November 2015 Gaming PC Builds of the Month

November 2015 Gaming PC Builds of the Month

Gaming PC Builds – November 2015

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November 2015 Gaming PC Builds of the Month

Gaming PC Builds of the Month Introduction:

If you’re looking build a PC that’s affordable and capable of playing any game out there, then you’ve come to the right place. Check out any of the three November 2015 gaming pc builds below in the three budget categories of $600, $1000 and $1500, with suggestions for alternative hardware should you have a larger budget or want ideas for future upgrades.

Depending on what games you plan on playing or how much you have to spend on a PC will ultimately determine which build is best for you. There are many great game releases coming up in the following months such as Fallout 4 (view the speculated Fallout 4 builds here), Star Wars: Battlefront, call of Duty Black ops III, and even Deus Ex to name a few. Not to mention that November is generally a fantastic time to build a PC with the start of holiday sales, Black Friday and even Cyber Monday to price out cheaper prices on each piece of hardware – therefore I could conclude now is a fantastic time to be building a performance gaming pc.

Also, I would like to invite you to check out my latest gaming pc build – a brand new Micro ATX Skylake PC build, where I also I did a hardware / unboxing video. This build would be a slightly upgraded version of the below $1000 build using a smaller MicroATX form factor, so if you would be interested in that please check it out.

This month features very little in terms of newer hardware, but the prices of each of the builds has gone down overall making them even more affordable and with room for further upgrades should you want to. I hope you enjoy this months builds and as per usual please leave any questions of comments below the article and best of luck with your builds.

$1500 Gaming PC Build - Newb Computer Build

November 2015 PC Builds ( $1439 )

Gaming PC Build Recipe:

Game with Extreme settings at resolutions of 2560×1400 and 1920×1080 & 4K!

Hardware Link Price Image
Estimated Price: $1439.71
Processor Intel Boxed Core I5-6600K 3.50 GHz, 6 M Processor Cache 6 for LGA 1151 (BX80662I56600K) $254.99
Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO – CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2) $28.99
Motherboard Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 ATX DDR4 Motherboards GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 $152.99
Graphics Card PNY GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Graphics Cards VCGGTX980T6XPB-CG $626.99
RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 2400MHz (PC4-19200) C14 Memory Kit – Black (CMK16GX4M2A2400C14) $96.99
Hard Drive *No HDD Included – Optional. See Alternatives Section.  –
SSD Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM) $96.29 Samsung 850 evo
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 $108.52
Computer Case Silverstone Tek ATX, Micro-ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Side Window Panel KL05B-W $69.99
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: Gaming PC Build ( $1500 )

The $1500 gaming pc build of the month for November 2015 is meant for those that want to game on Ultra Settings without any hiccups and that’s at resolutions of both 1920×1080 and 2560×1440. Here we have an Intel i5 6600K processor and the PNY GTX 980Ti graphics card you’ll be able to knock the socks off of any game from 1080p to 1440p resolutions without any difficulty while maintaining high fps. and you’ll even have little difficulty at 4K should you have a monitor to support it too. The PNY 980Ti linked above is at an even lower price this month, so it’s a great time to purchase that card.

The included CPU is the Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU cooler will help you overclock the 6600K cpu no problems once to ever. Moreover though, you need a cpu cooler since the Skylake processors don’t come with any stock cooler once so ever, so why not get one of the highest rated air coolers, especially considering its cost. For those who want to spend a little more, there is even a liquid CPU included in the hardware alternatives section below, which will give you a much quieter, more customized cooling experience.

The new skylake processors require a Z170 chipset motherboards. The included motherboard is the Gigabyte Intel Z170 GA-Z170X-Gaming 3, supporting DDr4, SLI and Crossfire (allowing two GTX 980Ti’s for example), USB 3.1 and more including (Read 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 & 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

As per usual I have included a kit of 16Gb of RAM, but with the skylake cpu / z170 chipset motherboard combo, we can now include the newer DDR4 memory instead of DDR3. Included is 16GB (two 8GB sticks) of Corsair Vengeance, plenty of memory for this gaming pc build, and you can also keep in mind that the motherboard for this build also allows up to 64GB of total memory , leaving you with plenty of upgrade room for the future.

I have no longer included an HDD and have opted just for a Solid State Drive  “SSD” for the $1500 build, which will perform much better helping with those load / boot times and reading speeds. The included SSD is the Samsung 850 EVO 250GB which will give you enough space for your OS and to store numerous games / software. If you find you will need more storage you can always add in a separate HDD such at that included in the Alternatives section below, or opt for an SSD with more storage.

The power supply used for many months is the highly rated 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.

