Looking to Upgrade CPU and RAM. Don't know what to upgrade to.

[bbert23]

I want to upgrade my Processor and Memory on my computer. I have a i5 6500 with 8gb of ram, a gtx 1060, ssd and hard drive. I want to upgrade to a i7 and as well as 16 gigs of ram. I plan to stream and record games as well. Can somebody help me as far as what CPU I should upgrade to. I have 600w power supply so I'm good there. I was thinking about the 6700 or 7700, but the 7700k isn't compatible with my motherboard. I want to be able to stream and play games at 1080p 1440p 60fps. Please help! Thanks.

My Full Rig:
- i5 6500 (with stock cooler)
- 8gb Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 at 2400
- ASUS H110M-E Microatx
- ADATA 128 SSD
- ThermalTake TR2-600w
-EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB
-SeaGate 1TB HDD

 

[toshibitsu]

An i7-6700k is still a solid CPU. That and I'd suggest upgrading to 16GB of memory and you'll be fine.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

An i7-6700k is still a solid CPU. That and I'd suggest upgrading to 16GB of memory and you'll be fine.

i'd agree with that to a certain extent. Kabylake and older gen aren't too hot at streaming and gaming. It depends a lot on the resolution, video output, and desired frame rates which can cripple even the i7 7700k. Take a look at Tom's own article on it: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/game-streaming-encoding-coffee-lake-ryzen,5326.html

If you have lower output settings, the 6700/7700k will do okay. If you want higher settings with 60fps vids, you should think about a min of 1600x/8600k for best results.

 

[bbert23]

An i7-6700k is still a solid CPU. That and I'd suggest upgrading to 16GB of memory and you'll be fine.

i'd agree with that to a certain extent. Kabylake and older gen aren't too hot at streaming and gaming. It depends a lot on the resolution, video output, and desired frame rates which can cripple even the i7 7700k. Take a look at Tom's own article on it: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/game-streaming-encoding-coffee-lake-ryzen,5326.html

If you have lower output settings, the 6700/7700k will do okay. If you want higher settings with 60fps vids, you should think about a min of 1600x/8600k for best results.

I have been looking into the 8600k but on PC part picker it says my Motherboard might not be compatible due to updating the bios and stuff. I also heard that the 8600k isn't really meant for streaming and recording just pure gaming and high fps. I'll probably either go with the 6700k or 8600k but I'm just concerned that they aren't compatible with my motherboard, and how well they will perform for streaming/recording. And what about cooling options? I don't really want to spend money on an after market cooler. Would the stock cooler be fine?

 

[toshibitsu]

You will need a Z370 series motherboard in order to use a 8600k. So no, you cannot use your existing motherboard.

 

[King_V]

The 3GB version of the 1060 will definitely hold you back at 1440p, sometimes at 1080p as well.

 

[bbert23]

You will need a Z370 series motherboard in order to use a 8600k. So no, you cannot use your existing motherboard.

Ok. Any specific mobos you would recommend?

 

[toshibitsu]

If I was going to get one and it had to be microATX, I'd get this one: ASUS Prime H370M-Plus
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813119076&ignorebbr=1



My desktop is a mini-ITX, so if I were going to replace it with a new mini-ITX board, it would be this one: ASUS ROG Strix H370-I Gaming
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813119072&ignorebbr=1

 

[bbert23]

Ok thank you. As far as coolers go what would you then recommend? (sorry for all the questions)

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Ok thank you. As far as coolers go what would you then recommend? (sorry for all the questions)

If you are going with an 8600k then getting a H370 isn't a great idea. You should get a z370 to take advantage of the 'k' version 8600 which is OC'able.

 

[toshibitsu]

Here are the picks then for overclocking boards:

microATX:
ASRock Z370M Pro4 ($129.99): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157793&ignorebbr=1
or
MSI Z370M Gaming Pro ($166.49): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813144108&ignorebbr=1

 

[toshibitsu]

As for cooling....

