Current Events > This has been my favorite PC build ever, thought I'd share

(+) Yeah! (+)

For anyone looking to build a PC, primarily if you want one in the living room. The prices are MSRP, meaning you'll probably find much better deals on websites. Remember, if they don't have a slash through a price, it probably means amazon or newegg is probably charing more than the recommended price.

I prefer Mini ITX boards nowadays, as you can pack quite a bit of power in something you can easily carry and plug into a friend or family's TV :)

Noctua NH-L9i 92mm SSO2 CPU Cooler - $49.95 MSRP. Sound is a priority in the living room when playing a game or watching a tv on it. Unfortunately I can't quite tell if the thing is on or not when I press the power button.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Mini ITX $439.99 MSRP. Plays The Witcher 3 at the highest settings. I'm not really a AAA gamer, so everything I play runs at max settings so far.

EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G2, 550W, Fully Modular - $99.99 MSRP. You don't want to cheap out on a power supply, as a crappy one can short out stuff. I never want to go back to non-modular power supplies now, as you never have to deal with excess cables.

MSI Gaming Intel Skylake B150 LGA 1151 Mini ITX Motherboard - $99.99 MSRP. I'm not too big on motherboards, and the main thing with this mobo is the built in wireless and decent antennae. You probably may not want build in wifi though.

32GB DDR4 RAM - $200 - $300 - There are so many brands and prices update so much its hard to justfiy one that will be good for the next few years let alone weeks. Best check recent reviews in case a manufacturer tries to make good quality, then switch to cheap quality once good reviews are in.

Intel Core i7 6700K 4.00 GHz - $419.99 MSRP - Arguably overkill? I am perfectly happy with it though.

Samsung 860 EVO 500GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD - $109.99 MSRP - Nothing too fancy here. You may consider a second internal drive and clone it with a program like Marcium Reflect for a quick fix solution.

Cooler Master Elite 110 RC-110-KKN2-AMZ Cube Style Mini-ITX Computer - $59.99 MSRP Sadly I don't think they make this case anymore. But quietness of fans tend to be my biggest concern.

Steam Controller - $49.99 or PS4 Controller - $49.99. This is under the assumption you want to operate EVERYTHING with one or two controllers, and not worry about a keyboard/mouse in your lap on a big comfy couch all the time. The PS4 touchpad does not feel as nice as the Steam Controller, and keyboard buttons are easier with a Steam Controller than PS4. But many games, primarily retro games, are better with a PS4. An Xbox1 controller is fine, but using the analog stick as a mouse in Windows is, ehhhh.

Let me know if anyone has any questions for a PC build, or if you plan to replace all your cable TV monthly fee and/or consoles with a living room PC :)

I didn't find a USB DVD Drive neccessary, as I was able to rip all my DVDs and Blu Rays to one external hard drive, meaning I can watch everything without separating my butt from my couch. Of course this means your secondary office pc/laptop will be doing a lot of that work.

If you think the cost is pricey, think about cancelling your Cable TV plan, and use the savings in just one year to build your PC ;)

Emulator wise, Retroarch has been the goto choice. It has your NES classic, SNES classic, PS1 classic all rolled into one with every other console accessible from a Playstation like interface. It even records your leaderboard scores and achievements on retroachievements.org too! No keyboard or mouse is neccessary to operate the interface either which is lovely.

I have close to the same build, just 16GB but a Z270 mobo and a regular tower.

Steam Controller is super shit though.
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B150 is garbage. Not bad otherwise. Just weird.
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The only thing I don't get is why you didn't go for an NVMe SSD?
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What a shitty build.

Why are you using a 3-generation-old CPU?
Why are you using an unlocked processor but a motherboard that doesn't allow overclocking?
Why are you recommending 32GBs of RAM when 16 is fine?
You are paying way too much for that PSU, you can get a good one for half the price.
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Lonestar2000 posted...

Why are you using a 3-generation-old CPU?

9th gen i7s are nerfed (you need an i9 now for the same level of performance (relative to the same-gen i5) as an older i7), and 7th / 8th gen don't really offer much of an improvement over 6th.
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BewmHedshot posted...

I have close to the same build, just 16GB but a Z270 mobo and a regular tower.

Steam Controller is super shit though.

For movies, music, web sites, and point and click games though, the SC is the bees knees. For retro and non-mouse supported FPS games, I go for the PS4. Unfortunately my ps4 only wants to charge when plugged into the PC for some reason, not a regular USB cable in the wall.

Lonestar2000 posted...

What a shitty build.

Why are you using a 3-generation-old CPU?
Why are you using an unlocked processor but a motherboard that doesn't allow overclocking?
Why are you recommending 32GBs of RAM when 16 is fine?
You are paying way too much for that PSU, you can get a good one for half the price.

I got all that about 2 years ago if I recall. I don't do overclocking, not really worth my time nowadays, I just got what was the best deal at the time, as prices seem much different than today. The 32GB of ram was about half the price at the time, so what the hey. What would your recommendations be for these kids today?

