Gaming build $1500 CAD!

H

helluvagood

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 5, 2011
Messages
93
EDIT: Talked to a friend, and instead of doing a new build, upgrading my existing GPU and RAM may be a better way to go for 1440p gaming. What do you think??


With ~$1000 CAD I'm looking to upgrade to a EVGA 980 Ti
Is this a good idea?


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000 CAD

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Canada

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
New build, need all the parts and windows 10.

Upgrading GPU and RAM

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

4 year old rig

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply


6) Will you be overclocking?
My 2500k is still at stock speed

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
I have two monitors.
Gaming on the Dell U2715H 2560x1440
And a secondary 1920x1080 23" monitor for web browsing, skype, etc.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within a week or two. Would like to get most of it over black friday



Thanks for the help!
 
Last edited:
For 1440p 60fps gaming, I would probably use this build

https://pchound.com/MMN8Xb/

It's a little future proof oc'ing wise, the 970 will give you respectable frame rates, and it will be pretty good for a while.


I used google exchange rate conversion and it says it's roughly 1462.66 Canadian Dollars.
 
edit: just upgrading gpu now. pls disregard




Very preliminary build:

For 1440p gaming does the r9 390 beat it slightly?
I could probably find a cheaper PSU. would 650w be enough for now?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.71 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($68.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($134.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($119.99 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($105.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.71 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card ($459.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($154.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1548.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-21 19:05 EST-0500
 
Last edited:
I'm not as familiar with the amd side of GPU's, it's been about 6 years since I've owned one. From what I heard though the 390 doesn't seem to be too bad.

Concerning the seagate I suggest looking up with drives at the catastrophe ones. I think it's either the 1.5 terabyte or 3 terabyte ones. I heard the 4tb ones are really nice though.

The parts you listed above, isn't that about 2100 canadian?
 
I dont really have a preference b/t nvidia and amd, but the benchmarks I've looked at say the r9 is ~5fps better in fallout4, witcher, etc. Prices about the same too, but i'm open to both.

What do you mean by catastrophe ones?

The prices from pcpart picker use CAD (I switched it)
 
sorry I should of noted more about that. There was some research recently on a bunch of drives (like over 100+) of the same type. The results showed that there was a certain seagate size that had a massive failure rate. I think it may have been the 1.5 terabyte one, but it could be the 2 tb one. I had like a 25% failure rate where the other companies and size were sub 10%.
 
Drop down to the vanilla 6600 CPU. You're not overclocking.
Drop that HDD go with a higher capacity SSD. Buy an HDD later when you need the extra storage.
Drop that AIO liquid cooler. You're not overclocking and live in Canada. You don't need it.
What's the CAD price of a EVGA 550W? If cheaper, go with it. 750W is overkill.
Drop the 390 for 1440P gaming. Go with a GTX 980 Ti with the money I saved you above.
I'm not a big fan of that case. Seems to be a little expensive for what you're getting.
 
Skillz said:
Drop down to the vanilla 6600 CPU. You're not overclocking.
Drop that HDD go with a higher capacity SSD. Buy an HDD later when you need the extra storage.
Drop that AIO liquid cooler. You're not overclocking and live in Canada. You don't need it.
What's the CAD price of a EVGA 550W? If cheaper, go with it. 750W is overkill.
Drop the 390 for 1440P gaming. Go with a GTX 980 Ti with the money I saved you above.
I'm not a big fan of that case. Seems to be a little expensive for what you're getting.
Click to expand...

With $1000 CAD I'm looking to upgrade my existing rig to a 980 Ti
Is this a good idea?
 
Last edited:
helluvagood said:
With $1000 CAD I'm looking to upgrade my existing rig to a 980 Ti
Is this a good idea?
Click to expand...

$1000 budget?

helluvagood said:
Very preliminary build:

For 1440p gaming does the r9 390 beat it slightly?
I could probably find a cheaper PSU. would 650w be enough for now?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.71 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($68.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($134.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($119.99 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($105.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.71 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card ($459.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($154.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1548.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-21 19:05 EST-0500
Click to expand...

