PC Building Guide and Discussion #11 (everything is expensive...)

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Commander Clueless

Hiya, hiya. Pleased to meetcha.
Sep 10, 2008
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Right, so where were we?

Ryzen in early March.

Vega shortly thereafter.


NVIDIA is...doing something with a refresh, maybe?
 

Commander Clueless

Hiya, hiya. Pleased to meetcha.
Sep 10, 2008
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Finally got my 500GB Samsung 960 Evo up and running.


This thing is BLAZING fast. Love it.


At a solid $100-130 more than the 850 Evo counterpart, is it worth it? Probably not. But morbid curiosity always wins.
 

Kestrel

Registered User
Jan 30, 2005
5,814
129
Right, so where were we?

Ryzen in early March.

Vega shortly thereafter.


NVIDIA is...doing something with a refresh, maybe?

I'm looking forward to it. Once Ryzen arrives, the real question is - do I help my sister build her well priced new system... or do I take her money, and upgrade my system, and give her my i7? Practically speaking, I have zero need for an upgrade - but your last post shows that you... get it :laugh:
 

Hammettf2b

oldmanyellsatcloud.jpg
Jul 9, 2012
22,489
4,612
So California
Finally got my 500GB Samsung 960 Evo up and running.


This thing is BLAZING fast. Love it.


At a solid $100-130 more than the 850 Evo counterpart, is it worth it? Probably not. But morbid curiosity always wins.

speaking of SSD's, when do you think we will see significant price decreases? Not just sales, but regular prices.
 

Commander Clueless

Hiya, hiya. Pleased to meetcha.
Sep 10, 2008
15,237
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I'm looking forward to it. Once Ryzen arrives, the real question is - do I help my sister build her well priced new system... or do I take her money, and upgrade my system, and give her my i7? Practically speaking, I have zero need for an upgrade - but your last post shows that you... get it :laugh:

Get it? Heck, selling my old better-than-perfectly-good tech to friends/family in favour of unnecessary upgrades is basically my specialty! :laugh:

I have one friend in particular who always asks me when I'm going to upgrade a component he's looking for because he's so used to me looking for an excuse to purchase new tech. He's such an enabler.

I'd obviously wait to see some release Ryzen benchmarks first, but then....definitely the latter plan. ;)



speaking of SSD's, when do you think we will see significant price decreases? Not just sales, but regular prices.

If you'd asked me a few months ago I'd have said now, but we had that supply shortage/price spike happen not too long ago. Now, I have no idea.

Unfortunately, even the more economically priced "new tech" like the 960 Evo is still damn expensive, so it's hard to say. :(
 

Kestrel

Registered User
Jan 30, 2005
5,814
129
Get it? Heck, selling my old better-than-perfectly-good tech to friends/family in favour of unnecessary upgrades is basically my specialty! :laugh:

I have one friend in particular who always asks me when I'm going to upgrade a component he's looking for because he's so used to me looking for an excuse to purchase new tech. He's such an enabler.

I've mostly gotten a hold on myself, and do the practical thing... but that other person still lives below the surface :laugh: I still remember selling my dad my Q8200 processor so that I could buy a Q9550... the Q9550 was a beast, and obviously more powerful than the Q8200... but not so much so that I think I likely noticed a difference in most of the stuff I did :laugh:
 

Commander Clueless

Hiya, hiya. Pleased to meetcha.
Sep 10, 2008
15,237
2,922
I've mostly gotten a hold on myself, and do the practical thing... but that other person still lives below the surface :laugh: I still remember selling my dad my Q8200 processor so that I could buy a Q9550... the Q9550 was a beast, and obviously more powerful than the Q8200... but not so much so that I think I likely noticed a difference in most of the stuff I did :laugh:

I take the small victory of actually selling my hardware to recoup some of the cost of the new hardware. :laugh:
 

SniperHF

Rejecting Reports
Mar 9, 2007
42,632
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Phoenix
archive of old OP for next thread:

Planning to build a new computer? Don't know where to start? Read Here first!

