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[Interrobang]

Hopefully this serves as a primer for others looking to get into PC gaming without investing a ton of money into it.

I built my own PC before, but it was ages ago and I've been out of the game too long. I'm not sure what's deemed necessary or must-have these days. I found this article which was published pretty recently and have been basing my would-be purchases off it: http://www.pcgamer.com/pc-build-guide-budget-gaming-pc/

I already plan on swapping the i3 for an i5 to get a quad-core in there. My biggest worries from the article are:

Power Supply: How can I tell when changes (like the i3 to i5) will need this to be upgraded?
Motherboard: I know very little about motherboards, so I'm kind of just curious if this is good for the rig specs?
Windows: 10 or 7? Also, it looks like Microsoft Office is subscription model now? Is this right? Any pointers on that?

Here are my tweaked specs (would love to get a PC enthusiast to sign off on it):

Processor:
Intel Core i5-6400 6 MB Skylake Quad-Core 2.7 GHz LGA 1151 65W BX80662I56400 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics
Motherboard:
ASRock Z170M Pro4S LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Graphics Card:
ASUS Radeon R9 380 STRIX-R9380-DC2OC-4GD5-GAMING 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Power Supply:
EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Continuous Power Supply Intel 4th Gen CPU Ready
Memory:
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2666 (PC4 21300) Intel Z170 Platform / Intel X99 Platform Desktop Memory
SDD:
Crucial BX100 2.5" 250GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CT250BX100SSD1
HDD:
WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD10EZEX - OEM
Case:
DIYPC MA01-G Black SPCC MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case

Keep in mind this is a budget project. I was hoping to spend around $500-600 and currently I'm at $700 without a monitor. Are any of my changes unnecessary? It seems like getting a quad-core in there is very important as far as future proofing.

I suffer from severe buyer's remorse so very scared to dive into something like this without consulting you fine people. I think I covered everything, but let me know if I missed something. Thanks, GAF!

 

[Weetrick]

There is a great NeoGAF PC building thread/community. I went here a lot when I built my own computer.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1094682

 

[Vuze]

There's a dedicated PC building thread on here with a ton of knowledgable and helpful people, you should post there as well for getting advice: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1094682

E: 2slow4lyfe

 

[Ricerocket]

It's really hard to know and respond when your specs are links, imo cut it down to what it actually is, PC users will know right away if it's good or bad.

 

[Mifec]

When making a PC build use this site in the future https://pcpartpicker.com/, it's pretty great and shows you any compatibility issues you might encounter, but do listen to Weetrick and post your build in thre thread he linked.

 

[OmegaDL50]

Motherboard is fine. I have a AsRock z77 Pro3 myself, so I'll assume the Pro4 for Z170 is arguably to be better.

Also is there a particular reason why you are going for Micro ATX rather than full ATX.

Micro isn't necessarily less expensive but just a smaller form factor, so is space a concern for you when you could possibly get something bigger with possibly more airflow / cooling.

I haven't worked much with Micro ATX systems, but my main concern over smaller tower cases was the issue of accommodating large graphics cards as well as proper cable management space.

Also while one thing to consider for your GPU choice.

I myself own a HD 7950 but a lot of the newer PC games have Nvidia specific features, so if you can somehow manage it in your budget is possible, it might be worthwhile opting to get a GTX 970, or wait until Pascal arrives and get the similar equivalent to that.

There is also a PC GAF thread that will be heavily useful for build advice. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1094682

 

[LilJoka]

List the parts, we don't need links.
Then take the rest of the advice above.

Nobody should be going ATX these days though, mATX or ITX (more costly overall).

I don't like a PSU that's only 80+, but I'm on mobile so can't search it in depth right now.

No point in Z series board and non-K CPU.
Either K CPU and Z board or non k CPU and H or B series board. K series for unlocked CPU multiplier for easy overclocking.

Let me spec something for $700.

Here is a start point

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.00 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-S2H GSM Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($62.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card ($191.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $721.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-13 14:24 EDT-0400

Now you can cheap out on the case or you can buy one for life, which I highly recommend.
If you chose to buy a cheaper case you can spend more on the GPU and PSU.

 

[arit]

List the parts, we don't need links.
Then take the rest of the advice above.

Nobody should be going ATX these days though, mATX or ITX (more costly overall).

I don't like a PSU that's only 80+, but I'm on mobile so can't search it in depth right now.

No point in Z series board and non-K CPU.
Either K CPU and Z board or non k CPU and H or B series board. K series for unlocked CPU multiplier for easy overclocking.

Let me spec something for $700.

Non-Z boards are limited to <=DDR4 2133 memory speeds though.

 

[LilJoka]

Non-Z boards are limited to <=DDR4 2133 memory speeds though.

Correct, swap for 2133mhz at CAS 13 if possible.

You can also go for the Gigabyte
GA-B150M-DS3H as it has 4 RAM slots so you can expand later and not have to run single channel to begin with.

 

[Interrobang]

There is a great NeoGAF PC building thread/community. I went here a lot when I built my own computer.

There's a dedicated PC building thread on here with a ton of knowledgable and helpful people, you should post there as well for getting advice:

Thanks, guys! I'll check this out for some cross-post action.

Motherboard is fine. I have a AsRock z77 Pro3 myself, so I'll assume the Pro4 for Z170 is arguably to be better.
Also is there a particular reason why you are going for Micro ATX rather than full ATX.
Micro isn't necessarily less expensive but just a smaller form factor, so is space a concern for you when you could possibly get something bigger with possibly more airflow / cooling.
I haven't worked much with Micro ATX systems, but my main concern over smaller tower cases was the issue of accommodating large graphics cards as well as proper cable management space.
Also while one thing to consider for your GPU choice.
I myself own a HD 7950 but a lot of the newer PC games have Nvidia specific features, so if you can somehow manage it in your budget is possible, it might be worthwhile opting to get a GTX 970, or wait until Pascal arrives and get the similar equivalent to that.

No particular reason I'm going Micro ATX, kind of just pulled that from the article and rolled with it. Space isn't a concern, but I'm definitely looking for a cheap, non-flashy case to just house my components in. I see what you're saying about fitting in large graphics cards, especially with upgrading down the road.

Are the Nvidia specific features game-changing? As this is a budget project, the Radeon seemed like the most bang for the buck.

Nobody should be going ATX these days though, mATX or ITX (more costly overall).
I don't like a PSU that's only 80+, but I'm on mobile so can't search it in depth right now.
No point in Z series board and non-K CPU.
Either K CPU and Z board or non k CPU and H or B series board. K series for unlocked CPU multiplier for easy overclocking.

Non-Z boards are limited to <=DDR4 2133 memory speeds though.

So Micro ATX is better than ATX? Because I have a micro one selected up there. I picked the PSU because I'm basically just trying to run the components I'm choosing, and willing to upgrade later when I upgrade something that needs more power. Is that not a good play?

So you guys are saying go Z-series board and a K CPU? Is there a K i5?

Thanks for all the help!

Some additional questions:

- I also want a CD drive/blu-Ray drive. Does choice on this matter or just pick a well-reviewed cheap one?
- Any other key components that I'm missing/forgetting that normally come stock when buying a premade PC?
- Worried about the Windows 10/7 stuff still, anyone have insight into this?