OK, so one blog post per month isn't terrible right?
I think the problem is a combination of my computer being on the second floor and my inherent laziness, although having small children doesn't help.
Anywho, my youngest son's computer has been having weird issues lately (it likes to just shut off, usually during gaming. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know). This is also the computer that JollyChaos uses when he visits, so it's a major annoyance, since we basically can't game together, unless I use The Official Wife Of MythicalDakka's computer and he uses mine.
The silver lining is that if the computer fails, there's a chance I can order a new one for myself. And so I have priced a reasonable build (sub-$2000) on Newegg as a replacement for my current rig, which either would become The Official Wife's PC (moving hers to my son's room), or would become my son's PC (with my wife keeping her current system, as she hates change).
So here's the parts list, with an explanation of why I chose each part.
Omega Game Tech "Thor" 2015
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K
Admittedly somewhat overkill for gaming, a Core i5 or even an AMD FX would be fine, but I am currently using a Core i7 so I'd hate to step down to an i5. Besides, now that I am into producing videos it can't hurt to have the extra processing power. And I'm sure games will start taking advantage of more cores before long. Unlocked for overclocking too.
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VII HERO
I've cheaped out on motherboards in past builds. They've been fine, don't get me wrong, but they tend to be really lousy at overclocking or they lack features (my current board does not support SLI. Always read the specs, kids). So going with a solid foundation this time around.
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H100i
I used this on JollyChaos' computer. Seems pretty solid, runs quiet. Only issue was that I had to kind of jury-rig the radiator on the top of the case, as the screw holes simply didn't line up (it's a ThermalTake Commander G42. Quite a nice case actually, this was a minor annoyance).
RAM: G.Skill RIPJAWS X DDR3 2400 8 GB
G.Skill makes good, cheap RAM. I've used it in most of my builds (I think...). I was originally going to use Corsair Dominator RAM, but this knocked $50 off the total. I originally wanted 16 GB but I can always upgrade down the road.
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2 GB FTW Edition
I've used EVGA cards before but got turned off a bit as they seemed slow to update their cooling setup. They seem to have done so since then, so no reason not to here. I'm currently using a GeForce GTX 570, which initially had me fixated on getting a GTX 970. But since I'm playing on a single 1080p monitor (I technically use 2 monitors but I game on one while using the other to keep an eye on OBS, Audacity and such), a GTX 960 should be plenty sufficient, and it's quite a bit cheaper to boot. Plus the FTW version is heavily overclocked at the factory.
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB
Having one of these as your system drive is a beautiful thing. Load times are reduced to almost nothing. Windows loads in seconds. And 500 GB at this price is a coup. Only wish i could install 2.
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm 3 TB
Because SSDs still aren't big enough to hold everything yet, most systems still need a hard drive. 3 TB is pretty reasonable (I currently have a 1 TB, due to the original 2 TB dying, plus an external 1 TB I had bought for a previous computer that had run out of hard drive space years before). Any excess games can go on here, as well as the videos I produce, and all my music.
PSU: Corsair CX600 600-watt 80 plus Bronze PSU
Corsair makes really good power supplies. The GTX 960 only asks for a 400-watt PSU so this one has power to spare (perhaps to drop a second GPU in the future).
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922
This is my favorite mid-tower case. My current system is built into one of these, no reason not to use it again.
Optical Drive: LG Blu-Ray drive
I can't think of a good reason to get a Blu-Ray burner.
OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1
My experiences with Windows 8.1 have not been bad. Plus Windows 10 is a free upgrade and I've heard good things about it.
TOTAL with SHIPPING: $1581.04 (cheapest shipping option, most parts will arrive the next day).
Of course, the price is subject to change (I believe some parts are on sale). I also would consider moving to a HAF 932 full-tower case as it more readily accepts the H100i.
As always, feel free to respond with any suggestions :)
