Partial PC upgrade for 600-700€

[Aeacus]

Hi everyone!

I need help in deciding which parts to get regarding to my old PC upgrade.

Basics:
Parts to be upgraded: MoBo, CPU, CPU cooling, RAM and OS.
Budget: 600-700 € (euros)

I'm planning to upgrade my old PC to a powerful gaming rig.
My goal is to play Deus Ex: Mankind Divided @ 1920x1080 with High/Ultra settings.
Future plans also include overclocking and 2-way SLI.

Parts i picked out for now: http://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/NPsMVY

I'm still unsure which CPU and CPU cooler to get.
Any suggestions?

Those parts that aren't upgraded will be reused.
My current PC specs:
MoBo: ECS A750GM-M v.7.0 AM2+ (mATX)
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 250, Regor, 3.0GHz, (ADX250OCGQBOX)
GPU: Club3D Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition (1GB)
PSU: 520W SeaSonic S12II-520
RAM: 2x Apacer, 2GB, DDR3, PC10600/1333 (4GB in total)

Storage
System: Kingston HyperX 3K, 240GB, (SH103S3B/240G)
Data 01: WD Caviar Blue, 3.5", 500GB, SATA3, (WD5000AAKX)
Data 02: WD Caviar Blue, 3.5", 1TB, SATA3, (WD10EZEX)

Cooling
CPU: stock heatsink + stock 80mm fan
Case front: Akasa Fan, 120mm, LED Green, (AK-274cg-4gns)
Case rear: Akasa Fan, 120mm, LED Green, (AK-274cg-4gns)
Case side: 2x Akasa Fan, 120mm, LED Green, (AK-274cg-4gns)
Case bottom: Artic F12, 120mm

Case: Chieftec Giga series, (DF-02B-U3)
Display: Topview T2491Wd
OS: Windows XP pro SP2

--
Thanks in advance,
by Aeacus

 

[CTurbo]

Forget SLI and overclocking and you can have a ultra/high settings 1080p system right now.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€212.99 @ Amazon France)
Motherboard: MSI B150M BAZOOKA Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€74.99 @ Amazon France)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€39.99 @ Amazon France)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (€236.97 @ Amazon France)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 OEM 64-bit
Total: €564.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-12 03:11 CEST+0200

 

[frank_hnd]

PCPartPicker part list: http://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/V9XMVY
Price breakdown by merchant: http://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/V9XMVY/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€212.99 @ Amazon France)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler
Thermal Compound: ARCTIC MX4 4g Thermal Paste
Motherboard: Asus H170-PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€109.99 @ Amazon France)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€39.99 @ Amazon France)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB G1 Gaming Video Card (€320.80 @ Amazon France)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 OEM 64-bit
Total: €683.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-12 03:42 CEST+0200

 

[Aeacus]

I appreciate the input but i got to ask why you guys suggest B-series and H-series MoBos? Is the Z-series really that bad?

Oh, you guys don't need to suggest GPUs at this time. I'll upgrade it later on, once i've upgraded MoBo and CPU.

As far as CPU goes, i've considered getting an i5-6500 or i5-6600 or i7-6700. Haven't decided yet which one to get.

 

[frank_hnd]

I appreciate the input but i got to ask why you guys suggest B-series and H-series MoBos? Is the Z-series really that bad?

Oh, you guys don't need to suggest GPUs at this time. I'll upgrade it later on, once i've upgraded MoBo and CPU.

As far as CPU goes, i've considered getting an i5-6500 or i5-6600 or i7-6700. Haven't decided yet which one to get.

Z170 boards are for overclocking, suited for unlocked processors like i5-6600K or i7-6700K.

either get the 6500 or 6600K (the price difference between this and 6600 is too small)

6600K is the best gaming only processor. if you are into video editing/rendering an i7 would make more sense.

 

[CTurbo]

The Z170 boards are unnecessarily expensive. Overclocking is not really that useful.

Why would you not want to get a video card now since you could obviously afford one?

 

[Aeacus]

Z170 boards are for overclocking, suited for unlocked processors like i5-6600K or i7-6700K.

either get the 6500 or 6600K (the price difference between this and 6600 is too small)

6600K is the best gaming only processor. if you are into video editing/rendering an i7 would make more sense.

As i stated in my 1st post, i do plan doing OC, and that doesn't just include CPU but RAM and GPU aswell.

Even though non-K Skylake CPUs have locked multiplier, they still can be OCd by tweaking BCLK adjustments. But in order do to that, a Z-series MoBo is needed, preferably one with Z170 chipset.

