WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:06.879 Maybe it's cuz I'm a sucker for punishment. Or maybe it's because your 00:00:04.880 --> 00:00:12.320 strong objections to my component choices fear me. But I'm back with 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:16.320 another holiday buyer guide for the gamer in your life who's been really, 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:22.279 really nice this year. Whether that's your child, brother, sister, or just 00:00:19.279 --> 00:00:22.279 yourself. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:35.840 FreshBooks is the super simple invoicing solution that lets you get organized, 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:40.559 save time, and get paid faster. Click now in the video description to learn 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:46.879 more. As usual, we'll be targeting three different price points in US dollars 00:00:42.800 --> 00:00:50.160 before operating system under $500, $900 00:00:46.879 --> 00:00:52.079 to $1,000, and about $2,000. I'll be 00:00:50.160 --> 00:00:55.360 using pricing from Neweggus US as guidance since their sorting features 00:00:53.840 --> 00:01:00.719 are excellent and their pricing is generally very similar to other sources 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:02.719 like Amazon.com and NCIX. And I will 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:08.240 have a link in the video description to all of the products mentioned. So, let's 00:01:05.360 --> 00:01:13.840 start with Just Game, a high quality, capable 1080p gaming box that doesn't 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:16.240 sweat small stuff like upgradability or 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 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:25.040 rig. So, for our CPU choice here, Intel 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:30.640 has priced themselves completely out of the race with their least expensive quad 00:01:27.520 --> 00:01:32.119 core, a must for some modern AAA titles, 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:37.840 sitting at $185 US, over a third of our budget. 00:01:35.520 --> 00:01:41.240 AMD, by contrast, has a variety of budget multi-core CPU options, including 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:46.479 the Athlon X4860K, which is 70 bucks for a chip 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:51.680 with four steamroller cores and a heat sink in the box. It supports dual 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:54.560 channel RAM, but because our MSI A68HM 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:59.119 E33 V2 motherboard only has two RAM slots, we forwent dual channel operation 00:01:56.960 --> 00:02:03.680 with a single 8 gig stick of Kingston value RAM here. This gives us the option 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 00:02:05.759 --> 00:02:13.280 similar stick and have a little bit of luck. For the case and power supply, I 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:17.280 generally don't really recommend combo bundles because the power supplies 00:02:14.959 --> 00:02:20.879 included in them are frankly usually barely worth the metal that their 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:25.040 housings are made of. But Cooler Master is somewhat of an exception here. So, we 00:02:22.640 --> 00:02:29.520 went with their Elite 350 case with an included 500 W power supply. It's 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 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:37.599 PCI Express connector for our GTX 9602 00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:42.720 gig graphics card. That one was a tough choice because 2 gigs is about half the 00:02:40.720 --> 00:02:48.400 frame buffer that AMD offers on competing cards like the R9 370. But at 00:02:45.760 --> 00:02:52.800 a price like this, we're likely sticking with 1080p gaming for the foreseeable 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:57.360 future. And at the prices that NVIDIA partners like EVGA are clearing two gig 00:02:55.519 --> 00:03:02.720 cards to make room for the more expensive 4 gig models, I think I have 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:08.080 to go with the 20% better RAW GPU performance versus AMD's offering. For 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 00:03:10.480 --> 00:03:20.159 one of the people who leans towards a hybrid or SSHD drive on an entry-level 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:23.280 system. Seagate's ST-1000 DX001 TBTE 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:25.920 hard drive with 8 gigs of MLC SSD cache 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:32.319 gets my choice here. Now, compared to last year's system, we saved $6, used 00:03:28.959 --> 00:03:35.519 the same case, got twice as many, albeit 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:38.480 slower CPU cores, opted to save a bit on 00:03:35.519 --> 00:03:43.440 storage by skipping the boot SSD, but we turned that savings and our RAM savings 00:03:41.040 --> 00:03:48.159 into nearly double the graphics horsepower by reallocating that budget 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:54.239 to the GPU. So, I'm confident that in modern games, this year's model is 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:56.879 anywhere from 70 to 80% faster than the 00:03:54.239 --> 00:04:02.319 one from last year's buyer guide. For our next system, future expandability, 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:06.400 features, and usability beyond gaming are much bigger considerations. It's for 00:04:04.720 --> 00:04:10.799 this reason that we decided to kick things up a notch with an Intel quad 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:15.439 core. Not one of those fancy Skylake ones that are so hard to get your hands 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.440 on, but a last generation Haswellbased 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:20.560 Core i54460. I mean, sure, you lose out on 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:25.040 the better onboard graphics and the lower power consumption, and it doesn't 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 00:04:28.479 --> 00:04:34.800 get to save a few bucks on our motherboard and RAM since we're using a 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 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:47.199 actually went with MSI's non-gaming branded B85 board in this price range to 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:52.960 get something with four DIM slots and dedicated ports for all audio channels 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:54.320 and to avoid a killer network card. My 00:04:52.960 --> 00:04:58.240 personal experience with them is that the extra features they offer are a 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 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 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:12.960 much better, not to mention 80 plus bronze unit for only $7 more than the 00:05:10.400 --> 00:05:17.280 CX430 we went with last year. Thanks EVGA for that. Our case choice, once 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 00:05:19.919 --> 00:05:28.240 great value case. There's not really much else to say about it. And the GTX 00:05:24.479 --> 00:05:29.400 970 rears its 3 12 GB head once again 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:35.120 coming in at $290. So about 10% cheaper than last 00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:41.440 year for the same performance. Although it should be noted that an R9 390 is a 00:05:38.400 --> 00:05:44.400 slightly faster option at a higher price 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. 