Build my computer- Part 2 (CPU+Motherboard, and maybe a case)

holdenhamlet

So you guys were super helpful with my last question asking for a budget video card.  I'm very happy with the video card, however my CPU is bottlenecking my whole system.  It's a pretty old i3 (first generation I think).  I've made do until now, but I just got a new job so next Friday I will be able to spend $500 upgrading my computer (no it's not all from this new job- I wish).

I've never actually put together a CPU and motherboard before.  What I've done up until now is kind of a half-way custom built thing where I'd buy a pre-built computer and then swap out better parts.

I looked on newegg and this CPU looks pretty good:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117559&cm_re=i7-_-19-117-559-_-Product

Now I just need to find a good/cheap compatible motherboard.  I really don't know what to look for here besides socket compatibility.

I'd like to get a new case too, although I can use what I have now and upgrade to a new one later if the budget doesn't allow for it.  I'll also upgrade RAM at some point because the 6g I have now is pretty old.

I have a new/good PSU and SSD, so no worries there.

So, if you're bored, maybe you can help me out and point me to a good motherboard?

Also, if you have experience putting together a computer, any tips on putting the CPU and motherboard together?

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Quizzical

Exactly which components do you have now that you're looking to keep, and exactly which components do you already have that you're looking to replace?  Be specific, not just "memory" or a "a processor".  If you don't know what you have, then look it up.  You can determine a lot of things from dxdiag, but if you have to open up the case and read labels, then do it.

holdenhamlet

blueturtle13 said:

Well if you buy the combo deal with that CPU for $554 it comes with the i7, a great motherboard and 16 gigs of RAM.
The motherboard in the combo is a good one and is $179
You will need a good cooling solution and thermal paste.

The thing is the $500 is pretty much a hard cap.  Can't really go past that.  Later I can add memory but I have memory that technically works so I'd rather just use that for now and get a good CPU/motherboard while I have a good chunk of change to spend.

"Exactly which components do you have now that you're looking to keep, and exactly which components do you already have that you're looking to replace?"

Keeping:
GTX 950

not sure about the PSU but I can crack open the case and be specific tomorrow.  It's a pretty decent one though, I just got it to replace a low quality old one I had.

RAM DDR3 6g

SSD 240g

Replacing:

i3 540 3.0gzh
Acer Aspire x3950 motherboard

***

I can be as specific as you like, but I'm about to go to sleep right now.  Long shift tomorrow, but hopefully the upgrade will make it worth it!

Quizzical

A Core i7-6700K is a nice CPU to be sure, and probably the best consumer CPU available today.  But matching that with a GTX 950 is quite a mismatch, and it would probably have been better to spend more on the video card and less on the CPU.  That sort of thing is why I'm against piecemeal upgrades, not to mention that the old computer would likely be worth more intact than the few dollars you hope to save by not quite replacing everything.

One big thing you need to worry about is that Sky Lake is a DDR4 platform, and you've got DDR3.  You can get a motherboard that takes DDR3 with Sky Lake, but I'd advise against it.  That said, you can fit memory and still stay right around $500:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2728682
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232242

But there's also the problem that most Windows licenses are tied to the motherboard.  Get a new motherboard and your old license is probably not valid.  Internet lore is that you can sometimes convince Microsoft to activate your old license on a new motherboard if you had built the previous one yourself.  But they're much less likely to transfer the license from an old Acer pre-built.

holdenhamlet

Quizzical said:

A Core i7-6700K is a nice CPU to be sure, and probably the best consumer CPU available today.  But matching that with a GTX 950 is quite a mismatch, and it would probably have been better to spend more on the video card and less on the CPU.  That sort of thing is why I'm against piecemeal upgrades, not to mention that the old computer would likely be worth more intact than the few dollars you hope to save by not quite replacing everything.

One big thing you need to worry about is that Sky Lake is a DDR4 platform, and you've got DDR3.  You can get a motherboard that takes DDR3 with Sky Lake, but I'd advise against it.  That said, you can fit memory and still stay right around $500:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2728682
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232242

But there's also the problem that most Windows licenses are tied to the motherboard.  Get a new motherboard and your old license is probably not valid.  Internet lore is that you can sometimes convince Microsoft to activate your old license on a new motherboard if you had built the previous one yourself.  But they're much less likely to transfer the license from an old Acer pre-built.