The gaming PC case included is the Silverstone Tek Kublai KL05B-W, which for a mid tower offers substantial room for large graphics card, liquid cooling and plenty of drive space. It includes a side window to view you amazing hardware and plus it’s quite affordable for the quality and attention to detail Silverstone has put into this case. The following are the case’s specification and if you want to learn / read more please visit silverstontek.com:

  • Interference-free design for mounting 240mm or 280mm radiator
  • Highly flexible storage accommodation of up to 8 or 11 drives*
  • Quick access filters for easy cleaning
  • Motherboard back plate opening for quick CPU cooler assembly
  • Mesh front panel intake maximizes airflow with side window for viewing system innards (KL05-W)
  • Front-side intake vents with foam padded side panels to minimize noise (KL05-Q)
  • All black painted interior for stylish look
  • *Requires purchase of additional drive cage

I have started to purposely leave out optical drives in all of my pc builds. The main reason is that I’m finding there is little use to having one anymore and it does bring the overall cost of the build down slightly. I also find the biggest usage to having one is to install Windows / your Operating System, which can be easily accomplished via a USB stick or external hard drive.

$1500 Gaming PC Build Upgrade Suggestions

The following is some extra alternative hardware for those that have a little more to spend or for those that want upgrade ideas for the future for the above $1500 gaming pc build.

Included in the build is an i5 Intel 6600K Skylake, but for those that do more then gaming perhaps an Intel i7 6700K cpu might be needed; this would be beneficial for those that do video work or even graphics work where there is some rendering that could benefit from an i7.

As I stated in the $1500 gaming pc build overview above, there is no HDD included in the build  which shouldn’t matter for most 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 use one drive for ultimate speeds on an SSD; this does come at a higher cost, but is much cheaper then is used to be.

You could also really increase your graphics power by SLI’ing your GTX 980 Ti by adding in a second PNY 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. 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.

Intel Boxed Core I7-6700K 4.00 GHz 8M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700K ($414) – Do more then gaming? Like show off? – Then an i7 might be the right choice PNY GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Graphics Cards VCGGTX980T6XPB-CG ($626.99) – SLI with two GTX 980 Ti’s for some super graphics performance.*If you want to SLI you should consider 850W psu such as the EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G2 PSU ($120.03).
Purchase a liquid CPU cooler (instead of the included air cooler): Corsair Hydro Series H100i GTX High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler CW-9060021-WW ($115.10) 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 ($384.43)


$1000 Gaming PC Build - Newb Computer Build

November 2015 PC Builds ( $985 )

Gaming PC Build Recipe:

Capability: Game with Extreme settings at 1920X1080 resolutions and even High Settings in some games at 2560×1400

Hardware Link Price Image
Estimated Price: $984.93
Processor Intel Boxed Core I5-6600K 3.50 GHz, 6 M Processor Cache 6 for LGA 1151 (BX80662I56600K) $254.99
Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO – CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2) $28.99  
Motherboard $138.49
Graphics Card

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0, 26% Cooler and 36% Quieter Cooling Graphics Card 04G-P4-2974-KR


 

Alternative Card:

*Potential for two R9 390’s in Crossfire in the future

 

 

$319.99


$319.99

 


 

RAM $52.99
Hard Drive Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST1000DM003) $49.34
SSD *Not included – Check the additions / alternatives section below for options!
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G1 80+ GOLD, 650W Continuous Power, Fully Modular 10 Year Warranty Power Supply 120-G1-0650-XR $79.99
Computer Case $59.99
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: Gaming PC Build ( $1000 )

The November 2015 $1000 gaming pc build should be able to squeeze high performance fps in most games at 1080p and even 1440p. This build uses a combination of the skylake Intel i5 6600K cpu and the EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX or alternatively a Gigabyte Gaming R9 390 graphics card.

This build also includes the highly rated Cooler Master Hype 212 cpu cooler, this helps tremendously when overclocking your unlocked Intel i5 6600K processor and since the Intel i5 6600K doesn’t come with a stock cooler, you need to purchase a cpu cooler anyhow. If you check out the hardware alternative table below, you will also see an option for a liquid cpu cooler.

The included z170 chipset motherboard we have is the ASUS Z170-K Z170 motherboard. This motherboard is one of the newer ones released in the last couple of months and for a more affordable motherboard, it still comes with onboard USB 3.1 and more including (learn more Asus.com) –

  • 5X Protection II – Advanced hardware safeguards for all-round protection
  • DDR4 memory overclocked to 3466MHz
  • Onboard USB 3.1 Gen 2 for 10Gbit/s data transfer speeds
  • Lightning-fast M.2 with PCIe® 3.0 x4 interface
  • Epic gaming audio with LED-illuminated shielding
  • Media-acclaimed UEFI BIOS with EZ Flash 3
  • Fan Xpert 3 advanced fan controls for ultimate cooling and silent performance

*One thing to note that is you can’t do SLI with this motherboard, but you can Crossfire, so if you go with an R9 390 instead of the GTX 970, you have the potential for adding in another one later on.

Again this month, there are two graphics card included in the build table above. The first graphics card included, is the EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX and alternatively for the exact same price there is also a Gigabyte Gaming R9 390. Both of these cards will perform very similarly, so I’ll leave the choice as to which you would like to go with. Either graphics card will max any modern game at 1920×1080 and even in resolutions beyond that up to 2560×1400, but they may differ slightly in particular games at specific resolutions, so if you have a specific set of games in mind, try searching specific benchmarks for either the GTA 970, or AMD R9 390 as they might perform slightly better then one or the other in a specific game (*note YouTube can be great for looking up specific gaming hardware benchmarks).

