If Dota 2 only then GTX750Ti is enough.

As for SSD, an entry level 120GB SSD fits well in your budget (Kingston SSDNow UV400), Windows 10 (+ Windows Update) installation will take around 30GB FYI.

i3 is dual core with hyperthreading (or in other terms another 2 virtual cores, 2C4T).

i5 is real quad core (4C4T).

If your budget is unable to fit i5 now then just opt for i3, upgrade later when needed

What's your current PSU model? CM Elite 130 can fit standard ATX PSU, if yours are standard ATX PSU or SFF PSU then it will fit just fine.

Only accept Nvidia GPU? If you can accept AMD GPU then you can go for the new RX 470/480 and pair it with a FreeSync enabled 1080p 144Hz monitor (GSync equivalent) with your budget.

If you still want to stick with Nvidia then you gonna ride on last gen hardware (GTX960/GTX970) because Nvidia Pascal GPU (GTX1070/GTX1080) is out of your reach at the moment.

Let me know your decision and we shall proceed further after this.

A true power 300W PSU is already enough for your current specs.

It will be a different story later when you upgrade to a more high end GPU, but there is always a chance that your current PSU can still handle the latest GPU considering both camps (red & green) are focusing more on the power consumption in their latest product.

Up to you, I am just giving out my knowledge and info so you won't regret later

AMD RX 470/480 is more suitable for budget build nowadays thanks to its superior price/performance ratio (unless Nvidia releases GTX1060 that can compete with RX 470/480 at affordable price), even with a FreeSync (1080p144) enabled monitor included, it still can be built under 4k. Sometimes we do need to learn to move on, changes for a better future

Intel Core i5 6500 - RM 835
Gigabyte B150M-D3H (D4) - RM 379
Corsair 8GB DDR4 2133MHz Value RAM - RM 131
Asus GTX960 4GB GDDR5 Turbo - RM 946
Kingston SSDNow UV400 120GB SSD - RM 153
WD Blue 1TB HDD - RM 215
FSP Hexa+ 550W - RM 188
Tecware Alpha - RM 199
Acer XB240H - RM 952

Total: RM 3998 (ETech price inclusive of GST)

Unlimited budget?

Oh well you don't need a consistent 144 FPS (or 100+ FPS) when you are on a GSync monitor, that's the beauty of GSync concept, it helps to synchronize the frame rates (especially slow frame-timed frames) and store them in the GSync module after sequencing them, the monitor will then push out the display in the correct sequence and interval so everything will look smooth even with different frame rates/second.

GTX1070 runs perfectly fine on a 1080p panel, but I always recommend people to use DSR supersampling technology so you can get a better image quality on 1080p, GTX1070 is made for smooth 2K QHD gaming anyway so DSR (2x, 2715 x 1527) of your 1080p will still yield a pretty high frame rate.

DSR is Nvidia's exclusive technology (VSR for AMD, they are actually doing the same thing, just different name), it renders the games at higher and more detailed resolution (2K/4K etc, can adjust yourself manually in Nvidia Control Panel) and then downscale the image back to your resolution of your monitor.

So in your case, on a 1080p monitor, by using DSR (2x of your resolution for example, 2715 x 1527), you will get the 2x image quality of 1080p, more details are being rendered and displayed on your 1080p screen, everything looks nicer and better in overall, it is like running 2K QHD resolution on a 1080p (FHD) monitor.

Maybe you will ask "why the heck are we doing this, isn't this lowering the overall FPS that we can get?" It is because GTX1070 has the power to do this, it is basically a 2K QHD gaming card (> 60 FPS in average in all triple A titles), when pairing with a GSync monitor, everything looks smoother

Edit: Smoothness vs sharpness, if like what we do on our LCD TV, when we tune the sharpness to the highest level, the image will become very sharp and noisy, 33% is like a sweet spot (default), I personally tried 0%, this produces a very sharp display and image noise is seen almost everywhere whereas 100% produces a smeary image, a little too blur for me

This post has been edited by terence_nwb: Jun 26 2016, 12:30 AM

On-board sound card is good enough for normal/casual user unless you are an audiophile, entry level sound card (< RM 400) isn't worth to invest because the performance gain isn't huge compared to on-board sound card, if you really want to get a premium sound card, I suggest you to go for those high end one or DAC (~ 1k).

