1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:06,879 Maybe it's cuz I'm a sucker for punishment. Or maybe it's because your 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:12,320 strong objections to my component choices fear me. But I'm back with 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:16,320 another holiday buyer guide for the gamer in your life who's been really, 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:22,279 really nice this year. Whether that's your child, brother, sister, or just 5 00:00:19,279 --> 00:00:22,279 yourself. 6 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:35,840 FreshBooks is the super simple invoicing solution that lets you get organized, 7 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:40,559 save time, and get paid faster. Click now in the video description to learn 8 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:46,879 more. As usual, we'll be targeting three different price points in US dollars 9 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:50,160 before operating system under $500, $900 10 00:00:46,879 --> 00:00:52,079 to $1,000, and about $2,000. I'll be 11 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:55,360 using pricing from Neweggus US as guidance since their sorting features 12 00:00:53,840 --> 00:01:00,719 are excellent and their pricing is generally very similar to other sources 13 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:02,719 like Amazon.com and NCIX. And I will 14 00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:08,240 have a link in the video description to all of the products mentioned. So, let's 15 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:13,840 start with Just Game, a high quality, capable 1080p gaming box that doesn't 16 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:16,240 sweat small stuff like upgradability or 17 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:22,640 futureproofness. If it doesn't make the FPS number go up, it does not go in this 18 00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:25,040 rig. So, for our CPU choice here, Intel 19 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:30,640 has priced themselves completely out of the race with their least expensive quad 20 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,119 core, a must for some modern AAA titles, 21 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:37,840 sitting at $185 US, over a third of our budget. 22 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:41,240 AMD, by contrast, has a variety of budget multi-core CPU options, including 23 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:46,479 the Athlon X4860K, which is 70 bucks for a chip 24 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:51,680 with four steamroller cores and a heat sink in the box. It supports dual 25 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:54,560 channel RAM, but because our MSI A68HM 26 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:59,119 E33 V2 motherboard only has two RAM slots, we forwent dual channel operation 27 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:03,680 with a single 8 gig stick of Kingston value RAM here. This gives us the option 28 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:07,600 to upgrade to 16 gigs of RAM in dual channel in the future if we buy a 29 00:02:05,759 --> 00:02:13,280 similar stick and have a little bit of luck. For the case and power supply, I 30 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:17,280 generally don't really recommend combo bundles because the power supplies 31 00:02:14,959 --> 00:02:20,879 included in them are frankly usually barely worth the metal that their 32 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:25,040 housings are made of. But Cooler Master is somewhat of an exception here. So, we 33 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:29,520 went with their Elite 350 case with an included 500 W power supply. It's 34 00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:34,720 nothing too sexy, but it'll get the job done, and it has the appropriate six pin 35 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:37,599 PCI Express connector for our GTX 9602 36 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:42,720 gig graphics card. That one was a tough choice because 2 gigs is about half the 37 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:48,400 frame buffer that AMD offers on competing cards like the R9 370. But at 38 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:52,800 a price like this, we're likely sticking with 1080p gaming for the foreseeable 39 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:57,360 future. And at the prices that NVIDIA partners like EVGA are clearing two gig 40 00:02:55,519 --> 00:03:02,720 cards to make room for the more expensive 4 gig models, I think I have 41 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:08,080 to go with the 20% better RAW GPU performance versus AMD's offering. For 42 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:12,480 storage, I am one of and apparently one of the only ones on the planet, but I'm 43 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:20,159 one of the people who leans towards a hybrid or SSHD drive on an entry-level 44 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:23,280 system. Seagate's ST-1000 DX001 TBTE 45 00:03:20,159 --> 00:03:25,920 hard drive with 8 gigs of MLC SSD cache 46 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:32,319 gets my choice here. Now, compared to last year's system, we saved $6, used 47 00:03:28,959 --> 00:03:35,519 the same case, got twice as many, albeit 48 00:03:32,319 --> 00:03:38,480 slower CPU cores, opted to save a bit on 49 00:03:35,519 --> 00:03:43,440 storage by skipping the boot SSD, but we turned that savings and our RAM savings 50 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:48,159 into nearly double the graphics horsepower by reallocating that budget 51 00:03:45,599 --> 00:03:54,239 to the