00:05:46.479 --> 00:05:52.479 A 960 gig value SSD like an OCZ Trion 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 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:02.160 EVO and a 4 TB Seagate hard drive. And while both are valid options, I 00:06:00.479 --> 00:06:08.000 eventually decided that because this is a desktop, it's more likely to act as a 00:06:05.440 --> 00:06:13.280 file repository for other devices in the household if you don't have a NAS. And 00:06:10.479 --> 00:06:19.039 the the one two solid state mechanical punch is my best bet. A DVD writer also 00:06:17.280 --> 00:06:22.720 made it into the thousand machine just in case you need one. So, compared to 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:28.560 last year's model, then we spent the same amount almost to the dollar. And h 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:34.639 well, gaming performance actually didn't change more than probably 10 to 15% in 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:39.360 CPU limited titles. What we did get though for our money was a much faster 00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:44.720 CPU for multi-threaded workloads like light content creation, a much better 00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:48.720 power supply, and twice the solid state storage on our boot drive, meaning that 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:52.720 fewer games will need to be relegated to living on the hard drive. Not to mention 00:06:50.479 --> 00:06:57.759 that we also jumped from 3 TB of hard drive space to four. For our last 00:06:55.840 --> 00:07:02.160 system, we are assuming that the buyer is one who cares about getting a longer 00:07:00.080 --> 00:07:06.080 life out of his or her system, is one that wants the utmost in performance and 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:10.960 is willing to pay a bit more for it, and is potentially a computer performance 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:15.759 enthusiast outside of gaming, whether that's content creation or some other 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:20.400 demanding workload. So, the CPU choice was a fairly obvious one. I didn't want 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. 00:07:23.039 --> 00:07:28.560 So, the 5930K with its six processing 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:34.319 cores and 40 PCI Express lanes was out of the question. But fortunately, this 00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:36.560 generation, the step down 5820K is still 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:40.639 unlocked for easy overclocking and has the same six physical cores with 00:07:38.400 --> 00:07:44.800 hyperthreading technology. So, the only thing missing is 12 of those PCI Express 00:07:43.039 --> 00:07:49.440 lanes, which won't matter much unless you're trying to run more than a few 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:52.479 high bandwidth PCIe devices, and some 00:07:49.440 --> 00:07:54.400 CPU clock speed, which our Noctua NHU14S 00:07:52.479 --> 00:07:58.720 CPU cooler, and a few minutes of tinkering in the BIOS with the help of 00:07:55.919 --> 00:08:04.080 this easy overclocking guide will easily take care of. For RAM, DDR4 is the only 00:08:01.919 --> 00:08:10.080 choice on the X99 platform, so I went with 32 gigs of Corsair Vengeance LPX 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:12.479 quad channel memory. At 2133 MHz, it's 00:08:10.080 --> 00:08:16.479 not setting any speed records, but since we're locking ourselves into up to 64 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 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 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:28.240 future anyway, and that speed, especially running on quad channel, 00:08:25.919 --> 00:08:35.360 should be enough. For the motherboard, I opted to pay the $50 ASUS tax in this 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:36.800 case and got the X99A USB 3.1. It lacks 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.360 some of the bells and whistles of the deluxe model that we use here at the 00:08:38.560 --> 00:08:45.360 office, like high-speed AC wireless, but it's got the same overclocking 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:51.600 capabilities. SLI and Crossfire support for multiple graphics cards and USB 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:53.519 3.110 GB is a nice touch. I also like 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:58.760 the color scheme and that it goes nicely with our Corsair RMX 750 W power supply 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:02.880 and Air540 White Edition case. I know it's shallow and I just 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:07.120 spent a little more than I had to on those components, but past a certain 00:09:05.040 --> 00:09:11.920 point, case selection in particular is less about fitting the hardware inside 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 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:20.720 doesn't hurt to have a rocking black and white theme going to the build that 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:26.560 especially combined with our MSI GTX 980 Ti is going to look absolutely sick. So, 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:32.880 on that subject then, I opted for a single graphics card this year because I 00:09:29.760 --> 00:09:35.200 realized that while my dual 970 setup 00:09:32.880 --> 00:09:39.760 last year would perform very well, likely better in many cases than a 00:09:36.959 --> 00:09:44.480 single 980 Ti where SLI scaling and the smaller video frame buffer aren't 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:46.880 issues. It still meant occasional SLI 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:50.800 compatibility woes, and it completely lacked a sensible upgrade path, 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:56.640 something that I can see folks spending 2gs on their PCs wanting. So that single 00:09:54.560 --> 00:10:02.480 more powerful graphics card provides that upgrade path and that hassle-free 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.839 operation with the option to go SLI down the road if you really feel like it. