Graphic Card Recommendation for Total Noob

[worthlesspeppermint]

I was planning on keeping all of the parts until I knew exactly what to do with them.

 

Also, I have no idea about how to build a computer, and I don't really have any friends that are good at putting stuff together. However, I would be willing to do it myself if I had the right guidance. :>

 

1k USD, and I do have the possibility of returning the 960 still, so if need be I can do that.

 

And that would be great! I really appreciate your help! :D

 

Hmm, probably a lower noise level, I would love a computer that doesn't sound like an angry machine, the one I have now is pretty loud.

 

I actually think I would have it ready before Black Friday, but I will definitely keep that in mind. :> I know you can get some crazy good deals around that time!

[iXenite]

You could use a build like this. It could even be cheaper if you just reused your GTX 960. Also, I am assuming you have peripherals you are happy with, so this is just the PC.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($137.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GT OC Video Card ($249.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($88.88 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm Fan ($12.79 @ Newegg)
Total: $953.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-13 11:24 EDT-0400

 

[worthlesspeppermint]

@Daddy Direction

 

I'm not entirely sure about doing a prebuilt build, since I'd kind of like to customize it to my liking, but the site you linked to looks awesome! Thank you for sharing, I'm definitely going to fiddle around on there, just out of curiosity!

[iXenite]

Well, I made that list of parts, it's not a pre-built. If you wanted to make that build, you would need to buy the parts and put it together yourself. Either way, glad you like the site. It's a pretty good tool in my opinion. :)

[worthlesspeppermint]

Oh sorry, I meant pre-build, not with the t! I guess I didn't understand exactly what that I meant. What I was trying to say is prebuild [like a prebuild list of parts]. Oops! xD

 

It's pretty awesome, although I'm not really sure what exactly is good, and what means what. But it's pretty awesome nonetheless!

[iXenite]

Okay, I guess that makes sense. If you really need help understanding all of this stuff I suggest going to the the sub-Reddit buildapc for help. They have a lot of resources there for people trying to learn about all of this stuff. That and the various tech channels on YouTube are super helpful. That and of course some of the people here are very knowledgeable on PC hardware.

[worthlesspeppermint]

Sub-Reddit has a pc building section? AWESOME! :D Thanks for letting me know, I'll head over there right now! I'm also going to look through some guides and videos to try and get a handle on it. Thanks again!

[iXenite]

No problem. In the event you need a link, here it is.

 

/r/buildapc:

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

Ok, I will try to explain some basic stuff and compare products in this post, so it will be easier for you to get the hang of it.

 

 

DaddyDirection's build is solid. However since you will keep some parts from your old PC, you will be able to save a bit and make few better upgrades.

 

~CPU~

I was also going to recommend i5-6600k. The price dropped since it was released and the performance per $ ratio is decent. It's only 10$ more expensive than non K version.

All CPU models with K letter following the name can be overclocked (OC) and hold the value for much longer time than their basic non OC versions.

It's important to pick the right CPU, because each CPU series requires different motherboard and you will be stuck with the combo for a long time. i5-6600k needs LGA 1151 socket on the motherboard to slot it.

 

~Motherboar (Mobo) and RAM~

For overclockable LGA 1151 CPU you need decent Z170 type motherboard. You can find the motherboard type in the Specifications section on sites like Newegg. This type of motherboard also allows you to install DDR4 RAM with higher frequencies/speed through a Bios tweak called XMP profile. It's as simple as selecting your RAM type in option menu (takes about 30sec to do it). It's best to stick to well known RAM brands, which are on your motherboards compability list.

2133mhz DDR4 RAM doesn't need XMP tweak on Z170 motherboards. Anything higher than that will run at 2133 untill you configure XMP.

Also remember that new Z170 motherboards and i5-6600k CPU works only with new DDR 4 memory, so don't buy old DDR 3 by mistake.

 

~Storage Drive~

You already have 1TB HDD for storage. This leaves some money that can be spent on much faster SSD. It's crucial for games with long loading times like modded Skyrim. As a bonus your Windows and all other programs installed on it will boot/start two times faster. 250GB SSD costs up to 100$.

 

~DVD Drive~

Nowadays you don't really need it. You can download everything you need from the internet and save it on usb flash drive. Even Windows OS has this option. I have one external Blue-Ray drive, which I have used maybe once in last 2.5 years. Unless you have bunch of DVDs you are still using, I wouldn't bother with it. You can keep the old Dell drive, if you really want to.

 

~PSU~

I would keep your Corsair PSU for now. It's a cheap model, not the greatest quality, but there isn't anything alarming about it. Wait till some nice PSU goes on 33%+ sale.