The RAM included is a kit of Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR4 RAM, which is generally enough memory for a standard gaming pc build.

The power supply unit 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 a gaming PC case, I’ve included the Antec Three Hundred Two mid tower gaming pc case. This is a standard mid tower sleek looking basic case that has high efficiency cooling, tool less design and plenty of room for extra drives for this build. To learn more about this case please visit antec.com.

$1000 Gaming PC Build Upgrade Suggestions

Here is some alternative hardware upgrades for those wanting to spend a tad more or for those that want some upgrade ideas.

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).

Since there is no SSD included in the base $1000 build, I do highly suggest considering one and you can purchase one instead of the included Seagate HDD in the build above. Featured below is a super fast quality SSD, the SanDisk Extreme Pro 240GB SSD – or maybe you have tons of media or simply need extra space, so you could upgrade to the 2TB version of the Seagate HDD for not much more then the 1Tb model.

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).

Add a Fast Quality SSD Boot Drive: SanDisk Extreme PRO 240GB SATA 6.0Gb/s 2.5-Inch 7mm Height Solid State Drive (SSD) With 10-Year Warranty- SDSSDXPS-240G-G25 = (+ $117.80) – Crossfire your graphics card:
(*Potential future proofing upgrade? – *only if you went with the AMD R9 390 as you can SLI and have two GTX 970’s) –Gigabyte GV-R939G1 GAMING-8GD G1 Gaming Graphics Card AMD R9 390 512 Bit GDDR5 8GB 2xDVI/HDMI/3xDP ($319.99) – If you plan on doing Crossfire 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 ($122.12).
More Hard Drive Space With 2TB –Seagate 2TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST2000DM001) Price: $71.99 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

Monthly Gaming PC Build ( $579): November 2015

(Game at Smoothly with Medium – High settings at 1920X1080 resolutions)

Gaming PC Build Recipe:

Hardware Link Price Image
Estimated Price: $ 579.28
Processor AMD FD8320FRHKBOX FX-8320 FX-Series 8-Core Black Edition $144.99
Motherboard
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
$79.99
Graphics Card EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB GAMING, Silent Cooling Graphics Card 02G-P4-2951-KR $159.99
RAM Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 1600 (PC3-12800) UDIMM Memory Modules BLS2K4G3D169DS3/BLS2C4G3D $34.99
Hard Drive Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST1000DM003) $50.49
Power Supply EVGA 600 B1 80+ BRONZE, 600W Continuous Power, 3 Year Warranty Power Supply 100-B1-0600-KR $59.99
Computer Case BitFenix Computer Case BFC-NEO-100-KKXSK-RP Black $49.99
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 $600 gaming pc build is a standard gaming pc build for those that want to get into PC gaming at a reasonable cost and $600 is the perfect starting point since it still provides the performance a gaming pc promises and it does so without skimping out on the essentials. Even though this is the lowest budget build here, it’s a fully capable 1080p gaming machine that you can expect to play a variety of games maxed out with decent fps.

Included is the AMD FX-8320 8 Core Black Edition processor, 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 chosen for another $600 monthly gaming pc build month is a full sized ATX motherboard – ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970.  This has been a popular budget AM3+ motherboard for quite some time -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

The included graphics card is the GTX 950. Included in the $600 pc build is the EVGA GeForce GTX 950, which does perform better then our similarly priced previous R7 370. If you have a little extra to spend, you could also consider an R9 380, which is included in the hardware alternatives table below.

The included memory is  a kit of  Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 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.

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

The PC case included is a BitFenix Neos Black, which is a slightly different model of the case included last month. This is a basic case that does what it needs to – houses all the hardware included in your gaming pc build. The great think about the Neos case though is that it does come in a variety of color configurations, aside from the black one I’ve featured here. You can read more about the BitFenix Neos case and its specifications at BitFenix.com.

Upgrade Suggestions for the $600 Gaming PC Build:

If you want some suggestions for upgrades or some hardware alternatives to those in the gaming pc hardware in the November $600 pc build above, then you may be interested in some of the suggestions below.

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.

The second choice here is a better graphics card, such as the MSI R9 380. Purchase this if you have a little more cash to spend, which is worth the investment for a little more fps while gaming.

If you need more hard drive space it doesn’t cost too much more to get a 2TB Seagate Barracuda, likewise you can also speed up your read and write times with an affordable budget solid state drive such as the 250 GB Samsung 850 EVO you see below.

Better CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H55 Quiet Edition Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060010-WW) ($69.86) Better Graphics Card (Radeon R9 380): XFX Double Dissipation R9 380 970MHZ 4GB DDR5 Display Port HDMI Dual DVI Graphics Cards R9-380P-F24M ($189.99)

Better Motherboard – MSI Computer ATX DDR3 1066 Motherboards 990FXA GAMING Price: $134.99
Samsung 850 EVO SSD 250gb


November 2015 Gaming PC Build Mice, Keyboard & Monitor Peripheral Considerations

The peripheral considerations are included as an attachment to the November 2015 gaming pc builds of the month. The builds above include the essential hardware to build a gaming pc, however you do need peripherals in order to control your gaming pc. So if you already don’t have a mouse, keyboard, monitor or OS, then you may want to check out the following article for some suggestions on gaming specific peripherals.

