Gaming PC Builds – April 2016
Jump to a specific budget build –
- Gaming PC Build of the Month ( $1500 ): April 2016
- Gaming PC Build of the Month ( $1000 ): April 2016
- Gaming PC Build of the Month ( $600 ): April 2016
- Gaming PC Peripheral Considerations (Keyboards, Mice & Monitors)
Introducing the Gaming PC Builds of the Month
Welcome to the April 2016 edition of the monthly gaming pc builds here at Newb Computer Build.
There have been a few tweaks to the $1500 and $1000 builds, which both include two separately newly released pc cases, which is always nice to showcase – giving you the builder the most up to date hardware. Most of all, the $600 build has had a huge re-vamp of hardware with the showcase of an Intel skylake processor, an introduction of an ssd and more.
As a re-cap and quick introduction to these builds for those new and returning builders there are three strategically planned builds put together each and every month here on the site. The builds each have a specific purpose that go vaguely as such – the $1500 build is for those who want to max every game out at 1440p with high fps and even for those who can see themselves even trying out 4K resolutions with scaled back settings. The $1000 build is for those who want to max every game out ay 1080p resolutions and even see themselves try some games at 1440p with scaled back settings. And finally, the $600 pc build is for those who want to play on high-max settings in most games at 1080p depending on the games played.
Feel free to say hi, leave a comment or ask any questions about your specific builds – otherwise, best of luck building!
April 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 : | $1418.47 (April 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) | $34.54 |  |
| 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 if you feel you’d need more storage. | – | |
| SSD | Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM) | $86.99 |  |
| 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 | $109.99 |  |
| Computer Case | Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-ALPHA Mid Tower (Black/Silver or Black/Red or White/Red) | $79.99 |  |
| Optical Drive | No optical drive included in base build cost – *This should be considered optional | – |
Overview: Gaming PC Build ( $1500 )
The April 2016 $1500 build is much cheaper this month hovering in at closer to $1400 than $1500 – what this means for any newer builders is that you can get into extreme gaming at a great price. This 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 (as in play all games on the higher of resolutions), this is it.
The above cpu is the Intel i5 6600K processor and the Gigabyte Geforce GTX 980Ti overclocked graphics card. This powerful duio will run your gaming beast to its full extent and should you be interested. 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 and worth the eye candy as a result.
The included CPU cooler is the Cooler Master Hyper 212. The Intel 6600K Skylake processor needs the purchase of a cpu cooler, and the Hyper 212 EVO will help you overclock this cpu easily by keeping those temperatures down. For those who want to spend a little more, there is a liquid CPU (the Corsair H100i) included in the hardware alternatives section below, which will give you a much quieter, more customized cooling experience.
For a motherboard we have 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 16GB of memory (two 8GB sticks) with the included Crucial Ballistix Sport ram kit.
There is an included solid state drive, which is the 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)
A newly released case for mid 2016, the Corsair SPEC-ALPHA is included in the $1500 build for April 2016. This case has a hard edge design and comes in three color combinations including Black/Silver (showcased above) or Black/Red or White/Red. This case features a tool free drive installation, three speed fan control and a big panoramic side window to showcase your high-end pc build – plus it’s actually quite an affordable case.
Learn more about the new Corsair SPEC-ALPHA through Corsairs promotional video:
*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
The following hardware are for those who want to either add to or upgrade the included hardware in the $1500 pc build, further adding to its maximum potential.
You can bump the cpu up to an Intel i7 6700K cpu if you do things like video work, graphics work etc. since this isn’t really needed for pure gaming – plus this cpu is much cheaper this time around.
The $1500 gaming pc build only includes a Samsung EVO 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, and a slight bump in SSD write speeds (over the Samsung EVO’s).
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 ($358.88) – Do more then gaming? Then perhaps an Intel 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 – If you plan to do 4K Gaming *Note: If you want to SLI you should consider at least an 850W psu such as the EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G2 PSU ($123.71). |
 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 ($359.99) |
April 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: | $989 (April 2016) | ||
| Processor | Intel Boxed Core I5-6600K 3.50 GHz, 6 M Processor Cache 6 for LGA 1151 (BX80662I56600K) | $239.99 |  |
| Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO – CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2) | $34.54 |  |
| Motherboard | $133.99 |  |
|
| Graphics Card
|
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970 GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 | $304.99
|
 |
| RAM | $40.45 |  |
|
| Hard Drive | *No HDD Included – Optional. See Alternatives Section if you feel you’d need more storage. | ||
| SSD | Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM) | $86.99 |  |
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G1 80+ GOLD, 650W Continuous Power, Fully Modular 10 Year Warranty Power Supply 120-G1-0650-XR | $78.10 |  |
| Computer Case | $74.99 |  |
|
| Optical Drive | No optical drive included in base build cost – *This should be considered optional | – |
Overview: Gaming PC Build ( $1000 )
The $1000 build is for those who want to be playing all games at 1920×1080 resolutions maxed right out, or perhaps even for those that want to dabble in 2560×1440 resolutions with scaled back settings – if this sounds like you then the April 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 (alternatively you could consider a slightly more expensive 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).