I'm keeping the video card for now, but I do intend to upgrade it in the future.  Part pf the reason I went with the 950 over 960 was I intend to updgrade again in the nearish future to something better than a 960.

Why are they mismatched?  Just because the CPU is so good and the GPU not so much?

As for the windows license, I'm not worried about that.  Currently running an unliscenced one with a pretty watermark telling me my windows is not genuine.

Basically what happened was I moved the motherboard to this case.  My computer got infected and I had to reload from scratch but didn't have the old key, so I installed a trial version and just never verified it.

Still works fine I just can't do updates which I don't care much about anyway.

Malabooga

This is my suggestion:

Your CPU is fine with that GPU. Unless you do something else besides gaming that needs 350$ CPU its wasted.

In fall there will be new generation of CPUs from both Intel and AMD (Kaby Lake and Zen). There will also be a new generation of GPUs (readily availabale) from both NVidia and AMD (Pascal and Polaris. So save money until fall and do complete upgrade then. Around 1000$ will do for a nice build.

holdenhamlet

Malabooga said:

This is my suggestion:

Your CPU is fine with that GPU. Unless you do something else besides gaming that needs 350$ CPU its wasted.

In fall there will be new generation of CPUs from both Intel and AMD (Kaby Lake and Zen). There will also be a new generation of GPUs (readily availabale) from both NVidia and AMD (Pascal and Polaris. So save money until fall and do complete upgrade then. Around 1000$ will do for a nice build.

The thing is, it's not fine.  I'm playing BDO and my fps is locked at 30 if I play at medium, slightly-high, high, or very high graphics.  Graphics look way different on the different settings, but fps is basically the same.  This to me means my GPU is capable of putting in work but my CPU is not.

MMOs are really CPU dependent and I'm getting punished for having it in BDO.  I think you guys are underestimating the 950.  It's benchmarks are really close to the 960.  I don't think I'd need a 970 to justify getting a new CPU.

Take a look, it's not too far down on this chart:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

I appreciate the info about the new stuff coming out but I really don't want to have to wait months.

My main concern right now is playing BDO well and I'm pretty convinced my CPU is the most important part.

Also, I was thinking about getting a 970 when the new cards are released and maybe the 970 gets discounted a bit.

Malabooga

Your decision *shrug*

do you have VSync or Adaptive sync on?

And yeah, Passmark...CPU/GPU boss and such gimmicks... just forget about those as those are not real benchmarks and can be VERY misleading.






MMOs are CPU bound because they use 1 thread (core) primarily so throwing more threads (cores) at the problem doesnt solve anything, You pretty much need DX12/Vulkan for that problem.

BDO is old tech and it uses 2 threads (cores) and only thing that matters is frequency, even pentium at 4,5 GHz would outperform i7 on 4GHz (provided you have nothing else running in the background that requires CPU)

And yeah, GTX950 is where it is, its budget GPU and you give it way more credit than it deserves.

13lake

@bigmilk ;

while your advice is good for how to upgrade for gaming in general, it's not good advice for Black Desert specifically.

going to i5 680 would make 1-2% difference for fps, the problem is the cpu is too old, for black desert it wouldn't be good to get anything older than haswell.

The xeon is also a pretty neat trick to get 80/85% of the mainstream counterpart performance, but specifically for black desert it's overkill, a 4 thread cpu is enough.

Something like this would be much more suited for Black Desert ( and mmos in general ) :

i5-6600 + Gigabyte B150 G1.Sniper B7 + 2x8GB G.Skill DDR4

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117562&cm_re=6600_i5-_-19-117-562-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128892&cm_re=G1.Sniper_B7-_-13-128-892-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232242&cm_re=G.SKILL_Aegis_16GB-_-20-232-242-_-Product

In the off chance you would want to change the case to a smaller one, similar to what bigmilk mentioned, you could get this motherboard :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157645&cm_re=ASRock_B150M-_-13-157-645-_-Product

Just be careful if u go for too small cases and itx motherboards, your power supply might not fit, and then u would be forced to get a new sfx sized one.

holdenhamlet

Malabooga said:

Your decision *shrug*

do you have VSync or Adaptive sync on?

And yeah, Passmark...CPU/GPU boss and such gimmicks... just forget about those as those are not real benchmarks and can be VERY misleading.