The November 2015 gaming pc peripherals article is separated into three separate categories including each in a higher end, mid-range and basic peripheral category.

To view this months peripheral suggestions please visit: November 2015 Gaming PC Peripherals of the Month

Gaming PC Build Mice Keyboards and Monitors - November 2015

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 $95.99  
Windows 7 Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit, System Builder OEM DVD 1 Pack (New Packaging) $99.99  
Windows 10 Upgrade Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit System Builder OEM | PC Disc $96.56  
Ubuntu Ubuntu – Desktop Free Ubuntu Logo
SteamOS SteamOS Beta “Build your own Steam Machine” Free Steam Operating System OS

November 2015’s Gaming PC Hardware Overview Video:

Comments 72

  1. Hey Corey!
    I just want to say thank you again for doing these guides. As someone who knew nothing about computers (other than that a crappy laptop wasn’t cutting it!), these guides were the exact thing I needed to get the ball rolling. Your help and rapid replies were also incredibly helpful for when I had questions.
    My PC is finally, finally fully completed and runs like an absolute dream compared to said crappy laptop! This is my final list of components:
    http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/4v4Y3C
    I also highly recommend the case I bought for those looking for a roomy midtower. It was a dream to work with, is very quiet and has some nice but not over the top LEDs on the fans. I know the cases you recommend tend to be on the simple, sleek side so if anyone would be looking for a bit of colour then this was one of the nice, cheaper ones out there.
    Again, thank you for this site and I’m sure I’ll be back when it’s time to upgrade 🙂
    Have a good one,
    Dionne

    1. Post
      Author

      Dionne I’m so glad it all worked out nicely for you and not a problem at all! I’m also glad your case choice worked out for you, it definitely looked promising. Have any games up and running yet?

      I hope to see you around again sometime, thank you so much for the feedback and letting me know how your build turned out 🙂

      1. I was mostly installing things last night (and staring at my razer chroma keyboard’s crazy lighting!) but I ran some PayDay 2 today and it performed beautifully. I was on max settings, playing a lobby of four with a high fps and no lag at all, which was glorious. I’ve yet to try other games, but I have no doubt it’ll run just as well 🙂
        I also got photoshop cc installed and it opened the program in a literal blink of an eye, compared to the three full minutes it took my old laptop. I plan on testing how quickly it can run scripts and handle image processing tonight, but with 16gb of DDR4 ram I should be a-okay!

  2. Hey Corey, on the build of 1000 dollars, do you know any other motherboard that is also compatible? my graphics card is 39 390 (only one). Also, do you know any case that is great for this? Im thinking of replacing both of motherboard and case since the graphics card is having a hard time functioning, I have to put in a piece of wood for support on the other side for it to work and not make my monitor shut down randomly. The piece of wood supporting my gpu seemed to work before but now it doesnt. Feel free to tell me if youre confused!

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Jeron – sorry to hear again. Not sure what you mean by the piece of wood, is it because the card was heavy? Either way a good place to look for some suggestions would bet he December or Jan 2016 build – Particularly the case in the $1500 build for Jan – Phanteks Enthoo Pro for the case as its really good and the Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 3 motherboard would do. Not sure why you’re card was working then wasn’t.

      1. Hi Corey, Yeah the piece of wood is for it to support since the gpu is heavy and not aligned (It doesnt seem to become straight on the pcie slot). I have to push up the other side of the gpu for it to work. I checked the screws for the motherboard and the case are aligned correctly. So Im still not sure what’s wrong with it.

        Anyway, thanks for the suggestions! Is it okay to replace the motherboard? How am i going to put in the cpu then? Do i just carefully lift it and put it on the new motherboard or do I have to do certain things also?

        1. Post
          Author

          Yeah you should have no problem swapping the motherboard out. Like you said, you basically just carefully lift and carefully align the cpu again into the new one.

  3. Hey!
    I am back, haha. I’ve purched almost all of my parts by this point and am pretty excites, however I’m possibly looking to upgrade the graphics card. I’m torn between these three:
    http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr938wf2oc2gd
    http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp42758kr
    http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp42966kr
    This is my list of parts. Everything is ordered except for the graphics card and monitor:
    http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/CRkp7P
    I am also tempted by the EVGA GTX970, but it’s currently too expensive. If it goes on sale in the new year then I may be able to just get that card.

    1. Post
      Author

      Welcome back – I would go with that Gigabyte R9 380 out of those three choices as it currently benchmarks slightly better. And congrats on the rest of your hardware!

      1. Hey Corey, I’m currently following your $1000 build and I’m having a hard time fitting my graphics card into the case as it doesnt seem to fit. Is there anyway you can make a video to guide me through building this computer?

  4. Hey Corey, Tis me again Jeron. I have an issue regarding the 1k build. I was using the computer just like any ordinary day but then the monitor just suddenly loses its dvi/hdmi signal and the GPU fan becomes loud. Is there anything wrong to the GPU or the monitor? I just have no clue as it has been happening for quite a couple of times :C It works after restarting the computer btw.

