So with our taxes finally filed and knowing how much we are getting back in return, my wife gave me the OK to build a computer which I told her I would like to do. 2 years ago I used part of our tax return to get a (gaming) laptop as I was still taking classes at a university and a computer that was mobile was the ideal solution, but since I'm wrapping up online with only one semester to go, having a laptop isn't important anymore and I would rather build a PC and then sell my laptop which I think I could get a good sum for as its quite powerful in terms of running games. Anyways...

The last time I built a PC, I did nothing. My buddy made all the decisions and put it together for me. Great and all, that was 5 years ago and I learned nothing about building a computer from that. So I'm starting my scratch in terms of how to go about this. I'm looking for ideas of where to start looking and how I should order things of importance as it pertains to this endeavor.

As said in the title, I want to build a computer that will last for years with as few minimal potential upgrades that I would need to do. I thought about waiting to see when Nvidia's Pascal releases but maybe it might be best to wait a bit as bugs and things are worked out and then get a Pascal card in a year or two, so I've essentially decided to get a 980 TI (and if possible, make this my bottleneck), but I want a computer that should have little to no problems running the next generation of graphics cards when I decide to make the jump. And that's where I don't know were to begin. I know nothing and understand less about CPUs and motherboards and also the idea of finding hardware that works well together is... daunting.

So I come to you, the community I have been apart of for almost 5 years now, for help and guidance. Just like with my laptop where I was able to pick your guy's brain, this one might require a little more hand holding until I get my feet up and running. Just some general question I have right now:

• What should I be looking for in a CPU and how would I know if it is one I can use for years and years?
• What are some good places to shop online to get deals and reliable hardware? I'm willing to wait to get things if it goes on sale often enough
• How to know if hardware will work well together (CPU, GPU, Motherboard are compatible)?
• Commonly overlooked things that are important but a first timer wouldn't realize/know?
• How should I cool this PC? Water? Fans? Other options?
• Trustworthy brands that create reliable products

That's kind of where I've started thinking as it pertains to the computer. Any help and guidance would be most appreciated. Guess it should be noted: I'm willing to put in quite a bit into this computer if need be, BUT I don't want to be throwing money at it if I don't have to. I guess if I have to put a number on it that I would like to not exceed...probably $2,000. Thanks again.

To answer your questions.

1: Future proofing is a myth. Just buy upper mid-range CPUs and GPUs more often.

2: Newegg and Amazon are popular for a reason. look at PCpartpicker.com is a good resource as well.

3: Pick a CPU first and search for compatible motherboards, GPUs aren't an issue with compatibility

4: Cable management is much easier if you do it as you go.

5: Fans. If you have to ask, you shouldn't use water cooling. It's expensive, difficult, and if you mess it up, you can destroy your computer.

6: Anything that you've heard of is fine. I like Gigabyte and Asus motherboards.

Also $2000 is a TON of money. You don't need to spend that much on hardware. After a grand it becomes much harder to justify the extra expense. Diminishing returns is very much real.

I would invest in a high end CPU I am still rocking an i7 2600K back from 2011 and its still kicking ass. Gigabyte and Asus motherboards for sure. And most definitely a solid state drive. you can pick up closed loop water cooling systems its not difficult and easy to install.

@psygnosis911:

What he said.

Better yet, why are you getting such a large refund? Had you withheld less, you could either be building a better system, or better yet (considering $2k is already ludicrous for a PC in 2016), using the savings from accrued interest over the year on something else. Don't lend your money to Uncle Sam scot-free!

The only issue with pascal is that while it may be backwards compatible with pci express there will surely be a new standard so take that into consideration. I've been looking into getting a new pc as well and for me the two things I know I want for sure are a skylake cpu and a mini-itx form factor to look better next to my tv.

@slowhanded: Get married, have two kids and be low income while still in school, then you know why I get a large refund.

Don't skimp on the power source. It is one of few components that can be future proof (for 5-7 years). Modular with with 80%+ efficiency might be double the price of low end power source but saves on electrical bill, makes cable management easier and is still relatively cheap compared to other components.

I guess the big questions is what sort of rig do you want...