GPU. So, I'm confident that in modern games, this year's model is 52 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:56,879 anywhere from 70 to 80% faster than the 53 00:03:54,239 --> 00:04:02,319 one from last year's buyer guide. For our next system, future expandability, 54 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:06,400 features, and usability beyond gaming are much bigger considerations. It's for 55 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:10,799 this reason that we decided to kick things up a notch with an Intel quad 56 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:15,439 core. Not one of those fancy Skylake ones that are so hard to get your hands 57 00:04:12,159 --> 00:04:16,440 on, but a last generation Haswellbased 58 00:04:15,439 --> 00:04:20,560 Core i54460. I mean, sure, you lose out on 59 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:25,040 the better onboard graphics and the lower power consumption, and it doesn't 60 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:29,919 have hyperthreading, but it's still a quad core that boosts to 3.4 GHz, and we 61 00:04:28,479 --> 00:04:34,800 get to save a few bucks on our motherboard and RAM since we're using a 62 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:41,680 last generation 16 gig kit of GSkill Rip Jaws XDR3 on an MSI B85 G41. Note that I 63 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:47,199 actually went with MSI's non-gaming branded B85 board in this price range to 64 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:52,960 get something with four DIM slots and dedicated ports for all audio channels 65 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:54,320 and to avoid a killer network card. My 66 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:58,240 personal experience with them is that the extra features they offer are a 67 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:02,240 trade-off against just plain working all the time. So, I don't want to pay extra 68 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:07,840 for one of those. For our power supply, we ended up with an EVGA B500 watt, a 69 00:05:05,759 --> 00:05:12,960 much better, not to mention 80 plus bronze unit for only $7 more than the 70 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:17,280 CX430 we went with last year. Thanks EVGA for that. Our case choice, once 71 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:21,520 again, didn't change much, and we went with the NZXT Source 210. It really is a 72 00:05:19,919 --> 00:05:28,240 great value case. There's not really much else to say about it. And the GTX 73 00:05:24,479 --> 00:05:29,400 970 rears its 3 12 GB head once again 74 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:35,120 coming in at $290. So about 10% cheaper than last 75 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:41,440 year for the same performance. Although it should be noted that an R9 390 is a 76 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:44,400 slightly faster option at a higher price 77 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:50,240 if you bat for the red team. Storage was a bit of a toss up for me for this one. 78 00:05:46,479 --> 00:05:52,479 A 960 gig value SSD like an OCZ Trion 79 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:58,560 100 goes for pretty much the same price to the dollar as a 500 gig Samsung 850 80 00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:02,160 EVO and a 4 TB Seagate hard drive. And while both are valid options, I 81 00:06:00,479 --> 00:06:08,000 eventually decided that because this is a desktop, it's more likely to act as a 82 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:13,280 file repository for other devices in the household if you don't have a NAS. And 83 00:06:10,479 --> 00:06:19,039 the the one two solid state mechanical punch is my best bet. A DVD writer also 84 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:22,720 made it into the thousand machine just in case you need one. So, compared to 85 00:06:21,199 --> 00:06:28,560 last year's model, then we spent the same amount almost to the dollar. And h 86 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:34,639 well, gaming performance actually didn't change more than probably 10 to 15% in 87 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:39,360 CPU limited titles. What we did get though for our money was a much faster 88 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:44,720 CPU for multi-threaded workloads like light content creation, a much better 89 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:48,720 power supply, and twice the solid state storage on our boot drive, meaning that 90 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:52,720 fewer games will need to be relegated to living on the hard drive. Not to mention 91 00:06:50,479 --> 00:06:57,759 that we also jumped from 3 TB of hard drive space to four. For our last 92 00:06:55,840 --> 00:07:02,160 system, we are assuming that the buyer is one who cares about getting a longer 93 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:06,080 life out of his or her system, is one that wants the utmost in performance and 94 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:10,960 is willing to pay a bit more for it, and is potentially a computer performance 95 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:15,759 enthusiast outside of gaming, whether that's content creation or some other 96 00:07:13,199 --> 00:07:20,400 demanding workload. So, the CPU choice was a fairly obvious one. I didn't want 97 00:07:18,319 --> 00:07:26,160 to pay as much for a CPU as I did for our entire entry-level gaming machine. 