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Skylake Gaming PC, i5 6500, 250GB SSD, 8GB, GTX960, <$900 AUD Delivered (Req AmEx + eBay) + More

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Skylake Gaming PC, i5 6500, 250GB SSD, 8GB, GTX960, <$900 AUD Delivered (Req AmEx + eBay) + More
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G5 on 22/10/2015 - 18:42 files.ozbargain.com.au (2298 clicks)
Last edited 16/11/2015 - 14:55 by 1 other user

I have spent a while researching the best bang-for-buck PC components and weighing off against things like shipping costs, exchange rates and current discounts a la Amazon 15% Amex and eBay $100 voucher deals. My goal was to build a decent-spec gaming PC that can play most modern games in HD resolution and costs under $1000 including delivery.

This is the cheapest way I can find to build a well-specced Skylake socket 1151 micro ATX system with DDR4 ram, fully delivered. It's probably a little bit more expensive than a socket 1150 system with DDR3, but not by much, and you get the benefits of newer tech.

The sweet spot appears to be around the $1100 mark.

You could save even more by cutting back on things like the motherboard, RAM and GPU, so I've provided a couple more builds with this in mind. Some prices might be cheaper to pick up if you live near a store like MSY. I haven't taken that into account. Some prices might also be cheaper from other eBay sellers - I've mostly chosen those that allow click + collect in order to get the $100 voucher.

I also haven't included any peripherals or operating systems in the pricing - I assume most people have these things already.

Don't forget to use 2.5% Cashrewards eBay cashback and 5% Amazon GivingAssistant cashback before Nov 1.

All prices in AUD using exchange rate of 1USD = 1.38AUD.

Update 23/10

Due to price drops on GPUs, it's now cheaper to build a system with a 4GB GPU than a 2GB GPU, which effectively removes the <$950 price tier. I've also updated motherboard prices with the latest ShoppingExpress deal.

Update 24/10

Added a <$1200 build with a mATX motherboard that supports SLI.

<$900 Gaming PC

Should run most modern games like BF4, GTAV in 1080p, 30-60fps at ultra or just below.

Uses a GTX 960 4GB as the GPU, and a non-overclockable motherboard.

To get the $100 eBay discount you will need to buy the motherboard + SSD in the same transaction to make $200, then use the eBay voucher to buy the PSU.

Part Description Notes URL StaticIce Cheapest
GPU EVGA GTX 960 Overclocked 4G $211 @ Amazon w/Amex $310
Motherboard Gigabyte B150M-D3H eBay click + collect to get voucher $149 @ eBay, $139 @ FreeShippingTech $135
PSU Antec Neo ECO 520C Buy with eBay voucher $108 @ eBay $83
Ram 8GB 1x8GB DDR4 $57 @ Amazon w/Amex $74
CPU i5 6500 Best bang-for-buck Skylake CPU $244 @ Amazon w/Amex $289
SSD Crucial BX100 250GB eBay click + collect with Mobo to get voucher $118 @ Ebay $125
Case Cooler Master N200 Ships from NZ $50 @ FreeShippingTech $59
Amazon Shipping ~$19
eBay voucher discount -$100
Total $856 (delivered) $1043 (not delivered)

<$1100 Gaming PC

Upgrades the GPU to a GTX 970 4GB. Upgrades the motherboard to support overclocking with a future CPU upgrade.

Part Description Notes URL StaticIce Cheapest
GPU EVGA GTX 970 Overclocked 4G Full-size card $370 @ Amazon w/Amex $457
Motherboard Gigabyte Z170M-D3H eBay click + collect to get voucher $226 @ eBay, $207 @ FreeShippingTech $199
PSU Antec Neo ECO 520C Buy with eBay voucher $108 @ eBay $83
Ram 8GB 1x8GB DDR4 $57 @ Amazon w/Amex $74
CPU i5 6500 Best bang-for-buck Skylake CPU $244 @ Amazon w/Amex $289
SSD Crucial BX100 250GB eBay click + collect with Mobo to get voucher $118 @ Ebay $125
Case Cooler Master N200 Ships from NZ $50 @ FreeShippingTech $59
Amazon Shipping ~$19
eBay voucher discount -$100
Total $1092 (delivered) $1286 (not delivered)

<$1200 Gaming PC

Upgrades the GPU to a GTX 970 4GB. Upgrades the motherboard to support SLI and overclocking with a future CPU upgrade.

