Budget:1200
NVIDIA is only preferred part
Purchase date: today
Zipcode:98908

Not including monitor etc just computer hardware needed. OS not needed.

Buying strictly from Newegg and please don't count MIR. I never end up doing these.

What do you want to use it for?
If gaming, which games, which resolution and which refresh rate are you playing on.
How much do you value good design and quiteness?

#1 slightly better gfx, lesser cpu (room to upgrade cpu at later date 6600k/6700k)

Base Total: $1195.91
Promo Discounts: -$6.00
Shipping: $8.98
Total: $1198.89

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NrLYVn


#2 slightly lesser gfx, better cpu

Base Total: $1180.90
Promo Discounts: -$6.00
Shipping: $12.97
Total: $1187.87

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4RhTXL

This post was edited by Canadian_Born on Mar 3 2016 10:20am

To be honnest i am not quite sure what to do with the budget. It is a little to much for a 970 build but not enough to fit a 980ti.
I simply did 2 quick gaming build.

GTX 970: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kdz9sY
$1064.42

GTX 980ti: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jvhTXL
$1558.56

Its just very sad that the gtx 980 is so bad. Only offers very little benefit compared to the 970 and is by far more expensive. The price / performance ratio is simply not good. Maybe if you open up to AMD grafic cards the 390X might also be an option for you.

@Canadian_Born: Thumbs up for a Z170 chipset paired with a locked CPU.

This post was edited by maulepan on Mar 3 2016 10:11am