Skylake or...?

[Fogel]

So I have a somewhat aging Core2Duo system I would love to replace.   I haven't kept up with current PC tech at all so I don't know what is what anymore.   Though before I worked up the nerve to write this post I did some quick google searches and skim read some articles so I wouldn't be a complete lost puppy dog.

 

Right now the only PC game truly calling my name is SC2, but I do want a gaming rig for when Overwatch comes out.   My poor Steam account has been untouched in a couple years - sad state.   I started with computer gaming so not having a gaming rig to play the latest kinda bugs me.   So it's not just the fact I want to replace this Core2Duo (on XP ...ahem).

 

Look like Skylake is new kid in town and if I went that direction it looks like a 6600k ...K since OCing seems pretty simple on it.   Though the benchmarks I've seen don't seem conclusive it is better than the simarily priced Broadwell chips.   With Skylake you get DDR4.   The benchmarks I saw don't seem conclusive that DDR4 is that much better than DD3 as it actually lost quite a few tests, but every site seems to say DDR4 is the way to go.   Didn't read up on USB 3.1 at all so not sure what the benefit is there and why there is a Type A and Type C.   Like I said, I skim read (at best) very quickly just so I know what questions to ask.   The roadmaps I saw were all over the place so not sure when Skylake-E is releasing and if it is even worth waiting for that.    Skylake actually appears to have a drop in performance with mid-tier graphics cards (from the benchmarks I saw - 3 diff sites) compared to Broadwell so if I go this route I would go Nvidia 970 ...probably would anyway.   Bad thing is there doesn't appear to be too many reviews on the motherboards for Skylake right now so it appears it is very new and I would be an early adopter (beta tester?).   I can get over that and even the price tag so as long as I would have solid rig I can count on.   I would probably even spring for a more expensive motherboard.   I don't upgrade often so my purchases go a long way (usually).

 

Now that you know where I hail from is Skylake for me?   Or should I wait a bit more for something about to release?   Or should I go back in time (Broadwell, Haswell)?

 

 

Generic Build right now:

 - 6600k

 - LGA 1151 (probably Asus or Gigabyte)

 - GTX 970

 - What memory sticks should I aim for? (spell it out for me because I'm a newb again)

 - SSD ...who is the king? queen?

 - PSU?

 - HSF?

 

Looks like the negative reviews, especiallly on Newegg, are still a thing.   Really hard to pick parts with such contrasting reviews and little to back up the claims.

 

Help please?  Need a fast quality build that will last me a few years for gaming and music mostly.   Not going to buy the most expensive parts but I'm not too worried on price.  Quality is #1 for me, then bang for the buck.

[dr_bowtie]

hey long time no see

 

XP still huh? glad to hear the C2D is still going. Those were some great chips back in the day

[Fogel]

MISTER Bowtie!   What is up man?

 

Nice to see many of familiar faces I remember, especially yours.   If you help me out this build than I think you will have helped me out with every build I've made lol.

 

The Core2Duo machine has some annoyances but its still chugging on.   So what's your take?   I need some advice and since you were the only one silly enough to respond to my thread I might have to latch on to you!

[FUZi0N]

Below is a good foundation. You could go with a cheaper Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler (air) to save to money. Also leaves it open to what case you'd like, more storage, optical drive etc. I would personally recommend 1TB black or blue model Western Digitals.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($254.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($153.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($319.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1033.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-03 00:00 EST-0500

Edited December 3, 2015 by FUZi0N

[IVIYTH0S]

Welcome back! I saw you post in the other thread and it's even better to see you posted this one! If I wasn't half asleep right now I'd try and get together something for ya. (I will later when I wake up haha)

 

I think every generational memory shift, it's always better to just get what's cheaper, because I've said it before and I'll say it again. Memory is memory is memory, "faster" memory seems to make little difference, capacity will (to a point and moreso for select applications). So if board/DDR3 pricing is better than the latest and  "greatest" I'd recommend going the route of broadwell/haswell/ivy/sandy.