    1. Post
      Author

      Interesting, that sounds to me like something is overheating, as it gets too hot and the pc shuts down. I would first double check that you have all the fans plugged in properly for the cpu and the cpu cooler and that you applied thermal paste (which should have been pre-applied on the evo cooler). Also make sure that the graphics card has all the plugs plugged into the cpu (which gpu did you get) and then see if it still shuts down.

        1. Post
          Author
          1. Actually, I might have lied to you. >.>

            my monitor still loses its signal from time to time after using it in a couple of days. I have tried a couple of scenarios hoping it would get fixed but apparently it still loses its signal :C.
            Here are a couple of scenarios i have tried:
            1. Switched Monitors = Randomly still receives no signal
            2. DVI plugged in = Randomly still receives no signal
            3.Plugged HDMI from DVI = randomly still receives no signal
            4.Unplugged GPU into a different pcie slot = randomly still receives no signal
            5. Checked and see that the Fan is properly plugged in properly to the cpu = randomly still recieves no signal
            6. Plugged the cords to the mobo (instead of the GPU) = randomly still receives no signal
            7. Set my sleep mod to never sleep = randomly still receives no signal I am running out of ideas as to why it does this and how to fix this any suggestions?

            1. Post
              Author

              Hi Jeron not sure what’s going on there to be honest. Are all of your driver up to date for everything? When you say loses signal, is the pc still running?

    1. Post
      Author

      Hello Hai,

      For the the major delay in response, the site flagged your comment as spam. That h105 cooler would not be compatible with the Antec case. My suggestions would be the H80i Gt, not a dual fan liquid cooler, but it works fantastic.

  5. Hey Corey,

    It’s me again. Do you know any cheaper hard drive that is compatible with the 1k priced pc listed above? I only need it so that I can install the SanDisk Extreme Pro. Heck, do I need a hard drive after installing the SanDisk? I’m a little bit confused about that too.

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Jeron,

        Not at all, you just need the Sandisk Solid State Drive as it’s just another storage device, like any hard drive. The reason sometimes people are installing both is to get more space for less money. Solid State Drives have way faster read and write times, so they are ideal, but they are also smaller in terms of space per dollar spent. So you can easily add on 1TB for example with a cheaper HDD.

        So yes, all you need is the SanDisk SSD.

        1. Awesome, thanks a lot hero! Also, on the PCI-e example you mentioned, would that be compatible for the 1k gaming pc? or the PCI-e you mentioned is just an example? If it is just an example, would you please recommend one that is compatible with it and with windows 10 64 bit? (I’m not sure if this information would help you though)

          1. Post
            Author

            You bet. I don’t actually have a PCI-e example above? Do you mean a drive that uses M.2 with PCIe? If I were to recommend a similar one to the Sandisk Extreme Pro 240GB SSD, it would be the Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive, which is about $200, compared to $120 for the SSD. Sorry if I didn’t understand correctly.

              1. Post
                Author

                Ohhh that makes perfect sense. The wifi PCI E cards / USB wifi one’s I have mentioned will work for any of the above builds and would be recommended. Thanks for clarifying!

  6. Hey Corey,

    I built the December 2014 $600 build last year and I love it! I am thinking about upgrading some things, is there anything you would recommend?(I am thinking about getting a SSD) Thanks 🙂

    Nice seeing these new builds!

    -Carter

    1. Post
      Author

      Hello Carter – well welcome back then!

      In a years time that build is still very relevant too, so that’s good. I think you are right in thinking of sticking in an SSD, I bet you’d notice a world of a different with load times. I would say the 250GB Samsung 850 EVO would be a great starting SSD, especially if you kept the 1TB drive you have now – you would just reinstall your OS on the new SSD and then use the 1TB drive for storage of less used software or media. Other then that, the next step would be the graphics card, the R9 280 is still a great card and I would only upgrade it if you feel your games are lagging in FPS lately. There was a recent new card released, the R9 380X, which may be a viable upgrade, but I’m not 100% sure how much so over your current R9 280 as it may only help by 5FPS if it performs similar to these benchmarks (could only find a polish site who has posted benchmarks yet but the graphs are in english) – http://www.purepc.pl/karty_graficzne/premierowy_test_radeon_r9_380x_vs_geforce_gtx_960_4gb?page=0,7

      Other then that you should be good still

      1. Alright, I think I will wait until next year to upgrade hardware (Besides the SSD) because my computer still performs well in most games I throw at it. Thanks for the SSD recommendation, I feel like it is going to be worth it 🙂

        -Carter

  7. Hi corey, you mentioned that we can get two alternatives on the graphics card on the 1k part the first one is the gtx 970 while the other one is the AMD 39 390. I fancied the AMD 39 390 and bought it. Here’s the thing, I did not get to read the part about replacing the power supply into 850 watts and bought the 600 Wats power supply. I have no idea what Crossfire is, but if i crossfire would I need 2 AMD 39 390? It’s not that I want to crossfire,
    its that Im worried that I bought (ONE) AMD 39 390 and still would need the 850 watts instead of the 650, so i guess the bottomline question is, do i need the 850 watts on ONE AMD R9 390 or is the 650 watts fine?