Ask questions in this thread about upgrades and new system builds. Read through the OP and compare it to your own situation.

Things to remember: These builds do not include any OS, Keyboard, Mice, Speakers or Monitors. That is up to the builder to choose.

==================================================

Desktop PC Builds
Click the wish list link at the top of the build to purchase.
Click select all then add to cart at the bottom.



Entry Level: General purpose PC, good desktop productivity. Casual gaming.
Price Range: $400 - $450 AMD processor
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Click Here to add all of the items to your cart.
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Canadians can do the same by clicking here.

Hardware
|
Name
|
Price CA
|
Price US

Processor:| AMD Kaveri A10-7860 APU | $139 CA | $109 US

Motherboard:| Asus A88XM-A FM2+ | $139 CA | $79US

RAM:| G.Skill 8GB 2133 | $57CA | $44US

Video Card:| INTEGRATED | INTEGRATED | INTEGRATED

Power Supply:| EVGA 500W | $44 CA | $39 US

Case:| Rosewill Redbone | $49 CA | $44 US

HDD:| N/A | $N/A | N/A

SSD:| Corsair Force LE 240GB | $79 CA | $58 US

Optical Drive:| N/A | N/A | N/A

Total: |Prices as of 6-19-16|$450CA|$378 US


Entry Level: General purpose PC, good desktop productivity. Moderate gaming capability
Price Range: $500 - $600 Intel processor
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Click Here to add all of the items to your cart.
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Canadians can do the same by clicking here.

Hardware
|
Name
|
Price CA
|
Price US

Processor:| Intel i3 - 6300 Skylake | $149 CA | $146 US

Motherboard:| MSI Z170A Pro | $159 CA | $114 US

RAM:| Kingston HyperX 8GB 2400 | $44CA | $37 US

Video Card:| Gigabyte GTX 950 | $174 CA | $134 US

Power Supply:| EVGA 500W | $54 CA | $39 US

Case:| Rosewill Challenger | 69 CA | $49 US

HDD:| N/A | $N/A | N/A

SSD:| Corsair Force LE 240GB | $79 CA | $58 US

Optical Drive:| N/A | N/A | N/A

Total: |Prices as of 6-19-16|$814 CA|$583 US


Mainstream: General purpose PC, good desktop productivity and most gaming
Price Range: $800 - $850 Intel processor
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Canadians can do the same by clicking here.

Hardware
|
Name
|
Price CA
|
Price US
Processor:| Intel i5 6400 | $239 CA | $189 US

Motherboard:| Asus Z170-E | $155 CA | $135 US

RAM:| Kingston HyperX 8GB 2400 | $44CA | $37 US

Video Card:| EVGA GTX 960 4GB | $259 CA | $194 US

Power Supply:| Corsair CX600 v2 | $89 CA | $64 US

Case:| Rosewill Challenger-U3 | $59 CA | $59 US

HDD:| N/A | N/A | N/A

SSD:| Crucial MX200 500GB M.2 | $189 CA | $148 US

Optical Drive:| N/A | N/A | N/A

Total: |Prices as of 6-18-16|$1,099 CA|$824 US


Mainstream: General purpose PC, good for desktop productivity, all gaming, with overclocking potential.
Price Range: $1000 - $1100 Intel processor
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Click Here to add all of the items to your cart.
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Canadians can do the same by clicking here.

Hardware
|
Name
|
Price CA
|
Price US
Processor:| Intel Core i5 6600k Skylake | $339 CA | $219 US

Motherboard:| Asus Z170-A | $204 CA | $164 US

RAM:| G.Skill Aegis 2800 16GB | $74 CA | $59 US

Video Card:| Power Color R9 380X | $299 CA | $222 US

Power Supply:| EVGA 110-B2 750W | $139 CA | $79 US

Case:| Rosewill Challenger U3 | $59 CA | $59 US

HDD:| Seagate Barracuda 1TB | $64 CA | $50 US

SSD:| Crucial MX200 500GB M.2 | $189 CA | $148 US

Optical Drive:| Samsung SATA DVD RW | $17 CA | $17 US

CPU Cooler:| CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO | $34 CA | $34 US

Total: |Prices as of 6-18-16|$1,373 CA|$1,043 US


Enthusiast: Specialized system, good for High Performance gaming and overclocking
Price Range: $1500 - $1600 Intel processor
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Click Here to add all of the items to your cart.
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Canadians can do the same by clicking here.


