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Opinions, advice and positive criticism on a build I am planning.


alyusha

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Hello all! It has been a while since I have posted, about 8 years I guess. It is time to build a new PC, and I have not done this since 2004 or so. I wanted to post a couple system builds and include my notes on them. I then wanted to see what the community thought about them. This machine will be used for gaming, some work in adobe and such. But overall I do not need anything crazy. I would not go so far as to say money is not an object, but I will not cut corners on obvious performance or upgrades over a few bucks here and there. I want to stick around $1200. 

 

My biggest goal here is to be future proof. 

 


 
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($177.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($56.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: PNY CS1311 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Best Buy) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4GB XTREME Video Card  ($228.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Enermax OSTROG ATX Mid Tower Case  ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $1015.87
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-22 09:27 EDT-0400

 

These were my first choices. 

 

CPU - I keep going back and forth on the CPU and I need help with this! It is between the i7 6700k and the i5 6600K. I have looked at the benchmarks and reviews and I don't know. What I do know is that the i7 cost $100 more, runs hotter and provides slightly better FPS than the i5. The i5 seems to run closer to 90% load while the i7 would be around 65% under the same stress. But again.. Future proof.. its $100. I know I will kick my self later if I find out the i7 does so much more and I didnt do it just to save $100.

 

GPU - Now this I need some serious intervention on. I am looking at 3 GPU's, all of which, from what I can tell seem to be good quality cards and have good reviews and benchmarks. But it is the price again. I do not want to buy anything that I absolutely do not need, but I do not want to NOT get it and miss out later on. So the above listed GTX 960 4 GB is my cheapest choice. My more expensive choice is Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB XTREME GAMING Video Card  ($503.98 @ Newegg). I like the added support of 4k for the 980 Ti. Not sure if this is something the other 2 offer.

 

I am in love with every aspect of this card, minus the price, which I know I will find a bit cheaper than $500, but at best I save $100. Every test I seen did amazing. I want this card! But getting this card, I would also have to get a more powerful PSU, but that is really the mater of $10 or $20, not that big of a deal. But in the end, this GPU takes my build from around $1000 and makes it closer to $1250.

 

Something I was looking at that seemed to be between the 2 was the Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB G1 Gaming Video Card. I can not find much bad on this card. It seems to be a good upgrade for the GTX 960. 

 

Any thoughts on these?

 

MOBO - I have been switching up my mobo choice like my underwear. I have come to like the MSI M5 and I think it is a good choice. My other choices were the MSI M7 and Gigabyte G1 Gaming 7. But both these just cost a bit more, and I do not seem much added benefit. 

 

 

So again. I am looking for suggestions and advice! The big 2 I need help on figuring out:

  1. i5 6600K or i7 6700k - Should I pay $100 more for the added performance that I probably do not need for the sake of future proofing this system and having peace of mind?
  2. GTX 960 4 GB vs. GTX 1060 G1 6 GB vs. GTX 980 Ti 6GB - Exact same concern as with the CPU. I have a gut feeling that the GTX 960 4 GB is a no go though.. 

 

That's all for now. Thanks for looking, and thanks for any responses!

 

Edit 1: Changed G! to G1.

Edited by alyusha

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For memory, you can get the gskill ripjaws at 3000 speed for only $5 more. Won't make much or any difference but for that amount of money, I would do it.

As far as the video card, I would surely spend just a little more and get at least a 970 or a 1060.

The cpu, I would get the 6600k. It's faster, more cache, and 8 threads vs 4.

 

All imo of course, either way, you will have a nice system.

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For memory, you can get the gskill ripjaws at 3000 speed for only $5 more. Won't make much or any difference but for that amount of money, I would do it.

As far as the video card, I would surely spend just a little more and get at least a 970 or a 1060.

The cpu, I would get the 6600k. It's faster, more cache, and 8 threads vs 4.

 

All imo of course, either way, you will have a nice system.

You mean look at the 970 or 1060 over the 960? If so, I am for sure leaning in that direction. I will take a look at 970's today, but overall I think I just need a nudge in the right direction!

 

I also was looking at the gkills, they have a set with red heat spreaders on there. I think that is going to be the go to color. 

 

I 100% agree on about the CPU. 