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Jeron,

      No worries, you can stick with the 650W for one R9 390. The note is if you want to crossfire (which is have two R9 390’s in the future for example) You would need more power to do so since you’d be using two cards. I mention this because I do include adding a second r9 390 in the alternatives section, but wanted people to know that if they ever go that route they would need 850W for example.

      The motherboard only supports crossfire and not sli, which essentially means you can use two AMD type graphics cards (ex. Two R0 390’s), but not two NVIDIA ones (ex. Two GTX 970’s).

      So you’re all good!

  8. Hey Corey, it’s me again; great job putting this all together, it’s really helped me alot. Anyway I have a question that I hope you can answer because everytime I look for the answer I get something from around 8-10 years ago and I’m not entirely sure its still the same.

    So I’m trying to make minor cuts in the costs for my build right here:

    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ncjR7P

    Made a terrible mistake and only can purchase from Amazon at this point. (Should have bought Visa gift cards.)

    So, what I’m trying to determine is the wattage for overclocking my CPU to 4.0 GHz, I’m not to sure what the formula for doing that would be. I’m hoping to make a small cut in the price by buying a 650W P2 Power Supply instead of the 750W G2, this will reduce my costs by about $20 which would help immensely with my close budget.

    I suppose I’m just trying to determine if that is possible. (I’m 95% sure it won’t jump over 150W more but I wanna leave myself some breathing room.)

    1. Huh, could have sworn I was on the Black Friday post… (Guess I switched to the wrong tab after I grabbed my link.) Oh well I suppose my question still applies. (Though I wish I could move this under my comment from a few weeks ago.)

    2. Post
      Author

      Hi again! Thank you and no problem, I’m not sure I can move the comment either. I would say go for it with the 650W P2 – its a Platinum rated PSU and is priced quite well right now, so it is high quality and can withstand overclocking the cpu + gpu. The minimum wattage is 600W for the GTX 980Ti, so with a 650W high efficiency PSU, I would say you’d still be good overclocking. (One post to put you at ease – https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/3p57bj/build_help_recommended_psu_wattage_for_skylake_i5/ )

      Hope this helps and bets of luck!

  9. if i were to buy the components for the 600 build for the month of November, could i still upgrade all the parts separately. And does this months 600 build still work with the : Thermaltake Versa N21 Translucent Panel ATX Mid Tower Window Gaming Computer Case CA-1D9-00M1WN-00 Computer case?

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Pit,

        By upgrading all of the parts separately, do you mean purchase a graphics cards separate from the ram and other hardware for example? If so yes of course you can upgrade everything separately.

        And yes the Thermaltake Versa N21 case will work for the $600 this month and it will fit the Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU cooler with about 1mm clearance.

        Let me know if you have any further questions 🙂

  10. Hi Corey I am building my PC here is what I have used for my config

    Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+
    Seagate 1TB SSHD
    G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB
    AMD FX-8350 Black Edition
    XFX Radeon R9 280X R9-280X – 3GB

    Circle Gaming Cabinet CC 821
    APC UPS 700VA
    Corsair CP-9020015-NA CX Series CX750

    Any Suggestion how good this will be for Playing High End Games.

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Piyush,

        I would say the build looks good. You probably can save and just go with 8GB of RAM for now since I’m not sure you’ll see the benefit of 16GB for gaming specifically with your build, even though DDR3 ram has gone down significantly in cost, so that would still be up to you.

        I don’t personally use a UPS, but if you find you’ll need it due to your location or if you want your pc up and running all the time then it would be beneficial.

        Overall though all looks good.

  11. Hello Corey, I’m back again and I like what I see on this new build. I suppose I more or less wanted advice on the PC Build I have decided to make, and I wanted your opinion on any possible improvements that I could make.

    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7JgcXL

    Since it seems like you’ve been doing this for awhile, I thought I’d also ask Black Friday related advice; particularly how much I might expect to save on my parts and also which day to do my shopping on Friday or Cyber Monday or try and spread it out on both.

    1. Post
      Author

      Welcome back! And quite honestly that build is a gamers dream. Especially for a comprehensive build with peripherals and all and it uses some of the best hardware. As for Black Friday or Cyber Monday it’s always different and would be hard for me to specifically choose a specific amount of savings. But things like hard drives or SSDs or RAM you might find the most sales with since there are so many brands and types of each it’s usually pretty easy to save some there. Something like the 6600K cpu with it being so new I wouldn’t think would have anything taken off, but another version of the GTX 980ti, maybe, Hard to tell right now though. I don’t think it would hurt to wait the week and a half or so though.

      1. Thanks for the fast response, and I understand that you can’t really tell the future. Anyway, I suppose the only other thing I wanted to ask is if you thought it was worth overclocking the i5 to run at the same speeds as the stock i7? Another thing I thought I’d ask is if the efficiency of the power supply really mattered? (I only ask because I wanted to make small cuts here and there, and I plan to change these parts as I go, so I plan to get a better one with Platinum later down the line when I need a much higher voltage.)

        I was considering both, and I just couldn’t decide for sure. Also thanks for giving me ideas on which parts I might expect better luck sale-wise on. For the computer itself (Minus the peripherals) I’ve got a budget of roughly, $1900 and I wanted to make some cuts anywhere I can just because I’d like to get the monitor at the same time. (But at this point I just don’t know if I can.)

