i5 6600k or Xeon 1246 V3?

[Excaliburn]

So I've decided to get the Xeon 1246 V3 but then i saw the i5 6600k and thought about the ability to upgrade to newer generation CPUs later. Here's a screenshot of both builds :

i5 build :

Xeon build :

Which one is better?

 

[synphul]

It depends on what you plan to use the pc for. Whether or not ddr4 may be beneficial, hyper threading, etc. A couple of things I thought I'd mention, if you decide the 6600k I'd opt for a somewhat better cpu cooler. The tx3 is a pretty low budget cooler and doesn't have the best performance (especially if you plan to overclock it). Another thing is the 32gb ssd drive, that's really small even as an os/programs drive much less anything else and is a budget ssd (which will also likely suffer in performance from its physically low capacity - the higher capacity ssd's perform better).

By the time you're ready to upgrade or looking at a worthy upgrade it will more than likely be on another motherboard platform/socket anyway. Many people opt to skip at least one or two generations to get any noticeable performance improvement, they don't generally upgrade every generation. People with sandy bridge saw no reason to upgrade to ivy bridge and by the time haswell showed up it was a new socket. Same for haswell/broadwell. Instead those with a sandy bridge based pc are just now considering 'possibly' upgrading to skylake, bypassing ivy bridge, haswell, haswell refresh/devil's canyon and broadwell entirely. It's more realistic to view the cpu and motherboard as a 'unit' that would get replaced together when it's time to upgrade rather than thinking you'll have a motherboard that will last you several upgrades.

 

[Kay Krate]

So should I go with the Xeon 1246 and get a 64gb ssd+1 TB mechanical harddrive (from my previous PC) ?

 

[synphul]

You really won't go wrong either way. If gaming mostly an ssd won't make a huge difference. If you do a lot of different things or turn your pc off and on a lot then an ssd might provide some benefit. Not really sure what you plan to do with your system but there's nothing wrong with the 1246v3. With no graphics card listed I'm assuming you won't be gaming. Anymore 128gb is even a bit on the lower budget end for an ssd and most people won't bother with 64gb or less. 32 to 64gb used to be an entry point for ssd drives a couple years ago, now 128gb is more the entry point.

Is there a feature you need on the z97 board not available on h97 for your xeon build? Z series are primarily for those looking to use nvidia gpu's in sli or for overclocking (the xeon doesn't overclock). If you don't plan to run multiple nvidia graphics cards or overclock, you may save a bit of money going with an h97 motherboard. Use the savings there and add to the budget for an ssd and maybe get a 128gb ssd.