Intel Core i7 6700 - RM 1289
Gigabyte H170-HD3 (D4) - RM 446
Corsair 16GB (8GB x 2) DDR4 2133MHz Value RAM - RM 260
Palit GTX1070 8GB GDDR5 Jetstream - RM 1999
Kingston SSDNow UV400 120GB SSD - RM 153
WD Blue 1TB HDD - RM 215
Seasonic M12II EVO 620W - RM 363
Tecware Alpha - RM 199
BenQ GW2470H - RM 536

Total: RM 5460 (ETech price inclusive of GST)

Intel Core i5 6500 - RM 835
Asus H110M-K - RM 273
Corsair 16GB (8GB x 2) DDR4 2133MHz Value RAM - RM 260
XFX RX 480 8GB GDDR5 Reference - RM 1249 **
WD Blue 1TB HDD - RM 215
FSP Hexa+ 550W - RM 188
Tecware F3 - RM 119
BenQ GW2270 - RM 379

Total: RM 3518 (ETech price inclusive of GST)

** Pre-order price, release date is 29 June 2016, please be noted that this is a reference model and is using reference blower type of cooler, wait for non-reference model if you prefer custom design and cooler.

If you are getting an AIO (all-in-one) liquid cooler like Corsair H100i/NZXT Kraken X61 etc, then the installation is easy, just mount the bracket on the mobo and install the pump on the CPU.

If you are going for custom liquid cooler then you can look for A.P.E.S (Wangsa Maju)/Idealtech (Pandan Indah) etc, they have plenty of experience on this matter.

120GB SSD for OS installation (will take around 25GB for fresh Windows 10 installation + Windows Update).
HDD for games files/music/movie/document etc, please bear in mind that the size of the games is getting bigger and bigger nowadays, so your 500GB (several) might not enough in the future.

Intel Core i7 6700 - RM 1289
MSI B150M Pro-DH (D4) - RM 346
Corsair 16GB (8GB x 2) DDR4 2133MHz Value RAM - RM 260
Palit GTX1070 8GB GDDR5 Jetstream - RM 1999
Corsair Carbide 88R - RM 226

Total: RM 4120 (ETech price inclusive of GST)

For 5k build, you can go for OC build, but performance gain is small or non-existent in gaming because most of the games are still based on single threaded operation

You can also bump the GTX1070 to GTX1080 (+ 1k for Palit Jetstream model) or allocate it for your monitor instead, 1k can get a 1080p 144Hz already, but yea I know you wanted to get Dell S/U series monitor, just a suggestion here, 144Hz > IPS for FPS games

Do bear in mind that SLI/CF is not supported by all games, you will end up running single GPU only if SLI/CF support is missing, the scaling for SLI/CF is still poor nowadays, meaning you won't get the double performance of single card, getting a more powerful single card is better than running 2 weaker cards at SLI/CF.

To SLI/CF, you need at least 2 PCIe 3.0 x8 slots running at parallel, the cheapest one is around RM 700 and that's ATX size (Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI/Asus Z170 Pro Gaming etc.), if you are sticking to mATX then there is only 1 option available currently in local market which is the expensive Asus Maximus VIII Gene (more than 1k). mATX casing comes with at least 4 PCIe expansion slots but you need to check the height of the GPU that you are going to get because some mATX mobo/casing only allow GPU with the height of 2 expansion slots for SLI/CF.

As for PSU requirements, true power 600W PSU should be enough for RX 480 running on CF, please wait for official reviews in the coming days for official data and power draw from the wall to determine whether your current PSU is enough for this or not.

You can always take advantage of the GPU by utilizing sumpersampling technology (DSR or VSR) to get a more detailed image on 1080p, the details of supersampling technology can be found in few previous posts.

You can get Acer XB240H with 1k budget, RX 480 is an AMD product so you need a FreeSync monitor if you want GSync equivalent feature on AMD card, AOC G2460PF is one of the examples, around 1.2k+/-.

