DrewTaylor

I am definitely in the market for a new monitor ASAP. I just wanted to build the core system first.

Okay. So I am pricing out GPUs for my first build. I will be running an R7 1700 on an x390 MOBO w/ 16G DDR4 @2400Mhz. My PSU will be bronze rated @ 600W. It's a relatively modest setup, but I think it has a decent amount of room for upgradability in the future. I only have a 60Hz monitor as of now (1280 x 768) I have roughly $250-$300 left for a GPU. I see similar pricing on GPUs w/ 2-6Gb of physical memory, but all of them have different clock speeds. I'm pretty lost. It's a lot to take in and I want to make a good investment. I will be playing a lot of sandbox/open-world games as well as FPS, if that helps. My question is: What is the relation between clock speed and physical memory, specifically? Should I go for the higher clock, or more physical memory? Also, if you have any cards that you can suggest to me, it would be a great help. Right now, I have my eye on this Zotac GTX 960 Amp Edition... Am I on the right track? Lol.

This was extremely helpful! Just the kind of spreadsheet I was looking for! I will be using a quad-core CPU when I build, so the numbers for the i3 6100 give me some promising outlook. I know this CPU is hyperthreaded, and mine will not be, but I keep hearing that hyperthreading really doesn't boost performance as much as having more physical cores to draw on. An i5 6500 with a base clock of 3.2GHz and a turbo of 3.6GHz paired with the DDR4 2400 I want to get should do me pretty well for a while, especially since the aftermarket cooler I want to get will keep thermals down and reduce wear on CPU. At least, that's what I'm taking away from this. Thanks!

Thank you! Yeah definitely not going to be running IGPU lol

So, in my mission to construct a somewhat modestly priced gaming rig, I have been taken through a gambit of mobo options paired with various CPUs for optimal processing speeds. I have pretty much decided on the MSI KRAIT Gaming 3X LGA1151 Z170A paired with an i5 6500. I know I can't OC on this CPU, but I will most likely upgrade to a K type CPU somewhere down the line when I get a tad more savvy with tweaking. Right now I want to focus on the basics. I.E.: Raw (out of the box) processing speeds and how to get the most out of pairing a basic quad-core CPU with certain speeds of DDR4 memory. From what I have read, it seems like the Z170A chipsets offer some decent options if I elect to overclock eventually with an upgraded GPU. I am aware that there are ways to overclock a locked GPU on the Z170A, but I don't want to sacrifice temp monitoring since I am nowhere near advanced enough to gamble with higher heat output without a way to track it. So my question is: How much does DDR4 speed really matter when running more CPU-bound games such as GTAV or Skyrim SE? Right now I am looking at 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 2400. Should I go for a faster speed? I really like the aesthetic appeal of the Avixir Core series with the red LEDs. I know, cosmetic details shouldn't really matter when evaluating performance, but they're just so damn pretty. I'm sure some of you might understand. Sorry for the long post, but there is a lot of info I wanted to get out there at once just to give anyone some background to work with. If you want to take a closer look at my part list, you can find it here: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cJwyQV

I am a big sandbox player (Skyrim SE, Fallout 4, GTAV). I also want to get into streaming a little bit, but I'm not too serious about it as of now. I do record music as well, and I would like to have decent editing capabilities, but it doesn't have to be professional studio quality. It's more of a hobby. What I really want to know is if I can play the sandbox games aforementioned without dropping below 40FPS outdoors and high to some ultra settings and a longer draw distance. I know it's a tall order, since a lot of those games are heavily CPU bound. I am also going to have 16GB of 2400 DDR4 memory, if that helps much.

I was actually looking more at the MSI Krait 3X Gaming ATX LGA1151 with the Z170A chipset. Buuut, what I am hearing is that I either splurge a little more on an i5-6600k, or I don't OC. I was made aware by another user that the roundabout way to overclock a locked CPU on a Z170 would take away temp monitoring.. I don't think it's a great idea for me to try OCing without a temp monitor, because I am inexperienced and I don't want to fry my CPU. Would 3.2GHz be enough to run games like GTAV with a decent frame rate and high graphical frame rate? I mean, the turbo clock on the 6500 is 3.6GHz. When I say decent, I mean no lower than 40FPS. Not that console garbage 20-30FPS with medium detail. If I wanted that, I might as well buy a console.

Well I was going to buy a used CPU. Or was the overclock loophole taken away externally?

Will I be using IGPU much for gaming? I was going to use a GTX 1050Ti for my GPU.

So would you suggest going with the z170 and just getting another CPU that is unlocked and hyperthreaded? I'm going to use a GTX 1050 Ti for now. Seemed like a decent GPU for the money. Also, no external power needed.

So I wanted to do a build on and MSI Gaming ATX LGA1151 Mobo with a B150 chipset. I was leaning towards an intel i5-6500 CPU because I wanted a quad-core for more processing power for sandbox gaming. As I am sure most of you are aware, the i5-6500 does not have hyperthreading, but still boasts a decent 3.2GHZ core clock. As far as I know, the i5-6500 can be overclocked, but I keep reading that the B150 mobos cannot be overclocked by conventional means (or at all). Since this is my first build, I won't jump right into OCing, but I wanted to have the option to do so later on once I get a tad more experienced. I was wondering if this was an issue that can be fixed by an update to bios down the road, or if I should just invest in another mobo with a different chipset. I found some Z170s in the same price point. So any ideas? Should I invest in the Z170 and just get another processor that has hyperthreading? Or, should I just stick with more cores without hyperthreading, and just use the core clock on the b150?

Okay, well here's what I have settled on, for whoever is interested: Anyone with any input?

I had originally settled on an i5 7500, but that was shooting a little high for my price point. I'm sure there is a good reason for not wanting to go with the 6400 or lower, but I don't want to take up too much of your time lol

Yeah that Liquid Cooler set up looked pretty nice. I guess I just had this whole wanting that black and red MSI color scheme thing in mind, plus I had other components I was going to piece mail. I know, I know, I'm probably being too particular, I just wanted to make it more my own. I really do appreciate that list though. It actually gave me a lot to think about. Okay, so I am looking for the Kaby Lake or Skylake micro architectures. I guess I will start with that at least.

Well, I'm glad I didn't buy it then lol. Just pricing for now. Is there a way I can tell which CPUs would be compatible with the LGA1151? There must be something I can look for to indicate. Or I suppose I could just google a list? I'd rather know what I am looking at and where to look.