First time build, first time poster

[henr27]

Hi there,

I've never posted to the forum before and I've never built my own PC so would really appreciate any help!

I'm planning on using the Skylake Z170 Midi Tower Gaming PC Configurator on the OverCLockers website for some guidence and my build is as follows:

Case: NZXT Source 340Midi-Tower Case White
Motherboard: MSI Z170A Gaming M5 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX
Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H60 V2 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Solid State Drive: Samsung 120GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32
Mechanical Drive: Seagate 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD
Graphics Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 DirectCU II OC Strix 4096MB
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power L8 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Operating System: Windows 10

Total Price: £1366.86

What do you think? Is it worth going for the i7 Processor or is the i5 a better fit for this build? Is it worth getting a sound card?

I'm not very experienced so I wouldn't know if these options compliment each other or if it's peaking at certain points.

Any help will be much appreciated!

 

[Cern]

A few thoughts on your build:

120GB SSD is way too small for a new build. You'll fill it up too easily and slow it down. 250GB would be a much better size, 500GB if you can stretch to it. It doesn't make any sense to skimp here.

The Nvidia 1070 is about to launch in the next couple of weeks. It will have performance similar to the 980, but with double the ram, lower power consumption and a more competitive price (if predictions are correct). Definitely worth waiting and seeing. If you want to get started with your build before then, use the CPU's onboard GPU as a stop-gap until the 1070 arrives.

16GB RAM should be considered a minimum if you want some future proofing. You're better off with 16GB of 2400 Mhz ram than 8GB of 3200 Mhz if budget is an issue.

I'd stick with the i7, it'll give you more flexibility when games start using more cores / threads (as they likely will with DX12). That said, the i5-6600k will cope with any current game and is still a good choice, especially if you need to adjust your budget to balance the system better by increasing the SSD and RAM.

Onboard sound chips are pretty good on the whole, but you can always add a sound card or external USB sound device later if you're unhappy with the onboard sound.

 

[StarShock]

def worth holding fire on the GPU, 1070s should be around the same price as the 980 you've listed with much better performance. We'll get all the details on the 10th if it follows the same launch as the 1080. And failing that the new AMD RX 480 should provide similar performance to the 980 at a much lower price point, though those details are still a little sparse, will find out end of the month.

Either way. Buying the 980 right now will leave you very sad in a few weeks time.

 

[lee32uk]

You want a better psu as well. The BeQuiet Pure Power L8 isn't that great.

Rather than go through the configurator, you can make a basket of parts on here and ask them to build it for you (For a fee). That way you are not limited in choice.

As mentioned above, the GTX 980 isn't particularly good value for money especially now that the GTX 1070 is on the horizon.

If you check back in a few weeks once the aftermarket cards are hopefully out, you can get a spec for your budget.