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pixiedust

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Apr 8, 2016
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I am looking to order PC parts for my first ever custom built PC and I need some advice.

I want to go with an i7 processor but I have no idea which to pick. I want to stream and game and possibly do some video editing down the road as well.

I want to keep my options open, which is why I want to go with something that can support my needs down the road. I have been reading that Skylake is a good way to go (i7-6700k) but others have been saying to stick with Haswell (i7-5930k) but there are so many other numbers to choose from and I don't know what they all mean. It's a lot to understand and as much as I read up, I just can't decide. Can someone please break this down for me and recommend the best processor I should be going with? I know for sure that I want an i7 CPU that I don't plan on overclocking.

Also, which GPU should I be going with? I held off on ordering everything for a while now (a few months) since hearing about the new graphics cards and I have had my eye on the 1070 since the price is not so expensive and it has been getting some decent reviews.

Any advice is much appreciated! I hope I didn't leave any important information out.

PS: I am looking to spend up to around 2000 CAD on this PC and want to make sure my money is going into the CPU and GPU, as I have read you can get cheaper motherboards and SSD's and Hard Drive's aren't that expensive.
 
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You could get away with an RX480 which will give you 60fps at 1080p and save you some cash. But since you own a 144Hz monitor a 1070 will give you more than 60FPS taking advantage. A 1080 will pass 100fps at 1080p, and pass 60fps at 1440p if you decide to upgrade your monitor anytime.

A 1080 will just give playable framerates at 4k, something that required multiple cards in the past.

If you decide you like your monitor and want to keep it for the next 1-3 years then a 1070 would be the wise choice.
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I'd start with an I7 6700k and Z170 based board. 2x8GB RAM around 2600-3000 speed. That's if I planned to overclock. Otherwise a non K cpu and 2166 speed memory.

Build the system around that. Then choose a monitor. I go 24" 1080p 144Hz Freesync/Gsync, or 27" 1440p 144Hz Freesync/Gsync. The monitor determines the video card of choice. I'd go 1070 for the 1080p, and 1080 for the 1440p.

If you are really on a budget then an RX480 video card and a 1080p freesync monitor will work.

Once built up you look at the price and start chopping cause it's always over budget. let me put something together fast.
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($253.50 @ shopRBC)
Motherboard: Asus H170-PRO/CSM ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($131.26 @ Amazon Canada)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($80.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.55 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card ($569.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($102.98 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($114.98 @ DirectCanada)
Monitor: Acer XB240H ABPR 24.0" 144Hz Monitor ($507.99 @ PC Canada)
Total: $2076.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-02 16:25 EDT-0400

$2000 budget, including monitor and windows 10. I used 16GB for some development with multiple programs running, a 1070 and Gsync 1080p 24" monitor for respectable gaming. To maintain within budget, a very good H170 board and very good I5 CPU.

You could go with an I7 and Z10 board, but then you need to sacrifice some gaming potential such as a non sync monitor or go with an AMD RX480 card which will run around 60fps at 1080p while the 1070 will go above and take advantage of a 144Hz monitor. You could go RX480 and a nice 24" freesync monitor which is cheaper. Let me modify the system to include this option.
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($439.98 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.00 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($199.98 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($90.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.55 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card ($349.00 @ Vuugo)
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($102.98 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($114.98 @ DirectCanada)
Monitor: AOC G2460PF 24.0" 144Hz Monitor ($352.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $1997.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-02 16:38 EDT-0400

Same system but an RX480 card and freesync monitor. This saved budget to up to an I7 and overclocking ram, CPU, and board.

The only thing missing from both systems is keyboard, mouse, audio, and optical drive. I'd get an external drive as that case has no drive bays and people don't use burners anymore except the odd install.
 
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Hey. Thanks for taking the time to reply and put something together for me. I have a BENQ XL2411Z gaming monitor (144hz) so i don't have to worry about the cost of that. Would it be better to go with an i7-6700 or a different i7 cpu? I don't really know how to choose. Will the an i7-6700 be the better option as it is skylake? I am a bit confused 🙁 I want to stick with i7 and not go with an i5 because i do not plan on overclocking.
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($439.98 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.00 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($200.55 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($80.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($208.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.55 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card ($569.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($114.98 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1979.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-03 16:50 EDT-0400

I7, Z170 based board that supports SLI for future use, a nice P2 750W PSU that has the capacity to handle a second 1070 in the future if desired. I also upped the SSD to 500GB which is a nice size (not to small and not crazy large). Nice monitor btw.
 
