Cpu and Gpu combination for gaming?

[aymans87]

Hello everyone,

I want to build my 1st pc and I am hesisating between a couple of things. The pc should run for the next 2-3 years before i make upgrades on it (like getting a pascal nvidia gpu) and it will be used for gaming and a little data analysis (not very heavy softwares) for work.
I am planning to get an asus z170a motherboard, 2x8 gb 2666 RAM (any noticeable difference with the 2800 version?), 500gb ssd samsung evo, 1TB seagate 7200 rpm hdd, 800w lepa 80 plus gold power supply.

What do you recommend:
- i7 6700k with gtx 960? or i5 6500 with a better gpu (gtx 970)?
- if i choose the i5, should i get the nvidia gtx 970 with 24" AOC gsync 144hz 1080p screen or AMD R9 390 with 27" AOC free sync 144hz 2k.
- What do you recommend for a case and cooling?

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ditch the LEPA power supply. Whatever it costs, you can get a better unit for the same price, or probably less and a decision here should really be based on your GPU card choice. There are maybe two or three LEPA power supplies that are even worth considering, and they are all older platforms. Not a good choice really.

If gaming is the main priority, the 4690k with a high end card (Take your pick) or the 6700k with a high end card offer pretty much the same gaming performance as going with an i7. Now if OTHER priorities like video encoding, recording while gaming and such are on the to do list, then an i7 might make sense. Your choice of monitors is going to be largely based on what GPU card you decide to go with, so I'd hold off on that until you make a decision.

As for cases, any of the 75 dollar and up cases from NZXT, Fractal design, Phanteks, Corsair or Thermaltake should be fine. Again, this is going to be largely based on your personal preference. I like the Phanteks Enthoo Pro, Phanteks Enthoo Pro M, NZXT H440, Fractal Design Define R5 and any of the higher end Corsair R series cases are ok too.

 

[789oGaming]

I would pick i5, but the 6600k one since you really don't need z170 if you have cpu that can't be overclocked. So i5 6500 with something like b150 mobo or 6600k with z170.

I personally would pick the R9 390 with freesync monitor because 390 will be performing better than 970 with dx12. I do have 290x and 1440p 144hz freesync monitor and it's great combination, getting 60-140fps on high to ultra setting with low to mid AA since you don't need it that much at 1440p.

But 970 gtx is also a great GPU and you do nothing wrong if choose to go with it. And if you choose 970 you will only need like 550w PSU while with R9 390 you want to go with 750w one. But choose your PSU carefully, here's a list of PSUs http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

For case I would go with either Phanteks ethoo pro M or Fractal Design Define S (or define 5). For cooling any Noctua or Phanteks tower cooler with 140mm fan will do the job ( like Phanteks PH-TC14PE ). Also AIO watercooling set could be nice too. (like corsair h80i). And ram speeds doesn't affect your fps that much unless you are using integrated GPU, but choose the one with low CL grade.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If gaming is your priority, then just stick with the less expensive 4690k as the Skylake chip only shows a 5% performance increase of the Haswell Refresh unit, not worth the additional cost of the chip, motherboard and DDR4 memory in my opinion. If there was only a slight difference in price I could see it, but for a 5% bump, an extra 100 bucks probably isn't worth it.

 

[Adroid]

Any modern i5 quad core and the best GPU you can fit in your budget, will give the best bang for the buck. Make sure you have at least 8GB of DDR3 1600 mhz RAM to prevent bottlenecks there.
You will notice very little improvement whatsoever with a i7 over an i5. GTX 960 to GTX 970 is a much bigger gain.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Aymans, what is your budget for this build? Let us help you avoid making any rookie mistakes. Seriously, it's easy to do.

 

[aymans87]

Hello,
Thank you all for your helpful replies.
My budget is between 1700-2000 $ (all included) but I live in Switzerland, and here everything is more expensive.