MMOs are CPU bound because they use 1 thread (core) primarily so throwing more threads (cores) at the problem doesnt solve anything, You pretty much need DX12/Vulkan for that problem.

BDO is old tech and it uses 2 threads (cores) and only thing that matters is frequency, even pentium at 4,5 GHz would outperform i7 on 4GHz (provided you have nothing else running in the background that requires CPU)

And yeah, GTX950 is where it is, its budget GPU and you give it way more credit than it deserves.

I can run games that depend on the graphics card just fine.  I get about 60 fps with my budget card in Dark Souls 3.

MMOs are a different story since they pull so much on CPU and not GPU.

Ok so you think I shouldn't upgrade my CPU unless I have a 970?

I don't need to run BDO on very high quality.  Even a 970 only runs the game at 37 fps at that quality.

Maybe I should only upgrade my 3.0 i3 when I get two 980 TIs in SLI?

High quality stable fps above 30 is fine with me.

Btw those charts pretty much mimic my passmark charts as far as numbers go, if you comparing the difference between 950/960 and 970.

And forgive me if I doubt your claim that a pentium 4.5 would outperform a sixth generation i7 at 4 ghz.

That's not to mention the chart you posted contradicts you because a 3.0 chip is at the top and a 3.6 is at the bottom.

edit: I just checked the test you got those charts from:

"Black Desert uses up to 4 processing threads."

So apparently you're wrong about the 2 thread thing too.

Not trying to be a dick but you came off as a dick so there ya go.

holdenhamlet

bigmilk said:

Have you considered upgrading your i3 540 cpu  to an i5 680? 
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-680-vs-Intel-Core-i3-540

In the US, Amazon has one used priced under $80.00 with shipping (but no heatsink & fan).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003HIXGVW/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

You can definitely use your current cpu cooler without worry since they both have a TDP of 73w.

Your motherboard supports up to 8 gb. If you replace the currently installed 2 x 1gb modules with 2 x 2gb modules you will have max ram. Cost is about $20.00 from newegg 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146746

So, if you are in the US, you can upgrade your current computer now for $100.00 and give yourself another 6 months to a year to see how things change in the market. Additionally, you will have a decent computer to keep or give away instead of having some random parts cluttering up your life. This could give you time and opportunity you need to gather the resources for a complete new build in less than a year.

If you decide you definitely want to upgrade your motherboard, ram, and cpu, consider this compromise - Here is a socket 1150 upgrade for $375.00 from newegg. It is a Xeon 1231v3 (4 core/8 thread) 3.4ghz on a mITX B85 chipset (minimum chipset for USB 3.0 header support if you want to support a case with front panel USB 3.0) and 16gb DDR3 1600mhz RAM (assuming you intend to really use all those threads).
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=29756305

you could save $20.00 by going with only 8gb ram, and you could save another $10.00 by getting a MicroATX motherboard. However, I wouldn't recommend anything less than the Xeon on this socket 1150 build because you lose the price/performance benefit between 1150 and 1151 with any other CPU choice.


I chose the Xeon because it is equal in performance to the i7-4770 but without built in graphics (absolutely requires a graphics card!) but $50.00 less. Yes, you can get better gaming performance from an overclocked i5-4690k for $239.00, but then you need to spend another 30-50 on a motherboard* and probably another 30-50 on a decent cooler. Plus, you won't get the hyperthreading that the Xeon offers. You may as well go with a socket 1151 build for $500.00 at that point.

*This would require that you get a z97 Micro ATX or bigger motherboard, or spend even more for a mITX Z97. I like mITX. Consider a case like Thermaltake Core V1 for a nice compact and cool case that takes up very little room for under $50.00 (it is what I am currently using).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G2HM7354

I am not trying to convince you of anything, but I thought you might appreciate seeing some options to save money by choosing the 1150 platform over the newest 1151.

Yep, thanks for the options.  I will look into them.

I do want this to be a fairly long-lasting updgrade, though, so I really want to get the best I an afford in terms of potential longevity.

However my main concern is just playing BDO as best as possible without upgrading my GPU, so I may go for something like your suggesting if the differences for BDO are minimal between what your suggesting and the i7 in the OP.

Plus that would allow me to get a case which would be really nice.  The case I have is a poorly ventilated crap Prebuilt generic case from like a decade ago.

Ridelynn

I'm in the don't waste the money upgrading this PC camp.