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And for the I7 some people recommend older models. Some recommend I7 extreme edition socket 2011 for editing and rendering. But those are crazy expensive with some CPUs costing over $1000.

The truth is if all you do is hardcore rendering in programs like maya, etc... in an office environment for a company like dreamworks or pixar then a socket 2011 is ideal. If you want a computer at home that can game and is powerful an I5 Skylake is great. If you want to do some editing with that same gaming computer at home and have the budget the I7 Skylake is great. The Skylake will also give you the latest tech such as USB 5GBs, USB C, DDR4, etc...

That 1070 will push your monitor over 60fps. Probably around 80-100 or so in many games at ultra settings which is nice.
 
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Thank you so much. I was going to go with 800 or so watts for the PSU. I appreciate the help! I think i'll go with the i7-6700.... I hope this isn't a bad decision. I love the price but wondering if putting in an extra 200 or so dollars for the i7-5930 will be worth the money?
 
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I would still for sure go with the I7-6700K its one of the best streaming/gaming CPU's out there.
 
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Thank you! How about for my GPU???? Should I go with the 1070 card?
 
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Yes but if you have enough a 1080 is also a really good GPU the most powerful as of now.
 
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Not in your case. The 5930 gives you more cores/threads which is useless for gaming. The 6700k is about as good as you need for gaming. Also for video editing the 6700k will perform flawlessly. Not much software takes advantage of extra cores for desktop use. The 6700k is regarded as the fastest CPU for dektop use. For gaming no difference. For processing a video such as producing a .mkv x264 you might do it in 2 min with an extreme edition or have to wait 15 seconds more with a 6700k. It's the sort of thing that while doing the editing and using your desktop you won't notice a difference, but when you hit process you shave seconds off of a 2-10min process. Not worth it.

The extra $200 would be better off spent on upgrading the video card to a 1080, then your set for a future 1440p or 4k monitor.

Also an 850w is a big price jump from a 750w. 750W is much better value. Also 2 1070's and your system is recommended a 650w-750w.

I just did a calculation based on 2 1070's in SLI with 2 hard drives, 4 120mm fans, and a water cooling kit. 521W (650W recommended). With 2 1080's it's 579W so a 650W would handle it but I'd get a 750W.

If you only want to get 1 video card then maybe get a 550W PSU and put the extra money into a 1080. Then you'd be set for a future monitor if that interests you. 1440p on a single 1080 works good and gets you over 60FPS consistently.
 
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Thank you!!!! Definitely going for the i7-6700k then. I will be gaming and streaming and i'm hoping for awesome results. I will look at prices for the 1080 GPU as well and compare. I appreciate your help.
 
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I wouldn't go any lower than a 650W psu.
 
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You could get away with an RX480 which will give you 60fps at 1080p and save you some cash. But since you own a 144Hz monitor a 1070 will give you more than 60FPS taking advantage. A 1080 will pass 100fps at 1080p, and pass 60fps at 1440p if you decide to upgrade your monitor anytime.

A 1080 will just give playable framerates at 4k, something that required multiple cards in the past.

If you decide you like your monitor and want to keep it for the next 1-3 years then a 1070 would be the wise choice.
 
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Solution


Literally the most well said post i have seen on this forums so far. +1
 
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Cool, thanks. I think I will go with the 1070... awesome price and it would be enough for me! What would you do?
 
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If i had enough for a 1070 or a 1080 in the build i would go 1080 but if you dont want to spend a lot of money on a GPU but still want one hell of a GPU go with the 1070, the 1070 is a beast gaming GPU so either way its not bad, anyway you go is still going to give a nice experience with 60 FPS + on high settings on all games, now some of the most demanding like Witcher 3, GTZ V, and Battlefront (The New One) may need some tweaking to get a solid 60 FPS.
 
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Really it depends on the monitor. If you stick with 1080p the 1070 is fine. If you have the itch for a 1440p 27" with GSync I'd consider the 1080 now. The 1080 will also get you over 100fps at 1080p which is nice. I still think 4k is not ready for gaming, more for production on a 32" for programming and editing with the extra real estate.

It depends on your monitor. If you keep your current for 2+ years a 1070. If you want to upgrade within the year, then a 1080 to be prepared.
 
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