Hello bombers! So, my 4 year old PC is in need of an upgrade...it is an HP desktop and I want to go all out on a new PC that will be good for VR as well as video editing/photoshop. My current PC works well for my current job but will not be able to handle the upcoming VR revolution. That said, even using sites like partpicker I still can't figure out which parts are compatible with which. I'm really not good at figuring it out on my own, believe me I have tried! I have a budget of around 1,500, I want to make is as future proof as possible in that range...all this said a monitor, keyboard, etc is not necessary I just need the PC itself...any help on a build would be GREATLY appreciated. Also, I want it to be Windows 10. Thanks!

Try here to start with:

logicalincrements.com

@counterclockwork87: Never try to future proof.

Do you absolutely must have it right now? there are some new nvidia cards coming as soon as April I think, I really believe it' worth the wait, some rumors say that the initial flagship release will come with fraking 16GB of vram!!

Don't skimp on memory. Get as much as you can afford. I did this same process in '09 when the i7 920 came out.I got 12gb then, everyone thought I was crazy! Aside from an SSD and a 980, it's still kicking! The CPU is now the bottleneck when it comes to RAW image and video processing, though so I'm due for an upgrade.

Anything based around an i7 6700K or i5 6600K should do you well for many years. Also, be sure to get a motherboard that has usb 3 and 3.1 as well. You'll thank yourself down the road.

You should be able to easily hit your budget and have a durable, fast machine.

Also +1 for Logical Increments. PCHound is also a valuable tool.

@charlie_victor_bravo: I basically mean as good as I can get at the price point. Not literally future proofed. I've used the same video card for 5 years on 2 diff pcs and I can still play many games on high settings. That's what I'm talking about.

@onarum: I don't need it this second no! Great advice! I can definitely wait until then, I'm targeting a spring/summer build.

Another guide that will explain which parts go with what.

http://techreport.com/review/29453/system-guide-current

I recommend posting your build on reddit's buildapc subreddit, or buildapcforme. You can easily make a VR ready PC with $1500. Just don't cheap out on the power supply, motherboard, or anything else. Getting a good case is a lot more important than you think, too. If it's too small, it might not fit your video card or all the other parts. If it's too big, you'll end up with tons of empty space (meaning more space that needs cable management or so much space that cables don't reach where they need to without an extension cable) and a much heavier case than necessary.

As overpriced as nvidia cards are, I would recommend getting one because AMD seems to be on the slow descent to bankrupty and nvidia recently poached a lot of their workers. I would imagine VR games will optimize more for nvidia, too, since that's been the case for regular PC games for a long time.

The IRC chat on buildapc is helpful, too, as long as you're polite and don't ask dumb questions. pcpartpicker does a pretty good job of showing you whether things are compatible. It will give you a warning message at the top of your build list if there is an issue.

@onarum: Waiting for new nvidia cards wouldn't be very cost effective. I'm sure those 16GB cards will easily be $700-1k which would eat up half is budget, and most video games do not need that much VRAM. Sure, having more than you need isn't a bad thing, but if he bought that card, he would have to cut down his budget for everything else and would end up with a bottlenecked PC.

I've read that both Nvidia and AMDs next generation of video cards are going to be a major step up from what we are using now, specifically to meet the needs of VR.

I usually hate it when people recommend to wait for new hardware, but in this specific instance I think I'd be waiting.

Ok, thanks y'all. I think I have an idea of what to do now. Mods can lock this if need be, these suggestions helped a lot!