Air Cooling (overclocking):
Cryrig R1 Ultimate ($89.99): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF1H68938&cm_re=cryorig-_-13C-000U-00002-_-Product
Noctua NH-D15 ($86.20): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608045&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-045-_-Product

Air Cooling (not overclocking):
Cryorig H7 ($34.99): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF2DZ6565&cm_re=cryorig-_-13C-000U-00005-_-Product
Noctua NH-U9S ($57.19): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608067&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-067-_-Product

Thermal paste wise I recommend Thermal Grizzly's "Grizzly Kryonaut"(price varies depending on seller, should be around $12 - $15 for 1g)

If you are considering water/liquid cooling, I would recommend applying that your video card instead of the CPU(or possibly doing both).

 

[bbert23]

As for cooling....

Air Cooling (overclocking):
Cryrig R1 Ultimate ($89.99): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF1H68938&cm_re=cryorig-_-13C-000U-00002-_-Product
Noctua NH-D15 ($86.20): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608045&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-045-_-Product

Air Cooling (not overclocking):
Cryorig H7 ($34.99): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF2DZ6565&cm_re=cryorig-_-13C-000U-00005-_-Product
Noctua NH-U9S ($57.19): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608067&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-067-_-Product

Thermal paste wise I recommend Thermal Grizzly's "Grizzly Kryonaut"(price varies depending on seller, should be around $12 - $15 for 1g)

If you are considering water/liquid cooling, I would recommend applying that your video card instead of the CPU(or possibly doing both).

Would my 1060 3 gb bottleneck the 8700k though?

 

[toshibitsu]

No, or not yet. It all depends on how long you decide to keep the video card and what sort of system requirements future games will have. Eventually you will be upgrading the card before the cpu anyway.

 

[King_V]

It's not a matter of your graphics card specifically bottlenecking your CPU. Don't think of it as there being some direct parallel of GPU to CPU. There isn't.

If you were playing at 1280x720, even a 1050Ti wouldn't bottleneck your CPU, for example. Go up to 4K and only a 1080Ti is going to allow you to max out everything.

The 1060 3GB doesn't just have half the memory, but also 10% fewer CUDA cores (1152 vs 1280). It will hold you back, possibly at 1080p (there are 2 or 3 games where a 1050Ti will do better than a 3GB 1060), depending on the game. Definitely at 1440p it'll hold you back.

 

[bbert23]

No, or not yet. It all depends on how long you decide to keep the video card and what sort of system requirements future games will have. Eventually you will be upgrading the card before the cpu anyway.

So your saying I wouldn't have a problem with bottlenecking for a while and then would have to upgrade gpu.

 

[bbert23]

It's not a matter of your graphics card specifically bottlenecking your CPU. Don't think of it as there being some direct parallel of GPU to CPU. There isn't.

If you were playing at 1280x720, even a 1050Ti wouldn't bottleneck your CPU, for example. Go up to 4K and only a 1080Ti is going to allow you to max out everything.

The 1060 3GB doesn't just have half the memory, but also 10% fewer CUDA cores (1152 vs 1280). It will hold you back, possibly at 1080p (there are 2 or 3 games where a 1050Ti will do better than a 3GB 1060), depending on the game. Definitely at 1440p it'll hold you back.

So you're saying upgrade my gpu? I want to stream and record for YT and Twitch preferably 1080p 60 fps

 

[King_V]

Yes. From the Best GPUs article, under the Best @ 1080p section:

You’ll find two versions of the GTX 1060, both based on the GP106 GPU. Make sure you’re shopping for the 6GB model, which features 1280 CUDA cores, 80 texture units, and 48 ROPs. We specifically recommend against the 3GB implementation; its memory subsystem struggles in some popular games at 1080p and 1440p alike.

Though, if you're going to upgrade the GPU, and the budget allows, I'd go for a 1070 rather than going from a 1060 3GB to a 1060 6GB. But with prices as crazy as they are, it's a matter of trying to find a good deal.

 

[toshibitsu]

On the up side of GPU pricing, since everyone's after 1070's/1080's... I've been finding people selling Titan Xp's for $1,000 or less now.

 

[bbert23]

On the up side of GPU pricing, since everyone's after 1070's/1080's... I've been finding people selling Titan Xp's for $1,000 or less now.

Ok, so I think what I'm going to do is get the 8700k, and get the asus mobo that you recommended along with the 16g of ram. And then down the line when gpu prices start to drop again (whenever that may be) I will upgrade to a 1070 or 1080.