Part Description Notes URL StaticIce Cheapest
GPU EVGA GTX 970 Overclocked 4G Full-size card $370 @ Amazon w/Amex $457
Motherboard Gigabyte Z170MX-Gaming eBay click + collect to get voucher $298 @ eBay, $280 @ FreeShippingTech $269
PSU Antec Neo ECO 520C Buy with eBay voucher $108 @ eBay $83
Ram 8GB 1x8GB DDR4 $57 @ Amazon w/Amex $74
CPU i5 6500 Best bang-for-buck Skylake CPU $244 @ Amazon w/Amex $289
SSD Crucial BX100 250GB eBay click + collect with Mobo to get voucher $118 @ Ebay $125
Case Cooler Master N200 Ships from NZ $50 @ FreeShippingTech $59
Amazon Shipping ~$19
eBay voucher discount -$100
Total $1164 (delivered) $1356 (not delivered)

<$1000 Mini-ITX Gaming PC

Smaller form factor, but just as powerful. Costs slightly more due to a more expensive overclockable motherboard.

Part Description Notes URL StaticIce Cheapest
GPU Gigabyte GTX 960 Overclocked 4G $211 @ Amazon w/Amex $310
Motherboard Gigabyte Z170N-WIFI eBay click + collect to get voucher $273 @ eBay, $242 @ FreeShippingTech $244
PSU Antec Neo ECO 520C Buy with eBay voucher $108 @ eBay $83
Ram 8GB 1x8GB DDR4 $57 @ Amazon w/Amex $74
CPU i5 6500 Best bang-for-buck Skylake CPU $244 @ Amazon w/Amex $289
SSD Crucial BX100 250GB eBay click + collect with Mobo to get voucher $118 @ Ebay $125
Case Cooler Master Elite 130 Ships from NZ $50 @ FreeShippingTech $55
Amazon Shipping ~$19
eBay voucher discount -$100
Total $980 (delivered) $1180 (not delivered)

Further Upgrade Options

Part Description Notes URL
GPU EVGA GTX 970 Overclocked 4GB Full-size card $380 @ Amazon w/Amex
PSU EVGA SuperNOVA G2 750 $147 @ FreeShippingTech
Ram 16GB 2x8GB DDR4 $98 @ Amazon w/Amex
CPU Cooler Corsair H55 $98 @ eBay
Case Antec P50 $89 @ MSY local pickup
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closed Comments

      • Pacify on 22/10/2015 - 22:00

        Yeah, 2 ssds seems way over the top. Better to get one ssd and one disk drive

        • gimli on 22/10/2015 - 22:47
          +2

          OP has enough Ferraris and needs something else to spend his money on

        • [Deactivated] on 22/10/2015 - 23:50
          +1

          @Gimli: Yep, with the $500 I saved, I can finally replace my lost key ring.

      • chipstss on 22/10/2015 - 22:28

        Space and heat maybe? mini-ITX afterall.

      • [Deactivated] on 22/10/2015 - 22:37

        The chassis can only fit one 3.5' hdd with a video card no longer than 20cm if I remember correctly.

        • lostn on 22/10/2015 - 23:27

          He doesn't have a 3.5" drive.

    • bbourizk on 22/10/2015 - 22:03

      Do you have two paypal accounts as well? or will two ebay accounts work.
      thanks

      • [Deactivated] on 22/10/2015 - 22:38
        +1

        Yes, my wife's got her own PayPal account. I also did call eBay to confirm that you can only get 1 voucher with each ebay and each paypal account.

  • jono80 on 22/10/2015 - 21:26

    Top work OP! Time for a new rig, all we need now is a Dell 30% off monitors sale… how long has it been since the last one of those

  • bernietoast on 22/10/2015 - 21:27

    Awesome effort mate!!

  • qtmai on 22/10/2015 - 21:39

    you're a true OzBargainer

  • milhau5 on 22/10/2015 - 21:47

    Dude… Legend!

  • nfr on 22/10/2015 - 21:48

    So it's not too early (cost wise) to get a Skylake system now?

