Network Bandwidth Control
  • DirectKey – A Dedicated Button to Access the BIOS Directly
  • USB BIOS Flashback – Easy, Worry-free USB BIOS Flashback with Hardware-based Design
  • UEFI BIOS – Flexible & Easy BIOS Interface

For the graphics card we have the XFX R9 380, which fits comfortably into the budget and the performance goals of this build, and is the current best buy $200 graphics card for 1080p gaming. Read more about the R9 380’s benchmarks over at the PCWorld R9 380 review.

The included memory is  a kit of  Crucial Ballistix Spor DDR3 8GB, which should be enough memory for this gaming pc. And for a hard drive we have a 1TB Seagate Barracuda, which is a standard HDD with plenty of space at a great price – you can check out the hardware alternatives table if you would be interested in using a solid state drive instead, which I also strongly recommend.

For a power supply unit, we have the EVGA 600B 600Watt power supply, this is a great budget PSU and more then enough power for this build.

There was one change in the $600 build this month, and this is the addition of the Corsair Carbide Series 200R PC case. This case is an affordable easy to build in case that doesn’t sacrifice appeal for price – or as Corsair coins it, “Everything You Need, Nothing You Don’t“. Read more at Corsair.com.

Upgrade Suggestions for the $600 Gaming PC Build:

If you have a little more to spend now or later, the below hardware suggestions may be some upgrade suggestions for this $600 gaming pc build in order to get the most out of your build.

I would suggest a CPU cooler other then the included FX 8320 stock cooler if you want to take full advantage of overclocking, such as the Corsair Hydro Series H55 liquid cpu cooler – I’ve included this cooler since it provides a quality low profile solution as a higher air cooler may be a tad tight for this build, although you can fit in a more affordable Cooler Master Hyper 212 in the above case as well, which would work perfectly fine.

The second choice here is a better graphics card, such as the XFX R9 380X (check out the R9 380x benchmarks over at Anandtech.com). This may be worth while if you have a little more to spend now and is a newer graphics card release.

You can speed up your read and write times with an affordable  solid state drive such as the 120 GB Samsung 850 EVO you see below, which can either be purchased with the included HDD in the $600 build above, or on its own. Likewise, you can also up the SSD to the 250GB version for not much more and just go with that as well.

There is also a better motherboard suggestion for those that may have a tad more to spend on one – the included motherboard is the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 R5, which supports better overclocking and Crossfire + SLI Support (so you can add in two R9 380’s in the future should you want to).

Better CPU Cooler (liquid cooler): Corsair Hydro Series H55 Quiet Edition Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060010-WW) ($59.99) OR you can get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($29.74) Better Graphics Card (Radeon R9 380X – XFX R9 380X DD XXX OC 990MHZ 4GB DDR5 DP HDMI 2XDVI Graphics Cards, R9-380X-F24M ($229.99)
Better Motherboard – Gigabyte AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX DDR3 1600 AMD – AM3+ Motherboards GA-990FXA-UD5 R5 Price: $149.99


March 2016 Gaming PC Build Mice, Keyboard & Monitor Peripheral Considerations

The peripheral considerations are included as an attachment to the March 2016 gaming pc builds of the month and is for those looking to purchase a gaming keyboard, mouse or monitor. So if you are interested, please check out the March 2016 gaming PC peripheral suggestions.

Best and Top Gaming PC Build Mice Keyboards and Monitors March 2016

Operating System Options

If you don’t already have an operating system for your new gaming pc build, then you’re going to have to either invest in purchasing a standard OS such as Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10. Otherwise, there are some free alternatives that you could consider below as well. Keep in mind that you will need an optical drive should you decide to purchase the install discs, however you can also purchase Windows online or as a USB stick and install it that way – this would be the process for installing your OS without an optical drive (which isn’t included in each of the base builds above).

The following are some operating systems you can consider installing upon putting your Gaming PC build together. The first three will cost you and are either Windows 7 or 8.1, or 10 – I have no opinions here so I’ll leave the purchase of these up to the discretion of yourself, but do keep in mind that either way you do have the option of upgrading to Windows 10 for now. I have also included two other operating systems that are both currently free. Ubuntu is a Linux based operating system. The last OS is SteamOS, which is also a Linux OS being developed by Valve Corporation and is being made to be used for a Steam Machine game console.

OS Link Price Image
Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 System Builder OEM DVD 64-Bit $99.99  
Windows 7 Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit, System Builder OEM DVD 1 Pack (New Packaging) $107.99  
Windows 10 Upgrade Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit System Builder OEM | PC Disc $88.97  
Ubuntu Ubuntu – Desktop Free Ubuntu Logo
SteamOS SteamOS Beta “Build your own Steam Machine” Free Steam Operating System OS

March 2016’s Gaming PC Hardware Overview Video:

Video is in production**

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  1. Hi,Corey. For the 600 build,could I replace the case with something else? If so,what other case would you recommend? Also,would this handle streaming on twitch? Besides play games like The Division and GTAV? (Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to this,I plan on building my first one once I have all the parts)

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      Author

      Hi Ro,

      The $600 build can for sure have the case replaced. You just need to look for a Mid Tower to Full Tower sized case that would fit an ATX sized motherboard. I can probably make a ton of suggestions, but it would all depend on the max you’d want to spend on a case. If you want some choices that generally stick within the $600 budget ranged, the previous months $600 builds cases would still make sense – https://newbcomputerbuild.com/2016-gaming-pc-builds-month/ otherwise if you have a cap on cost I can name a few more.

      Yes, this build can handle streaming, but remember ultimately this will also depend on your internet connection.

      1. Ah. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate it. one last question: something like the NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case CA-S340MB (Matte) would suffice then right?

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          Author

          Hi Joey,

          No problem. Personally I would probably go with the Corsair RM750i given its the same cost, its a newer psu, although apples to apples they are very similar. The Corsair RM750i does have nicer modular cables and the Corsair RM750i has rated well in overall lower sound output.

  2. On the $600 build, if I were to go with the upgrade suggestion of the Motherboard and the Graphics card, do I need to worry about upping the power supply at all?

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      Author
  3. Hi Corey,

    Sorry to bother you again. I would like to make the 1000$ build to play games like gta5 and Skyrim. Would I be able to play it on a 1440p 144Hz monitor with decent frame rates or better go for a 1080p 144Hz monitor? And is there a big difference between them?

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Tim,

      No worries! If you can afford it the 1440p monitor will look much better and the $1000 build is capable of playing gta v and skyrim up to 60fps with high settings as well, depending on in game situations. You can also scale back to 1080p on a 1440p monitor if you need to or cut settings if you need to up those frame rates still. Otherwise a crisp 1080p 144hz monitor will still look very visually appealing and the $1000 build will no doubt be able to max out those games with high fps – my thinking is though that it’s easier to scale back settings and resolutions from the higher rez monitor then to then have to sell your 1080p monitor should you ever want to bump it up (my 2cents).

      Some GTA V Gameplay using a similar setup and 1440p – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyaqsqJ5w5Y

      Let me know if you have any further questions!

  4. Kind of a stretch to ask. But Ifor i was gonna spend around 8 hundred to low 9 what could I downgrade from the 1k build.

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      Author

      Hi Charles,

      No problem for asking.

      You could switch the cpu to an Intel i5 6500.
      Motherboard to a Gigabyte GA-G1.Sniper B7
      Choose just the Seagate 1TB HDD right now

      And that would get you to about $890 using the GTX 970 graphics card.

      If you still want to save more, you could then switch to an R9 380X Graphics card, which would then put the build at $830. Would that get you close enough to your budget?

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