 

I'm VERY pleased with my SB system and I'm not even overclocked on anything. Nothing has made it sweat yet and I'm running 2560x1600, an ivy bridge or higher would be marginally better but I'd carefully weigh price/performance for used/new parts. With little competition by AMD, Intel has had little need to upgrade performance since Sandy Bridge and has focused more on efficiency and all (which is nice but hardly a noticeable difference on your electric bill I assure you). As such I truthfully haven't looked into the newest stuff because I know it's not really needed nor really that much stronger for the expense needed over my current stuff.

Edited December 3, 2015 by IVIYTH0S

[Fogel]

Hey thanks FUZi0N!   Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

 

Is your build including Skylake because that is what I mentioned or because it is right move?

Few bucks more the H80i has a two fan rad, any advantage to that or is that why the H75?   Will it fit LGA1151 even though it's not listed?

Any noticeable difference going with 3000Mhz memory or is it still fairly negligible these days?

So even with 1TB SSDs now (wow ...crazy) still best to go with a SSD+HDD combo looks like.   Looks like a pretty big drop off in GB/$ going from 500GB to 1TB.

EVGA makes PSUs now? Guess it makes sense since all the companies are crossing boundaries but still feels pretty crazy to me.   How do they compare to Seasonic and Corsair PSUs?

 

I see you have a GTX980.   Obviously at the time you felt it was worth the price bump from the 970, still feel that way?

 

 

edit;
Hey IVIY!

 

I hear ya.  SB is most definitely THE solid chip.   From the few sites I've skim read it appears there is enough of an advantage for new purchasers like me to make the move to Skylake, BUT... you can never tell if they're saying that because it's true or if they feel loyal for the test samples they receive.   I've only checked 3 sites so far (Guru3D, AnAndTech and some other site).   Seems like Skylake doesn't fair too well with the 700 series GTX gpus but does a lot better with the 900 series which seems odd to me but whatever, that's why I'm here asking people I look up to and trust.

 

I feel like a newb all over again.   Glad there are some familiar faces still here to get me out of hiding.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Fogel

[FUZi0N]

Skylake is the right move. I've noticed over the last few generations of i5/i7s that there prices are still about the same. You're only going to save a little bit of money getting the previous generation. Why not pay a little bit more, get the newest architecture and now DDR4 support.

 

I only mentioned the H75 because it's compatible with almost all cases with a rear mounted 120/140mm fan and it's decent price point. Skylake CPUs do not come with a OEM heatsink. The cooling system is all up to you and which case you'll be using. If your case has 240/280mm fan mounts on the top, spring for one of those. Any cooler compatible with 1150/1155/1156 will work on 1151.

 

970 is the way to go IMO. I bought my 980 when it was the flagship card and personally, I don't think the slight performance gain over a 970 justified spending $200 more. 

 

I use a 240GB SSD as my OS drive plus a few of my popular games. The 1TB mechanical drives are still a great choice for more storage. I use the Western Digital blue for all my movies, show and media stuff. My Western Digital black is for mostly games.

 

Regarding the EVGA power supplies, the B2, G2 and P2 EVGA power supplies are made by Super Flower which is apparently renowned for there power supplies. Corsair and Seasonic are still great choices but be aware of their budget lineups like the Corsair CX series or EVGAs NEX.

Edited December 3, 2015 by FUZi0N

[dr_bowtie]

MISTER Bowtie!   What is up man?

 

Nice to see many of familiar faces I remember, especially yours.   If you help me out this build than I think you will have helped me out with every build I've made lol.

 

The Core2Duo machine has some annoyances but its still chugging on.   So what's your take?   I need some advice and since you were the only one silly enough to respond to my thread I might have to latch on to you!

 

 

Sadly I havent kept up with it much passed C2D as I havent built a rig in a great long time. I think Ill let these guys help you out but if you get in a pickle dont hesitate to hit me up.

[ccokeman]

Hey thanks FUZi0N!   Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

 

Is your build including Skylake because that is what I mentioned or because it is right move?