  • whirlpool_guy on 22/10/2015 - 21:58

    Excellent quality post!

  • langitbiru on 22/10/2015 - 22:02

    not intereste to get one, but my + vote, goes to your time & hardwork…

  • DauntingEarth on 22/10/2015 - 22:14

    I don't have Amex, any ways I can be involved in this?

    • G5 on 22/10/2015 - 22:26
      +2

      You can buy the parts from Amazon without the 15% discount - though they may be cheaper locally.

      Or you can borrow a friend's Amex and use this gift card trick to only pay $1 with the Amex.

  • KaTst3R on 22/10/2015 - 22:21

    I thought the D3H motherboards uses DDR3 ram…

    • G5 on 22/10/2015 - 22:23
      +1

      There's a specific DDR3 version that's different from the DDR4 version, make sure you get the right one.

      • KaTst3R on 22/10/2015 - 22:24

        Ok I think I was looking at the other one. The model number is pretty similar

    • scrimshaw on 22/10/2015 - 22:37
      +3

      Most Ozbargainers will be young tech savvy people who know their way around PC hardware, going by the large number of upvotes this deal has.

      but tech guy won't worry about where to get good price.

      Yes they do. They would also be more price conscious and are more likely to want to find a bargain on parts they want. As opposed to mum-dad types who have no idea on how much a Skylake processor should cost.

      And besides, why would a high end gaming pc have a higher failure rate than a NUC?

      • leetec on 22/10/2015 - 23:17
        -2

        then are you a hardware tech guy?

        • bobjane on 23/10/2015 - 02:49
          +4

          You don't have to be a "hardware tech guy" to assemble a PC. There's less than 10 parts, all with instruction manuals.

          A 12 year could easily do it with some common sense and google. If you can't then buy a pre built.

        • Charlie-B on 26/10/2015 - 11:39

          I built my first computer when I was 15 by googling and youtube. With the amount of time people spend watching random shit on youtube these days, surely they can spare 10 minutes watching 'how to build a computer'

        • leetec on 26/10/2015 - 12:23

          @bjorncyz:
          Why you and other peoples don't read the conversation before comment? we never are discussing assembling PC.

    • infinite on 23/10/2015 - 10:11

      There's like 9 pieces to a PC and you need literally no tools or screws to put most of it together - as it's mostly just slide & clip-in the components to the inside of the case. It's pretty much as hard as putting together a handful of large lego pieces. Windows 7/8/10 auto-installs off either a disc or USB drive and it all auto-recognizes the hardware & even downloads the latest drivers for you. If you've never done it before, you can just follow a basic 10-15min instructional on youtube and it's still quick and a piece of cake.

      The entire build process can be done in easily under 5 minutes, the OS takes another 5-10min to install. Whack on another hour to install some basic software for personal needs, then let Steam run overnight to re-download your entire library of 100's of games, or just point out the internal drive you have all your games already backed up on to.

  • philmarcracken on 22/10/2015 - 22:32

    Why all single sticks of 8gb? It will run in single channel…

    • G5 on 22/10/2015 - 22:36
      +5

      So you can upgrade with another 8gb stick later! And put up with single channel in the meantime… not that you'd notice.

    • MHLoppy on 23/10/2015 - 06:16

      There isn't a huge difference in performance between single and dual channel in most day-to-day tasks (examples if you scroll down: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8672/lenovo-thinkstation-p300-…). If you expect to regularly do tasks which benefit from it, you should probably spend a little extra for a dual channel kit.

  • gimli on 22/10/2015 - 22:48
    +12

    Now that I have money to buy such a system I no longer have time to play… QQ

    • scrimshaw on 22/10/2015 - 23:22
      +11

      Wait till you get married, then you will have no dosh to buy a gaming system AND no time to play.

      • gimli on 23/10/2015 - 08:35
        +8

        I suspect even if i did have time and money I wouldn't have permission to play.