For the needed 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
The included graphics card is a Zotac GeForce GTX 970 a graphics card easily capable of maxing any game out at 1920×1080 resolutions with high FPS and perhaps even dabble into 2560×1440.
The RAM included is the affordable kit of Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR4 RAM, which is enough memory for most standard gaming pc builds, 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 – should you require more then 250GB of storage right away you could also consider adding in a cheap 1TB HDD as a secondary drive.
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.
Phanteks has recently released their P400 and P400s cases and included in this build is the Phanteks P400 PC case. The Phanteks P400S though would still be up for recommendation, but only for those who are more worried about keeping their pc more silent (whereas P400S stands for the silent version of the two, which also includes a fan controller).
The Phanteks P400 case is a clean slick case with RBG lighting, which adds a unique character and a solid metal exterior – this case is for those new and old to pc building. The case comes in black, white or grey. Check out the full specifications at phanteks.com.
Learn more about the Phanteks P400 case through this video –
$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 April 2016 $1000 gaming pc build are included below.
If you want more graphics power in the future you could potentially SLI two GTX 970’s. If you go this route, then you will also need a stronger power supply, as much as 850w – so there is one included below (I would only consider the larger PSU if you really plan on doing this).
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 SLI (adding two GTX 970’s for example) then 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 ($123.71).
 Add a 500GB SSD:Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E500B/AM) = ($149.99) – |
 |
 (Want to max games out as 2560×1400 resolutions?) Then get more graphics power with a single R9 390X – Gigabyte AMD R9 390X 512 Bit GDDR5 8GB 2xDVI/HDMI/3xDP G1 Gaming Graphics Card GV-R939XG1 GAMING-8GD Price: $409.99 |
 Corsair Hydro Series H80i GT Performance Liquid CPU Cooler CW-9060017-WW – Add a liquid CPU Cooler for quieter, more customized and efficient cooling ($96.53) |
April 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: | $596.98 (April 2016) | ||
| Processor | $121.58 |  |
|
| Motherboard | Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel H170 ATX DDR4 Motherboard GA-H170-Gaming 3 | $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) DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200) DIMM 288-Pin Memory BLS2K4G4D240FSA/BLS2C4G4D240FSA | $40.45 |  |
| SSD | MyDigitalSSD (256GB) BP5e Slim 7 Series 7mm 2.5″ SATA III (6G) SSD Solid State Drive – MDS7-BP5e-0256G | $59.99 |  |
| Power Supply | EVGA 600 B1 80+ BRONZE, 600W Continuous Power, 3 Year Warranty Power Supply 100-B1-0600-KR | $49.99 |  |
| Computer Case | Zalman ATX Mid Tower PC Case Z3 Plus-W | $49.99 |  |
| Optical Drive | No optical drive included in base build cost – *This should be considered optional | – |
Overview: $600 Gaming PC Build
The $600 build for April 2016 has seen quite the overhaul this month as this month we are showcasing an Intel Skylake i3 6100 cpu instead of the previous AMD FX 8320. Suffice to say though, I wouldn’t necessarily totally discount the previous AMD build and is still a great build, but for a more modern set of components I felt this month we would go the Intel route.
This $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.
As stated above, the included cpu is an Intel i3 6100 – a dual core cpu clocked in at 3.7 GHz and paired with that we have a XFX R9 380 graphics card as the real driver behind this builds performance. The R9 380 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 motherboard included is the Gigabyte H170 GA-H170-Gaming 3 motherboard which is a great pick with plenty of features for the $600 pc build – including features like DDR4 memory which is a bump up from the previous $600 builds overall features. This motherboard has the following features –
- LGA1151 for 6th-gen Intel® Core™ desktop processors
- Intel® Core™ i7/Core™ i5/Core™ i3/Pentium®/Celeron®
- intel H170
- DDR4 / 2 Channel / 4X DIMM / 64GB
- Killer™ E2200 Gaming Networks
- 2 SATA Express Connectors for up to 16Gb/s Data Transfer
- High Quality Audio Capacitors and Audio Noise Guard with Ambient LED Trace Path Lighting
- ATX Form Factor
For memory we have a kit of Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR4 RAM. And for storage we have a MyDigitalSSD (256GB) BP5e Slim 7 solid state drive. This is a first for the $600 build as previously included was a HDD, so this is a definite improvement.
The power supply unit included is the EVGA 600B 600Watt power supply, this is a great budget PSU and more then enough power for this build.
Finally, we have the included pc case for this build, which is the Zalman Z3 Plus-W providing fantastic value for this budget build. To learn more please visit the zalman.com product page.
Upgrade Suggestions for the $600 Gaming PC Build:
Here you will find hardware suggestions for upgrade suggestions for this $600 gaming pc build so that you can get the most out of your build & budget.