        Anyway thanks for the advice so far and I look forward to looking at the December build. (Or the Black Friday build since I think I saw you comment somewhere on here that you were thinking about one.)

  12. Thank you for your quick reply! Very helpful.

    I do have another question. So I went ahead and ordered all the parts a couple days ago and the processor came(I’m doing $1,000 build). I read somewhere that most processors come with their own type of fan/cooler and that you need a fan for your processor. No fan came with the i5 I got. Do I to go get some other type of fan/cooler for the CPU? thanks

    1. Alright, I’m an idiot, I didn’t realize that the fan in the build was a CPU fan- I thought it was for the whole thing.(Sorry, this is my first time :”( ) No need to answer.

      1. Post
        Author

        Hey not a problem Sam, it’s all part of the learning process! You’re first assessment though is correct, as most processors do come with stock cpu coolers. However, when the newer “Intel Skylake” processors were released (such as the 6600K in that build), Intel no longer included stock coolers. My assumption is that they new most would purchase higher quality ones anyhow. Best of luck!

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Sam,

      You can buy windows 7 for USB at most pc shops, and if you search on Amazon they do sell it on usb for a little more cash then you can get it on DVD. Likewise, if you have another pc or a friend with a pc, you can either buy a DVD copy or purchase a downloadable version and install it to a usb stick relatively easy – Microsoft even has some software to help you out – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool

      Also all of the builds here do not have wifi built but do support ethernet, so you will need either a wifi usb stick or a wifi pci card (which I prefer since you install it right on the motherboard inside the case so its hidden away). Someone below actually asked the same question and I gave these two as examples – pci card like – http://goo.gl/90kJJC or this usb stick – goo.gl/DVHkBH

      Let me know if you have any more questions.

    2. Hi Sam. I’m a relative computer newbie here but I’m going to chime in on your question. If your trying to install Windows 7 on a system you have just built from scratch just keep in mind that Windows 7 has had some USB 3.0 compatibility issues. I had a hell of a time trying to install windows 7 through USB and it took a while to figure out the problem as well. I ended up yanking out an optical drive out of an old rig and threw it in to my new rig and had no problems at all when I installed windows.

  13. Hey!
    Thank you so much for putting these builds together. I’ve never built a PC before and this made things a whole lot less daunting!
    I was just wondering if the $1000 build would work well for software such as adobe photoshop and after effects? I do as much digital art and video editing as I do gaming, so a pc that can handle both is a big must. I’d be adding the recommended SSD drive to the build, and potentially up to 16GB or RAM, for that purpose. Also, I haven’t come across any cases with an SD card reader and am unsure as to what I’d need for that, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks again,
    Dionne

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Dionne,

      No problem and thank you. The $1000 build will work fine for adobe products like photoshop and others no problem. If you also do video work that requires tons of rendering, then a bump up to the Intel i7 6700K might be worth it for video encoding speeds – but with even the little bit of video work I do I’ve never had trouble with my own 6600K – but I don’t do massive video projects, so that may not apply (albeit 16GB of RAM will for sure be a great addition for that sort of thing too).
      For an SD card reader, I would simply look for a USB SD card reader as they are relatively cheap ($15 maybe?) One that support minimum USB 3.0 would probably be best.

      Hope this helps!

      1. (Sorry for taking so long to reply)
        The USB sd card reader is a great idea that never occured to me! Thanks.
        I live in Canada, and it turns out that with our terrible dollar the $1000 build (without any of the suggested upgrades) ends up being around $1500, and over my budget.. is there any way I could downgrade any components without just switching to the $600 build entirely? I plan on waiting until black friday and new years sales, but I don’t think it’ll drop the prices that much.
        Thanks again

        1. Post
          Author

          Hi Dionne, no problem. In that case you should check out the first build listed here: https://newbcomputerbuild.com/game-specific-build/call-of-duty-black-ops-iii-gaming-pc-builds-max-settings/#build1

          I would take that build and then downgrade the graphics card a bit to an R9 380 instead of the included GTX 970. In that build it uses a locked Intel i5 6500 and an H170 motherboard, this should cut costs for you and would look like this one – http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/QHZdLk

          1. And I’m back! 🙂 I finally decided on all of my parts (minus the case) and am going to wait on some sales before ordering. I was just wondering if you could look over the build list and see if there’s anything horribly wrong, haha?
            http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/FjQ8GX
            I’m still jealous of the US prices, but am fairly happy with what I have here.
            My only question is if you have any recommendations for a quiet mid tower case that still has good airflow? I did some googling but everyone has a different opinion so it’s hard to narrow it down much..

            1. Post
              Author

              Welcome back! The builds looking great, and I see nothing wrong with it at all. In terms o a good airflow case, it seems you chose a pretty good one. I don’t have any personal experience with that Enermax case, but from what I’ve read at least it seems to be a great choice for airflow and cost per dollar efficiency – http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bitfenix-shinobi-enermax-ostrog-gt-rosewill-r5-zalman-ms800,3501-12.html

              Another one in the same price range / quality would be the Cooler Master HAF 912, if you’re wanting another option.

