Description
I had an LGA-1155 based system that was starting to give me some motherboard problems, so rather than spend money on it to replace the motherboard and update the video card, I decided to do a new build. I did reuse the two SSD's and 1TB HDD that I had in the old PC, and also already had monitors, keyboard and mouse.
I didn't really need it, but I picked up the M.2 SSD mainly so I could do an initial OS install on the new PC without disturbing the old PC. Once I was sure everything was functional with the new PC I then transferred the old drives over.
I also didn't bother removing the SSD's from the 3.5 in trays I had them in. I just left them in the trays and put them in the lower 3.5 in drive bay. There are actually four places in this case specifically for mounting SSD's.
The total cost for this build came in at $1033 (before tax) at the local Canada Computers here in Ottawa, taking advantage of about $100 in discounts for Black Friday. I also ended up with about $100 of mail in rebates as well. This ended up costing about $20 less than I could find it in online suppliers, so buying it locally I probably saved about $100 in shipping as well, not to mention getting to build it right away. :-)
When designing this build I wanted a good solid gaming rig to take me a few years into the future, but held to around a $1000 budget. My initial tests with GTA-V gave me 60+ FPS on very-high settings, so I think it worked out quite well. Most of my gaming is 4x, strategic/tactical turn based wargaming, grand strategy (Paradox) games, flight sims, and some FPS (Arma mostly), so this build should perform great for these.
It also has some future proofing and future upgrade options, with the exception of CPU over-clocking, which had never really been a priority for me.
Part Reviews
CPU
Good CPU choice for a gaming PC build where you want a bit of extra horsepower but don't need over-clocking capabilities.
Motherboard
Good basic motherboard. I'm not an over-clocker, so the basic functionality provided by this board was good enough for me. The layout and connector placement is good, and I had no problems with my build using this board.
Memory
These memory sticks seem quite well made, look pretty good and are a good testament to the Kingston name.
Storage
Probably not the highest performing M.2 SSD stick, but it works as well as any SSD in my build, and it is nice to be able to have this on the motherboard with one less set of cables.
Video Card
I'm an NVidia fan boy, so I ended up going for the 1060 over the RX-480. The GTX-1060 is a good solid choice for a higher end of midrange build. This ASUS card seems to be well built and is running well for me.
Case
A simple no frills case, but for the cost it is surprisingly well built and solid. It won't compete with a case with LED's up the ying-yang and voyeur windows all over the place (and probably costing many $100's), but for a budget build it is a very good choice.
Power Supply
A well built power supply. It is semi-modular (the two motherboard power cables are permanently connected) so it gives most of the same benefits as a fully modular power supply but at a much better price.
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