Save your money, sell this unit as a whole working unit, use all your cash to buy an entire new one.

Sure, you can get better performance for BDO by throwing $500 at it, but that $500 goes a whole lot farther if you save a bit more and just get the entire new rig.

holdenhamlet

Ridelynn said:

I'm in the don't waste the money upgrading this PC camp.

Save your money, sell this unit as a whole working unit, use all your cash to buy an entire new one.

Sure, you can get better performance for BDO by throwing $500 at it, but that $500 goes a whole lot farther if you save a bit more and just get the entire new rig.

Well, what do you mean by "a bit more".  If you mean upgrading my GPU to something really nice you mean at least $300.  That's not a bit more to me and would take another month for me to save.

I don't know why you guys are so against me doing it piecemail.  If I can get 20% better performance with the CPU now, and then 20% later with a gpu updgrade, why is it better to wait and suffer with crap performance until I can get the whole 40%?

Maybe I phrased the thing about "underestimating the 950".  I don't think it's a great card, but I do think it should be capable of playing stuff out right now acceptably to me.

I do think you guys are underistmating how incredibly bad my CPU is.

Just to reiterate, I do intend to upgrade my GPU, just not right now.  I also kind of want to wait and see how the new line shakes things up.

13lake

Ridelynn said:

I'm in the don't waste the money upgrading this PC camp.

Save your money, sell this unit as a whole working unit, use all your cash to buy an entire new one.

Sure, you can get better performance for BDO by throwing $500 at it, but that $500 goes a whole lot farther if you save a bit more and just get the entire new rig.

Saving money to buy a new one after you've already done a piecemeal upgrade is a horrible idea.

If you've already partially upgraded a significant part of your PC, and a few months have passed (prices changed, warranty closer to expiration thus lower resell value), it's pointless to stop the piecemeal process, ... the money to performance ratio of the rest of the piecemeal upgrade is going to be vastly superior to resell value difference.

Not to mention that the OPs PC has been perfectly split new-(cpu+mobo+ram)+current-(950+psu+ssd), and that the other option comes down to :

1. Finding a buyer for the whole pc for a decent ammount of money (does the OP have time for this and endurance to deal with all the bullshit that comes with selling)
2. Prolonged sacrifice to current fps+gameplay (how long can the OP really wait ?)

3. Risking being extremely unlucky and buying a great part now, with an incredible part coming a couple of months later thus being forced to sell current part if u deem the upgrade significant enough (what if the op does not follow trends and product release schedules ?, sure he can google it and take forum advice, but that's far from foolproof)

From the other perspective :
1. If u do piecemeal you will still be left with the really old parts, and have to go through the process of selling them, however what if the op doesn't intend to sell the old parts at all ?, or plans to give them to a family member/friend for a piecemeal build ?.

Ridelynn

Well, here's my case


First off - it's your money, you do whatever you please with it.

I've done plenty of piecemeal builds. The catch-22 is that your always getting bottlenecked by something, and it's a perpetual state of needing to throw money at it to upgrade. Once you start talking about upgrading the motherboard, that's usually the time to cut bait - because new motherboard means new CPU, usually new RAM, new OS license (unless your shady), sometimes new PSU, sometimes new case, and then your so close to a new build, why the hell not.

And your left with a stockpile of old parts, a lot of which are pretty hard to unload. You might be able to dump them piecemeal on ebay for $20 a pop, but mostly they will just collect dust in a box somewhere.

Whereas, if you sell your entire computer, as a whole, working unit. Working entire computers, with operating systems, sell pretty quick. Even a pretty old system will bring $150-200, if it works and is ready to run. Heck, even if you donate it, US tax code (assuming your US) allows you to deduct the original purchase price of the computer (which, heck, for all the IRS knows, that Acer cost you $2,500 back when you bought it new).

Now, after you sell your entire computer, you have the $500 you were going to throw at it, plus another $150 - $200 -$300 on top of that (plus more if you save a bit more between now and then). $700-800 starts to get you into pretty nice gaming rig territory. A rig you build new for $800 will almost certainly beat out the piecemeal upgrade of your current computer. And it'll be all new parts, which are entirely under warranty, and of current generation technology. And it will have that new car smell.

holdenhamlet

Oh yeah I didn't even see that he suggested I sell this one.  I really doubt I could.  Like I said the case is crap.  The mobo and processor work but it's like a budget pre-built one from 5 years ago (not overclockable).  RAM is old too like I mentioned.

