Haswell Build or Skylake build?

[Bphantom]

Hello all.

I'm sure this has been asked and discussed a hundred times already, but here i am, asking the same question again.

Skylake vs Haswell?

What will i use the computer for? Mainly gaming. I go to many lan partys and im tired of always taking my whole Home equipt with me, so i'm planing to build a mid-high tier pc for lan partys.

The build would look something like this:

Haswel or Skylake CPU (probably i5)
Haswell or Skylake MB (Obviously)
8 GB ram
SSD/HDD
R9 370/380 (Not sure yet, might even go for nvidia)

I've got around 700-750 Dollars. If i'd go for the Haswell build, i could invest a bit more into the ram and or into the graphics card. If i go with the Skylake build... well, then i can't, since the parts cost more.

Long story short, should i get a Skylake build and get a bit a cheaper GPU or should i go for the Haswell build and get the better gpu and maybe ram?

Games i usually play are:

CS GO
H1Z1
Arma 3


And stuff like that. I'm not someone who always needs MAX SETTINGS MAX FPS!1!111!!
I'm okay with playing on mid-high settings but with a constant 60 fps.

Oh, also, sorry if i've chosen the wrong sub-forum.

Edit: I don't plan on Upgrading the PC for atleast 2 years.

Edit2: Should i consider an AMD build and go for a high tier GPU?

 

[madmatt30]

The i5 4460 & the i5 6400 are more or less equal, as are the 4590 & 6500.

Buy what suits your budget best mate , anything mid tier upto 960/380x is absolutely fine with any of those CPU's.
Performance difference will be absolutely minimal between the 4 paired with a mid range GPU.

 

[Bphantom]

I see.

So the difference in performance between Skylake and Haswell is only noticeable once you go with a high tier GPU?

Should i consider and AMD CPU and go for a high Tier GPU instead?

 

[madmatt30]

The difference between skylake & has well is roughly 10% atcthe same base clock.
The comparisons I've made the sjylakes are clocked lower & draw less wattage but perform roughly the same as their haswell counterparts

For h1z1 & arma 100% stick to an Intel build, apart from the fact there are no truly decent matx amd boards performance in those 2 titles with an amd chip is sketchy at best.

 

[13thmonkey]

I see.

So the difference in performance between Skylake and Haswell is only noticeable once you go with a high tier GPU?

Should i consider and AMD CPU and go for a high Tier GPU instead?

No. It'll be like a 5-10% difference between the two in certain circumstances, however if you are not upgrading then go skylake so that you get DDR4. If you are upgrading AND can use the old ram then haswell.

 

[madmatt30]

The best performing & priced CPU for those games is the skylake i3 6100 in all honesty.
It'll outperform any of the i5's mentioned for those primarily single threaded titles.
Personally for future proofing I'd still drop the extra $50 on a read quad i5 though.

The 380 & 960 will both top 60fps on medium on just about any title , GPU power is not an issue.

 

[Bphantom]

Yeah, i've never been a fan of AMD CPU's for gaming, that's why i didn't really consider them in the first place.

I've made 2 Builds:

Haswell:

Corsair VS550 (550W)
Sapphire R9 380 NITRO Dual-X OC (4GB)
Intel Core i5 4690K (LGA 1150, 3.50GHz, Unlocked)
AsRock ASRock H97 Anniversary (LGA 1150, H97, ATX)
HyperX Fury (1x, 8GB, DDR3-1600, DIMM 240)

Price: Roughly 720 Dollars

Skylake:

Corsair VS550 (550W)
Sapphire R9 380 NITRO Dual-X OC (4GB)
Intel Core i5 6600K BOX (LGA 1151, 3.50GHz, Unlocked)
ASUS H170-PRO (LGA 1151, Intel H170, ATX)
Corsair Vengeance LPX (1x, 8GB, DDR4-2666, DIMM 288)

Price: Roughly 770 Dollars

Note that i'd switch some parts out, as i didn't put in enough research yet. But just to give you guys an idea of the Build direction i'd go.

Is it worth to spent the 50 Dollars more for the Skylake build or should i invest them for a better GPU (maybe the r9 390) for the Haswell build?

 

[13thmonkey]

Don't go K and H, K and Z are better matches.

 

[Bphantom]

Oh yeah, i forgot that i need to go Z for the K version of the CPU's. Thanks for the reminder. But then again, this is only a fictional build to give you guys and idea of the direction i'd go. I do alot more research before really buying the parts.

 

[13thmonkey]

I'd go skylake, and 2x4Gb not 1x8GB, PSU is not great, shave money everywhere you can to get the better GPU if your resolution warrants it.

 

[Bphantom]

Yeah i want to go 2 x 4 aswell. I also want a PSU that is atleast Bronze 80. I just put it in there to have something there. I won't be able to get a better GPU, since the ''next better'' would be around 120 Dollars more and i don't have that money.