This is $548 above that budget. Swear your original budget was up to $1500.

edit
Noticed the OP edit. So now you're just upgrading the GPU and RAM. Go with a 2x8GB kit, better PSU and the EVGA 980 Ti. Should be golden for 1440P.
 
Skillz said:
$1000 budget?



This is $548 above that budget. Swear your original budget was up to $1500.

edit
Noticed the OP edit. So now you're just upgrading the GPU and RAM. Go with a 2x8GB kit, better PSU and the EVGA 980 Ti. Should be golden for 1440P.
Click to expand...

Why 2x8GB? It'll cost about $40 more for it to get the same amount of RAM.

What's wrong with the PSU?
 
Nothing is wrong with the RAM you currently have to be honest. You wont notice a single bit of performance increase with faster clocked RAM therefore the only thing upgrading RAM should be for is to add capacity. Since I am sure your friend's motherboard has 4 DIMMs adding an additional 2x8GB kit along with the current 2x4GB kit is the best solution. This will give you a total of 24GB of system memory which is, for all intents and purposes, more than the system owner will need anyway for the foreseeable future. However, should their need to be another reason down the road for even more RAM then replacing the 2x4GB kit with a 2x8GB kit will essentially give you 32GB of RAM total. Going with another 2x4GB of "faster" RAM will show you zero performance increase. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

The PSU is probably as old as the system. Thus it's degraded over time and not as capable as it once was. All PSUs no matter how well built they are go through this degradation. It's best to just replace the PSU with a better PSU now than to chance the risk of the current PSU taking out other system components when it does finally go.
 
According to MSI the MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) supports 32GB of memory.

Little overkill on the PSU. What's the price on the 500W EVGA PSU? You really only need about 500W of power for a 980 Ti.
 
Skillz said:
According to MSI the MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) supports 32GB of memory.

Little overkill on the PSU. What's the price on the 500W EVGA PSU? You really only need about 500W of power for a 980 Ti.
Click to expand...

I checked the side of the motherboard box and it says 16 gb, weird. Your link might be an american version.

This RAM should be compatible right?
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX51487

For the PSU, I'm limited in choices (buying at memoryexpress.com)
They dont have any evga 550w PSUs, only 650w.

Which would you choose out of the 3 here?
Supernova 650 G http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX52210 10 yr warranty!
Supernova 650 GS http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX57241
Supernova GQ 650W http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX60087
 
Last edited:
helluvagood said:
I checked the side of the motherboard box and it says 16 gb, weird. Your link might be an american version.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter, even the Canadian site claims 32G. MSI P67A-GD65 (B3)

I still stand behind my previous recommendation to go with a 2x8GB kit.

helluvagood said:
For the PSU, I'm limited in choices (buying at memoryexpress.com)
They dont have any evga 550w PSUs, only 650w.

Which would you choose out of the 3 here?
Supernova 650 G http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX52210 10 yr warranty!
Supernova 650 GS http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX57241
Supernova GQ 650W http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX60087
Click to expand...

Out of those three choices I'd go with the GQ 650W. The 850W version scored really well with Jonnyguru so hopefully it's based on the same design. The GS didn't score all that well on the performance side with Jonnyguru coming in with an 8.5/10 on it. Could not find anything on the regular G, but the G2 (not listed) scored the best out of the 650W EVGA PSU's I could find.
 
Skillz said:
Doesn't matter, even the Canadian site claims 32G. MSI P67A-GD65 (B3)

I still stand behind my previous recommendation to go with a 2x8GB kit.



Out of those three choices I'd go with the GQ 650W. The 850W version scored really well with Jonnyguru so hopefully it's based on the same design. The GS didn't score all that well on the performance side with Jonnyguru coming in with an 8.5/10 on it. Could not find anything on the regular G, but the G2 (not listed) scored the best out of the 650W EVGA PSU's I could find.
Click to expand...

Good stuff. Will be buying the parts tomorrow. Thanks Skillz!
 
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