- I will ditch the Lepa and now I have my eyes set for the EVGA g2 850w 80 plus gold (50$ more expensive than Lepa but recommended in the link you gave me (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier...).
- I will go for the i5. But I would like to go for the skylake and a newer motherboard version. I am hesitating between the 6500 (220$) or the 6600k (270$). Also I am not sure which of the following motherboard to get: "MSI B150 GAMING M3, Intel B150 (7978-014R)" (especially if I get the 6500) for 120$. "GIGABYTE GA-Z170-HD3P, Intel Z170" for 130 $. "ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING, Intel Z170 (90MB0MD0)" for 170 $ or the "ASROCK Z170 Extreme 4, Intel Z170" also for 170 $.
- I have never owned an AMD gpu, on the internet people have different opinions. I would love to get a 27" 1440p 144hz g-sync screen but it is way of my budget (around 830 $ here). I have found an acer 27" 1440p 144hz FreeSync for 500 $ which I can combine with an AMD 390.
Or I can go with a less expensive option and get an 24" 1080p 144hz Gsync (450$) and combine it with a gtx 970. I am tempting towards the Gsync because I am tempted to get a geforce pascal base gpu later in the future (I have a feeling that a gsync monitor is more future proof). But I really don't know which option is the best because getting a 2k monitor for the almost the same price as a full hd is interesting, but I have never owned a screen bigger than 22", so I don't even know if I will find the 27" too big or not. So any suggestions are more than welcomed.

Thank you again

 

[Darkbreeze]

The EVGA 750w G2 is already about 250w beyond what's needed to run the GTX 970, even including the rest of the system, and plenty of people run GTX 970 SLI on that unit, so if it can safely run two 970's, you certainly don't need an 850w G2, and the 750w unit should be a bit cheaper.

Big screens rock, small screens suck. However, if you don't have a 32" or larger screen, "I" think the 4k units also suck unless you don't plan to use them for anything except gaming and watching movies because a 27" or smaller 4K monitor you can't read text for shiznit and web pages are not designed for it. Neither are almost any applications. 4k is great on a large monitor, not so great on smaller ones. I'd suggest the 1440p 27". Anyhow, if you go with a 4k resolution you'd need a GTX 980 TI or Titan, or dual lower tiered cards to even begin to push those pixels. Even 1440p can stretch the workable limits with anything lower than a GTX 980 at very high settings.

I have two 27" 1080p monitors and I could never go back to a 24" 1080p. It's just much better, for me.

From top to bottom, you're not going to see any significant difference in gaming performance between DDR4 2133 though 2800, so it really isn't a big deal which you go with and DDR4 2400 is pretty much fine.

Where can you order parts from? Are you able to do the Deutschland PCPartpicker vendors or no? If you have an online vendor you must order through, list it for me, but I'd probably do something like this. The prices should be at least SOMEWHAT similar to what you're looking at. You can pick whatever monitor you like according to your preferences. This rig would game just about anything you want to at, at least high settings, ultra for most titles.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€251.61 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€69.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€145.71 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€109.17 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€97.84 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€76.36 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (€526.93 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case (€81.27 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€133.93 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) (€104.86 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1597.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 07:26 CEST+0200

 

[aymans87]

WoW! thank you very much for this great job.
I will get this rig and I have found everything you listed. Unfortunately we don't have pcpartpicker. The best website is a general one that helps you find anything you need. it is http://en.toppreise.ch/
- for the same price of the asus z170a you recommended there is the ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING, and there is also the GIGABYTE GA-Z170-HD3P for 40 $ less. What do you advise me to get among these 3?
- what is your opinion on gsync or freesync, is it very important? Because I won't be able to get the 1440p 27" gsync, i can get the same with freesync or without any of these options.
- the phanteks is a bit expensive here, how about the corsair (100R, 200R or 300R) as a replacement (or any other case for less than 80 $). Do these cases come with a fan or do I need to buy the fans?
Thank you again for your time. These info were highly valuable to me.
I'll wait for your reply and proceed to order the parts.
Have a great day

The EVGA 750w G2 is already about 250w beyond what's needed to run the GTX 970, even including the rest of the system, and plenty of people run GTX 970 SLI on that unit, so if it can safely run two 970's, you certainly don't need an 850w G2, and the 750w unit should be a bit cheaper.

Big screens rock, small screens suck. However, if you don't have a 32" or larger screen, "I" think the 4k units also suck unless you don't plan to use them for anything except gaming and watching movies because a 27" or smaller 4K monitor you can't read text for shiznit and web pages are not designed for it. Neither are almost any applications. 4k is great on a large monitor, not so great on smaller ones. I'd suggest the 1440p 27". Anyhow, if you go with a 4k resolution you'd need a GTX 980 TI or Titan, or dual lower tiered cards to even begin to push those pixels. Even 1440p can stretch the workable limits with anything lower than a GTX 980 at very high settings.