  • rodinthink on 23/10/2015 - 01:11

    Would reccomend MSI r9 390 8gb over GTX 970 3.5gb as it future proof for 4k & able to max MSAA or other graphic options that required bunch of VRAM

    (PS: Not the best time to buy PC component compared to last couple years, but this bargain quite reasonable)

    P.P.S: Better invest more on these things as these item is quite future proof:

    1. Power Supply to be around 800-1000watt with at least 80 gold plus certification, platinum is even better. Better to do this so it's more flexible if you want to Dual-Triple crossfire/sli

    2. Be aware that this PC case is Mini Tower. PC case especially that focus in the front of case (USB 3.0, Audio plug in ,etc).Full tower is better as you might bought long large thick GPU. Do so because you don't have to move your tight arse if you want to plug-in external drive

    3. Keyboard + Mouse. You can use these for 15-24 years if you buy a high quality one. Cherry MX mechanical switch with tactile feedback is definetely too good.

    4.Water-coolant for CPU. Quuite future proof and good if you are OC enthusiast. Won't change much in the future

    Might not be a good time to invest on monitor as we are currently transisting between 1080p to 4k mainstreamly.

    P.P.P.S: AMD will release new CPU in 2016 called Zen, good to see them finally being competitive. Might impact with Intel CPU price next year.

    • g2420hd on 23/10/2015 - 04:50
      +3

      1. Power supply is purely due to needs. If you follow the build he's put, it's solid and more than enough. It's got nothing to do with "future proofing".

      2. PC Case is actually a mid tower and will fit any full sized GPU. I think up to 14 inch which from memory is most full sized cards. Full towers are pretty much unnecessary for the average user…even the enthusiast gamer unless you specifically need extra PCIE for something.

      3. Just stop using the words future proof it's stupid as. Also water cooling blocks can often change depending on what you have.

      4. If you need a decent bang for buck gaming computer now I would suggest you consider this build as there is always something awaiting on the horizon. If you have price protect buy anytime you want.

      5. Now and the foreseeable future will never be good for buying pc components as compared to the past few years because of forex.

      • EatmahPoo on 23/10/2015 - 06:08

        You sir took the words out of my mouth. Also water cooling is pointless for locked chips, the stock cooler will do fine. There are lots of things in life where future proofing is an investments, tech isn't one of them, most people know that these days.

        If you're gaming at 1080p 60fps consider a r9 285 . It may seem like a generation older but it's really the same silicon as the 300 series. It's faster marginally in benchmarks to 960 and cheaper. Uses a little bit more power tho.

        If all you want to do is game, don't bother getting unlocked processors and high end mobos they do nothing in terms of gaming performance, maybe 1-2 fps difference if lucky. He'll just get the Haswells they do fine. If you must spend more bump it up to 970 it's good value, esp at QHD

        • MHLoppy on 23/10/2015 - 06:29

          If you're gaming at 1080p 60fps consider a r9 285 . It may seem like a generation older but it's really the same silicon as the 300 series. It's faster marginally in benchmarks to 960 and cheaper. Uses a little bit more power tho.

          Raw FPS between the two is around the same (285 small lead), but 99th percentile FPS performance seems a fair bit weaker on the 285 (source) - maybe worth thinking about if you find a good price though.

      • rodinthink on 23/10/2015 - 19:08

        Each to their own.
        This is the suggestion I personally reckon would be a safe decision according to my bad experience selling the PSU & case which is quite new.

        Depends on how enthusiastic you are with your PC. If you are very up to date and always go for the latest technology this is what I suggest. Think thoroughly before you buy something. If you end up buying something wrong, that part will end up in gumtree with 25-35% depreciation value & too much hassle as you need to re-configure your PC component which is very inconvenience.

  • Hornpub on 23/10/2015 - 01:34

    Appreciate the effort for someone that don't have the will or time to spend but still want a valuable pc build.

    Bare in mind, intel is planing release new generation of CPUs in 2017, i will stick with my 3930k until then i guess….but time to get a new gpu..~

  • lost69 on 23/10/2015 - 07:30
    -5

    A 960 is rubbish. You won't hit consistent 60FPS on Ultra with that in V or Witcher III or upcoming games. You also want an i7, all AAA games over the past year can use those threads. If you want consistent frames you want more threads. This site:

    http://gamegpu.ru/action-/-fps-/-tps/grand-theft-auto-v-test…

    Will show that in recent titles. See Fallout 4 recommended specs? i7.

    • MHLoppy on 23/10/2015 - 08:46
      +5

      We're talking cost efficiency here. the 950~970 range is what has a good price:performance. Ditto for i5 vs i7 when it comes to most tasks and most games.

