Building my cousin a PC. Need advice.

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

Oh, and other than overall clock speed... What's the difference between the 6500 and the 6400? I could save £20 there...

stconquest · March 16, 2016

2 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

That's fair enough... But for what he's gonna be doing (Gaming, Recording, Editing, Rendering and general PC use) what would be overall better? An AMD FX-8350 @ 4.5GHz with a MSI 990FXA and 16GB 1666MHz DDR3 RAM or a i5-6500 with a motherboard and RAM...

Remember that I only wanna spend £250 max. (Yes... I know the 8350 + MSI 990FXA comes to £257)

I would have to still argue against the FX CPU. You also have to include the CPU cooler for the AMD CPU. The 6500 would do better in almost every game, if not every single game. The guy above mentioned Fallout 4: http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2182-fallout-4-cpu-benchmark-huge-performance-difference

As far as video editing and rendering, the i5 will easily keep up with those slow eight cores.

Best of both worlds? Here:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£216.55 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.65 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £281.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-16 21:12 GMT+0000

stconquest · March 16, 2016

1 minute ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

Oh, and other than overall clock speed... What's the difference between the 6500 and the 6400? I could save £20 there...

The 6400 is a low power oriented CPU. To keep the wattage down they lower the clock a bunch. I don't recommend it.

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

3 minutes ago, stconquest said:

I would have to still argue against the FX CPU. You also have to include the CPU cooler for the AMD CPU. The 6500 would do better in almost every game, if not every single game.

I would be giving him an unused Zalman cooler for the time being which kept a 4100 at 4.5GHz below 50'c...

5 minutes ago, stconquest said:

Best of both worlds? Here:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£216.55 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.65 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £281.20

£281.20... I cannot afford that. I don't wanna spend any more than £250 and that is at a push...

4 minutes ago, stconquest said:

The 6400 is a low power oriented CPU. To keep the wattage down they lower the clock a bunch. I don't recommend it.

Okay, but is it worth saving £20? Surely 0.5GHz wouldn't make a massive impact... Would it?

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

Oh, and just in case you're wondering... I will be using the Arctic MX-4 Thermal Paste, and scrapping any pre-applied paste which may be on the stock cooler.

stconquest · March 16, 2016

9 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

I would be giving him an unused Zalman cooler for the time being which kept a 4100 at 4.5GHz below 50'c...

£281.20... I cannot afford that. I don't wanna spend any more than £250 and that is at a push...

Okay, but is it worth saving £20? Surely 0.5GHz wouldn't make a massive impact... Would it?

Go with the i5 6500, he won't be disappointed. The 6400 is 2.7GHz to the 6500 at 3.2: 500Mhz. It matters when gaming and you try to squeeze out the FPS. With the Skylake CPU you will also be moving to the newer DDR4 RAM. While it used to be common knowledge that RAM is not a significant issue for gaming, newer evidence paints a different picture.

The more CPU overhead a game requires, the more RAM speed matters. What you see is the minimum FPS (the low dips) drastically improve when using faster RAM. DDR4 Ram Speeds start at 2133MHz. 2800MHz sees the the most improvement before diminishing returns kick in but the 2133MHz RAM will undoubtedly push the minimum reported FPS up in many titles, when compared to slower DDR3 speeds.

This will make for a more stable gaming experience. Another reason to go with the i5 6500 CPU. AMD CPUs and minimums, not fun... not fun at all.

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

3 minutes ago, stconquest said:

Go with the i5 6500, he won't be disappointed. The 6400 is 2.7GHz to the 6500 at 3.2: 500Mhz. It matters when gaming and you try to squeeze out the FPS. With the Skylake CPU you will also be moving to the newer DDR4 RAM. While it used to be common knowledge that RAM is not a significant issue for gaming, newer evidence paints a different picture.

The more CPU overhead a game requires, the more RAM speed matters. What you see is the minimum FPS (the low dips) drastically improve when using faster RAM. DDR4 Ram Speeds start at 2133MHz. 2800MHz sees the the most improvement before diminishing returns kick in but the 2133MHz RAM will undoubtedly push the minimum reported FPS up in many titles.

This will make for a more stable gaming experience. Another reason to go with the i5 6500 CPU. AMD CPUs and minimums, not fun... not fun at all.

Okay, so if you can find me a motherboard and min of 8GB RAM for £250... I will be a happy bunny... If not... I will have to go with AMD...

stconquest · March 16, 2016

1 minute ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

Okay, so if you can find me a motherboard and min of 8GB RAM for £250... I will be a happy bunny... If not... I will have to go with AMD...

What are you buying? What components in total, and what is the budget? I will give you an example of everything you need for this PC.

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

Just done a wee bit of Amazon searching... And I've got this

Intel i5-6500 (£170) http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=4GB+DDR4

2x4GB DDR4 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Computers-Corsair-Vengeance-Performance-Desktop-Memory/dp/B00S51XM5Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458163922&sr=8-2&keywords=4GB+DDR4

---------------------- OR ---------------------

2x4GB DDR4 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-Black-Memory-Skylake-Compatible/dp/B00TY6A1P0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458163922&sr=8-5&keywords=4GB+DDR4

Now... For motherboard... I dunno... But I don't wanna spend any more than £55

stconquest · March 16, 2016

3 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

Just done a wee bit of Amazon searching... And I've got this

Intel i5-6500 (£170) http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=4GB+DDR4

2x4GB DDR4 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Computers-Corsair-Vengeance-Performance-Desktop-Memory/dp/B00S51XM5Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458163922&sr=8-2&keywords=4GB+DDR4

---------------------- OR ---------------------

2x4GB DDR4 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-Black-Memory-Skylake-Compatible/dp/B00TY6A1P0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458163922&sr=8-5&keywords=4GB+DDR4

Now... For motherboard... I dunno... But I don't wanna spend any more than £55

Any H110 mobo will do. You will be limited to 2133MHz RAM. I would do a single stick of 8GB. That way you can expand to 16GB if there is ever the need.