I have two 27" 1080p monitors and I could never go back to a 24" 1080p. It's just much better, for me.

From top to bottom, you're not going to see any significant difference in gaming performance between DDR4 2133 though 2800, so it really isn't a big deal which you go with and DDR4 2400 is pretty much fine.

Where can you order parts from? Are you able to do the Deutschland PCPartpicker vendors or no? If you have an online vendor you must order through, list it for me, but I'd probably do something like this. The prices should be at least SOMEWHAT similar to what you're looking at. You can pick whatever monitor you like according to your preferences. This rig would game just about anything you want to at, at least high settings, ultra for most titles.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€251.61 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€69.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€145.71 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€109.17 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€97.84 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€76.36 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (€526.93 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case (€81.27 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€133.93 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) (€104.86 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1597.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 07:26 CEST+0200

 

[Darkbreeze]

Corsair 300R, NZXT H440, Fractal Design Define R4 or R5, Thermaltake Core V51 are all pretty good choices. I could better help you if you listed the site you're needing to order from so I can see what's there. I can translate via google chrome if it's in a different language so that's no problem.

 

[aymans87]

ok thank you. Well the website has all that you listed to me earlier.
it is http://en.toppreise.ch/
this website tell you from where to buy and it is in English too. Could you please give me your opinion on the motherboards

Corsair 300R, NZXT H440, Fractal Design Define R4 or R5, Thermaltake Core V51 are all pretty good choices. I could better help you if you listed the site you're needing to order from so I can see what's there. I can translate via google chrome if it's in a different language so that's no problem.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Are you planning to overclock the CPU, because if you are not, you'd be better off going with a non-k processor and an H170 motherboard, which would be quite a bit cheaper, but still perform pretty much just as well as a Z170 board if you're not overclocking on it.

 

[aymans87]

I believe I will in 2-3 years time. Do you think the gigabyte z170a is a good choice since it is much cheaper than the Asus pro gaming z170 or the asus z170a? Or in terms of mobo i should stick to asus?

Are you planning to overclock the CPU, because if you are not, you'd be better off going with a non-k processor and an H170 motherboard, which would be quite a bit cheaper, but still perform pretty much just as well as a Z170 board if you're not overclocking on it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The Z97-A and Z97X-Gaming 5, ASUS and Gigabyte, were comparable motherboards with very good overclocking capabilities and quality. The Z170 versions of both those boards are as well, and are somewhat improved with newer features. I'd put those boards up against all by the very highest end boards and the only thing they are really lacking versus much more expensive models are some features like additional SATA ports, larger VRM heatsinks (in some cases) and maybe a few other features as well as slightly thicker PCB material on the higher end motherboards to strengthen them.

Unless there are specific features on the Pro Gaming that are not present on the other boards, that you feel you need, I'd go with one of those two boards.

 

[aymans87]

Thank you for your answer,
No, actually there is no specific feature in asus pro gaming that makes me want it. It is just that it has the same price as the z170a and on asus website they claim it is better overclockable and has better lan gaming. Unless you find the asus z170a is a better choice I will get the pro gaming.
I would like to thank you for much for your help and I will be building the rig you suggested earlier with a corsair 300r case.

The Z97-A and Z97X-Gaming 5, ASUS and Gigabyte, were comparable motherboards with very good overclocking capabilities and quality. The Z170 versions of both those boards are as well, and are somewhat improved with newer features. I'd put those boards up against all by the very highest end boards and the only thing they are really lacking versus much more expensive models are some features like additional SATA ports, larger VRM heatsinks (in some cases) and maybe a few other features as well as slightly thicker PCB material on the higher end motherboards to strengthen them.

Unless there are specific features on the Pro Gaming that are not present on the other boards, that you feel you need, I'd go with one of those two boards.

 

[Darkbreeze]

We ARE talking the ASUS Pro Gaming, NOT the MSI Pro Gaming, right? If that's the case, then yes, the ASUS Pro Gaming is a fine choice.

 

[aymans87]

Yes the Asus.
One last thing please, do you believe the gsync option will have a significant effect on gaming with this rig with a 144hz 1080 or 1440p monitor? Many thanks again, you have been extremely helpful and have a great weekend.