Hardware
|
Name
|
Price CA
|
Price US
Processor:| Intel Core i5 6600k Skylake | $339 CA | $249 US

Motherboard:| Asus Z170-A | $209 CA | $154 US

RAM:| G.Skill Ripjaws V 8GB DDR4 2800 | $89 CA | $69 US

Video Card:| EVGA GTX 1070 | $? CA | $419 US

Power Supply:| EVGA 110-B2 750W | $139 CA | $79 US

Case:| Antec 1100 V2 | $124 CA | $99US

HDD:| Seagate Barracuda 1TB | $64 CA | $50 US

Optical Drive:| Samsung SATA DVD RW | $17 CA | $17 US

SSD:| Samsung 850EVO 500GB | $199CA | $159 US

CPU Cooler:| CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO | $34 CA | $34 US

Total: |Prices as of 6-18-16|$1,800? CA|$1,302 US



High end: Excellent all around system, near top of the line.
Price Range: $2000 - $2200 Intel processor
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Click Here to add all of the items to your cart.
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Canadians can do the same by clicking here.

Hardware
|
Name
|
Price CA
|
Price US
Processor:| Intel Core i7 6700k Skylake | $414 CA | $324US

Motherboard:| Gigabyte GA-Z170X | $239 CA | $194US

RAM:| G.SKill Ripjaws X 16GB DDR4 3000 | $179 CA | $154 US

Video Card:| MSI GTX 1080 | $899CA | $699 US

Power Supply:| Corsair RM850X | $219 CA | $149 US

Case:| CM Storm Stryker | $199 CA | $159 US

HDD:| Seagate Barracuda 1TB | $64 CA | $50 US

Optical Drive:| Asus SATA DVD Burner | $17 CA | $17 US

SSD:| Samsung 850EVO 500GB SATA | $224 CA | $179 US

CPU Cooler:| Phanteks PH-TC14PE | $124 CA | $79 US

Total: |Prices as of 6-18-16|$2,549 CA|$1,881 US


Who needs money!:
Price Range: $4900 - $5000 Intel processor
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Click Here to add all of the items to your cart.
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Canadians can do the same by clicking here.

Hardware
|
Name
|
Price CA
|
Price US

Processor:| Intel Core i7-5960X | $1,329 CA | $1,049 US

Motherboard:| EVGA X99 Classified LGA 2011 | $589CA | $379 US

RAM:| Corsair Dominator 4x8GB DDR4 32GB | $269 CA | $209 US

Video Card:| 2X MSI GTX 1080 | $899CA | $699 US

Power Supply:| Seasonic Platinum 1000 | $289 CA | $249 US

Case:| Cooler Master Cosmos II | $339 CA | $329 US

Blu-Ray:| LG Black 14x BD-R | $139 CA | $117 US

SSD:| 2xSamsung 850 Pro 2TB | $1099 CA | $ 919 US

CPU Cooler:| CORSAIR Hydro Series H115i | $169 CA | $109 US

Total: |Prices as of 6-18-16|$6,279 CA|$5,585 US

==================================================

Common PC questions

Processors (CPU's)

Different types of Sockets

Installing your Heatsink?: Use a proper thermal compound application


Video Cards:
Can't decide which video card to buy?:
Compare them by year
2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009

Performance Per Dollar by Techpowerup


Want to upgrade your video card? Check here first

TechPowerup's VGA BIOS collection (for advanced tweaking)

Crossfire Compatibility chart (7xxx/6xxx)
Crossfire Compatibility chart (R9/R7 Series)

SLI / Crossfire Q&A video.

