I have been looking into building a pc for a long time and this is what I have come up with:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Prototype1/saved/tGXwrH
I play a lot of simulation games but might play more resource intensive games if I build a gaming rig. Thanks in advance!
I'd start here, maybe get a 390, or an SSD, or a better case
What's your current display?
It's pretty unnecessary to get an unlocked i5 unless you're going to game at 144hz and even then only competitive games really get any advantage from that
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PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/T7R2P6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/T7R2P6/by_merchant/
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($33.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 380 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $587.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-24 02:25 EST-0500
Pretty much second @Streetguru, especially with the power supply being 600W or more for the higher end AMD cards.
The 380 will perform very well at 1080p and will probably do relatively well at 1440p (just gotta tune down dem settings!)
Also, if you're budget allows definitely consider a CPU cooler to give yourself some overhead for overclocking (if you decide to go with an unlocked CPU that is).
Only things I would change from Streetguru is
2 Memory sticks x 4gb as board is dual channel
Agreed an SSD for boot (240gb) is better, now prices are good, look for a Black Friday deal
A nice case to build in NZXT S340 is great for cable management and looks.
I very much prefer your build over @Streetguru's, but look into a PSU closer to what is recommended for you and maybe an SSD. Overall I like your build because it is "yours". An issue I have with street's build is the front panel USB isn't exactly available on the motherboard.
The case recommendations from anyone should usually be taken with a grain of salt due to how it should ALWAYS be user preference.
My builds for about a 600 dollar budget, the first decent board I saw with USB 3.0 headers was about 20 bucks more, which can mean something at that low a budget anyways, but there's still room to throw stuff in
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/
Skylake for $10 more with a 390
Oh, and if need be, you could probably set the BCLK to like 125 on the stock cooler without worrying too much about thermals for a decent clock on the 6400
Edit 2: A BCLK of 138 would actually work pretty well.
Edit 2: I posted the friggen part list again...
Is DDR3 RAM still compatible with the newer intel CPU's? (I haven't been brushing up on the new processors :) )
It is board dependent. PCP already verifies this for you. All the parts will work flawlessly. Do note though while I'm nearly sure BCLK overclocking, I, not 100% sure. It's been done:
So I think it's legit
If you could afford skylake over haswell i would say go with it.
Its simply the newest platform, and in terms of pricing there is not much of a diffrence.
That being said, your build looks basicly okay,
however since you have selected a locked i5, you basicly dont need a Z-series chipset board,
since the chip wont realy be overclockable anyway.
You could basicly also just grab a H170 mobo and maybe save some cash.
On the Otherhand that particular MSi Z170 pc mate is ofc allready dirt cheap, but its not the best quality ofc.
Unless you ever plan to go with crossfire ofc, then a decent Z-series board would be better.
Man the EVGA and MSI motherboard stuff Im seeing lately. Trust me its worth the investment for something a lot better like ASROCK and a XFX or Seasonic PSU
EVGA is fine... I have kinda lost faith in MSi in terms of boards though. They offer great features for a great price, but have high failure rates. AsRock and Asus are the best bets as far as it goes. As for power supplies, EVGA is general,y cheapest, and just as good as any other brand.
but XFX is not much more and it quite frankly is far better in quality