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

11 minutes ago, stconquest said:

What are you buying? What components in total, and what is the budget? I will give you an example of everything you need for this PC.

What I've already got...

Case - Areocool X-worrier (red)

SSD - Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB

HDD - Western Digital 1TB

PSU: EVGA SuperNova G2 750watt

GPU: EVGA GTX 960 SSC 2GB ACX 2.0

Only thing I really need is a Motherboard, CPU and cooler (maybe)

Edited March 16, 2016 by PlymouthJoseph

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

9 minutes ago, stconquest said:

Any H110 mobo will do. You will be limited to 2133MHz RAM. I would do a single stick of 8GB. That way you can expand to 16GB if there is ever the need.

So what one of these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015Y01R48?keywords=lga1151%20motherboard&qid=1458164847&ref_=sr_1_7&sr=8-7

stconquest · March 16, 2016

2 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

What I've already got...

Case - Areocool X-worrier (red)

SSD - Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB

HDD - Western Digital 1TB

PSU: EVGA SuperNova G2 750watt

GPU: EVGA GTX 960 SSC 2GB ACX 2.0

Wait, so you own this stuff already?

stconquest · March 16, 2016

2 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

So what one of these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015Y01R48?keywords=lga1151%20motherboard&qid=1458164847&ref_=sr_1_7&sr=8-7

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h110mhdv

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

Just now, stconquest said:

Wait, so you own this stuff already?

Yup, already bought or what I'm recycling.

stconquest · March 16, 2016

3 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

Yup, already bought or what I'm recycling.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£169.28 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£48.18 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£32.81 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £250.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-16 21:54 GMT+0000

@PlymouthJoseph

Note: He won't be able to SLI on these boards. When the time comes for more GPU power, he would have to get a single bigger GPU... that is better to do with mid range cards anyways.

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

1 minute ago, stconquest said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£169.28 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£48.18 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£32.81 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £250.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-16 21:54 GMT+0000

Perfect! But the motherboard doesn't look very "sleek" and it looks like it'll overheat instantly...

stconquest · March 16, 2016

1 minute ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

Perfect! But the motherboard doesn't look very "sleek" and it looks like it'll overheat instantly...

Skylake CPUs are not AMD CPUs. They are efficient when sucking energy. The board will be fine.

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

Just now, stconquest said:

Skylake CPUs are not AMD CPUs. They are efficient when sucking energy.

So... a 750watt Gold Certified is Overkill?

stconquest · March 16, 2016

2 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

So... a 750watt Gold Certified is Overkill?

Uhmmmm.... yeah.

The 960 and i5 running at 100% will be around 200W total.

@PlymouthJoseph Imagine running the PC off of a 250W PSU...lol

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

1 minute ago, stconquest said:

Uhmmmm.... yeah.

The 960 and i5 running at 100% will be around 200W total.

Jesus... Err... Could you find a motherboard that is around £55 which has 2 16x PCIe so I could get him another 960?

stconquest · March 16, 2016

6 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

Jesus... Err... Could you find a motherboard that is around £55 which has 2 16x PCIe so I could get him another 960?

Sell the 960 and get him a R9 390 or GTX 970. I would go for a 390 because of longevity. AMD GPUs are better equipped for DX12. The $300 R9 390 was within 8% of a $600 980Ti in some recent Hitman benches.

ASync compute is why.

For SLI you would have to spend a lot more on a Z-Series board.

@PlymouthJoseph http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz170xgaming3

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

7 minutes ago, stconquest said:

Sell the 960 and get him a R9 390 or GTX 970. I would go for a 390 because of longevity. AMD GPUs are better equipped for DX12. The $300 R9 390 was within 8% of a $600 980Ti in some recent Hitman benches.

ASync compute is why.

For SLI you would have to spend a lot more on a Z-Series board.

Oh, fair enough... You sure it's the best idea getting the i5-6500k, ASRock H110M-HDV and 8GB 2133MHz DDR4 instead of a FX-8350, MSI990FXA and 16GB 1600MHz RAM (already got the ram) for his usage?

PlymouthJoseph · March 16, 2016

15 minutes ago, stconquest said:

@PlymouthJoseph http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz170xgaming3

What's that motherboard?

stconquest · March 16, 2016

1 minute ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

Oh, fair enough... You sure it's the best idea getting the i5-6500k, ASRock H110M-HDV and 8GB 2133MHz DDR4 instead of a FX-8350, MSI990FXA and 16GB 1600MHz RAM (already got the ram) for his usage?

The i5 6500 is a non-K CPU. I am 100% certain that the 6500 is a better direction for this PC. Gaming performance, power efficiency and a competitive multi-threaded performer. There is literally no reason to go with an AMD CPU.

Out of the thousands of builds I have seen here, only one or two have warranted the less expensive FX 8XXX CPU. One of them was a 100% chess simulation PC.

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Building my cousin a PC. Need advice.

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