Idea for a "Future Proof" Build. Just want some critiques to be a better tech

Hardware Hub Build a PC
1

I'm trying to get my parting skills better. I want to be a better tech and so I have designed this build for my brother who would mostly use this for gaming. My main idea is to keep the price down for a college student. Make it small, but try and pack a fair amount of power into it. Thinking about that, it's probably what people want to do with a lot of rigs, but I digress.

I haven't decided on a case. Personally I like a micro ATX case that is made by Case labs, https://goo.gl/eOzS7U
Durable, easy to build in and could last for a good many years.

With a gaming PC, GPU is main factor. To keep the price down, I went with a Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1060 with 3GB of on board video ram. Until the prices of 4ks come down a bit more, probably just trying to push a 1080 monitor at max graphics, on witcher 3 right now. I don't have a vast understanding of how much Vram is needed, so if someone would wants to link more research I would very much appreciate it. GPU>https://goo.gl/9OBPca

Went with a 650W Gold rated corsair fully modular PSU, enough power that it shouldn't struggle. Even with adding more hard drives. So it shouldn't over heat, and keep everything supplied well. I like fully modular for keeping the case clean, and with good airflow. PSU>https://goo.gl/CY2e55

Motherboard is a MIS H110I PRO, Uses a 1151 socket, a mini ITX form factor, and has an M.2 on the back, but is also low cost. That was mainly my criteria. MOBO>https://goo.gl/pqnxu7

CPU is a Intel COre i5-6400 Skylake clocked at 2.7. Based on what I could find, it was one of the cheaper CPUs, and would have more than enough power for the gaming needs. I'm curious if it's over kill. CPU>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117564&ignorebbr=1

Ram is some cheap Gskill 2133 DDR4. I put in 16 gigs, mostly for chrome. I personally have ton's of tabs open and many programs at once. Keeping my hard drive load minimal seems beneficial. RAM>https://goo.gl/Rv1B6g

Main drive will be a M.2 from Samsung. 500 GB evo 850. Should hold quite a few games without taking up any sata ports, so that leaves a lot open for storage expansion. M.2>https://goo.gl/inXiiz

I am trying to learn more about PC building. What are drawbacks of certain parts, somethings that don't really matter and such. So the more info anyone wants to give is fantastic. Thanks for any help!

2

If you are looking for future proofing it might be worth spending the extra money on things like an overclockable motherboard/CPU, also spend the extra for the 6GB GTX 1060. 3GB is limiting now depending on the game, let alone a couple of years from now.

Everything else looks good, maybe look at a 6600k and a Z170 motherboard if you can spare it. If you go with the overclockable parts you will need to also drop some money on a cooler. You don't need to overclock now, so a cheap, basic cooler will be fine with the option to step it up in a couple of years with a water cooler and a decent overclock. These days clock speed can be more important than cores for gaming so being able to boost it in a few years will be a plus. Basically free speed.

You may also want to consider waiting a couple of months as AMD, Nvidia, and Intel are expected to release all new hardware.

3

First I would suggest using pcparts picker http://pcpartpicker.com/ for your build its alot easier to configure a build though that then getting parts allover the place. I would skip the m.2 sata drive and just go with a 1tb ssd you get more storage for about the same cost then you wont have to fiddel with multiple dirves and in day to day use it wont make much difference. I chose an RX 480 because it has a lot more vram and with time will begin to outperform the 1060 with driver updates.

If you want to keep cost down the places to cut back would be the case and the storage as long as you have at least an ssd to boot the os you could put all of the games on a 7200rpm hard drive apart from slower load times it wont cause you much issue. I also chaose a monitor that hase freesync which will help in gaming.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/949zhq

4

Even at 1080p I'd say you're going to want 4 GB of VRAM at a minimum if you fancy graphics. I've seen games like Sleeping Dogs, which really isn't all that special when it comes to graphics, hit 3.5 GB consistently. Games like Shadow of Morder and GTA V will hit 4+ GB with zero issue even at 1080p.

I'm honestly not a huge fan of Corsair at the moment, I think you can get the same quality for cheaper looking elsewhere. Right now the EVGA G2 is slightly cheaper, and the new G3 is slightly more, but smaller. The Seasonic X650 is slightly more as well, but it's a Seasonic PSU through and through.

Why an mATX case for an ITX motherboard? An ITX case will be cheaper...

CPU is very dependent on what you call "future proofing". If you want it to never bottleneck for decades it won't work. If you want it to work well for ~5 years using a GPU like the 1060 you linked it should work fine. A higher clock speed will be beneficial for CPU intensive games.

RAM is fine, although a 2400 kit will alleviate some possible bottlenecking.
SSD is fine.

5

I just looked at some 480s, and for around 30 or so more I could add a lot of Vram. I'll look for some comparisons on that.

6

Fair point, I haven't checked out where we are in the current dev cycle and what is coming next. Even if I don't pick a brand new graphics card, I could possibly pick up a later model for cheaper.

7

showvengence22 recommended going with a RX480 for the extra Vram, I haven't yet looked up any comparisons, but that does follow in what you are saying.

Aside from the brand. Power wise do you think that it would be better to go with something bigger, or maybe with something like a platinum?

Case labs build some pretty solid cases, so with the ATX, there is a bit more room for expansion, or even future rebuilds, and gives a few more options than just the mITX

8

If you can find an 8 GB RX 480 for ~$200 I'd go for it. The 8 GB RX 480 is a great card for the money.

650 watts will be able to run any single GPU system, and would even work for dual RX 480s. Anything 80+ Bronze or better is adequate in my opinion, 80+ Gold is great, 80+ Platinum is excellent, 80+ Titanium is amazing.

9

Suffice and to the point. I like your style mate.

10

http://wccftech.com/intel-storage-roadmap-2017-optane-nand/

Storage may be in for a breakthrough, a cheap HD may be an option for a year or two. Free up cash for the awesome gpu's

If you have a microcenter nearby I would check out there i5-6600k/MB combos
You can always add ram later if needed.
Once I memorized where the on button was I have not looked at my case. Did find one case/PSU combo that was half off cause of a scratch.
Hope this helps

11

Good choices overall. You could get away with a lower wattage power supply and still have room to spare. Some of Corsair's, EVGA's, and SilverStone's lines are excellent. Depending on the price difference you might consider a PSU with higher efficiency as well. An important thing to note regarding the 3GB 1060 is it's not just crippled in VRAM, the actual specs are lower than its 6 GB counterpart - I would never recommend it. As others have said an RX 480 or the full-spec 6 GB 1060 would be a better choice. Your RAM choice is spot on. You could try a lower capacity SSD for the boot drive and hold games etc. on a separate SSD or HDD of a larger capacity. I would choose an ITX case instead - my preference being Fractal. CPU is a good choice.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on storage can chime in - the motherboard OP chose has a PCIe M.2 slot but the 850 EVO M.2 is SATA based. Compatible?

12

xfx and the nitro are the best 480's. also 480's can pull around 200 watts when oc'd. 650 isnt a lot of breathing room for 2 but should be more then fine for 1.