New to PC building and need some advice

[ccCaitSith]

Hi everyone,

I am fairly new to PC building and I need some advice. I would like to build a gaming PC and I am just not sure if everything is compatible or efficient. My budget is around $1100 give or take.

Here are my thoughts:

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

I am not sure if I shouldnt invest into getting an skylake i7. I actually do not plan overclocking.

 

[ar2uro]

that link does not work. If you don't want to overclock, don't buy the 6700K, just get a regular 6700. Also as far as locked motherboards, maybe an MSi h170 gaming board?

 

[ar2uro]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/x2Jpqs

 

[Barty1884]

You'll need to link the BBCode, not the address bar to see your actual build.

For your CPU, since you mentioned a gaming PC, there's absolutely no need to look at an i7. An i5 is all you'll need now & for the forseeable. If you're not OCing, an i5-6500 would be a good option.

@ar2uro's build is ok, but I'd go with the i5, a better quality PSU and throw an SSD in there. Still right around $1,000
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($86.75 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($75.39 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($19.69 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($87.95 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1011.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-01 11:26 EST-0500

 

[ccCaitSith]

Sorry, sometimes I am just too stupid to use the internet.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H97 GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($98.00)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.79 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($86.75 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card ($309.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Inwin 503 BLACK ATX Mid Tower Case ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER 10 CM 600W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Total: $963.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-01 11:02 EST-0500

 

[Barty1884]

The Xeon is a good option, but the Quad + HT is unnecessary to be honest.

DDR4 + Skylake puts you on the latest platform, so worth considering for similar pricing.

16GB RAM won't be utilized in gaming in 2016, but for the price difference, it's a good 'future proof' option.

The Straight Power is a good PSU, but I'd suggest you go a bit higher than the 600W to allow upgrades etc (unless you already have it, of course). It'll work well for the majority of builds, but the overhead could be useful in future).
The SuperNOVA B2 750W I listed is a quality PSU, semi-modular & a decent price (there's frequently better rebates on it too.....just not today apparently).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($59.49 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($86.75 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($75.39 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($19.69 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($87.95 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1033.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-01 11:33 EST-0500

 

[ccCaitSith]

Isnt 750 W a little bit too much? I plan on getting polaris/pascal (kinda depends ofc) in 1-2 years, do you know if they are going to use a lot of W?

 

[Barty1884]

Remember, a PSU will only pull what you need to run the rig - so overage isn't a bad thing at all.

nVidia cards (Pascal) are unlikely to use a lot of power - GPUs power requirements are going down, generally.

Polaris, I would assume (don't know for sure) will follow the trend. AMD's option will likely require more power than nVidia's offering, as has been the case for a while now - but I do expect them to be lest power-hungry than current gen cards.

The 750W will allow you the CF in future too. Really, it just keeps your options open, without costing you any more in the initial purchase, and won't cost you any more in power consumption.

 

[ccCaitSith]

My issue with Skylake is, thats its biggest (or atleast one) adventage is USB 3.1 and M.2, both I really dont think how to properly utilize. Is there more to Skylake? Sorry, my knowledge is pretty limited.

 

[Barty1884]

You'd need to compare benchmarks, but strictly performance-wise, they're very comparable to Haswell, although a little bit more efficient.

Honestly, there's quite a bit of 'hype' some justified, some not. You're really only getting longevity of components out of it in my opinion.

For your needs though, it entirely depends.
Skylake allows an upgrade path (to new chips, or simply an i7) on the LGA 1155 socket.
DDR4 will become the "norm" and can be reused in future.
M.2 (if you pick up a compatible motherboard) will be reuseable in future.

If you don't plan to upgrade again for a few years though, the socket argument becomes a bit irrelevant as there will be new sockets.

Haswell, Xeon's, i5's & i7's are all still totally viable chips.........but if you're looking at the same price (or very similar anyway), I can't see why I would logically suggest Haswell chips - for gaming anywa.

If you were looking at a video editing/rendering build, then the Xeon would be preferred over the lastest i7's from a price standpoint.

 

[ccCaitSith]

I somewhere read, that HT is getting more and more important for gaming (I think one reason was, that new gen consoles are using more cores aswell.)

 

[Barty1884]

HT is beneficial on a dual-core, absolutely! That puts it to 4 threads, which is more than enough for any demanding title.

A true Quad-core, like the i5 is more than sufficient. There's still no viable reason in 2016 to have 8 threads in a gaming rig.

Some games are getting there (and will not run on a strict dual core, for example), but we're a long way from needing 4+ cores religiously.

What the majority of games need/want is stronger/more efficient cores vs more of them.