Few bucks more the H80i has a two fan rad, any advantage to that or is that why the H75?   Will it fit LGA1151 even though it's not listed?

Any noticeable difference going with 3000Mhz memory or is it still fairly negligible these days?

So even with 1TB SSDs now (wow ...crazy) still best to go with a SSD+HDD combo looks like.   Looks like a pretty big drop off in GB/$ going from 500GB to 1TB.

EVGA makes PSUs now? Guess it makes sense since all the companies are crossing boundaries but still feels pretty crazy to me.   How do they compare to Seasonic and Corsair PSUs?

 

I see you have a GTX980.   Obviously at the time you felt it was worth the price bump from the 970, still feel that way?

 

 

edit;

Hey IVIY!

 

I hear ya.  SB is most definitely THE solid chip.   From the few sites I've skim read it appears there is enough of an advantage for new purchasers like me to make the move to Skylake, BUT... you can never tell if they're saying that because it's true or if they feel loyal for the test samples they receive.   I've only checked 3 sites so far (Guru3D, AnAndTech and some other site).   Seems like Skylake doesn't fair too well with the 700 series GTX gpus but does a lot better with the 900 series which seems odd to me but whatever, that's why I'm here asking people I look up to and trust.

 

I feel like a newb all over again.   Glad there are some familiar faces still here to get me out of hiding.

 

Any socket 115X cooling solution will work with Socket 1151. 

 

The extra fan and thicker rad help cooling but if you are not really cranking on the voltage Skylake is relatively cool running. Most of the AIO solutions are pretty solid at this point but more rad and fan always equals better cooling.

 

You could go with haswell and save some coin on the chip and use DDR3 instead of DDR4. 

[Fogel]

@FUZi0N

Every comment in that post answered some form of question I had, thanks for taking the time to write that.

 

I am currently eyeing the Corsair 780T case.   The NZXT Phantom is also on the radar.   Welcome to suggestions.   I do like windows as it is my lazy way of keeping tabs on dust levels.   I love my Corsair 600T as very little dust makes it in so even though the 780T isn't exactly the best looking case to me it looks like an overall functional upgrade to my 600T.   I saw what appeared to be really great deals today so I jumped on them but since I haven't been following them I have no clue if it is common pricing or not.

 

$140 (-$20 code + $40 rebate) = $80

EVGA 220-G2-0850-XR 80 PLUS GOLD 850 W ECO

 

$315 (-$1 for free game + $20 rebate) = $295

ASUS GeForce GTX 970 STRIX

 

So $434 out of pocket with $60 possible in rebate if I can figure out how to work the rebate site (put my info in and it took me back to search screen).   No e-mail confirmation so guessing it did not work.   Anyhow 3 parts ordered (also got a K70).   Went higher than the 550W you recommended when I saw that day only special on the PSU.   I like having extra headroom anyway.   And it was the G2 psu you mentioned.

 

Kind of want to buy a fancy motherboard for a change.   Looking at this board - ASUS rog maximus viii hero.   I know nothing of M.2 drives but they look like the next big thing and this board supports it so might be a good upgrade down the line when prices drop.  Also supports USB 3.1.   Reviews seem pretty polarizing on how easy it is to OC with 5-Way Optimization but might be fun to try.   Thinking if I see a sale/rebate dropping it to $200 even or sub-$200 it might be worth it.   I can afford it without that but think that would push me from "would be nice" to "buying it!".   What do you think?

 

 

@dr_bowtie

Aww

 

 

@ccokeman

Thanks!   Think I will go Skylake since there doesn't appear to be any good reason to not go Skylake ...at least what has been presented to me so far.   The differences in prices (including memory) appear minimal to me.   I go long periods without upgrades so I get a lot of mileage out of my gear ...unless it brakes.   So $20 here and there averaged out of at least 5-7 years (I'm still using a C2D) makes it pretty moot.

[IVIYTH0S]

Good choices so far, especially the 970, I'm not biased at all

[ccokeman]

If you are looking for the Max VIII Hero I have one sitting on my shelf!