Memory:
Ensure your Dual channel memory is appropriately configured. (Dated but relevant)

What are Memory Timings?


Software

Backup, copy, and restore your computer:
Seagate Drives
Western Digital Drives

Put your new system to the test:
Benchmark it with Unigine - 3dmark11 - 3dmark13 - Lost Planet 2 - Final Fantasy XIV - AVP Bench - Resident Evil 6


Differences Between Windows 7 Versions

Never Installed Windows before?: Watch this video

Hard Drives

New SSD? Check out this introductory guide.

Tom's "Best SSD for the money 2013"

Motherboards
Newegg's Motherborad Buying Guide
Guide to Motherboard Selection (dated but good concepts)

Power Supplies (Or PSU's):

2013 PSU break-down

PSU reviews: Anandtech - Jonnyguru

Think your PSU is bad?: test it here. (post in the thread if you need assistance)

Want to save money?: Don't cut corners on the PSU.
How much power does a generic unit truly provide?

Power supply Efficiency levels


Reference: OEM's of Popular PSU brands

How much power do I need?
Power requirement estimator #1(uses data from trusted review sources)
Power requirement estimator #2 (less accurate but more part options)

Power Requirements for video cards from MSI


Video Tutorials on PC Building
I disagree with the host in some areas but overall it's a well done series. Long Winded however. For an absolute beginner it's a good resource. If you just need help with assembly, watch the second video.

Pt.1 Basic PC introduction and Component selection.
Pt.2 Assembling your system
Pt.3 Installing your OS, other odds and ends.


Thread Updated as Hardware is Released


I use NewEgg as a reference for PC components. Please shop around and find the best prices if they can be found elsewhere. In my experience NewEgg has fair prices though.

*Prices might not be 100% accurate. Check them carefully. Some items include additional mail in rebates as well. Those savings are not reflected in my prices so your build may actually be cheaper in the end.

**When choosing your parts remember you are the boss. do no hesitate to tailor one of these blueprints to your specific needs. Want a great multimedia PC but don't really need high end gaming? Spend less on the GPU and add a Blu-Ray player and Tuner Card. Need additional Storage? Go for the 2TB drive.


Planning to build a new computer #9 (Haswell / Skylake)

Planning to build a new computer #8 (Haswell v2 / AMD who?)
Planning to build a new computer #7 (Haswell v2 / Kabini gen)
Planning to build a new computer #6 (Haswell v1 / Piledriver gen)
Planning to build a new computer #5 (Ivy Bridge / Haswell / Piledriver gen)
Planning to build a new computer #4 (Ivy Bridge / Bulldozer gen)
Planning to build a new computer #3 (Sandy Bridge / Phenom II gen)
Planning to build a new computer #2
Planning to build a new computer #1 by Sined
 

Hammettf2b

oldmanyellsatcloud.jpg
Jul 9, 2012
22,489
4,612
So California

flyingkiwi

Registered User
Oct 28, 2014
4,315
3,452
France
Ugh I hate how good those prices look. :laugh:

Now I'm unsure whether I should just spend $100 on a motherboard so I can run my existing 16GB ram in dual channel (stuck with 8gb in single channel) and stick with the 4690k, replacing the GTX960 in the next year or so. Or just sit tight and do a full rebuild.
 

Kestrel

Registered User
Jan 30, 2005
5,814
129

I hate Forbes, and refuse to take down my blocker to be able to read their stuff, but thanks!

Anyone have thoughts on what mobo prices might look like? I'm thinking I'll kick in up to $200 CDN on my sister's build, to make sure she gets a good motherboard... but I'm hoping to go for less than that. But I'm tired of working with cheap mATX boards after the fact, and would rather just get a really solid ATX board.
 

