PC Build Guide – February 2016
Welcome to the February 2016 version of our PC build guides. As always, we have implemented hard price limits ($500, $800, $1300, $1800) on ourselves and have had to make tough decisions with each build. Your personal budget will likely be flexible, but we hope this will give you a baseline. You can of course spend more or spend less, but you run into a case of diminishing returns at either end. Please keep in mind that pricing information is immediate and may not necessarily reflect real prices by the time you have read this article.
We’re going to change things up a bit this month, as we prepare for the new hardware show on twitch.tv/kbmod and post the build guides in advance. It was disruptful to the preparation of the show, and all too frequently caused a delay due to necessary last minute changes. So here’s what we’ll do – we’ll post them in advance, you can ask questions about them below, and we’ll address them on our live hardware broadcast.
The Starter
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz | $123.88 @ OutletPC |
| Motherboard | ASRock Z170M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA1151 | $116.98 @ Newegg |
| Memory | G.Skill Aegis 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 | $34.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM | $46.89 @ OutletPC |
| Video Card | Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB | $129.99 @ Micro Center |
| Case | Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 | $24.99 @ NCIX US |
| Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified | $19.99 @ Newegg |
| Total | $497.71 |
The Sweet Spot
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz | $199.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Motherboard | ASRock Z170M Extreme4 | $116.98 @ Newegg |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 | $39.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB | $43.89 @ OutletPC |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM | $46.89 @ OutletPC |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB | $303.98 @ Newegg |
| Case | Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 | $24.99 @ NCIX US |
| Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified | $19.99 @ Newegg |
| Total | $796.70 |
The Enthusiast
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz | $381.98 @ Newegg |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair H110i GT | $95.10 @ Newegg |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 | $119.99 @ Micro Center |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 | $37.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Sandisk Ultra II 960GB | $238.50 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB | $303.98 @ Newegg |
| Case | NZXT S340 (Black) | $64.99 @ Directron |
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified | $65.98 @ Newegg |
| Total | $1295.51 |
The Professional
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz | $374.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair H110i GT | $95.10 @ Newegg |
| Motherboard | ASRock X99 Extreme3 | $159.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 | $134.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Sandisk Ultra II 960GB | $238.50 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ | $629.99 @ Amazon |
| Case | Fractal Design Define S w/Window | $74.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified | $65.98 @ Newegg |
| Total | $1774.53 |