      A 960 is rubbish. You won't hit consistent 60FPS on Ultra with that in V or Witcher III or upcoming games.

      On your own link the minimum card to hit an average of 60fps+ at 1920x1080 with no AA in GTA V was the Titan X. Something like the 960 (or a 970 as a potential upgrade) will perform fine in most games at full HD - and will do so at a far more acceptable price. If you want or need the extra performance, you have to pay for it.

      You also want an i7, all AAA games over the past year can use those threads. If you want consistent frames you want more threads.

      Again with cost efficiency. Most games will get you reasonably smooth frame delivery with just 4 cores and no hyperthreading (an i5), with minimal benefit if you spend extra for hyper threading.

      Looking back at your own link, they tested both the 2500K and the 2600K in GTA V with SLI'd 980s and only got a ~16.5% average FPS increase using more GPU power than anyone looking at the ~$1000 price range can get. A 16.5% improvement for well over 16.5% extra cost.

      Tested with a single Titan X, an i7 4790K @stock (4 GHz base, max 4.4 GHz turbo) offered a ~10% or less improvement in GTA V with max settings at 1080p compared to the "only" quad core i5 3570K @stock (3.4 GHz base, max 3.8GHz turbo) - most of which can be attributed to IPC improvements between Ivy Bridge and Haswell plus the 0.6 GHz discrepency between the two CPUs. (source)

      Same link, same game, but "only" very high / ultra settings and the i5 3570K has the same average FPS as the i7 4790K.

    • infinite on 23/10/2015 - 10:17
      -1

      I get 51.5 fps at those settings with hairworks on in Witcher 3 with the GTX 960 & mine's not even the overclocked or boosted version. Turning off hairworks is all that's needed to pass 60fps now with that card. You can shell out a small fortune for better cards, but the performance increase is really small compared to the massive extra cost involved.

  • charzy on 23/10/2015 - 07:45
    -1

    Why not this card OP?
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012NOWERC/ref=od_aui_deta…
    A bit cheaper than the one you linked for the 960 2gb

    • G5 on 23/10/2015 - 09:23

      It wasn't that cheap yesterday - jump on it!

      • charzy on 23/10/2015 - 10:03

        Already have!

  • Windows7forever on 23/10/2015 - 08:55
    +1

    I'm not buying but this is a very well researched and detailed post. TYVM, Sir.

  • scotty on 23/10/2015 - 09:20
    +2

    EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB just got a price drop to USD$179.99 + $11.27 postage :)

  • Lord Ra on 23/10/2015 - 09:50

    Thank you for the info!! Very well done!

  • vsquare007 on 23/10/2015 - 10:54

    Only 1 voucher will be awarded per registered Australian eBay account (and if applicable per registered Australian PayPal account) during the Offer Period. If you make multiple purchases which qualify for a voucher under clause 2, you will receive the voucher of the higher value.

  • Hershall Von Studley on 23/10/2015 - 11:46

    Awesome post, thanks. I'm trying to build my first computer and this is a massive help.

    1. Any tips on HDDs that are compatible with the <$1100 build? (Gigabyte Z170M-D3H mobo)

    2. I'm not sure if this is a stupid question, but do I need another card for the mobo if I want wifi? If so, what kind of compatibility issues do I need to look for?

    • MHLoppy on 23/10/2015 - 15:08
      +2

      HDDs that are compatible

      Fairly straightforward - as long as it uses a regular SATA connection it'll plug in just fine to both motherboard and power supply. You'll usually see it listed as SATA [version/revision] 2 or 3 OR SATA 3Gb/s or 6Gb/s respectively. For a hard drive, the difference between those two is fairly unimportant, so don't worry about a drive that might "only" be 3Gb/s.

      Look for a 3.5" drive, as those are the standard size for desktops. 2.5" is also available, but doesn't make much sense for desktop use most of the time. To get you an idea of compatibility, literally every drive on this list is compatible: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=21…

      Additionally, consider avoiding low RPM (~5400-5900) drives if you're planning to use it for programs / other stuff that isn't mostly media files. A 7200 RPM drive is usually better suited speed-wise in that case. If it's just a media drive for music, movies etc then a lower RPM drive is fine and might even be preferable.

      wifi?

