I think your absolute best bet/bang-for-buck for 1080p/60fps gaming is going to be an
@AMD R9 380 or the 4GB version of the
@Nvidia 960.
7200RPM drives are SUBSTANTIALLY faster. I don't have boot times in front of me and it would depend on a few factors, but believe me you don't want anything slower than a 7200RPM drive in your PC or laptop if you can help it. Differences in boot times may not be as dramatic, but applications and game levels? Eternity by comparison.
I promise you it's enough. I've tested total system power consumption at the wall, and companies like Falcon Northwest put overclocked GTX Titans and Devil's Canyon CPUs into systems with a 450W PSU. Alienware runs an overclocked and liquid cooled Skylake CPU with a GTX 960 on a 330W power supply in their X51. You have my absolute assurance that it's more than adequate.
That sounds like a pretty crazy theory, to be honest. Consider that Nvidia has a strong relationship with Microsoft in promoting DirectX 12. For the company to spend so much time promoting it and then actively prevent its usage in games? That makes a mighty big enemy in Microsoft, don't ya think?
Furthermore, less PC games to play means less work that needs to be done on drivers, which means workforce downsizing at Nvidia. It also means less reasons to buy Nvidia hardware.
I could continue for pages, but hopefully you understand that this is pretty far from being a realistic course of action for them.
Impossible to answer without knowing what you're buying. But why not all of them? If it's PC parts (and I"m assuming it is) plug them all into PCPartPicker.com and see who spits out the cheapest combined pricing + shipping.
And without RAM. You're paying a LOT for the brand name here.
The most meaningful upgrade you can make in terms of improving gaming performance is always your GPU. If you want to stay on the Radeon path, the Radeon 390 offers tremendous bang for your buck, and you shouldn't need to upgrade your power supply. I think the FX-6300 should still serve you pretty well. Do you have an SSD? They're really affordable now and popping your OS on one can make a dramatic difference in overall speed for basic, everyday tasks.
Nope, not one bit.
Sure does.
Congrats, I'm hearing from lot of people building this very system with their kids and that flat out rocks. Thank you for passing down the glory of PC gaming ;-)
Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing. I would ENTERTAIN replacing the GTX 960 with a Radeon 380 as it slightly outperforms Nvidia's card, but not my such a margin that you'd regret it. If you're already pleased with Nvidia's ecosystem, there's no reason to change course.
Holler if you have any questions along the way!