A) 1080p system were all the slider are on ultra

C) 1440p system w/ slider all on Ultra

C) 4K...like you want to be on 4K now

A really kick-ass 1040p system is easy to do at a very reasonable price. Going to to 1440p is what some people like to do and of course that does start to add up in price. And, I think currently to get something pushing out 4K means using a Skylake 6700K or Haswell-E 5960X and a top of the line GPU. (I could be wrong and I'm sure someone will correct me.)

You could make a system that will do fantastic for three years and squeak-by on high setting for the last two years. But another option is to make a modest $1,200 system (good enough for some VR) and only plan it to be really 'hang in at Ultra settings" for 2.5 years. Unless you can afford to build a $2,500 system every five years, I think modest systems are better.

If you have the budget, get a nice Intel CPU and some higher clock speed RAM plus an SSD out of the gate. Most people like Nvidia GPU's and i agree they are great but if you're not swinging for the fences with a with a 980 Ti or Titan GPU or just getting "a foot in the door" GPU like the 960, AMD's R9 390 is an excellent alternative to Nvidia's 970 and comes with more headroom for future compatibility than Nvidia's offering at that price range.

@monkeyking1969: 1440P easily. My laptop does 1080p and plays most games at high so I want to make the jump up to at least ultra on all games coming out in the future year or two. 4K just doesn't seem viable right now for our situation. Maybe if we had a 4K TV I could see wanting to do that, but I'm happy building this PC and getting 2nd monitor that is 1440.

Well, that's above my expertise, finer minds than mine would have to give you advice. Out of sight of land...thar be monsters, lad!

@nightriff: Does that $2000 limit include the monitor? I assume you're looking at 60hz?

To be totally honest, it's not too likely that a 980 Ti will do ultra at 1440p on all games for the next two years. If you look at it's two year old Kepler equivalent, the 780 Ti, there are plenty of examples of more recent games stressing that card out on the highest settings. Sometimes settings included in Ultra are intended only for the most enthusiast of entusiast machines at present, and will only be reached by mainstream users in the future, with more advanced hardware. Targeting ultra is often a losing battle, or a very expensive one. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

It's somewhat rare to "future proof" but you can easily make a computer that can run everything on at least "high" for years. As far as the processor, if you go intel just buy the most recent version of whatever tier you're looking at...i5 was recommended for gaming (with the i7 being overkill, but that may have changed since I built). Then the motherboard is more about features than anything...ideally look for something that reviews pretty well and go with a consistent company (like Asus), and then look into the various features from there (mine has additional protection for anything plugged into it to keep things from frying). If you get the 980ti, you'll definitely get more range out of that, but you'll be paying for it (but it sounds like that's not an issue). Hope this helps some.

@grilledcheez: Thanks for the info. Everything helps as I'm learning about everything that goes into a computer.

@pcorb: Thanks for the heads up, and Yes I'm trying to include the monitor in that amount but I haven't priced up anything yet so I have no idea where I will actually land where I need to reevaluate my system. Guess I underestimated how much horsepower will be needed for 1440p and ultra. Should I wait for pascal and see what that can do?

At this point waiting for Pascal and Polaris would be a good idea.

@nightriff: It's hard to say whether it will end up being worth waiting, but f you're not too bothered about it, sure, hold off and see. You might be waiting a while, though. It's been rumored that Pascal will be unveiled next month, but we still don't know anything definitive about the release schedule, and their 980 Ti tier card could take months for release (the 980 Ti came out more than 8 months after the first 900 series cards).

I'm no expert, but it seems like the best way to "future proof" is to build a mid-high tier system rather than ultra-tier, and use what you saved to upgrade in a few years :)

Anyway, I just built a gaming PC for the first time, and I highly recommend this site: http://www.hardware-revolution.com/computer-systems/gaming-pc/ They have a lot of options you can pick from - all compatible, all price-checked for the best deals, kept up to date, etc - and gives you all the information and help you could ever want.

Depend on what you mean by mid-tier as opposed to Ultra-tier. I think the hard deck for PC on the mid-tier has to be ABLE TO run VR, so if you average the required specs for Rift and Vive - I'd call that mid-tier. JMO.