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:11.279 Although if you see that in your future, I would recommend an 850 W power supply 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:14.959 versus the 750 in our base config. For storage, I really think people spending 00:10:12.959 --> 00:10:19.519 this much on a desktop should also have a NAS in their house for redundant 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:24.640 network storage and backups. So a single 1 TB class SSD should be plenty. But 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 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:37.040 Samsung 850 Pro, albeit at a lower capacity with that same Seagate 4 TBTE 00:10:34.640 --> 00:10:42.320 drive from the last config. This machine also, by the way, gets an optical 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:45.120 drive. So although it could be easily 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:50.000 remedied by going dual 970s, again, our top tier config is the only one that 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:54.880 actually gets slightly degraded gaming performance for 2015. I also stepped 00:10:52.800 --> 00:10:58.640 down the hard drive from 6 TB since I believe again anyone keeping that much 00:10:56.959 --> 00:11:03.360 data on a single drive in their computer needs to re-evaluate his or her 00:11:00.560 --> 00:11:07.839 strategy. But the machine also got a few very significant upgrades. It'll look 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:12.240 awesome, be nearly silent, and I doubled my solidstate storage to 1 TBTE, more 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:16.640 than most people will need for a while. I stepped from four non-hyperthreaded 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:20.240 CPU cores to six with hyperthreading. And I doubled my system memory. That's 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:24.240 going to make this machine a freaking beast capable of performing better in 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:28.959 content creation tasks if using all of its horses or just as well as last 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:32.720 year's model in general tasks if its resources are being split by running VMs 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:37.440 in the background. Maybe something like this unrade setup that we showed a 00:11:34.800 --> 00:11:41.880 little while ago where a NAS operating system and a gaming machine running 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:46.720 Windows are both running off of the same hardware. So, that then concludes this 00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:50.560 year's holiday PC buyer guide. I hope you guys enjoyed it. And remember that 00:11:48.560 --> 00:11:55.600 these selections are not hard and fast rules. They're just guidelines. This 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:59.839 year, for example, I didn't assume, except at the very high end, that the 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:03.279 user would be overclocking. So, your best cooling and motherboard choices 00:12:01.839 --> 00:12:07.440 might be a little different if you plan to do that. And this is really important 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:12.880 for commodity items like RAM and video cards. My component choices are not set 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:17.200 in stone, and my shopping methodology is pretty much as simple as sorting by 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:21.839 lowest price and scrolling until I find a brand that I trust. So, feel free to 00:12:19.839 --> 00:12:25.760 mix and match these things to get the best deals from wherever you end up 00:12:23.839 --> 00:12:29.519 buying your new system. Although, on that note, if you decide to use this 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 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:37.760 description. We don't get any sponsorship money from PC hardware 00:12:36.160 --> 00:12:41.360 vendors for doing these buyer guides because that would be a huge conflict of 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:45.760 interest. But using our affiliate links is a way that you guys can support us 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:49.680 directly regardless of whose parts you end up buying. Speaking of regardless of 00:12:48.160 --> 00:12:54.480 what parts you end up buying, you'll probably need a place to put them all. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:59.519 And Upesk has got you covered there with a wide range of powered standing desks 00:12:56.959 --> 00:13:03.839 available on updesk.com. What almost all of them have in common 00:13:01.680 --> 00:13:08.000 is the high quality dual motor electronically controlled height adjust 00:13:05.680 --> 00:13:12.959 system that lets you either manually raise or lower the desktop surface or 00:13:10.880 --> 00:13:17.120 pre-program three different heights for sit, stand, and okay, I actually don't 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 00:13:19.839 --> 00:13:27.519 been using ever since Upesk equipped our office is the large size power up. a 00:13:24.959 --> 00:13:31.360 fairly standard gently curved on one side affair. But the benchmarking room 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 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 00:13:37.040 --> 00:13:43.600 really cool options as well, like the upright that has a dry erase board for 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:47.120 the surface on the top. So whether you're just trying to get in the habit 00:13:44.959 --> 00:13:50.160 of shifting positions periodically throughout the day or you want to get 00:13:48.560 --> 00:13:54.440 some real health benefits out of your new desk by putting a treadmill under 00:13:51.680 --> 00:13:58.320 it, check out Upesk over at myupesk.com linked in the video 00:13:56.560 --> 00:14:01.440 description. So thanks for watching, guys. If you like this video, do that 00:13:59.839 --> 00:14:05.600 thing. If you disliked it, do the other thing. And uh wait, if you liked it, 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:09.360 back to liking it again. Get subscribed. Maybe even consider supporting us by 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:12.639 buying a cool shirt like this one. uh changing your Amazon bookmark, one with 00:14:10.959 --> 00:14:15.519 our affiliate code. Instructions for how to do that are up there, or even by 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 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 00:14:23.920 --> 00:14:30.959 our video where we, let's see, ah, yes, 00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:34.160 right, review the Xperia Z5 Compact from 00:14:30.959 --> 00:14:38.370 Sony, also linked up there.