We ARE talking the ASUS Pro Gaming, NOT the MSI Pro Gaming, right? If that's the case, then yes, the ASUS Pro Gaming is a fine choice.

 

[gibbly]

- what is your opinion on gsync or freesync, is it very important? Because I won't be able to get the 1440p 27" gsync, i can get the same with freesync or without any of these options.

gsync and freesync are pretty much the same thing, exept gsync is for nvidia cards and freesync is for amd cards. What it does is it reduces latency and shuttering by syncing the frames outputed with when the monitor can display things. (basically)

 

[Darkbreeze]

To be perfectly honest, while I see potential for the technology, in real world use I've seen G-sync and Freesync cause nothing but issues for the majority of people. It has it's uses, and since it can be turned off it shouldn't be a problem if troubles do crop up, but I don't think I'd SPECIFICALLY select a model based solely on the fact that it has these features. With the GTX 980 at 1440p, it might be useful though for some titles.

 

[aymans87]

Hello. So i got a pc with asus z170 pro gaming, i5 6600k, samsung evo 850 500 GB SSD, 16GB 2666Mhz DDR4 kingston fury x, asus strix gtx 970 and acer xb240H 24" gsync 1080 144 hz monitor with windows 10 64 bit.
The thing is I am having high cpu usage ranging from 20-60% when I am installing a game or software. From 10-30% while doing nothing. Or from 10-40% by only using internet explorer. While gaming cpu usages by the game application itself ranges from 50 to 95%. Is this normal?
I already reinstalled my windows 10 version. These high cpu usages are seen with only windows and the necessary drivers installed and the minimum startup programs are allowed.
In games like mortal kombat X I don't see lags and the game runs fluent (almost) but for pes 2016 for example I have huge lags and for black ops 3 it takes forever to get the game loaded and started but while in the game it is okay.
Again is this normal? (Malwarebytes, kaspersky and norton found nothing, and all drivers are up to date, even windows is updated).
I thought it might be because of windows 10 so i installed windows 7 64 bit from a dvd I have and I have almost the same problem but CPU usage is 20% less and gaming applications never use more than 70%. So it got better but still there are little lags and I know pes 2016 doesn't require much in terms of graphics for example. But basic usages of cpu is reduced and while gaming it is mostly around 50-70% by the game application. I am worried that my cpu is bottelnecking for unknown reasons or will be bottelnecking soon. Since I just bought it and it is already at 70% for current games. So i guess it is not a windows problem but do you have an idea of what's wrong?
My pc is under garantee of course but what should I do?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Have you gone to the product page and made absolutely sure you have installed the latest drivers for all of your motherboard components, chipset, storage, graphics, sound, network adapter,etc., as well as checking to see if there are any newer bios releases for your model number? If you are relying on the Windows 10 native drivers for those components, that's not wise.

 

[Sanic]

Here is my gaming build I am working with:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TjmBCJ

Its runs any game on max graphics setting with 60+ fps np. I went i7 because single core processor at 4ghz can make a huge difference and hyperthreading helps a little. The GPU and the ram can take anything as well.

 

[aymans87]

Yes I have done that, I have also updated my bios.

Have you gone to the product page and made absolutely sure you have installed the latest drivers for all of your motherboard components, chipset, storage, graphics, sound, network adapter,etc., as well as checking to see if there are any newer bios releases for your model number? If you are relying on the Windows 10 native drivers for those components, that's not wise.

 

[Darkbreeze]

How exactly did you do the reinstall? Did you do a "clean" install, or did you install from a system or restore image? If you installed over the top of your image, or did a refresh or reset, that's not going to have the same effect as a clean install. A clean install involves deleting all the partitions on the drive and then installing to the unallocated space or a freshly created partition.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'd also make sure to make changes to a few settings. Make sure your power profile in control panel is set to performance and that in the advanced power options the min and max processor power settings are set to 100%. Make sure your network adapter has the latest drivers installed and that none of the settings are configured to offload to the CPU.

I'd be sure to do a clean driver install on the graphics card as well, regardless of whether or not you did a clean install on the OS as windows 10 initially installs an older version of the Nvidia drivers and even updating those drivers may not be sufficient without running the DDU to remove the previous registry and file settings, as follows:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/clean-graphics-driver-install-windows.html


I don't see any mention of your power supply model number, so what power supply did you end up with? Your PSU can affect the performance of EVERY single component in the system, and low quality units often do just that.