Budget SLI Motherboard+CPU

[miniexpresso]

Greetings,

Just looking for some help in upgrading my partners computer. It is currently running a i5-2500k (not overclocked) and an Asrock Extreme 3 Gen 3 motherboard with a Hyper 212 cooling it.

We are prioritizing budget at the moment so we would be more than happy to forsake a few bells and whistles and there are just too many options out there at the moment so some help would be greatly appreciated.

The system is shared by my partner and our kids. It is only running x1 SSD and x1 HDD at the moment and we are not planning on including a M.2 drive or those PCIe drives so that functionality is not required, we are also not thinking of overclocking as I'm over that phase so that functionality is not required as well. However, we would like a SLI-ready board as we have now have x2 Zotac 1070's Minis on-hand as a coincidence and would like to utilize both of them in the system.

Most importantly, the system would be turned on 24/7 as it functions somewhat as a server for the business side of things.

So taken together, any recommendations?
I was looking at perhaps an i5-7500 and a H170 board? but considering how out of touch I am with these things, any help is appreciated!

Thanks

 

[smorizio]

any of the x170mb need a bios update to boot the newer cpu. if you have a local micro center they have asus tuf z270mb for little over 100.00 with combo cpu. if you buy the older 6000k cpu the z170 asus mb has 35.00 rebate from micro center and more from online sellers.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/KgJkcf/asus-motherboard-z170progaming

 

[raisonjohn]

If you want an Intel motherboard that supports SLI, you are forced to look into the Z170/Z270-chipset motherboards due to its PCIe lane configuration. Lower-tiered chipset Intel motherboards such as the H110/B150/B250/H170/H270 doesn't/can't support x8/x8 speeds in their two PCIe x16 slots.

Although the Z170/Z270 motherboards are intended for overclocking, you have no choice but to get them, if SLI is a requirement. You can still get a locked (non-"K") Intel CPU if you are very sure you will never ever overclock at any point in time in the future. However, you need to get a very powerful CPU (such as an i7) for it to handle the GTX 1070s in SLI without choking/bottlenecking it. For me, since you will definitely be getting a Z-chipset mobo, I would consider getting an unlocked ("K") i7 Intel CPU, instead of a locked (non-"K") i7, just in case. The disadvantage of the unlocked CPUs is their higher power consumption/higher heat and the lack of a stock CPU cooler out-of-the-box (so, you'd have to get an aftermarket one). The advantage of the unlocked CPUs is higher core speed and the ability to OC (should you choose to do so, but not required if you don't like to). But, ultimately, it's your choice depending on your budget. See some pricing below.

An important note on selecting Intel CPU and corresponding motherboard:

The currently-available Intel Core CPUs are broken down in two generations: 6th-gen (Skylake) and 7th-gen (Kaby Lake). The currently-available Z-chipset motherboards (supports SLI) are: Z170 (released at the time Skylake were sold) and Z270 (released at the time the Kaby Lake were sold).

If you get the Z170 motherboard, it supports Skylake CPUs (e.g., i7-6700 and i7-6700K) out-of-the-box, but for Kaby Lake CPUs (e.g., i7-7700 and i7-7700K), the Z170 needs a BIOS update for those 7th-gen CPUs to work or else it will not boot. On the other hand, if you get the Z270 motherboard, it supports both Skylake and Kaby Lake CPUs out-of-the-box.

OPTION 1:

Cheapest Z-chipset motherboard, supporting SLI, that I can find is this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: MSI - Z170A SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $89.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-01 03:58 EDT-0400

Note that it is a Z170 motherboard, so, ideally, you would want to pair that with a Skylake CPU to avoid BIOS incompatibility issues. The i7-6700 costs ~$290; the i7-6700K costs ~$310.

OPTION 2:

If you want to use the Kaby Lake CPUs, esp. for its price/performance over the older Skylake CPUs, then you need a Z270-chipset motherboard.