 

~GPU~

Gtx 1060 is your bang for buck card. However Gtx 1070 will last you for longer time with it's +40% performance. This will mean that a game that runs @43fps with Gtx 1060, will run @60fps with Gtx 1070 as long as your cpu is fast enough.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with a term like "bottlenecking". It means that one part in your system is holding back the whole machine. A poor CPU will hold back good GPU, because it has to handle all the data. The higher the FPS the more work for CPU. Besides that there are a lot more task the CPU has to do when running the game. If you pick weak CPU your future GPU upgrades might be problematic.

 

-Evga GPU brand has the best warranty. They accept all RMA (Return merchandise authorization) -that weren't users fault- without any problems. With other brands you might be forced to work it out with their customer service. Their cards are tiny bit more expensive than competitors.

-ASUS is somewhere in the middle ground when it comes to product quality and RMA, it depends on specific item (their ROG monitors are problematic).

-MSI has a very good quality past last few years, but it's better to handle their RMAs through the shop where you bought the card than to send it to the main company.

-Gigabyte tries to push out high spec cards at low price, but it tends to lead to problems like a coil whine sound comming from the GPU. It might happend to any brand, though it's more common with certain Gigabyte models. Also there are many who dislike their RMA and customer service.

 

All the brands offer 2-3 tiers of the same card model. Higher priced models will usually have different cooling solutions and be overclocked (OC -overclocked / SC - superclocked). Sometimes you will find same GPU model but with different GDDR5 memory amount. For example there is 3GB and 5GB Gtx 1060 version.

 

The most quiet GPUs:

ASUS Strix (Gtx 1070 link)

MSI Gaming (Gtx 1070 link)

The fans won't start untill the card reaches 60 degrees. It can be changed with included fan profile tool/program. The performance is almost exactly the same.

 

~PC Case~

Why I would go with Fractal Design S Mid Tower instead cheaper Corsair Mid Tower.

-Corsair comes only with 1x 120mm fan and you have to buy second yourself.

Corsair 50.00$ case + ~13.00$ for second fan = 63.00$ (without any Promo) vs Fractal with 2 bigger fans for 80$

120mm fans are louder than 140mm ones (requires higher speed to push out the same amount of air).

-Padding inside the case for noise reduction.

-You can fit more fans inside.

Has 7x 140mm fan slots, 1x 140/120mm bottom slot + 1x 140mm with the windowless model.

-Dust filter on the bottom is longer, allowing you installing 140/120mm fan right before small PSU box. Helps a ton with cooling.

-Frontal dust filter is easier to clean.

-2x 3.0 USB or the front vs Corsair 1x 2.0(slow) + 1x 3.0

 

Both cases are good so decide which one has better value for you.

 

~Windows OS~

Windows 7 is a lot better for modding old DirectX9 games. Win8/12 currently has a bug limiting old DX9 games to 4GB VRAM. If you have Win7 license key, keep it.

 

 

~Skyrim PC build TIPS~

When you go to other sites for help with your first real PC, you will get confornted with common reasoning "If you play at 1920x1080p resolution, you don't need powerful machine". It is true for optimized games. In other titles you don't have true open world. Everything is created in rooms or small locations, where developers can control how many objects are displayed on your screen, reducing GPU/CPU stress. With games like Witcher 3 and especially modded Skyrim/Fallout you will get huge FPS dips in some areas. Unfortunately you have to compensate for it with hardware that can run 1440p or lower game details and limit mod quality/amount severly. Bethesda games require very strong CPUs, due to their engine design (shadows are CPU bound). While weaker CPU could get you by with other games, it will be a limiting factor for Skyrim. Even my i7 quad @4.5GHZ has problems with modded 64bit Fallout 4 and I had to install mod controlling shadow distance based on FPS. Mods adding more objects, NPCs, script will slow down your game, introducing input and AI lag, if the CPU gets overhelmed. There is no hardware overkill when it comes to Bethesda's games. Skyrim with ENB runs better on Quad Core (4 physical core) CPUs.

Edited September 13, 2016 by BlackRoseOfThorns

[FMod]

Ugh. In this day and age, a graphics card choice is barely worth a separate thread, but you've been given plenty of info.

 

I would put it simple: given the choice, all in all, MSI Gaming X are very close to the best a current card can be. There are better ones, the HOF is the best, but it's like 1% better than the MSI for 10% extra. I wouldn't bother with the 1080, it can't run 4K anyway, SLI or not, in common resolutions the 1070 is enough, in higher resolutions 2x1070 is enough, 2x1080 instead never makes a real difference.

 

The 1060 is optimal, but if you plan to sell it within a year, the 1070 will hold its value better, losing as much in absolute terms. If you don't, you'll need the little extra power down the line.