      Some / most high end motherboards have some sort of wireless solution integrated, but the board here is more in the value or mid range segment and as such doesn't have any sort of wireless. You'll need to either get a higher end motherboard (which is probably not going to be cost effective) or grab an extra component.

      Your main options for the latter will be something that uses PCI or PCIe (similarly to a graphics card) or an external USB adaptor. Cheap ones of either kind are available at ~$25 or less - it should be easy enough to find something both compatible and cheap on Ebay etc, but you can see a few examples here (minus the replacement brackets or bluetooth adaptor): http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=20…

      ed: ^ the wireless stuff is assuming you're wanting to connect to an existing wireless network in your house / wherever you're using the PC - if you had something else in mind it might not apply

  • Huntz on 23/10/2015 - 13:16
    +1

    That is some dedicated work - well done on posting this.

    My requirements are slightly different - I need to run multiple VMs and an occasional game. How would the config look - understand I would need an i7 ??

    • scrimshaw on 23/10/2015 - 14:44
      +1

      You'll need 16GB RAM for starters, and a fast SSD although the i7 is actually quite optional. Whether you need the i7 depends on how many VM's you run at once. Usually you will see io/hdd limitations before hitting cpu limitations.

      • G5 on 23/10/2015 - 14:59
        +2

        Agree, i5 should be fine for multiple VMs unless you are doing highly CPU-intensive work in them. Prioritise ram and SSD.

  • Noblejoker on 23/10/2015 - 14:54

    You sir are awesome
    Bought some 2nd hand gear cheap but realised I didn't have a half decent case
    Living remotely shipping is the killer - problem solved - Bought!
    Cheers

  • Kapinny on 23/10/2015 - 18:43

    no 100$ ebay voucher for those in perth right? :(

  • illumination on 23/10/2015 - 20:16

    Incredible… I do not need a new PC but after reading this now I think may..

  • j5ive on 23/10/2015 - 20:34

    Great post, gets me excited about building a gaming machine. I'm not a fan of sending money overseas for pc parts, any idea of the best places to do this build locally? I've already used my $200 ebay voucher.

    • MHLoppy on 23/10/2015 - 21:59

      If you're looking purely for the lowest price, the staticice searches (linked in the post) show you the lowest price out of a bunch of PC stores in Aus.

      PCPartPicker http://au.pcpartpicker.com/ is another option that's better for sort of organising the build. It samples most of the same merchants (slightly fewer overall I think) but has an interface to save components in a nice list.

  • spacemansparrow on 23/10/2015 - 20:51

    This was something I put together for a friend a little while ago, You wont be able to get the Athlon 860k in Australia but its about $110 as I listed including postage from various website such as Play-Asia.com

    http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/LgdCxr

    Overclock the CPU, GPU and RAM if you're extra crazy!

  • tommypickles on 23/10/2015 - 22:31

    Any chance this configuration will work as a Hackintosh? If not, any chance you could pretty please configure one for us? :)

    • G5 on 24/10/2015 - 13:47

      You should be able to run OSX in a VM quite smoothly. Much better than stuffing round with drivers etc. for a Hackintosh.

  • Wuffybrother on 24/10/2015 - 00:17

    In terms of gaming on the mini-ITX build, do you think cooling is an issue at all? I wouldn't do any overclocking, just thinking more in regards to a stock build.

    • G5 on 24/10/2015 - 13:51

      I won't say cooling won't be an issue - but I would also say not to worry about it until it is.

      If you find temps are unacceptable you should be able to invest later on in a CPU cooler. I believe there are some which will fit in the Elite 130 but don't quote me on that. These guys managed to fit a Corsair H80i into a Sugo SG13 mITX case.

      If you need a GPU cooler though, you might be pressed for space.

  • florachan on 24/10/2015 - 02:03

    thanks.. awesome work ..

    Now that we have gotten our gaming PC with the GTX 960 graphic cards.

    Any recommendation for Monitors? doesn't have to be 4k..

    Is there any monitor deals / dual monitor deals.. best value to go with the build? Any from the eBay voucher deal or Amazon/Amex deal?

    • lostn on 24/10/2015 - 11:24

      What are you using right now? Just continue using it.