Also, I would get the newer M.2 ssd. They are roughly twice as fast.

I will for sure. I am new to the whole SSD world, and really need to look more into these. The one I have listed was just a cheap one I found that had decent speeds. I will also look into this. 

 

Thank you for your input!

Edited by alyusha

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For the graphics card question, yes. There is no way I would spend $230 for a 960.

 

And for the M.2 slot ssd, it's just something to consider. Either way, you will want more than 120gb. You'll want something at least big enough for the operating system and your favorite game or two. It will be more expensive for sure, but at least you won't need to upgrade and you'll take fulkl advantage of what the motherboard is offering.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147466

  • Like 1

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Actually the i7-6700K is faster, more cache, and has 8 threads vs 4,.. compared to the i5-6600K.  

 

Depending on what applications you plan on running with your rig should determine i5 vs i7,.. for strictly gaming and web browsing,.. save your money the i5 is fine. But for muilti-threaded performance and memory intensive applications the i7 is a much better chip for only $100.00 compared to the i5.

 

For graphics card I would recommend GTX 980Ti for $399.00. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127902

 

As for power supplies spend a few more dollars on the 80 plus Gold vs the Bronze.

 

The rest of your hardware looks good. Nice choice on the MSI Z170A M5 it's a solid motherboard. 

 

Edited by Braegnok

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As for power supplies spend a few more dollars on the 80 plus Gold vs the Bronze.

 

 

 

That is some flawed reasoning if you actually stop to think about it for the PSU. 

 

In the video he shows a 20w full load delta between the PSUs, or in my part of the country with $0.11 per kWh electricity something like $19 a year IF you ran full load all the time.  In reality you're PC will be idle or maybe even off/asleep most of the time where the variation will be much smaller and of course make the real work yearly cost difference MUCH smaller. 

 

With that said most of the time a gold rated supply will use slightly better components in order to meet the higher rating, so you could argue that as a reason to spend the extra money up front, but when on a budget might not be the best advice.

 

Speaking of PSUs and budgets, you mentioned needing a bigger PSU if you make the jump to the 980Ti, you don't, 650w is more than enough to power a single 980Ti and 6700K, hell you COULD run it off a 450w and still be OK if you didn't go OC crazy. Go to the GTX 1070 review here @ OCC and look at the OC load chart for more of and idea of what you actually need Those numbers are full systme and it just so happens to run a 6700K.

 

Further speaking value, while I'm not going to claim that an M.2 SSD wont be faster (because it will be), spending the money for the 950 Pro isn't the best value.  The real world speed between M.2 and SATA SSDs isn't like the jump to SSD from HDD, and if you're really going for the value there's nothing wrong with grabbing a cheaper SATA drive for now and going M.2 later once the prices start to come down as they become more common.  I personally don't like PNY for their OK products and lack luster support, I would recommend something from a company more like OCZ/Crucial/Samsung in the SATA format and spend the extra cash on getting a GTX 980Ti/GTX 1070.  

 

Now for the CPU, for gaming and day to day things the i5 will run so close to the i7 you wont be able to notice a difference, if you are going to get into rendering/other crazy heavy CPU loads then there's an argument for the i7's cost and even in some games they will push over 4 cores, though some will only do it with real CPU cores and not the "virtual" hyper threaded cores. 

 

 

*disclaimer* I have been awake and sick for the last three days with <5hrs sleep total, so I know that's a rambling mess.

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  • 2 weeks later...

120gb ssd is too small. Ive done it and even with being religious about disc clean up and installing programs im not worried about speed to a secondary drive it filled up fast.

240gb ssd absolutely minimum but imho 500gb or bigger.

 

I'll leave the intel cpu advise to the people that know it better as i run AMD for its way more budget friendly for me.

 

Sent from my LGLS770 using Tapatalk

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Personaly I would save the 100$ on the I7 and get the i5, and later upgrade to a (used) Kaby lake i7, this would be the most future proof and cost effective. 

if you just want the pc to stay as it is go for the I7, double the threads makes a huge difference.

 

If your rig is used primarely for gaming pairing a gtx 960 with a top of the line i7 would be a complete waste of money,

consider a 1060/ rx480 if you game on 1080p, or a used 980 (ti), they are ridiculously low priced right now, and will continue to drop. 

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