              Best of luck with your purchase tomorrow!

  14. Hey, I just want to start off like many by saying thanks for these builds that you post monthly, it really is a great help. I do have two questions, for the 1000 build. Is there any reason you go with the EVGA card? Or is MSI or ASUS comparable. I would also like to hear your opinion of SSHD drives, as the only thing that I would really care about loading quickly is boot up. Thanks for these builds and I cant wait to see December’s.

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Lincoln,

      Thank you for the comment of support, glad to hear it. The EVGA cards are rated well, but then again so are the MSI and ASUS ones generally. It’s always best to look to see what people are saying about the specific card manufacture for that particular model, some are clocked higher and some using different methods of cooling, some have different video ports etc. And then the end all is that it may not be worth it to spend $50 more for a reference card that won’t actually provide $50 more in actual performance.

      You know what, i don’t have a ton of hands on experience with SSHD’s, but I love the concept of having more space and it actually being faster then a regular HDD and I think it would actually be a smart purchase for those that need the space and aren’t overly zealous with regards to the fastest load / boot times, although I think an SSD is about three times faster still (generalizing). Either way it’s not a bad buy for only about $30 more then a standard 1TB HDD vs a 1TB SSHD ($10 more gets you 2TB).

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Brent,

      I see no reason why not – for the most part cases can be to each their own. I don’t know anything about that particular case except for the comments to which some have alluded to it being a tad thin, but it’s affordable and will house all of the hardware just fine.

      1. Awesome. The case marks the start of me finally ordering parts to build my machine. I actually went with a case that’s five dollars more, but looks very pretty in the pictures Amazon provides. Less possitive reviews for it, but most issues seem to be size related.

        Instead of using last months 600 dollar build, I’ll probably instead go with this months. I’m downgrading the processor to a hundred dollar model Amazon advertises alongside the one you are recommending. I’ll be putting the extra fifty dollars towards the video card upgrade and an optical drive. I still have a lot of games that use physical discs from back in the day and I’m too cheap to re-buy digital versions.

        I’m going to hold off till Cyber Monday to buy any more parts. With any luck I might actually be able to afford the processor you recommend and a few other parts for cheaper. Hopefully I’ll have this put together in time for Christmas. Would be a great Christmas present to myself to finally be able to play high end games again.

        1. Post
          Author

          Hi Brent – this i s great to hear. I’m guessing that other processor is an FX 6300 right? Still a great processor if so. And smart thinking holding off a bit if you can, always good to save some. Best of luck with the selection of the rest of your parts, let me know how it goes 🙂

  15. Hey Corey! If I build the $600 rig, exactly as listed, will I need to buy anything extra, like thermal paste or cables or anything? Thanks!

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Mike,

      No you’ll be good to go as it will comes with everything you need to get your machine up and running (including SATA cables for the hard drive, power, etc). You will then of course need an OS and as someone else asked below, if you wanted wifi – you’ll need something for that (otherwise you can plug an ethernet cord directly into the motherboard).

  16. hello i saw that if you want to sli the 980 you recommend the 850w, but what about sli 970, and is it worth it to buy the gold efficiency over the bronze? thank you

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Bryan that’s a good question. You should probably have a minimum of 700-800watts if you plan to sli a gtx 970 – using this as a reference ( http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/geforce-gtx-970-sli-review,4.html ) For a gold vs bronze rated psu – Well I definitely prefer gold since it is more efficient, so it uses less energy and thus will keep heat a tad lower, while not needing to run the fans as often. So in the end it might just come down to budget and whether that would be worth the price difference for you.

  17. Hey Corey
    You believe that the black friday, the products have a substantial discount?
    and it is better to buy in a store like amazon or Microcenter?

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Camilo,

      There are generally some decent sales, but I have no way of telling a head of time. If you can wait until then, by all means it wouldn’t hurt. And with amazon vs Microcenter or any other supplier, my only opinion is that you simply get what’s more affordable taking into account shipping etc. Cyber Monday (first monday after black friday) is generally also decent for online sales. I’ve been asked by a couple to provide an update around then so I may, but if you can wait might not hurt on specific types of hardware.

  18. Hey Corey,
    First of all i just wanted to say thanks for all of your effort posting these every month. I just ordered all of the parts to do the $1,500 build, and I was thinking. Where I am going to be keeping the tower there is not a plug in for ethernet to get the internet nearby. So my question would be does the Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 ATX DDR4 Motherboards GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 come with WiFi functionality built in, or is that something you would have to buy extra. If its something you have to buy do you have any good recommendations for a wireless card?

    Let me know when you get a chance, and I thanks again for the posts, Can’t wait to get this beast set up!!

    Thanks,
    Alan

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Alan, thank you for your comments and you are right. You will need an external device such as a wireless pci card (which I prefer since they are more discrete) or a wireless usb stick. Generally a 300mbps device works just fine for gaming I find, so something like this pci card like – http://goo.gl/90kJJC or this usb stick – goo.gl/DVHkBH

      If you have a higher connection limit on your router or connection then a 450mbps device might be better, but will cost more.

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