      • florachan on 24/10/2015 - 14:13

        I don't have a monitor right now. I am using a laptop..
        but I have just ordered all the necessary part for building a PC.
        So I am looking for a monitor deal to go with this PC. :) I could still use my friend eBay to get extra voucher

        • Tech5 on 24/10/2015 - 16:16

          BENQ RL2455HM is very nice for the price point. Not the best for movies (not that I have noticed any problems watching 1080p) But for gaming/browsing, it is great

  • Rorschach on 24/10/2015 - 08:12

    +1 for the effort!

  • daydream on 25/10/2015 - 14:28

    Thanks for all the research and info!

  • YoungFriendly on 25/10/2015 - 15:43

    Thanks for this guide, you've delivered something very high quality here.
    Sorry if this is an obvious question but I haven't been parts shopping in years: are prices anticipated to be lower around/after the holiday season?

  • NitroNinja on 27/10/2015 - 17:59

    Will a wireless card fit with these?

    • Merlict on 27/10/2015 - 19:55
      +1

      Yes, it will fit any of these.

      The Mini ITX board comes with one built in.

  • RJ021 on 28/10/2015 - 11:00
    +3

    For all you budget builders, they've just released the Skylake i3 and it seems to bench really well!

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-…

    Also check out the difference on Z170 mobos between 2666Mhz RAM and 2133Mhz RAM. Very interesting reading and could be better for the budget/performance ratio.

  • thereisriceandcurry on 28/10/2015 - 15:50

    How noisy would the fans be in these builds when computer is not being used eg left on overnight?
    I assume the majority of the noise would come from the 2x case fans and some by the PSU fan.
    Great research and work btw!

    Also, if one was looking for a build with a motherboard with wifi, but doesn't necessarily need a small form factor, and would like to maintain 2x PCI slots for future upgraidability, is there another motherboard choice within the same price/value point?

  • m0tyrider on 29/10/2015 - 11:58

    eBay click and collect voucher promotion has finished? Or is it still working?

    • charzy on 30/10/2015 - 09:01

      finished last week i believe

  • Stoz on 30/10/2015 - 13:06

    Man why didn't I see this last week. I spent last week combing through eBay putting together a click and collect order to perform an upgrade on my current PC. Here is what I pulled the trigger on:

    • Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H $161 PCCaseGear eBay Store
    • RAM : 1x Crucial 8GB DDR4 2133MHz $65 Shopping Express Clearance eBay Store
    • CPU: Intel Core i5 6400 $269 Local CentreCom

    The motherboard and RAM together will give me the $100 eBay click and collect voucher.

    I'll pair those parts with my existing GTX 460 (plan to upgrade next year) and my 500GB Crucial SSD. I'm replacing a Core2 Quad Q8400

    Thanks for all your work though.

  • l005e on 07/11/2015 - 15:19

    I just did a skylake gaming build for $3k :*(

  • velleyy on 12/11/2015 - 15:55

    Hey guys Would I be better off waiting for Christmas? I'm on a laptop now, so I would need to buy the peripherals as well.. so it's a bit costly for me even on the $900 build.

    • G5 on 12/11/2015 - 17:40

      Black Friday sales are coming up, so there might be some deals on parts for that - I would check Amazon. Otherwise you might save a bit waiting for Christmas, or you could do a Broadwell build instead of Skylake and save some money on the motherboard, CPU and ram.

      • velleyy on 12/11/2015 - 22:13

        Total newbs here when it comes to building a desktop. I'll probably just follow ozb and try to get whatever I can haha.

        Thanks!

  • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2015 - 08:31

    You have done a great job. Thank you.

  • Huntz on 13/11/2015 - 10:29

    I seem to have missed the boat….how do I build one NOW with the $1200 specs mentioned above.

    Any good places deals in the US (travelling there next week) considering Black Friday ….??

  • VictorVE on 20/11/2015 - 02:13

    Hi, and for Battlefront?

    SO: 64-bit Windows 10 o superior

    CPU(Intel): Intel i5 6600 o equivalente

    RAM: 16GB RAM

    HDD: 40GB

    GPU(NVIDIA): nVidia GeForce GTX 970 4GB

    GPU (AMD): AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB

    DirectX: 11.1

    :S

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