I'd be really grateful if someone could make a build and tell me why he/she would go for that specific build/part

 

[13thmonkey]

Don't be concerned about the bronzeness of them just get a good one, bronze has nothing to do with quality only efficiency, and at a lan party...

 

[Bphantom]

Eh, i actually didn't want to pick that as solution, sorry about that.

Well, while 80Bronze does only indicate it's efficency i also think that most PSU's that have the 80+ cert. are also fairly good in terms of quality. I might be wrong tho.

 

[13thmonkey]

I think that you are wrong, all good quality units will have bronze or better (it's just a side effect of being good), however it is possible to get bronze and probably silver whilst being rubbish, with no protection, not delivering enough power @12V etc.

 

[Bphantom]

Would you mind building me something for around 700-Dollar? You sound like someone who really knows what he is talking about, and i'd love to have someone elses build for comparision.

 

[13thmonkey]

I don't generally do builds as I don't have that much time. Sorry.

 

[Bphantom]

That's perfectly fine, thanks for your help so far. Guess i'll see what some other people say before taking my decision.

 

[Gamer1985]

Definitely Skylake in my opinion. Not for the sake of performance, but for the sake of your investment. Haswell is a dead end socket, however if your going for an I5 your future upgrade would look towards the 4790K and thats where the line stops.

With Skylake atleast they will be producing more CPUs and youll have more options for upgrading, DDR3 is also going down the retired slope as DDR4 is slowly taking over. Pricing of DDR4 and DDR3 is irrelevant now. Youll be much better off going Skylake for future upgradability where you not just throwing your money in the air. Granted youll be absolutely fine with a Haswell build for several years to come, once that time comes youll have to buy a whole new pc and start over again. For some thats not a bad thing.

This is the best I could do for you. Unfortunately I couldnt squeeze in the OS but this is a legit build here. You can save a few bucks going with a non K processor if your not planning on overclocking. I also wanted to add an SSD for you but the budget didnt allow.

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.99 @ Amazon)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($112.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($36.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 380 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($170.80 @ Newegg)

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $790.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-17 09:27 EDT-0400

 

[Bphantom]

Hello

Yes i'm really tending to Skylake aswell. I think the cons of getting a Haswell nowadays are too big (as in, absolutely not future proof)
Thanks for your input on the subject.

I forgot to mention that i've already got a HD and a SSD.

While your build is not bad, it's a bit too expensive. Looks like some parts cost more here in switzerland.
On the other hand, i can take out the HDD since i've got one already, and i might would get some cheaper Case and it probably would fit into the budget.

I'll be saving this build, and once i've got a couple of them i'll compare them, read some reviews and get the one i liked the most.

Thanks so much for the help.

 

[Gamer1985]

Well you can save some cash taking out the HD and go for a cheaper case. Thatll bring you closer to your budget. However I am not sure how much better of a build you have the ability to make. The 6600K is prime for gaming, you have a Z170 mobo to pair with it for possible overclocking. The only thing im not a fan of is the GPU but the budget constraints forced me to go that direction. Otherwise this build is as good as it gets in that price range.

 

[madmatt30]

Dump the k series chip & go for the straight 6500 & a h110 series board.
Itll still perform very well & save you a big portion of your budget.

Do you not want a matx build for easy transportation ???

 

[madmatt30]

Something like this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€207.84 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€60.20 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€42.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card (€211.10 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Thermaltake Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (€58.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€67.38 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (€12.35 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €660.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-17 17:05 CET+0100

 

[Bphantom]

Do i really need the K version of the CPU and the Z version of the Motherboard?

If i'd go for the ''normal'' version of both, i'd be able to save around 50-70 USD.

I know that the K version has a higher Base Clock and is better for overclocking, but is it worth the 50-70 USD?

@Gamer1985:

Why are you no fan of the GPU? Don't you like AMD in general?

Edit:

Thanks for that build.

I've build something similar myself.

 

[13thmonkey]

It's not just 'better' for overclocking, it is the only way you'll do any overclocking.

And so that extra 50-70 can comfortably get you an extra 25% CPU performance. Which if you consider that the increments between ivybridge to haswell to skylake is probably somewhat less than 25% you're getting performance similar to stock in 3 generations time, that's worth 50-70 in my opinion.

 

[Gamer1985]

Just like Monkey said, you wont be able to overclock if you dont get a K/Z combo which also gives a slightly higher clock out of the box. So you have to decide if that $50+ is worth it to you.

In regards to the GPU, dont mind me, I have the "go big or go home" mentality, plus I am an Nvidia fan boy. The GPU is a good budget video card, so for your budget and needs itll work perfectly fine!