Thanks for bringing the i5-6600K up. I'll think about it.

The Z170 boards are unnecessarily expensive. Overclocking is not really that useful.

Why would you not want to get a video card now since you could obviously afford one?

Yes, i can afford a GPU in expense of having B/H-series MoBo with no OC ability at all which also means i'm stuck with stock RAM speed. Having a medicore build without any upgradability isn't my goal.

A good example: When using B/H-series MoBo and i'd like to have faster RAM than 2133 Mhz, what can i do? It's simple: buy a new MoBo. While using Z-series, the answer is: OC your RAM.

Here's a nice video about OC-ing i5-6500 and what effect different RAM speeds can give: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUTPgWYTqyk
You can watch the whole video or start from 5:22.

 

[CTurbo]

Overclocking RAM is just as negligible as overclocking the cpu is, but you can obviously afford what you are wanting.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€259.90 @ Amazon France)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€34.90 @ Amazon France)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€155.50 @ Amazon France)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€87.72 @ Amazon France)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€151.00 @ Amazon France)
Total: €689.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-12 06:06 CEST+0200

 

[frank_hnd]

Overclocking the CPU is most certainly not negligible! worth the performance boost specially on CPU bounded games

 

[Aeacus]

Overclocking RAM is just as negligible as overclocking the cpu is, but you can obviously afford what you are wanting.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€259.90 @ Amazon France)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€34.90 @ Amazon France)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€155.50 @ Amazon France)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€87.72 @ Amazon France)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€151.00 @ Amazon France)
Total: €689.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-12 06:06 CEST+0200

This list seems more like the one i'm aiming for and it's well in the budget range.
Though, i'd like to point out few things.

I see that you picked Asus Z170-A as a MoBo. In my 1st post i picked out MSI Z170A GAMING M5.
Even though MSI is about 30 € more expensive than Asus, it also has many features that Asus is lacking.
Asus supports up to 3400 Mhz RAM, while MSI supports up to 3600 Mhz RAM.
MSI has 2x M.2 2280 key M slots that i'm planning to use, while Asus only has one M.2 slot.
It's interesting to see that Asus still offers a DE-15 port. Isn't that port obselete nowdays?
And for me, MSI Z170A GAMING M5 has much better aesthetics than Asus Z170-A has.
Though, MSI also have it's downsides but since MSI matches my needs betterly than Asus, i'll go for MSI.

Your selected CPU cooler fan is using a sleeve bearing and that isn't as good as it should be.
Sleeve bearing has the lowest lifespan compared to the ball and fluid bearing.
Also, sleeve bearing fans are best when mounted vertically. Even though they can be mounted in any axial orientation, their life span decreases rapidly, especially when mounted horizontally. Ball and fluid bearing fans don't have such mounting limitations.
Only positive side sleeve bearing has over ball and fluid bearing is that it's the cheapest of the three.
For now, i'll stick with Arctic Freezer i32 due to it's fluid dynamic (rifle) bearing fan.

Oh, the OS i picked wasn't a mistake. I can run Win7 just fine for about 4 years until the extended support ends in 2020.

Overclocking the CPU is most certainly not negligible! worth the performance boost specially on CPU bounded games

There are 2 kinds of users:
Those who don't like OC and are happy with stock speeds.
And those who like OC and want to get most out of their components.
I prefer OC because with OC, i can extend my CPU/GPU/RAM efficiency which also translates into longer intervals between component upgrades.

 

[Aeacus]

So, the time i had for deciding has come to an end and today, i purchased my parts. (It takes about 2 weeks before they arrive.)

Thanks for everyone who answered in this discussion, especially frank_hnd for bringing up the i5-6600K.

Here's a final part list with the purchase prices if anyone is interested:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€250.10)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer i32 CPU Cooler (€42.40)
Thermal Compound: ARCTIC MX4 4g Thermal Paste (€8.40)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€176.90)
Memory: Kingston Savage 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€73.10)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 OEM 64-bit (€149.00)
Case Fan: ARCTIC F12 PWM 74.0 CFM 120mm Fan (€7.60)
Total: €707.50
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-03 19:32 CEST+0200

This discussion can be closed by a Mod since the parts have been ordered.

 

[Tradesman1]

Looks good 😉 Can close the thread by selecting a BA

 

[Aeacus]

Picked the frank_hnd as a best answer for bringing up the i5-6600K.

Topic can be closed now.