$700 PC build (no monitor) – what do you think?

Like the title says, I need some advice on a gaming rig for around $7,000-$2500...

Won't need a monitor...

I'm looking for something with a beefy processor for titles like ARMA 2 and 3—you know, those poorly optimized games—but I also want to be able to multitask like crazy and maybe even stream at the same time.

And obviously, I need enough juice to handle cards for stuff like GTA or The Witcher and things like that.

I'll go with a fast SSD; I don't need massive storage. I guess 8GB of RAM should cut it, but maybe more if it fits within the budget.

Hey Dederti, tell me, would you actually overclock it? Arma 3 is such a single-core whore that overclocking might not even be worth the hassle compared to most other games.

Conan - CNN

@Robert Rodriguez2

B85 motherboard (LGA 1150) and an i5 6500 (LGA 1151) 😬

Kingmax 1x8GB DDR4 2133 GLJG, KIN-8GB DDR4 2133
Toshiba P300 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm HDWD110UZSVA
Zalman Z1 neo Midi Tower case, black, no PSU included, P/N: ZAL-Z1 NEO
Corsair Builder Series CX450M, Modular Power Supply, US version, 5yrs
MSI GF GTX 1060 Armor, 6GB GDDR5, DX12
Patriot SSD Spark R555/W500, 256GB, 7mm, 2.5"
Intel Core i7 6700 processor
ASRock H110M-HDV motherboard, LGA 1151, D4, S3, USB 3.0, mATX

Total: $2503 CNN

A 450W CX unit for an i7 6700 and a GTX 1060 for $833. Feels like a bad call 🤷 Even if it technically works, it's just not ideal...

I I honestly doubt we’ll even hit half capacity once everything starts screaming at once. 😛

It’s actually a step up from the Hyper, Raider, or Integre m models—it's modular too, and comes with a 5-year warranty.

Kimberly Gomez34 said:Hey Dederti, tell me, would you actually overclock it? Arma 3 is such a single-core whore that overclocking might not even be worth the hassle compared to most other games.

True, but wouldn't the Intel Core i7 6700 at least hold a steady 60FPS? An i7 is a better long-term bet than an i5, so for these types of games, it should be more than enough.

crimsonstag84 said:@Robert Rodriguez2

B85 motherboard (LGA 1150) and an i5 6500 (LGA 1151) 😬

Kingmax 1x8GB DDR4 2133 GLJG, KIN-8GB DDR4 2133
Toshiba P300 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm HDWD110UZSVA
Zalman Z1 neo Midi Tower case, black, no PSU included, P/N: ZAL-Z1 NEO
Corsair Builder Series CX450M, Modular Power Supply, US version, 5yrs
MSI GF GTX 1060 Armor, 6GB GDDR5, DX12
Patriot SSD Spark R555/W500, 256GB, 7mm, 2.5"
Intel Core i7 6700 processor
ASRock H110M-HDV motherboard, LGA 1151, D4, S3, USB 3.0, mATX

Total: $2503 CNN

Is that the new Blast?
By the way, Blast... Spark... all names that sound like they belong in Kobra 11.

crimsonstag84 said:I I honestly doubt we’ll even hit half capacity once everything starts screaming at once. 😛

It’s actually a step up from the Hyper, Raider, or Integre m models—it's modular too, and comes with a 5-year warranty.

Fair point, the power is decent. Why do you think it's better than the others? Voltage stability and stuff?
BTW, who’s actually manufacturing the newer CX430 units and such?

The CX450M, CX550M, and CX650M are part of a newer revision and a more modern platform, which I guess is a solid step up from the CX Bronze (V3) series.

I suspect CWT handles all of this. This CX-xxx-M seems to have better build quality than the others mentioned; the voltage regulation and ripple are improved, and the efficiency is just a tiny bit behind the Raider.

The Spark is a new model, so there aren't any reviews out yet, but I'd say it's basically just a slightly tweaked Blast.

$3.00 isn't even on the table anymore 😁

256GB of space is plenty for me, I guess. At least I won't be cluttering it up with random junk.

Just tell me about the cooling. I really don't want to deal with any overheating issues, so if I need to spec out something beefier—even if it costs a little extra—it's fine by me.

Kimberly Gomez34 said:Hey Dederti, tell me, would you actually overclock it? Arma 3 is such a single-core whore that overclocking might not even be worth the hassle compared to most other games.

I wouldn't mess around with overclocking right now if it could support all that stuff under normal conditions. Maybe in the future, I guess... I'm planning on keeping this rig for a while.

I guess I'm a bit behind on everything, so I'd probably just be grinding through all those games I haven't had the chance to play yet. 😁

People only mention Call of Duty because they're thinking about Rust. I guess I just don't want to deal with FPS drops in those kinds of games... on my current piece of junk laptop, I was barely pulling 15-20 FPS in DayZ. 😁

Look, the i7 6700 actually holds its own with decent single-core and multi-threaded performance, so you shouldn't run into any major issues.

And don't bother with extra cooling; nothing is going to overheat here. The only reason to grab a better CPU cooler would be to quiet down the fan whine under load, but honestly, that’ll rarely happen anyway.

😵😵 I had a massive pile of tabs open, so I knew I was about to wreck 👎

So, what if I put together a combo with a GTX 1070 and an i5?
Wouldn't that probably blow my $7,500 budget?

I guess you could just swap in an i5 6402P instead of the i7. The price gap between an i5 and an i7 is pretty much the same as the jump from a GTX 1060 to a GTX 1070, maybe around $400.

crimsonstag84 said:I guess you could just swap in an i5 6402P instead of the i7. The price gap between an i5 and an i7 is pretty much the same as the jump from a GTX 1060 to a GTX 1070, maybe around $400.

If gaming is going to be the main thing pushing your PC to its limits, I always figure it makes more sense to dump as much of your budget as possible into the beefiest GPU you can get—paired with a CPU good enough to keep up without causing a bottleneck... even if that means going with an AMD chip or whatever... I'd way rather put that extra cash toward an SSD or something else useful.

It all depends on what you're working with, obviously.

Let's be real, nowadays (and honestly, probably for the last 15 years too), CPUs are totally overkill for any regular everyday stuff unless you're actually gaming.

The OP mentioned streaming is part of the plan, so he'll definitely get more mileage out of a beefier CPU and extra RAM than a high-end GPU.

The 1060 already struggles at 1080p and hits a wall on 1440p anyway... so he's fine on that front.