Cheapest Z270 motherboard, supporting SLI, that I can find is this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: MSI - Z270 SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($126.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $126.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-01 04:02 EDT-0400

Using, the Z270 motherboard, you can either get a Skylake CPU (as in above) or a Kaby Lake CPU, depending on your budget. It is ideal, though, to pair the Z270 mobo with a Kaby Lake CPU. The i7-7700 costs ~$295; the i7-7700K costs ~$330.

OPTION 3:

Another option is to go for an AMD Ryzen build, instead of Intel. The AMD Ryzen motherboard that only supports SLI are the X370-chipset motherboard.

Cheapest X370 motherboard, supporting SLI, that I can find is this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: MSI - X370 SLI PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard ($134.99 @ B&H)
Total: $134.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-01 04:15 EDT-0400

You can pair the X370 motherboard with a Ryzen 5 CPU (due to budget), such as the Ryzen 5 1500X for ~$190 (OC'able, 4-Core/8-Thread, low power consumption, and comes with a stock CPU cooler already), or the Ryzen 5 1600 for ~$215 (OC'able, 6-Core/12-Thread, low power consumption, and comes with a stock CPU cooler already).

 

[Lehan123456789]

Honestly in this situation I would go with a Ryzen 7 1700/x with a X370 motherboard, such as the one mentioned in the post above. Ryzen is better for multi-threaded applications (and hence is better in most server scenarios) however is slightly less powerful for gaming.

 

[miniexpresso]

Wow, thanks for the detailed write-up, any recommendations if I were to forsake the SLI capability?

It seems that SLI is really restricting choices here

 

[raisonjohn]

Yes, the SLI does limit your options, as well as increasing the costs for the upgrade.

If you scrap the idea of SLI'ing the GTX 1070 (which is not recommended anyway), you can then choose a lower-tiered motherboard with the basic ports/connections. The CPU, however, based on your needs, is still recommended to be in the lines of multi-threaded CPUs.

For an Intel Build, on a tight budget for your specific use, you can get these:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($294.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - B250M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $356.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-01 05:40 EDT-0400

Note that the i7-7700 is locked (cannot be overclocked, since you don't intend to anyway). It has a 3.6GHz base speed (up to 4.2GHz turbo), with 4 cores and 8 threads, low-powered (only 65W TDP), has an iGPU (integrated graphics), and comes with a stock cooler.

The ASRock B250M-HDV is the most affordable motherboard I can find. It is an mATX-sized mobo (smaller than a regular ATX motherboard) but will fit in any ATX case. It only has a B250-chipset, so, lesser PCIe lane configurations (such as only 1x PCIe x16 slot for a single GPU), and just for the basic ports and connections needed (with 6x SATA ports and 1x M.2 socket). It only has 2x RAM slots (you can get the 4x RAM slot version but for a higher price).

For an AMD Build, on a tight budget for your specific use, you can get these:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $369.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-01 05:48 EDT-0400

Note that the Ryzen 7 1700, as well as all other Ryzen CPUs to this date, are unlocked (can be overclocked, but you can opt not to). It has a 3.0GHz base speed (up to 3.7GHz), with 8 cores and 16 threads, low-powered (only 65W TDP), does not have integrate graphics, and comes with a stock cooler. The ASRock AB350M-HDV is similar to the intel version described above (except that, it only has 4x SATA ports and 1x M.2, but the B350 supports overclocking).

You can also choose the Ryzen 5 1600 (which costs only ~$215) instead of the 1700 in the above setup. The Ryzen 5 1600 has a 3.2GHz base speed (up to 3.6GHz), with 6 cores and 12 threads, same 65W TDP, no integrated graphics, and comes with a stock cooler.

Note that in both of the above builds, you need DDR4 RAM sticks.

 

[smorizio]

also to the thread starter both amd and nvidia are soon dropping there next gen gpu chips. amd starting out end of this month. in aug the retail cards will be dropping. latter this year is nvidia volta.

 

[miniexpresso]

Thanks all for the answers, very helpful!!