SSD and PSU and GPU are new, but I just bought them so I don't really want to turn around and try to sell them, not that I could get too much for them anyway.

My concept here is to build a new rig, just 2 or 3 steps.

Step one is here- get the backbone with a good CPU and motherboard.

Step two- upgrade the GPU.  I can do this in a month or two.  Like I said, I want to see how the new Nvidia line shakes things up and maybe cards like the 980 will go down in price.  In any case, it's not like the motherboard/cpu will not be compatible.

Step three- polish it off with a new case (although I would like to get that now), upgrade RAM if I haven't

If I don't do it this way, I'll be waiting 2-3 months for a brand new computer.  Meanwhile I have this game I'm really enjoying (despite performance issues), that I could get performance improvements on right now.

I just don't see the need to wait.  Only reasons I can think of:

- Getting the new parts months apart may make them wear and tear unevenly?  This really doesn't concern me

- You guys think it's a sin to pair a 6th gen i7 with a 950 card. 

We're all sinners in the eyes of the lord, or so I'm told, and since I can only do it piecemail, this is the way it has to be done.  If I upgrade my GPU right now, I can guarantee you it will not give me a noticable performance boost because it will be bottlenecked like hell by my CPU.  If I get a new CPU, I'm very convinced it will give me a boost, if for nothing else than it will be 4 cores (which BDO can use) and 1 ghz faster.

Guys, my CPU is crap.  I'm pretty sure it's actually like a pentium duo core.  It was 1st gen i3, and was a budget choice when I got it, at least 5 years ago.

Having a current budget GPU is a lot different than having what was considered a budget CPU 5 years ago.

To give you perspective, my GPU when I bought it, also a budget pick, was half as powerful as my current GPU and used like twice the electricity.

tl:dr; Really the thing is if I don't spend the money when I have it on a computer upgrade, I will spend it on something else and then be stuck with this thing.  It's pretty much impossible that I could save $500 for a whole month.

So please, just help me pick a good CPU and motherboard that will last a long time and work well with a future GPU upgrade.  If you want, just pretend I already have a 980.

holdenhamlet

Ridelynn said:

Well, here's my case


First off - it's your money, you do whatever you please with it.

I've done plenty of piecemeal builds. The catch-22 is that your always getting bottlenecked by something, and it's a perpetual state of needing to throw money at it to upgrade. Once you start talking about upgrading the motherboard, that's usually the time to cut bait - because new motherboard means new CPU, usually new RAM, new OS license (unless your shady), sometimes new PSU, sometimes new case, and then your so close to a new build, why the hell not.

And your left with a stockpile of old parts, a lot of which are pretty hard to unload. You might be able to dump them piecemeal on ebay for $20 a pop, but mostly they will just collect dust in a box somewhere.

Whereas, if you sell your entire computer, as a whole, working unit. Working entire computers, with operating systems, sell pretty quick. Even a pretty old system will bring $150-200, if it works and is ready to run. Heck, even if you donate it, US tax code (assuming your US) allows you to deduct the original purchase price of the computer (which, heck, for all the IRS knows, that Acer cost you $2,500 back when you bought it new).

Now, after you sell your entire computer, you have the $500 you were going to throw at it, plus another $150 - $200 -$300 on top of that (plus more if you save a bit more between now and then). $700-800 starts to get you into pretty nice gaming rig territory. A rig you build new for $800 will almost certainly beat out the piecemeal upgrade of your current computer. And it'll be all new parts, which are entirely under warranty, and of current generation technology. And it will have that new car smell.

I see where you're coming from, it's a good idea, and maybe I will do that in the future, but trust me this thing is not sellable.  It works well, but:

- The case is a horrible pre-built case with a few missing panels.
- There is actually no windows license like I mentioned.  I'm not shady enough to use a pirated OS, but I lost the sticker to my windows 7 and I'm not willing to buy a new one, so I'm using an expired trial version.  Works fine, just can't update- again, not sellable.  The sticker on this case is from the Vista OS I had before.
- Old RAM, really old CPU (not overclockable) and motherboard

I'm A-OK with being bottlenecked by my GPU for a month or two.  I'm fed up with being bottlenecked by my CPU.  Besides gaming, I just for once in my life want a good CPU for general usage.

holdenhamlet

bestever said:

holdenhamlet said:

Ridelynn said:

Well, here's my case


First off - it's your money, you do whatever you please with it.

