GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Intel Core i5-6400
Asrock Z170 Pro4S
LC-CC-95
2x4GB of the cheapest DDR4 memory available
An EVGA Hyper 500W should be plenty
A Cooler Master Deathclaw case
Regarding SSDs... you could go with a SanDisk Ultra II, a Patriot Ignite/OCZ ARC 100, or maybe a Samsung 850 EVO

For the GPU: I guess it really just depends on how much cash you have left over😛

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 WF2 ~ $467
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB = $600
AMD Radeon R9 380 = $630

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 is pretty close to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, though the AMD Radeon R9 380 is maybe about 15% faster on average.

I’d honestly just go ahead and throw in the LC CC 120 right from the jump—the difference compared to the $27 versus the LC CC 95 is pretty noticeable, and it stays quiet immediately. I have my doubts if they'll even bother upgrading to a beefier cooler later on if they don't grab it now, so maybe just bump the PSU to 600W to account for overclocking? That way they aren't stuck being limited when picking out a GPU down the road.
It also wouldn't be a bad idea to look at a used card—you can usually find an AMD Radeon R9 290 or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 floating around on eBay or Craigslist for about $600 with a warranty included...

crimsonstag84 said:Intel Core i5-6400
Asrock Z170 Pro4S
LC-CC-95
2x4GB of the cheapest DDR4 you can find
EVGA Hyper 500W should be plenty
Cooler Master Deathclaw case
Regarding SSDs... ranging from the SanDisk Ultra II and Patriot Ignite/OCZ ARC 100 up to the Samsung 850 EVO

For the GPU: honestly, it just depends on how much extra cash you're willing to drop 😛

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 WF2 ~ $467
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB = $600
AMD Radeon R9 380 = $630

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 is pretty close to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, while the AMD Radeon R9 380 is generally about 15% faster on average...

Thanks for getting back to me. I'll definitely look into all of those options. I don't know a whole lot about this stuff myself, I just remember hearing people talk about avoiding AMD cards for a while, so I was mostly just looking at NVIDIA brands because of that...

Matthew Alvarez said:Personally, if I were starting this build from scratch, I’d go ahead and grab the LC CC 120 right away... the jump in performance from $27 compared to the LC CC 95 is pretty noticeable, and it keeps things much quieter. I honestly doubt they'll feel like upgrading to a beefier cooler later on if they don't just get it now, so might as well... maybe even bump up to a 600W power supply to allow for overclocking, just so they aren't stuck when it comes time to pick out a better graphics card.
It also wouldn't be a bad idea to look for a used GPU, since you can often find an AMD Radeon R9 290 or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 floating around on marketplaces or forums for around $600 with some kind of warranty left...

So, does that mean I should pick up an extra cooler too? And does anyone happen to know how many hard drives will actually fit in these cases? I was planning on just using an SSD for my OS and basic apps, but I've still got about 13TB of data sitting on old mechanical drives in my current rig...

Bryan Grant29

I think crimsonstag84 already suggested a cooler to you—but honestly, that one isn't even built for overclocking. Since he picked out a motherboard that actually supports CPU overclocking, I’d suggest grabbing a much better cooler right away if you're going that route. I mean, it really depends on whether you even care about that stuff or if you're planning to mess with it at all... if not, I guess you could save some cash on the $100 board.

How many hard drives are you running exactly?

Matthew Alvarez said:Bryan Grant29

crimsonstag84 already suggested a cooler for you, but that one isn't really built for overclocking, and since he picked out a motherboard that actually allows you to overclock the CPU, I'd suggest grabbing a much better cooler right away if that's your goal... though it really depends on whether you even care about that sort of thing or if you plan on messing with it, because if not, you could probably save some money by picking a cheaper $100.

How many hard drives are you running exactly?

I've never actually done any of that before—honestly, I don't even know how—so I doubt I'd ever try it, but if a beefier cooler makes the PC run better, then I'll definitely pick it up... My computer is mostly just for browsing the web and watching movies and stuff like that. I have five internal hard drives right now, and I bought an enclosure for one of them, so I should be able to fit four standard ones and one SSD in there...

Wait, let me get this straight—you wouldn't even consider gaming on a PC with those specs?

