What's a good CPU to pair with a GTX 970?

Jonnieboy Nickerson · Mar 11, 2016

whats the best cpu to go with the gtx 970?

jkhoward · Mar 11, 2016

i5-4690K

cgprats · Mar 11, 2016

Anything between an fx 8350 to an i5 i5 6600k

RCFProd · Mar 11, 2016

i5-6400, i5-6500, i5-6600k etc. Go with Skylake and Z170 chipset.

Jonnieboy Nickerson · Mar 11, 2016

yea i was leaning towards an i5-6600k, hows this set up? will this coller be good for OC?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LDTd3C

weberdarren97 · Mar 11, 2016

cgprats :

The FX 8350 will hold back a 970 because of it's low instructions per clock.

cgprats · Mar 11, 2016

Jonnieboy Nickerson :

the cooler will not OC well, get Avexir Core DDR4(Cheaper than Hyper X) and save up for a budget liquid cooler. (Like a Deepcool captain 120 or Corsair Hydro H60)

cgprats · Mar 11, 2016

weberdarren97 :

It doesn't bottleneck my friend's PC. If he doesn't plan on SLI, he'll be alright

weberdarren97 · Mar 11, 2016

For the cooler, maybe the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, it can handle up to 180 watts. http://us.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/cooling/hyper-series/hyper-212-evo.html

SPgamer007 · Mar 11, 2016

A skylake i5 without any OC will keep up for atleast 3-4 years, if you are not really into OC'ing, go with the i5 6500 instead without any aftermarket cooler.
I5 6500 can handle two gtx 970s in SLI without any problem, Asus Z170-A is a very good board at a good price, SLI,CF supported, Good Audio, Good UEFT. Also 16 GB ram is added.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $472.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-11 17:10 EST-0500

weberdarren97 · Mar 11, 2016

SPgamer007 :

That's a fine list my friend. I would definitely go with that after getting an aftermarket cooler like IDK maybe the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO?

Jonnieboy Nickerson · Mar 11, 2016

SPgamer007 :

thanks for the feedback everyone, i went with these parts, i ended up switching cases to fit a better cooler

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YczbFT

cgprats · Mar 11, 2016

Jonnieboy Nickerson :

SPgamer007 :

thanks for the feedback everyone, i went with these parts, i ended up switching cases to fit a better cooler

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YczbFT

at that price, it be a better option to go with a cooler master v8 GTS, or a corsair Hydro h80

Jonnieboy Nickerson · Mar 11, 2016

deiced to change a feew more things, went with the locked cpu instead

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xWsRLk

RCFProd · Mar 11, 2016

A 35 USD CPU cooler with a 153 dollar Z170 motherboard that's paired with an i5-6500. I'm sorry, but that wouldn't be the smartest of moves if I'm fair.

Get the i5-6400, and pair it with this BLCK Non-K overclockable motherboard:
http://asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20B150%20Gaming%20K4Hyper/

Also DDR4-2666 RAM or higher for 10+ fps boost in open world games by the way.

f-14 · Mar 11, 2016

that's a good list, replace the cooler fan and use the heatsink fan as a case fan. 80% of the problem with heatsinks is a junk fan they bought for 50 cents by the caseload. coolermaster sickle flows are the best blend of high cfm and low noise 20db and have enough air pressure. otherwise sharkroon blades are pretty good also.

Jonnieboy Nickerson · Mar 12, 2016

RCFProd :

OK i took your suggetions, but how is this motherboard intstead? same chipset i jsut dont like the red on the other one

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jvCBNG

RCFProd · Mar 12, 2016

I'm trying to make the following point that is explained in this article:
https://www.techpowerup.com/220703/asrock-uses-external-clock-generators-to-circumvent-intel-non-k-bclk-oc-limits.html

The ASRock B150 and H170 Gaming Hyper K4 are the only two motherboards that let you overclock your non-K CPU for great performance benefits. With that I mean, overclocking the i5-6400 to 4.0-4.2 Ghz so it is crazy fast. Big difference between 2.7 Ghz base (3.3 Turbo?) and 4.2 Ghz.

The best balance for non-overclockable CPU's and non-overclockable motherboards is an i5-6500, and that paired with the cheapest Z170 motherboard you a can afford. Because only Z170 Motherboards (with 2 exceptions being the 2 ASRock Hyper Boards with the ''Non-Z DDR4 OC'' feature), can run DDR4 RAM past DDR4-2133 Mhz. So with the B150A PC Mate your RAM will run at 2133 Mhz, making you miss 10-12 fps in Fallout 4 and GTA V.

The Z170M Extreme4 is really going for a good price right now and includes Purity Sound 3; decent audio through your headset.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($101.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $371.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-12 08:13 EST-0500

If you don't like the looks of that board either and it is a big concern for you, take a look at Gigabyte HD3P

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($105.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $105.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-12 08:16 EST-0500

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