98 00:07:23,039 --> 00:07:28,560 So, the 5930K with its six processing 99 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:34,319 cores and 40 PCI Express lanes was out of the question. But fortunately, this 100 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:36,560 generation, the step down 5820K is still 101 00:07:34,319 --> 00:07:40,639 unlocked for easy overclocking and has the same six physical cores with 102 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:44,800 hyperthreading technology. So, the only thing missing is 12 of those PCI Express 103 00:07:43,039 --> 00:07:49,440 lanes, which won't matter much unless you're trying to run more than a few 104 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:52,479 high bandwidth PCIe devices, and some 105 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:54,400 CPU clock speed, which our Noctua NHU14S 106 00:07:52,479 --> 00:07:58,720 CPU cooler, and a few minutes of tinkering in the BIOS with the help of 107 00:07:55,919 --> 00:08:04,080 this easy overclocking guide will easily take care of. For RAM, DDR4 is the only 108 00:08:01,919 --> 00:08:10,080 choice on the X99 platform, so I went with 32 gigs of Corsair Vengeance LPX 109 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:12,479 quad channel memory. At 2133 MHz, it's 110 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:16,479 not setting any speed records, but since we're locking ourselves into up to 64 111 00:08:14,879 --> 00:08:20,000 gigs of RAM in the future, unless we want to pull that out and replace it, I 112 00:08:18,319 --> 00:08:24,240 don't think we'll be running a crap ton of virtual machines on this PC in the 113 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:28,240 future anyway, and that speed, especially running on quad channel, 114 00:08:25,919 --> 00:08:35,360 should be enough. For the motherboard, I opted to pay the $50 ASUS tax in this 115 00:08:31,199 --> 00:08:36,800 case and got the X99A USB 3.1. It lacks 116 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:41,360 some of the bells and whistles of the deluxe model that we use here at the 117 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:45,360 office, like high-speed AC wireless, but it's got the same overclocking 118 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:51,600 capabilities. SLI and Crossfire support for multiple graphics cards and USB 119 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:53,519 3.110 GB is a nice touch. I also like 120 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:58,760 the color scheme and that it goes nicely with our Corsair RMX 750 W power supply 121 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:02,880 and Air540 White Edition case. I know it's shallow and I just 122 00:09:01,519 --> 00:09:07,120 spent a little more than I had to on those components, but past a certain 123 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:11,920 point, case selection in particular is less about fitting the hardware inside 124 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:15,920 it and more about personal taste. And if we're going to be spending this much, it 125 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:20,720 doesn't hurt to have a rocking black and white theme going to the build that 126 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:26,560 especially combined with our MSI GTX 980 Ti is going to look absolutely sick. So, 127 00:09:24,399 --> 00:09:32,880 on that subject then, I opted for a single graphics card this year because I 128 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:35,200 realized that while my dual 970 setup 129 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:39,760 last year would perform very well, likely better in many cases than a 130 00:09:36,959 --> 00:09:44,480 single 980 Ti where SLI scaling and the smaller video frame buffer aren't 131 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:46,880 issues. It still meant occasional SLI 132 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:50,800 compatibility woes, and it completely lacked a sensible upgrade path, 133 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:56,640 something that I can see folks spending 2gs on their PCs wanting. So that single 134 00:09:54,560 --> 00:10:02,480 more powerful graphics card provides that upgrade path and that hassle-free 135 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:05,839 operation with the option to go SLI down the road if you really feel like it. 136 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:11,279 Although if you see that in your future, I would recommend an 850 W power supply 137 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:14,959 versus the 750 in our base config. For storage, I really think people spending 138 00:10:12,959 --> 00:10:19,519 this much on a desktop should also have a NAS in their house for redundant 139 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:24,640 network storage and backups. So a single 1 TB class SSD should be plenty. But 140 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:32,079 just in case, I put together two options here. A 960 gig OCZ Vector 180 or a 141 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:37,040 Samsung 850 Pro, albeit at a lower capacity with that same Seagate 4 TBTE 142 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:42,320 drive from the last config. This machine also, by the way, gets an optical 143 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:45,120 drive. So although it could be easily 144 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:50,000 remedied by going dual 970s, again, our top tier config is the only one that 145 00:10:47,279 --> 00:10:54,880 actually gets slightly degraded gaming performance for 2015. I also stepped 146 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:58,640 down the hard drive from 6 TB since I believe again anyone keeping that much 147 00:10:56,959 --> 00:11:03,360 data on a single drive in their computer needs to re-evaluate his or her 148 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:07,839 strategy. But the machine also got a few very significant upgrades. It'll look 149 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:12,240 awesome, be nearly silent, and I doubled my solidstate storage to 1 TBTE, more 150 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:16,640 