I’d just buy everything brand new, honestly, because what I’m running right now is practically prehistoric (I strictly game on PS3/PS4).

My computer is mostly just for browsing the web and watching movies and stuff like that.

In that case, you don't need a PC in that price bracket at all! Especially since you definitely don't need a GPU like an $600—truth be told, you don't need any dedicated graphics card besides integrated ones.

Timothy Kim60 said:Wait, let me make sure I'm following you... are you saying you wouldn't even want to game on a rig like that?

If that's the case, you don't need a PC in that price bracket at all! Especially since you definitely don't need a GPU like an $600... honestly, you probably don't need any dedicated card besides just using integrated graphics

Basically, I'd mostly just be playing on PlayStation, though I might try out a PC exclusive here and there—maybe some older titles that haven't made it to consoles yet, like the first two Witcher games—so I figured once I saved up a little cash, I'd just grab everything from the thrift store and get it sorted out...

Matthew Alvarez said:Here is how you could set it up:

1 x Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 4GB GDDR5
1 x Intel Core i5-4460
1 x MSI H97-PC Mate, LGA1150, D3,S3,U3, HD, Gb Lan
1 x 8GB DDR3 1866MHz (2x4), Kingston HyperX Fury
1 x Fortron Hyper M 500W, 80+, modular
1 x SanDisk Z400s 256GB SSD, 2.5” 7mm, SATA 6 Gbit/s
1 x Zalman Z3+, USB3.0 black

Total: $2051, and Accenture handles the assembly and shipping for free!
If you don't really see yourself gaming on this machine at all, just leave the graphics card out for now and keep everything else as is... that way, if you ever decide you want to dive into some gaming down the road, you'll already have a solid foundation ready for when you pick up a GPU...

Thanks so much for the help. I think I'll go ahead and get this ordered tomorrow morning...

👍
If you're based in Washington, D.C., you could probably have this rig at your place by tomorrow—though if you aren't local, I guess if you order it first thing tomorrow morning, it should land on your doorstep by Tuesday morning at the latest.

Anyway, let me know what you think once it actually arrives.

Matthew Alvarez said:👍
If you happen to be living right here in Washington, D.C., you could probably have the rig at your place by tomorrow... but if you aren't local, as long as you get the order in by tomorrow morning, it should hopefully show up at your door by Tuesday morning...

Either way, definitely let me know what you think once it arrives...

Since I'm out in San Francisco, I think I'll just hang tight for a bit. I'll reach out once everything shows up and let you know how it's running... thanks again...

Bryan Grant29 said:Thanks a lot. I'll just get that ordered tomorrow morning.

Don't you need a mechanical drive?

Robert Rodriguez2 said:So you don't need a mechanical drive?

What's he going to do about it—he's already sitting on five HDDs with 13TB of space. He bought one case for now, but he plans on stuffing the other four drives and an SSD right into the PC later... which is exactly why I picked this motherboard—so he can actually hook everything up.

Matthew Alvarez said:What's his problem? He already has 5 HDDs totaling 13TB. He bought one case for now, but he's planning to cram the other 4 drives and an SSD into the rig later. That’s exactly why I picked this motherboard—to handle all those drives.

I missed that part. 👍

Where else can I hunt down an HD 7970 besides eBay or Amazon?

And honestly, how beefy does my power supply need to be to actually handle that card without choking?

Why settle for that one?
Up until today, you could have grabbed 380x units (all equally bad in a worst-case scenario) for just over $270.

If you want the best bang for your buck, go with something like a Fortron Hyper 600W that comes with a 5-year warranty ($163).

I ended up having to let her go... had no choice in the matter, really. I know she’s sitting in that mid-range bracket alongside the R9 280x, and since she's an older model by now, I was honestly hoping to squeeze out a little extra cash from the sale.

It’s just snooping around the forum marketplaces...
You aren't going to find anything like this anywhere else (if that's what you're asking).

For example...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example

I was hoping to get some advice from the group; a buddy of mine is on the hunt for a new graphics card with a budget of roughly $667
. He's currently running this processor... though I think he's a bit indifferent about whether it's an AMD or Nvidia setup
.