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) ($59.86) OR you can get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($29.49) |
 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 Processor- Intel Core i5-6500 3.20Ghz Processor (Price: $204.99) |
 ADATA SP550 480GB SSD ($112.99) |
April 2016 Gaming PC Build Mice, Keyboard & Monitor Peripheral Considerations
The peripheral considerations are included as an attachment to the April 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 April 2016 gaming PC peripheral.
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) | $87.00 |  |
| Windows 10 Upgrade | Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit System Builder OEM | PC Disc | $86.86 |  |
| Ubuntu | Ubuntu – Desktop | Free |  |
| SteamOS | SteamOS Beta “Build your own Steam Machine” | Free |  |
Comments 8
Hello,im new to pc building and I need your help..
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FQRtmG
+Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-ALPHA Mid Tower 79.99$
1.Is the part that i pick is good enough?
2.Will it fit in the Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-ALPHA Mid Tower?(its not in pcpartpicker =/ )
3.Aside from spec-alpha…what pc cases that has good airflow? (im worried about the temps)
4.can this rig last more than 5 years gaming?
5.can it handle graphic intensive games at 1080p?
Im sorry if these questions is too much for you…
Author
Hi Michael,
Welcome to PC Building, you’ll love it!
The Corsair Carbide SPEC-ALPHA is a newer case, which may explain why it’s not on there yet, but I do know its for sure on Amazon and even newegg right now.
1. Your parts look great. Looking at your linked build though, you won’t need the Thermal Paste, as there will be some included with the CPU cooler – the Cooler Master Hyper 212.
2. It will fit in the Corsair SPEC alpha as it supports ATX sized motherboards and will support a Hyper 212 EVO cpu cooler despite Corsairs minimum height recommendation for CPU coolers (as this video proves – https://youtu.be/EkC2UYsMvUU?t=5m50s)
3. Other cases can be some of the others I have included in the monthly builds – such as the Corsair Carbide Clear 400C (http://amzn.to/1SyP6gX) or Phanteks Enthoo Pro (Mid or Full Tower – http://amzn.to/1SyPdJs). If you need more recommendations please let me know.
4. It can potentially last 5 years worth of gaming, but it’s always hard to know for certain with technology. However, 5 years would be a a decent estimate given you are using one of the higher end graphics cards and going with that i7.
5. It can handle higher then 1080- graphics intensive games (would even be good for great performing1440P gaming for example)
Best of luck and let me know if you have any more questions 🙂
Hi Corey
This is an awesome site you got here. Am new to pc building and all this really helps. I have a question on the pc tower choice for the 1500 build .. Well am more looking for a recommendation on a good choice or what I should look for when picking out a full size tower that will accommodate the 1500 build motherboard.. Thanks
Author
Hi German Aguilar,
Thank you so much for the kinds comments, glad you’ve found it useful! In terms of what to look for in choosing a full tower with regards to the $1500 motherboard – well first, any full tower will fit the $1500 motherboard since Full Towers support ATX sized motherboard, which the $1500 motherboard is. Second, I would focus on what why you want a full tower, as in they are larger and can fit tons more stuff. Thirdly, what do you want in a full tower – as in your preference on how it looks. There are tons of good full tower, some recommendations I would have could be the NZXT Phantom 530 Full Tower, Corsair 750D or the Phanteks Enthoo Pro – all reputable and affordable full towers.
Let me know if you have any further questions!
Hello, i’m new to the whole computer setup.
And im planning to go with the April $1000 build however i dont really fancy the phanteks computer case as i find the led lights to be useless, so im just asking if i can just use any mid ATX tower computer case to replace the phanteks P400, and also if there are any other computer cases you might recommend.
Author
Hello Dayn,
Hello and welcome to the pc builder world!
You are right all you would need is a mid tower ATX sized case or greater (so mid tower through to full town sizes). One caution though would be to check if the case does support the Hyper 212 Evo cpu coolers height, so the case would need to support cpu cooler heights of at least 159mm.
In terms of a recommendation of mine and compatible cases, I would check through some of the previous months builds posted here as they would be compatible and my recommendations (https://newbcomputerbuild.com/2016-gaming-pc-builds-month/). Otherwise, if you do have any other qualities you’d like to find in a case, let me know and I’m sure I could spit some suggestions your way.
A couple suggestions for non LED cases though and for if you like the minimalistic look I would suggest something like the Corsair Carbide Clear 400C (new case, the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Mid Tower or the NZXT S340.
Best of luck and let me know if you have any other questions along the way.
Hi Corey,
Is it worth it to still buy the unlocked cpu but not overclocking it? rather buy the non k cpu? i5 6600 or the i5 6600k.
Thanks!
Author
Hi Joey! Great question.
If you know for a fact you would never ever be interested then you’d be just fine with the 6500 processor and you would save $40 using the same setups above in the $1000 or $1500 builds (This video does a great comparison between the chips if you want some affirmation – https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=112&v=MrfTcXQlsbs)If its between the 6600K and 6600, I would just go with the 6600K since the cost difference is negligible.