I've done plenty of piecemeal builds. The catch-22 is that your always getting bottlenecked by something, and it's a perpetual state of needing to throw money at it to upgrade. Once you start talking about upgrading the motherboard, that's usually the time to cut bait - because new motherboard means new CPU, usually new RAM, new OS license (unless your shady), sometimes new PSU, sometimes new case, and then your so close to a new build, why the hell not.

And your left with a stockpile of old parts, a lot of which are pretty hard to unload. You might be able to dump them piecemeal on ebay for $20 a pop, but mostly they will just collect dust in a box somewhere.

Whereas, if you sell your entire computer, as a whole, working unit. Working entire computers, with operating systems, sell pretty quick. Even a pretty old system will bring $150-200, if it works and is ready to run. Heck, even if you donate it, US tax code (assuming your US) allows you to deduct the original purchase price of the computer (which, heck, for all the IRS knows, that Acer cost you $2,500 back when you bought it new).

Now, after you sell your entire computer, you have the $500 you were going to throw at it, plus another $150 - $200 -$300 on top of that (plus more if you save a bit more between now and then). $700-800 starts to get you into pretty nice gaming rig territory. A rig you build new for $800 will almost certainly beat out the piecemeal upgrade of your current computer. And it'll be all new parts, which are entirely under warranty, and of current generation technology. And it will have that new car smell.

I see where you're coming from, it's a good idea, and maybe I will do that in the future, but trust me this thing is not sellable.  It works well, but:

- The case is a horrible pre-built case with a few missing panels.
- There is actually no windows license like I mentioned.  I'm not shady enough to use a pirated OS, but I lost the sticker to my windows 7 and I'm not willing to buy a new one, so I'm using an expired trial version.  Works fine, just can't update- again, not sellable.  The sticker on this case is from the Vista OS I had before.
- Old RAM, really old CPU (not overclockable) and motherboard

I'm A-OK with being bottlenecked by my GPU for a month or two.  I'm fed up with being bottlenecked by my CPU.  Besides gaming, I just for once in my life want a good CPU for general usage.

If you can wait a little longer AMD will be releasing ZEN which looks to be pretty good. On par or better then intel skylake. If you save up and zen turns out not to be as good as AMD is saying then you can get a better intel setup.

Nope, can't wait lol.

I'm not into AMD anyway.  I've always had Intel and it's always worked.  I know it's cheesy but that's just my buying preference.

The i7 6700K is a good processor, right?  It came out late last year.  I don't really need to have the very best but something really good would be nice for a change.

I'm wary of buying brand new tech, too.  I like that this i7 has been out for awhile and is considered good.  I'll probably go with a 980 in a month or two for the same reason.

ceratop001

i7 6700K think was launched in August or September. Have you Looked at the Intel 5820k? A bit older but not bad either.

holdenhamlet

ceratop001 said:

i7 6700K think was launched in August or September. Have you Looked at the Intel 5820k? A bit older but not bad either.

Nope.  I don't really know what I'm doing besides looking at webpages and reading reviews and stuff.

I really do want to err on the side of unnessarily too good, though.  I went with a budget GPU a couple months ago because I had to, but I have a new job so I want to treat myself.

Of course if I could get a good CPU, motherboard and case all for $500 that would be ideal, but I'd prefer the CPU to be great and go without a new case for now.

My main concern is the motherboard.  I really have absolutely no idea what to look for there besides socket compatability.

Anyone know the main things I should look for?  What are reliable brands or brands to steer clear of?

I don't need extra pci-x slots.  I don't think I'll ever go SLI.  Don't need a lot of USB slots or anything.  Just soemething that has a very good chance of not frying out on me.

Also, what kind of cooler should I be looking at for the CPU?  I've never used water-based so I'm wary of that.  I saw a decent looking cooler master for like $30.  Would that be sufficient?

Asm0deus

Its pretty simple if you can't afford or don't want to spend 1k right now just ask for a build and get what you can now and the rest later.

While its nice to build something all at once its not a requirement only a preference some people have.

If your happy with your gpu psu and have monitor, keyboard, mouse etc all you really need is a new MB, new ram and a good cpu.