SFF (mITX) only comes with 1 PCIe slot, so SLI/CF isn't an option. For console-like casing, you can look for Silverstone RVZ01/FTZ01 etc.

RX 480 is packing with GTX980-like performance (estimated) while GTX1070 is packing the performance of Titan X (+ extra 10% faster), they are on different tiers.

1080p FreeSync is cheaper, if you go for Nvidia path then getting a 2K QHD or 4K UHD GSync monitor is more worth than a 1080p GSync monitor because the price of the only one 1080p GSync (Acer XB241H) monitor in Malaysia is too close to his bigger brothers, XB281HK (4K UHD 60Hz TN, RM 2489), XB271HU (2K QHD 165Hz IPS, RM 3189).

You get 2 extra USB ports (depends on manufacturer whether to implement it or not), full x16 PCIe configuration speed, RAID support by going from B150 to H170.

Nope, they are on same tier and the performance gain is small to non-existent, but power consumption will be much lower on GTX970.

Incorrect. Gigabyte GTX1070 G1 Gaming only requires one 8 pin PCIe power connector which means the max draw from the PSU is 225W (150W from 8/6+2 pin PCIe power connector and 75W from PCIe slot) when running this card, 620W is more than enough for any GTX1070/1080 setup even if you are running an OC setup (K CPU).

There are many different types of mATX cases out there and their extra 5cm height and 2cm width on mATX case claim is invalid, mATX can be as small as mITX case like Silverstone SG01/SG02 etc.

You can look for Corsair Carbide Air 240, Xigmatek Aquila, Fractal Design Node 804 as the alternative if 88R is nowhere to be found, I suggest you to go other shop instead, the shop you went seems unprofessional, most likely another typical shop trying to trick their customer to get what they have/clear their stock

BTW we have a limited choice for mATX case in our local market because usually mATX build is for budget rig, why I said so is because mATX mobo is significantly cheaper than ATX/ITX, those who are looking for portability or have limited amount of space will usually go for ITX build instead.

This post has been edited by terence_nwb: Jun 27 2016, 12:34 AM

RX480 is more like a FHD card instead of QHD card, I recommend you to stay with 1080p, QHD IPS isn't cheap anyway, the cheapest one is around 1.5k but that's 25", QHD is best viewed on 27" and above to match the PPI.

B150 also has x16 on its PCIe slot, the one I meant is for PCH setup.

Looking forward for the live session this Wednesday night

The viewing angle on TN display is poor if compared with IPS, but if you aren't always viewing the display from the side then this is fine, color quality on TN is fine too if you view from the front, everything on TN looks bad only if you are viewing from the side, what you get on TN is much higher refresh rate at cheaper price tag. If you go for Dell S2316H/S2415H then you need to take note that it comes with a glossy screen, meaning you will see your reflection when you are under a bright light source.

Silverstone SG13 is a mITX case while SG11 supports mATX and mITX board, stock cooler won't be an issue for SFF case unless you plan to use a 3rd party cooler where you will be restricted to low profile 3rd party cooler only like Cryorig C7 or AIO liquid cooler (if supported).

Asus H170M-Plus is a better choice if you are aiming to get those premium features over ASRock, it comes with native USB Type-C port too which is great if you have any gadget using this type of port for fast charging support, the price difference between them is small, Asus one is definitely a better pick here.

I am just trying to contribute my knowledge as much as I can

Yep if you use the monitor for movies then IPS is a better choice, but since PC monitor is limited to a certain size (usually 24"), I end up watching the movie on my large LCD TV instead in my living room since it provides me a better experience

Locked CPU is hard to hit the throttle, especially on a 14nm Skylake CPU, the only concern would be the temperature of the GPU, reference blower type cooler is more recommended for SFF case because it blows the hot air out of the casing and keep the internal cooler whereas non-reference card dumps its heat into the internal of the case, if you have a positive airflow then this shouldn't be an issue.

Yes I always recommend Gigabyte H170N-WiFi to those who want to build an ITX rig (with non-K CPU), best value out of all the ITX boards available in our local market.

This post has been edited by terence_nwb: Jun 27 2016, 11:45 AM