Individual 1

Registered User
Jan 25, 2012
1,464
352
Taken from a reddit thread

R7 1800X 8C/16T $499 or $655~cad 3.6/4.0ghz
R7 1700X 8C/16T $389 or $509~cad 3.4/3.8ghz
R7 1700 8C/16T $319 or $419~cad 3.0/3.7ghz (Conflicting info here. Either 3.3 or 3.0 base)
R5 1600X 6C/12T $259 or $339~CAD 3.3/3.7ghz
R5 1500 6C/12T $229 or $300 cad 3.2/3.5ghz
R5 1400X 4C8T $199 or $260~ cad 3.5/3.9ghz
R5 1300 4C/8T $175 or $229 cad 3.2/3.5ghz
R3 1200X 4C/4T $149 or $195~cad 3.4/3.8ghz
R3 1100 4C/4T $129 or $169~cad 3.2/3.5ghz

All are rated at 65W expect the 1600X,1700X and 1800X are 95W. "X" models don't have stock coolers.

all 8 and 6 core models appear to have 16mb L3 cache. All 4C models appear to have 8mb L3 cache

XFR is an auto overclocking feature that some processors have built-in. So depending on factors such as temps and voltage, these CPUs could boost higher than their advertised clock speeds.
The Ryzen 7 1800x has base of 3.8GHz and a boost of 4.0GHz. However if you have a beefy cooler, good airflow, and good silicon, then the chip could even boost further than 4.0GHz to say 4.2 or even 4.3.
 

guinness

Not Ingrid for now
Mar 11, 2002
14,521
301
Missoula, Montana
www.missoulian.com
Man, Canadians get hosed on component prices.

Out of the loop on AMD, but what's the difference between the 'X' and non X CPUs?

(have zero desire/need to upgrade, but if Intel has actual competition this time...it's all good long term).
 

Kestrel

Registered User
Jan 30, 2005
5,814
129
Man, Canadians get hosed on component prices.

Out of the loop on AMD, but what's the difference between the 'X' and non X CPUs?

(have zero desire/need to upgrade, but if Intel has actual competition this time...it's all good long term).

This is what I found:

http://segmentnext.com/2017/02/11/amd-ryzen-chips/

It was announced at the AMD demo that AMD Ryzen chips will have auto overclocking functionality and this is one of the major selling points of the CPU. It was told that AMD Ryzen chips will be able to automatically detect the cooling solution being used and overclock accordingly. Now reports claim that only X branded AMD Ryzen chips will have this feature.
 

SniperHF

Rejecting Reports
Mar 9, 2007
42,632
21,042
Phoenix
An overclockable 4c/8t CPU for $175 US would be pretty nuts.

But there's probably still no reason to upgrade my stupid 2500k yet :laugh:. At least from what we know it looks reasonably competitive. Also apparently Intel's next chip has a 15% IPC boost where Kaby Lake had basically none. What a coincidence :laugh:

I hate Forbes

Ha, same. Such a horrible site independent of content.
 

Kestrel

Registered User
Jan 30, 2005
5,814
129
An overclockable 4c/8t CPU for $175 US would be pretty nuts.

But there's probably still no reason to upgrade my stupid 2500k yet :laugh:. At least from what we know it looks reasonably competitive. Also apparently Intel's next chip has a 15% IPC boost where Kaby Lake had basically none. What a coincidence :laugh:



Ha, same. Such a horrible site independent of content.

The few times I clicked on Forbes links before realizing what site I was going to (before the anti-blocker wall got put up), their content wasn't great either. The moment I see their name attached to something, I take it with a huge grain of salt.

Ryzen is definitely still sounding promising. I hope it delivers! There's no way I can justify replacing my 6700K, but I'll live vicariously through my sister's build :laugh:
 

Kestrel

Registered User
Jan 30, 2005
5,814
129
Which PC configuration would be equivalent in strenght to PS 4 Pro ?

I'm going to take a wild swing at this, and possibly miss horribly - but I'm going to guess a current-gen i3, and perhaps a GTX 1050 or RX 460 would like play well ported games at the same detail levels as a PS4 Pro.

Someone else want to weigh in?
 

Kestrel

Registered User
Jan 30, 2005
5,814
129
AM4 motherboard prices are looking good... and 8 SATA connectors on mid range and higher end boards? I like it! And all those USB ports!
 
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