Just upgrade the rest later.

You need to just keep in mind to try and get a MB that will take the new cpus and ddr4 ram. 

For motherboard the expensive one tend to be for overclocking or for extra doodads that most people wont use, but big prices tend to be for OC ability, cpu the K versions are able to be overclocked non k version not.

About the cpu cooler, water cooling isn't necessary so just replacing the crap stock intel cooler with something like a hyper 212 evo.

For the cpu if your just gaming an i5- will do the trick, i7- tend to be is your doing more than gaming.

Dunno why peeps are recommending i7 if your on a budget.

13lake

holdenhamlet said:

My main concern is the motherboard.  I really have absolutely no idea what to look for there besides socket compatability.

Anyone know the main things I should look for?  What are reliable brands or brands to steer clear of?

I don't need extra pci-x slots.  I don't think I'll ever go SLI.  Don't need a lot of USB slots or anything.  Just soemething that has a very good chance of not frying out on me.

Also, what kind of cooler should I be looking at for the CPU?  I've never used water-based so I'm wary of that.  I saw a decent looking cooler master for like $30.  Would that be sufficient?

Without overclocking this is the absolutely best buy on newegg for what u need :

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rnNYcc

if u live near a microcenter u can get a cpu+motherboard combo way cheaper

u mentioned u don't need extra pci-e slots or a lot of usb so if u want a smaller motherboard due to a small case u like get this motherboard that's on sale now  and basically a steal on newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128874&cm_re=GIGABYTE_GA-B150M-D3H-_-13-128-874-_-Product

holdenhamlet

13lake said:

holdenhamlet said:

My main concern is the motherboard.  I really have absolutely no idea what to look for there besides socket compatability.

Anyone know the main things I should look for?  What are reliable brands or brands to steer clear of?

I don't need extra pci-x slots.  I don't think I'll ever go SLI.  Don't need a lot of USB slots or anything.  Just soemething that has a very good chance of not frying out on me.

Also, what kind of cooler should I be looking at for the CPU?  I've never used water-based so I'm wary of that.  I saw a decent looking cooler master for like $30.  Would that be sufficient?

Without overclocking this is the absolutely best buy on newegg for what u need :

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rnNYcc

if u live near a microcenter u can get a cpu+motherboard combo way cheaper

u mentioned u don't need extra pci-e slots or a lot of usb so if u want a smaller motherboard due to a small case u like get this motherboard that's on sale now  and basically a steal on newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128874&cm_re=GIGABYTE_GA-B150M-D3H-_-13-128-874-_-Product

That pcpartpicker site looks pretty cool.  Actually, I'm not all that far from a microcenter.  I'll definitely check that out as well, thanks!

One question about a micro ATX board- would it fit/install in regular ATX case?  Honestly I think I might have a micro ATX board in their right now so probably.

Still really want to get an i7 if I can.  It may be overkill right now especially with my GPU but I want it to be a good upgrade I won't regret.

Plus I never know what I might do with my computer in the future.

holdenhamlet

Ok so this is what I came up with using that totally amazing partpicker website.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PfQKHN

Anyone see any problems with this?  I can add more RAM later as I need it.  I will be upgrading my GPU and I'll get a new case when I can.

The motherboard is super cheap but as long as it works for what I need, that's great. 

Like I said, I will probably never SLI.  I'd be much more likely to just upgrade my GPU over putting two into my computer.

13lake

pcpartspicker is quite cool yeah , and yes u can put micro ATX in a normal ATX case no problem.

That mobo is not that good, one of the big problems is only room for 2 ram slots so can't upgrade by adding more (that's why 2 sticks of 8GB are a better choice).

 The other gigabyte is much better for only $12 more, and the RAM price is so close now there is no reason to get anything less than 2x8GB ($12 also).

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8kWmPs

i'll check microcenter deals to see if there's a cheaper motherboard+cpu combo

i7-6700k is $310 at microcenter, that's a lot cheaper 

http://www.microcenter.com/product/451883/Core_i7-6700K_40GHz_LGA_1151_Boxed_Processor

If u have the opportunity definitely go get the 6700 there even if u get all the other parts on newegg.

There aren't any good combo deals the only is the Asus Z170-AR+6700k for $420 

http//www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

but there's no need to get it, getting just the i7-6700k for $310 at microcenter and the rest on newegg is the better deal