What PSU would you recommend that is both modular, and more important quiet? (quiet is the key)

Zaltera posted...

B150 is garbage. Not bad otherwise. Just weird.

I wasn't really looking much into motherboards at the time, I just wanted one with built in bluetooth (for a PS4 controller and headset) and wifi. What mobos are good these days?

>67ook in 2018
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This PC is going to have worse looking games than an Xbox one X all things considered and is about 4-5 times the price.

Why do people throw so much money away for an inferior gaming experience?

GaryGaryGary posted...

This PC is going to have worse looking games than an Xbox one X all things considered and is about 4-5 times the price.

Why do people throw so much money away for an inferior gaming experience?

Weird, all my games run at max settings 60fps fine, including games like Witcher 3.. What is the better alternative for PC?

32GB DDR4 RAM - $200 - $300

so 200 or 300? you arent very clear on it
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GaryGaryGary posted...

This PC is going to have worse looking games than an Xbox one X all things considered and is about 4-5 times the price.

Why do people throw so much money away for an inferior gaming experience?

...worse looking than console with a GTX 1070? I somehow really, really doubt that.
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DarkTransient posted...

GaryGaryGary posted...

This PC is going to have worse looking games than an Xbox one X all things considered and is about 4-5 times the price.

Why do people throw so much money away for an inferior gaming experience?

...worse looking than console with a GTX 1070? I somehow really, really doubt that.

Yep, had no issues for years. I want him to tell me what's better for a mini itx though :(

Kerred posted...

GaryGaryGary posted...

This PC is going to have worse looking games than an Xbox one X all things considered and is about 4-5 times the price.

Why do people throw so much money away for an inferior gaming experience?

Weird, all my games run at max settings 60fps fine, including games like Witcher 3.. What is the better alternative for PC?

An Xbox one X.

GaryGaryGary posted...

Kerred posted...

GaryGaryGary posted...

This PC is going to have worse looking games than an Xbox one X all things considered and is about 4-5 times the price.

Why do people throw so much money away for an inferior gaming experience?

Weird, all my games run at max settings 60fps fine, including games like Witcher 3.. What is the better alternative for PC?

An Xbox one X.

Awesome! Can the Xbox play mp4 files and mp3s from a usb hard drive or network drive? I put all my movies on one drive so I don't have to swap discs. If so, I may pick one up.

How is the built in web browser as well? Like can it run watchcartoononline? How easy is it to mod for emulators so I never have to switch inputs or consoles?

he went to kerred
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Kerred posted...

Let me know if anyone has any questions for a PC build, or if you plan to replace all your cable TV monthly fee and/or consoles with a living room PC :)

this has made my life so great, it is the path forward

my question is "do you play twilight struggle on steam these days"
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^ Not yet, sorry. I played the board game at least 30-40 times though. I also recommend www.twilightstrategy.com.

LOL at wasting money on 32GB of RAM. My PC is superior with only 16.
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Kerred posted...

^ Not yet, sorry. I played the board game at least 30-40 times though. I also recommend www.twilightstrategy.com.

i play with theory sometimes, and also with brian reynolds. they're awesome! i have a game going with brian right now, T7 he just flipped a game in which I was up 2 to one in which he is up 19.

imo, brian is a much stronger player than theory.
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Orlando_Jordan posted...

LOL at wasting money on 32GB of RAM. My PC is superior with only 16.

I only got it as it was the same price as 16GB of ram at the time, if I recall newegg had a pricing error. My guess is 32GB of RAM probably won't be more needed into until 2021 or 2022.

Darkman124 posted...

Kerred posted...

^ Not yet, sorry. I played the board game at least 30-40 times though. I also recommend www.twilightstrategy.com.

i play with theory sometimes, and also with brian reynolds. they're awesome! i have a game going with brian right now, T7 he just flipped a game in which I was up 2 to one in which he is up 19.

imo, brian is a much stronger player than theory.

I assume Brian is US?

Kerred posted...

I assume Brian is US?

noooope. Soviet. he had a strong africa advantage that I survived T6 using puppet govts, but it came back with a vengeance T7 via decol HL, T1 coup, T2 ABM treaty coup.

then arms race for 3, and I was forced to score SA where he also had domination that I had nullified T6. then space race for another 3.

my hand was atrocious, bunch of low ops, OPEC that had to be spaced (failed the roll), socgov, quagmire, etc.

i have europe/asia/mideast domination, but none of those scoring cards have materialized. i expect they won't in time.
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Ew, and if I recall its harder to trap your opponent in Nuclear War in the late war to sneak out a win.

Easier and harder. There's more DEFCON suicide cards, but once they get far enough along in the space race, your only hope is if they draw 2 suicide cards and can't space either.

On my turn, of course, I drew one of the ones I needed him to get.

That game is doomed.
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Ah, back in the old days high lever players wouldn't bother with the Space Race. But from what I read many players in China adopted a fast space race strategy and seems to be working out and spread to other high level players.