than most people will need for a while. I stepped from four non-hyperthreaded 151 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:20,240 CPU cores to six with hyperthreading. And I doubled my system memory. That's 152 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:24,240 going to make this machine a freaking beast capable of performing better in 153 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:28,959 content creation tasks if using all of its horses or just as well as last 154 00:11:26,399 --> 00:11:32,720 year's model in general tasks if its resources are being split by running VMs 155 00:11:31,279 --> 00:11:37,440 in the background. Maybe something like this unrade setup that we showed a 156 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:41,880 little while ago where a NAS operating system and a gaming machine running 157 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:46,720 Windows are both running off of the same hardware. So, that then concludes this 158 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:50,560 year's holiday PC buyer guide. I hope you guys enjoyed it. And remember that 159 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:55,600 these selections are not hard and fast rules. They're just guidelines. This 160 00:11:53,279 --> 00:11:59,839 year, for example, I didn't assume, except at the very high end, that the 161 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:03,279 user would be overclocking. So, your best cooling and motherboard choices 162 00:12:01,839 --> 00:12:07,440 might be a little different if you plan to do that. And this is really important 163 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:12,880 for commodity items like RAM and video cards. My component choices are not set 164 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:17,200 in stone, and my shopping methodology is pretty much as simple as sorting by 165 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:21,839 lowest price and scrolling until I find a brand that I trust. So, feel free to 166 00:12:19,839 --> 00:12:25,760 mix and match these things to get the best deals from wherever you end up 167 00:12:23,839 --> 00:12:29,519 buying your new system. Although, on that note, if you decide to use this 168 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:34,480 guide, I'd love it if you shopped using the Amazon or NCX links in the video 169 00:12:32,639 --> 00:12:37,760 description. We don't get any sponsorship money from PC hardware 170 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:41,360 vendors for doing these buyer guides because that would be a huge conflict of 171 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:45,760 interest. But using our affiliate links is a way that you guys can support us 172 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:49,680 directly regardless of whose parts you end up buying. Speaking of regardless of 173 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:54,480 what parts you end up buying, you'll probably need a place to put them all. 174 00:12:52,399 --> 00:12:59,519 And Upesk has got you covered there with a wide range of powered standing desks 175 00:12:56,959 --> 00:13:03,839 available on updesk.com. What almost all of them have in common 176 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:08,000 is the high quality dual motor electronically controlled height adjust 177 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:12,959 system that lets you either manually raise or lower the desktop surface or 178 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:17,120 pre-program three different heights for sit, stand, and okay, I actually don't 179 00:13:15,839 --> 00:13:21,839 know what the third one is for, but it's there. So, so what the one that I've 180 00:13:19,839 --> 00:13:27,519 been using ever since Upesk equipped our office is the large size power up. a 181 00:13:24,959 --> 00:13:31,360 fairly standard gently curved on one side affair. But the benchmarking room 182 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:35,440 is set up with a couple of their squared up L-shaped corner desks to allow Luke 183 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:39,200 and John to work on a couple of things at once. And they've got some other 184 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:43,600 really cool options as well, like the upright that has a dry erase board for 185 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:47,120 the surface on the top. So whether you're just trying to get in the habit 186 00:13:44,959 --> 00:13:50,160 of shifting positions periodically throughout the day or you want to get 187 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:54,440 some real health benefits out of your new desk by putting a treadmill under 188 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:58,320 it, check out Upesk over at myupesk.com linked in the video 189 00:13:56,560 --> 00:14:01,440 description. So thanks for watching, guys. If you like this video, do that 190 00:13:59,839 --> 00:14:05,600 thing. If you disliked it, do the other thing. And uh wait, if you liked it, 191 00:14:03,519 --> 00:14:09,360 back to liking it again. Get subscribed. Maybe even consider supporting us by 192 00:14:07,279 --> 00:14:12,639 buying a cool shirt like this one. uh changing your Amazon bookmark, one with 193 00:14:10,959 --> 00:14:15,519 our affiliate code. Instructions for how to do that are up there, or even by 194 00:14:14,399 --> 00:14:20,160 supporting us directly through our community forum and getting a cool little badge next to your name. Now that 195 00:14:18,959 --> 00:14:27,040 you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering, well, what should I watch next? Maybe you could check out 196 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:30,959 our video where we, let's see, ah, yes, 197 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:34,160 right, review the Xperia Z5 Compact from 198 00:14:30,959 --> 00:14:38,370 Sony, also linked up there.